Catholic schools were founded to proclaim Jesus’ message of God’s love for all. Our Catholic faith calls us to embrace the contemporary world with a Catholic imagination, and a particular hope-filled view of the human person and all of creation. Catholic educators invite students to make sense of their world and their lives within a faith community that is faithful to the mission of Jesus.

The capacity to navigate the current landscape – to learn together, to work from evidence, to animate and support learners, and to lead in faith and transformation – presents us with great opportunities and exhilarating challenges. Catholic educators are called to meet these opportunities and challenges with courage and with faith, hope and love for their students.

The Horizons of Hope, the new education framework for the Archdiocese of Melbourne will support Catholic school communities to engage in dialogue about the distinctive nature of learning and teaching, leading learning, and enhancing Catholic identity in our schools. The framework is a living document that will be added to over coming months and years with examples of practice from schools, as well as additional strategy statements in the areas of Leadership, Wellbeing, Diversity, and Religious Education.

All members of a Catholic school community are learners who:

• honour the sacred dignity of each person, believing that everyone can experience success and be supported to see their lives as being shaped by the God who is at work in all of creation
• search for truth, continuously critiquing, questioning, inquiring, imagining and re-imagining themselves and their world in an ongoing engagement with Catholic beliefs and practices
• embrace difference and diversity as the context for dialogue, engagement and a deeper understanding of self, others and God
• build a culture of learning together through collaboration, partnerships and life-giving relationships which enable all to flourish
• engage with the deep questions of life, constantly opening up spaces of meaning which engage Catholic faith with what matters most in the minds and hearts of the students
• honour equitable access and opportunity for all, with a particular commitment to those most in need
• commit to achieving the highest standards possible based on reflective practice, using data, research and evidence to ensure progress and growth in learning
• make a difference in the world, inspired by the Gospel and led by the Holy Spirit to grow in virtue and act for justice and the common good.

The Horizons of Hope Vision provides a succinct statement which outlines our vision for learners in our Catholic schools.

The Horizons of Hope Context provides a mapping of the current educational landscape, drawing out the challenges and opportunities for learning and teaching in a Catholic context.;