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Loreto
Chronicle
The Year of Sincerity
Volume 28 No.1 June 2014
From the Principal
I
t is an exciting time for us at Loreto Coorparoo as we begin to finalise our preparations for the arrival of Year 7 into secondary schools in Queensland next year. In 2015, we will have a ‘double intake’ with new Year 8s and Year 7s joining us in the same year. This will mean that one third of our student body will be new to Loreto in 2015. Obviously, there is a long list of changes that we need to make to provide for this significant change to the enrolment of the school and not all of them will be finalised before the extra students arrive. However, we are well and truly on our way to achieving many of the most essential changes. In the pages that follow, you will see that we have completed the expansion and improvement to our Tuckshop. We have also refurbished our Home Economics rooms and have added an impressive new Hospitality Kitchen, complete with its very own ‘tasting garden’ courtyard. The construction of the new building at the Cavendish Road entrance to the school is well underway and on target for completion by the end of third term. It will accommodate an additional five classrooms as well as a versatile large, open space on the ground floor which can be used for student, staff and community gatherings. This striking building has been designed so that it can one day become the entrance for a Performing Arts Centre which will be constructed where the tennis courts currently stand. Beyond the physical changes that are necessary, the teachers are busily planning the various curriculum activities, programs and resources that will be needed. This unique opportunity to start afresh has been embraced by the teachers as a chance to collaborate and to integrate the disciplines of learning in ways that will engage and stimulate the students in their thinking and learning. These are indeed exciting times for us as we plan and build together for a preferred future. I sincerely thank all who have so generously supported us with the Capital Campaign. Your generosity is helping to make the aspirations expressed in the Master Plan become a reality Beyond Today. Mrs Cheryl Hamilton
This is an edited extract from the Sincerity address by 2014 College Captains, Prue Hempel and Claudia Miotti, at the Inaugural Mass.
T
his year, Loreto schools around Australia celebrate the virtue of Sincerity. Sincerity is having the courage to live by truth, believing in honesty, having integrity and striving for selfacceptance. It is to “speak as we think, to do as we pretend and profess, to perform and make good what we promise, and really to be what we would seem and appear to be.” The term sincerity stems from the Latin words, “sin” which means without, and “ceras” which means wax. Sincerity can be understood simply through the phrase, “without wax”. In Greek and Roman times, when artists discovered a flaw in their sculptures, they filled the crack or chip with coloured wax to match the marble. The wax was used to mask any flaws and create the illusion of perfection. Thus, to be “without wax” or sincere is to allow your true colours to be seen. This value is reflected in Mary Ward’s injunction that we should, “be such as we appear, and appear such as we are”. During your personal Loreto journey in 2014, we challenge each of you to be “without wax”; to be authentic, proud to let everybody see who you really are, honest about your flaws as well as your strengths. This idea of being sincere, however, does present us with a challenge. This challenge is learning how to love ourselves and embrace our quirks and differences, whilst having the courage to free ourselves from defensiveness and self-judgement. If you come to accept yourself, you will be more open to accepting others and be proud in standing tall as the person you are. By example, Mary Ward has shared her story, her heart and herself by staying true to her vision, which she expressed wholeheartedly. If she had not been sincere in the unity of her words and actions and had the courage to be true to her heart, her talents would not have been seen by
(L-R) Prue Hempel & Claudia Miotti
2014 Inaugural Mass
Mrs Cheryl Hamilton presents Senior Badges to the Class of 2014
those around her and her impact would not have been as significant. Mary Ward once said, “Do not be hasty in your promises but be faithful in keeping them. You will do much if you do all you can, do it with a great and generous heart and a humbled mind, and do it for God’s sake.” We ask you to embrace 2014, the Year of Sincerity, with an open heart, an open mind and an open spirit, so you can let your true colours shine in the sight of all to see. Prue Hempel & Claudia Miotti
Be seekers of truth and doers of justice