Catholic Identity & Mission News

Catholic Education Week

This week we join other Catholic educational communities in celebrating Catholic Education Week; a week that is marked with greater significance in 2021 as we commemorate 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia. The first Catholics in Australia were (mostly Irish) convicts who not only wanted their children to get an education, but a Catholic education at that! With the little they had, they started schools to teach children not only the conventional curriculum, but also about the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

When approximately 50 years later, the newly introduced Education Acts denied funding to Catholic schools because they weren’t ‘secular’ (non-religious), Catholics demonstrated their commitment to their schools and dug deep to fund schools via donations from parishioners, parents, and other supporters. With so little money, these schools usually relied on the free and dedicated labour of religious brothers and sisters to deliver their educational and sacramental programs.  It wasn’t until after the ‘Goulburn School Strike’ in 1962, where in protest, St Brigid’s Primary School was ‘closed’ and all its students were sent to the local government schools, placing them under an unbearable strain, that State Aid re-commenced for Catholic education. Today, 1 in 5 students attend a Catholic place of learning.

We are so privileged at St. Peter’s College to be a growing and thriving school, and we don’t take it for granted. All schools are in the ‘business’ of teaching and learning, but we know we have a special responsibility to encourage the spiritual dimensions of our students too. Our model is Jesus Christ, who taught us the importance of love of God and neighbour. 

Our sister school, Bishop Epalle Catholic School in Honiara, Solomon Islands, is a neighbour very much on our minds this term and we are trying to raise awareness and much needed funds for their education programs too. This Saturday, May 29, the College is operating the Bunnings BBQ at the Clyde North store. Students, staff and volunteers will be on the job from 7.30am – 5pm and we’d love you to come and support us by buying a sausage (with onion of course!) and a drink to support our Solomon Islands fundraising. It will cap off a busy Catholic Education Week but is a way of reflecting what we’re about at St. Peter’s College – faith, education and service. We are the beneficiaries of those who worked so hard to establish Catholic education in Australia - it is our hope that in a small way, we can help to grow Catholic education elsewhere too. 

A prayer for Catholic Education Week:

Almighty and all-loving God,

with gratitude for the endeavours of Catholic education in the past, 

with confidence in our Catholic pre-schools, schools and universities today,

and with faith in their continuing contribution in the future,

we celebrate 200 years of Catholic education in this Great South Land. 

We thank you for those who founded and built our Catholic schools and education system, for the teachers on whose shoulders we stand, and the families and community that entrust their young people to us. 

May we feel, and inspire in others, a love of learning and a willingness to be the face of Christ in our world.

We ask you, Lord, to pour out your abundant blessings upon all involved in the ministry of Catholic education. Amen.

(adapted from ‘200 Years – Faith in the Future of Catholic Education in Australia’ prayer card)

Fiona McKenna

Deputy Principal - Catholic Identity & Mission