THE WAY (Term 3 Week 7 - 23 August 2021)
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Message from the Director
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FOR INFORMATION
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Faith and Hope for the Future
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Announcements
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National Child Protection Week 5-11 September
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National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) Free Webinars
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NESA Accredited PD
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NESA Elective PD - Mentoring Early Career Teachers
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NESA Elective PD - Education Leadership
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The ACEN Sora eBook and audio book collection
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Positions Vacant
While the past fortnight has certainly been a trying one for our schools and system as we navigate the rapid transition into Blended Learning, one of the great joys for me has been witnessing the professionalism, commitment and adaptability of schools and their staff during this time. Over the course of the last fourteen days, it has been deeply gratifying to be in meetings with school leaders and hear them speak of their staff’s commitment to ensuring the wellbeing and learning of all of our students and also the deep concern you have for the families of our students and the wider community. I’m proud to hear of the processes that our schools and system are putting in place to keep our students and their families connected and supported.
To be at the service of our communities is what is at the heart of our mission as Catholic educators and answers Christ’s call to live out agape love where we seek the good of the other. So at this time, I want to express my sincere gratitude for the commitment to your vocation that each of you are demonstrating. I am aware that for many of you, these times present additional challenges and I thank you for the time and energy you are investing to ensure that the students who are at the centre of all we do are educated, engaged, cared for and supported.
In closing, let me emphasise that I hope each of you ensures your own self care by making time for the activities that bring you joy and peace. As a competitor in marathons, I can wholeheartedly recommend the invigorating effects of a good 40km jog, but if that’s not quite your idea of self care, please make sure you do endeavour to engage in the activities that refresh and revitalise you.
Keep safe and well and please keep all our families and communities in your prayers at this time.
Director of Catholic Schools
Mount St Patrick College, Murwillumbah, student Amelie Ogg was selected as guest editor for a special issue of Australian Catholics magazine, commemorating the bicentenary of Catholic education in Australia. (19 August 2021)
Congratulations to Mount St Patrick College, Murwillumbah, student Amelie Ogg (pictured) for her selection as a guest editor for the special issue of the Australian Catholics magazine commemorating the bicentenary of Catholic education.
Amelie joined a team of guest editors comprising of 11 students from Catholic schools across Australia for a week-long internship program in May.
The team worked online with Australian Catholics and were asked to brainstorm and plan articles around the theme of ‘Faith in the future’ to tie in with the bicentenary celebrations. Exploring where they found faith and hope for the future in the world around them.
The guest editors planned articles for the edition and had the chance to speak with Australian media professionals, such as Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) and 4 Corners investigative journalist Adele Ferguson, Associate editor and columnist for The Australian John Ferguson and political correspondent for The Age and SMH James Massola.
‘It was extremely interesting listening to various peoples’ experiences,’ Amelie said, adding, ‘But above all that, it was a rare chance to hang out with people our own age around the country and make new friends with similar interests.’
The special edition also included a special 22-page 200th-anniversary feature and the winning entries in the 2021 Young Voices Awards, which included articles, photos, videos, and podcasts from primary and secondary students.
Australian Catholics editor Michael McVeigh said he wanted to bring this year’s youth edition to celebrate the anniversary of Catholic education and highlight the creativity and passion that young people bring to the Catholic community through their schools.
Catholic Schools Office Appointment
Warwick Forster has been appointed to the position of Transformation Team – Communications Officer commencing on 16 August 2021. Warwick was previously working in this role in a temporary capacity.
We congratulate Warwick on this appointment and look forward to his contribution to the Transformation Team.
School Appointments
Jennifer Furney has been appointed to the position of Assistant Principal – Pastoral Care at St Joseph’s Regional College, Port Macquarie commencing January 2022. Jennifer is currently employed as an Executive Leader of Pastoral Care at St John’s College, Dubbo in the Diocese of Bathurst.
Emma Fisher has been appointed to the position of Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching at Holy Family Catholic Primary School, Skennars Head commencing January 2022. Emma is currently employed as the Leader of Pedagogy at Holy Family Catholic Primary School.
We congratulate Jennifer and Emma on their appointments and look forward to their commencement in their new roles.
National Child Protection Week is 5-11 September. This year's theme is 'Every child, in every community, needs a fair go'. To treat all of Australia’s children fairly, we need to make sure every family and community has what kids need to thrive and be healthy. These are free live-streamed classroom lessons with pre and post activities for primary aged students.
Australia's Biggest Safety Lesson - Daniel Morcombe Foundation
This will be live streamed on Tuesday 7 September during National Child Protection Week. Early Years and Junior Primary students will tune in at 9.00am AEST before the Upper Primary lesson airs at 10.00am AEST.
Please register for these sessions. Teachers can review previous years lessons and teaching guides here.
Be an eSafe kid: Online Boundaries – It's OK to say 'no' - Office of the eSafety Commissioner
A live Virtual Classroom webinar to support students as they learn about online consent or permission, and how to define online boundaries.
The target audience is middle primary and upper primary students.
By the end of the learning, students will be able to:
- identify consent and permission in a variety of online settings
- define and practise setting personal online safety boundaries
- develop help-seeking and reporting strategies.
The whole class participates in a live video lesson with a trainer. The trainer talks through PowerPoint slides and students complete a worksheet during the presentation. There are numerous dates, starting from 2 September - 23 November. Please register for these sessions.
Be an eSafe kid: Being an upstander - Office of the eSafety Commissioner
A live Virtual Classroom webinar that explores how a small action (posting a photo) can cause harm. It looks at the ways students can be upstanders and support their friends online.
The target audience is middle primary and upper primary students, session time: Friday 28 October, 2021.
For more information click here.
Be an eSafe kid: Fake news, real harms - Office of the eSafety Commissioner
A live Virtual Classroom webinar to test your students' ability to detect fake news. Explore the impact of misinformation online. Get tips on how to find trusted and safe sources of information online and where to go for help if things go wrong. The target audience is middle primary and upper primary students, sessions time:
Friday 26 November, 2021. For more information go to click here.
After significant consultation, NESA has published the requirements for Accredited PD on their website. Leaders are encouraged to become familiar with the principles and content criteria requirements of each of the four Priority Areas over the remainder of the year. Schools are under no obligation to apply to accredit courses this year. Professional Learning will occur in Term 4 for school leaders.
To be accredited, each individual course must:
- address the principles of effective professional learning,
- meet the content criteria requirements for the applicable priority area, and
- include content and activities that directly align with relevant Standard Descriptors at the Proficient, Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher level of the Standards.
Observing the beginning teacher does not constitute NESA Elective PD but a feedback session after an observation does. Likewise being on playground duty together does not constitute NESA Elective PD but engaging with the beginning teacher to model how to de-escalate behaviour or how to follow up a behaviour incident would constitute NESA Elective PD.
NESA has clarified that the Elective PD Activity type, Educational Leadership, refers to courses that you have participated in to develop your own leadership capacity. Examples may include the Pathways to Leadership Program or Covey. However, Completing a Masters of Educational Leadership constitutes Postgraduate Study.
The (Australian Catholic Education Network) ACEN Sora collection began in 2017 with a number of dioceses and individual schools donating individual eBook and audiobook collections to form a consortia giving all our students access to a large, up-to-date collection.
Committee members from each diocese have been responsible for the purchase of titles recommended primarily by library staff.
If you haven’t used Sora before and would like to know how to access and check out titles, please contact library staff at your school.
If you would like to recommend titles to be added to the collection please fill out this form at any time.
HSC English Texts Collection on Sora
The CEnet ACEN Overdrive team recently added this collection to meet challenges faced by students in NSW member dioceses who are working from home and may not be able to access texts on the HSC reading list as the books are at school.
The group has responded by adding a collection of HSC texts to the consortium's collection of digital books to enable students who may not be able to access texts due to lockdown or remote location. Usage will be monitored to ascertain demand. Students should put a hold on books they require to indicate demand.
Information on employment opportunities within the Diocese of Lismore are available via Positions Vacant.
Existing staff should apply through the Internal Positions Vacant Page on the Intranet. Select School Services, then Recruitment and Positions Vacant – internal site.
Catholic Schools Office
- Assistant Director – People and Safety
- Assistant Director – Improvement and Performance
- Education Officer – Primary
- Early Learning Education Officer K-2
School Leadership
- Assistant Principal, St Joseph’s Primary School, Woodburn
- Assistant Principal – Mission, St Joseph’s College, Banora Point
- Assistant Principal – Mission, St John Paul College, Coffs Harbour
- Assistant Principal – Mission, St Joseph’s Primary School, South Murwillumbah
- Assistant Principal – Learning and Teaching, St Joseph’s Primary School, South Murwillumbah
- Assistant Principal – Mission, St Finbarr’s Primary School, Byron Bay
- Leader of HSIE – Teacher, St Mary’s Catholic College, Casino
- Leader of Careers and VET, St Mary’s Catholic College, Casino
- Leader of Pedagogy, St Joseph’s Primary School, Port Macquarie
- Leader of Catechesis, St Mary’s Catholic College, Casino
- Leader of Pedagogy, Holy Family Catholic Primary School, Skennars Head
- Leader of Pedagogy, St Peter’s Primary School, Port Macquarie
- Leader of Pedagogy, St Carthage’s Primary School, Lismore