Catholic Identity & Mission News
Our ‘Chelsea Project’ work for 2025 is underway! The Chelsea Project is named after a former student who in the final year of her Vocational Studies at St Peter’s, researched and proposed a food bank project in order to address food insecurity in our local area. Our efforts have been very sincere, but a little sporadic, over the past 18 months because we didn’t have a reliable means of distributing our meals, but the great news is that we’ve formed a partnership with the Vinnies’ (St Vincent de Paul) Food Vans that operate in the Berwick/Cranbourne areas twice a week! We will be making soups, muffins, pasta and rice toppers for the Vinnies team and the Clyde North Social Justice Group are leading the way by holding their first cooking session late this week. We will then be cooking on a fortnightly basis providing fresh and frozen supplies for this vital work of Vinnies. Watch this space for updates throughout the year!
This work complements the wonderful efforts that have already gone into fundraising and awareness raising about Caritas’ Project Compassion campaign. So far, we’ve had bake sales, car washing, an Indian meal for staff and of course, our Harmony Day celebrations. Harmony Day is a highlight on our College calendar where we celebrate the cultural diversity of our community, and wider society. This year, the involvement of students was outstanding! The clear sense of pride that imbued all of the performances was very moving and was a credit not only to the students who shared their cultural heritage with others, but also their families who have obviously instilled a great sense of pride and tradition in their children. The assemblies were terrific and were then happily followed by delicious culinary offerings prepared by our Vocational Major students. They prepared foods originating from countries around the world and sold them to a very appreciative College community with all profits going to Project Compassion. Raising funds in this way also highlights that Caritas’ work is not only based in Australia but also all around the world. Remember, if you would like to contribute to the Project Compassion campaign, you can do so at www.caritas.org.au.
All members of the College community have the opportunity to contribute their ideas and vision about the College’s Catholic Identity via the Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) Survey that will be conducted in RE classes over the rest of the term, and for which parents have received a letter and instructions via Operoo. Catholic schools in the Diocese of Sale aim for continuous school improvement. An essential element of this improvement is understanding how our community - parents, students and staff - perceive the Catholic identity of our school and what they might like Catholic identity at St Peter’s College to look like in the years ahead. Please take the time to complete this survey. It takes about 30 minutes and gives you a voice, a voice we will absolutely listen to! If you have any questions or feedback about the survey, please contact me at the College.
Finally, but very importantly, our House Mass program commences next week with the celebrations of Romero House Feast Day Masses on Thursday, March 27. Clyde North staff and students will continue with their tradition of joining the parish community of St Thomas the Apostle for 9.30am morning mass, and for the first time, Cranbourne staff and students will be attending a special mass at St Agatha’s at midday. Our House Feast Days are a very important part of how we celebrate our community at St Peter’s. This year, we launched our revised House Prayers, and work over the past 18 months by staff and students, has endeavoured to reinvigorate the profile and examples of our House Patrons. Each of these individuals can serve as a practical and faith-filled role model for our students and so focusing on their lives and legacy on their Feast Day is crucial to us. These masses will also provide further opportunity for student leadership with our inaugural Liturgy Teams playing important roles in the planning and smooth running of these masses. My thanks in advance to our Romero House Leaders, Learning Advisors and student leaders for ensuring that we remember and celebrate St Oscar Romero in such a special and meaningful way this Thursday.
Future House Feast Days are as follows:
Thursday, May 1 – Glowrey House Feast Day Mass
Thursday, May 22 – Marian House Feast Day Mass
Thursday, July 31 – MacKillop House Feast Day Mass
Thursday, August 14 – Kolbe House Feast Day Mass
Thursday, August 28 – Augustine House Feast Day Mass
Thursday, October 9 – Assisi House Feast Day Mass
Thursday, October 16 – Avila House Feast Day Mass
Please contact me if you would like any further information about the House Feast Day celebrations, or anything else regarding Catholic Identity and Mission at St Peter’s College.
Ms Fiona McKenna
Deputy Principal – Catholic Identity & Mission