The Future Of Catholic Schools event in Loughboy

Healium

A conference on Catholic schools will be held in St. Patrick's Parish Centre, Loughboy on Friday at 7.30pm and on Saturday from 10am to 12.30pm

On the Friday night, Cardinal Sean Brady will deliver the keynote address in which he will explore the experience of Catholic schools in Ireland today. Then, reflections on the state of Catholic schools will be given by;

• John Curtis, principal of St Kieran's College
• Ann Daly, teacher and parent of children attending a Catholic school
• Michelle Cullinane, a student of Loreto Secondary School in Kilkenny

The Bishop of Ossory, Seamus Freeman, will chair the evening's proceedings


On Saturday morning, the work continues with inputs from;

• Fr. Michael Drumm, who will explore the future of Catholic schools in Ireland
• Ms. Cora O' Farrell, Department Of Religious Studies and Religious Education, St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, who will reflect on whether the Catholic School can offer a contribution to the community in which it is located and how it is that parents and teachers can contribute to the realization of this task
• Ms. Maria Spring, Chairperson of the Catholic Primary School Management Association, will examine the Church in school management and how the Church can balance its Catholic values with the growing diversity so evident in modern Irish society

Dialogue, questions and debate on the topics raised will be facilitated by Mgr Jim Cassin, who works as Executive Secretary for the Bishops' Education Commission. The conference is open to all who would like to attend and admission is free


http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119364598091930

Threadhead

And some people say there's nothing for teenagers to do in Kilkenny.

Tsssshhhh....

Healium

Threadhead wrote: »

And some people say there's nothing for teenagers to do in Kilkenny.

Tsssshhhh....

A good ol' fashioned discussion

SweetEmpathy

I've heard a lot of negativity about the discussion. People who weren't connected with the church weren't allowed ask questions or voice their opinions.

Healium

SweetEmpathy wrote: »

I've heard a lot of negativity about the discussion. People who weren't connected with the church weren't allowed ask questions or voice their opinions.

Sorry, you got me wrong there...

The problem is that they only allowed 6 questions on the 1st night, and 2 on the 2nd day. These questions all happened to be statements of praise for the church

SweetEmpathy

Healium wrote: »

Sorry, you got me wrong there...

The problem is that they only allowed 6 questions on the 1st night, and 2 on the 2nd day. These questions all happened to be statements of praise for the church

That is what I heard. Certainly an unfair way to host a discussion.

JohnMc1

SweetEmpathy wrote: »

That is what I heard. Certainly an unfair way to host a discussion.

Well in all fairness if someone considers themselves an atheist or just doesn't want to be bothered going to Church on Sundays anymore its a safe bet that they won't be bothered to turn up to this.

Healium

JohnMc1 wrote: »

Well in all fairness if someone considers themselves an atheist or just doesn't want to be bothered going to Church on Sundays anymore its a safe bet that they won't be bothered to turn up to this.

I would have thought otherwise. Alas, I was the only non-believer there

JohnMc1

Healium wrote: »

I would have thought otherwise. Alas, I was the only non-believer there

Are you really that surprised? Did you really think any KK resident atheists or just non-religious would actually turn up in droves to listen to priests talk about the Catholic School system?

JohnMc1

JohnMc1 wrote: »

Are you really that surprised? Did you really think any KK resident atheists or just non-religious would actually turn up in droves to listen to priests talk about the Catholic School system?

aka in this country - the School system

Healium

JohnMc1 wrote: »

Are you really that surprised? Did you really think any KK resident atheists or just non-religious would actually turn up in droves to listen to priests talk about the Catholic School system?

Yeah, actually. It was a pretty big event for the Church, and I figured people would want to be vocal about the prominence of religious schools in Ireland. At the very least, I expected someone to come and lob an egg at Cardinal Brady

JohnMc1

Healium wrote: »

Yeah, actually. It was a pretty big event for the Church, and I figured people would want to be vocal about the prominence of religious schools in Ireland. At the very least, I expected someone to come and lob an egg at Cardinal Brady

I highly doubt schools like the Christian Brothers are going to change anytime soon. So its a waste of time to think otherwise.

Healium

JohnMc1 wrote: »

I highly doubt schools like the Christian Brothers are going to change anytime soon. So its a waste of time to think otherwise.

That's a horrible attitude to take

JohnMc1

Healium wrote: »

That's a horrible attitude to take

Not horrible just truth.

Healium

JohnMc1 wrote: »

Not horrible just truth.

I'm here to defy truth :cool:

DerryRed

My 2 cents.

I'm a practicing Catholic with an 18 month old daughter who will be starting school in the next few years. I will want her to go to a Catholic school and to get a Catholic education.

With that said I strongly believe that the Catholic church should not have the monopoly that they currently have in the Irish school system. There should be a choice for everyone. If you want your child to have a secular education it should be available, on a wider scale than it currently is. Likewise if you want a Catholic education it should be available.

A word of warning though based on testimony from friends and work colleagues in England. Catholic schools over there are in huge demand, even to the point of court cases taking place in order to get children into Catholic schools. The government have made such a mess of state schools that parents no longer want to send their children to them.

Hopefully if the state here take greater control of the school system (away from the hands of the church), that they do a better job than the UK government.

catbear

I believe the reason that Catholic schools are in demand in England is that the state schools were completely secular. It is a belief amongst parents that there their children's education is enhanced in private fee paying faith based schools. It's the same in states.

An English friend of mine told me recently told that when he was in school, the Catholic schools were the rich schools so he taught, as a child does, that all Catholics are rich!

JohnMc1

Public schools in the States are utter crap.

catbear

JohnMc1 wrote: »

Public schools in the States are utter crap.

Do you speak from experience?

JohnMc1

I spent most of my life in the States. They used to be worthwhile many years ago but now they should be avoided if possible.

catbear

Yeah, all my cousins pretty much say the same thing. The thing is we never had a secular system to begin with so it's hard to compare. I am in favour of separation of religions from state education but I am not opposed to religions using those facilities for kids who want to stay on after school for religious education. It's a choice thing really.

Knowing my cousins, they'll tell you they don't care about their religion even though they were educated through a faith based school.

I guess there' a middle path, we just have to find it.

JohnMc1

The Public Schools in the States being secular isn't what caused the downfall of the PS system. Its the Teachers Unions and some Political Correctness as well.

catbear

I guess the private schools had more say in how individual schools are run, rather than the union heavy public school system, good point.