Seasons for Growth ADW

The position of Seasons for Growth Trainer/Coordinator is currently vacant and recruitment for a new trainer/coordinator will follow shortly.

For any enquiries regarding the courses, please email [email protected]

As Trainer/Coordinator Seasons for Growth for the Archdiocese of Wellington I am privileged to have received this taonga along with other NZ trainers for my professional kete. It is a treasure.
It has taken a long time, consultation and collaboration by Māori Seasons for Growth companions and Stands Tū Maia Children's Service to create this resource, which underpins the spirituality of the existing programme from a Te Ao Māori perspective.

The only constant in life is change, but while it leads to growth, we do not like it. It is associated with grief. When talking about loss and grief, people usually think of bereavement. But there is so much more to come to terms with and here are just a few major life events.
If you are interested in strategies to integrate difficult experiences into your life story, please consider joining us for a course or for training.

This extract from Richard Rohr’s email reflection from Centre of Action and Contemplation really spoke to me. Sister Thea Bowman (1937–1990), a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, addressed the United States Catholic bishops in 1989. She sang several lines of the African-American spiritual “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child / A long way from home.” Embracing her Black, Catholic, female identity, she said:

We cannot progress directly from Autumn to Spring. Winter is the significant interim phase to stop. We need to face the cold, the darkness and sometimes the hibernation through self-isolation due to illness. It is the way of nature and hope for new growth.

Here is a link to an article published by NZCEO's "Lighting New Fires" about our collaboration with Levin Uniting Parish in Levin:
https://nzceo.schoolzineplus.com/nzceo-enews?nid=96

The newest public holiday in Aotearoa New Zealand marks the first appearance of the constellation Matariki and the Māori New Year. This occurs around the winter solstice and offers the same opportunity for celebration, gathering, sharing the results of the harvest, and the darkness of winter as the mid-winter celebrations on the Northern hemisphere. Christmas in New Zealand comes and goes too quickly between the end of the school year and the holiday on the beach. Welcome Matariki!

another message from our colleagues in Australia:

Our colleagues in Sydney shared this yesterday:

Today is World Refugee Day. Today we celebrate the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their country to escape conflict or persecution.
Today we celebrate the opportunities our trained Seasons for Growth Companions provide for children and young people in their journeys. Below are just some reflections of the program directly from young people.
A specialist additional learning session is offered to any interested trained Companions.

In today's team reflection, we remembered the birthday, on 19 June 1835, of Suzanne Aubert.

Exciting news for Seasons for Growth in Aotearoa New Zealand! Our New Zealand trainers will be introduced to this new resource on the day following the launch.

Exciting news for Seasons for Growth in Aotearoa New Zealand! Our New Zealand trainers will be introduced to this new resource on the day following the launch.
For more information please contact [email protected]

"WelCom", the newspaper for the Wellington and Palmerston North Catholic Dioceses published an article with the title "Support programme puts down roots in Levin
and Kāpiti Coast" about Seasons for Growth programmes thriving in the Kāpiti and Horowhenua areas. Here are some of our companions: Mel Bryant, Tracey Hibbs, Celeste Littek,
Colleen O’Leary, Lauren Shuker, Ani Rauhihi-Skipper and
Rev Sandra Williams. The programme is running in 12 local primary and secondary schools, and three parishes are also involved. Students say: “I wish I could do this every day”, “I feel calmer”, “I have some ideas about what to do when I get upset”.For more information, please contact [email protected]

Seasons for Growth has been updated with new materials for companion training. Trainer Katrin Eickhorst is looking forward to using them for the next companion training on June 1st and 2nd.

Sadly, this course is being postponed to September. Please watch updates ...

Each stage is important, even that of confinement in the darkness of the chrysalis when your insides are jumbled and a total mess: a stage of configuring into something new.

Autumn
Like the seasons, our lives ebb and flow. As in nature, some changes in our lives are gradual and subtle while others are significant and enduring.

https://www.goodgrief.org.au/blog/coping-bereavement-grief

Just a reminder of upcoming companion reconnectors in Wellington and Levin ...

It is wonderful to have this program offered at the peripheries of the Archdiocese!

This is companion training for the adult program:

In times of uncertainty, we don't know who will be there for training courses. But whoever is able to participate usually does so with generosity and commitment.

For more information please contact
[email protected]
you can check the following links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AikCnRMRI3A
Please note: the dates on the website have changed
https://wn-catholicsocialservices.org.nz/seasons%20for%20growth

From our friends in Australia:

Celebrate women's achievement. Raise awareness against bias. Take action for equality.


https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

So pleased about this grant ...

We are grateful to have set the ball rolling with the first companion training of 2022 for the adult programs. Seated and safely distanced after a short notice change of venue, this image was taken during morning tea.
Training plans for the Children and Young People's programs are promising and slowly firming up.

Uncertainty, inconsistency and unknown circumstances are all a reason for fear, frustration and anger.
This is where peace, hope and and open mind are important:

Be quick, this won't last...
more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AikCnRMRI3A

Catholic Social Services, Archdiocese of Wellington

Where there is LOVE there is LIFE
- Gandhi

Seasons for Growth is integral to Catholic Social Services, and last week we spent a beautiful sunny day on the Kāpiti Coast planning our team's hikoi of 2022. The end result is work in progress and very visual and colourful.

sharing this post from Australia, letting you know, that we also start training again very soon. Please check out on this page below ...

Now that the holidays are over, we are back into the Seasons for Growth training sessions. Welcome to our new Companions who are participating in the two-day Children & Young People's training this week!