THE WAY (Term 1 Week 1 - 31 January 2022)
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Messages from the Bishop and Director of Catholic Schools
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FOR ACTION
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STARRS Productions 2022
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Virtual Project Compassion Launch 1 March 2022
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Staff Access to Scout, ALAN and Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC)
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The Arts: Stage 5 English/ Drama NORPA Opportunity
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Working with Children Checks - Processing Delays and Extension
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FOR INFORMATION
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Announcements
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Maintenance of Accreditation Update January 2022
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NESA Update for Pre-2004 Teachers - Maintenance of Accreditation
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NESA Teacher Accreditation
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Contact details for the Teacher Accreditation Authority (TAA) and MyLearning
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Positive Partnerships’ 2 day Autism Workshop
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An Exciting Opportunity: Pathways to Leadership: Leading with Impact Program 2022
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Arts Partnership Grants
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Enterprise Agreement Update
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Social Media - Posting of Swimming Carnival Images and Video
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Reminder
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My Learning
Welcome back. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and holiday break with your family and friends.
Messages from the Bishop and Director of Catholic Schools are available on the intranet and can be accessed here.
Expressions of Interest are requested from schools, both primary and secondary across the diocese to host Starrs Productions. Please use this form to register your EOI.
Staff and students will be engaged in a performance on the life and story of either Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop or Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Mercy Sisters.
Starrs Productions will perform at various locations across the Diocese in Term 1 (14-18 March) and Term 2 (20-24 June). More than one performance can be scheduled on each day which will enable a greater number of schools to benefit from the performance.
The duration of the performance is 55 minutes with 15 minutes at the completion for questions and answers. COVID guidelines will need to be considered closer to the performance dates.
Play 1: Young Mary - suited to K-6 students
Play 2: Sister Mary of the Cross - suited to Secondary 7-8 students
Play 3: Catherine McAuley: adapted to Primary K-6 or Secondary 7-8 students
Promotional flyers containing further information can be found at this link. For further information contact Gemma Ballantine on 0408 079 298.
Schools may wish to register the following groups for the launch:
- Years 5-6 class groups
- Primary school student leaders and/or justice group members
- Year 7-12 Religious Education classes
- Secondary school student leaders, including justice/mission leaders
See attachment for details.
Staff requiring access to Scout, ALAN or the PRC in 2022 will need a NETid Account and/or a DoE Portal active account. Please note that if access to Scout is the only requirement there is no need to have a DoE account. Further details and instructions are listed in the attached memo.
The Catholic Schools Office has been in partnership with NORPA (Northern Rivers Performing Arts) since 2015. The partnership aims to provide our students with access to high quality theatre experiences and drama & performance workshops to enhance the curriculum and teacher professional learning. In 2022 NORPA are touring the work 'Into the Forest' through the diocese during Term 2 from 6 to 10 June. The exact date for your school performance will be determined after the successful applicants have been determined.
INTO THE FOREST - a NORPA original show, exploring the forest and bush as a natural environment, as important cultural heritage and as a real and mythical place of both sanctuary and danger. The work draws on classic and contemporary literature in which the forest is a central player.
INTO THE FOREST provides a theatrical experience in the form of a pre-show classroom engagement delivered through educational resources followed by a performance delivered on school campus. Both parts of the experience engage teachers and students with the Stage Five English syllabus. The Educational Package offers 4 Units of work that can be taught over a period of 6 weeks with both English and Drama students.
Expressions of interest are open for secondary schools across the diocese to engage within the NORPA/CSO Stage 5 Project 'Into the Forest'. Please use this link to access the NORPA Information Package and the Expression of Interest form. EOI close on Friday 25 February, 2022.
Please note that over the past 12 months the Office of the Children's Guardian (OCG) has experienced significant delays in processing Working with Children Check (WWCC) renewals. We understand staff with an expiry date of 26 January to 28 February may be granted an extension to accommodate processing delays currently being experienced due to COVID and OCG staff shortages. As such we encourage staff not to leave their renewal to the last minute.
Staff are encouraged to commence their online renewal 2-3 months out from their expiry date (here) and promptly visit Services NSW to pay their renewal fee.
Once staff receive an updated status (and notification of extension if applicable), they must provide this updated information via this Jotform link to update employment records. Teachers must also update etams for accreditation purposes.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE APPOINTMENTS
Rachel Kearey has been appointed to the position of Manager, Human Resources commencing 17 January 2022. Rachel has worked with the Catholic Schools Office since 2016 with the last four years in the role of Human Services Officer and most recently supporting schools in the Tweed and Coastal Clusters.
Evronia Allan has been appointed as Youth Ministry Development Officer (Digital) for 2022. Evronia is a previous Youth Ministry Officer, is a member of Proclaim Lismore Wildfire and is currently working as Parish Secretary for the Nambucca Valley Parish.
Bowen Lyons has been appointed as Trainee Media and Communications commencing 19 January 2022. Bowen graduated from Year 12 at Xavier Catholic College Ballina last year.
Emma Charters has been appointed to the position of Accounts Assistant. Emma joins us from the Rous County Council where she was employed as the Finance Team Leader - Accounts.
We congratulate Rachel, Evronia, Bowen and Emma on their appointments.
Please refer to the attached correspondence regarding Maintenance of Accreditation.
Please refer to the attached correspondence regarding Maintenance of Accreditation for Pre-2004 Teachers.
It is essential that all teachers moving to NSW from another state or overseas are provisionally or conditionally accredited by NESA.
Interstate or New Zealand Teachers
Interstate or New Zealand teachers must apply to NESA for accreditation to be eligible to teach in a NSW school. If you have full registration from another Australian state or territory or New Zealand you can apply for Mutual Recognition following Initial Accreditation. Once you are accredited, complete the Teacher Registration task in your NESA online account.
Overseas Teachers
Teachers from overseas must apply for initial accreditation by NESA. There are specific language requirements for teachers from some countries to demonstrate. Teachers who are conditionally or provisionally accredited will need to complete the accreditation at Proficient process. An experienced teacher from overseas should be able to be 'fast tracked' through the process as they would be Proficient in many Standard Descriptors on arrival. Teachers from overseas are encouraged to contact the TAA to discuss their personal circumstances (dio-taa@lism.catholic.edu.au or 0408 676 252).
For more information, please go to the NESA website.
If you need to contact the TAA please use the following email address: dio-taa@lism.catholic.edu.au. If you have any questions regarding My Learning, please submit a helpdesk ticket assigned to 'My Learning'.
Megan Gillespie has been seconded to assist the transition of the Payroll system for the next six weeks. Please use the above email address to confirm participant lists of accredited courses that have run.
In recognising the need to support the ongoing growth and development of aspiring leaders, the Diocese of Lismore will offer the Pathways to School Leadership: Leading with Impact Program for commencement in Semester 2, 2022. The Program is designed and facilitated by Dr Stephen Brown (Director: The Brown Collective).
The Pathways Program involves five distinct but interrelated phases. These include self-reflection; peer collaboration; coaching examination of a leadership challenge; action research; coaching/mentoring and access to expert knowledge.
The letter of invitation, program summary and the application process can be accessed through the following link. The material is also found on the Intranet.
This program confirms the Diocese recognition of the centrality of excellence in leadership to the sustainability of a quality Catholic education.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Congratulations to the following schools that have been successful in securing an Arts Partnership Grant for 2022:
- Mount St Patrick College, Murwillumbah
- MacKillop College, Port Macquarie
- St Joseph’s College, Banora Point
- Xavier Catholic College, Ballina
- St Joseph’s Primary, Woodburn
- St Joseph’s Primary, Kempsey
- St Brigid’s Primary, Kyogle
Projects across the eight schools are diverse and we look forward to the creativity and learning that will come from the projects beginning in 2022. For further information around the projects and to celebrate the achievements of the 2021 Arts Partnership Grants explore the Creative Arts site on the Intranet.
The current NSW and ACT Catholic Systemic Schools Enterprise Agreement 2020 and the NSW and ACT Catholic Systemic Schools Principals Enterprise Agreement 2020 reached their nominal expiry date at the end of December 2021. These agreements remain in place until the new agreements are negotiated and approved by the Fair Work Commission.
Through the Dioceses appointed bargaining representative – Catholic Employment Relations Ltd – we have corresponded with the Independent Education Union (IEU) on the timing of negotiations and the substantive issues to be discussed in developing the new enterprise agreement.
We look forward to holding constructive discussions with the IEU.
The IEU has been informed that the Dioceses intend, backdated from the first full pay period on or after 1 January 2022, to pay our staff a wage increase of 2.04%. This aligns with the increases paid by the NSW Government. We are working on providing this increase as soon as possible and we will provide you with updates as this progresses.
We are committed to keeping you informed through this process and providing regular updates and welcome feedback from you at any stage.
As school swimming carnivals are permitted within COVID safe guidelines, we remind schools to be particularly cautious when posting images and videos from the swimming carnival to social media and websites. Celebrating school events and achievements on social media, school websites and in your newsletters is encouraged and images of student participation is the most effective way to do this, however, events that include students in swimwear require an additional level of curation before images and video are posted and made publicly available. This includes swimming carnivals, swimming sports lessons, camps and retreat activities.
Photos that CAN NOT be posted include:
- Full length images and video of students in swimwear, this includes students standing, sitting and diving into the pool
- Students in swimwear on the blocks
- Students without shirts (ie. students with swimmer pants and no shirt)
If you have already posted images and videos of your recent swimming carnival, please review and remove any images or video including students in swimwear as detailed above.
Photos that CAN be posted include:
- Students in the pool with head and shoulders out of the water
- Students swimming where the body is slightly or completely obscured or distorted by the water and the students face is not visible (ie. the student can not be identified)
- Students wearing rash shirts or t-shirts over swimwear or with towels wrapped around them (ie. where most of the students body is covered)
- Students in fancy dress or costumes over swimwear
It is recommended that schools review swimming based historical social media posts and their social media photo library to review and remove any images or video that may not be appropriate.
Should you have any questions, concerns or require further information, please contact Leesa Kwok: Manager, Media and Communications at leesa.kwok@lism.catholic.edu.au or media@lism.catholic.edu.au or on 0429 575 722.
2022 Marist Fathers Grant
A reminder to all schools that the applications for 2022 Marist Fathers Grant funding strictly closes on Friday 18 February 2022.
Please use this link for applications:
Staff are reminded to register for all professional learning courses through the My Learning site. The site has the facility to recommend courses to others. This will be potentially useful for Principals and Assistant Principals who wish to recommend staff to register for particular courses.
Staff are reminded that the closing date for courses is five working days prior to the course.
To register, please visit My Learning.
EMU Specialist Teacher: Ongoing Professional Learning - Day 1, 2022 22CSO-ESTOPL
Extending Mathematical Understanding (EMU) Specialist Teachers engage in professional learning twice a year to continue to deepen their understanding about the learning and teaching of Number, improve their pedagogical practice and lead learning in their school. Ongoing professional learning is required to ensure continual improvement of skills and knowledge and to maintain currency of the EMU Specialist Teacher accreditation.