Wednesday, June 13, 2007

CEIST is the new trustee body for the voluntary secondary schools of the Daughters of Charity, the Presentation Sisters, the Sisters of the Christian Retreat, the Sisters of Mercy and the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.

Goodbye from the Project Team

After three and a half years of hard work the CEIST project has come to a successful completion at the end of May 2007 – on time! The final Project Update from the Project Team has now been added to the web. The Charter, which is currently being printed, has also been added to the web.

Interviews for positions of Director of Education Support Services and Director of Training and Development took place in May 2007.  We are pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Margaret O' Brien as Director of Education Support Services and Mr. Ned Prendergast as Director of Training and Development. Interviews for the position of Director of Finance will take place at the end of June.

We offer our good wishes to Anne and her new team for an effective and supportive Education Office that will service the needs of the whole CEIST community. We wish all of you every success into the future.

A CEIST Press Release to all the major media outlets will take place on 13 June 2007.  Keep your eye on the papers for this! The Press Release will also be available on the web as a news item after its release. The CEIST Education Office is now completed and was blessed yesterday at a ceremony attended by those who had contributed to the completion of the Project.

Sancta Maria College, Louisburgh

The Sancta Maria College school website has been chosen as a ‘Star Site’ on Scoilnet’s Schools Online. The Star Site accolade is given to school websites that are examples of best practise.

CEIST encourages all schools to develop their websites so that they become an integral part of the schools communications network.

Why not send us the web address for your school?

Updated Website

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have updated their Irish website. You can visit the new site by clicking 'More'

Religious Knowledge Poll

A new poll conducted by Lansdowne Market Research on behalf of The Iona Institute and the Evangelical Alliance Ireland reveals, for the first time ever, levels of religious knowledge among the general population and finds an alarming drop-off.

For a brief, easy-to-understand summary of the findings click here. What implications, if any, do the findings have for your school?

To see the full results, click 'More'

Diploma in Spirituality

Last year, the Milltown Institute and the Marino Institute introduced a new postgraduate programme in Spirituality and Leadership in Education. Participants have spoken highly of the programme which will be offered again over the next academic year.

To express an interest e-mail Tony Hanna, or phone ++ 353-1-805 7749. Click the 'More' button (below) to download the brochure.

Presentation Sisters (Film)

In 2005, the artist Tacita Dean made a film called Presentation Sisters. This film is now part of an exhibition of the artist's work which runs at the Dublin City Hugh Lane Gallery from 22 March to 15 June 2007. 

The hour-long film, which was shot at South Presentation, Cork and was made in full collaboration with the sisters, is a gentle and evocative series of images that captures the daily life of these sisters and their convent – a life that is facing an inevitable end in the absence of a younger generation. 
 

Reflective Practice

We must remember that Jesus was in fact deeply critical of the church and of the religious communities of his day and we have no guarantee that he might not also be critical of some of our institutions. We may not simply presume that everything we have today is what Jesus desired for his followers.

Quoted in Disturbing the Peace (p. 137) by Eamonn Bredin (The Columba Press)

The CEIST Project was started in February 2004 to plan for and implement all the steps that would be required to ensure that CEIST was established by the end of May 2007.

The Project Team is pleased that it has achieved its targets. The Team has held its final meeting and the new CEIST Education Office Team will now take up the baton. The transfer of the exercise of trusteeship will take place on a phased basis from November 2007 to May 2008. One by one the existing Education Offices will hand over administration of their schools to CEIST.

The CEIST Project Board, the Project Team and the existing Education Offices would like to thank you most sincerely for your cooperation throughout the project and wish you every success for the future.

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