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Saint Ignatius College Geelong
Saint Ignatius College Geelong
Saint Ignatius College Geelong
Article by Mr Brendan Nicholls
As we settle into the new school year we consider all that is before us and all we might achieve during this academic year. There is so much we hope to achieve at the College this year and so many aspects we hope to be covered in educating our students. The Latin term cura personalis is the College theme for the year and it translates roughly to, ‘care for the whole person’. This concept is particularly Ignatian in its vision but is common in all Catholic Schools.
Catholic education focusses upon the development of the whole person and Jesus’ teaching to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’ As we accompany our students over their six years we aim to follow this teaching in helping each student develop in every way; spiritually, academically, emotionally and physically.
This theme is enhanced this year as we celebrate the bicentenary of Catholic Education in Australia. In just over a week’s time we will celebrate this anniversary during Catholic Education Week, 14-21 March.
Over the last 200 years the Catholic community has developed and placed their trust in the educational opportunities and formation that their children receive in Catholic schools. This achievement is no small feat. For the first thirty years other than two convicts who were priests there were no Catholic priests in Australia and Mass was allowed for only two of those years. As the colony developed the first officially appointed priests arrived in 1820. The first Catholic school in Australia began in Sydney in 1821 with an enrolment of 31 students.
As religious orders arrived in Australia more and more schools were opened. In particular the arrival of the Christian Brothers (1843), Sisters of Mercy (1846), Jesuit Fathers (1848) and Brigidine Sisters (1883) led to the establishment of schools in or connected to the current Catholic Colleges in Geelong. Today the numbers of students in Catholic schools has grown exponentially with one in five students attending a Catholic school!
Secondary Catholic Education has been a major part of Geelong and districts for well over a century.
• Sacred Heart College was established in 1860.
• St Augustine's and St Joseph’s, established in 1857 & 1890, which amalgamated to become the ‘current’ St Joseph’s College (est. 1935)
• Clonard College was established 1956.
• In recent times and with significant growth in the region Iona College opened its doors to students in 2020.
Our College is part of this tradition. Although Saint Ignatius College has ‘only’ been operating for some thirteen years the College has a history that can be traced back well over a century!
Prior to the establishment of Saint Ignatius the College was preceded by Catholic Regional College - CRC (coed) [1991-2006] which was spread across three campuses. CRC was established when St Mary’s Technical School (male) [1916-1990] and Goold College (female) [est. 1974] amalgamated. Even prior to this Goold College was preceded by St Agnes’ College (est. 1899).
Although we celebrate our College today and our position as an Ignatian Companion School we remember the long history of Catholic Education in Geelong that has led to this point.
Catholic education has grown over the last 200 years to the point that it now educates around 770,000 primary and secondary school students, in more than 1,750 schools and employs almost 100,000 staff. In the Geelong region alone Catholic secondary schools educate some 5,600 students, with some 500 staff employed.
This year we remember and celebrate all those who have gone before us. We are thankful for the dedication, sacrifice and vision of the religious and laity who together developed Catholic Education in Australia. At Saint Ignatius we celebrate especially the vision of the priests of the Deanery of Geelong who made the decision to centralise CRC to the Drysdale campus and the vision of the staff and leadership of the time who set a direction for the College, and entered into a partnership with the Australian Jesuits. The benefits of this relationship and the charism it offers are as immense as they are in enabling the vision of cura personalis.
In 2021 we also celebrate the new life and the renewal afforded by our transition to Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools and how the structural changes made will lead to new opportunities and a redefined vision of Catholic Education which I can assure you could be summed up in two words – cura personalis.
I look forward to being a small part of the journey of Catholic Education in Australia over the coming years and pray that we as a community hold Jesus’ teaching close to our hearts, and are seen by those outside of our community to hold true to that vision for life.
Yours in Christ,
Brendan Nicholls Religious Education Coordinator
Author’s note: I encourage you to read the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s pastoral letter from which some points in the above article were sourced.
Feature
Events
Our News // 04 March 2021
Article by Mr Brendan Nicholls
As we settle into the new school year we consider all that is before us and all we might achieve during this academic year. There is so much we hope to achieve at the College this year and so many aspects we hope to be covered in educating our students. The Latin term cura personalis is the College theme for the year and it translates roughly to, ‘care for the whole person’. This concept is particularly Ignatian in its vision but is common in all Catholic Schools.
Catholic education focusses upon the development of the whole person and Jesus’ teaching to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’ As we accompany our students over their six years we aim to follow this teaching in helping each student develop in every way; spiritually, academically, emotionally and physically.
This theme is enhanced this year as we celebrate the bicentenary of Catholic Education in Australia. In just over a week’s time we will celebrate this anniversary during Catholic Education Week, 14-21 March.
Over the last 200 years the Catholic community has developed and placed their trust in the educational opportunities and formation that their children receive in Catholic schools. This achievement is no small feat. For the first thirty years other than two convicts who were priests there were no Catholic priests in Australia and Mass was allowed for only two of those years. As the colony developed the first officially appointed priests arrived in 1820. The first Catholic school in Australia began in Sydney in 1821 with an enrolment of 31 students.
As religious orders arrived in Australia more and more schools were opened. In particular the arrival of the Christian Brothers (1843), Sisters of Mercy (1846), Jesuit Fathers (1848) and Brigidine Sisters (1883) led to the establishment of schools in or connected to the current Catholic Colleges in Geelong. Today the numbers of students in Catholic schools has grown exponentially with one in five students attending a Catholic school!
Secondary Catholic Education has been a major part of Geelong and districts for well over a century.
• Sacred Heart College was established in 1860.
• St Augustine's and St Joseph’s, established in 1857 & 1890, which amalgamated to become the ‘current’ St Joseph’s College (est. 1935)
• Clonard College was established 1956.
• In recent times and with significant growth in the region Iona College opened its doors to students in 2020.
Our College is part of this tradition. Although Saint Ignatius College has ‘only’ been operating for some thirteen years the College has a history that can be traced back well over a century!
Prior to the establishment of Saint Ignatius the College was preceded by Catholic Regional College - CRC (coed) [1991-2006] which was spread across three campuses. CRC was established when St Mary’s Technical School (male) [1916-1990] and Goold College (female) [est. 1974] amalgamated. Even prior to this Goold College was preceded by St Agnes’ College (est. 1899).
Although we celebrate our College today and our position as an Ignatian Companion School we remember the long history of Catholic Education in Geelong that has led to this point.
Catholic education has grown over the last 200 years to the point that it now educates around 770,000 primary and secondary school students, in more than 1,750 schools and employs almost 100,000 staff. In the Geelong region alone Catholic secondary schools educate some 5,600 students, with some 500 staff employed.
This year we remember and celebrate all those who have gone before us. We are thankful for the dedication, sacrifice and vision of the religious and laity who together developed Catholic Education in Australia. At Saint Ignatius we celebrate especially the vision of the priests of the Deanery of Geelong who made the decision to centralise CRC to the Drysdale campus and the vision of the staff and leadership of the time who set a direction for the College, and entered into a partnership with the Australian Jesuits. The benefits of this relationship and the charism it offers are as immense as they are in enabling the vision of cura personalis.
In 2021 we also celebrate the new life and the renewal afforded by our transition to Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools and how the structural changes made will lead to new opportunities and a redefined vision of Catholic Education which I can assure you could be summed up in two words – cura personalis.
I look forward to being a small part of the journey of Catholic Education in Australia over the coming years and pray that we as a community hold Jesus’ teaching close to our hearts, and are seen by those outside of our community to hold true to that vision for life.
Yours in Christ,
Brendan Nicholls Religious Education Coordinator
Author’s note: I encourage you to read the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s pastoral letter from which some points in the above article were sourced.
