As ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓÆµ’s College celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2018, we felt it was a crucial time to revisit and redefine our mission to -raise fine boys to the status of great men-.

We asked ourselves, what is a great man? How do we define greatness?

To answer these challenging questions the College embarked upon a deep, 12-month community consultation process aimed at clearly identifying expectations around the words -great man-.

During this process in-depth interviews were held asking staff, Old Collegians, parents and, most importantly, current students what they thought it meant to be a great man of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓÆµ’s College.

Today, at the 2018 Welcome Assembly to commence the school year, our 2018 student leaders including College Captain Sam Williams and his Vice Captains Tom Clark and Dean O’Brien launched a short film which encapsulates the results of this review.

-This video is the culmination of a student-driven process which began with meetings attended by students from Year 7 to 12,- Sam Williams said.

-It contains the concepts, the values and the standards that we, as the student body, believe are fundamental to the spirit of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓÆµ’s College.-

Tom Clark said the student leaders were determined to ensure the values raised in the film are carried through to the College’s 1400 students persistently throughout the year.

-The term -‘great man’ here at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ÊÓÆµ’s is not one to be used casually or sparingly, rather it shall be a term which causes us to think, to question and examine why someone could be considered as a great man,- Tom said.

-The video can be seen as a coat of arms -“ a set of standards set by the boys, set for the boys.-

Dean O’Brien said he felt an -overwhelming sense of immense pride- when he first saw the film and hoped all students would share in its messages.

-Due to the fact that the ideas central to being a -‘great man’ have come directly from us, the student body, it is important that we take ownership of these words and turn them into actions,- Dean said.

-This is the standard and level of accountability that is expected of us as Paddy Boys both inside the walls of the College, and beyond.-

The video can be seen at .

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