Dean of Identity | Mr Charles Brauer

One of the wonderful gifts that a Terrace education provides is the Immersion program for our Year 10 campus, Waterford Place. Rarely in anyone’s lifetime, be it in our student or adult lives, will we spend an extended time away from family and our daily routines and place ourselves outside our comfort zones, challenging and enriching our ideals and values. The Waterford Place Immersion experiences does just this. While our Immersion students shared their experiences with their parents at last night’s Immersion Presentation Evening, it became abundantly clear that the time immersed in another setting was truly ‘liberating’ for our Terrace Gentleman and for those with whom they interacted.

Mutual liberation is at the heart of the Catholic mission of Edmund Rice and the ensuing spirituality that we foster and enact as a Terrace Family. Furthermore, the ideal of a ‘Liberation Education’ is a key tenant, or Touchstone, of The Charter for Catholic Schools in the Edmund Rice tradition that we are called to embrace and animate in union with our network of over 50 schools around Australia.

Christian Brothers' College St Kilda hosted the renewal of The Charter, signifying a commitment to ensuring that the unique identity of our Edmund Rice schools remains as strong as ever. Embedded within the renewed Charter are the following reflective questions associated with the 'Liberating Education' segment. What would be your response to these questions considering your experience of a Terrace education?

• How are the vision and hope for a better world for all expressed and celebrated in our school community?
• What experiences most awaken our young people to the need for liberation in their own lives?
• What knowledge and skills do we equip our young people with so that they are able to discern the liberation needs of others?
• Who amplifies the voices of those most in need of liberation within our school community? How is that voice received?

Last night’s Immersion Presentation Evening and the stories shared by the Gentlemen of Year 10 provided some powerful answers to these questions. These answers and stories again highlighted how our Terrace Family is blessed with dedicated and passionate students, parents and teachers who go above and beyond to ensure the best possible Catholic educational and formational experiences for our young men.

The renewed Charter for Catholic Schools in the Edmund Rice Tradition can be accessed here

“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

Lilla Watson a Gangulu woman, Aboriginal elder, activist and educator from Queensland, Australia.