Executive Director’s Update to Principals #27 - 25 July 2024

Annual Report to School Community (ARSC)

The Annual Report to the School Community 2023 has been submitted to VRQA and it is now time for each school to take down the 2022 ARSC from their school website and upload the 2023 version.  

This is an important aspect of school Compliance and we want all reports to be on the website by Thursday 1st August.  

All primary school reports have been submitted to VRQA to be uploaded to the My School Site. Unfortunately, the Secondary Schools are still awaiting the post school destination data and have not been submitted to VRQA.  VCEA is currently having discussions with DET and VRQA to solve this issue.  As soon as we have information regarding this, we will inform the Secondary schools.

The report can be downloaded as a PDF from the CEVN site, (School Compliance, SmarterSoft) the same place you created your ARSC.  

An email has been sent to each school CARSO as part of their role is to facilitate this action of placing on the school website.

Emergency Management Briefings

The regional Department of Education Emergency Management teams will be conducting briefings during Term 3 to support the EMP review process and enhance school emergency planning.  The briefings will focus on several crucial areas, including:

• Seasonal outlook and climate change
• Business continuity
• Evacuation diagrams
• Socialising the EMP
• Situation awareness - Excursions
• Risk Assessments
• Recovery

Briefings will be delivered via Webex, with each session lasting approximately 90 minutes. These sessions are open to any school, although you are encouraged to prioritise attendance at your regional session.

Please refer to the table below and register with your regional contact:

Additional child safe standard workshops in Term 3

Following on from the Child Safe Standards Workshops delivered in Term 2, Sarah Morgante – Director of One Red Apple – will deliver 2 additional workshops in Term 3.

The focus of the workshops will again be the 11 Child Safe Standards, Mandatory Reporting requirements and the Reportable Conduct Scheme. Sarah will connect the Child Safe Standards and the legislation in place to support their ongoing development. Staff will have the opportunity to consider their schools policies and procedures in relation to Child Safety and areas that require continual review and strengthening.

58% of DOBCEL schools were represented at the previous workshops and feedback indicated Sarah’s intricate knowledge of the standards and practical application provided an opportunity for staff to think through areas for future focus.

  See the full Workshop Agenda 

Actions:
- Consider registering yourselves or relevant staff members to attend. Schools who attended in term 2 are encouraged to register other staff members if possible. Whilst the target audience is leadership staff, the content is relevant to all staff working in our schools.
- There is no limit on numbers and the training is only offered face to face.
- Registrations are open on Try booking for principals and your nominated staff.

Workshop One: 
August 26th, 2024
8.45am to 3.30pm
St Brigid’s College, Horsham

EMBEDDING CHILD SAFE STANDARDS WORKSHOP: https://www.trybooking.com/CTWCW

Workshop two:
August 27th, 2024
8.45am to 3.30pm
Glowery Room, St Patrick's Cathedral Ballarat. 

EMBEDDING CHILD SAFE STANDARDS WORKSHOP: https://www.trybooking.com/CTWDB  

Primary Literacy Strategy 2025 - 2035

The DOBCEL Primary Literacy Strategy 2025 - 2035 has recently been introduced to schools. All DOBCEL primary schools are now required to complete the digital 'Readiness Check and Engagement Form' process, to determine and communicate their 2025 participation.

If you were unable to attend the Flare Information Session on Tuesday 23rd July, please watch the presentation here (passcode ug+6U7tw) or view the slide deck here.

If you have any questions about the Flare Strategy, please contact Emma Rutherford erutherford@dobcel.catholic.edu.au   Ph 0419 479 264.

When you are ready to complete your Readiness Check and Engagement Form, please click here and locate your school name in the attached list. For help with the digital tool, please contact Breeana Wade bwade@dobcel.catholic.edu.au   Ph 0438 972 116.

Recruitment Essentials

As we move into Term 3 and the 2025 recruitment cycle commences, we remind everyone of the importance of due diligence in the process and to ensure we meet our Child Safety obligations.  

School compliance reviews in 2023 identified that Standard 6 had the third highest incidence of non-compliance. Compliance is relatively straightforward and aligns with good practice for the engagement of staff, that is:

•    Ensure you have a robust recruitment process and follow it every time
•    Provide induction to staff and volunteers 
•    Provide ongoing training
•    Maintain ongoing supervision and monitoring of staff and volunteers. 

We remind all school representatives responsible for recruitment that reference checks are mandatory. You should always speak to the applicant's current employer (or most recent employer if not presently working). This should never be an issue where the applicant is working, or last worked in another DOBCEL School or CEB Office.  

Should you have any questions about this, you can speak with the HR team at CEB.  For more information see Executive Director’s Update # 25 – 27 June.

Crucial Conversations – Swan Hill, September 3 and 4

A reminder, particularly to those in the Northern Zone that Crucial Conversations will be running in Swan Hill, at Murray Downs Resort on the 3^rd and 4^th of September.

Crucial Conversations teaches a model for effective communication that can be applied to any situation but particularly difficult or high-stakes situations. It focuses on fostering dialogue, managing emotions, and achieving mutual understanding. The model helps to navigate high-stakes discussions with openness, respect, and skill, enhancing relationships and driving positive outcomes.

If you have any team members who may benefit from this training, I encourage you to consider booking them into this session.

To register, please click here.

For further information please contact Fiona Murphy

Protocol for non-diocesan clergy visiting or working in DOBCEL schools

If schools are engaging priests from outside the Diocese of Ballarat, please remind them of their responsibility that prior to any ministry outside their own Archdiocese/Diocese they must obtain Faculties/Permission from the Archbishop/Bishop of the Diocese they will be ministering in. This involves them simply contacting/advising the Bishop’s office. 
 
These procedures are in place for the protection of all involved, for the safety of children, vulnerable people, schools and community groups, against any potential future claims of wrongdoing. 

Tom Sexton
Executive Director, Catholic Education Ballarat