2013 events and what's to come

The year 2013 began for us with the commissioning of five new principals on the 26th of January at St Anne's church.
Our next major event will see Dr Michael Downey arrive on the 8th of April to deliver training sessions for Chaplaincy Teams.
Later in the year the Education Conference will take place on the 13th and 14th of September.
For the Catholic church in Singapore we will see the Episcopal Ordination of Msgr Willian Goh, on the 22nd of February who will later succeed His Grace Archbishop Nicholas Chia.
Following the resignation of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on the 28th of February, we will hopefully see a new leader of the Catholic Church, by Easter

RE Coordinator's Meeting

A meeting for Religious Education, RE, Coordinators was held today, the 6th of November at CAEC in Highland Road.
Fifteen teachers gathered for a sharing on their past year's work with their students and were updated on the Year of Faith and how they could share it with students.
They were also given an update on the CMECS programme and its implementation.
Ms Wendy Louis, executive director of ACCS, (in the picture) and Ms Jeanette Atabelo facilitated the discussions.

Teachers' Day 2012

Teachers' Day this year was celebrated at Catholic Junior College on the 15th of September.
Archbishop Nicholas Chia along with Fr Michael D'Cruz and Fr Colin Tan celebrated the mass which was attened by some 400 people.
20 children from the Canossia School for the hearing impaired provided two beautiful hymns during the Mass.
His Grace was keen to link the theme of the celebration “Follow Me, Walk in the Presence of the Lord” with the call of the Holy Father to celebrate the Year of Faith. In his homily he invited all present to join him in celebrating the opening of the year of faith next month.
He emphasised that the year of faith is an opportunity to “walk in his presence in every moment of every day.” He explained that we could do this through more attention to prayer and added, “In this Year of Faith when we also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publishing of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we can open our eyes and our ears to hear God speaking through the teachings of the Church… Try to make time to study and read together some sections of this important document.”

Meeting with Principals & Vice Principals

On the 26th of July 2012 a meeting was held for Catholic Principals and vice Principals at CAEC in Highland Road.
Three major topics were discussed:
1. Those present were given copies of the three booklets published by ACCS on Catholic Education in Singapore. The topics of the booklets were: a)Guidelines for Nurturing the Catholic Identity of Catholic Schools, b)Core Values, Common Purpose & Goals and c)Catholic Identity & Ethos of Catholic Schools
2. The office of the Archdiocese run Professional Standards Office
3. Report on Civics & Moral Education/Character Education in Catholic Secondary Schools.
The participants were briefed by the Chairman of ACCS, Prof. Tan Chen Han and ACCS executive director, Ms Wendy Louis.
Addendum - On the 3rd of August, another batch of Principals and Vice Principals attended an identical meeting at CAEC.

Chaplaincy Team Training - Part 2

Over two days, the 23rd and 24th, Chaplaincy Team members received further training at CAEC.
On the first day, Michelle Soliano, Program Manager from the Family Life Society spoke to the group on "Working with Schools" - Today's Youth Culture. After a break Ms Soh Lai Leng, principal of Holy Innocents High spoke on the "Educational Context Today - Learning Environment".
On the second day, Bro. Collin Wee spoke on the Family Life Spiral, the four critical training points of childhood and the Seven possible Effects of the Broken Home on the Child. Ms Merilyn Dasson from ACCS rounded up the session with a talk on the Needs of the Very Young.
Ms Wendy Louis concluded the day's training with a summary, a scriptural reflection and closing prayer.

Preschool Leaders Meeting

Twenty seven principals, board members and supervisors met at CAEC in Highland Road for a briefing on current events affecting preschools on the 21st of July.
The morning began with an explanation of the role of the Professional Standards Office, which was facilitated by ACCS executive director, Ms Wendy Louis.
Ms Merilyn Dasson and Mrs Shirley Tan then led a discussion on the Ministry of Education's initiative "Spark" and Key Performance Indicators.
Ms Dasson later touched on the RETP, the Religious Education Training Program course to be held in Singapore at Catholic Junior College from the 26th to the 29th November.
She also briefed the participants on an attachment program which would be hosted in Brisbane.

Dr Michael Downey

Dr Michael Downey, consultant, author, retreat facilitator and teacher from Australia summarises his thoughts on Chaplaincy Teams in Singapore.

Chaplaincy Team Training by Dr Michael Downey

Dr Michael Downey has many years of experience in the educational field and gives regular formation sessions to school leaders, chaplains, teachers and others.
He is in Singapore from the 4th of April to the 7th of May conducting training for new and experienced chaplaincy team members, school leaders, priests and religious education coordinators.
His doctoral dissertation was on the Spirituality of Lay teachers in Catholic Schools.
Pictured above, on the left, is His Grace Archbishop Nicholas Chia addressing a group of 42 participants with Dr Downey.

Integral Pedagogy - what is it?

We've often been asked what Integral Pedagogy is and to answer it we've come up with the following: One Foot in the Gutter of the World and the other in the Library.
It has its origins in Ignatian Pedagogy which comes out of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises and in turn, the heart of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises is the appreciation of how much God loves us and therefore we cannot but feel compelled to love the world more deeply. Addressed in the first instance to teachers, Integral Pedagogy (or IP), is the way teachers accompany learners using an outward looking world view and a vision of the human person as dignified and loved by God.
Very briefly, IP is a five stage process; the first is a pre-learning element which is the Context. This takes into account things like the students’ environment, background, community and learning style so that the teacher becomes as familiar as possible with the students’ context and life experience. The second is Experience where the teacher creates conditions where students grasp new information in the light of previous experience. This also moves beyond rote learning to one of understanding, applying and being able to analyse knowledge.
The third is Reflection – the key to IP. Here the thoughtful reconsideration of some subject matter, experience, idea or purpose is used in order to grasp its human significance and application to their own lives. In this stage values can be reflected on.
The fourth is Action – this is where concepts are shared and group projects are initiated where the learners move beyond knowledge and “make it real”. The experience and reflection touches the heart and brings about a change of attitude.
The last is Evaluation – Checking on how my attitude has been impacted and thinking about what went well, what needs to be changed and improving further from there.
We've been systematically promoting this pedagogy to Catholic Schools for the last three years via a series of workshops, talks and meetings with educators ranging from teachers and principals to personnel from the Ministry of Education.
Fr Norbert Menezes, the Jesuit educator whose forte is Integral Pedagogy and is the secretary for Jesuit education in South Asia has now visited Singapore for the third time and engaged local Principals and Teachers of all faiths, NIE students, the clergy and parents.
In the 30 minute video below, Fr Menezes introduces the process to a group of teachers.

Principals' Commissioning

Six new principals were commissioned on Saturday the 28th of January at Catholic Junior College.
Archbishop Nicholas Chia celebrated the mass which was held at Catholic Junior College. The principals and vice principals of Catholic Schools present also undertook a rite of commitment to their vocation.
The Archdiocesan Commission for Catholic Schools (ACCS) has been organising the 'Principals’ Commissioning and Renewal of Commitment’ for the past eight years. This was the first time the event was held in a school as all previous celebrations were held in parishes as part of their Saturday sunset Mass.
It brings all Catholic educators together and helps them realise that in running a Catholic School they are carrying out an important part of the Church’s mission. This event is also significant for highlighting to all Catholics that they have a responsibility to support and pray for our Catholic schools.
Picture caption - The six Principals commissioned, from left to right - Mrs Tan Wai Lan, CHIJ St Nicholas; Mrs Mabel Leong, Assumption English School; Mrs Denise Chelliah, St Francis Xavier Kindergarten; Mr Adolphus Tan, St Patrick's School; Mrs Daphne Sing, De La Salle School; Mrs Catherine Chiang, St Gabriel's Primary School.
The video of the Archbishop's Homily is below:

Students from Catholic Schools top "O" levels

Amongst the three top students in the "O" level results were two students, Zhong Yingyi and Chai Yung Ci from CHIJ St Nicholas, according to the local press. The top 2 Sec 5 students were Amanda Chia from Holy Innocents' High School and Khoo Chit Hui from Monfort Secondary who both scored 4 A1s and 1 A2.
Pictured below are Amanda Chia and her proud parents.

Montfort Secondary comes "Home"

Montfort Secondary today moved back to its premises after a two year absence. The school had undergone a renovation and rebuilding exercise under the Ministry of Education's PRIME programme. To commemorate the occasion 200 old boys, teachers and students walked from the holding school to the original site at 7.30am.
The principal, Mr Andrew Tan greeted those present and together with members of the school management committee and parent support group moulded their palms onto alabaster to be displayed on a main wall. The school assembly followed and visitors were told of the school's plans by the principal.
Amongst the school's renovations were the rebuilding of a four storey block into a six storey one, a new library as well as an enlarged school hall which now has the capacity to contain all the pupils.

Kindergarten Teachers' Thanksgiving Day

Principals and Teachers from the various kindergartens gathered at St Joseph's Kindergarten in Bukit Timah yesterday for a day of getting together and for some learning experiences.
The event, which was organised by ACCS, started with a briefing and updates on Catholic Preschools followed by a tour around the hosting kindergarten. This was followed by an Art Therapy workshop conducted by Caroline Essame, a creative art therapist with 24 years of experience.
After lunch a talk by was given by Dr Margaret Anne Carter from James Cook University. Dr Carter discussed the difference a teacher could make in the life of a child and then went on to discuss various behavioural patterns.
The day ended with a special Mass celebrated by Msgr Eugene Vaz.

ACCS Attachment Programme for students

Five students from CHIJ (Toa Payoh) were attached to the ACCS office for 5 days - 31st of Oct to 4th Nov.
The School’s Programme Objectives were:
a. To prepare IJ girls for the world of work
b. To provide IJ girls the opportunity to taste the world of work
c. To help them to make informed decision regarding career selection
d. To build up their life skills and team work for the world of work
In additional the objectives by the ACCS were:
e. To reflect on the value of work in our changing world today.
f. Pray for the grace of wisdom to discern the right career choice and the courage to pursue it.
g. To explore one’s own strengths, limitations and career possibilities in order to make a choice and commit to it.
The Schedule of Daily Activities
Students worked as a team in planning for the Kindergarten Bible Camp Event on the 28th and 29th November 2011. They did creative planning, research work on the significant landmarks of our Catholic tradition in Singapore, and developed activities for children as well as educational brochures. At the end of each day’s work, students came together to pray and reflect on their experiences. They were given the opportunity to know themselves more, explore career possibilities and reflect on the ways in which their choices are made.

5 New Principals for Catholic Schools

Singapore's Ministry of Education announced the appointment of 47 new principals of which five are for Catholic Schools. They are: Assumption English School - Mrs Mabel Leong
CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School - Mrs Tan Wai Lan
St Patrick's School - Mr Tan Chin Eng, Adolphus
De La Salle School - Mdm Poon Chor Choo, Daphne
St Gabriel's Primary School - Mdm Moo Mee Koon, Catherine
The principals will be presented with letters of appointment at an Appointment and Appreciation Ceremony on the 30th of December. ACCS would like to take this opportunity to warmly congratulate the new Principals on their appointment and record our thanks and appreciation for the outgoing principals.

Who Is the Learner?

Fr David Garcia OP, conducted a workshop on the 20th of September for Catholic teachers and staff in Catholic and non-Catholic schools. The topic was "Who is the Learner? Designed and Called to Become" The two and a half hour workshop was held at Assumption English School. Fr Garcia guided participants to a deeper reflection of the uniqueness of the Human Person. It was designed to enrich the views and appreciation of God's creative power and love. It also aimed to enhance the understanding of the Person of the student whom the teachers meet every day.

CMECS Meeting for Principals and Vice Principals

Twenty Two Principals and Vice Principals gathered at Catholic Junior College yesterday for a briefing of the new Civics and Moral Education syllabus that could be used in Catholic Secondary Schools. The purpose of the meeting was to update the school leaders of the programme as well as its status. ACCS Executive Director Ms Wendy Louis (picture above) led the session along with Ms Jeanette Atabelo and Mr Edward Dass.

Teachers' Day Celebration

 

ALL teachers are invited to our Teachers' Day Celebration on Saturday the 27th of  August. It's to be held at SJI International, 490 Thomson Road from 3pm. Mass will celebrated by His Grace, Archbishop Nicholas Chia followed by a mini concert and reception. Please register here or call 68587080.

Walking with Jesus - July 2011

The Biblical based programme "Walking with Jesus" was the focus of a workshop conducted on the 6th of July 2011. Teachers and parent volunteers from Catholic High, St Gabriels and SJI junior attended the three hour session.
Ms Wendy Louis, Executive Director and Msgr Eugene Vaz conducted the sessions which was aimed at providing the groundwork for the teachers.
The topics covered were:

1. How a Para Liturgy could be conducted
2. How Scripture is used in Walking by Jesus
3. Music in the programme
4. Preparing to teach the sessions.

Lastly, a presentation of how a session with the children could be conducted  and an evaluation was carried out.

Kindergarten Parents' Information Session

On the 14th of May, parents of St Francis Xavier Kindergarten attended an information session organised by ACCS. The aim of the session was to provide information about the operational and curriculum aspects of the school. This also enabled the parents to give suggestions and work in partnership with the school.
Some fifty people attended the two hour session which was given by Merilyn Dasson from ACCS and Shirley Tan. The parish priest, Fr John Bosco, who is also the kindergarten supervisor was also in attendance.