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You are light of the world
(Matthew 5:14)
As Term Three draws to a close, secondary schools across the Diocese are gearing themselves up to farewell their graduating Year 12 students. The dual emotions of excitement and anxiety are often experienced by these young people as they prepare to leave the familiar and safe school environment to a life in which they are fully responsible for all their decisions. Our collective hope is that they are well prepared. Their achievements are not just a result of what was achieved in the senior years of schooling, but a sum of thirteen years of parenting, educating, nurturing and role modelling throughout their entire schooling experience.
With the departure of yet another Year 12 cohort from our education system, I am drawn to reflect and wonder whether we, as educators, achieved what we set out to do when these young adults were enrolled into Catholic education as eager five year olds. The 2008 Melbourne Declaration has given us clear goals in the education of Australia’s young people – the promotion of equity and excellence, so that all young Australians become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens. However, in our Catholic context it extends beyond these goals to also incorporate our Gospel imperative to be the light of the world. Furthermore, Pope Francis, in January 2018, urged Catholic educators to be ‘inspired by their Christian values’ and encourage their students to be open to others in a ‘culture of encounter’. In my short nine weeks in the role, I am confident that Catholic education in the Diocese of Lismore is in a good place.
To all involved in Catholic education in the Diocese of Lismore, thank you for the part you have contributed to the education and care for these fine young women and men graduating from our schools next week, and for all students in our care. May you all have a restful and safe break.
Regards
Dr Sally Towns
Director of Catholic Schools
This week we take a moment to discover how central each human person is to the work of a great Catholic school or workplace.
Firstly, let’s not forget that there has never been a perfect time in Catholic education or for the Church. We live in hope, because we believe the Holy Spirit is the source of all our wisdom and effect as human persons.
Christ’s teaching in the Gospels speak to the very real spiritual and material needs of every human person, and as such a Catholic school is also a place that ministers to the spiritual and material needs of those therein.
To learn more please click here.
Newman College Student named NSW School Based Apprentice/Trainee of the Year
Arcadia Meldrum of Newman Senior Technical College, Port Macquarie was recently named the 2019 NSW School Based Apprentice/Trainee of the Year. Arcadia is undertaking her Higher School Certificate and completing a School Based Traineeship (SBAT) in Certificate III in Tourism and is employed by Rydges, Sails Resort in Port Macquarie. The Award recognises the student's commitment to their formal studies at school and in the workplace.
Arcadia will progress to the 2019 Australian Training Awards to be held in Brisbane in November. Congratulations Arcadia and we wish you all the best for the National Awards.
APPOINTMENTS
Paul Reidy has been appointed to the position of Principal at Mount St Patrick College, Murwillumbah commencing Term 1, 2020. Paul currently holds the position of Assistant Principal - Staff and Students at Xavier Catholic College, Ballina.
Renee Brown has commenced in the Catholic Schools Office (CSO) as a Payroll Assistant. Renee has prior payroll experience working for Mater Health in Brisbane and Domino's Pizza (Australia). Prior to starting in the CSO Renee has been working as an Assistant at St Joseph’s Primary Schools, Coraki and Woodburn.
Congratulations to Paul and Renee on their appointments.
FAREWELL
Anne O’Brien has tendered her resignation as Principal at MacKillop College Port Macquarie, effective Friday 25 October.
Anne has worked in Catholic Education since 1979 and in the Lismore Diocese since 1981. Anne’s school leadership roles have included positions as Assistant Principal, Campus Principal and Principal at St Joseph’s Regional College and MacKillop College Port Macquarie. In 2013 Anne commenced a term as the School Evangelisation and Catechetical Services Consultant with the Catholic Schools Office before her return to Principal at MacKillop in 2015.
We wish Anne all the best and thank her for her contribution to education in the Diocese of Lismore.
NSW Children’s Week 2019 Creative Story Competition
This competition is an opportunity for children and young people to write a creative story (200 to 500 words) about an issue that is important to them and to other children and young people in 2019.
For more information click here.
NSW Children’s Week 2019 Awards
All staff, as well as children and young people can nominate an individual, group, service or project that falls within the award categories. There are seven awards for children and young people and three awards for adults.
For more information, click here.
Entries for both the Competition and Awards close on Sunday 6 October.
Personal Details Verification Portal - Information for Staff
The Catholic Schools Office is in the process of verifying the personal details of all diocesan staff members. The purpose of this verification is to ensure staff user information is accurate and consistent across all diocesan services as part of our identity management update process.
All staff members will be given the opportunity to review, amend (where necessary) and confirm personal details currently held on record at the CSO. These details include legal name (as appears on birth certificate, passport and/or driver’s license), preferred name and contact details (residential address, postal address, personal email address and mobile phone number).
Beginning in Week 10 (Tuesday 24 September), staff will be presented with a splash screen when logging into CSO online services (email, calendar, Google Drive etc). The splash screen will provide staff with the option to choose to verify personal details at that time or defer verification to a later time. The splash screen prompt will be presented at login until personal details are confirmed by the staff member. Screen shots detailing the splash screen and verification portal are available for your information at Personal Details Verification.
In future, staff members will have the ability to update personal details at any time from a link on the diocesan authentication (login) page.
Read LessScheduled Internet and Telephony Outages - October 2019
Several internet outages affecting Diocesan schools and the Catholic Schools Office are scheduled for October 2019. Please be aware of the following times, dates, locations and services that will be impacted:
Wednesday 9 and Wednesday 16 October 6:00 pm to midnight (6 Hours)
Internet services to all diocesan schools and the Catholic Schools Office will be affected, including
- No access to diocesan websites
- No MiTel phone services at schools or CSO
However, staff and students will be able to access Google accounts by browsing to the following site: http://mail.lism.catholic.edu.au/local
Monday 14 October 7:00pm to 11:00pm (4 Hours)
Scheduled internet outage affecting services to these sites serviced by a Vertel internet connection
- No access to diocesan websites
- No MiTel phone services
Information on employment opportunities within the Diocese of Lismore are available via Positions Vacant.
- Principal - St Mary’s Catholic College, Casino
- Assistant Principal (Mission) - St Joseph’s Primary School, Port Macquarie
- Assistant Principal (Mission) - St Joseph’s College, Banora Point