11 / 44
Year in Review 2016
Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst
11
Director Of Catholic Education’s Report
Educating is not a profession but an attitude, a way of being;
in order to educate it is necessary to step out of ourselves and
be among young people, to accompany them in the stages of
their growth and to set ourselves beside them.
(Pope Francis, November 2015)
F
or all involved in Catholic Education Sandhurst, 2016
was a year in which we were called upon by Bishop
Tomlinson to review our goals, to assess our practices,
to review what and how we undertake to support our 56
primary and secondary schools. As a Catholic organisation
we used the year to pause and reflect, to evaluate, to make
judgements and look to the future.
A Review Panel, under the guidance of the Episcopal Vicar
for Education, Fr Brian Boyle, met with and interviewed
many stakeholders in the Diocese, collected a vast amount
of valuable information, discerned for many months and
presented the Bishop with a comprehensive assessment and
a set of challenges for the Catholic Education Office over the
next five years.
At the core of our work is the school. The Catholic Education
Office is a body that is committed to courageous renewal and
to the promotion of the human person through the provision
of stewardship and leadership that are credible, contemporary,
accountable, sustainable and transparent. Where we want to
be, where we need to be, is a place where excellence, equity
and evangelisation are our cornerstones. Through our day-
to-day work we seek to help our schools change young lives
for the better, to build for the future, to give direction and
purpose to young people to become lifelong learners who are
committed to a better world. Good learning environments
do this history tells us so.
Our focus for the year was Reviewing and Renewing the
Mission to enhance cultures of contemporary practice and
learning. This was no small aspiration, but careful planning
and a preparedness to enter into serious dialogue and deep
analysis through the CEO Review enabled us to set in place a
clear vision of where we need to be and to develop a process
that will guide us there.
Pope Francis had declared a Jubilee Year of Mercy and our
schools and Office took this on with great enthusiasm. At
every opportunity we discerned how we could adopt the
Pope’s call to return to Christ’s desire that we “Be merciful,
even as your Father is merciful” (cf. Lk 6:36). The Year of
Mercy gave us many opportunities to revisit the roots of our
Faith and to use this to influence the manner in which we
work with our young people.
Our emphases as a Catholic education body were enhanced
by the appointment of a second Deputy Director. From the
outset of 2016, Sr Geraldine Larkins RSJ took on the role of
Catholic Mission and Identity and her energy, expertise and
passion helped us maintain our momentum and focus in
moving towards our aspirations. Our efforts lack meaning
and authenticity if they are not embedded in the mission of
the Church. Our work is and will always be aimed at bringing
our students to a genuine understanding of and commitment
to their Faith.
2016 offered me the significant privilege of attending World
Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, with 300 young Victorian
senior students and young adults. Those from Sandhurst gave
me many reasons to feel uplifted and confident that the future
of our Faith is in very good hands. These young Catholics are
overtly devoted to the Church and they possess a spirituality
which is a delight to witness.
We in Catholic Education remain deeply committed to those
young people entrusted to our care, to the need to educate
the whole person, to inspire within each of them a yearning
to contribute for the betterment of all, to leave the world in a
positive state for the next generation.
In all we have pursued in Catholic Education throughout
2016, we have endeavoured to remain faithful to the call from
our Pope to offer the very best in learning to our young, to
help them know and appreciate their place in the world, to be
hope-filled and outward looking.
Mr Paul Desmond
Director of Catholic Education
Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst
REPORTS