Staff Faith Development

The Staff Pastoral team consists of Principal, Chaplain, Faith Ambassador(s), Pastoral Team members, and Department Faith Reps.  We will meet at least twice per semester to ensure that our entire community is growing in faith, and to carry out strategies and initiatives that will assist all staff with faith formation and celebration.

Staff Pastoral Team will meet to identify and attempt to meet some of the spiritual needs of our staff.  The main identified need is building staff morale and communal identity especially in light of the massive turnover of staff in 2010.  Through our Department Faith Reps, departments will work together to grow, share and celebrate faith in various ways, including monthly staff socials, monthly staff meetings, and after-school events.  Each P.A. day will include a significant prayer or liturgy component, and additional staff liturgies (such as All Souls Day) and staff retreats will be organized and offered.

Our P.A. day on Friday, September 17 will be used primarily as a Staff Retreat Day, at St. Jerome Parish Hall, with the facilitation of Lois and Kuruvila Zachariah, trained group spiritual directors.  Our entire staff will gather in a prayerful environment to build community and a common sense of identity through a graced history timeline activity.  This closer look at the past, present, and future of Notre Dame will serve to integrate our many new staff members while allowing seasoned staff members to “share our story”.

It is our hope that all teachers will continue to show Catholic leadership and integrity by bringing faith, hope and love into the classroom both by starting class with a spiritual reflection or prayer and by incorporating Catholicity into the curriculum and co-curriculars.  We also hope that all support staff and administration will contribute to a strong faith-based environment.  Staff members are required to positively support all faith activities such as student liturgies in our cafeteria (which replace teaching time) and official school-wide charity/justice appeals and initiatives.  Attendance at scheduled Masses, liturgies, religious assemblies and day retreats is mandatory for all students and their respective teachers, with our grateful thanks.      

All staff members will be provided with adequate supplies by their Department Faith Rep for classroom prayer centres during Advent and Lent, and will be required to begin class with a special in-class prayer service twice a week during these special liturgical seasons.  Each department will have one staff member designated as the “Faith Rep” to ensure that adequate supplies are available for prayer centres and for storing and keeping inventory.  Homeroom teachers should have no problem keeping their prayer centres clean and updated with the current liturgical colour cloth, candle(s), posters and Youth Bible.

We encourage all staff members, students, parents, and parish community members to continually pray for our Notre Dame school community and its needs.