Dean of Identity | Mr Charles Brauer

A year celebrated

This year, Terrace Gentlemen have been continuing their connection to the four Touchstones of Liberating Education, Gospel Spirituality, Inclusive Community and Justice and Solidarity. Across retreats, camps and formation days, this connection has been visualised in the form of coloured sands. Individually, they are representative of the person – their gifts, their strengths, their weaknesses, their hopes and their challenges. When poured together, we are representative of Ubuntu – I am, because we are.

Our Years 5 and 7 students have come to understand that they are a part of the Terrace Family because we are a place of welcome. They have learned about being called to action and why it is important to be in service to others. Shalom – we welcome and share a vision of peace and solidarity with each member of the Terrace Family. We serve another so that one may be liberated. "If anyone wants to be first, [they] must be the very last, and the servant of all."  

We are a community of hope. Hope for the individual and the family. Hope through a creation of a future based on the common values we share – knowledge, humility and wisdom. From the guidance of the Emmaus people in our life, we hear the call to be that person in someone else’s life. We are called – to act justly. 

We are a community who serves for the common good. In the words of St Francis – ‘For it is in giving, that we receive’. We are called to be in service to each other to drive change. The common good is often assumed and so we challenge ourselves to not just ‘talk the talk', but to do in voice and action. We are called – to love tenderly. 

We are a community because we walk in solidarity with each other.  We listen, we share, we hear, we do. Solidarity is about coming together for a common purpose and, as a family, we are called to come together for many reasons – our studies, sport, culture, Houses, Friendship Groups, our community. May we know that we are never alone in our journey. We are called – to walk humbly with our God. 

We have walked together this year with the aim to be All In – to be committed to each other through many aspects that make up our dynamic community. Whether it has been on the sporting fields, with our Houses, Immersions or classes, we have pushed ourselves to try, to do more. And as we start our day with prayer, we finish each school day with our College Prayer – a call to be AllIn. To make our hearts so human. To allow others to feel at home with us. May we know that for every ending, it is the beginning of the next step of our journey.