THE location of the official launch of Catholic Education Week in Brisbane this year was the perfect choice given the theme of “Celebrating Community – Family, Parish, School”.
The Little Flower Church at Kedron sits in the middle of a group of three schools that have embraced and celebrated their unique community for many years.
Padua College, Mount Alvernia College and St Anthony’s Primary School are referred to, internally and by the wider community, as the Franciscans on the Hill or FOTH.
Mt Alvernia College principal Kerrie Tuite said in the four years that she had been at the college, the historical connection had become more formalised.
“Routinely the leadership people across the three schools would meet once a year, mainly for calendar planning to ensure everything was aligned in regard to things such as school buses so it started off more as a practical thing,” she said.
“What we have done particularly in 2010 and 2011 is decided we would do a strategic plan for the next four or five years and we revisit that once a year to see how it is working and change things or adjust them according to what our needs are.”
Ms Tuite said the three principals – Bob Out from Padua College; Vyvyen Menegon from St Anthony’s and herself – met several times throughout the year “just to touch base”.
“Our deputies meet because we do share some subjects – Padua boys come across here for some of our drama, our music extension and we also have our instrument music program that goes across the three schools,” she said.
“So the little guys from St Anthony’s come over here to our hall for their music lessons, our girls will go over to Padua depending on what lessons are on … so that they have combined bands, and so on, which is really really helpful and productive.”
The students also get together once or twice a month for a youth group and the colleges have a combined musical.
Ms Tuite said FOTH was unique with the three schools all founded on Franciscan principles and the interaction kept the Franciscan connection together.
“The Missionary Franciscan Sisters, 80 odd years ago, were invited to Kedron to start the primary school which is St Anthony’s. They were here for a while then the Franciscan Friars came to set-up and work with the boys,” she said.
Ms Tuite said Mt Alvernia began in 1956 and, as the friars had traditionally been the pastoral leaders in the parish, the togetherness began.
“We are just a product of the local history,” she said.
Ms Tuite said while the strategic plan looked at ways the schools could work together, it also stressed things the schools did not want.
“We have never been on about amalgamation,” she said.
“We don’t ever see ourselves as one particular school; we see ourselves as three different schools and we just work together because we’ve got our history and tradition.”
Ms Tuite said while the Franciscan connections worked well with the three schools in Kedron, it wasn’t something that would necessarily fit other groups of schools.
“I think it is the Franciscan stuff that pulls it together, the Franciscan values,” she said.
“I really do believe it’s that sense of Franciscanism and the spirituality behind that that’s the glue that pulls us together.”
