Canberra-Goulburn Catholic Education staff gathered online for a formation day to mark the start of the 2026 school year and reconnect educators around a shared sense of mission and identity. Source: Catholic Voice.
Livestreamed to schools, early learning centres and offices throughout the region, the gathering brought together more than 4000 staff from all 56 Catholic schools to reflect on the distinctive role Catholic education plays within the life of the Church and the wider community.
Hosted by broadcaster Genevieve Jacobs, the event featured addresses from Canberra-Goulburn Archbishop Christopher Prowse and Catholic Education executive director David DeCarvalho, alongside international keynote contributions from Leonardo Franchi and Brother David Hall.
Early in his address, Archbishop Prowse named the pastoral focus for the year ahead: “Get up. Listen. Go.” He described the theme as a call to renewed energy, attentiveness and outward mission within Catholic schools.
Reflecting on identity, he emphasised that Catholic education flows directly from the life of the Church. “We are a theological community with an educational arm,” he said. “We’re not an educational community with a church exclamation mark at the end.”
Teaching, he added, was inseparable from the Gospel mandate. Citing Christ’s call to “go out to the whole world,” Archbishop Prowse said education was not an optional extra but a core expression of evangelisation.
Describing principals as the “chief evangelisers” of their schools, Archbishop Prowse framed evangelisation as an invitation rather than an imposition and urged staff to be bold and courageous.
The distinctiveness of Catholic education was explored further by Mr DeCarvalho, who turned attention to curriculum, formation and contemporary challenge.
He noted that in recent years schools across the archdiocese had prioritised teaching and learning through initiatives such as Catalyst, resulting in improved teacher efficacy and stronger early literacy outcomes. This year, he said, the emphasis shifts more deliberately to identity.
“The question now is: what makes Catholic education Catholic?” he said, challenging educators to examine not only what they do, but why they do it. While acknowledging the importance of enrolment growth, he warned against sacrificing mission for market appeal.
“We want to grow enrolments,” he said, “but not at the cost of our Catholic identity.”
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Catholic education sets direction for 2026 (By Jeanine Doyle, Catholic Voice)
