RE @JHNCC: ‘Heart speaks to heart’

Our Rationale: Our Mission is to ensure that Jesus Christ is made known to all our students by placing Christ and the teaching of the Catholic Church at the centre of students' lives. We endeavour to make known to every student that they are made for greatness because they are a child of God and are uniquely created and loved by God.

 

Every student is called to live out the gospel values by loving God, others and themselves and by being prepared to always do their best and be the best person they can be. Our core values are summed up in the following virtues that we hope all of our students at JHNCC will develop:

 

Holiness, Empathy, Altruism, Reconciliation, Truthfulness.

Hardwork and Resilience, Excellence, Articulacy, Reading, Teamwork.

 

Our Vision and Aims

The vision of education that inspires JHNCC is always centred on the person.  As Pope John Paul II wrote: “An all-round education seeks to develop every aspect of the individual: social, intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual.” 

 

Our aims are to ensure that students are given the opportunities to ASPIRE to:

  • Achieve through dynamic, creative, innovative teaching and learning
  • Serve God, each other and our community
  • Peacemakers in our homes, school and community
  • Integrity shines through all of our endeavours
  • Respect for ourselves, each other and our environment
  • Excellence in our learning with positivity and perseverance 

 

“In a Catholic school, the true development of the person, pupils and staff, takes precedence over all other things.” Cardinal Vincent Nicholls

Vatican II  the position of  Catholic schools and the Salvific Mission of the Church:

 

115.53. “…. Catholic Schools must be seen as ‘meeting places for those who wish to express Christian values in education’.”

 

115.9 “ The Catholic School forms part of the saving mission of the Church, especially for the education in the faith.” 

 

In its teaching and relationships with students and other staff the RE department should live up to the Gospel message of love and justice in action. Our behaviour towards each other and the atmosphere we build in our classrooms should reflect both of these and enable students to learn in a dignified manner .

 

115.34. “ Christ is the foundation of the whole educational enterprise in a Catholic School . His revelation gives new meaning to life and helps man to direct his thought, action and will according to the Gospel …..”

 

As Christ walked with His disciples on the road to Emmaus explaining His teaching, we as staff should meet our students in their life situation and teach them of their faith and its relevance to life in the 21st century. Each child should be valued and instilled with a sense of their own dignity and worth. Our aim is to not only increase their knowledge but their awareness of themselves and of God. Opportunities are provided in which the student can reflect on the role of faith in their life and experience moments of encountering God. 

 

As RE teachers we must never forget our mission which is not only to educate but to bear witness to the Gospel of Christ in both our words and actions .

 

115.36. “ Mindful of the fact that man has been redeemed by Christ, the Catholic School aims at forming in the Christian those particular virtues which will enable him to live a new life in Christ and help him to play faithfully his part in building up the Kingdom of God.”