Acting Assistant Principal - Mission

Mission

To lead in a Catholic school requires the background, understanding and professional commitment to the mission of Jesus Christ. This week a number of staff, including myself, had the opportunity to attend a two-day retreat that assisted them in developing their leadership by being more self-aware, especially in relationships with the people they meet and in all they see and do as a leader in a Catholic school.
The goals of the retreat were to:

• reflect on Christ-centred, service-orientated leadership.
• be empowered to adopt a process of decision making leading to the capacity to rely on inner strengths, values and faith as a way of living and working.
• explore who they are as a leader and how they lead in their workplace.
• consider ways of living and working in a context of freedom.

The presenter was Marty Scroope who currently works in the Catholic Schools Office, Broken Bay as Education Officer - Evangelisation and Catechesis. He has worked in a number of Jesuit schools in his career and is an experienced spiritual director in the Jesuit tradition. Marty is the author of numerous papers and books, including 'Ignatian Spirituality for Today: Key Readings for Busy People' (editor).
The retreat was most valuable and I hope to be able to share and put into action some of the inspiring and challenging ideas that were presented to us.

Community Service Award Ceremony

During Semester One we have had a relaunch and focus on Community Service in our College.

The aim of Community Service is to be ’ the hands and feet of Jesus’ by responding to our community‘s needs. During the semester, students are encouraged to become involved in service; in the Parish, through College organised activities, in local community organisations, by assisting at home or with neighbours or in individual activities and situations that they have recognised that need support.

The students were able to apply for formal recognition after participating in 10 hours of Community Service by completing a personal reflection on their experience. We encourage all students to participate in service in our community. I would like to congratulate those students who received a Community Service certificate at our Awards Ceremony.

Street Retreat

Last week a group of six, Year 11 students got the opportunity to go to Brisbane for an event called Street Retreat. Each year a group of up to 64 students in Year 11 across the Lismore Diocese join together and reach out to those in need when they spend 4 days in Brisbane working on a range of social justice programs in the area. The week is an absolutely amazing experience to be a part of but it can also be quite physically, emotionally and spiritually challenging as you give back to the community through a range of Ministry placements working with disability, aged care, rehabilitation, and social activism programs. Students have found the experience incredibly rewarding and life-changing and return to their schools with a passion and greater sense of their call of Jesus Christ to serve the poor and disadvantaged. Below are some short reflections of a couple of students' experiences at the event.

Reflection from Findlay Marshall:

I found that attending Street Retreat has put into perspective how widespread and unseen the issue of homelessness is within society. At each ministry, people who looked just like you or me would turn up and it was challenging to see just how "normal'' they were. I hadn't previously been exposed to a lot of homelessness, and in going to Street Retreat I was able to see it first-hand and really face the issue. I would highly recommend the trip to all people, and it was definitely a highlight of the year so far. It's a great experience and I felt that it was a real eye-opener for me as a person.

Reflection from Ella Juric:

Over the four days I spent at Street Retreat I got to help clean and prepare food for the homeless while also giving it out to them, it was nice to see that something as simple as this can make someone else's day. It is a retreat I would 100% recommend to anyone as I enjoyed it a lot, and it was very eye-opening for me to experience something like this, as I have never been exposed to homelessness that much before.