Weekly Newsletter #40 - 15 Dec 2021
Reflection
The Advent Guest House
By Joyce Rupp
It happened like this: all summer I longed to find a quiet place by a body of water where I could write without interruption but crowds of people were out and about everywhere. Finally I located the “perfect spot” in early autumn, a small state park with a sweet little lake, just an hour’s drive away. To top it off, no humans were around to interrupt the tranquility or disperse COVID-19 germs to me. I found a shady oak tree by the lakeside and sat there for several hours relishing the delicious place until I heard male voices not far from me. “Oh, they’re just walking around the lake,” I thought, and went back to musing and writing.
Imagine my surprise when suddenly one of these two men was standing directly in front of me, probably six feet away although it seemed much closer. “Hi,” he said. “Hello,” I mumbled back, feeling instant agitation by his assumption that I would welcome his presence. The stranger stood there silently, mask on, for what seemed like five minutes, (actually, probably one), and then added, “Is that all you’re going to say?” Well, by then I was fuming and blurted out in my most snippy voice, “Well, not if you’re going to stand THAT close.” He stepped back. More quiet. Then the lightning bolt hit. He said his name.
How embarrassed I felt. Here stood a good friend of mine whom I did not recognise with his mask on and with considerable weight loss due to illness. I was humbled to the core. We conversed for a while and then he went on his way. But I did not go on my way. I stayed there stunned by my initial response: hostile and unwelcoming. I pondered how I had reached the point of being so adversarial. When did my heart turn sour? How could I have strayed that far from my belief about welcoming the Christ in everyone? I then recognized how this attitude had developed through fear due to the difficult, coronavirus-summer, how I allowed kindness to be shoved out and unfriendliness to take over. To my chagrin, I saw how I had been treating strangers as enemies, especially people not wearing masks, or who seemed to be “invading my space” with the possibility of infection.
I have not been the same since that stunned encounter. Thanks to the entrance of grace, I have shed my “enemy response” and developed the habit of silently blessing “May you be well” to anyone coming my way. For my Advent practice, I’m placing one word, “Welcome,” on my prayer altar to remind me of this intent. Each morning I mentally take off the non-receptive signs on my heart (“Do not enter. No trespassing. Stay out. Get lost.”) I pray to receive those I know, and do not know, as I would the Christ who came to dwell among humankind centuries ago, to accept each as he or she is, not as I would have them be.
Like the poet Rumi who considered himself to be the guest house of God, I hope that this Advent my presence will be that of a guest house, a welcoming home filled with kindness.
From the Executive Director
What an extraordinary year… another one… we celebrated 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia and 172 years in our diocese, as well as our second year in a pandemic. In a few years time, and when we are able to reflect on these COVID times, I suspect, amongst many things, we will acknowledge the resilience and hope-filled nature of our diocesan education community in these trying times.
I would like to thank everyone across our diocesan education community for their amazing efforts throughout 2021. This time last year, we were all hoping for a calmer 2021 after the challenging COVID 2020 year – that didn’t happen! As one measure of the workload and adaptability required to navigate 2021, CEB has sent, to date this year, 130 COVID updates. Bearing in mind there are approximately 205 school days in a year, this clearly shows the amount of change we have all had to deal with in 2021. You have been remarkable and I thank you.
Next year on Monday 17 January, we will be relocating into our new refurbished Catholic Education Ballarat office at 200 Gillies Street, Lake Wendouree. Currently we have staff scattered in four different locations, often in quite cramped conditions. I remember visiting our Ballarat office for the first time prior to starting this role and being surprised (not in a good way!) at the working conditions of many CEB staff, with some seeming to be working out of broom cupboards! It will be a great relief to finally have all the CEB Ballarat staff under the one roof for the first time since the 1970’s!
At the end of a long and tiring year, I wish you all a peaceful, relaxing, holy and joyful Christmas break.
New Ballarat Office Details
The new Ballarat CEB office will open on Monday 17 January, 2022.
The new street address and postal address will both be:
200 Gillies Street North, Lake Wendouree, VIC 3350
Map location
The new office phone number will be: 03 4344 4350
Download a one-page PDF of CEB 2022 contact and location details to print.
Staff Announcements
Emma Newman
It is with great sadness that I announce Emma Newman is leaving us early in the new year. Emma has been appointed to the Victorian Skills Authority as a website project officer. Emma joined CEB almost exactly 2 years ago. Emma has had a tremendous impact on the quality of our publications and website in that short time. Emma has taken on a huge workload in our COVID response team, one measure of that workload is the publishing of 130 COVID Updates in 2021 so far, this is in addition to the 122 updates in 2020. It would be fair to say the COVID has worn Emma out. We all owe Emma a debt of gratitude for her work with us over the past 2 years.
Kevin Cummins
Kev Cummins will be changing the focus of his role within CEB next year and moving to a part-time (3 days per week) position at his request. Kev will continue work one day per week as part of the Learning and Teaching team on promoting, supporting and continuing to grow The HIVE and Canvas. The other two days he will be working alongside our new Marketing and Communications Officer (replacing Emma) to enhance School Profiles, initially working with our small rural and remote schools. This will involve creating promotional video content and photography for schools and creating engaging/revising websites to assist schools with increasing their profile in the community. More information on how to engage Kev in these new focus areas in 2022 will be communicated to schools in the near future.
Recruitment for our new Marketing and Communications Officer is underway. A key priority for this new appointment is to develop a diocesan wide Catholic Education promotional media package.
Tom Sexton
Executive Director, Catholic Education Ballarat
New School Staff Commencing in 2022
If your school has any new staff commencing in 2022, please send their email address to news@dobcel.catholic.edu.au to be added to the Weekly Newsletter mailing list.
DOBCEL YouTube Channel
Our YouTube channel has recently been recreated after a brief hiatus. Follow it to receive notifications of the latest CEB and DOBCEL video updates.
System Improvement Updates
ResourceSmart Schools
The ResourceSmart Schools Term 4 2021 newsletter is now available.
Wellbeing Updates
Student Wellbeing Team Newsletter
The Student Wellbeing Team Newsletter - Term 4, 2022 is now available.
2022 CEB Wellbeing Team School Contacts
The linked table 2022 CEB Wellbeing Team school contacts indicates the Wellbeing Team staff that will be the primary point of contact with your school to begin 2022.
We have been engaged in recruitment processes to fill several positions. Psychologist Tegan Bell will now continue in a full-time position which adds support to Psychology services across all three zones. Student Wellbeing Education Officer Brooke Nester’s position has been extended from 0.5FTE to full-time. While Brooke’s primary focus is Student Wellbeing in Secondary Schools which stretches across the Diocese, her role also supports response to student wellbeing matters across both primary and secondary sectors.
To date we have been unable to fill vacancies for a Psychologist based in Mildura and a Speech Pathologist to work with Central and Northern Zone Schools. These positions will be readvertised at the commencement of the 2022 school year along with a Learning Diversity Education Officer position to be based in Horsham. Should we be able to fill these vacancies, it may lead to adjustments to the primary contacts for some schools.
While a primary point of contact has been identified for your school several factors may influence which CEB staff member engages in specific cases. This will include the complexity of the case identified as well as the capacity of the primary contact to attend to the case identified. Where necessary additional services may be outsourced to ensure a timely response.
Business Services Update
CCG: Grant Funding Applications for Major Capital Works Opening in January 2022
Principals and governing authorities are advised that applications for the 2022 round of the Australian Government Capital Grants Program (CGP) and round 4 of the Victorian Government Non-Government Schools Capital Fund 2019–2023 (VGNGSCF 2019–23) will open in January 2022 and close on Friday 11 March, 2022.
Please see Circular for further information.
Career Opportunities in the Diocesan Education Community
Catholic Education Ballarat Vacancies
- Education Consultants (2)– Central and Mid-North Zones - upcoming opportunity for Term 2 2022 – information pack available and applications to open in the new year
School Vacancies
- Classroom Teacher (preferably HaPE/Digital Technologies) – Our Lady Help of Christians School, Murtoa – fixed-term position at 0.2 FTE (closes 15 December)
- Casual Relief Teachers – St Columba’s School, Ballarat North (closes 16 December)
- Music Teacher – St Patrick’s School, St Arnaud – fixed term position at 0.4 FTE (closes 22 December)
- STEAM/Digital Technology Teacher – St Columba’s School, Ballarat – fixed-term position at 0.48 FTE (closes 10 January)
- Teaching Positions x 3 – St Patrick’s College, Ballarat – fixed term positions at various fractions (closes 10 January)
From Across the Diocese
Pretend Play Workshop
Where: St James’ Parish School Hall, 260 Albert Street, Sebastopol (via church carpark)
Date: Monday 21 February, 2022
Who: Professor Louise Paatsch and Emeritus Professor Karen Stagnitti
Time: 9.30am-1.30pm
This presentation discusses the melting pot of pretend play, that is, the explanation of why pretend play is linked to language, narrative, metacommunication, metacognition, social competence, self-regulation, problem solving and creativity. In particular, this presentation goes into depth on the links between pretend play and oral language and narrative. Underpinning this knowledge, a brief introduction will be made into the neurobiology of play and how play can impact on brain development in children.
The development of the skills involved in pretend play will be presented as a background to the Pretend Play Checklist for Teachers. The administration and scoring of the Pretend Play Checklist for Teachers will be presented in detail.
The presentation will be supported by videos of children playing. Analysis will be undertaken on the play skills observed and what this would mean for the child’s oral language.
Please register your interest by contacting St James’ Parish School on 5335 8750.
CatholicCare Family Relationship Centre
Scheduling details of CatholicCare, Family Relationship Centre group programs for the first half of 2021 are now available:
Download the Family & Relationship services referral form (Word document).
From Other Dioceses and Beyond
Faith in the Future
The final edition of the Faith in the Future commemorative magazine is now available, highlighting stories and coverage of the Bicentenary of Catholic education in Australia.
Recruitment Opportunities in Other Dioceses
The following recruitment opportunities are currently available in other dioceses: