Faith, Justice & Formation
Volunteer Opportunity for Parents
Over the past couple of years, the College has developed a relationship with St Merkorious Charity at South Strathfield. They do a lot of work with people in need including packing and supplying food and clothing.
Many of our older students will be offered opportunities to volunteer with St Merkorious in the holidays. This will all be booked in through the College and is not open to drop-ins from the students. In addition to this, St Merkorious are looking for adult volunteers during the school week. With increased need in our community, the call for your help is great. If you have the time and can help out for even just one day, please see the details on the flyer below and give them a call.
SPC Lenten Appeal
On Ash Wednesday our Social Justice Prefect, Harry Richardson, launched the Lenten Appeal as part of the Liturgy. The following is a bit of background information on our partners and the justice issues they encounter.
Please note that every cent raised in the Lenten Appeal goes to our partners to be used to assist their quality of life. There are no admin or advertising costs. We have a proud tradition at the College of fundraising for the other and this year is no exception – in fact, we are now needed more than ever. Please help where you can and contribute to a better life for all.
Our Lenten Partners:
St Joseph’s Flexible Learning Centre, Alice Springs
We need to support our brothers and sisters in our partner school because they have limited access to education, jobs and support. They often feel disregarded by their own nation thus self-esteem is low, leading to an increased poverty cycle. Not only do we need to support them financially, but we need to grow in our understanding of the issues that face our original owners and custodians. They have been forced to fit into a different way of life, losing their identity and often suffering from discrimination and challenges in adapting. We pray that we may never show disrespect to another human being, especially our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The Edmund Rice Life Training Centre in PNG
The young men who reside and work here come from very poor families and are looking to develop skills to help them make money for their villages. They embrace us each year on immersion and show humility and respect to everyone. They live in a majority world that is often controlled by our minority world, as many of the country’s natural resources and wealth are taken by others. They may be rich in family and culture but their life expectancy, education and health care is minimal.
Callan Services, PNG
Life with a disability can be difficult enough, however living with one in PNG or other majority world countries is even more challenging. There is no funding given to groups who aim to care for these people, so very little is done. This money will help bring quality of life and potentially, longer life.
All three of our partners do not get funding from anywhere else. What we give can make a massive difference in the lives of others. We must remember that it is our Christian Calling to serve and care for those who are less fortunate than ourselves and given the privilege that we have at this College, there is no excuse not to do our part. May this be how our heart is reflected into the world – through goodness and compassion. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Gillian Daley
Director of Identity
* Please note that if you are undergoing financial hardship at this time, we are with you and support you. We understand the limitations many may have.
Be a part of our Narragunnawali RAP
St Patrick’s College has committed to developing a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). Our RAP aims to support our school community in developing an educational environment that fosters higher levels of knowledge and pride in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and contributions. Through our RAP, we will commit to strengthening relationships, respect and opportunities in the classroom, around the school and with the community.
Developing our RAP is a long-term commitment that will require ongoing consideration and collaborative effort. Within our community, there is unique knowledge and valuable experience that we would love to see reflected in the Actions that we commit to in our RAP therefore, to ensure our RAP creates meaningful and sustainable change, we would like to seek your support. This is a call to action for parents/carers, students and community members to express their interest in helping to drive our RAP development and implementation journey.
If you would like to be involved in any way with the development and ongoing implementation of our RAP, including being part of the RAP Working Group, please email me on felicity.warsop@spc.nsw.edu.au. If you have any questions let me know.
To learn more about Reconciliation Australia’s Narragunnawali program and RAP development process, you may also like to visit the website:
www.reconciliation.org.au/narragunnawali
Felicity Warsop
Year 7 Coordinator
Please see the Co-curricular - Senior Sport section of the newsletter
for details around the SPC Reconciliation Round of Sport.