Executive Director’s Update to Principals #10 - 18 March 2024
CEW Mass and Dinner Invitations
Invitations for the Catholic Education Week Mass and Dinner, taking place at Damascus College on 3 May, will be sent out to Principals.
The invitations are for the following Diocesan groups:
- Recognition of 30 years of service to Catholic Education
- Nominees for the Spirit of Catholic Education Award
- Principals of the above two categories
Principals are asked to disseminate the invitations to their relevant staff. Please be aware that due to the large numbers of recipients this year, unfortunately guest numbers have been limited to the following:
- Recognition of 30 years of service to Catholic Education: 2 guests
- Nominees for the Spirit of Catholic Education Award: 1 guest
- Principals of the above two categories: no guests
RSVPs are due no later than Thursday 28 March (last day of term). We look forward to celebrating this significant milestone with as many diocesan staff as possible.
Enrolment Policy Review
Principals provided very valuable feedback to support policy development through recent DLG and zone meetings. In progressing the enrolment priority criteria, from your feedback we have recognised the complexity of parish boundaries and the general understanding of contemporary parishes. We have moved away from this concept and identified the geographically closest catholic school determines priority rather than parish boundary. To determine the “closest” we would lean into the tools used to calculate conveyance allowances.
We have tried to reduce overall the number of criteria for when the number of applications exceeds the number of places, so that when you get to the categories other than Catholic, principal discretion will come into play to enable balance in the enrolment cohort.
Below is the section from the Policy-:
Enrolment priorities
Schools must follow the order of enrolment priority outlined below. As Catholic schools, the first priority is the provision of a Catholic education for Catholic children from the school’s parish/s. While Catholic schools in the Diocese of Ballarat are open to families of all faith and nonreligious backgrounds, they must give priority to enrol Catholic and Orthodox children ahead of other Christian denominations, denominations other than Christian or children of no religious affiliation.
DOBCEL Primary Schools
The order of priority for DOBCEL primary schools is:
- Siblings of children already enrolled in the school
- Catholic children for whom this is the closest*Catholic Primary school to the child’s predominant residential address
- Catholic children for whom this is not the closest* Catholic Primary school to the child’s predominant residential address (for pastoral reasons, following referral of parents back to the closest school and discussions between colleague Principals)
- Other children who are seeking a Catholic education with priority given to those for whom this is the closest* Catholic Primary School to the child’s predominant residential address
* as measured by the student conveyance method - Student Conveyance Allowance System (SCAS)
* in shared care arrangements – where one parent has more than 50% shared care then this would be the residential address to determine the priority of enrolment. In the case of equal (50/50) shared care then the closest residential address shall determine the priority of enrolment
DOBCEL Secondary Colleges
The order of priority for DOBCEL secondary colleges is:
- Siblings of children already enrolled in the school
- Catholic children as evidenced by sacraments for whom this is the closest* Catholic co-educational Secondary school of the Diocese to the child’s predominant residential address, and have attended a Catholic primary school
- Catholic children as evidenced by sacraments for whom this is closest* Catholic co-educational Secondary school of the Diocese to the child’s predominant residential address, and have not attended a Catholic primary school
- Other children who have attended a Catholic primary school for whom this is closest* Catholic co-educational Secondary school of the Diocese to the child’s predominant residential address
- Children of Alumni
- Other children who are seeking a Catholic secondary education and have not attended a Catholic primary school for whom this is closest* Catholic co-educational Secondary school of the Diocese to the child’s predominant residential address
* as measured by the student conveyance method - Student Conveyance Allowance System (SCAS)
* in shared care arrangements – where one parent has more than 50% shared care then this would be the residential address to determine the priority of enrolment. In the case of equal (50/50) shared care then the closest residential address shall determine the priority of enrolment
As with previous feedback – if you could identify any elements that would not work within your current processes would be appreciated.
If this feedback could be emailed to Matthew Byrne (mbyrne@dobcel.catholic.edu.au) and Megan Ioannou (mioannou@dobcel.catholic.edu.au) by Wednesday 27 March.
DOBCEL Compliance Training for 2024
All DOBCEL staff will shortly begin receiving emails about compulsory online compliance training for completion via the SALT compliance platform. Each school has a nominated SALT administrator.
We believe the time identified for the completion of modules is generous. We acknowledge that this is another consideration in your management of teacher workload. If you have concerns relating to achieving the requirements for staff new to DOBCEL, please speak with your Ed Con.
Weekly Staff Communcation as below
The system-wide delivery of compliance training is most efficiently delivered online. The training serves two purposes-:
- to foster safe, respectful and harmonious places of work; and
- to ensure that DOBCEL can demonstrate it is meeting regulatory obligations, particularly in relation to workplace health and safety.
The completion of these modules demonstrates DOBCEL and school commitment to healthy and positive places of work, and we ask all staff to complete the online modules to build and maintain their awareness of this commitment, including their rights and responsibilities as a DOBCEL employee.
In 2024, there are two modules for all staff to complete which should take no more than 4.5 hours. Leadership staff are required to undertake an additional module which should take no more than 2.5 hours. Noting, that if the employee feels confident with the topic area, they can go directly to the assessment to demonstrate their knowledge rather than to work through the module in full.
SALT Compliance Training
Staff are required to complete the 2024 training modules listed above by the end of Term 4, 2024.
Additional Training Requirements for all staff
In addition to the above mandatory SALT training requirements, all staff are required to complete the following in the annual training:
- Mandatory Reporting module via MARAM
- Anaphylaxis Briefing (provided by the school’s anaphylaxis supervisor)
- Diabetes Management – Level 1: Introductory Training (if not previously completed as it is a one off training requirement) (online training)
Additional Training Requirements for nominated staff
Further annual training requirements for nominated school staff are:
- First Aid
- Anaphylaxis Management Training
- Asthma Management
- Diabetes Management – Level 2: Intermediate Training (if not previously completed)
The above training will be arranged by each school. DOBCEL can provide details of providers for this training if required.
Additional Compliance Training Requirements for staff new to DOBCEL in 2024
Staff new to DOBCEL in 2024 are required to complete additional compliance training in their first year of employment unless they have evidence that they have completed equivalent modules with their previous employer.
These staff are required to undertake all training modules in the 3-year Compliance Training Cycle within the first year to ensure they are aware of their rights and responsibilities. They will then join the annual Compliance Training Cycle for subsequent years.
Details regarding SALT access, including passwords and required modules will be emailed to new staff upon commencement by the local school administrator for SALT. The additional modules should take no longer than twelve hours in total to be completed by the end of Term 4, 2024. School leadership will work with staff new to DOBCEL regarding management of workload demands and the completion of these requirements across the course of the year.
If you require any further information or assistance please contact your school SALT administrator, Compliance and Risk Support Officer or Andrea Warr, Manager Assurance and Risk, on email or 0498 490 749.
School Advisory Council Chair Details
With the commencement of the 2024 school year, some schools may have had a turnover of their SAC Chair. To ensure that DOBCEL has the current details of all SAC Chairs, schools are asked to please advise Kerrie Zammit of the name, phone number and email address of their current SAC Chair.
It would be appreciated if emails can be submitted prior to the end of Term 1.
Term 1 Week 4 DLG Recording
The full recording of the DLG from 22 February is now available in the Diocesan Principal folder on the Google Drive.
Term 1 Week 8 DLG Pre-recording
As the VACPSP Conference is occurring this week, please find attached below a pre-recording for your regular Week 8 DLG VC meeting.
All DOBCEL principals are expected to view this presentation sometime this week.