From the Principal

Today marks the halfway point of Term 3, and already the term has seen various sections of the College involved in several significant events.

The first was the Anglican Schools Australia National Conference, held in Canberra this year, with Radford playing a pivotal role in its organisation and execution. The conference took place over the Friday and Saturday of the weekend before last, and two pre-conference programs took place at Radford on the Thursday before. We hosted more than 90 Anglican school chaplains for the Chaplains' Day and nearly 30 principals for the Leading in an Anglican School Day.

The conference proper took place at Realm Hotel and attracted nearly 300 delegates from around the country. Given my role as the Canberra representative of the Anglican Schools Australia Management Committee, I was appointed Conference Chair. The conference organisation was also ably supported by Radford's Reverends, Katherine Rainger and Andy Fleming, and Deputy Principal and Head of Junior School, Andy Gordon, as well as staff from Burgmann, Canberra Grammar, Canberra Girls Grammar and St Peter’s Broulee.

The theme for the conference was Re-Emergence. As we started to plan for the conference just over 18 months ago, the notion of re-emerging from the shackles of COVID-19 seemed very fitting. Although we have now moved on from those challenging and uncertain times of 2020 and 2021 - in which we all had to learn how to stay connected while remaining apart - the notion of re-emerging, or consistent emergence, still seemed very apt and pertinent principles for all our schools.

The program for the two-day conference featured creative thinkers and inspiring speakers who shared their deep knowledge and experience of educational issues, community questions, Anglican identity matters, and well-being priorities, as well as providing ideas for delegates to take back to their schools and communities. Keynote speakers included journalist and author Julia Baird, astrophysicist Brad Tucker, psychologist Donna Cross, Indigenous advocate Thomas Mayor, former Olympian Brennon Dowrick, and the Primate of the Anglican Church, The Most Reverend Geoffery Smith.

Through the speakers and presentations, woven together by conference provocateurs, Bishop Stephen Pickard and Reverend Sarah Agnew - who bookended each of the sessions - we asked the delegates to consider the following questions:

• How can we prepare for individual and collective re-emergence?
• What role do tradition, shared stories, and the wisdom of others play?
• How can our school communities support individuals and groups to see hope and possibility?
• What do we take forward with us, and what do we leave behind – what are our priorities in a shifting community landscape?
• How do we respond to worry and fear, and to whom or where do we seek guidance?
• How can we ensure that justice, equality and sustainability are part of our re-emergence?

The conference concluded on the Saturday evening with a dinner held in the Great Hall of Parliament House. In discussions with long-standing attendees that night, most expressed that they felt it was the most fulfilling and thought-provoking conference they had attended. We were all pleased that Canberra could put on a great event for delegates.

Despite the fatigue from staging such a big event, we backed up again last weekend to pull off another two major events. On Friday and Saturday, the annual Board Retreat took place, while on Saturday afternoon/evening Dirrum Dirrum Festival took place.

A full rundown of Dirrum Dirrum Festival will be provided by others more closely associated with its execution, but I would like to publicly acknowledge all of the work by the students involved and the staff, led by Reverend Rainger. The hours of work put into the festival's organisation saw yet another inspiring and professional festival come together, attracting a large number of community members. I was so incredibly proud of the work of our students and inspired by their aspirations.

Read about our Year 5/6 Round Square students' experience of Dirrum Dirrum Festival here.

The 2023 Board Retreat took place at Yarralumla Yacht Club over two days and allowed senior staff and Board members to undertake a full SWOT evaluation, deliberate over the future of education, discuss future master planning, concentrate on IT innovations, deliberate on organisational culture, and consider organisational alliances.