It is with distinct pleasure that I welcome you to our school - Holy Name of Mary College School. As we welcome your daughters into our school, we encourage her to find her own voice and empower her to be curious, take risks, be confident, discover her joy and take a personal, educational and spiritual journey with us. As we explore our four values that align with the Felician Sisters, respect, compassion, justice and transformation and ask each girl if they have lifted someone up today, we want to meet each girl where she is in her journey and encourage her to both plant her roots and find her wings. By learning to support each other we can see how it will open the possibilities to soar.
Personalized learning is the way of the future. As the world becomes more automated and our graduates are looking at what is next for them in education and life, we need to ensure that our girls are getting exactly what they need for a future that is exciting and expansive and like none that we have ever seen before. This personalized approach is giving girls control, choice, agency and voice. Exactly what we want for our students - confidence building at its core and passion exploring at its heart.
We help her to realize her strengths from the inside and surround her with bright, caring, and inspirational teachers to guide her through this journey of self-discovery.
I was once told that to really understand something you should teach another person; however, now I know that a student's active engagement in the learning process is the key to successful learning, as it makes the education experience fun and memorable because of the creative and innovative applications they need to demonstrate their learning. Education should not be one size fits all, as we are all unique learners and we need a system that matches who we are personally.
As an independent school, families know that we are able to produce a strong education for their daughters. We as a school are stretching our boundaries in this area too and asking our girls to take risks and try something new. How are we also doing this beyond the walls of the classrooms and really allowing our girls to stretch their wings and fly?
Our girls will: make choices on what they want to do inside of our co-curricular programme Our girls will: be able to lead others Our girls will: if they choose, make a proposal to start a new club or activity Our girls will: be coached and supported through the challenges and excitement of life. Our girls will: know how to be a collaborative member of a team Our girls will: know how to live inside of our core values Our girls will: be the leaders in all areas of the school Our girls will: build capacity in themselves to be who they are meant to be Our girls will: learn how to make decisions, hear other people's opinions and change and grow in their own Our girls will: build community in their houses, classes, grades and the larger HNMCS community Our girls will: find a second home.
I was recently asked, what do we ultimately want for our girls - what is the overall vision for the school? I can undeniably say that it is to produce girls who go into the world to truly affect change - in a real way because they know they can. How do we get there? We give girls choices and opportunities that allow them to make decisions that will set the course for where they want to go - personally - not where their friend is going, not what their parents want, but at their core - with confidence.
We ask you to allow your daughter to find her Next Stop with us as she discovers Her Future.
Carrie Hughes-Grant
Head of School
