Executive Director’s Update to Principals #11 - 13 March 2025
HINT - A Reminder
A reminder the updated HINT platform is going live on Monday the 17th of March.
Existing HINT records will become read only so please take the time to close existing records. If you have a serious incident occur on Friday it might be best to lodge this on Monday so it can be managed to the closure point.
There will be an esort notification of the change on Monday and include information for SIMON administrators to review staff in the HINT maintainer role and what internal and external notifications the schools have set up. SIMON administrators will have access to guidelines and can contact the OHS Coordinator with any queries or concerns.
We are hoping the work we have done to consult and inform will set us up for a smooth transition.
Concussion Information
Concussion is a serious situation and children, like adults, need time to rest and recover after receiving a concussion. Schools have obligations for the reporting of incidents via HINT, the care of students while they recover, and for understanding if activities need to be adapted for students recovering from concussion sustained outside of school.
1. First aid room information
Please find attached below 2 mandatory information posters for first aid rooms explaining what to do if a concussion occurs at school. This is to be used in conjunction with the following Concussion Recognition Tool 5.
2. Notifiable Incident Reporting
Concussion and serious head knocks are deemed notifiable incidents to WorkSafe when they occur at school (see attached flowcharts below for reference).
Concussion is automated as a serious injury category in HINT and therefore the DOBCEL OHS Coordinator receives these alerts.
3. Messaging to include in the school newsletter
Given the requirement to rest, recover and adapt activities it is important schools are made aware when a student receives a concussion outside of the school setting.
Given we are heading into the AFL season in particular please place this excerpt below into your school newsletter to remind parents of the need to share concussion information with you.
Concussion – Important information to be aware of
If your child has experienced concussion outside of the school setting it is important that they rest for a period of 24 to 48 hours and then gradually return to activities after this time. Returning to school can be a graduated approach with the aim of increasing tolerance to a full day, the same situation could occur with sporting activities. It is always important to check with your doctor and seek medical treatment after a child sustains a concussion.
It is important to inform the school if your child has sustained a concussion outside of school; this is to ensure the school can monitor your child’s wellbeing and adapt activities as required.
This factsheet link below from the Royal Children’s Hospital is valuable to read and understand.
https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Head_injury_return_to_school_and_sport/
There is also a great evidence-based app from the Murdoch children’s research institute that walks you through what to do in the result of a concussion.
Mandatory Training Modules
Please be advised that the 2025 SALT training modules have been released in accordance with DOBCEL mandatory training requirements, these modules are:
- Whistleblowing
- Privacy for Schools
- Cybersecurity for Schools
Below is the 3-year SALT Training Compliance Cycle.
It expected that staff complete these modules by 30th November to ensure they meet the end of year completion deadline.
Staff will receive an email stating that they have been assigned these and can be found under “My Training” on the SALT training dashboard.
Reminders will be sent 2 months before the modules expire and every two weeks after until the cut off date.
Your school SALT Administrator can seek support from Thomas Kernick, Emergency Management and Risk Advisor at tkernick@dobcel.catholic.edu.au.
Catholic Education Week Mass & Dinner
The DOBCEL Catholic Education Week Mass and Awards Dinner is scheduled for the evening of Friday, 30 May 2025. A placeholder for the event will be sent out shortly.
During this event, we will be acknowledging staff members who are celebrating their 30th year of service to Catholic education and the 2025 Spirit of Catholic Education Awards.
Principals of schools with colleagues celebrating 30 years of service have been contacted. If you are not one of them, please kindly check within your school to ensure we haven't missed any staff members celebrating this milestone this year. If you have any recipients to report or questions, please email execassistant@dobcel.catholic.edu.au.
Nominations for the 2025 Spirit of Catholic Education Awards are now open. The awards celebrate the outstanding service and leadership within Catholic education throughout our Diocesan school communities and Catholic Education Office. I encourage you to look at your teams and teams you work with to nominate colleagues. Please also feel free to share the awards with colleagues and encourage them to submit nominations.
Tom Sexton,
Executive Director