Greetings from your Alma Mater !

21st December 2012

Dear Past Pupils,

Greetings from your Alma Mater !

I hope that as the year draws to a close and a new one dawns upon us and as we consider the impact of a man who was born close to 2000 years ago on our earth, you can look back with gratitude on blessings both personal and shared with family and friends. I pray that the Spirit of the Divine may enhance our own spirits and result in a progressively more humane and civilized world.

I thank all of you who have contacted me over the last few months either by visiting school or through the internet or phone ! I have been assigned to many of our Christian Brothers schools and I have never experienced more frequent visits by past pupils to the school ! Congratulations to you for keeping up the contact ! This is a huge encouragement to me personally.

I am happy to inform you that, thanks in a big way to your encouragement, the school has proceeded on a course of development.

We have applied to the Council of the Indian School Certificate Examinations for affiliation for the XI and XII (Science and Commerce streams). The affiliation is still to be received. We hope to have the inspection in the first of January. We have a fair amount of preparation especially in terms of readying the laboratory space (the Board requires three separate laboratories ! for Physics, Chemistry and Biology) and purchasing library books. We will need all of the three months before the Class XI admissions (hopefully) take place to have all in place.

We have also decided to introduce Class 1 for Day scholars from 2013.

Given the condition of the now 105 years infrastructure due to age, the impact of the cyclone and earthquake of the last two years - we have had to take up the following maintenance works : repair of the Gym, the front of the Main Building (in which the Junior Staff room, Junior Coordinator’s office, Classes 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B and toilets for Ladies will be placed), the repair of the kitchen building – all which have suffered significantly from the weather and the earthquake; the renovation of the students toilets; the painting of the interior of all classrooms, boxrooms and dormitories, the repair of and painting of all roofs, the repair of drainage in front of the school (which has lead to the buckling of the retaining wall), the maintenance of the old school hospital building (we realize that sooner rather than later this part of the school will have to be replaced, but we there are more pressing works to be seen to at the present) and the repair of Mount Carmel (also affected by the earthquake).

When you visit you will notice a lot more “blue” on the buildings ! I hope that satisfies those who have been complaining about a lot of other colours noticed ! However, we will feel truly blue if we have the same colour even inside the buildings – so you will see a splash of colours within !

The wonderful commemorative stone for our three Olympians which you donated at the time of the Centenary has been erected beside the front gardens, just as the steps to the first feel go down – it will stand out as you approach the front of the school from the road.

So, I hope you are convinced that the Management and administration do listen to your suggestions and try as best we can to respond appropriately.

I look forward to your assistance, as you expressed, – the School Bus (promised by the Past Pupils from Kolkata and Sikkim), assistance for the painting of the exterior of the school (Sikkim past pupils), donation of table tennis tables (Kolkata past pupils), assistance for the renovation of the kitchen and Dining Room (Kolkata and other visiting Past pupils) and the setting up of a fund for assistance to deserving students who needed financial assistance.

I wish all of you and your families well.

I hope that we will meet and interact, fruitfully, more often.

May we continue to “Do all things Well”

With the kindest regards,

Bro.E.L.Miranda.c.f.c.

The above greetings has been sent by Bro. E L Miranda, Principal of Goethals