Catholic Schools - Information for Parents
Enrolling in Catholic School
Parents who wish to enrol their children should understand the nature of a Catholic school. The curriculum has a religious dimension which needs the support of the family if the child is to fully benefit by the Catholic education provided.
Enrolment into a Catholic school is largely reserved for students who can demonstrate a connection to the Catholic faith. The criterion used to determine preference is that the “parents have established a particular or general religious connection with the special character of the school”, as required by the school’s Integration Agreement. This can only be evidenced by obtaining a Preference Certificate from your Parish Priest. Note that neither the Principal nor the Board of Trustees can provide a Preference Certificate.
Our schools have a maximum roll agreed to by the Government, and of this maximum roll a small number of places (typically 5%) may be made available to ‘non-preference’ students. Enrolment of non-preference students is at the school’s discretion, and only if space is available.
Principals handle enrolment in their schools. Please refer to your local school for further information.
Catholic Character
Our schools are Roman Catholic schools in which the whole school community, through the general school programme and in its religious instructions and observances, exercises the right to live and teach the values of Jesus Christ. These values are as expressed in the Scriptures and in the practices, worship and doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, as determined from time to time by the Roman Catholic Bishop of the diocese.
The following phrases in the above statement are significant:
Roman Catholic
In stating that the school is Roman Catholic, the definition asserts that the fundamental motive that drives the school is religious and Catholic.
School community
The school community includes the students, their parents (who are the foremost educators of their children), the teaching and non-teaching staff and the Board. The RC Bishop of Hamilton (the Proprietor) is pre-eminently a member of the school community. Because the school is an integral part of the pastoral ministry of the Church, its community comprises the local church led by the Bishop of our diocese. The parish school actualises the local church in the parish.
General school programme
By referring to “the general school programme” as well as the “religious Instruction and observances”, the definition stresses that the religious goals of the school must not be separated from its other educational goals. Each is embedded in the other; each “exercises the right to live and teach the values of Jesus Christ”.
Values
The “values of Jesus Christ” are expressed in scripture and in living Catholic tradition. They are normally identified in the school’s charter and are unabashedly Christian being sourced from the gospels. The precept “to love God above all things and one’s neighbour as oneself” sums up the values of Jesus Christ. Values and virtues education in a Catholic school is fundamental to the life of the school. All staff in a Catholic school are expected to model these values and virtues in their behaviour and to teach and proclaim them to their students.
Bishop’s determination
Finally, the statement says that it is the Bishop of the diocese who has the ultimate responsibility for determining whether the practices, worship and teachings in the school are indeed Catholic. The Bishop of the diocese (in union with the Pope and all other Catholic Bishops) exercises the Church’s teaching authority. In New Zealand the Bishop of each diocese acts together under the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference (NZCBC).
Attendance Dues
Catholic Integrated Schools are financed partly by the government and partly through attendance dues paid by the parents'/caregivers to the Proprietor, through this office, the Catholic Integrated Schools Office (CISO). Attendance dues are not the same as school fees which are charged by the school, some of which may be a donation and is tax deductible. Attendance Dues are not a donation and are not tax deductible.
Preference Cards
Catholic schools are state-integrated schools with a special Catholic character. Preference is given to students who have an established connection with the Catholic Church and meet one of the recognised preference criteria.
Contact the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton
Address: 47 Clyde Street, Hamilton East 3216
Phone: 07 856 6989
Postal: PO Box 4353, Hamilton East 3247
Email: office@cdh.org.nz
Established in 1980, the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, New Zealand spans from Te Kauwhata to Waihī, and Taumarunui to Gisborne.
"Living the Truth in Love"
