THE WAY (Term 4 Week 4 - 31 October 2022)
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Diwali celebrations light up St Francis Xavier Primary School, Woolgoolga
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FOR ACTION
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Staff Access to Scout, ALAN or the Premier’s Reading Challenge
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FOR INFORMATION
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Announcements
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Announcement - Resignation
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Vaping Information Session for Schools
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Children’s Week: 22-30 October 2022
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Communication with NESA
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Hour of Code
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CSNSW Online PL module: Adapting Writing Instruction for Students with Disabilities (Week 4)
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NSW Curriculum Reform Timelines
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'Mighty Heroes' - New Resources eSafety Commission (Primary School)
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Positions Vacant
The St Francis Xavier Primary School, Woolgoolga, community held a delightful celebration of the Indian festival Diwali. (24 October 2022)
A spectacular community celebration of the Indian festival Diwali was held at St Francis Xavier Primary School, Woolgoolga. The day was filled with excitement as parents, staff, and students flocked to the school to celebrate their rich and diverse community.
Diwali, also known as the Festival of Light, is an important five-day Indian religious festival celebrating the spiritual conquest of light over darkness.
The day’s celebration did not disappoint, with students, parents and staff arriving at school wearing bright traditional Indian dress. Delicious food you won’t find in your average lunch box filled the air with an alluring aroma. Students were treated to a lavish feast of spiced chicken delights and various Indian sweets generously provided by families.
‘Students and parents involved showed ownership and pride,’ said teacher Mandy.
Radiant handmade Diya lanterns and elaborate Rangoli patterns decorated the school in an extravagant display of marvellous colour and positive energy.
‘I liked all the activities we did, like the dancing and colouring. The food was so good!’ said Year 3 student Chelsea.
The celebration was an amazing opportunity for students to develop a deeper understanding of culture and a sense of belonging. Stages 2 and 3 students were excited to learn about the significance of Diwali with a visit from the local Sikh community. While their talented peers performed traditional Indian dances for an enthralled audience, inspiring students at the joyful Diwali Disco at Recess.
‘I felt really good about today, and it was really, really fun. My favourite part was the Diwali Disco,’ said Year 2 student Saachi.
‘It was wonderful to see our Sikh children in their traditional dress proud and sharing their culture,’ said Stage 3 teacher Janet.
This year's celebration was an extraordinary event showcasing an authentic understanding of being a diverse and positive community embracing the spirit of Diwali.
Staff requiring access to Scout, ALAN or the Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) need a NETid Account or a Department of Education (DoE) Portal active account. Please note that if access to Scout is the only requirement, there is no need to have a DoE account.
CSO staff maintain the Superuser accounts for schools, usually the principal and one other staff member, and these account expiry dates have now been extended accordingly. CSO staff member accounts have also been renewed.
Accounts with the DoE can only be extended by 12 months. At this time of year, one of the Super school users is encouraged to extend the accounts for staff continuing at the school in 2023. This can be actioned by logging into the DoE Portal SMU app.
Please get in touch with Andrew Madden, Audit and Compliance Advisor or submit a Helpdesk Ticket for support in this area.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE
Joanne Hall has been appointed to the position of Lead, Inclusion within the Learning Services Portfolio commencing 31 October 2022. Jo is currently acting in this position and has been engaged with the Diocese since 2001. Jo has held positions as Education Officer, Mathematics K-12, Mathematics Professional Learning and Inclusion Officer.
SCHOOL APPOINTMENT
Lauren Magnus has been appointed to the position of Assistant Principal: Learning and Teaching at St Finbarr's Primary, Byron Bay commencing 27 January 2023. Lauren has experience as a leader, coordinator and teacher and has been engaged with Catholic Education since 2017.
We congratulate both Joanne and Lauren on their appointments and welcome their commitment and expertise to these positions.
Anna O'Dwyer has ceased her employment after 35 years of working with the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools Limited. Anna commenced her teaching career at St Francis Xavier Primary Ballina in 1987 and then became a founding teacher at Holy Family Primary School, Skennars Head, in 1997, where she held the role of Religious Education Coordinator and was a member of the Diocesan Spiritual Renewal Team. After her resignation from Holy Family Primary School at the end of 2015, Anna took on the role of Director of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine within the Diocese, training and overseeing the Catechists (SRE teachers in NSW Public Schools). Anna will continue in this role from 2022 under contract from the Diocese of Lismore.
Health Promotion Service, South Eastern Sydney are hosting a vaping webinar for educators.
The free webinar will cover:
- Health risks associated with vaping
- Resources for your school
- Strategies to address vaping in schools
This webinar will be presented by Presented Dr Marianne Gale.
When: Wednesday 2 November, 3:30-4:30 pm
Where: online via Zoom
Observed annually in Australia to recognise the anniversary of Australia's ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Children's Week presents an opportunity for communities to come together to celebrate the children in our lives.
In 2022, the national theme of Children's Week relates to Article 27 of the UNCRC - all children have the right to an adequate standard of living, including housing, food and clothes that support their development.
As part of ACYP's Children's Week initiatives, we have developed a Children's Week Activity Booklet and ACYP Children's Week 2022 Activity Booklet Solutions. This booklet contains several fun activities and child-friendly information for children on the Strategic Plan for Children and Young People 2022-2024.
Teachers are encouraged to subscribe to NESA Teacher Accreditation Newsletters here. Teachers are also reminded that you can manage most requests regarding teacher accreditation in your own eTAMS account. This includes updating personal details, employment, applying or returning from a period of leave, and advising of retirement. Please access the ‘Help Desk’ for commonly asked questions and Visual Guides. If you need to contact NESA directly, you are best to email ptenquiry@nesa.nsw.edu.au. Email using the email account registered with NESA.
The global event - Hour of Code - will be held this year from 5-11 December, and all schools within our Diocese are encouraged to participate.
Each year since its inception in 2013, schools worldwide are encouraged to participate in one hour of coding activities between the event dates.
The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify ‘code’ to show that anybody can learn the basics and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate and recognise computer science as a 21st-century foundational skill.
More than 100 million students worldwide have participated in an Hour of Code to date. Leaders like former US President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote their first lines of code as part of the Hour of Code campaign.
To participate, all you need to do is follow the three simple steps outlined below:
CSNSW provides an exciting professional learning opportunity for all school staff. Amanda Corby of Illume Learning, an experienced educator in teaching children with a disability and passionate about inclusive education, presents the second of nine online, one-hour and on-demand professional learning PL modules.
Week 4 - Adapting Writing Instruction for Students with Disabilities
The module is available here.
A detailed NSW Curriculum Reform timeline has been published to support teachers implementing the curriculum reform program.
The timeline ensures all schools have one year to plan and prepare for each syllabus before it is implemented.
NSW is on track to deliver a new curriculum for Kindergarten to Year 10 from 2024 and for Years 11 and 12 by 2025
'Mighty Heroes' is a new lower primary curriculum-aligned classroom resource that features four short-animated videos with accompanying educator notes. It also includes downloadable posters and a family tech agreement to help parents continue the conversation at home.
Bring the Mighty Heroes into your classroom:
- Wanda the echidna: I am responsible – I protect my personal information.
- River the sugar glider: I show respect – I am kind and caring to others.
- Dusty the frilled neck lizard: I trust my feelings – I ask for help when something doesn't feel right.
- Billie the bilby: I investigate – I question what I see, hear and do online.
The resource can be found at esafety.gov.au.
Watch the videos on the Mighty heroes student page with your class here.
Educator notes are available to educator notes to support a discussion of the key messages.
Information on employment opportunities within the Diocese of Lismore is available via Positions Vacant.
Existing staff should apply through the Internal Positions Vacant page on the intranet; select People & Safety > Recruitment > Positions vacant – internal site.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE
- Project Manager (new)
- Manager, School Counselling (new)
- Pastoral Care Officer (replacing Sr Margaret Bannon)
- Family Partnerships Officer (new)
- Systems Administrator, Technology One (replacing Daniel Perritt).
SCHOOL
- Leader of Learning + Teacher - St Joseph’s College, Banora Point
- Assistant Principal: Learning & Teaching - Xavier Catholic College, Ballina
- Leader of Curriculum - St Joseph’s Regional College, Port Macquarie
- Teacher + Leader of Learning, Inclusion & Diversity - McAuley Catholic College, Grafton.