…Persevere faithfully and joyfully in the work begun…take care of
all your children, having each and every one engraved on your mind and
heart, not only their names, but also their situation and character…
St. Angela Merici, Foundress, Ursuline Order, 1535.
To be enrolled in an Ursuline school is to be incorporated into an
endeavour that stretches back five centuries and reaches across the
frontiers of today’s world. From the Asia Pacific region of Australia
through China, across Europe from Russia to Spain, into Africa from
Senegal to South Africa and across the Atlantic to North and South
America, are to be found Ursuline institutions engaging in formal and
informal education at all levels according to the needs of people.
A long history and breadth of vision characterize the Ursuline
educational experience which focuses on the integral development of
each individual to that maturity which reaches fulfillment in reaching
out to those less privileged and finds happiness in rendering service.
To quote a famous ex-alumna, Valedictorian in Dallas, 1982: “Remember
that you are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate
person, just as you were helped.” (Melinda Gates quoted in FORTUNE
Magazine, January. 2008.)
Our school in Barbados celebrated its centenary in 1994. At one time
it provided boarding facilities for many of the islands and Venezuela.
In keeping with the times it moved into the scientific age and now the
technological era. But always the development of the human person
remains central, rooted in the family and society in ever widening
circles, and ascending upwards to the faith dimension which claims
eternity as its final goal.
We want our students not only to become good citizens of our country
and region, but to be able to take their place on the world scene – to
be as at home in visiting a poor hovel as in being able to enjoy the
music of the great operas. We challenge them to become critical
thinkers and to dare to be different.
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