13 June - 15 June NZCEC Wellington

NZCEC Wellington 13-15 June 2018
RE Team
I was lucky enough to attend the Catholic Convention along with Bernie, Sheryl, Dave, Katherine and Deacon Mike.

The Convention is a huge gathering of Catholic school leaders, teachers, Bishops, Priests and officials from various Catholic Dioceses.  

The opening ceremony of the Convention included an inspiring acknowledgment of Matariki (the Pleiades star cluster) the presence of which marks the Māori New Year.  We were reminded about how important it is to celebrate the qualities, values and successes of our many stars who are the young people we work with everyday in our schools. We need to acknowledge and celebrate the fabulous work we all do in our school to nurture and inspire our little stars to grow and shine.  

Secretary for Education, Iona Holsted, also attended the Catholic Education Convention and addressed the 800 hundred strong audience.  She talked about the changes ahead and the many Task Force groups that have been established to reshape our system of education.  She talked about the Summits in Christchurch and Auckland and surveying the attendees about what values they felt were most important.  At both Summits, well-being was top of the list, followed by creativity. Ms Holsted told the delegates that since so many consider ‘well being’ to be of high importance, it will be included in all work streams for the Ministry this year. 

She noted that the Tomorrow's Schools review was the one causing the greatest anxiety for people and encouraged all participants in the Convention to submit their views to the Task Force chaired by Bali Haq. She congratulated the Catholic schools saying that with their strong practices of living values, and caring for others and their well being, meant they were well placed to deal with future challenges. 

We were certainly entertained and challenged by the many speakers who spoke to us during the course of the three days. 

Our presentation to our staff Tuesday 19th June Google slides
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1D9AKUT_oVBPvNaceZALvn3devEpcAPH7-DURTJ_2z9E/edit?ts=5b24c3f9#slide=id.g3c6c757726_0_116

Following in the Footsteps of Suzanne Aubert - Meri Hohepa, the woman who will become NZ's first saint. We visited sites of significance and pilgrimage. We discovered historic and sacred places. 

This building is Buckle Street, a recently restored Historic creche. 

Compassion soup kitchen in Tory street, not far from its original location. The response of the soup kitchen to hunger and social isolation has been constant since 1901.

Our Lady's house of Compassion in Island Bay - home of the resting place of Suzanne Aubert and the mother house of the Sisters of Compassion. Facilities opened October 2017. 

Professor Br David Hall - Catholic Schools and the Possibility of God - Marist Brother from Australia. 

Chris Duthie-Jung Pastoral Minister - PARENTS - FIRST EDUCATORS IN FAITH - he used our school picture to show a school forming faith together - school, children, whanau all together.

 Great book for maybe new entrant families