CEB Staff Newsletter #62 - 4 July 2025

Staff News

Sarah Page's Father-in-law

We wanted to let you know that Pagie’s father-in-law, Errol, passed away recently.

While Errol had been living with dementia for some time and had been in aged care, and while his time had gently ripened, his passing still leaves a deep space for those who loved him. Understandably, it’s hitting Isabella, Zeb, and Sarah especially hard.

To Sarah, Isabella, Zeb, Cameron, and the entire Page family - we send you all our heartfelt love. May you feel wrapped in the care of those around you as you grieve, and may the memories of Errol - in all his strength, humour, and warmth - bring some comfort in the days ahead.

Thinking of you all.

And for Errol

I lay my life before you.

I give my life to you from whom nothing is hidden.

You are before me, God you are behind;

you are around me, God, you are within.

You are in the light and in the darkness;

you know the secret thoughts of every heart.

I bring the faith that is in me and the doubt;

I bring the joy that is in me and the sorrow,

the knowledge and the ignorance,

the hope and the despair.

God of life, generous Spirit,

renew me with your everlasting life.

Amen

(Adapted from the Iona Community Worship Book)

Staff Formation News

Yesterday, everyone received an email notifying you which formation experience you have been allocated at our upcoming staff formation taking place on 1st and 2nd October. A massive thank you to Elise Hart who has worked very hard to allocate preferences - a very big undertaking!!

Each group is being led by colleagues from Catholic Education Ballarat and a number of external facilitators. Thank you to our colleagues who have generously taken on these roles. 

Our leaders/facilitators currently are:

Our Pilgrims of Hope Formation Experience is shaping up to be a very rich and life giving opportunity. It is designed to meet people where they are, strengthen our community and for us to reflect upon what The Jubilee Year theme Pilgrims of Hope means for us and the work we all do in Catholic Education. 

The Pilgrims of Hope reflection this week is part two in a series written by Jim Quillinan  - we had part one a fortnight ago. Click here to view the Pilgrims of Hope pdf.

Organisational Update: Change to Reporting Line for Jacqui Righetti

As we approach the final days of term, we would like to share an update regarding an organisational change that will take effect from Monday, 7 July.

Jacqui Righetti will transition to report directly to me, in my role as Deputy Director, Stewardship. Accordingly, Jacqui’s title will revert to Manager, Safeguarding.

This change reflects the evolving nature of Jacqui’s role, as well as that of the Case Coordinator – Complaint Resolution. The adjustment aims to provide greater clarity between these two important functions within our organisation.

Jacqui will continue to lead and support our system-wide commitment to child safety across DOBCEL, particularly through the implementation of Ministerial Order 1359 and the Victorian Child Safe Standards. Her work in partnership with schools and with all of you remains central to this mission.

Jacqui will also continue in her capacity as delegate for the Head of Entity in matters relating to the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP).

Thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to strengthen our practices and structures.

Lee Schlooz Retirement

This week Lee Schlooz has informed Tom of his intention to retire from his position of Education Consultant in the Southern Zone at the conclusion of the 2025 school year. I congratulate Lee on his contribution to Catholic Education over the past 41 years.

Lee commenced his working life in Catholic Education in Alice Springs in 1985 before moving to Altona North in 1989. He commenced in the Diocese of Ballarat as a teacher at St Alipius in 1991. He progressed to Deputy Principal at Our Lady's in Wendouree in 1997 and took up his first principalship of Gordon and Springbank in 2002 following a period at CEB as a curriculum advisor. He moved into the Principalship at Lumen Christi in 2007, where he remained until 2013. Lee then returned to the Catholic Education Office as an Education Consultant in 2014 where he has worked in the service of schools until today.

In notifying Tom of his pending retirement, Lee reflected;

Being an educator in Catholic Schools and CEB has been an important and rewarding part of my life. Throughout my career I have worked with many exceptional educators, children and parents with barely a day passing where I have not been inspired by what I have seen or experienced. I have been privileged to be able to do what I do. I cannot express the gratitude I have for what Catholic Education (especially in the Ballarat Diocese) has afforded me. Throughout it has been both challenging and life giving. Seeing the Gospels in action every day in so many forms is truly a Grace given by God.

I recognise the many colleagues I have worked with throughout my career and their role in bringing joy to what I do.

Lee has worked collaboratively with the principals of the Diocese, particularly in the South and has been an enthusiastic contributor to the work of the DOBCEL team. His work is always grounded deeply in his beliefs, and his Catholic leadership has been fundamental to his contribution.

We are pleased that Lee will remain with us to the end of the year, continuing to support the leadership of schools in the Southern Zone. Recruitment for Lee’s successor will commence in due course.

Please join us in thanking Lee for his outstanding contribution and commitment as an educator, principal, and diocesan leader, and in supporting him as he prepares for this next chapter.

New SIMON UI for DOBCEL Staff Links

In line with the release of the new User Interface for SIMON Schools, we will now have a new User Interface for accessing School Links for applications such as Resource Booking, Elmo, 2025 dates and events calendar, Salt etc… This will come into effect on Wednesday, 16th July from 5.00 pm.

We recommend setting your default layout to Daily Message Focus as per the below screenshot. This is accessed via your profile picture in the top right corner of the SIMON page and then under Layout.

You can then access all the usual links through the School Links tab displayed in the screenshot below.

If you have any questions or issues with accessing any of the links, please chat with the SIMON team or email us at support@simonschools.net.

NAIDOC Week 2025: Celebrating Culture, Strength, and Legacy

National NAIDOC Week is celebrated across Australia from Sunday 6 July to Sunday 13 July 2025, recognising the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This is an important time for all Australians to engage with First Nations cultures and celebrate one of the world’s oldest continuous living traditions.

This year marks a significant milestone – 50 years of NAIDOC Week celebrations – and the 2025 theme, “The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy,” invites us to honour the leadership of our young people, the enduring wisdom of Elders, and the future they are building together.

Families, students, and staff across DOBCEL schools are encouraged to engage with the following local events during the school holidays: Community Events in and around Ballarat.

We encourage all members of our school communities to take this opportunity to engage with these rich cultural experiences and celebrate the strength, vision and legacy of our First Nations peoples.

Keep It Clean – Just Like Jim!

In an effort to keep everyone healthy and safe, hand sanitiser stations have been placed around the office.

We encourage all staff to use them regularly - especially after meetings, before eating, or anytime you're on the go!

To help you remember, here’s a fun snap of Jim making the most of it! Let’s keep those hands clean! Stay safe, stay sanitised. 

Please check the photos below to see where the hand sanitisers are located around the office. 

Mark Vanderkley to Hit the Dance Floor for Dancing With Our Stars 2025!

Dancing With Our Stars for 2025 culminates this Saturday Night, 5^th July with the Gala Event. During the last 10 weeks, Mandy Woods has been working hard in preparing 2 dances for the event, an individual and a group dance. She will be performing the Modern Waltz for her individual dance.

The group dance is a journey through the decades, including snapshots of music and movies like Dirty Dancing, Thriller, Texas Hold'Em, Grease and others. Mandy has worked hard over the 10 weeks, with practices always lot of fun and laughter and joking around, but always a lot of hard work, with homework in-between.

For me, this is my sixth year of supporting this event as a dance, having participated in each and every year since its inception. I think it is a wonderful event and a great way to support the local community as all funds raised remain within the Ballarat Community, like the L2P program, Dolly Parton Reading Books and other programs which help support those who are struggling this Winter.

In those 6 years the event has raised almost a million dollars to support these programs, and one goal of the group is to reach this milestone as part of this year's event. I love watching and supporting the journey of all the Stars, as they grow from terrified beginners to experienced dancers to the point of being able to put on a floorshow in only 10 weeks and finishing the event and wishing it would never end.

Please click here to view Mandy's profile on the foundation website. 

Written by Mark Vanderkley - SIMON, Head of Software Development.

Reminder: DOBCEL Survey 2035 Still Open

The DOBCEL 2035 Survey is currently open for all school-based staff across the Diocese.

This important survey will form our 2025 baseline, helping us understand the current landscape in schools and measure progress against the DOBCEL 2035 Strategy over time.

The survey takes around 20 minutes to complete and will remain open until the end of Week 1 in Term 3. We ask CEB staff to kindly encourage your school contacts and colleagues to complete the survey if they haven’t already done so. All responses are vital in shaping our collective direction.

We understand that some of the questions – such as how many students attend your school, or how far away the nearest Catholic, government, or independent school is, can feel frustrating to answer, especially when this information is already known. These questions are included so that the researchers can apply consistent rules when analysing the data across a wide range of school contexts. Please encourage your school-based colleagues to keep this in mind when responding. All responses are important and need to be included for the data to be fully and constructively analysed.

The video introduction above, printable flyer, and survey link have already been shared with schools.

Thank you for continuing to support this important work.

Master of Ed Research or PhD Opportunities

Expressions of Interest are invited from CEB staff who are interested in pursuing a Masters of Ed Research or PhD related to an aspect of our DOBCEL Strategy 2035.

At this stage all that is required is to send through your name to Tina Munro by 25th July. Once we ascertain the level of interest we will set up an information session for interested staff in Term 3.

Testing and Tagging of Electrical Equipment at Gillies Street Office

Please be advised that testing and tagging of electrical equipment will be undertaken on Monday 14 July.  

Should you have any work items that require testing and tagging such as phone chargers, laptop leads, etc. please leave them on your desk so that they can be tested on this day.  

These works may extend into 15 July if required. 

If you happen to be working from the office on these days, interruption whilst testing your personal equipment should only be minimal. 

If you have any questions, please contact Penelope Irish on email or on 0429 473 351.  

People and Development Updates

6-Month Self-Reflections Now Open! Complete Yours Now!

The 6-month self-reflection process for the CEB office is now open. The self-reflection process aims to ensure an opportunity for conversation to affirm and reflect on your achievements to date in 2025 and provide space to discuss and capture any support or growth and development opportunities for delivering on the goals you set for 2025.

Each person received an email from Culture Amp (notifications@cultureamp.com) containing a link to complete the self-reflection. You can access your self-reflection via the email or by logging into your Culture Amp account. The link to the self-reflection is located on the home page.

Before completing your self-reflection, you should update the status of your goals. Once you’ve completed the self-reflection, submit it to your team leader; and expect to have a meeting to discuss your reflections.

6-month self-reflections and meetings should be completed by Friday, 17 July 2025.

Instructions for updating the status of goals and completing the self-reflection can be found here.

If you have any questions about Culture Amp please speak with Fiona Murphy or Emma Baldwin.

2025 Employee Engagement Survey Team Debrief Updates 

All team leaders have now been provided with a debrief of their teams 2025 Employee Engagement results. Over the coming weeks, team leaders will schedule team debriefs, so that everyone gets the opportunity to see their team results.

As a reminder, the overall 2025 CEB results were shared at the start of June. For those who couldn’t attend—or if you’d like to revisit the discussion—a recording of the session and slides is available to view:

Watch the Recording
View the Results Slides

Some result highlights –

• 118 staff provided feedback and shared almost 400 comments on their experiences working at CEB
• The CEB overall engagement scores is 78% (up from 72% in 2023)
• 93% of people responded to the survey
• 399 comments provided
• Biggest increases in category scores are Action (up 16%), overall Engagement (up 6%), leadership: Team Leader (up 5%) and Feedback and Recognition (up 5%).

If you have any questions or thoughts you'd like to share, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Fiona Murphy or Emma Baldwin.

Converge - Latest Updates and Resources 

Latest Updates and Resources from Converge (DOBCEL Employee Assistance Program)

Stay connected with Converge by exploring the latest updates, articles, resources, podcasts, videos and more all curated by Converge Mental health and Wellbeing experts.

Wellbeing Articles

Converge Wellbeing App

Flourish E-Magazine

Thrive Podcast

July to Sept Wellbeing Calendar

A reminder of the available resources for all DOBCEL staff through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

• Employee Mental Health and Wellbeing access (See below our organisational code for appointment bookings)

Planning of the 2026 Professional Learning Calendar 

Planning for the 2026 Professional Learning Calendar will commence soon!

This year we are aiming to release a draft copy of 2026 Professional Leartning Calendar in term 3.

In order to do this, we will be working towards the below dates -

• Thursday 31^st July: All DOBCEL team members to consider and finalise professional learning request s to be included in the Professional Learning 2026 Calendar. 
• Friday 8^th August: First draft Professional Learning 2026 Calendar created for review. 
• Friday 8^th August – Friday 22nd August: Further drafting and coordination of dates in consultation with the 2026 Meeting Calendar.
• Friday 22^nd August – review of Professional Learning 2026 Calendar draft for release.
• Friday 22^nd August: TryBooking requests forwarded to CEB reception for trybooking links to be produced.
• Monday 1^st September (wk 7 term 3) Draft Professional Learning Calendar 2026 distributed.

If you know you will be delivering professional learning in 2026, please start turning your mind to the dates these sessions will run in 2026.

A copy of the request form and the procedure will be shared next week.

If you have any questions, please contact Matthew Watson, LMS Administrator.

Career Opportunities in the Diocesan Education Community

CEB Positions

• Speech Pathologist – fixed-term position at 0.5 FTE (closes 13 July)
• Marketing and Communications Officer – ongoing position at 1.0FTE (closes 20 July)
  

Principal Recruitment

• Principal – St Malachy’s, Edenhope - 1.0 FTE (closes 20 July)
• Principal – St Patrick’s, Port Fairy – 1.0 FTE (closes 20 July)