Two very important virtues we seek to develop in our young people for living and learning are growing to be intentional in the way they live and use the resources of the earth, guided by conscience; and prophetic in the example they set to others.

The busy-ness of life can sometimes feel overwhelming. It is no different for our young people: demands made by schoolwork, assessments, homework, examinations, the many activities to which their parents ferry them, peer pressure and social media, and just growing up and finding their place in an increasingly complex and fractured world. Of course there is excitement and often fulfilment in all this. But the pressure to conform and go along with what everyone else thinks and says and does is immense. The effect sometimes is to lose control – a feeling that this whirl of activity is not allowing me to be me.

Living intentionally is not about our young people stepping away from the world but is rather about trying to achieve a balance where they know what is important for them and what they want to spend their time and energies doing.

Living intentionally can only happen if they are attentive to their experiences, noticing the influences which drive them along and discerning which are good and which not so good, guided by conscience.

It means living ethically, with a set of values.

Our school offers the model of Jesus Christ as a person who lived intentionally and prophetically. His words, actions and example reflect his values. However much the values of the world, the assumptions and prejudices of those around us, seem to be unassailable, Christ calls us in a different direction to a life characterized by compassion, faith, hope and, above all, love.

Trying to live in an intentional and prophetic way is what ultimately makes us human.