Principal Report
Father Jaison and Father Steven Farewell
It is with great sadness that Father Jaison and Father Steven will both be leaving the parish this month. Father Jaison will leave Australia to join his family in the United States for one year to help take care of his mother who is recovering from a fall. Originally from Hobart, Father Steven will head back there to work with the Archbishop. We offer our gratitude and best wishes to both Father Jaison and Father Steven for their service in our parish. The St Patrick’s community will miss them both very much.
Catholic Schools?
Catholic Schools in Australia began when religious brothers and sisters, and priests came to Australia from Europe and together had the shared task of providing education to the poor, helping the sick and those living in poverty. In the decades after the 1900s, the Catholic school system expanded in an effort to make Catholic schooling available to all Catholic children in Australia.
Why do we have Catholic Schools?
Catholic schools contribute to the Church’s mission to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. They offer the Catholic community and the people of Australia an educational foundation for the full development of the person - intellectually, spiritually, physically, morally and emotionally. Parents have a right to choose schooling for their children in a free and democratic society which reflects their own values, beliefs and hopes. Australian Catholic schools have proven over successive generations that they contribute significantly to the development of the Australian community.
Who are Catholic Schools for?
- Catholic children who, through baptism, have a right to an education in the Catholic faith in a Catholic school.
- Parents and guardians who wish to entrust their children’s future to Catholic schools because of their explicit goals and acknowledged educational quality.
What is distinctive about Catholic Schools?
- Promoting a particular view of the person, the community, the nation and the world, centred on the person and teachings of Jesus Christ.
- Challenging students to find, through God, meaning and value in their lives.
- Forming an integral part of a church community in which all generations live, worship and grow together.
- Critiquing our culture, and challenging community values, as an integral part of their Gospel mission.
- Aiming to be welcoming and reflective communities whose most distinctive sign is the discernment of God’s presence and their spiritual life.
- Espousing values which unite Australia by promoting a citizenship infused by a commitment to social justice.
- Encouraging students to develop an international perspective on their own country and how their country can identify and respond justly to its international obligations.
- Giving priority to educating the spiritually and financially poor and being their advocates.
What do Catholic Schools do?
Catholic schools:
- challenge students to discover God and to make value of their lives;
- encourage students to appreciate the intrinsic worth of who they are now and where they are now;
- utilise students’ experience as the basis for developing a synthesis of faith and culture, and of faith and life;
- seek to provide a high-quality academic and vocational education for all their students, giving due emphasis to the fundamental literacy and numeracy skills required for both learning and life;
- actively and systematically promote the faith development of students in a conducive environment; provide religious education programs which make students knowledgeable about their faith; pray and celebrate the Eucharist in community;
- give priority to activities involving active community service and issues of social justice;
- strive to be a welcoming and effective community and provide a genuine experience of community for students, teachers, parents and priests; form part of an active ministry which reaches out to parents and responds to their expectations;
Information retrieved from:
Australian Catholic Schools And Why We Have Them? What Do They Aim To Achieve?
Have a great week
Carmen Aylott
Principal