What is Special Character?
We are a Catholic College. We base our values on Christianity, based in Scripture (that’s the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments) and governed by the teachings and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.
We have a College motto, Mercy and Wisdom (Misericordia et Sapientia). St Catherine’s College was founded by the Sisters of Mercy and is named after St Catherine of Siena, who worked for the Church and the needy a long time ago. We have a strong focus on justice and this is reflected on the principle charity group working in the school, the Mercy Crew. The Crew supports Vinnies and the charity of St Vincent de Paul, Caritas (the Catholic aid agency) and Amnesty International.
The Crew has also raised funds for Oxfam’s Fair Trade, Volunteer Service Abroad, child sponsorship through World Vision and other activities. The four Houses in the College also choose mission activity at the start of the year and support their chosen mission in Terms One and Two in particular.
We have prayers in class, prayers in Whanau time, prayers at Assembly, in fact we pray any time we feel like it. The Staff also share prayers and reflections every morning. We always gather to pray when someone faces a tragedy in their family. We have liturgies in small groups and for the whole school, and we have scheduled Masses. Each year group has a spiritual retreat during the year.
We try to be kind, caring and inclusive. Consequently, we do not tolerate bullying, theft, intimidation, physical violence or abuse of any kind. We are a multicultural school and we accept girls of all nationalities into our community. We like to dress up during International Week.
Scripture tells us to love God and to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. This is what St Catherine’s girls aim to do. And that is what Special Character is all about.
Mrs Jenny O’Brien,
Director of Religious Studies
