Priests, Principals and RECs Forum 16 August 2015
Clergy, Principals and Religious Education Coordinators (RECs) from the Diocese of Parramatta gathered for the annual Priests, Principals and RECs Forum on Thursday 6 August at Rosehill Gardens.
The Archbishop of Vancouver, Most Rev J. Michael Miller CSB, was the keynote speaker for the forum focusing on “Educating for today and tomorrow: A renewing passion”. In his address, Archbishop Miller said Catholic schools play a vital role in the evangelising mission of the Church asking the question, ‘is personal witness to the gospel evident in the life of a school?’.
‘It is more necessary now than ever to make people aware of the responsibility to give witness to Christ and the Gospel,’ Archbishop Miller said. ‘In addition to all the other things Catholic teachers do they have the proclamation of the Gospel at the centre of everything they do.’
‘The best way anyone supports it is by personal witness of life, being a joyful Christian around students and on occasion to share explicitly what makes their own heart sing,’ he said. ‘Teaching is one of the noblest vocations because you touch the minds, the heart, the souls of the next generation.’
The Executive Director of Schools, Greg Whitby, said the visiting Archbishop challenged leaders in their work of Catholic schooling.
‘Archbishop Miller brings an understanding of the universal Church and affirmed our direction of “renewing and adapting”,’ Greg said. ‘In a simple, yet powerful, way he asked the hard questions and laid before our leaders four challenges if they are to truly lead schools that live up to the evangelising mission of the Church.
‘At the heart of his challenge, is the call to act and be Church, not just talk about being Church,’ he said.
Following the forum, clergy from the Dioceses of Parramatta and Broken Bay and the Archdiocese of Sydney, celebrated the Feast of St John Vianney, the patron saint of priests, at a special lunch attended by Archbishop Miller.
Educating for Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion - Archbishop Miller Address.
Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
www.parra.catholic.edu.au
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From Facebook
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From Facebook
📚 Book Week – From an Idea to a Published Book As part of our Book Week celebrations last week, Ms Sally worked with our students to explore the exciting process of writing and publishing a book. Ms Sally was able to share her own experiences as an author, drawing on her knowledge of writing and publishing her own books. This provided our students with a wonderful opportunity to learn what happens behind the scenes when a book is created. Students explored the many stages involved in bringing a book to life, including: 💡 Coming up with an idea – finding inspiration and developing an original concept. ✍️ Building the story – creating characters, setting, beginning, middle and end. 🎨 Creating illustrations – considering how pictures can enhance and support the story. 📝 Working with an editor – understanding the importance of feedback and making changes to improve the writing. 📖 Putting the book together – bringing the words and illustrations together to create the finished product. 🔍 Testing, changing and improving – learning that authors rarely get everything right the first time and that editing, refining and persistence are an important part of the creative process. 🚀 Publishing – discovering how a completed manuscript becomes a published book that can be shared with readers. The students were encouraged to see themselves as authors and creators, learning that every great book begins with an idea and develops through creativity, persistence, collaboration and a willingness to make improvements. We are very grateful to Ms Sally for sharing her experience and passion for writing with our students and for giving them an authentic insight into the journey of becoming a published author. What a wonderful way to celebrate the magic of stories and the joy of reading and writing during Book Week!
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From Facebook
📚🎶 BOOK WEEK PARADE – WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST! 🎶📚 Book Week runs from Saturday 22 to Friday 28 August, and we are so excited to celebrate with our annual Book Week Parade next Wednesday, 26 August, from 8:45–9:15am in the Hall! 🌟 This year’s theme is ✨ Symphony of Stories ✨. Click here to find out more about the theme: https://youtu.be/wz-psnQnUmQ We encourage our students to come dressed as a character from a favourite book. If they have a copy of the book their character has stepped out of, they are welcome to bring it along too! 📖 Some children love to connect with the theme, some choose to represent age-old favourites, and others like to keep us guessing! As the video suggests, our Book Week Parade is sure to be a wonderful symphony of characters! 🎭🎵 Parents, carers and families are very welcome to come along and enjoy the parade with us. Younger siblings are also very welcome! 💕 The Book Week Parade will coincide with Little Lyrebirds, and we look forward to welcoming our Little Lyrebird visitors and their families to this special morning. We hope you can join us for this super-popular annual event as we celebrate the joy, imagination and magic of books! 📚💫 #BookWeek #SymphonyOfStories #BookWeekParade #StCanices #LoveOfReading #LittleLyrebirds
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