A time to be proud

By Mr Andy Gordon, Interim Principal

When I drive through the gate every day, I reflect on how working at Radford is more than a job. To teach and to work with young people is a calling that is spiritually fulfilling and rewarding. One of my favourite sayings is ‘choosing to be a teacher has given me far more than I have given it.’ Our College culture is incredibly important, and we feel blessed to be surrounded and supported by the love of our extended Radford family.

At the Gala Ball on Saturday night, it was touching to hear so much positive feedback from the many parents and staff in attendance. In our 40th year, watching people talk so positively about our community and our culture made me feel incredibly proud. We are all custodians of this culture and for so many people to embrace the opportunity to celebrate it, made for many special moments.

Our mission is always to lift Radford’s team spirit, its esprit de corps. We seek to do this by reviving the importance of our Ethos Statement.

Our ethos begins with the word “Respect” using the Radford “R” to emphasise how central respect is to our identity.

Our ethos also incorporates our values of truth, compassion and wisdom.

We are then all urged to walk those values in three important ways, to see again, listen deeply and act with kindness.

We deliberately wanted this ethos at the core of our daily life at the College, which is why you’ll see it on the banner at the very top of Nexus each time you open it. We want everyone in the Radford family to understand the fundamental character and spirit of our ethos and our culture. This is who we are.

Friday’s official opening of the Collegians Centre and 40th Foundation Day Service will be incredibly special. There are moments in the life of our College when we celebrate the infinite joy of being together and this day will be one of those occasions.

Much hard work has gone into preparations for this milestone, and we want to take this opportunity to thank the students and the high-performing teams across the College that have worked incredibly hard to bring it all together.

I wish all of our families a joyful, safe and relaxing holiday and I look forward to seeing you all back on campus for the start of Term 2.

Go well and lead well.

Andy