Law and social change
If you’re excited by legal changes that have social and moral significance, these are exciting times. There has not been so much on the political agenda, I’d say, since the ‘seventies. Then, having got past the Vietnam War, we seemed quite suddenly to have a raft of social change legislation.
Developing an inclusive and sustainable economy
The Australian Catholic Church celebrates Social Justice Sunday on 24 September. This year’s Australian Bishops’ Social Justice Statement is titled “Everyone’s Business: Developing an inclusive and sustainable economy”.
St Joseph’s students have bags of attitude!
Teacher Jo Williams felt strongly that she could give children a variety of practical tools to empower them to self-regulate and understand their feelings when they were experiencing anxiety or anger − so she wrote a Well Being Program.
What is The Atonement: Lina’s Project and why should you be there?
You often find, as a resident of the Newcastle, Hunter and Manning regions, that when you meet somebody new, you have someone in common. Their best friend used to date your friend’s brother or their aunty is related to your second cousin. If it’s six degrees of separation in big cities then it’s more like two degrees of separation for us. Our community is connected. We know each other.
Stay awake to hear the voices of those who need you
During the recent school holidays, my wife, Alison, and I led an immersion to Kesheni which was facilitated by local Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders members in Kenya. Appropriately, Kesheni means ‘stay awake’ in Swahili.
The sky is orange for friends on the street
Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett (2016 Young Australians of the Year) set out to improve hygiene standards for homeless people and stumbled on the “power of conversation”.
Are you ready for a spa day for the mind?
Aurora invited Bronwyn Melville, Pastoral Care Worker at St Pius X High School and Chair of the Parent Education Working Party of the Federation of Parents and Friends, to share a new initiative of the Federation.
CatholicCare’s supporting our most vulnerable children
“Foster carers are very special people who provide love, support and stability to some of our country’s most vulnerable children,” Gary Christensen, Acting Director of CatholicCare Social Services Hunter-Manning, said on the eve of NSW Foster Care Week.
Achieving HSC success: tips for students and parents
The Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations will soon be here for thousands of local students, their teachers and family members. As a teacher of HSC students for many years and having my own two children take on the challenge, I know first-hand that the next two months will be a trying time for all involved. The HSC exams begin on 16 October with students receiving their results on 14 December.
“There but for the grace of God...”
Gifts come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Some delight in the kind that comes in brown paper packages tied up with string.
Relying on the language of silence
Being led by inward experience is central to Quaker practice and therefore words may seem inadequate to convey its essence. Like all mystical and contemplative traditions, Quakerism relies on the language of silence.
Thoughts from the second best singer in the house!
Father-to-be James Beverley shares some thoughts in the month when fatherhood comes into focus.
St Dominic’s responds to community need
From 2018, St Dominic’s Centre, Mayfield (formerly St Dominic’s Centre for Hearing Impaired Children), will begin to offer a schooling option for students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This decision is a direct response to local community need.
Two became four, then two again
Maitland twins Shirley Mills and Eunice (Eunie) Morris are about to reach the milestone of their 90th birthdays and great celebrations are planned!
“Your memory is a poet, let it have its say”
I challenge you to read Patti Miller’s newly published Writing True Stories and not want to drop everything and write!
