Anne+Henderson+-+St+Patrick's+College

LFJ

Situational Analysis

St Patrick's College is an all girls' day and residential college situated on a small inner-city campus in Townsville. Unlike most Catholic Secondary Colleges in Townsville, St Patrick's College is non-systemic, i.e. it is owned and operated by the Townsville Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, rather than the Townsville Catholic Education Office.

The College has a student population of approximately three hundred, with nearly one hundred and twenty of these being residential students, most of whom are young Indigenous women from remote communities in Queensland and the Northern Territory. These students enhance the rich cultural diversity of the College. Many of these students come to St Patrick's College with significant health issues and low literacy and numeracy skills. Often, their educational opportunities have suffered from a lack of regular attendance at school, social difficulties in communities and poor health. A small number of residential students is non-indigenous and, for the most part, they come from rural areas in Queensland. Day students come from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds and from virtually every suburb in Townsville. Academically and socially, they represent the wider population, bringing with them, a range of academic ability and family structures.

St Patrick's College was established by the Sisters of Mercy over one hundred and twenty years ago and although the College now has its first lay Principal,who was appointed in 2006, there is still a very strong presence of the Sisters in the life of the College. The charism of Catherine Mc Auley, the foundress of the Sisters permeates all aspects of daily life. The forces that drove Catherine to work against the injustices of her time, to recognise the importance of educating young women, particularly the poor and under-privileged, are the same forces that provide inspiration to the daily life of staff and students at St Patrick's College. In Catherine's words, No works of charity can be more productive of good to society or more conducive to the happiness of the poor than the careful instruction of women ... since whatever station they are destined to fill, their example and their advice will always have great influence: and wherever a God-fearing woman presides, peace and good order are generally found (Flaherty, 2001, p.46).

While Catherine McAuley worked tirelessly in her time, providing an education and with it, opportunities to young women, she never lost sight of her centredness, which was always in Christ. She reminded her companions that "Our hearts can always be in the same place, centred in Christ" (Flaherty, 2001, p.47). In promoting the Mercy Charism, St Patrick's College recognises that ...schools are a work of the Catholic Church (and) Jesus Christ will be at their centre and the point of reference for all values, relationships, spirituality and religious teaching (Putney, 2005, p.396). Further to this, Green (2000) suggests that Charismic traditions, to remain authentic, are about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about incarnating it in ways that are relevant and engaging. It is a way of integrating faith, culture and life (no page). In defining Charism, Brien and Hack (2005) reminds schools that For Catholics, like all Christians, the gospel is the foundational inspiration which call us to live out our vocations ... We look to foundational people, foundational stories and charisms to allow us to say that the call of gospel is not beyond us. Charism, in its broadest sense, provides us with a lens through which to view the gospel, in the hope that we will be inspired and compelled to live this call to discipleship (p.70).

The Mercy Charism is based on the Corporal Works of Mercy and the Spiritual Works of Mercy (Flaherty, 2001, p.66), both of which are gospel inspired and Christcentred, providing the basis for the Mission Statement of St Patrick's College.

Duffy,M (2009). Celebrating the charism of Mercy today.

Charism is, above all, a lving passion for a particular dimension of the Gospel (p.1).

Catherine was a woman of daring vision, heartfelt compassion, humour and immense practicality,and, within and beyond all these qualities, we know her as a woman of deep faith, a woman of prayer ... Catherine reflected in one of he letters: We have one solid comfort in all this tripping about: our hearts can always be in the same place, centred in God for whom alone we go forward or stay back (2).

... we strive to hold in careful balance our lives of prayer and lives of service... And such is the spirit which so many of you share as you gather in your school communities to ponder and to live gospel values (p.3).

Catherine's life resonated strongly with the biblical scholar's description of mercy as an inner feeling of sympathy or love that shows itself outwardly in action. Throughout her life she generously responded to the needs of the poor and uneducated in ways that were practical, innovative and highly professional (p.4).

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