A Welcome Address by the Principal on the Visit of Rev. Fr. Jimmy Bartolo, SJ, Secretary for Education, Society of Jesus, to St. Mary’s School, ICSE, ISC and International
Principal’s Address on the Visit of Father Jimmy - St. Mary’s School, ICSE, ISC and International.
Respected Father Jimmy Bartolo sj, Secretary for Education, Society of Jesus, dear colleagues, and my dear students, it is a privilege and a joy to welcome you to St. Mary’s School, ICSE, ISC and International. Your presence connects our school community with the larger Jesuit mission—a mission that crosses borders and cultures, yet remains deeply attentive to each person.
It is with joy and gratitude that we welcome you to St. Mary’s. Your presence offers us an opportunity to share how we seek to make the mission of Jesuit education a living experience in our classrooms, our relationships, and our service to the wider community.
At the heart of our educational vision is a question: How can we help our students become people of ability, integrity, compassion, and purpose? Academic excellence remains central to our work, and we seek to give that excellence direction through values, discernment, and a commitment to others.
This aspiration finds practical expression in our C4 programme—C stands for Competence, Compassion, Conscience, and Commitment. Its creation has catalysed values education at St. Mary’s, providing a structured space in which students experience, practise, and reflect upon the values we hope they will carry through life.
Extending from Classes 5 to 12, this credit-based programme follows a purposeful monthly rhythm.
The first week is dedicated to DIY— “Do It Yourself”, with an emphasis on vocational training and practical learning. Students discover the dignity of labour, develop useful skills, and experience the satisfaction of creating something through their own effort. These experiences nurture independence, resourcefulness, and confidence.
In the second week, distinguished alumni share their life journeys. Their stories of achievement, setbacks, difficult choices, and perseverance bring life skills into meaningful focus. These encounters help students understand that resilience, adaptability, relationships, and sound judgement are essential to navigating today’s world.
The third week focuses on the best practices of Jesuit education. Students engage with the preferential option for the poor, the Sustainable Development Goals, ecological consciousness, and care for our Mother Earth. They explore ways of reaching out to the marginalised, accompanying young people, and deepening their relationship with the Divine. We want them to discover that faith finds expression in compassion, justice, and service.
The final week is devoted to journaling, introspection, and discernment. Students pause to consider what they have learned, what has challenged them, and how these experiences might influence their choices. This reflective space brings the month’s learning together and helps it take root in their lives.
Our collaboration with the NGO Prateek strengthens this formation through child advocacy and rights-based education. It encourages students to recognise the dignity and rights of every child and to understand the inequalities that exist alongside their own lives. We seek to help them move from awareness to responsible participation, asking: What can I do to help build a more just and caring community?
Our partnerships and twinning initiatives with less privileged schools give this question a human face. Through the joy of giving, shared activities, and welcoming children into our school, we hope to build relationships of mutual respect and belonging. The message we wish every visiting child to receive is simple: “You are part of us.”
This spirit of accompaniment is equally important within our own school. Staff members mentor and accompany individual students, particularly those who find academic learning challenging. By taking a personal interest in their progress and well-being, teachers help children experience the reassurance that someone believes in them and will walk beside them.
Our vibrant counselling centre, remedial teaching, and commitment to inclusion support this daily work. Cura personalis—care for the whole person—asks us to understand each learner’s circumstances, recognise individual needs, and create opportunities for every child to participate and grow.
Our Eco Club extends this care to our common home. It encourages students to connect environmental awareness with everyday responsibility: conserving resources, reducing waste, respecting living things, and recognising the impact of their choices on others. Caring for Mother Earth becomes a way of expressing gratitude, responsibility, and solidarity with future generations.
Our holistic approach also gives games, art, and craft a place within the mainstream curriculum. These experiences help children discover talents, express emotions, work together, and develop confidence. They affirm our belief that education must engage the mind, the heart, the imagination, and the body.
This educational vision comes alive on a larger stage through Immaculata, our inter-school event, which brings together more than twenty schools over one day of participation in performing arts, fine arts, mystery, and sports.
Immaculata provides an arena for practising the skills of the twenty-first century. Students learn entrepreneurship, creativity, time management, strategic planning, collaboration, and conflict resolution. They experience the responsibility of making decisions, solving problems, and delivering on commitments.
In a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and overwhelming streams of information, they must also learn to question what they encounter, evaluate evidence, and distinguish truth from appearance. We seek to nurture this discernment alongside their creativity and technical confidence.
Immaculata has become a much-anticipated celebration of talent and student leadership. It carries the legacy of St. Mary’s through what we strive to embody as “perfect commitment”: wholehearted preparation, responsibility towards one another, attention to detail, and the willingness to give our best in service of a shared purpose.
Father Jimmy, these initiatives are sustained by the dedication of our management, teachers, counsellors, support staff, IT, office Staff, parents, and students. Together, we seek to build a school where excellence is generous, faith is lived, and every child is known and valued.
We ask for your guidance and blessings as we continue this mission. May our students grow into people who think deeply, discern wisely, care sincerely, and act courageously—carrying the spirit of St. Mary’s, spirit of Magis, into every community they serve.
Welcome, Father, to the St. Mary’s family.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam—for the greater glory of God
Mr. Elias Coelho
Principal
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