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- Back to School Happy Snaps
- A Sweet Recess at Lumen Christi
- Canberra Goulburn Students at the Australian Catholic Youth Festival
- St. Bede's Artwork Displayed in Japan
- Happenings at St Joseph's, Bombala
- In the Hot Seat with Principal Mick Lowe
- School Mural Acknowledges Wiradjuri Tribes
- A Hothouse for 21st Century Thinkers
- Merici Immersion
Don't miss our galleries featuring students returning to school accross New South Wales and Canberra below. Is your School featured?
Welcome back to more than 24,000 students across the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn. Our 1000 classrooms across Catholic schools in our region are again brimming with the joy, wonder and love of children learning guided by talented and committed teachers and principals.
Trinity Catholic Primary School, Murrumburrah
St Joseph's, Boorowa
St Joseph's, Adelong
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St Mary's Primary School, Moruya
St Mary's Primary School, Young
Hennessy Catholic College, Young
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Combined Opening Catholic Schools Mass
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Lumen Christi Catholic College students have raised $300 for Caritas Australia by serving delicious pancakes during Shrove Tuesday on the 13th of February.
Lumen's Hospitality and Food Technology classes provided their school of approximately 700 students with a feast of pancakes topped with maple syrup and ice-cream during Tuesday’s Recess.
Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Pancake Tuesday, is held the day before Ash Wednesday each year to mark the first day of Lent. Many Countries celebrate this day by consuming pancakes and is observed by many Christian denominations, including Catholics, Anglicans and Methodists.
A special thanks goes to teachers Kelly Evans, Ingrid Thompson, Jemima Collins and Sandra Foley for their management and catering skills - not to mention the enthusiastic students who assisted with the mighty occasion.
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Over the school holidays 170 Youth Ministry students from the Archdiocese eagerly travelled to Sydney to participate in the Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF).
The festival exceeded the expectations of the staff and students that attended, including Hennessey Catholic College student, Bridget Summerfield.
“The experience was overwhelming and I didn’t know what to expect, but I was amazed at how many people attended and was surprised to see so many young people expressing their faith,” she said.
Bridget joined approximately 20,000 young people from around Australia who attended the event to celebrate Catholic faith and officially launch the ‘Year of Youth’.
Trinity Catholic College Goulburn student Sarah Dunne said that the presentations, performances and workshops were inspirational.
“Being able to talk to people that share the same faith, making friends in the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese and talking to people at stalls are all treasured encounters that I will remember for the rest of my life,” she said.
Sarah’s teacher Katie Byrne said that being able to openly express and explore her faith in the presence of thousands of young people and church leaders of Australia was invigorating for the heart, mind and spirit.
“The energy at the plenaries was incredible, while the workshops and bishop discussion panels were thought-provoking,” she said.
“ACYF gave our young people an opportunity to discuss contemporary social issues from the Catholic perspective.”
Read LessStudents from St. Bede’s Primary School in Braidwood are representing Australia, proudly displaying their works of art at Hamada Children’s Art Museum in Japan.
The artworks are a colourful array of self-portraits and expressive paintings from students aged 6 and 7, along with a large collaborative linocut print by a Year 5/6 class, aged 11 and 12.
Bombala Primary School Partners with Southeast Asia
St Joseph’s Primary School, Bombala has been given the rare opportunity to partner with a Vietnamese school to enable teachers and students to experience a new culture first-hand.
The Australia-ASEAN BRIDGE School Partnership Program allows teachers in both countries to visit their partner school and learn collaboratively about each other’s values, community and school life.
Principal Noeleen O’Neill said that the BRIDGE program will align closely with the School’s Fair Education, Project Learning and Global Education initiative that commenced in 2017.
“The BRIDGE program will open the eyes of our students, staff and families,” she said.
“Bombala is relatively isolated and our students and families have limited opportunities to learn about cultures and languages,”
“Our students and staff will gain a much deeper understanding of Vietnamese people, history and their culture.”
Through mutual support and interaction both face-to-face and online, teachers are able to develop an intercultural understanding of teaching and learning that is then reflected upon classroom curriculum.
St Joseph’s students will then connect regularly with the Vietnamese students to enable both schools to learn about each other’s way of life.
Teachers are able to share their professional experiences with the partnering School through participating in the classroom, engaging with parents, going on excursions and attending meetings.
Mrs O’Neill and Year 5/6 Teacher Sally Power are looking forward to being introduced to their ASEAN partner at a four-day professional learning program in Sydney in March.
Bombala Teacher Receives Excellence Award
A teacher at St Joseph’s Bombala has received recognition of her outstanding mentoring and creative teaching that has immersed students in real-life classroom projects.
Gillian Forrester was nominated for the John Barilaro Member for Monaro Excellence in Education Award by Principal Noeleen O’Neill for her passion and drive in implementing Project Based Learning with Year 3 and 4 students.
In her nomination, Ms O’Neill said that Ms Forrester sets high standards for herself as a professional and is always seeking ways to improve her practice.
“The learning that happens in Gillian’s classroom is the type of learning that children will always remember,” she said.
Using contemporary teachings, Ms Forrester’s students have been learning about children’s wellbeing and playgrounds through collaborative education, problem solving and creativity.
“Gillian’s students researched and visited local playgrounds and surveyed children from other schools to understand what children think is important,” said Ms O’Neill.
Gillian then invited the Local Council into her classroom to hear feedback from the students who have now begun building models of their personally designed playgrounds.
St Joseph’s will be inviting members of the community to come and see what the students have created with Ms Forrester’s assistance.
Identical Triplets Start Kindergarten
Bombala Primary School is excited to welcome identical triplets Liam, Nash and Kobi Guthrie to kindergarten this year. The boys are enjoying drawing, reading and climbing on the playground equipment. Teachers have their work cut out for them!
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From dad jokes to DJing, we got personal with St Mary's, Moruya Principal Mick Lowe for your reading pleasure.
Your nickname as a child: Burr
Your favourite food: Crumbed cutlets (yum!)
Favourite activity outside of school: Playing golf
Best thing about being a principal: Working with fantastic children and staff every day
Best thing about your school: The level of pastoral care offered to each and every individual at St Mary’s
The funniest thing that has happened at your school:After teaching a Maths lesson about the number of people at the party and if everyone shook hands how many handshakes would there be, I received a note from a parent who loved the punt, thanking me for showing his son how to box a trifecta.
A proud moment at St Mary’s Moruya: The way the children responded to the Vinnies appeal last year breaking all records for the donation of food items for the needy at Christmas
What do you love about your community: The children and parents appreciate what you do for their children and are very proud of the school
Your favourite Dad jokes of the moment:
1. Bacon and eggs walked into a bar. The bar man looked at them and said “Get out! We don’t serve breakfast here”.
2. Why does a Moon-rock taste better than an Earth-rock? Because it is a little meteor.
If you were not a Principal what work would you be doing? I have a great face for radio, so I would be a DJ on the air
St Mary’s Primary School and Hennessy Catholic College in New South Wales have been teaching a weekly cultural class as part of the School’s Indigenous Education Program for all year levels.
Students have been learning about Indigenous food and how rivers were an integral part of the ecosystem for the Wiradjuri people for sustaining the life of plants, animals and tribes.
Teachers Miss Hamilton and Miss Walker painted a mural of three rivers in Wiradjuri country – the Macquarie, Lachlan and Murrumbidgee. Staff and students were then invited to place a hand print on the mural to acknowledge the Wiradjuri’s people’s connection to the country and as a reminder that 'if you look after the land, it will look after you'.
The Indigenous Education Program has proved to be extremely beneficial for increasing appreciation and understanding for cultural practices and creating a sense of unity and pride between Indigenous and non-indigenous students.
10th Anniversary of The National Apology to the Stolen Generation
Catholic Education would like to acknowledge the 10th Anniversary of The National Apology to the Stolen Generation by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
On the 13th of February 2008, Mr Rudd made a formal apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples whose lives had been blighted by past Government policies of forced child removal and Indigenous assimilation.
The initial Inquiry that led to The Apology began in 1995, and 13 years later the passionate speech by Mr Rudd was a welcomed gesture of respect and acknowledgement of injustice for the Stolen Generations, in which many Australians share in the sorrow.
The rate of Indigenous child removal is higher today than at any point in Australia’s history, rising 65% since the National Apology. In an effort to address the ongoing trauma and to create a different future, The Healing Foundation was established in 2009.
To mark the 10-year anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, there will be a free concert on the lawns of Parliament House Tuesday 13 February 6pm to 10pm.
Read LessAt St Francis Xavier College, the home of world class achievers in STEM, hundreds of Catholic school teachers and principals from northern Canberra gathered to further enrich their Digital Technologies curriculum.
This energised learning community of 250 educators have formed the Belconnen Primary and Secondary Cluster to work in partnership with leaders in digital technology education from the University of Adelaide to design highly effective learning programs and experiences for thousands of children.
Through practical learning experiences Catholic school educators aim to future proof children by equipping them with critical thinking, problem solving and design thinking skills, not only in specialist STEM classes, but throughout the school day.
St John the Apostle (Florey) Principal Matthew Garton said the professional learning Day at SFX was very hands on with workshops on App Smashing (combining Apps in student learning), Google for education, coding, and a great variety of robotic devices to explore.
“A most powerful element in our education strategy is collaboration, which fosters excitement and continuous enhancement of classroom experiences for students," said Mr Garton.
"The 250 Digital Curriculum champions at this professional development event will take new ideas and opportunities for students into their Catholic schools throughout our region.
“We are creating a hothouse for 21st century thinkers- amongst both teachers and students."
Merici College students had the privilege of learning first-hand about the lives of remote Indigenous peoples in the September 2017 holiday break when they volunteered at a community on the Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia.
The group was the first-ever to experience the Indigenous Immersion Program offered by the College, which creates opportunities for students to engage in real situations, at the same time addressing community needs.
In partnership with Catholic Mission, the group of six students and two teachers assisted at a school holiday camp run by Save the Children in the remote community of Lombadina/Djarindjin.
Year 11 and 12 students led activities teaching the children how to knit, make loom bands and origami, play games, and sports. They gained valuable insights into the ways and life of the Bardi Jawi people, and the children and others members of the local communities of Djarindjin, One Arm Point and Beagle Bay shared their skills, such as oyster-collection.
The students were honoured to interact with Elders and members of the communities, learn the basics of their language, and explore sacred country.
Catholic Mission views the program as: ‘A rare and remarkable opportunity to really be with our Indigenous brothers and sisters and experience life, family, connectedness, and their spirituality in their communities’.
“The Immersion aimed to foster respect for the people, history and cultures of the remote Indigenous community, and recognise God’s presence in their lives and culture,” explained Amy Connellan, Head of Mission and Community at Merici.
“We also wanted our students to be challenged personally by the stories, experiences and relationships they encountered.”
The two-week trip was experienced by students Lauren Hawkins, Eva Knight, Hannah Mason, Alex Moylan, Julia Page, Genevieve Sandeman. Teachers Mr Chifley and Ms Connellan accompanied them.
