Welcome to the 2019 School Year! I hope that all our families have had the opportunity to rest, relax and recuperate, and to enjoy the school break. A special word of welcome to the new families that are joining Harkaway Hills College for the first time in 2019.  I look forward to forging strong and lasting relationships with you as together, we support your children through their school years. To the existing families, I have already enjoyed getting to know you as we settled your children into the next chapter in their school lives.

I am deeply honoured to be joining Harkaway Hills College as Principal. I am very much aware of the importance of the task ahead of me and I am excited to be supporting you as parents as we build on the strong foundations of your children’s education. The PARED Schools share a unique commitment to personalised education to help every student strive to be the best person he or she can be. Together with the Class Teachers, Mentors and most importantly you, the parents, I am committed to assisting each of our students work towards this goal in 2019.

It is with great excitement that we have started using our first permanent building at Harkaway Hills College. On Saturday 26 January we were fortunate enough to host the international guest speaker Javier Vidal Quadras, Secretary General of the International Federation of Family Development, in one of our new rooms. The event was an important reminder of how important it is for our school and for parents to work together. Our school has been founded on the truth that parents are the first educators of their children, and as Javier reminded us, parents play a key role in the values, the lived virtues, the study habits, the work ethic and the spiritual life of their children at all stages of their development.

With this in mind, we have a number of opportunities for parents to learn and grow in 2019. Family Enrichment Australia will be running two courses this year:

First Steps – this is a course tailored for parents of children 0 – 3 years of age or parents to be. Topics covered include child temperament and personality, communication between parents, discipline and authority. Click here to book.

Marriage Enrichment – This offers couples, time together to explore and enrich their relationships in a related, private and enjoyable way. Click here for more information.

I am also very excited to announce that we will be hosting Mike and Alicia Hernon from the Messy Parenting Podcast series at Harakway Hills for the Term 2 KPF on Monday 20 May at 7.30pm. Save this date and invite family and friends – it is not to be missed! More details to come.

Parents, you are not alone. We are here to help you grow into the best parents you can be.

I look forward to working with you all in 2019.

Mary Broadsmith

Principal