Principal's Report

Looking Forward

Every week in the Student and Parent/Carer Updates and in all Assemblies , I finish what I am saying with our school motto – “looking forward”. 

I am confident this motto came from the stained glass window picture of Matthew Flinders looking out onto Wurdi Yuang with a monoscope, which is above the entrance of the Merrya Building.

Some people argue the idea of “looking forward” is out of date and should be more active “moving forward”. Indeed, perhaps it is, if this is truly its origins. 

For me our school motto, which has been around for as long as anyone can remember, still provides some important messages for our school community. 

Looking forward reminds us of a better tomorrow. It resonates with our MFG trait: Optimistic about the future. This does not need to be a passive thing. All of our actions now can help to make a better tomorrow, so if we look forward it reminds us of why we are doing things today.

“Looking forward” is also not a Polly-Anna view of the world either, where we leave all the challenging things behind us with false optimism going forward. Instead, it reminds us of another of our MFG traits: Resilient, adaptable and able to learn from mistakes.

It is a genuine acceptance that perhaps life is not always cheery and wonderful, but that we do not need to sit in the negative states of life; we can make different choices and move forward.

Finally, “looking forward” is a reminder of Matthew Flinders and his “discovery” of Coria Bay and the ensuing colonisation of the Geelong region. For our MFG students it is a reminder of our history and the impact this had on the Wadwurrung people who were displaced from their own land.

In 2020, our Old Building was renamed with the Wadwurrung word ‘Merrya” which means looking forward in Wadwurrung language. This was a symbolic step representing MFG’s community’s willingness to learn from past mistakes and to take positive action as we move forward as a community.

Michelle Crofts

Principal MFGSC