Siena College, Camberwell was the host school for the biannual Dominican Education Network (DEN) Conference held from Saturday 24th – Monday 26th September 2011. One hundred and fifty delegates from Dominican schools in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia were represented. The participating schools included the schools governed by the Dominican sisters and fathers as well as associated schools founded by the congregations.

It was wonderful to welcome Sr Toni Harris OP, Coordinator for Dominican Sisters International in Rome as one of the keynote speakers along with Dr Rose-Marie Prosser, scripture scholar and Siena ex-student and Mr Julian Burnside QC. As we prepare to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Montessinos’ powerful sermon delivered on behalf of the Dominican community in Haiti in 1511 against the unjust slavery of the people the theme of the conference We Must Dare to See What is Before our Eyes highlighted the relevance of his message for all of us today..

The development of the conference theme through presentations on scripture, the social teachings of the Church and a variety of workshops and a practical consideration of Catholic identity for our schools in today’s Church provided a challenging and meaningful program for the delegates. Workshops on human rights, refugees and asylum seekers, youth homelessness, sexualisation of children and teaching justice in the classroom opened eyes on some of the justice issues of our time. At the conclusion of the three days delegates signed a Charter formulated during the conference committing schools to education for justice and commissioning schools to develop the Charter further to reflect each school’s particular setting and priorities.

The Dominicans were well represented with Judy Lawson, Jenny Gerathy, Elizabeth Hellwig, Jo Armour (St Dominic’s Nth Adelaide), Srs Constantia and Serafine (Indonesia) Jan Olgivy (NZ) Hilary Martin in attendance.  Anthony Walsh, Paul Rankin and Maura McAvoy were also present for Sr Toni Harris’s keynote address. All of us felt privileged to be part of the gathering and inspired by the tremendous energy and commitment of the lay leaders in our schools to embrace the Dominican story and spirit. Congratulations to the Dominican Education Network, Marg O’Shea and in particular the Siena community for an excellent conference!

Sr Julianna Drobik OP