Principal
Something to Celebrate
Parents who attended the recent Information evenings will be aware that along with the 130 year celebration here at Nudgee College, the wider Catholic community of Australia is celebrating 200 years since the first Catholic school opened in Parramatta in Sydney in 1821. The National video launch celebrated and paid tribute to the role Catholic education has played in the lives of generations of students and the successful learning outcomes it continues to deliver today.
As part of this launch a Pastoral Letter from the Bishops of Australia 200 Years Young has been circulated to educational leaders, school staff, students and parents. The full text is available at the link provided and I recommend it to those of you seeking a fuller understanding of the great story of Catholic education in this country. It also provides an insight into the challenges that Catholic education faces in the present and in looking ahead to the future.
For others, I share with you some excerpts which, in my mind, capture the essence of the letter’s message:
Two hundred years ago the first official Catholic school opened in Australia. Since then Catholic education has grown to the point that it now educates around 770,000 primary and secondary school students, in more than 1,750 schools, with nearly 100,000 staff. These are sponsored by dioceses and parishes, religious institutes and public juridic persons, and groups of parents. Six thousand Catholic catechists participate in the religious education of 200,000 children in government schools and parishes. Over the last few years, hundreds of Church sponsored early learning centres have been established, educating many thousands of preschoolers. Around 50,000 tertiary students are now enrolled in our two Catholic universities with their several campuses. It is an extraordinary achievement!
Catholic schools are a jewel in the crown of the Catholic Church in Australia, with few parallels in other countries. Alongside families and parishes they are the Church’s principal meeting point with young people. They are integral to the Church’s mission of transmitting the faith to the next generation. It is there that many young people encounter Christ, intensify their knowledge and love of God, and are formed as future contributors to Australian society. We hope all our students will emerge from our schools with a deepened sense of the sacred and greater appreciation of the true, the good and the beautiful. Catholic education is steadfast in its commitment to evangelisation, catechesis, religious education and spiritual and moral formation.
Catholic schools are also a major part of Australia’s educational ecosystem. They are the equal of other schools regarding educational programs, student achievement, teacher professionalism, facilities and innovation. They have provided high quality education to generations of young Australians, now numbering in their millions. They stand as a beacon in our society, for their contribution to the common good and to the nation’s social capital. They have helped nurture a more just, tolerant and cohesive society. Catholic education is determined in its commitment to excellence and equity.
In this bicentenary year more than one in five Australian students attends a Catholic school, and many others a Catholic preschool, college or university. There are Catholic schools in most towns and suburbs, and university campuses in most capital cities. The students come from diverse backgrounds and beliefs. They are no longer all from poorer families, as so many were in the first century and a half of Catholic education. Despite our continuing preferential option for the poor and concern to be more accessible to First Australians, refugees, those with disabilities or other disadvantage, our schools now boast children drawn from every part of our society. Yet for all their diversity, they form a community with a common purpose and shared mission. As Christ said that He had come “that they might have life, life to the full” (John 10:10), we seek to draw out our students’ gifts, address their challenges and enable them to experience fullness of life.
The extraordinary success of Catholic education did not occur by chance: it is fruit of the sacrifice of past generations and divine grace. We are heirs to that rich legacy, borne out of sincere belief, inspiring vision and unwavering resolve. The bicentenary of Catholic education in Australia invites us to remember the past with gratitude, be inspired by that story in the present, and look forward with faith in the future ...
“Let the little children come to me,” said Jesus, “for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs” (Matt 19:14). As the Catholic education world in Australia celebrates its bicentenary, the Bishops of Australia share the Holy Father’s confidence in the power of a good Catholic education from P to T (preschool to tertiary). We also have great confidence in our young people: that inspired by their encounter with Jesus Christ and nurtured by a Catholic education, they will be young women and men of character and ideals, and will contribute as leaders and disciples in our world. And we have great confidence in our education leaders and staff: that in charting the course for Catholic education in Australia in its third century, you will help us imagine how our educational institutions can be schools in a deeper faith and humanity, and ensure that this dream is realised.
Finally, congratulations to the 30 boys from years 6 to 12 who received Principal’s Awards at Tuesday’s assembly. This award recognises the level of improvement achieved in Semester 2, 2020. Few of these boys received Academic Awards on our recent assembly and yet their learning ‘gain’ has been outstanding. The Principal's Awards are one of the ways in which we strive to recognise the quiet achievers of the classrooms around the College. The award is accessible to all boys whatever their combination of subjects, their pathways or year level. Often these boys are not at the top of their class and yet they adopt the mindset and attitude that brings success as measured by improvement, not simply by the final result. Something to also celebrate!
Mr Peter Fullagar
Principal
