Queensland’s 296 Catholic school communities will highlight how they are striving to provide opportunities for students to ‘live life to the full’ when they celebrate Catholic Education Week from this Sunday 27 July – Saturday 2 August.
The schools will mark the week with a range of activities including liturgical celebrations, ‘acts of kindness,’ and community events.
QCEC Executive Director Mike Byrne says Catholic Education Week is a special opportunity for Catholic schools to celebrate their distinctive mission and share the great things they are doing with their parish and wider communities.
“Catholic schools aim to provide an educational experience through which every young person has the opportunity to reach their full potential – spiritually, intellectually, socially, emotionally, culturally and physically – and know what it means to engage in all that life has to offer.
“This year’s celebrations focus on the theme “Come, live life in all its fullness” – an inspirational call based on the Gospel of John (10:10), challenging those who answer it to ‘live fully’,” Mr Byrne said.
Catholic Education Week in Queensland will be officially launched by Most Rev Mark Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane, at a celebration to be attended by around 500 students, teachers, parents and friends of Catholic education from across the State at St Laurence’s College, South Brisbane on Wednesday 30 July.
A highlight of the launch will be the presentation of the 2014 Spirit of Catholic Education Awards to seven outstanding contributors to Catholic education by Hon Campbell Newman MP, Premier of Queensland. Minister for Education, Training and Employment, Hon John-Paul Langbroek MP will also attend the launch event and deliver an address.
Official Ambassadors for the week, Annabel Pike and Michael Mangan, will visit each of the five Queensland Dioceses, engaging with various groups of students, staff, parents and parishioners.
Annabel Pike is the 2013 Pride of Australia Medal Queensland recipient for care and compassion and the 2012 Australian Nurse Graduate of the Year. She is a past student of St Agatha’s School and St Rita’s College in Clayfield, the Australian Catholic University and is now a valued member of staff at the Mater Private Hospital.
Michael Mangan is a past student of St Patrick’s School, Nanango. He is a former Catholic school teacher, and now a composer and music liturgist, whose music is widely used in schools and parishes throughout Australia, New Zealand and North America.
Michael has composed a special song for Catholic Education Week, ‘Come, live life’, which schools and Parishes are encouraged to include as a centrepiece of liturgical celebrations and other events.
About 143,500 or 18.5% of all Queensland students and almost 60% of students in Non-government schools are educated in one of Queensland’s 296 Catholic schools. More than 17,000 teachers and staff are employed in Catholic education state-wide.
Queensland’s Catholic schools are operated by five Diocesan education authorities in Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Toowoomba and Brisbane, as well as 15 Religious Institute or incorporated school authorities.
“On behalf of the Queensland Catholic Education Commission, I extend best wishes to all in the Catholic education community for a joyous and successful celebration of Catholic Education Week 2014,” Mike Byrne said.
Catholic Education Week in Queensland is proudly sponsored by the QT Mutual Bank, The Australian Catholic Superannuation and Retirement Fund and the Australian Catholic University.
For more information about Catholic Education Week 2014 please visit the website catholiceducationweek.com.au, or contact your local Catholic school.
Released by the Queensland Catholic Education Commission
July 23, 2014