‘Stay Social’ is a beautiful accommodation space designed to bring people together for work and play. We believe that connections between people can result in new business collaboration that transforms community and life! When Frances Ardern got in touch with us to stay with her family for her book launch we got just a little bit excited and had to share her story with you.
“The people who are staying with me at Stay Social span three generations: my late grandmother’s brothers, my parents, and other relatives who are teachers within the Catholic Education system,” smiles Frances.
Frances, completing her masters in education this year, is under 30 and achieving a life-time goal that so many of us hope to achieve; the publication of her first book, ‘ Celebrating the Story ’.
Three years ago Frances received a commission from the Catholic Education Office of Sandhurst, to write about the history of Catholic Education in the Sandhurst Diocese. For more than 160 years Catholic schools have been providing education for families in the Sandhurst Diocese when the first school opened on the Bendigo Goldfields in 1853.
“It means so much to me to have everyone here to celebrate,” Frances explains. “My family has travelled from as far as Mildura. My Grandfather was the first lay teacher in this region, so we are celebrating our family connections within the Diocese.”
The people Frances met to gather research material are still very active in our community and passionate about education. “The stories I collected for this book share a common thread that education builds community and education received by one person not only benefits that person, but the community they live within.”
- Frances is pictured above with Aidan and Jeremy, Karen and Chris’ sons who attend a local Catholic Primary School.
