Principal's Message
EREA School Renewal Process!
As a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition, Trinity College embraces the Four Guiding Touchstones as outlined in the Charter of Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA). The Four Touchstones; Liberating Education, Gospel Spirituality, Inclusive Community, and Justice and Solidarity - perpetuate the legacy of Blessed Edmund Rice, the founder of the Christian Brothers, and set out to capture the character and culture of all EREA schools. As part of our many liturgical celebrations, Religious Education curriculum, Formation programs, College events and communications, the presence and understanding of these Touchstones are explored with a view to identifying how we can live them out in the context of today.
As a School, we are required to undergo a regular and detailed process of ‘Renewal’. For Trinity College, this formal School Renewal Process was conducted last year and included the analysis of comprehensive student survey data, the provision of reports that addressed particular areas of the EREA Charter and included a series of meetings held by the visiting EREA School Renewal Team with a wide range of representative groups from across our College. The final School Renewal Report for Trinity College highlighted our strong sense of Mission and Identity, acknowledged our significant strategic improvement in recent years and hinted at the need to focus on more capital planning in the future.
At Trinity College, the Touchstones lay at the heart of our Mission -To offer innovative learning opportunities in a safe and nurturing environment which empowers our young men to realise their potential. As a Catholic College founded on the traditions of Blessed Edmund Rice, his example of solidarity with all people challenges us to live out the message of care and inclusion. In partnership with parents, we hold high expectations for the young men in our care and we seek to provide a breadth of learning opportunities in a safe and caring environment, enabling academic growth, pride in their College and a commitment to serve others, both now and in the future.
An education at Trinity should challenge our students to be independent thinkers with the courage and persistence to confront injustice in our society. It should challenge them to stand against the mediocrity so often prevalent in popular culture and encourage our young men to discover what has true worth in this world and to place real and ongoing value upon it. This is a reference to a deeper sense of formation. To foster this development, the College encourages a culture of critical thinking, resilience, selflessness, accountability, inclusivity and awareness of their role in stewardship, concepts that are clearly articulated in the Touchstones.
To be effective in the formation of Men for Others, the Touchstones are designed to be active values with a view to becoming more deeply embedded in the students' understanding of their own self and identity. That is, the Touchstones are engaging and dynamic which, when placed within an environment that is nurturing and supportive, encourages students to develop the confidence to immerse themselves into a way of being and thinking that seeks the good for others and ultimately themselves. Such experience can often be challenging and sometimes confronting, but the inevitable outcome is a deeper understanding and more authentic compassion and empathy for ‘the other’.
Live Jesus in our hearts.