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Message From the Director

CHRISTMAS: CELEBRATION AND HOPE

As another busy, successful year draws to a close, Catholic schools are full of energy and excitement. This is a time of celebrations, concerts, graduations. Teachers, students and families turn their thoughts to long, hot summer holidays, and to Christmas. This is the season of Advent - a time of preparation and great hope.

Across the diocesan school system, as we reflect on the year which is passing, there is much to celebrate and to give thanks to God. This year saw a continuing strengthening of academic achievement across the system. Significant initiatives continued in the development of Information, Communication and Learning Technology across the schools; a new School Review and Development process is being implemented; the teaching profession is being enhanced through the establishment of the Institute of Teachers; the growth of MacKillop Catholic College at Warnervale is symbolic of the dynamic energy evident across the system.

One of the most significant developments of the past year has been the ongoing work to implement the new K-12 Religious Education curriculum. This edition of Broken Bay News included stories about schools implementing the Advent and Christmas modules of the syllabus. At St Gerard's Catholic School, Carlingford, each class is contributing to a whole school liturgy as the culmination of their learning. As a result of attending the Navcon conference in the last school holidays, two teachers at St Kieran's Catholic School, Manly Vale, have used a multimedia focus to meet the outcomes of the religious education syllabus in their study of Advent with students in Stages 1 and 2.

The diocesan school system recently began a major initiative in contemporary pedagogy, in association with the University of Newcastle. This work will be progressively implemented over the next three years, and will further promote excellence in teaching and learning. Several stories in these pages document a range of events, all of which have excellent pedagogy at their heart. Some significant examples include the boys' education initiative on the north shore, the RAISE showcase at St Patrick's Catholic School, East Gosford, and the opportunities for gifted students on the central coast.

Across the universal Church, Advent is a time of preparation for Christmas - the feast of the Nativity; the commemoration of the extraordinary event in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago when God became Man; the divine became human. It is essentially a celebration of great hope. Liz Calabria, the Assistant Principal of Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic School, Epping, is using her recent award of the Frater Scholarship to spend some time teaching in a village school in Kenya. This is the Advent message in action.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to all members of the diocesan Catholic school community for their generous commitment during 2005: students and their families; principals, teachers and all school staff, and my colleagues at the Catholic Schools Office. I appreciate also the support of the priests, and the leadership of Bishop David. To everyone, my best wishes for a joyous celebration of the wonderful hope represented by the birth of the Prince of Peace.