Director of Identity 

Today we finish our Spirit and Service Journeys with our Year 7s as part of their New Beginnings programme. Our Spiritual Journey and Our Service Journey introduce all boys to our Catholic Identity and the story and actions of our Founder Blessed Edmund Rice who, inspired by the Gospels lived a life of service and deep faith.

Our Spiritual Journey brings the boys into Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel where they are introduced to our Catholic Identity and the story of our Founder Blessed Edmund Rice. Our Parish priest Fr Suresh GnanaPragash has visited them every day during this time, just to introduce himself and chat informally with them, and to tell some great ‘dad’ jokes! 

Afterwards they visit the History Centre where College Archivists Graeme Rainbow and Bruce Woods show them through the museum space and give them a very informing presentation of the history and traditions of St Virgil’s College. 

The afternoon is spent connecting with our Celtic origins by experiencing our Endemic Species Labyrinth and learning about its meaning and practice. Throughout these afternoons we have been joined by Brother Peter Flint cfc who was the original architect of our labyrinth and also of our solar observatory, where he gives the boys a great lesson in astronomy.

Our Service Journey begins at our Tujenge Mary Rice Centre where we share the stories of the lives of our brothers and sisters in Kibera, Nairobi and reflect upon our long and profound relationship with this very special community. There’s also some time for some Mary Rice Centre ball games and rope jumping before we head down to the Themeda grasslands and meet Mark ‘Bushy Smith and Bo, to begin some serious maintenance work on our amazing mountain bike track. After lunch we have been fortunate to have the Caritas Evangelisation Team, led by Leanne Pritchard, visit us every afternoon of New Beginnings to help skill our boys in advocacy and action and getting them ready for our Project Compassion launch next Wednesday.

This important dimension of the Identity Formation of our newest members to the College would not have been possible without the valuable input of the many volunteers, staff and the Learning Enhancement team who have worked with passion and commitment for the last two weeks in planning and delivering these important experiences. We sincerely thank them for their care and wisdom.