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- Pope: Heaven is an encounter with Jesus, not a boring waiting room
- Clergy abuse survivors grateful after private meetings with Pope
- NCEC Final Submission to Gonski
- Creating a Manifesto for Leadership
- Disciplined Dialogue - Structured Data-informed Conversations
- The Environment That’s Naturally Good for You
- ACPPA eTopics
- Australian Women’s Leadership Symposiums
- CSSA Forum
Pope: Heaven is an encounter with Jesus, not a boring waiting room
Heaven is not an eternally dull existence but rather the completion of a journey toward a promised encounter with the Lord, Pope Francis said. Although Christians may know full well that their goal is to go to heaven, "we begin to slip" when asked, "What is heaven," the pope said in his homily April 27 during Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae. "Many times, we think of an abstract heaven, a faraway heaven, a heaven that we say 'yes, its fine.' But some may think: 'Isn't it a little boring being there for all eternity?' No, that is not heaven," he said. Francis' homily focused on the day's first reading from the Acts of the Apostle, in which St. Paul proclaims "that what God promised our fathers he has brought to fulfillment" through Jesus' resurrection. Trusting God to fulfil his promises, he said, puts Christians on a path "toward an encounter, the definitive encounter with Jesus. Heaven is the encounter with Jesus."
Clergy abuse survivors grateful after private meetings with Pope
After private meetings with Pope Francis, three survivors of clergy sexual abuse from Chile said they felt they had been heard and were hopeful for changes in the way the Catholic Church handles accusations of abuse. "I spoke for more than two and a half hours alone with Francis. He listened to me with great respect, affection and closeness, like a father. We talked about many subjects. Today, I have more hope in the future of our church. Even though the task is enormous," Juan Carlos Cruz tweeted April 29 after meeting with the pope. Francis had invited Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo to stay at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican residence where he lives, and to meet with him individually April 27-29. The three were to meet with the pope again as a group April 30. Although the three survivors tweeted after their private meetings, Greg Burke, director of the Vatican press office, said Francis "expressly wished" that no official statements would be released by the Vatican regarding his discussions with the survivors. "His priority is to listen to the victims, ask their forgiveness and respect the confidentiality of these talks," Burke said in a statement April 27. "In this climate of trust and reparation for suffering, the desire of Francis is to allow his guests to speak as long as necessary, in a way that there is no set timetable or pre-established content."
NCEC Final Submission to Gonski
Executive Summary
Catholic schools have been part of Australia’s education story for 200 years. Catholic schools today educate one in five Australian children. Catholic systems see themselves as partners with families, with government, with the broader community and with other schools in delivering a high-quality educational choice in almost every part of the country. Indeed, almost 40 per cent of Catholic schools are outside major metropolitan areas. Catholic education is also playing an increasing role in early childhood services, which are a vital part of our education system. The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) submission sets out the unique characteristics of Catholic education and its vision for educational success for Australian students. The submission argues that while measuring success is important, there are a number of student outcomes that are difficult to measure but which should be considered as indicators of educational excellence. Where data are used successfully, they should analyse student progress over time, explore opportunities for data linkage and consider the personal and familial contexts of each student.
Creating a Manifesto for Leadership
Why are you, or why do you aspire to be, a school leader? What do you consider to be your attributes and values as a leader? How do you lead? How would you articulate your leadership manifesto? To be effective, a school leader needs a clear understanding of who they are as a leader and why and how they lead. This could be called the leader’s ‘manifesto’, and it should be understood by those he or she leads. Hunter (2017) addressed a set of values and beliefs for the teaching profession. There is also value in a personal statement of professional beliefs. Every leader needs a personal manifesto-something that lets everyone know their views, their thoughts, and their beliefs and intentions. When you create your manifesto, you instil a sense of transparency that makes it easy for others to respect, emulate and trust you (Daskal, 2018).
Disciplined Dialogue - Structured Data-informed Conversations
A disciplined dialogue enables school leaders, teachers and the other stakeholders to assess past performance and to plan for the future. It’s a structured conversation about the whole-school, a year level, a particular class or individual student’s qualitative and quantitative data recorded and analysed over a period of time. It’s a conversation about the moral purpose of schooling: student learning and performance. A disciplined dialogue is a focused conversation based on reason and values, stimulated by helpful qualitative and quantitative data. It is not trivial, trite, piecemeal nor sporadic; not irrationally based on stereotypes or hearsay; not derogatory, censuring, destructive nor coercive. It is positively focused on the moral purpose of schooling and is all-embracing (Swaffield & Dempster 2009).
The Environment That’s Naturally Good for You
The environment in which people live and work directly impacts their wellbeing and productivity. In 2017 the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority launched the Curriculum Connection resource stating that ‘Experiences in natural environments promote personal growth and development, and health and wellbeing’
(ACARA 2017). Educators are tasked with integrating the natural environment into their teaching practice. School leaders are tasked with supporting a naturally healthy indoor and outdoor learning and teaching environment.
Australian Women’s Leadership Symposiums
The Australian Women's Leadership Symposiums are a national series of events focused on the experiences of women leaders in the contemporary workforce.
Taking place in every state and territory capital between May and August, the Symposiums are an unparalleled gathering of the best and brightest female talent. Keynote speakers for 2018 include Gail Kelly, Professor Gillian Triggs, Nova Peris OAM OLY, Jessica Rowe AM, Ita Buttrose AO OBE, Katrina Webb OAM, The Right Hon Dame Jenny Shipley and many, many more.
The principal themes that will be tackled at this year’s events include:
- Resilience within the workplace
- Enabling women to lead
- The power of networking
- Being bold, being brave, being new
- Leading through change
- Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable.
An attendance discount of 25% is currently available by entering code ANSY18 at the time of booking (available until each Symposium sells out). For more information and to book: www.wla.edu.au/symposium
Sydney: Thursday 21st & Friday 22nd June 2018 Shangri-La Hotel
Canberra: 5th July 2018 Hyatt hotel
The CSSA Forum online site for registration to the CSSA Forum NESA HSC Reforms Including the Literacy and Numeracy Standard on
Friday 18 May 2018 is now opened to register.
The agenda for the day is attached and also available on the registration website.
Action:
Go to http://forum.cssa.com.au and enter your username and password.
If you don’t have your username and password contact CSSA at forum.division@cssa.catholic.edu.au<mailto:forum.division@cssa.catholic.edu.au> or phone 9486 3555.Please note: The CSSA does not send you the invoice. Schools and education offices generate and print the invoice. Go to Invoices on the Menu Bar. Payment details are on the invoice.