Next Professional Learning session: Prayer in Schools
Topic: Prayer in Schools - consider why prayer is so important in the life of a Catholic school. In this session, we will explore ways teachers can harness the value of novelty, fun, engagement, educational value and providing opportunities for students to connect with their faith meaningfully through prayer.
Guests: Anne Slingo is a teacher of many years experience in Catholic primary and secondary education. She currently works in formation and teaches senior secondary students two days a week. She will be sharing with us her experience in Ignatian prayer with students and colleagues. Anne also has a consulting service in Faith, Formation and Growth. The service works with individuals, teams and organisations in Catholic Formation, bringing a fresh, focused and experienced approach to building workplace culture in Catholic organisations.
Nathan Ahearne's faith journey has helped shape the person he is today as husband, father, teacher and formator of young people and Catholic educators. His vocation and faith are strengthened and nourished by those he encounters through service and contemplation. As a Lay Marist, Nathan’s spirituality flows from Mary’s example as first disciple of Jesus. Nathan is a creative thinker and likes to roll up his sleeves and see projects through to completion. He is a John 10:10 fan.
Laura Kings is the Australian Catholics Assistant Editor for Education and Youth. As well as facilitating the session, she will be sharing some ideas for using modern technological tools to develop prayers for the classroom.
Date: Tuesday 19 March
Time: 4:30pm - 5:30pm (AEDT)
Accreditation
Accreditation is available in the dioceses of Melbourne, Sale, Sandhurst, Ballarat, and in Armidale and Lismore.
Teachers in Victorian dioceses wishing to receive accreditation for this event will need to supply your VIT Registration Number and School as part of your booking.
Attendance will be checked on the day, so only those attending the live session will receive accreditation.
If you are in a Diocese that is not listed above (but have an AC+ subscription), please check with your Catholic Education Office to see if it can be accredited with them also.
More upcoming Professional Learning sessions in 2024
TERM 1
1. The Critical Role of Catholic Educators in Our Changing World
Date: 27 Feb
Speakers: Ann Rennie and Bernadette Mercieca
Teaching idea: Teacher self-reflection on student Catholic knowledge
2. Prayer at school
Date: 19 Mar
Speakers: Anne Slingo and Nathan Hearn
Teaching idea: Using Chat GPT to write prayers
TERM 2
3. Young people spreading the Good News
Suggested date: April 30
Speakers: Tahlia Sully brings a wealth of experience and passion to her roles in youth ministry (8 years) and education (4 years), coupled with her active involvement with Council for Ministry with Young People (CMYP) for the Archdiocese of Adelaide and with the Young Christian Students (YCS) movement on a local, national and international level. With a student-centered approach, Tahlia champions student voice and agency, striving for purposeful faith and leadership formation, and holistic personal growth. Committed to creating authentic, challenging, inclusive, flexible, joyful, and safe spaces, Tahlia ensures an enriching and vibrant environment for all young people she encounters.
Teaching idea: Ground rules for respectful conversation
4. Effective reading practices in the Religious Education classroom
Suggested date: May 21
Speakers TBC
Teaching idea: Using ChatGpT effectively to generate subject or article-specific knowledge and vocabulary activities for the religious education classroom.
TERM 3
5.Music Mission
Suggested date: July 30
Speakers TBC
Teaching idea: analysing well-known hymns in the classroom to teach theological concepts
6. Real retreats – tips for planning a successful retreat
Suggested date: Aug 20
Speakers: TBC
Teaching idea: mindful reflection using stimulus questions written by Chat GPT
7. Catholic movie festival – How to choose and use films for the RE classroom
Suggested date: Sept 10
Speakers: TBC
Teaching idea: novel active viewing activities
TERM 4
8. The great teaching ideas swap meet!
Suggested date: Oct 22
Join us and bring along some of your favourite classroom ideas to swap with your colleagues. Our assistant editor education and youth, Laura Kings will also bring along some of ours.
If you have feedback or ideas around these sesisons then please drop us a line
If you are not an AC+ subscriber send us an email to [email protected] and we can tell you more about how it works.