“Divorced from God’s external and immutable law established before the founding of the rising suns, man’s power is evil no matter the noble words with which it is employed or the motives urged when enforcing it.”
Marcus Cicero (106BC – 43BC)

As an independent school, Assumption Convent strives to provide an educational experience that is world class, both in academics and in extra-murals.  Whilst we must fulfil this challenging task, it is not the primary role of our school.  As a Catholic school, our primary role is to inculcate Gospel values based on God’s love.  The fundamental truths of our Christian faith proclaim core values for life; qualities like honesty, generosity, tolerance, prudence, patience, diligence, commitment and loyalty.
This noble goal is not easily achieved as we live in a world of ‘Generation Me’.  It is often self-centred and narcissistic.  Many strive to win at all costs.  In commenting on the recent riots that rocked England, historian and journalist, Max Hasting, refers to the ‘feral children’ who wreaked havoc in the cities.  He notes that “in the non-judgemental culture of modern Britain”, these young people “ who wrecked swathes of property, burnt vehicles and terrorised commuters, have no moral compass to make them susceptible to guilt or shame.  These kids are what they are because nobody makes them be anything different or better… they simply exist.”

The mission of Assumption Convent is therefore to be counter-cultural; to challenge our secular world’s cynicism; to challenge a growing acceptance and tolerance  for corruption, hypocrisy and consumerism.  Whilst our daily lives sometimes involve ‘struggling in a struggling world’, we owe it to our children to reveal the beauty and joy of God’s creation.  We owe it to our children to reveal God’s special purpose in their lives.  Educationalist, Jonathan Jansen, calls on our schools to teach about “humanity, healing and hope”.  He coins a lovely phrase; “uncommon valour”.  Uncommon valour is about encouraging our pupils “to think and do things differently”.  In always choosing good over evil, they must have the courage, “to take stinging criticism and risk isolation from the “in-group”.

At Assumption Convent our goal is to help our pupils to develop into thoroughly decent and well-adjusted young adults; young adults who will not compromise their integrity, who are polite, kind, hard-working and reliable.  They should be well-groomed and well spoken.  We help them become self motivated with the ability to think critically and creatively and to solve problems.  We wish to provide our matriculants with the ethics, values and skills to excel in their tertiary studies, and in their future careers.  It is possible to be honest and achieve great success.

NEVILLE WORKMAN : PRINCIPAL