APRE NEWS

Dear Parents and Carers,

What a busy week this has been! You will see through the multitude of photos the various activities that have taken place during Catholic Education Week with the highlight for me being the extraordinary number of visitors we had for Grandparents' Day on Tuesday. Thank you to everyone involved in any way and a special thanks to everyone who sent along a plate of food, even when they couldn't attend. We had plenty of food but not a lot left over...not surprising with the hungry boys and girls around.

With the focus on Catholic Education I thought it was timely to share a document recently published by Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office...

Catholic Identity Position Paper:

Toowoomba Catholic Schools’ mission is academic success for all students within a distinctly Catholic environment. Our distinct Catholic identity emerges from how we act to authentically bring this mission to life in a way which connects with and provides meaning to the lives of students and assists them to discover and live their Christian vocation.

Identity is expressed in governance structures and procedures; in curriculum and the learning environment; in the formation of staff to support, teach and lead; in strategic planning and community culture; the wellbeing of students; and the engagement of parents/carers, parish and wider community.

The evolving context of our times and the changing nature of learners and their teachers requires thoughtful discernment, renewal and recontextualisation of our mission and identity.
Background and supporting evidence Catholic schools, with parents and parishes, educate and form students to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In a Catholic school, students learn about and experience the Catholic faith, its history, teachings, rituals and culture. A Catholic education is an invitation to warmly embrace the contemporary world with a Catholic imagination and a hope-filled view of the human person and all of creation.

Inspired by the challenge to advance the reign of God through the ministry of education, our schools become beacons of a future full of hope and promise for students. Catholic schools educate young people academically, spiritually, ethically and religiously for life in today’s rapidly changing world. In doing so Catholic schools commit to the greatest act of social justice possible – a world class education. Drawing on the wisdom and inspiration of the many founding stories within our schools we cultivate a narrative which privileges the Gospel message and looks for new points of encounter for young people to construct meaning, purpose and values for life.

Catholic schools are distinctive places of both education and evangelisation. The Catholic school is a repository of Catholic culture within which young people confidently shape and develop their own personal identity. We are called to challenge whatever is not life-giving in our culture and bring about Christ’s mission. Christ’s mission provides a compelling foundation of human goodness and dignity sustained by a fundamental belief that each one of us is created in the image and likeness of God.

Being created in the image and likeness of God accords everyone an equal and inherent dignity. We believe in an innate original goodness and a universally shared dignity. This belief shapes a hope-filled and life-giving outlook on life for self, others and the created world.

Being created in the image and likeness of God gives everyone unlimited potential. We are motivated by the desire for a successful and flourishing life, to engage and educate the whole person and to use their gifts and talents for the good of all.

Being created in the image and likeness of God opens to everyone the promise of fullness of life, a meaningful and fulfilling life. This generative force inspires yearning, growing and changing for the good.

This is just a first part of the document. I will share the rest at a later date.

Floral Display in the Cathedral for the Carnival of Flowers: 

Most of you would be aware that each year, we set up a display in the Cathedral for the Carnival of Flowers Week. So again we are looking for someone to “take charge/ be the creative director “of this. You don’t need floristry skills yourself but we usually try and involve someone (parent/ grandparent/ friend) who does as you need to know what flowers to order and actually set up the display. If this is an area of interest to you, please contact me via the school office. 

Thank you and enjoy your weekend,

Judy