Learning Gain – Reading/Numeracy Achievement

ACARA has identified six schools in the Diocese of Lismore as having demonstrated substantially above average learning gain in reading and/or numeracy achievement, as measured by NAPLAN from the 2018 data.

Congratulations to the six school communities on this achievement. Improvement in student literacy and/or numeracy of this magnitude, as measured by NAPLAN, is significant and worthy of highlighting and acknowledging.

Why do we have Catholic Schools and why do we work in them?

Enabling a ‘Fullness of Life’ for each Student is ‘more than just a Job’. It takes us all-the players the Holy Spirit places on the field- to be disciples as we enable the Mission of Jesus in the Catholic Parish School to come to life.

This year, as we move through the final cycle of the Catholic culture journey we have called Proclaim Lismore, it’s time for us to come together as a community to understand where we’ve come from, what has been achieved, and through prayer and deep discernment look to where we are headed into the future.

Pope Francis’ writing in “the Joy of the Gospel” says those who accompany students need to ‘have soul’ in delivering Christ centred approaches for students, embedded by the love and joy in the educator’s very being. Our Mission of being in the heart of the student is not just a part of our lives or a badge we can take off; it is not an “extra” or just another moment in life. It is why the student is in the centre of all our endeavours.

This is our ‘why?’.

On behalf of Bishop Homeming, I ask you to pray for the coming Proclaim Lismore Staff 2019 days where world renowned speaker and musician Jesse Manibusan will lead us in a day of reflection, prayer and learning, as we strive to become missionary disciples in accompanying students.

To celebrate our ‘why?’

MAY 28 to June 4 2019 – PLS2
All staff are reminded to register on My Learning for the Proclaim Lismore Staff 2019 event in their cluster. 

Farming communities are doing it tough with crippling drought in NSW and Victoria and both drought and flooding rains in Queensland. We have all been touched by the tough conditions farmers, their families and their animals are experiencing. Many children in particular want to lend a hand to help and have been enthusiastic supporters of drought relief drives. Continuing this good work, The Daily Telegraph, with the support of our state’s schools, has an ambitious goal – to use a gold coin mufti day on Wednesday 8 May, to raise $800,000 through schools and the Telegraph’s commercial partners.

Registered charity, Rural Aid will collect the funds. The charity found huge success with the Buy a Bale campaign, which has distributed over $10 million worth of fodder to farmers around Australia. 

As an incentive for schools to become involved, NewsCorp has arranged for Qantas to fly a small group of students from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to a rural community to meet farmers for a day. It will also launch seven days of coverage from 1 May with a dedicated reporter, Clare Armstrong.

If you’d like to be part of the event’s media coverage, please contact clare.armstrong@news.com.au

Please see attachment for more information.

National Walk Safely to School Day (WSTSD) is a community initiative that aims to raise awareness of the health, road safety, transport and environmental benefits that regular walking (especially to and from school) can provide for the long term well-being of children. The annual event, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, encourages primary school aged children to build walking into their daily routine, by walking to and from school, not just on Friday 17 May, but every day.

When: Friday 17 May 2019
Where: In all primary schools across Australia
Why: This national initiative aims to encourage children to lead a healthier, more active lifestyle by simply including a walk at the beginning, at lunchtime and at the end of each day. The event also promotes reduced car-dependency, greater use of public transport, cleaner air, improved diets and road safety to primary school children throughout Australia.
How: Encourage children to build regular walking in their daily routine by walking to, during, and from school.

For more information see the WSTSD website and the attached media alert and flyer. 

An initiative of the CSO Workplace Gender Equality Committee (WGEC), the Aspiring Women Leaders forum and networking event, and associated training opportunities, are designed to inspire and empower women to leadership in Catholic education in the Diocese of Lismore. 

Celebrating the talent currently within the diocese and providing the opportunity to connect and inspire others, this afterhours networking event will run in three locations across the diocese in Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Lismore on the one date.

When: Thursday 6 June 2019, 5.00-7.00pm (drinks and nibbles provided)

Location: MacKillop College Port Macquarie, St John Paul College, Coffs Harbour and Invercauld House, Goonellabah.

Register through My Learning (#WomenInLeadership).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have long called for a comprehensive process of truth-telling about Australia’s colonial history. Our nation’s past is reflected in the present, and will continue to play out in future unless we heal historical wounds.

Today, 80 per cent of Australians believe it is important to undertake formal truth telling processes, according to the 2018 Australian Reconciliation Barometer. Australians are ready to come to terms with our history as a crucial step towards a unified future, in which we understand, value and respect each other.

Whether you’re engaging in challenging conversations or unlearning and relearning what you know, this journey requires all of us to walk together with courage. This National Reconciliation Week, we invite Australians from all backgrounds to contribute to our national movement towards a unified future.

For further information and resource material regarding the 2019 Reconciliation Week Campaign, please visit link below.

Undertaking the role of mentor to a Graduate Teacher is an exercise of teacher leadership. It is also an act of generous service of others and a rich expression of the mentor’s ministry as teacher. The role of mentor abounds with both rewards and challenges. In school organisations, formal mentoring involves planned and systematic supportive learning for colleagues who are beginning the journey of teaching.

Mentoring is a critical element in the successful induction of Graduate Teachers into the profession of teaching and into their responsibilities as Catholic educators. Effective mentoring is the cornerstone of a high-quality induction experience for a Graduate Teacher. Systematic and supportive mentoring will provide the optimum opportunity for the Graduate Teacher to achieve their potential and vocation as a Catholic Educator.

The Catholic Schools Office is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) from experienced staff in the role supporting the Hastings cluster to implement a systematic mentoring program in 2019-2021. The successful candidate will be supported by the Teacher Accreditation Officer and existing Cluster Mentor Coordinators in the other cluster regions.

Role:

• Oversee and monitor the ongoing mentoring of Graduate Teachers in your cluster area.
• Develop leadership skills among mentor teachers

Allowance:

• Each role will be provided with 1 day per week allocated release time.

Contact: Di McGowan for further information.

With the implementation of the unique and persistent student identifier there has been a change to the Schoolworx import of data for students in some high schools. The source of truth for all student information other than class details will now be from SAS (not SAS and the First Class Timetable upload as is currently the case) This will avoid duplication of some details. Students will have to be active in SAS in order to be seen in Schoolworx and information such as house, homeroom, year level and start date will also need to be accurately recorded. 

Schools using Edval and SETT Timetable software already follow this rule. Schools using Timetabler will be changed over in term 2 (date to be advised).

For more information, please contact Andrew Burgess at the Catholic Schools Office.

#Litfest2444 2019, is a storytelling festival for young moderns, and will be run 5-6 June in Port Macquarie. The main event takes place throughout the day on 6 June, and there is a community event on the evening of 5 June. “The Rise of Investigative Journalism and the True Crime Podcast”. In its third year, there is the opportunity for secondary students to hear Festival presenters and authors share their favourite way to tell stories through sound and poetry to comics and creative writing. In addition, students will participate in workshops that explore both digital and traditional mediums.

#Litfest2444 2019 is supported by the Catholic Schools Office. Expressions of interest are invited for one library staff member per school to be sponsored to attend. Please click on the link below, to submit your interest. 

Expression of Interest

Google has announced new editing functionality of Office Documents, Spreadsheets and Powerpoint Slides within the Google Suite.

What’s changing?

From May 6, 2019 google will be changing the way Microsoft Office files are edited. You will soon be able to edit, comment, and collaborate on Microsoft Office files using Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. This feature brings the collaboration benefits of G Suite to Office files while streamlining workflows by eliminating the need to convert file types.

Why use it?

Office editing will make it easy for G Suite users to open and edit Microsoft Office files that have been shared by colleagues and collaborators. In cases where some staff use Office while others use G Suite, this ensures seamless collaboration and eliminates the need to convert file types. Office editing brings everyone the benefits of G Suite’s real time collaboration tools and intelligence features to Office files.

How to get started:

More information is available here. Users who currently use the office compatibility app in chrome, will need to delete this app from their browser to gain the full features of the upgrade. 

Staff are reminded that individuals are required 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.

To register, please go to this link: My Learning

Staff are also reminded that the closing date for courses is 5 working days prior to the course.

Primary Leaders of Catechesis, School Evangelisation and Assistant Principals Mission Meeting - Term 2 2019 - SPLOCSE
Primary Leaders of Catechesis, School Evangelisation and Assistant Principal (Mission) are invited to register to attend the upcoming Primary Leaders meetings  being held on 7 May (North) and 9 May (South). Meetings will provide participants with professional learning to build their capacity and support their work in Parish schools to contribute to the Catholic Identity and Mission goals.

Additional Needs Teachers (ANT) Cluster Day Term 2 - ANTACDT
Term 2 ANT day meeting dates:

• 7 May – North (Tweed, Coastal and Richmond Clusters) – Invercauld House, Goonellabah
• 14 May – Hastings Cluster – Newman Senior Technical College, Port Macquarie
• 15 May – Nambucca Cluster – Coffs Harbour Annex
• 16 May – North Clarence Cluster – St Mary’s Primary School, Grafton

Introduction to Texthelp - ITT
A one-day course consisting of an introduction to the toolkit, outlining of support available to schools, an introduction to Read&Write and an invitation to consider participation in future action research projects.

• 29 May – Tweed, Coastal and Richmond Clusters – Invercauld House, Goonellabah
• 30 May – Hastings and Nambucca Cluster – Newman Senior Technical College, Port Macquarie
• 31 May – North Clarence Cluster - Coffs Harbour Annex