On November 24, Deputy and Assistant Heads from both primary and secondary schools came together for their annual conference in Poringland. Here they had the opportunity to meet Bishop Peter and found it interesting to hear about his emphasis on providing authentic Catholic education across our schools and his recognition of the excellent work that teachers and support staff do in our diocesan schools.
The theme for the day was Catholic Social Teaching (CST), often styled ‘Catholicism’s best kept secret’. There are seven elements to Catholic Social Teaching including the dignity of the human person, the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, the preferential option for the poor and marginalised, family and community, the common good, rights and responsibilities, and stewardship. Informed by Catholic theology, we enjoyed an excellent, interactive presentation from our guest speaker, Beth Friery, from CAFOD’s national office. There were plenty of practical resources and examples of activities to take back into school to help teach and train pupils and teachers about CST.
Colleagues found the day very useful and enjoyed the opportunity to share ideas with participants from a range of different schools. Andy Stone, Director of the Schools’ Service in the Diocese, said, ‘We enjoyed an excellent presentation from Beth Friery and colleagues left inspired and with practical resources to take back to their school communities’.