T (07) 3394 9999 Absentee Line (07) 3394 9964 E email@loreto.qld.edu.au W www.loreto.qld.edu.au PO Box 1726 Coorparoo DC Qld 4151
Volume 24 - 11 August, 2015 Dear Parents & Students Last Sunday’s Open Day was a vibrant and happy presentation of our Loreto community to prospective families as well as families whose daughters are already enrolled and who wish to extend their knowledge of life at Loreto. I would like to sincerely thank the many staff, parents and students who helped welcome these families and answer their questions about the opportunities a Loreto education can provide. As always, it is our students’ genuine love for their school and pride in being a Loreto girl that has the most powerful impact. Our facilities and grounds staff work enormous hours in the lead-up to Open Day ensuring that the school is looking its very best. The creativity and commitment of teaching staff is apparent in the displays and activities which give insight into teaching and learning at Loreto. Thank you also to the parents who were ready to answer questions and cooked the barbeque lunch. I congratulate our Communications and Enrolments Manager, Ms Emma Beach, her Assistant Mrs Angela Glancy and their team for their careful oversight of all aspects of the day; it was an enormous task and wonderfully executed. My last thanks are to Rebecca Marshall, a 2014 graduate, who spoke of her experience at Loreto. Rebecca’s academic and co-curricula achievements are outstanding and a fantastic example for parents who rightly wish to be assured that their daughters will be encouraged to achieve at the very highest level if they choose a Loreto education. Clearly, individual effort and family support are key to student achievement, however Rebecca also acknowledged the importance of the mentoring of her teachers as well as the sense of belonging and community involvement and the strong, supportive friendships she developed while at Loreto. She spoke of our emphasis on character and values and it is clear that the qualities of humility, gratitude and generosity underpin her achievements. Open Day always leaves me feeling positive and energized, and proud of the Loreto Coorparoo community. The ideals expressed in these extracts from the Loreto Schools of Australia Mission Statement are truly reflected in our school. Loreto education builds on Mary Ward’s desire to act out of “love not fear” and reflects the breadth of outlook and easy atmosphere associated with Mother Mary Gonzaga Barry. It encourages self-discipline and gives genuine responsibility to students, because risk and flexibility are more allied to this lively spirit of freedom than conformity and unthinking dependence. Allowing for the process of growth, this freedom includes the capacity to face and learn from the mistakes and failures that are a natural part of human experience. In the same spirit, the relationships in the school community will be marked by ideals of mutual respect, acceptance of difference and the presumption of good will. In such a context, students are helped to develop a sense of identity that is inwardly free and to become more capable of accepting responsibility for their lives and of courageous, compassionate and generous service. This is our vision: that Loreto schools offer o Catholic education which liberates, empowers and motivates students to use their individual gifts with confidence, creativity and generosity in loving and responsible service. Loreto Schools of Australia Mission Statement
Justice
Freedom
VERITY
Sincerity
Felicity