CEB Staff Newsletter #8 - 4 March 2022

Monday Morning Prayer

Staff prayer is taking place on Monday 7th March at 8.30am.

All are most welcome to attend. The Google Meet link will be found on the SIMON Homepage on Monday.

Staff Announcements

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Damian Foster as ICT Support Officer and System Administrator for CEB.  Damian is coming to us from Damascus College where he has been Network Administrator for 8 years.

Booking Meeting Rooms

Please see the linked instructions here to secure meeting room bookings using Microsoft Outlook. This is the standard process for Catholic Education Ballarat staff.

Please note that Bookings in both the Conference room and DOBCEL Board office requires approval, so automated responses will come back as tentative until approved by the Administrative Team, (Cathy Dunbar, Sarah Johnson, Susan Kern and Debbie Stabek).

People & Development Update

Blended Working Agreements.

Blended working agreements enable employees to work from an alternate work location, usually a Home Office, other than their workplace in a CEB office or Catholic School in the Ballarat Diocese.   

Late last year existing Blended Work Agreements (BWAs) were extended allowing staff with these arrangements to continue for a further period.  These BWAs are due to expire at the end of Term 1 2022.

In the CEB Staff Newsletter #5 (11 Feb 2022) we invited new and existing staff to apply for Blended Work arrangements up to the end of the current school year (i.e. 27 January 2023). 

To apply for a BWA for this period, you should:

• Review the Blended Work Policy and Blended Work Agreements Procedure on SIMON/Knowledge Banks/09. CEB Staff.
  
• Make time with your team leader to discuss your application to ensure that the proposed BWA is reflective of operational and service needs.
• If the proposed BWA is endorsed by your team leader, complete the Blended Work Agreement form and forward it to Grant Victor-Gordon, Occupational Health and Safety Coordinator, gvictor-gordon@dobcel.catholic.edu.au for a review of your workspace.

Employees are reminded that approval of a new or continuing BWA is conditional on having established a safe alternative work environment (home office).

Specifically, in addition to the requirements outlined in the Health and Safety Checklist on the blended work agreement, from 11 April 2022 every home office space must also include:   

• an appropriate dedicated work desk at least 1500mm (L) X 800mm (W) X 730mm (H),
• at least one computer monitor (i.e. separate to the laptop monitor),
• separate computer accessories (i.e. keyboard and mouse).

These items have been identified as essential to ensure that we minimise home-based working risks to health and safety as far as practicable.

It is also important to note, as communicated last year, that any DOBCEL/CEB owned equipment that was used at home to facilitate remote working is returned to the office by the end of Term 1, 2022.

Strong Back. Soft Front. Wild Heart.

One of the most valuable gifts in my life was from my mum. She taught us to never look away from pain. The lesson was simple and clear: 

Don’t look away. Don’t look down. 
Don’t pretend not to see hurt. 
Look people in the eye. 
Even when their pain is overwhelming. 
And when you’re hurting and in pain, find people who can look you in the eye. 

From the tragic impact of the loss of members of our Diocesan school community, floods across the Eastern states, the invasion of Ukraine, I know so many of us are hurting right now.  We need to know we’re not alone—especially when we’re hurting.

Let’s not look away from each other. Let’s not look away from the moments of joy and connection in our lives because we feel guilty—the world needs us to put more joy into the world. 
Adapted from Brene Brown BBREAG 3 March 2022 

Planning & Infrastructure Update

Improvements made to mobile phone reception. 

To improve mobile reception in the Gillies Street office, a mobile booster has been installed into the building this week. We have been assured that our signal has now been significantly improved but are keen to get as much information as possible into its effectiveness - so please provide any feedback (either positive or negative) to David Bourke so we can report it back to the supplier. Please note that this booster only applies to phones on the Telstra carrier network.

Emergency Exits.

Please note that whilst the public entrance at Reception (on Gillies Street) is still under construction this exit will not be available in the event of an emergency and you should please use alternative exits located at Gregory St and onto the carpark. 

Career Opportunities in the Diocesan Education Community

Call for Expressions of Interest – Payroll Officer.

Expressions of interest are invited from CEB staff to join our Finance Team as a Payroll Officer (Ongoing position at 1.0 FTE).  This role is part of our centralized payroll service which offers high quality payroll support to CEB and schools.   To be considered for this role, you must have strong experience as a Payroll Officer.   

Please contact Christena Renouf, Manager: Finance and Accountability, for a copy of the Role Description or for any other enquiries.  This opportunity is being offered to existing CEB staff only. 

To indicate your interest, please send a cover letter outlining your suitability to the role, your prior experience and reasons to support your application, to Christena Renouf at crenouf@dobcel.catholic.edu.au by 5pm Monday 7 March 2022.

School Vacancies.

• School Officer – Reception/Administration – St Columba’s School, Ballarat North – fixed-term position at 0.19 FTE (closes 7 March)
• Instrumental Music Teacher(s) – Monivae College, Hamilton - ongoing position and part-time (closes 7 March) 
• Health and Physical Education Teacher – Trinity College, Colac – fixed-term position at 1.0 FTE (closes 7 March)
• Year 5/6 Classroom Teacher – All Saints Parish School, Portland – Terms 2, 3 and 4 at 1.0 FTE (closes 11 March) 
• Classroom Teacher – St Mary’s School, Swan Hill – fixed-term, part-time position (closes 11 March) 
• Classroom Teacher – St Mary’s School, Swan Hill – fixed-term, full-time position (closes 11 March)
• Casual Relief Teacher – Term 2 contract – St Mary MacKillop College, Swan Hill – 0.6 FTE (closes 15 March)
• Science and Sustainability Teacher – St Alipius’ Parish School, Ballarat East – Term 2 and 3 only at 0.4 FTE (closes 15 March)
• Classroom Teacher – St Mary’s School, Donald – fixed-term position at 0.6 FTE (closes 8 April) 
• Casual Relief Teachers – St Alipius’ Parish School, Ballarat East (closes 30 June) 
• Casual Relief Teachers – St Francis Xavier, Ballarat East (closes 9 December)