Building Futures - Merici College

From The Principal…From the PrincipalEach one of us: a precious andunique individualWhether by design or not, it appearsto me that there is a definite themerunning through this edition ofBuilding Futures – a theme thatis at the heart of what we believeas members of a Catholic schoolcommunity: that each one of us,created by God, has our ownunique set of talents, qualities andcharacteristics and that each of us,therefore, should be treasured as anindividual. It is so inspiring to seeour students understanding this andworking to help others understand italso. Inspiring also to see the workgoing on in classes and co-curricularactivities where this is the basic tenetand where individuals are assisted toappreciate and develop themselvesand others.Year 10s expressing this beliefwith passionIn their analysis of the negative impactthat the media can have on the selfimageof young women see the articleon page 8, our Year 10 students,working with teacher Tahlia Perry,expose the way the media works onthe vulnerability of young – and not soyoung! – women in order to sell theman ever-increasing array of products asthey seek to attain the impossibility ofairbrushed perfection. They challengeus to think what this really meansin terms of us loving ourselves andaccepting ourselves as individuals.The theme is further explored by theKids Witness News team of Year 9students see the article on page 9 whoare making a video to enter into thisannual competition, which examinesexactly this: what is perfectionand why is it that we cannot valueourselves just as we are?How it looks in the curriculumThe articles on the RE curriculum onpage 4 and on some of the activitiesof the Sport and Rec course on page14 give wonderful examples of thisprinciple in action. The richness ofexperiences available through the REcurriculum, seeking to ensure that allstudents are able to engage with theirown spirituality and access experienceswhich suit and inspire them asindividuals, is quite inspiring. In adifferent way, the outreach ofSport and Rec students to thecommunity, working with the oldand the young, is just as inspiring inthe way it encourages individuals togrow and blossom – and I am not justtalking about the students! Don’t missthese articles!And in co-curricular activitiesThese are the quintessentialopportunities to develop individualtalents and there is so much going on!In this edition, you can read abouthappenings in co-curricular music, thesuccess of some of our Year 12 chefsand the further competition they facein the near future.You may not be aware of our LaSfida program, a program that aimsto recognise talent and interest inindividual students and challenge themto delve deeper and to explore. AnnCleary’s entertaining article on this onpage 11 is definitely worth a read! Itmay well spark some conversations atyour house about areas your daughtercould develop further and we’d love tohear from you or her if she has someideas for a project!The very core of usPastorally, our focus is completely onthe individual, on her well-being andher development as a fully roundedhuman being. Angela Merici is ourdefinitive model in this and ourMass to celebrate Angela Merici Dayfocused almost exclusively on this.In her article about the Mass onpage 4 our Liturgy and MinistryCoordinator, Colette Davison,reminds us of some of thosefoundationstatements fromAngela Mericiwhich alwaysbring us backto our needto be a lovingand nurturingcommunitywhereindividuals canfind themselves and blossom. One ofmy favourites is, ‘Take care of all yourdaughters, having each and every oneengraved on your mind and heart, notonly their names, but their situationand character and everything aboutthem. This will not be difficult if yousurround them with real love’. This isour true blueprint for theMerici community.And a call to further actionFinally, I recommend GraemePlenderleith’s article to you onpage 15. He refers to the excellentparent get-together we had recentlyand invites you all to our upcomingcommunity forum to be held on thefirst day of Term 3 at 3.45pm.There, as a community of staff,students and parents, we will belooking to review and clarify our visionfor the Merici College community.This will be a lovely opportunity forsharing ideas together.Thank you for your ongoing support!Catherine ReyPrincipal3