21 October 2021

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Tags: Educators, Parents, Students

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Categories: Events, Saints

This evening, the Infant Jesus Sisters invite everyone to join in the celebration of Holy Mass commemorating the 400th anniversary of the birth of Blessed Nicolas Barré, the founder of their order. Mass will be live-streamed online on YouTube, celebrated by Fr Derrick Yap, OFM.

Today’s feast concludes the jubilee year of the fourth centenary of his birth, a celebration which began last October 21. Nicolas was born the eldest of five children to Antoinette and Louis Barré on 21 October 1621 in Amiens, France. He was their only son; they probably expected him to take over the family business.

However, educated by Jesuits from the age of ten, Nicolas witnessed their prayerful life integrated with charitable action; the Jesuits provided free lodging for poor students. The Jesuits were a missionary order sending priests all over the world to share the Gospel. Nicolas was inspired to be a priest.

 

Serving the Poor

Instead of joining the Jesuits, he decided to become a Minim, living among the poorest people in town and serving them throughout the epidemics, famines and wars of mid-seventeenth century France. Their motto, Caritas, later influenced the spirituality of the “Charitable Teachers” assembled by Fr Barré: the Infant Jesus Sisters.

Fr Barré was a noted philosophy and theology lecturer, as well as director of the library at the Minim convent of Place Royale, Paris, France. He witnessed the terrible poverty of the people of Paris. During a period of illness, he prayed and reflected that many social ills were the result of youth lacking education, and hence a sense of purpose and direction in life. Fr Barré decided to invite two young women, twenty-year-old Marguerite Lestocq and eighteen-year-old Françoise Duval, to help teach impoverished girls. Three other ladies soon joined the work, known as “Little Charitable Schools”.

 

Growth of the Mission

After four years of running these small schools, Fr Barré invited the teachers to live as a religious community under the care of Divine Providence: the Charitable Mistresses of the Schools of the Holy Infant Jesus.

He wrote: “We should live in a state of complete dependence on grace, and however great the gifts and effects it produces, we should always focus on God Who is its source. As to our good deeds, we should remember that it is God Who deigns to act through us.”

Summoned back to Paris by the Minims, Fr Barré discovered that news of his schools had spread, and a wealthy woman, Marie de Lorraine, invited him to open more with her financial help. Together, they founded ten schools and a small hospital.

In time, the Infant Jesus Sisters became an institute of pontifical right with communities in five continents, educating children throughout the world. Fr Barré was consulted by St John Baptist de la Salle, who founded the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools to educate boys.

 

Arrival in Singapore

When founding the LaSallian St Joseph’s Institution in Singapore, Fr Jean-Marie Beurel wrote to the Infant Jesus Sisters in France, asking them to send missionaries to start a girls’ school. The sisters arrived in 1854 after an arduous journey by ship, and founded both a school and an orphanage for babies abandoned at their “Gate of Hope”.

The sisters trusted in God’s providence, teaching by day and supporting themselves as embroiderers by night. Their mission expanded to Japan in 1872 and Thailand in 1885. In Malaya and Singapore, they established 83 schools. Today, there are eleven Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) schools in Singapore.

The CHIJ badge, designed by French students in 1894, bears the motto Simple Dans Ma Vertu, Forte Dans Mon Devoir: Simple in My Virtue, Steadfast in My Duty. It is a reminder to persevere in one’s responsibilities despite all challenges.

An IJ education forms students holistically, building their characters for the lifelong love and service of God and others. As the hymn to Father Barré says: “Touch many hearts to follow in your footsteps/To dedicate their lives to youth and poor/… to make Christ known and loved.”

At Blessed Nicolas Barré’s beatification in Rome, on 7 March 1999, Pope John Paul II said: “Nicolas Barré tirelessly sought to lead both the people he directed and the charitable teachers to the prayer of the heart, inspired by contemplation of the inexpressible mystery of God Who out of love became a human being and even a little child.”

Today, we celebrate his legacy of faith and love which has formed so many young Singaporean women throughout the generations. Join the IJ community in praying the Mass at 8pm on YouTube.

31 August 2021

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Tags: Educators, Parents, Students

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Categories: Events, News

For Catholic Education Sunday this year on 12 September, ACCS is inviting students and staff of Catholic schools across Singapore to contribute recordings for a virtual choir, singing the recessional hymn of our live-streamed Mass.

To enable young children to participate, they only need to sing the AMEN, as demonstrated in this video.

Catholic Education Sunday has been celebrated since 2017, bringing together our Archdiocese’s educational community, forming 50,000-over students from nursery, pre-school and primary school to secondary school and junior college.

Despite Covid-19 restrictions, we can still find creative means to maintain our communal ties and worship together from our homes – the domestic church.

With this song, we want to bless all our Catholic schools, religious families, students and educators, as well as the Catholic Church in Singapore, especially in our 200th year.

Instructions on how to participate can be found here, with the four main choir parts: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Current students are encouraged to wear their school uniforms while singing. Please upload your recordings by Saturday 4 September 2021, 11pm. Late submissions may not be used.

17 August 2021

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Tags: Educators, Parents, Students

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Categories: Events, News

At the turn of the 19th century, when only the nobility and middle class had access to education, St Magdalene of Canossa, the daughter of a marquis and a countess, spent her inheritance providing free education for the poorest of the poor.

She witnessed widespread suffering and unrest in her hometown Verona, caused by the Napoleonic Wars. Magdalene reasoned that educated Christian wives and mothers were the best way to form wholesome families, creating a virtuous society. For her, the aim of education was to lead people to experience God’s love.

In Singapore, the Canossian Sisters, or Canossian Daughters of Charity (FDCC, Figlie Della Carità Canossiane), founded Canossa Convent Primary School and Fatima Home on 15 August 1941, providing accommodation for thirty-one orphans.

Watch the Canossaville 80th Anniversary Commemorative Video here:

After surviving World War II and the Japanese Occupation, the Sisters established the Canossian School for the Deaf in 1956. That year, Sr Natalia Tasca FDCC gathered a group of six to work with her – this was the beginning of the Lay Canossians, who now number over a hundred.

Today, there are about 2,300 Canossians serving in 18 provinces on five continents. St Magdalene wrote that the Daughters of Charity are to be “detached from everything… and ready for the divine service and to go anywhere, even to the remotest Country.” Canossa Children and Community Services (Canossaville) continues the mission began by St Magdalene in Italy two centuries ago.

Learn more about what goes on behind the doors of the Canossian Village here:

7 April 2021

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Tags: Parents

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Categories: Events, News

Photo: Facebook @LSSCPES

 

If you’re thinking of putting your little ones to pre-school, join Little Shepherds’ Schoolhouse at their open house this Saturday! Little Shepherds’ Schoolhouse (LSS) family of pre-schools offer authentic learning experiences, built upon the Education in Virtue® programme. With centres in Yishun, Commonwealth, Hougang, Boon Lay, Ang Mo Kio, Jurong West, Sengkang, Woodlands, Bukit Timah, and Katong, you’ll find a convenient place for the care of your little one.

LSS operates on the belief that every child is a joyful learner. Grounded in Catholic virtues, they promise a holistic learning experience for children aged 18 months to 6 years. They aim to instill in every child a sense of curiosity and love for all things, and prepare children not only for primary school education, but for the future ahead too.

 

Photo: Instagram @littleshepherdsschoolhouse

 

This Saturday, 10 April, their centres at Yishun (Blk 235 Yishun Street 21, Singapore 760235) and Commonwealth (1 Commonwealth Drive, Singapore 149603) are opening up their doors for you to find out more about them. Meet the principals, teachers and find out more about what the little ones do during lessons. Due to COVID-19, time slots need to be reserved for visits. Find out more at tinyurl.com/lss-openhouse.

 

Photo: Instagram @littleshepherdsschoolhouse

 

For a limited time, as part of #Catholic200SG celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the Catholic Church’s presence in Singapore, LSS is waiving registration fees when you enroll your child with them.

10 March 2021

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Tags: Educators, Parents, Students

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Categories: Events

God is the Creator of the universe, the ground of all being. By virtue of His life-giving love, God formed this reality to share the abundance of His goodness with other living beings. Due to the Fall, we have inherited a broken world, but it is still inherently good and in the process of being redeemed by Christ.

Through our creative natures, we participate in the salvific work of God, restoring His creation to what it was meant to be. God created a universe based on logic and natural laws, which we are able to discern through our intellects. When we live in harmony with these laws written on our hearts (Romans 2:15), we are more likely to flourish as human beings in community with one another.

Teachers have the weighty responsibility of forming young minds to comprehend and navigate the world they live in. Throughout a teacher’s life, generations of students will receive that teacher’s way of looking at the world and relating to it. A good teacher points to the truth, goodness and beauty of his branches of knowledge, inspiring his pupils to greater heights. Italian poet Giovanni Ruffini observed, “The teacher is like the candle which lights others in consuming itself.”

In music, the discipline of committing the rules to muscle memory enables you to innovate and compose new songs. So it is in other areas of life, like cooking, writing and computing – once you have absorbed the basics, you can be more creative than ever, instead of creating an inedible or illegible mess. A teacher lays the groundwork for the student to make masterpieces.

This is also true in the spiritual life. There are rudimentary principles to follow: to think, speak and act with charity; to cultivate a discipline of prayer; to accept God’s self-revelation to mankind and how He has chosen to work throughout human history to draw us to Himself. Once you have those principles in place, you are able to receive the graces to become the singular saint you are meant to be.

“How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been; how gloriously different are the saints,” said C.S. Lewis. A cursory glance at the Bible and Church history shows how God selects men, women and children of all backgrounds, temperaments and talents to bring glory to His kingdom of love. From ex-brigands like St Moses the Black to innocent, illiterate teenagers like St Bernadette, from erudite lecturers like St Thomas Aquinas to simple-minded men like St Joseph of Cupertino, God has worked wonders of redemption through them all.

The word “create” comes from the Latin crescere, “to grow”. Cultivating creativity allows us to grow as humans, made in the image and likeness of God, Whose principal nature is Love. Moreover, as creative beings, we become more attuned to God’s creative presence in our lives, appearing in the most unexpected ways. Also, like the founders of various Catholic educational institutions, we are challenged to find creative ways to reach younger generations and nourish them in every facet of their growth as contributing members of society. How are you being called to contribute to God’s new creation today?

1 March 2021

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Tags: Educators

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Categories: Events

The Christian faith is not defined simply by a series of doctrines or traditions. It is centred on the Person of Jesus Christ, a personal God Who wants a relationship with each of us. Christianity is, at its core, a covenantal religion based on encountering God and others, sharing our lives with the Persons of the Trinity and the members of Christ’s Body, the Church.

When Jesus rose from the dead, He did not tell the apostles to write the Bible before He ascended into Heaven. He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20a). The emphasis was on personal encounter, a teacher-disciple relationship.

The Ethiopian eunuch admitted to St Philip that he needed guidance in understanding the scriptures (Acts 8:31). We do not leave students to teach themselves from textbooks; we have experienced teachers who guide them through intellectual frameworks and concepts, who model to them what it is to be a mathematician, a writer, a historian, a scientist. So it is with the faith. We learn from others how to be Christians, to live as followers of Christ.

The word “disciple” is from the Latin discipulus, meaning “pupil, student, follower”. A disciple is one who follows another for the purpose of learning. This in turn is derived either from discere, “to learn”, from the root dek-, “to take, accept”; or from discipere, to grasp intellectually or analyse thoroughly, from dis- (“apart”) and capere, “to take hold of”. The word “tradition” is also from a Latin word, tradere, “to deliver or hand over”. The Gentile apostle Luke tells us that his Gospel is “an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word” (Luke 1:1-2). St Paul says, “I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

The written tradition of the Bible, along with the oral traditions of the early Church, have been handed down faithfully to us from generation to generation. Think of how you first came to know about Jesus. Didn’t someone tell you about Him? Even if you simply picked up a book about Jesus, somebody wrote it. Christianity is based on the Incarnation, the God-Man. God chose to establish a Church led by the Apostles, despite their weaknesses, and He continues to work through human nature today, even in its brokenness.

The Catholic education system is based on Christ’s call to make disciples of all nations. School founders like St Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (known as the Father of Modern Education, who created the first training school for teachers), Bl. Nicholas Barré, St John Bosco, Ven. Mary Ward and Maria Montessori dedicated their lives to the education of impoverished youth, seeking to form them in virtue, giving them the tools to live fruitful and purposeful lives. Christians recognise that every person is made in the image and likeness of God, and the cultivation of our faculties for reason, knowledge and compassion helps us grow into healthy, flourishing human beings, contributing to the overall welfare of our communities.

The Catholic Education Conference 2021 reflects the wonderful reality that: “Through teaching and learning, praying and playing, and growing up and becoming wiser, God encounters everyone in school, regardless of race, language or religion, in myriad ways to shape our lives for better. Each encounter reminds us that we are in God’s holy presence.”

May this conference be a time for educators to be rejuvenated, so that they may reflect the loving face of Christ to others, and recognise the lovable face of God in each person they serve through their noble vocation.

18 February 2021

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Tags: Educators

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Categories: Events

The 2021 Catholic Education Conference will take place online on Monday, 15 March. The conference centres on celebrating God’s presence in our lives, particularly through His gift of education.

The word “education” comes from the Latin words ex– (“out”) and ducere (“to lead”). A holistic education leads us out of ignorance to truth. A Catholic education leads us to the ground of all truth, God Himself, the Logos. As humans, we are gifted with the virtue of faith and faculty of reason, allowing us to know, love and serve God, recognising His daily presence in our lives.

Through encountering and embracing the Word of God, Jesus, we are invited to participate in the life of the Holy Trinity, the essence of which is love and community. Thus, our Catholic schools are called to be communities of love and service, ever magnifying the light of Christ throughout the world, proclaiming the truth that each human being is made in the image and likeness of God, worthy of profound respect, created to give and receive love.

Educators have an opportunity to honour God’s gift of Himself through their everyday lives and vocations as teachers and school leaders. Through teaching and learning, praying and playing, and growing up and becoming wiser, we offer an experience of the Lord in myriad ways, shaping young lives for better.

CEC2021 is a time of grace for educators to take a break from their busy lives, to pause, and become aware of God’s presence. By renewing themselves at the well of living water, our educators will be better equipped for the challenges of the school year, drawing their strength from the Holy Spirit so that they may be blessings to everyone they meet and serve. When we act according to our graced nature as living icons of Christ, we naturally attract others to come to know and love God, the ultimate source of human flourishing.

Several workshops have been planned for the conference, employing a variety of media to facilitate participants’ encounters with God. Be sure to join us for this time of renewal. In preparation for the conference, various teaching orders and priests have prepared a novena starting on 22 February, focusing on the theme of Celebrating, Encountering, Creating Our God Experience. The novena videos will be available at the CEC2021 page.

17 February 2021

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Tags: Educators

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Categories: Events, Homilies / Messages

Here is the homily of his grace Archbishop William Goh at the Holy Mass commemorating the Commencement of the School Year, as well as the commissioning of 11 new principals.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as educators, all of us are called to be leaders, not just in imparting knowledge, but to be educators of life, of love and of truth. We need to do this with authority. But what kind of authority needs to be exercised, so that this authority of instructing—of teaching—would be effective?

In today’s Gospel reading (Mark 1:21-28), we are told that Jesus went to the synagogue and began to teach. His teaching [leaves] a deep impression on [those who hear Him] because, unlike the scribes, He taught with authority.

What is this authority? Most of us we tend to rely on our juridical authority, because we are principals, because we are bishops, because we are priests. Juridical authority is not a very effective mean to form people and to get things done. In fact, if we have to use juridical authority, it can be a sign of bankruptcy in leadership. Some of us use our professional authority, our academic authority; we like to show our string of degrees and credentials, so people will believe what we say, what we teach.

Of course, juridical and professional authority have importance, especially when people do not yet know us. But, my dear brothers and sisters, at the end of the day, it would not be your juridical or professional authority that would make you an effective leader educator. It is ‘personal authority’ that will bring the two together. Without this ‘personal’ authority we will end up as inept, ineffective leaders. 

This was the situation of the scribes in today’s Gospel. The scribes were professional rabbi, professional teachers. They went to theological schools, they knew all the laws, they were the official interpreter of the laws—and there were 613 of them. [The scribes] were deeply schooled in the commandments, and yet, we are told Jesus taught differently from them; “unlike the scribes” (Mk 1:22). These did not teach with authority, [for] the only authority they had was juridical authority and professional authority; they lacked ‘personal authority’, because what they taught was not how they lived. What they taught was not relevant to the lives of the people, they were just abstract knowledge and laws that did not give the people life, that did not lead them to the truth.

Educators can fall into the same threat. To be a good educator, it is not enough to acquire professional knowledge of whatever subjects we are teaching. Of course, that is important! But unless a teacher—an educator—truly believes in what he or she is teaching, truly interiorises his or her knowledge, he would not be able to teach with passion and conviction; it would just be imparting knowledge, but not [himself].

What is it that changes people’s lives? It’s not just what we say, [but also] how we say it, and how we integrate it into the way we look at the world, the way we look at situations, the way we look at life. Whether you’re teaching geography, history, or mathematics, they have to do with life.

We cannot teach them as if they are just dry subjects; they are not. [This is] why a Catholic school does not mean that we have all these academic subjects, and—over and above all these—we have another optional subject called “Religious Knowledge”. Rather, if a teacher is imbued with the Gospel, and is convinced that what he is teaching has great importance in the lives of our students and of future generations, he would, in a very subtle or unconscious way, inject the values of the Gospel, his convictions, her convictions, into what she is teaching. That is what it means to be a Catholic school: Catholic in the way we look at life, [Catholic] in the values that we are offering.

My dear brothers and sisters, to teach with authority, therefore, requires us that we teach with this ‘personal authority’.

In the first reading from the book of Deuteronomy (18:15-20), we see Moses, who gave the same laws to the people. But Moses was highly respected. The people did not always obey the laws, that is true, because of their weakness, but they respected him. Why? Because Moses was not just a friend of God, he was a man of God. They saw him as someone who was infused with the presence of God, not by what he thought, not by what he said, but by how he lived.

The Book of Exodus told us that Moses, he spoke to God “face to face”, as a friend (33:11). Moses was the one who journeyed with the people 40 years in the desert. Moses was the one who interceded for them whenever things went wrong, and God wanted to punish them. Moses was the one who fed them with manna in the desert when they were hungry, gave them water from the rock when they were thirsty. Moses was the one who was always with them, every step in their journey; he was living among them. That was how Moses was different from the scribes and that was how Jesus lived his life as a teacher.

 

Interestingly, in the Gospel, Jesus is portrayed as the second Moses, the new Moses, the real Moses. That is why the life of Jesus paralleled the life of Moses. Like Moses, Jesus was persecuted by the king. Like Moses, He fled to Egypt. Like Moses, He went up the mountain and He gave them the new law—at the sermon on the mount—the beatitudes. Like Moses, He gave them the new manna, the bread of life. Like Moses, Jesus, in John’s Gospel, is the living water (John 4:14).

Jesus was one person who went about living with the people, healing the sick, carrying their sins and infirmities in his body. He was one with them. He knew the hunger, the thirst, the sufferings of the people that He ministered to. That was the reason why Jesus preached “with authority”, authority that they had never seen before.

In the Gospel [last week], when Jesus said to the disciples, “follow me” (Mark 1:17) and immediately they dropped their nets; they left their boats—Peter, Andrew, James and John—because it was a divine command. Jesus never asked, “would you like to follow me?”. “Follow me”! And they saw in Jesus the divine presence; this is why they followed Him.

Into today’s Gospel, even the evil spirit recognised the divine presence in Jesus. Jesus was only teaching in the synagogue. He was not trying to exorcise anybody! It was the devil who said, “You are the Son of God, the Holy One of God”, because they could not withstand His divine presence, that was the kind of authority that exuded from Jesus.

This is our challenge today: would our students, would our staff, see us a man and woman of authority? Not by what we say, but by our very presence. [This] is very important [for] educators and leaders, because in the final analysis, a true prophet is not so much seen by his teaching, is by his way of life: walking the talk, showing the way, being true to what we believe in.

That’s why, if you as an educator, are not convinced of what you are doing, you are in the wrong job. Don’t stay. Don’t waste people’s time, don’t waste your time. It’ll be a chore. You will be a burden. You must live and breathe this vocation that the Lord has given to you. You must be utterly convinced that what you are doing will make a difference in the lives of many people, and you will be excited, you’ll be passionate, you’ll be enthusiastic, and you’ll give hope to those being taught by you.

‘Leadership’ is the authority of bringing the people together: looking after your staff, caring for your staff [and] students. Everybody needs ongoing formation. Everybody needs to be reassured. Everybody needs to be encouraged. This is what educators are for: to give encouragement [and] hope.

And so, my dear Principals, Vice Principals, educators at large, I urge you: let us pray that we be focused on the Lord, as St Paul asks of us (1 Cor 7:35). When he talks about marriage, it’s not [just] about marriage, about singlehood, [but] about having undivided attention to the Lord, and to our vocation. If you are focused on the Lord, and if you are focused on your vocation, I assure you: you’ll be the greatest educator, and your life will impact the lives of everyone, including your fellow teachers. This is my prayer for you all, and I know: you will live up to your calling. Amen.

15 February 2021

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Tags: Educators

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Categories: Events

This year’s Commencement of School Year (COSY) Mass was held at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd on Sunday 31 January, the feast of the wise and loving educator St John Bosco. This followed the December 29 Appointment and Appreciations Ceremony for Principals by the Ministry of Education, where forty-three new principals received their letters of appointment during the Ministry’s annual reshuffle exercise.

Archbishop William Goh commissioned eleven newly appointed Principals of Catholic schools and preschools, instructing them to “be the light of truth, justice, freedom and love to all.” Eight newly appointed Vice-Principals were also presented to the congregation, comprised of more than a hundred educators, Sponsoring Authorities and members of the education fraternity.

In his homily, Archbishop Goh encouraged school leaders and educators to lead like Moses and Jesus, with a personal authority based on firm belief in their vocation, manifested in being truly present to their staff and students, providing genuine care and hope to everyone around them. “As educators, all of us are called to be leaders, not just in imparting knowledge, but to be educators of life, of love and of truth,” he contended.

His Grace contrasted the transformative power of personal authority with the hollowness of mere juridical authority, based solely on the position held by a person, or professional authority, from one’s paper qualifications. He emphasised that true authority is required “to form people and to get things done.”

Archbishop Goh pointed out that a Catholic school is not one which simply teaches academic subjects with an optional extra subject of religion. Rather, he declared, “If a teacher is imbued with the Gospel and convinced that what he is teaching has great importance in the lives of our students and the future generation, he would, in a very subtle or unconscious way, inject the values of the Gospel, his convictions, her convictions, into what he or she is teaching.”

 

His Grace spoke of the importance of teaching with passion and conviction, providing a consistent, inspiring example to students by “walking the talk”. He asserted: “If you are focused on the Lord and you are focused on your vocation, I can assure you you’ll be the greatest educator and your life will impact the lives of everyone, including your fellow teachers.”

Together, the educators pledged in the Prayer of Commitment to instil Gospel values in their schools, that they may be “places of justice and integrity, gentleness and compassion”. They prayed for God to fill their hearts “with compassion for those on the margins of life”, and that their “leadership in Catholic Education may bring forth [God’s] kingdom of love”. The Principals received a lighted candle with the words “Called to Serve”, a symbol of their call to be the light of Christ to their respective schools.

Echoing the Archbishop’s sentiments, various Principals shared their holistic vision with Catholic News. Timothy Goh of St Stephen’s School said, “My hope and dream for the school is to have the boys… become men of integrity and men for others.” Valerie Pinto of CHIJ St Joseph’s Convent stated that she wants to “grow a more close-knit Christ-centred school community” with staff and stakeholders. Shawn Lim of St Gabriel’s Secondary School aims to form “servant leaders, ever ready to lead and serve the community and make a difference to the lives of people around them.”

 

Eric Leong of St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) Junior explained, “Education is not just a process of giving knowledge, but a lifelong process which creates an understanding of moral and ethical values to guide one’s life in the right path.” Stephen Chin of Assumption Pathway School quoted their founder, St Louis Marie de Montfort: “Those whom the world rejects, should move you the most.” He expressed his confidence in his students’ ability to succeed in life despite all challenges.

At the end of the Mass organised by the Archdiocesan Commission for Catholic Schools (ACCS) and the Council of Catholic School Principals, Archbishop Goh thanked two retiring Principals for their lifelong service. One of them, non-Catholic Principal Liu Seok Noi of CHIJ Our Lady of the Nativity (2003-2009) and Holy Innocents’ Primary School (2010-2020), reflected: “Catholic schools have always been well-known for their character formation. I was very blessed… to help each and every child grow to their fullest potential.”

Principal Magdalene Chin, who served in three different CHIJ primary schools (Katong, Toa Payoh and Kellock convents), along with Temasek Primary, mused: “[O]ne word encapsulates this journey – passion! … When we, as a school community, are passionate about teaching our children to walk as children of light… when we can be the light of Christ to all by the way we passionately use our gifts for the glory of God, then the journey of serving as a Catholic educator keeps us alive and helps us and others grow in faith and hope too.”

Archbishop Goh exhorted everyone to uphold the legacy of their schools’ founders, especially during this Catholic200SG year, commemorating the significant contributions of mission schools and other Catholic institutions in forming Singapore over the past two centuries.

7 October 2020

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Tags: Educators, Parents, Students

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Categories: Events

National Gallery Singapore is collaborating with Assumption Pathway School (APS) this year for their annual student art show, from 9-15 October.

Entitled “Icon”, the week-long exhibition will showcase over 20 artworks inspired by Singapore and Southeast Asian artists from the National Collection.

APS, a specialised school, offers vocational programmes accredited by ITE. The school’s Aesthetics curriculum comprises two main modules—Visual Arts and Performing Arts—introducing various artforms to students such as painting, 3D artwork and Performing Arts.

The exhibition aims to create a meaningful platform for students to stretch their abilities. To support the students and their work, visit National Gallery from Friday, 9 October to 15 October.

National Gallery Singapore
Supreme Court Wing L4 Mezzanine
1 St Andrew’s Road
Singapore 178957