15 June 2018

Yesterday’s celebration at the Catholic Leadership Centre officially welcomed 160 graduate teachers to Catholic education. The Mass at St John the Evangelist Church was celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart with the master of ceremonies, Reverend Linh Pham. Mass was followed by high tea at the Catholic Leadership Centre during which the attendees heard from guest speakers.

The graduate teachers were inspired by Catholic Education Melbourne Executive Director, Stephen Elder’s address on leadership. ‘The essence of leadership is about inspiring people to go places they wouldn’t otherwise go; about motivating them to do things that wouldn’t otherwise be done in order to achieve outcomes that wouldn’t otherwise be achieved’, he said.

Two recent graduates, David Bellis from Marcellin College, Bulleen, and Emma Canning from St Peter’s School, Epping, also addressed the attendees with reflections on their teaching experience and words of advice.

Emma is Director of School Community at St Peter’s and in 2015 was a finalist for Environmental Teacher of the Year at the ResourceSmart Education Awards. Read more about the school’s successful sustainability work in an article written by her Grade 4 students.