St Brigid’s College - 80 Years of Mercy Education in the Hills

During 2009, we express our gratitude for 80 years of Mercy education in the hills of Perth and renew our personal commitment to be of service not only to St Brigid’s but also to the local, national and international community.  We are a part of a larger vision, bigger dreams.
St Brigid’s was established in 1929 with 38 students.  At that time of the Great Depression, the College’s Mercy values and practices gave hope, security and a sense of purpose.  This continues to characterise St Brigid’s College.
We know that in our time, we are being seriously challenged.  A weakened economy is placing enormous pressures on families, communities, and the whole world.  Homes, farms and businesses have been lost.  Schools have closed down as families and communities have been destroyed.  Through technology in our lounge rooms, we see our young people fighting in war zones around the world and we learn how we are indeed all connected.  The wasteful way in which we use energy threatens the earth.  Sports are marred by violence and hatred.  The media often paints unrealistic and dehumanizing pictures of what it means to be a person fully alive.  These challenges are real.  We as members of St Brigid’s College are meeting these challenges and striving to continue to provide hope, security and a sense of purpose for our children.  
Our journey of 80 years has been taken by risk-takers and those who make things happen, but it has been made possible by ordinary women and men, religious, mums and dads, teachers, support staff and friends of St Brigid’s who quietly offered their work to provide the best for the young in their care.  In particular, we recognize and express our appreciation of the work of our Mercy Sisters who sacrificed their personal ambitions and family lives to serve others.  Our Mercy Sisters have shown us how ordinary people with our own idiosyncrasies and gifts can become people for others and lead fulfilling lives.
With this legacy, we continue the journey today.  In 2009, St Brigid’s College is a beautiful, heritage listed landmark in Lesmurdie, Western Australia, the biggest employer in the Shire of Kalamunda, a school that continues to meet the diverse needs of young people from Kindergarten to Year 12.  Our student population continues to increase reaching over 1300.  Our staff members are productive, creative and generous.  Our parents are supportive and loving.  Our children are curious and hard working.  Therefore, our capacity remains undiminished.  Together we are finding new ways of meeting emerging challenges. 
Recently, for example, St Brigid’s College became the first Catholic school in Western Australia to be authorized as an International Baccalaureate World School for the middle years.  This highly regarded program recognizes differences between students and supports them to develop broad international perspectives that equip them for the global village in which they will live and play.  In 2009, we are examining whether this program should be extended to the Junior School.
However, the success of our school has always depended not just on its size, its facilities or even its quality learning opportunities but on its vitality of spirit and its values– of mercy, courage, honesty, inclusivity, excellence, gratitude, respect - because these are the surest route to our common good.  Those ideals still light the world.  We will not give them up because they are too difficult to achieve.  We are the keepers of this legacy.  Guided by these principles, we can meet emerging challenges. The knowledge that God calls on us to shape an unknown future is the source of our confidence.

Please click here for St Brigid's College School Performance information