GRIT is what it takes! At Newman College, we designed a program to enable the development of character traits that help us thrive in the world. We call it GRIT (Guts, Resilience, Initiative, Teamwork). These are the traits identified as hallmarks of successful people and qualities that future employers are looking for. Now, more than ever, these qualities are what is needed to face all that the world has thrown at us at any given moment, and not just once.
With the bushfires in 2019, followed by the pandemic in 2020, and major flooding in 2021, we’ve had to accept, adapt to and reassess our situations in each potentially disastrous event.
We’ve seen:
- Guts – from fighting fires, to wet road trips home, and evacuated homes.
- Initiative – in switching to online learning, facing last-minute changes to sporting activities, retreats, assessments, and even graduation – rescheduled and redesigned.
- Team – working together as a student group, staff, and whole community, rebuilding and replenishing those low on food, shelter, and morale. Making and delivering food for community members in need.
- But most of all – RESILIENCE – by showing up, engaging, thinking of others, and taking it in our stride.
Our annual GRIT Day is a team-building event that aims to encourage GRIT in individual students and staff. We’ve been lucky enough not to have to cancel this event over the past three challenging years. Encouraging and developing traits such as – guts, resilience, initiative, and teamwork is an ongoing process that will help our College members dig deep in their future endeavours and challenges.
In the meantime, we have been fortunate to experience the spirit of a community where true grit is thriving!
The above image of Boundary St, looking north, was taken outside our College entrance on Saturday 20 March 2021. Although access to our College was flooded, fortunately, our school facilities were not affected.