Foundation

At the beginning of a grand endeavour, before you know that it will be one, is always the whispering of a prayer, the enunciation of hope rather than the renunciation of the past. I remember these words from 1995, uttered by a senior member of the Church: "It is a school founded on faith, faith in the promise of young persons, faith in the importance of education and faith in the future, no matter how unpromising or insignificant the start."

These are sentiments not from a citadel of wyverns, but from a home on a hill; they are words spoken under the banner of 'Simple dans ma vertu, forte dans mon devoir'. I first heard those words when I was a young teacher, and I carried them in my heart. I quoted them in my Master's dissertation. I told myself that this was how a school should be blessed, by founding words that were based on a sure foundation.

I thank God for such things. I realise that schools, like nations, rise and fall; yet schools are unlike nations in that they are supposed to benefit all the people in them, not breaking any, but improving the lot of all — not by accident or incident, but by deliberation and as much wisdom as God might grant.