Two First Year Teacher retreats have been completed for 2015, with very successful results. Approximately sixty-five teachers attended the two-day residential retreat in the beautiful surroundings of Benedict XVI Retreat Centre at Grose Vale. A special presentation was made by
Dr Dan White, (Executive Director of Catholic Schools, Sydney) whose presentation was titled ‘Catholic Pedagogy: Nurturing Pilgrims or Educating Tourists?’. Dr Dan opened up the connections between the secular view of pedagogy (add to this the Divine pedagogy) and its relationship to Catholic pedagogy. Dr Dan’s experiences, story and wealth of knowledge gave our teachers valuable insights, which allowed them to further open up during the retreat.
Our teachers experienced a variety of opportunities to reflect upon the theme of ‘Called’. These included input, discussion, reflection, personal time, activities, prayer, the celebration of Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Reconciliation. An important aspect of the Retreat was the collegial relationship of colleagues walking with colleagues on their journey with Jesus Christ.
A truly spiritual encounter that left us all being reminded that our calling, our vocation as disciples of Jesus is what its all about. My thanks to Daniella Taranto and Jo Simpson for their assistance as co-facilitators on respective Retreats.