News & Event

Sister Claire Sykes FCJ visited Genazzano classes on Thursday 22 May and shared her insights about the FCJ schools around the world.
After Sr Claire's visit we reflected on the following points:

What do you see as the key characteristics of an FCJ school?

What are the qualities that you value as lived out at Genazzano?

At first we didn’t actually recognise that there were any distinct characteristics of FCJ schools, however after researching a number of FCJ schools around the world, we realised that each school revealed a great sense of community.

At Genazzano, many values with a Catholic emphasis are lived out. There are the values of respect and love for your peers.  There is a great sense of community and helping out those in our society.

Sister Claire opened our eyes to the world-wide FCJ community.  It was great to hear of other schools around the world and how they operate.

Anne-Marie, Tara, Danielle and Claire – Year 11

The key characteristics of FCJ schools are things such as social justice. The FCJ schools are very active in global concerns, social awareness and acts of community service. Having a sense of belonging is important amongst our school and the FCJ community, as we find strength and wellbeing from living a life of generosity. By having compassion and helping others, we feel a sense of fulfilment, and devotion to not just our religion, but the world around us.

The characteristic that we most value at Genazzano FCJ College is the commitment to helping those less fortunate than ourselves. As a whole, we believe that our school is very active in this through activities with St Vincent de Paul and Caritas. We also find that living a life of generosity and compassion is very important and allows us to find strength in ourselves, while being on a path of wellbeing. At Genazzano, we believe that we value the characteristic of community, as we strive to work as a cohort in helping the world.

Jessica Flowers, Emily Shortal and Ellen Mardjetko – Year 11

There are many characteristics of an FCJ school. Some of them are more prominent than others but all contribute to the faith in their own significant way.

A few of the key characteristics behind an FCJ school are the old traditions, customs and principles of religious belief. These are incorporated into the school curriculum and help students discover and familiarise themselves with the Catholic faith. The old traditional buildings, which have existed for hundreds of years, add to the grandeur of the FCJ schools and help them recruit more students through traditional architectural styles.  Physical fitness and a strong belief in the arts is prominent throughout the FCJ schools around the world.

The qualities that we, the Genazzano FCJ community, believe are important are companionship, friendship, honesty, respect (including self respect), physical fitness, a love of the arts, leadership, gathering together as a community and a thirst for education.

Jennifer Hunter, Chiara Rose Kemp, Amy McLean and Jessica Bonaddio - Year 11

After reading various information regarding FCJ schools throughout the world and listening to Sr Claire’s talk, it would seem that there are some common traits of all FCJ schools. Each has a specific emphasis on religious education and educating their students according to the values and morals which they treasure.

The key characteristics of FCJ schools are:

• Their dedication to helping those in need through their mission work and support of the same
• Their pride in the education of young people and the variety of opportunities they leave open to their students, although each school places emphasis on a different aspect of education
• The assistance they give in helping students discover who they are and their faith
• Their dedication to the work of FCJ and how much they value their connection to the society

All FCJ schools seem very dedicated, as seen in their mission statements and through Sr Claire’s talk, to aiding their students in everything regarding their lives, education and faith journey.

The qualities valued as lived out at Genazzano are equality, fairness, strong faith beliefs (both religious and non-religious such as valuing of

friendship etc.), unity, honesty, acceptance, social justice, respect and impartiality. There is also a strong sense of faith and aiding students in their discovery of such.

Julienne and Anita - Year 11

After Sr Claire's visit with us on Thursday 22 May we were invited to reflect on FCJ Schools.

In response to the question of what is the most important part of an FCJ school we believe it is the companionship it provides the students, the love of learning and faith in God it encourages. Another important characteristic is the active engagement with issues of social justice.

At Genazzano, we believe that it is important to explore our faith in God and faith in others. We value a passion for life and a love of learning, and we hope to have a strong commitment to the community within and beyond the school.

Genevieve Kofoed, Sarah Silva, Amelia Omizzolo and Amy Hermans - Year 11

The key characteristics of an FCJ school are a strong passion, love and enjoyment of education, love, empathy, courage and confidence to help others and an eternal love of God and life.

The qualities that we value at Genazzano are a passion for life, a love of learning and the courage and confidence to serve others. We also value life as a gift of God to be shared, companionship with God, creation and one another, the dignity of each individual, the contribution women make to society and the church and education as life-long, liberating and transformative.

Margot Rogers, Alicia Brown and Alexandra Simpson

You will need Acrobat Reader to view this document.
You can download Acrobat Reader here at no charge.