THE WAY (Term 3 Week 9 - 6 September 2021)
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The Strategic Directions and the Shared Future Program are on the Intranet
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Book Week 2021 Goes Virtual
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FOR INFORMATION
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Announcements
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Read & Write Webinars
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NSW Government DCJ Scholarship Program
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NAPLAN Student Reports
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Augmented Reality Project - St Finbarr's Primary School, Byron Bay
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Art Matters
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Diocesan Student Data Site
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Technology Services scheduled school holiday maintenance
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Emails
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Westpac Rescue Helicopter Magazine Edition No. 2, 2021
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Positions Vacant
The Strategic Directions outlines the priorities for Catholic education in the Diocese of Lismore for 2021 through to 2024. You can now find updated information about the Strategic Directions on the Intranet home page.
On the Strategic Directions link, you will find an introductory video and a two page summary of the priority areas and their related outcomes.
You will also see a link to the Shared Future Program, the name given to the body of work to implement the initiatives called for in the Strategic Directions.
This page provides an overview of the four main areas where initiatives have or will be introduced. These changes will better support Catholic Education’s Mission and Vision to improve our students’ faith, learning, and well-being outcomes.
As Learning from Home continues, schools find unique ways to celebrate Book Week in 2021. (23-27 August 2021)
Learning from Home has not stopped primary schools across the Diocese from celebrating Book Week. Since 1945 the Children’s Book Council of Australia has promoted the love of reading for pleasure. This year’s theme was ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds’.
At St Brigid’s Primary School, Kyogle, students were offered a wonderful and creative opportunity to celebrate from home with a virtual Book Week celebration. During class Zoom sessions, students dressed up and spoke about their favourite character or book. There was a high level of engagement from the community on the school’s Facebook page as St Brigid’s staff shared their favourite book.
‘We wanted to give the students a chance to acknowledge and celebrate the wonderful world of books in Book Week. Using the online platforms was a great way to involve parents and the wider community,’ said Principal Tony Hunter.
At St Joseph’s Primary Kempsey, it was a whole community experience as students, staff and families collaborated to create two videos celebrating the love of reading. Creative and colourful costumes featured in a video that included students, families, staff and pets dressed as book characters. The second video was an original light-hearted view of staff members' favourite children's books.
‘Both these videos are a great way to connect with our students and their families during what can be a challenging time for our community. We hope these videos made the students smile,’ said Assistant Principal Krystal Brady.
Finally, at St Francis Xavier Primary School, Woolgoolga students were treated to a virtual book reading, a dress-up parade via Zoom and a virtual tour of the NSW State Library. Teachers dressed up and danced to Mark Ronson’s ‘Uptown Funk’ in a video montage uploaded to Facebook.
‘I loved the teachers dancing. It was so funny,’ said one Kindergarten student.
‘The State Library virtual excursion was so cool,’ said one Year 6 student.
Learning from Home is an excellent opportunity to encourage students to read and explore different places, different times, different worlds.
School Appointments
Monique Soutter has been appointed to the position of Assistant Principal – Mission at St Patrick's Primary School, Macksville commencing January 2022. Monique joins us from the Diocese of Armidale.
Jasmine Stuart has been appointed to the position of Assistant Principal – Learning and Teaching at St Mary's Primary School, Grafton commencing January 2022. Jasmine is currently employed as the Leader of Inclusion at St Mary's Primary School, Grafton.
Sonia Solares has been appointed to the position of Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching at St Joseph's Primary School, Wauchope commencing January 2022. Sonia is currently employed as the Leader of Catechesis at St Joseph's Primary School, Wauchope.
We congratulate Monique, Jasmine and Sonia on their appointments and look forward to their commencement in their new roles.Read&Write are hosting the following webinar:
Introduction to Read&Write for Windows for Parents & Carers is suitable for parents and carers.
Please share this information via appropriate school communication messaging stream.
Introduction to Read&Write for Windows for Parents & Carers - this webinar is scheduled for 8 September, 2021 at 3:30 pm AEST.
Register via: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/569147218088871180
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
The DCJ Scholarship program assists young people living in social housing and in out-of-home care who are enrolled in education or training to complete their studies by offering $1,000 to help with school expenses and secondary support services.
The program targets students in high school in Years 10, 11 and 12. Students who are successful in getting a scholarship are able to receive continued funding as long as they remain in education and are still a social housing client, this includes post high school studies.
Schools will be receiving the funds to administer the scholarship on behalf of the student.
Applications for the 2022 school year will open in mid October 2021. For more information please visit the website www.facs.nsw.gov.au/dcj-scholarships.
NESA has advised that they intend to dispatch Independent Student Reports (ISRs) from Monday, 6 September 2021, however given the disruption to delivery/printing chains (most situated in NSW COVID Pandemic Local Government Areas of concern) they will advertise dispatch from mid-September on their website. Principals will receive advice with the reports regarding the suggested timeframe for dispatch to parents and carers (8 October) and the final date (15 October) to report any issues to NESA.
Stage 3 from St Finbarr's Primary School, Byron Bay have been involved in an AR (Augmented Reality) project on giving messages of hope and connection during this lockdown period.
To access scan the QR code below or click on the direct link to open on a phone or iPad HERE: You need to click on the flowers to listen to each message (you can zoom in using your fingers).
David Ogg has been an educator for over 50 years, and is a former Leader of Learning, Visual Arts at St John Paul College in Coffs Harbour. David facilitates a range of Art Matters Visual Arts Enrichment Workshops for Year 5 and 6 students with a focus on the Visual Arts and student wellbeing. The Workshops seek to build competent skills in staff and students alike and help with enriching the Visual Arts experience as well as modelling the integration of Scripture through the Visual Arts.
The Arts Site has been further developed to include Art Matters. It is a celebration of the learning across the Diocese and an avenue to share some valuable resources. To explore the site click here.
The Diocesan Student Data site has had some minor changes under the Diagnostic Data Tab. These changes have been aligned within the System Standardised and Diagnostic Data Guidelines - Reading under ‘Recording of Reading Data’. There is also a ‘How to use the Diocesan Data Site Slide’ link within the guidelines, to support the changes. The updated Guidelines can be found on the Intranet here. If you have any questions or require support in using the Diocesan Student Data site please contact your Education Officer.
A planned maintenance outage for the diocesan Phone system is scheduled for 4:00pm 30 September until 10:00am 1 October. Please be aware that during this time the school phone system will be unavailable.
There have been a number of occasions recently where emails meant for a particular staff member have been inadvertently sent to another staff member in the Diocese with a similar name. Staff are requested to check email addresses before sending correspondence.
Please click the link below to access the latest newsletter from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
Link: Westpac Rescue Helicopter Magazine Edition No. 2, 2021
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
- Regional Service Leaders – School Management
- Risk Manager
- Learning Designer
- Digital Technologies Coach
School Leadership
- Leader of Learning – Inclusion / Teacher, Mount St Patrick College, Murwillumbah
- Leader of Pedagogy / Teacher, Mount St Patrick College, Murwillumbah
- Assistant Principal, St Joseph’s Primary, Woodburn
Other Diocese
Further information about our positions is available on the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong website:
- Team Leader – Leadership and Professional Growth Team, Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong