Sophia Education Ministries honours the vision of Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat (Sophie) who opened the first Sacred Heart School in Amiens, France in 1801.
Responding to the excesses of the French Revolution, Sophie believed the education of women was a means to healing society.
Other learned women joined Sophie, and together created a new curriculum. In 1805 the first Plan of Studies was launched. It was revised regularly for the next 153 years by General Chapters of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
In 1958, the society was forced to adopt a new curriculum as governments introduced a nationalised approach to education. As a result, the last Plan of Studies focused on the spirit and general principles that inspired the education received in Sacred Heart Schools.
An international group of RSCJ Sisters produced a guiding document in 1988, Education a Commitment, with reflections from all parts of the Society, culminating in five goals which guide and inspire education in over 150 Sacred Heart Schools in forty-one countries.
Today, the Goals of Sacred Heart Education are:
- A personal and active faith in God
- A deep respect for intellectual values
- A social awareness that impels to action
- Building community as a Christian value
- Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom.
Sacred Heart Education is embedded in the French philosophical foundations; reasoning, analysis, and, of things of the spirit; together with a love of history, language and literature.
Principals of Sacred Heart Schools meet regularly, both internationally and regionally, to share insights in new education developments. These meetings foster personal relationships that help facilitate their important work.
The Sacred Heart Society’s philosophy of education is regularly reviewed, to remain focussed on both the work of education in its institutions, and the broader community settings in which the Sisters and Sacred Heart Educators work.
The Sisters adapted its broader education plan, as the Society expanded, into other countries and cultures, embracing teacher training from kindergarten to university.
Guided today by Sophia Education Ministries, our Australian and New Zealand Schools (ANZNet), School Boards, Principals and Staff seek to continue to educate students true to the vision and spirit that was Sophie Barat’s Legacy.
“We bring up the children for the future, not for the present, not that we may enjoy the fruit of our work, but for others… Our education is not meant to turn the children out small and finished but seriously begun on a wide basis. Therefore, they must leave us with some self-knowledge, some energy, some purpose. If they leave us without these three things, they drift with the stream of life.” Janet Erskine Stuart RSCJ
Sophia Education Ministries honours the tradition of Sacred Heart Education and is indebted to the legacy of three eminent women, Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, Rose Philippine Duchesne and Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ.