Faith, Justice and Formation

Faith and Action

In this time of Lent, we hold a mirror up to ourselves to look at how we live our lives. We are to stop, take stock and return more faithfully to God, living with simplicity, faith, service, compassion and love. As I go about daily life at the College, I can see many boys doing this really well. There are many praying the Rosary and being part of the Stations of the Cross. There are those faithfully committed to their fasting and there are those who go above and beyond to share their skills and time to raise funds for our almsgiving.

But then I do also observe a definite disconnect between faith and action by many. Perhaps this could be discussed at home. Many who often showcase that they have a deep faith and question anything that doesn’t fit within certain parameters can often be really disrespectful or rude to others, can be the least willing to donate spare change or can expect everything to be about them, demonstrating selfishness. It makes me consider how faith is communicated. Is it just something you do by going to Mass or is it something that is lived every day? I know that Jesus taught the latter, so when I see boys say they follow Jesus but treat others rudely or believe they are better than everyone else, I can’t help but wonder what the truth is.

All communities are made up of all types of people so encountering all behaviours is a part of life. However, we are a Catholic School in the Edmund Rice Tradition, thus Christian behaviour is not optional. Loving everybody is not optional. Showing respect for the faith is not optional. As we focus on being an authentically inclusive community this year, we need to consider how we contribute to this by how we live our lives – the way we want to or the way Jesus wants us to?

Wishing all of you blessings for these remaining weeks of Lent as we move into the greatest celebration of our Christian faith, Easter.

Student Spiritual Life Survey

The College has a lot of data about our students with regard to their academic and wellbeing profiles. We now aim to collect data related to the faith/spiritual life of all students in Years 7 to 12 (Years 5 and 6 will come later). The National Church Life Survey (NCLS) research team, the world’s most recognised faith research group, will be conducting a survey for our students between 7 and 9 April during Homerooms.

We would like all students to complete this survey which only takes about ten minutes and is anonymous. You will find information for parents/carers in this document.  

As I tell my Studies of Religion students, ‘if you understand what someone believes, you can understand them’.  The results of this survey will help us understand the community more fully and will help us in the preparation of various formation programs.

If you have any questions regarding this, please contact me via email on gillian.daley@spc.nsw.edu.au (NOT the Principal as indicated in the letter).

“Calling All Saints” – A Jubilee Youth Event

In this Jubilee Year of Hope, there will be many events to mark the occasion. One such event is this Mini World Youth Day Experience being offered to students in Years 9 to 12. It will take place on Friday 9 May from 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM at All Saints Catholic College, Liverpool, with students from Catholic schools across the Sydney Diocese.

The Program Overview for the day is:

• 1:30 PM – 2:00 PM: Arrival at All Saints Catholic College
• 2:30 PM – 2:50 PM: Gathering, overview, and music
• 2:50 PM: Official welcome and thematic exploration of "Pilgrims of Hope"
• 3:05 PM: Procession into the Church for testimony, adoration, music, and prayer
• 4:00 PM: Stalls, reconciliation, plenary, and adoration
• 4:45 PM: Mass
• 5:30 PM: Dismissal

For St Patrick’s College, this is the Mothers’ Day Mass day which will mean students coming to school for Periods 3 and 4 (if attending Mass). A bus will be organised to take our group to the event, leaving the College at approximately 1:00 PM. If attending, students must have been at school for classes prior to travelling to the event. The bus will bring our students back to the College.

I am looking for Expressions of Interest so we can make plans. If we do not get enough interest, we will not be sending a group. If your son, who is in Years 9 to 12, is interested could you have him complete this form. If this form is completed it is a commitment to this event and more information will be given prior to the day.

The form must be completed by 5:00 PM on Monday 7 April (no extensions).

Calling All Saints Expression of Interest for SPC. 

Gillian Daley

Director of Identity

Junior School Justice – Our Goal

Our goal is to educate the St Patrick’s College community about recycling and rubbish, because lately we have been seeing rubbish all over the school. We would like more students at our College to recycle for the importance of the world. Rubbish has been becoming a really big problem in the school lately, even though there are so many bins in the school there is still so much trash everywhere. So far, we are in a position to create an even unhealthier environment than it already is, and the reason is because we are relying on technology to produce a solution. 

The Junior School Justice Group is helping the Junior School learn about the importance of helping our environment. This term we have been focusing on educating the Community about recycling. We have introduced a new role called the ‘Environmental Monitor.’ That means in each classroom there will be an Environmental Monitor and their job is that they must help to turn off all the lights and anything that involves technology like turning off the air conditioner, fans, screens, and take out the recycling once a week. This will help to reduce energy consumption. We have also created some posters which help to remind students to recycle, and it will help us to hit our goal of getting rid of all the rubbish on the playground to create a welcoming and clean environment for all. 

There are currently house bins (Junior School house bins are located at the under-croft area) which you can put recyclable cans/bottles in your house colour. Every RECYABLE can/bottles will be a house point for your house colour and these will be a free ticket to the water park at the end of the year if you win the house cup! HOW exciting! 

The Junior School Justice Group encourages students to make the correct choices when recycling. 

Reasons For Recycling

Here is a list of reasons why students and parents/carers should recycle.

• Recycling is required for generations of the future to experience this healthy environment, and it is our job to protect and nourish it however and whenever possible. The results for recycling could be outstanding even making it better for future generations than it is now.

   

• Did you know that if you put items that can be recycled in the red bin they won’t be recycled? Most recyclable items that are put in red bins end up in landfill making it contaminated and unable to be recycled.

   

• Australia produces around 76 million tonnes of waste every year, and that number keeps increasing. This is another reason why you should recycle.

   

• Around half of the annual waste is 38.5 million tonnes are recycled. Our mission is to make this number noticeably larger than not recyclable items.

   

• Around 27% of Australia’s waste goes to landfill and Australian households create 12.4 million tonnes of waste each year.

   

• 6% of Australia’s waste (4.4 million tonnes) was exported in 2018-2019 but can no longer be sent elsewhere. This is a lot of waste if you compare it to one bin.

Not recycling is one of the biggest reasons why our world is struggling to survive. 

Items That ARE Recyclable and NOT Recyclable

Here is a list of items that ARE recyclable and things that are NOT typically recyclable:

Please keep the lists in mind and keep recycling!!!

Junior School Justice Team