Family Week continues

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11 June 2020

This year’s CatholicCare Family Week theme is ‘Building Connections in the Spirit of Hope’.

Reflecting on Family Week celebrations, CatholicCare’s Jeff Wild said, ‘the purpose of Family Week is to celebrate and strengthen family relationships. This year had to be done differently’. Some schools are setting new dates for their Family Week, while others have found new ways to celebrate. Either way, CatholicCare has made primary and secondary resources available on its website for schools and families to use whenever suits them.

St Joseph’s Primary School, Boronia, held a big virtual family breakfast via Google Meet. ‘It was attended by 80% of our families and all staff members’, said acting principal Leonie Sheehy. ‘For me, there was an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for a robust community that took the time to connect, during challenging times, to experience the strong sense of belonging and support that being part of St Joseph’s, Boronia gives us.’

Elizabeth Keogh, deputy principal – mission at Mount Lilydale Mercy College, Lilydale, shared how her school celebrated Family Week. ‘At the beginning of remote learning, we had to get creative and the prefects were very proactive. We run a ministry lounge every lunch time, but obviously we couldn’t do that, so what we ended up doing is putting together a new ministry website for internal use. Our ministry lounge is pretty busy of a lunch time and some students will come because it’s a safe space and they are used to connection. The website still kept them connected and gave them something to do, as if to say: this is a really good time to come together as a family and this is what you can do.’

‘Each week we had different features to connect kids with prayer and faith development, but also to connect them with what would have been our normal fundraiser for that time. The faith and ministry prefect and mercy and justice prefect worked with fellow students to put together a video and slideshow about what CatholicCare does and what Family Week is all about. They included activities that families could do, such as a prayer walk and a jar full of activities. It was a great way to raise awareness about CatholicCare.’