Because I am the principal of the School, sometimes people feel they should read the things I write.
Sometimes I flood my staff, particularly the leaders and managers, with readings and research on education, leadership and policy.
Names like Maxwell, Fullan, Collins etc are common characters in my educational narratives.
Sometimes I write reports for our School Council that are longer than some novels they have read (Sorry about that!).
Note: To give a sense of balance, I do not give long speeches. I just give a lot of them.
I know I go on a bit but there is always so much happening at a School like ours and all of it deserves to be recognised, discussed and built upon.
Other times, I write blogs like this one in the hope that someone might actually be interested in what goes on in my head and in our School.
Occasionally, someone who chooses to read some of what I write will ask me where I get my inspiration …… and I never seem to have an intelligent or coherent answer.
Now, sitting at my desk, with time to think, I will try to give an accurate and intelligent response to this question.
Most of my ideas come from a base made up of the Christian foundations of the School and its vision for offering our students the best possible education.
How this vision is expressed leads me to the great education and leadership thinkers whose wisdom, wit and erudition have powered the ideas that have assisted in transforming our school from the “little school who could” into a school that really does offer its community something special.
Sometimes trawling for ideas leads me through a maze of my favourite poems, songs and stories, so that I can use the voices of those whose capacity to communicate ideas so effectively allows me to say what I “think”.
“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
T.S Elliot
Sometimes, inspiration just turns up, as I do bus duty, read something that seems, at first glance, to have nothing to do with School, or hear a fragment of an idea in passing that generates some form of cerebral synaptic response.
And then there is a small part of me that, according to my wife, has not matured (or is it improved) much since I was seventeen that responds to the simplest stimuli.
And that brings me to my latest source of amusement, inspiration and sense of what is important – Thoughts of Dog.
Originally found on Instagram (See, I am almost digitally aware) the site often reminds me that when everything seems to be serious, important and critical, sometimes it is the simplest of things that tell us the greatest truths.
And sometimes it reminds me that life should just be fun!
Maybe I should get a dog.
 | Mr Terry Muldoon Principal, St Columba Anglican School |