THE WAY (Term 3 Week 7 - 28 August 2023)
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Building student resilience through equine therapy at St Peter’s Primary School, Port Macquarie
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FOR ACTION
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Australian Teacher Workforce Survey
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FOR INFORMATION
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Announcements
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Formation Opportunity - RE Congress, Los Angeles 2024
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CNL Update - Welcome A New Member
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CSO Student Art Display Semester 1 2023
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7-12 KLA Collaborative Network - Science and HSIE Stage 4 & 5 Days
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WorldSkills Nationals 2023
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Have Your Say - Draft Syllabuses
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Important Changes to Google Sign-in for all Student Accounts
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Parental Leave Changes
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Reminder to all Teaching and Casual Staff - All schools
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Positions Vacant
St Peter’s Primary School, Port Macquarie, has implemented a fantastic six-week equine wellbeing program for students. (August 2023)
St Peter's Primary School, Port Macquarie, implemented an amazing short-term equine therapy program for students from Years 1 to 6. Throughout May, the program covered different wellbeing areas through interactions with horse Scruffy and Shetland pony Minnie but did not include riding them.
This unique six-week program is the passion project of School Counsellor Katie Files, who worked hard to undergo the appropriate training in equine therapy and secure the $17,633 NSW and Australian Government Disaster Recovery Grant.
‘The equine-assisted wellbeing program has been a rewarding project that I am so grateful to have been able to deliver in the school setting. It has been a joy to see the children understand and put into practice the targeted skills of awareness, boundaries, thoughts, feelings, healthy relationships and facing challenging situations in an experiential environment. My hope is that these skills will help them as they progress into their future,’ said Katie.
The program has already deeply impacted students who look forward to their once-a-week interaction with the animals, forming close bonds with the animals, leaving each session feeling calmer and looking forward to school.
‘I have received positive feedback from parents and teachers that students who were struggling to turn up to school now look forward to their time with the horses, which in turn assists them to be more settled and ready for learning and social situations,’ said Principal Tess Koning.
‘I look forward to Thursday when I can meet Scruffy. He is very funny and soft to touch. I leave each session feeling a lot calmer,’ said Year 4 student Milla.
The grant has allowed Forty students from St Peter’s Primary to participate in the program. Congratulations to the staff of St Peter’s on providing their students with this unique school experience.
Each year, thousands of teachers and school leaders around Australia share the rewards and challenges of teaching to help the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership understand how to build a more sustainable teaching profession.
How teachers can participate:
On 22 August 2023, the NSW Education Standards Authority will email all registered teachers in New South Wales a link to the Australian Teacher Workforce Survey.
Completing the Australian Teacher Workforce Survey is a valuable opportunity for teachers and leaders to share their experiences and perspectives on the rewards and challenges of teaching.
It only takes 10–15 minutes to help the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership learn more about:
- Time spent on various aspects of teaching and/or school leadership.
- Career intentions and the reasons teachers are choosing to stay or leave.
- Teacher and leader wellbeing.
- Other important workforce experiences.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE
Aaron Beach has been appointed to the temporary position of Acting Regional Service Leader (Tweed) in the Directorate, while Mark McDonald is taking some well-earned long service leave. Aaron commences in the role on Monday, 4 September, and brings to the position a wealth of knowledge, skills, and experience, having served as Principal of three diocesan schools over the past 15 years.
Brendan Cunningham has been appointed to the position of Regional Finance Business Partner (Clarence) in the Finance & Corporate Services Portfolio commencing 4 September 2023. Brendan has worked with the Diocese for a number of years and has held titles such as School Support Officer (Finance) with the Catholic Schools Office and as a School Business Manager at St John Paul College, Coffs Harbour.
Angela Graham has been appointed to the position of Marketing Officer in the People & Safety Team commencing 4 September 2023. Angela has 20 years of experience in communications and joins us from Great Southern Bank, where she holds the title of Social Media & PR Consultant.
Robert Flaspohler has been appointed to the position of Marketing Officer in the People & Safety Team commencing 4 September 2023. Robert has experience in business marketing, advertising, and graphic design and joins us from Battery Boys Pty Ltd, where he holds the title of Marketing Manager.
Allira Knight has been appointed to the position of Finance Business Partner in the Finance & Corporate Services portfolio commencing 25 September 2023. Allira previously held a Financial Systems Analyst role at the Northern Co-Operative Meat Company in Casino.
Talha Ayub has been appointed to the position of Regional Finance Business Partner (Tweed) in the Finance & Corporate Services portfolio commencing 3 October 2023. Talha joins us from Geocon Group in Canberra, where he worked in financial planning and analysis and, prior to that, as a Finance Business Partner at Southern Cross University in Lismore.
Andrew Savins has been appointed to the position of Regional Finance Business Partner (Richmond) in the Finance & Corporate Services portfolio commencing 9 October 2023. Andrew has nine years of finance experience. His previous role was with BUMA Australia, where he worked as a Senior Financial Accountant.
We welcome and congratulate Aaron, Brendan, Angela, Robert, Allira, Talha and Andrew and wish them the very best in their appointments.
SCHOOLS
Michael Piccoli has been appointed to the temporary position of Acting Principal at St Ambrose Catholic Primary, Pottsville, for Term 4 of the 2023 school year. Michael has held the Principal position at Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School, South Lismore, for the past six years and is committed to the faith formation of our communities, excellence, innovation and change.
We congratulate Michael on his appointment and look forward to his continued contribution to
Catholic Education in the Diocese of Lismore.
The Los Angeles RE Congress held on 15 - 18 February 2024, is one of the premier conferences of its type in the world. The CSO will be supporting a number of participants to attend this conference in 2024. These places are offered to build capacity in schools in the following areas:
- Catholic Identity and Mission
- Catechesis and Religious Education and/or School Evangelisation
- School Improvement – Catholic Culture.
Expressions of Interest (EOI) are now invited from school staff. Preference will be given to FaCE participants as part of the ongoing formation, which is part of this project. However, EOIs are also welcomed by current and potential leaders in Mission, Catechesis and School Evangelisation.
EOIs should be endorsed by the Principal. Please note that no more than two participants from each school will be offered a place. On completion of the Congress, a report and input for the school should be discussed with the School Leadership Team, Regional Services Lead and Mission Services.
General Information: 2024 Los Angeles Religious Education Conference
EOI Proforma: 2024 Los Angeles Religious Education Congress EOI
EOI Close Date: September 15, 2023.
Secondary KLA Collaborative Networks provide teachers with quality processes and structures for collaboration, planning, professional learning and support for new curriculum implementation. Collaborative Network Leaders (CNLs) provide subject-specific expertise and leadership within their KLA Network. We welcome Leanne Broadley to the role of Music - Collaborative Network Leader. Leanne is the Creative Arts Coordinator at Xavier Catholic College, Ballina and has extensive experience teaching 7-12 Music. The full list of CNLs is located on the CSO Intranet.
The CSO Student Art Display booklet has been released this term, showcasing our students’ artwork from Semester 1, 2023. Congratulations to those schools who contributed their students' artwork to create this quality booklet.
We are offering schools the opportunity to provide families a copy of the Student Art Display booklet in the form of a PDF upon request.
Please refer to the Arts Site on the CSO Intranet to access the Student Art on Display booklets and to share them with your families.
In these courses, participants will engage with facilitators and peers to develop a deeper understanding of content and strategies to improve learning and teaching practice. The courses are designed to support Leaders to keep abreast of syllabus developments and contemporary pedagogical and assessment practices. The courses will be delivered over one day.
Participants can register on MyLearning using this link.
Dates:
Science - 24 October - Catholic Schools Office - Clarence
HSIE - 25 October - Catholic Schools Office - Clarence
The Diocese of Lismore once again proved to be the most successful region in Australia for Vocational Education and Training (VET) at the recent National WorldSkills Competition. Please see the attached article to learn more.
A second round of consultation is now open for the 7-10 draft syllabuses as the next milestone of the NSW Curriculum Reform.
Teachers and other stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on the syllabuses through the NESA Consultations webpage.
Extensive feedback from teachers, parents and the community during the first round of public consultations in 2022 has informed the updated syllabuses. All feedback from the ‘Have your Say’ period will be used to inform the development of the final syllabuses.
Please click here for an outline of the key refinements for each syllabus.
The final syllabuses will be released on the NSW Curriculum Website.
To ensure we keep our students' data safe, Google is asking Education systems to make decisions about how students designated as under 18 access third-party applications, those not made by Google, with their DLCSL (@lism.catholic.edu.au) account.
As a result, students' access to third-party applications will be blocked by default. This will mean that from the end of October 2023, all student users within our domain will not have access to third-party applications with their DLCSL account until individual apps are reviewed and configured within the Google Admin console.
Protocols and processes are currently being developed to ensure we configure applications according to data privacy laws and requirements.
At this stage, please be aware some functionality may already be restricted when students attempt to access third-party apps previously accessible.
Given the recent changes to the legislation surrounding parental leave, the Diocese has made a commitment to our staff to ensure there are provisions in the enterprise agreement that are above and beyond the minimum standards for expected / adoptive parents. We've updated these changes and benefits in the Parental Leave toolkit incorporating initial primary caregivers, non-initial primary caregivers and adoptive parents to encourage the best possible work/life balance in order to support your family before, during and after the birth or adoption of your child.
More details about these initiatives can be found on the intranet or by following this link.
It has been brought to our attention via a number of recent parent complaints that there is still the ongoing practice in our schools of displaying the roll so that it is visible to students while it is being marked by teachers or casual teaching staff.
The Roll in Compass will display sensitive and private information about a student, including but not limited to Disability, Serious Medical Condition, Restricted Access, Learning Needs or their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage.
While this coded information is being used very well in our schools, displaying the roll on a screen or allowing it to be visible to students while it is being marked places our students at risk and is considered a breach of their privacy.
All staff are reminded of the importance of not displaying the roll so that it is visible to students while it is being marked.
Teachers are also reminded of their duty of care to mark the roll diligently and in a timely manner.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE
- Manager, Applications
- Administrator Applications
- Applications Officer
SCHOOLS
- Assistant Principal: Learning and Teaching - St Joseph’s College, Banora Point
- Coordinator of Gifted / High Potential Learning + Teaching load - St John Paul College, Coffs Harbour
- Leader of Catechesis - St Mary’s Catholic College, Casino
- Leader of Pedagogy / Teacher - Mount St Patrick College, Murwillumbah.