Catholic Identity & Mission News

Happy Catholic Education Week! Catholic Education Week runs from May 15 -22 and is a special week of celebration for all who work in Catholic education across the Diocese of Sale. There are 39 primary schools and 7 secondary schools in the Diocese with 2 new primary schools to open in 2027. Collectively our schools support over 18,000 students and 2,900 school staff. This week, we join with Catholic schools across the Diocese as we focus on the theme of ‘Every school a home of peace’. 

As is our tradition, one way that the College marks Catholic Education Week is with a special pastoral lesson hosted by our Liturgy Captains Shekinah Japson and Harrison Hand. On Tuesday, May 19, Shekinah and Harrison did a brilliant job leading our House groups through a reflection about the theme, ‘Every school a home of peace’ with reference to St Francis of Assisi, whom the Church is honouring with a special Jubiliee year this year. St Francis is attributed with writing a very famous prayer about peace. ‘The Prayer of St Francis’ was not actually written by him but it strongly reflects his spirit of peace, love, faith, hope, light and joy. This prayer asks God to help us become people who bring peace to others. Our Assisi House prayer also features this prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace

Where there is hatred, let me sow love

Where there is injury, pardon

Where there is doubt, faith

Where there is despair, hope

Where there is darkness, light

Where there is sadness, joy

O Divine Master

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console

to be understood, as to understand

to be loved, as to love

For it is in giving that we receive

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal life.

Reflecting on the prayer of St Francis led to an activity where we reviewed our current College prayer. To be honest, our College prayer is not widely known and not often used. I’m not sure of its origin but it reads as a little disjointed. This is the current prayer with minor adjustments to include our 2026 annual theme: 

Jesus, your dear friend and apostle Peter is a guiding light for our College.

May his way of discipleship help us to know and love you more dearly.

Peter’s willingness to follow you inspires us but sometimes he struggled to be wholly focussed on you. When we find it difficult to follow you, we ask for St Peter’s reflective heart which helped him to return to you. Guide us closer to the dream you have for us.

Peter made mistakes and had to ask for forgiveness. We ask you to gift us with the humility and courage that is needed to say sorry, for we are diminished when we do not love you, and others, as much as we can.

And just as you appointed Peter as leader to care for your flock; we ask you to bless us and to help us to live up to our annual theme, to let all that we do be done in love. May we be people of kindness, justice and service in our school and local communities, in our families, and in our world. 

Following on from the success of reviewing our House prayers, we set our students the task of reviewing this prayer with these questions to guide their work:

1. Our school is named after St Peter. What words, values or actions of St Peter should we include in our prayer?

2. Our prayer should give thanks for the blessings of our school. For what will we give thanks in our prayer?

3. Our prayer will ask God for what we need. What would you like to ask for our College community in our prayer?

4. Thinking of your House Patron, is there any characteristic of theirs that you’d like to see included in our new College prayer?

5. For you, what are ESSENTIAL inclusions in our prayer?

Along with our Faith and Mission Leader, Mr Tishan Lokuge, I will go through student responses and then further feedback to be invited from other members of our College community including parent feedback! If you have ANY feedback about our College prayer review, please contact me via phone or email at the College. I would love to hear from you!

Other Catholic Education Week activities included the launch of our ‘Praise and Worship’ sessions at lunchtimes which featured amazing music performances and prayer led by our students. Huge thanks to Chloe de Ocampo, John Joseph, Joseph Simon, Sheldon Scurville, Jacob Ward, Breana Cabugao and Philomena Rode at Clyde North and Chloe Lacanienta, Grace Trinidad, Simon Santos, Angelo Beloso, Raphael Beloso and Francis Chavez at Cranbourne for sharing their gifts and talents with us all in these beautiful faith experiences. Of course, they were so generously supported by our wonderful music staff, Nardine Youssef, Genevieve Lyte, Matt Van der Velden and Andrew Church, and AV support staff Brad Pulley and Scott Jeffreys. Mr Church’s VET students also got involved – it was a real team effort! Huge thanks to all.

We’ve also had free pancakes, special SPACE messages and prayers, targeted Staff professional learning and coming up, we have the launch of our College Youth Groups, but more on that in a later newsletter! Schools are such busy places but it’s so important to take time to celebrate the Catholic Christ-centred Mission of our school in which everyone is invited and included. It is in that spirit of welcome and community that we will continue to strive that our school is always ‘home of peace’. Happy Catholic Education Week everyone!

Ms Fiona McKenna

Deputy Principal – Catholic Identity & Mission