CEB Staff Newsletter #14 - 11 Jun 2021
COVID Reminders for CEB Staff
Working Onsite
If you can work from home, you should continue to work from home. This is the preferred mode at this time.
Capacity limits in workplaces such as offices is capped at 50% or 20 people, whichever is greater. Density quotient of 1 person per 4sqm applies in this situation. Therefore if staff wish to attend the office please contact your Team Leader, until further notice.
Working in Schools
Non-essential onsite meetings or school visits should be deferred or held remotely until further notice. Where a school visit is considered essential, please discuss this with your Team Leader first.
Staff COVID Vaccinations
DOBCEL strongly encourages all eligible staff to receive their COVID vaccinations as soon as practicable.
Operating hours have been extended for some vaccination centres to better meet demand and access. (We are also hoping that by the time of the school holiday break there will be more vaccination hubs across Western Victoria and better access in general.) We want to ensure that staff have the opportunity to receive a COVID vaccination and we recognise that some staff may have difficulty booking a vaccination appointment outside of work hours. Where this is the case, staff are welcome to make bookings during work times, as long as it does not impact on work commitments.
Any leave required subsequent to a vaccination for an adverse reaction is to be taken as paid personal leave.
CEB July Staff Meeting
The CEB Staff meeting scheduled for July will go ahead, however the format will be dependent on COVID restrictions at the time. A decision on whether it will be in-person or virtual will be made next week, in light of CECV advice around professional learning numbers.
The Agenda will be distributed during the last week of this term.
Upcoming CEB Professional Development Sessions
All upcoming CEB Professional Development sessions will need to be either postponed or moved to an online format at least until the end of term, or until further notice.
Office Closure for the Christmas 2021 Period
This Christmas Season, Catholic Education Ballarat offices will close at 4.00pm on Friday 17 December, 2021 and reopen on Monday 10 January, 2022.
Employees will be gifted additional leave, in addition to the three public holidays in this period. This means that staff do not need to draw on their accrued annual leave entitlements for the office closure period.
CEB values the contribution of our people and recognises that, through their commitment to ensure timely and efficient partnership with schools, individuals may contribute discretionary time and effort. The provision of this gifted leave, in addition to the contracted annual leave entitlement, recognises this discretionary effort.
In keeping with the communication following the gifted annual leave review in 2020, the Executive Director will continue to confirm, on an annual basis, any gifted leave quantum and dates for office closure which may vary.
First Aid Responder Training
As part of our commitment to providing a safe working environment a number of CEB employees recently participated in First Aid responder training. The training was arranged to ensure that CEB had a number of employees available to competently provide assistance in the event of an emergency, in a CEB office location.
We congratulate the following employees on successfully completing the course, and thank them for accepting the role of CEB First Aid Officers:
Ballarat Office
- Michael Trainor
- Simon O’Brien
- Grant Victor-Gordon
- Sarah Quinn
- Debbie Stabek
- David Bourke
- Penelope Irish
SIMON Office
- Tamara Essery
Warrnambool Office
- Gabrielle O’Brien
Details of our First Aid trained staff will be posted on the CEB Health and Safety noticeboards shortly.
Self Guided Retreat
Reflection, contemplation and becoming aware of God’s presence can be facilitated in many ways, such as the visual arts, nature, beautiful photography, music and literature. The Jesuits in Britain have developed a retreat around the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins. The retreat is experienced by accessing it in a series of podcasts and can be done at a time that is suitable to the participant. Access the podcast here.
Staff Prayer
Next week Staff Prayer is taking place on Tuesday 15 June at 8.30am via this Zoom link.
*Please note that this is not the reoccurring Zoom link that we have been using on Monday mornings, it is a new one due to Monday being a long weekend.
This is the prayer that we will be using.
All are most welcome to attend.