Dare To Be
We have begun this year with the great energy coming from our outstanding HSC results of 2017. Our 2016 HSC cohort had such brilliant results and we were proud to announce that our 2017 Year 12 cohort excelled even further. We have very high expectations for all students.
The swimming carnival on Monday was another excellent event for the College. Our swimmers showed some great swimming ability. House competition lives on at Marist. It is an iconic location to have the carnival under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

I have been asking the students what are they Daring To Be this year. I have been very interested to hear their thoughts:
Second in PDHPE because Tom is first
Clever
Good at Maths
A good writer
The best I can be
Myself
Inquisitive
Dare To Be is our College’s Vision for Learning. From this vision we will be working with staff and students to create our MCNS Learning Framework or school wide pedagogy.
Our College Mission Statement

I have been drawn over the last few months to looking at how are we doing with the area of Wellbeing. This area contains the word resilience? I am concerned that our young men need to become resilient. The staff insisted that this word was present in the Mission Statement. How do we build resilience?
It is ok to fail? In fact is it good or bad to fail? This Herald Article speaks about the importance of failure in our lives. I am sometimes working with families where something has gone wrong. How do we respond when something in life goes wrong? Do we throw the towel in? Do we blame everyone? Yes, I can hear a whole set of cries asking but why does it go wrong? We do need to work hard to do and to be our best. How can we use difficulty, conflict, disappointment to our advantage? It should not happen but what can we learn from a problem that allows us to build more resilient young men? I am asking a lot of questions. I think that life can and most probably will throw each of us a few difficulties. We all need to be ready for these tough days and use them to build our capacity to take on further tough days of the future.
So after all of my philosophical pondering, a prayer for the beginning of the year:
Lord Jesus,
at this time
we can look back to the old year,
and look forward to the new.
We give thanks
for the blessings of the past year,
and we place into your hands
the mistakes we have made.
As you are ‘the Light of the world’,
take away the darkness in our lives.
As you are ‘the Way’,
lead us in the year ahead.
As you are ‘the gate of the sheepfold’,
protect us from danger.
We entrust the past to your mercy, Lord,
the present to your love,
and the future to you providence.
Amen.
Nicholas Hutchinson FSC
Tony Duncan
Headmaster