The first ‘hope and aspiration’ of the Catholic Schools Office Vision Statement is that our schools will:
Be centred on the person of Jesus and grounded in the Scriptures, in the teachings, traditions of faith and prayer in the Catholic Church and the witness of its past and present saints and scholars.
Therefore, the challenge for Catholic schools is to create and build communities where all members are invited into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
To this end, schools and the CSO itself focus on and celebrate prayer, liturgy and immersions in tune with the Church’s liturgical/seasonal cycle. Other celebrations, prayers, liturgies and event specific to the needs/traditions of the school (and CSO) are also acknowledged.
Liturgies
Three major diocesan liturgies are celebrated each year at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Newcastle West:
Called to Serve Mass
This is a celebration and acknowledgement of all staff – teaching and non-teaching – and especially those who have been involved for 25 years, and those who have received the Monsignor Frank Coolahan Award for Excellence.
Catholic Schools Week Mass
This service celebrates our Catholic school system with particular reference to our Diocese.
Mass Celebrating Diverse Learning
The Mass Celebrating Diverse Learning recognises the unique gifts and joy that students with diverse needs bring to our schools, while honouring their dignity as a gift from God.
Immersions & Retreats
Immersion programs enable senior students, teachers and on occasions parents, to discover firsthand the Church at work amongst the poorest of the poor or an opportunity to reflect on the charism of the founding religious order of the school. These immersion opportunities are often a transformative experience for those participating.
The benefits for our present generation to walk in the footsteps of the founders of the educational communities that have provided us with a rich heritage are immeasurable.
To see disciples of the Church working in various communities across the globe provides motivation and a vision for the realisation of a just world, where the dignity of the human person is realised.
The following are examples of immersion programs which have taken place or continue to take place:
- The Catholic Schools Office under the leadership of the Director travel to Kenya to see the work of the Catholic Church in a developing country
- St Pius X High School, Adamstown conducted a Year 10 Immersion Program to Vietnam
- St Francis Xavier’s College, Hamilton engage in a Marist Program in Cambodia and/or East Timor
- St Catherine’s Catholic College, Singleton in the past have visited Siena to study the origins of their founder St Catherine of Siena. They have also visited Mercy International House in Dublin – the home of the Sisters of Mercy who founded St Catherine’s College
- St Clare’s High School, Taree travel to PNG.
Retreat Programs
Student Retreat and Reflection Days
Retreat and reflection days form part of the distinctive character of Catholic schools. They recognise the individuality and dignity of each student by fostering their unique potential and spirituality. These occasions are a call for deep reflection where prayer, liturgy and scripture are at the centre of the experience.
All schools in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle offer a program of retreat and reflection days to enrich the lives of our young people. The aim of this is to honour the development of the whole person: physically, intellectually, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. This is a mandate provided to all schools in the Melbourne Declaration on educational goals for young people in 2008. This societal goal and Catholic principle is served uniquely through retreat and reflection opportunities for the formation of students.
The retreat programs and reflection days provide an inimitable opportunity for exploration of the students personal and diverse faith. These experiences enable students to understand each other in a new light and experience closeness to God based on personal encounter with the person of Jesus. By placing the overall educational endeavour in this context, it recognises a fundamental principle which underpins Catholic education: “children’s flourishing is an expression of God’s grace.” (McEvoy, J. 2015, p.9 Children Close to the Mystery of God.)
Some examples of retreat and reflection days include:
- Year 6 Young Leaders Retreat Day
- Year 7 Belonging and Orientation Reflection Days
- Year 10, 11, 12 Live-in Retreat Experiences
- Senior Student Leadership Retreat (Stage 6)
