12 April 2017

Newsletter Articles

Make Room for Kindness, Not Hopeless 'Mafia' Mentality, Pope Says

Hope cannot remain hidden within but must break free to overcome vengeful, mafia-like mentalities with mercy and humility, Pope Francis said.

Christians must give witness to hope through their lives as Jesus did and make room for him in their hearts to fight evil by doing good to others, even their enemies, the pope said at his weekly general audience April 5.

"The mafiosi think that evil can be overcome by evil. They take revenge; they do so many things that we all know. But they do not know what humility, mercy and meekness are. And why? Because the mafiosi have no hope," he said.

Arriving in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis made his way through the crowd of 15,000 people, greeting individuals and even making a quick stop to sip some mate tea offered by a group of pilgrims from his native Argentina.

Arriving at the stage, the pope spotted a familiar face among the Argentine pilgrims, and warmly embraced an elderly woman and spoke to her while other people in the group reached out to touch him.

Continuing his series of talks on Christian hope, the pope reflected on a verse from the First Letter of St. Peter, in which the apostle calls on Christians to "always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope."

The "secret" to understanding this hope, the pope said, is that it is rooted in the paschal mystery of Christ's victory over death.

"Our hope is not a concept nor a sentiment; it is not phone call or a pile of riches," he said. "No, our hope is a person, it is the Lord Jesus who we recognize alive and present in us and in our brothers and sisters."

A person who lacks hope, the pope added, is incapable of giving or receiving the "consolation of forgiveness" and unable to make room for Christ in their hearts.

St. Peter's assertion that "it is better to suffer for doing good" than doing evil, he continued, doesn't mean that it is good to suffer, but that suffering for the sake of good means "that we are in communion with the Lord."

Christians who wish to follow Jesus' example are called to love and do good, even to "those who do not wish us well or even harm us," Francis said.

"It is the proclamation of God's love, an immeasurable love that is unending, that is never lacking and constitutes the very foundation of our hope," he said.

ACSP Conference Update

If you have not yet registered you need to do so before the end of April to ensure a spot. I apologise for all the confusion over registration but a glitch in the system caused the GST to be removed. I am sorry if this caused any major issues for schools, anyone still having issues please do not hesitate to contact me. In regards to Masterclasses at the conference, there will be a booking flyer sent to each person registered. As we have to put a cap on the numbers due to the capacity of some of the break out rooms and to ensure that the master classes are as interactive as possible. Pasi Sahlberg, Pak Tee Ng and Louise Stoll will do a repeat of their Master classes. It is imperative that all Principals choose the Master Classes they wish to attend as soon after you receive this flyer as possible. If you have not yet registered you need to do this ASAP as we have been inundated with requests from other states to attend this conference. We will open it up to other states if we have not reached capacity by the end of April. See you in the Hunter Valley.

Principal Wellbeing

The Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA) is conducting a national survey of principals and other school leaders on the impact of employer and system policies on principal health and wellbeing. Titled Principal Health and Wellbeing: Policy to Practice, the survey builds on Dr Phil Reilly's pioneer work in this area and takes around 20 minutes to complete, maybe a little longer if you'd like to add in a few comments. The Principal Health and Wellbeing: Policy to Practice Survey can be found here. The survey will collect responses with the aim of identifying and advocating for those policies that help make a positive difference to a principal's workload, and health and wellbeing. Note that the survey is not about identifying or naming individual principals, schools or systems. Nor is it in any way a comparative study. The survey will be open into next term. Please spend the time voicing your views on this important issue for us all.

Effective Programs To Educate Parents And Teachers How To Help Kids Develop Self-Control

Last week, the Education Minister Simon Birmingham, opened the lid on the problem of Australian kids' behaviour with his call for 'zero tolerance' in schools. While we applaud the Minister for taking a stand, unless we create the right conditions for parents and teachers to develop the skills to help themselves, the problem is not going to go away. The key is to teaching the kids to develop self-control from a young age which will help them to learn to respect their parents, teachers and peers.

Supporting Emerging Voices In Educational Leadership

The ACEL ‘New Voice’ Initiative represents a commitment of $300,000 over ten years by ACEL. As part of our ongoing pledge to give back to the profession, we have developed this suite of scholarships to provide world-class learning opportunities to up-and-coming leaders.In 2017 ACEL will award a total of 20 ‘New Voice’ Scholarships across three categories. Each scholarship aims to welcome the recipients into the ACEL network and support the dissemination of new learning and thought. The recipients will be recognised in public as forward-thinking, relevant and responsive educational leaders by their peers and the wider education community. Recipients of the ACEL ‘New Voice’ Scholarships will receive:

• Complimentary attendance at the 2017 ACEL National Conference in Sydney from October 4th – 6th, including tickets to the social events, valued at $1,000
• Return flights to/from Sydney
• 1 Year ACEL individual membership
• 1 Year Resource Centre individual subscription

Other Features and Benefits:

• Featuring of their work in ACEL’s ‘Perspectives’ publication
• Engagement with their local ACEL Branch
• Opportunity to have their work published in other ACEL publications

We invite new leaders in education to take this exceptional opportunity to apply.

Australian Catholic Youth Festival to be held in Iconic Sydney Venues

The Australian Catholic Youth Festival organisers today announced preparations are well underway for the event that will draw 15,000 young people to Sydney from 7-9 December this year, and revealed some of the event details that will appeal to participants Australia wide.

The Festival will be held in the Sydney Olympic Park precinct using the Sydney Showground and Qudos Bank Arena venues and will culminate with a closing Mass on Saturday, 9 December at the Domain, not far from St Mary’s Cathedral and adjacent to the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.

The three-day Festival is a youthful and energetic celebration hosted by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in partnership with the Archdiocese of Sydney. It will feature international and national presenters and performers who will be announced in the coming weeks.

Many would be familiar with Sydney Showgrounds as the venue for the Royal Easter Show attracting 850,000 attendees and showcasing agricultural industries and Australian culture.

Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney Olympic Park is ranked in the top 10 arenas worldwide, has hosted sporting events, world class concerts and many high profile performers.

Festival organisers, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, have made arrangements with The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust to secure the harbour-side venue. The Domain is renowned for hosting iconic Sydney events such as Carols in the Domain, Symphony in The Domain and Tropfest, and will become the location for a Eucharistic celebration for tens of thousands of people in the heart of the city of Sydney. The Mass in the Domain will be an open event for families and others to join in and a highlight to the closing of the Festival.

Organisers from dioceses around Australia are invited to attend a National Briefing Day on Friday 28 April and again on 13 October in Sydney to collaborate in bringing young people from city and rural communities across the country. Registrations will be opening shortly.

The Festival exists to provide young people with opportunities to deepen their relationship with Jesus, celebrate their faith and encounter the vitality of the Church in Australia. The Festival will mark the beginning of the Year of Youth in 2018 proclaimed by the Bishops of Australia to celebrate ten years since World Youth Day was hosted in Sydney.

The theme of the Festival is: ‘Open New Horizons for Spreading Joy: Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment’.

The Most Rev Anthony Fisher OP, Archbishop of Sydney and Australian Catholic Bishops Delegate for Youth is looking forward to welcoming young people from every Catholic Diocese across the country.

“Who could forget the energy and the buzz when we welcomed tens of thousands of young people to our city for World Youth Day in 2008? Now, nearly a decade later, young people from across the country will join Church leaders to celebrate and pray for the young Church of Australia,” Archbishop Fisher said.

Frustration, Concern Grow After Another School Funding Delay

The National Catholic Education Commission says the Turnbull Government risks further alienating education stakeholders if it decides to announce the amount of funding the Commonwealth will spend on Australian schools in future years without extensive consultation with the sector.

NCEC acting executive director Danielle Cronin said it has become clear that there will not be meaningful discussion about the issue of future school funding when Minister for Education and Training Senator Simon Birmingham meets with state and territory ministers in Hobart on Friday.

“For meaningful school funding negotiations to take place, all sectors, including the Catholic and independent school sectors, must have a strong voice in this process,” Ms Cronin said.

“That voice must be heard before the Government decides how much money it is going to allocate to school funding in 2018 and beyond and before it decides how that money will be distributed across jurisdictions and sectors.”

Ms Cronin said it would be unacceptable for the Turnbull Government to announce its school funding plans in the May Budget without significant consultation with the Catholic and independent sectors, as well as state and territory education ministers.

“An open and collaborative process would preclude the Minister from making an announcement about the size of the school funding pie and then spending the following weeks telling sectors and jurisdictions how the pie is to be cut into 9,400 pieces to support each Australian school,” she said.

“The Minister, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer need to fully understand the funding realities schools and families are facing before deciding how much money they will allocate to support the teaching and learning taking place across the country. Meaningful consultation is the way to gain that understanding.”

Ms Cronin said all Australian school students deserve access to fair and equitable funding from government.

“That funding must also deliver certainty and predictability for schools, systems and, most importantly, families. Current government processes are not delivering on this promise,” she said.

Ms Cronin said systems and schools need funding certainty. A lack of funding certainty, as currently exists in relation to funding in 2018 and beyond, means systems, schools and families are unable to adequately plan for their educational, administrative and financial needs.

Delivering certainty as soon as possible allows the greatest opportunity for schools and systems to undertake considered and strategic planning, rather than the short-term planning necessitated by funding uncertainty, she said. It also allows any unintended consequences to be quickly addressed to avoid adverse effects for systems, schools and students.

“Families are rightly concerned about possible fee increases resulting from funding changes from next year,” Ms Cronin said.

“Catholic education is acutely aware of the sacrifices parents make to send their children to Catholic schools and are aware that many families are under financial stress as school fees and other cost of living pressures mount while wages growth is low.”

Schoolzine

Schoolzine is proud to be a digital partner and supporter of ACSP NSW - Association of Catholic School Principals in NSW Inc.

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