Weekly Newsletter #1 - 2 February 2022
Reflection
From the Executive Director
Welcome back to the new school year, an exciting time for all, particularly those in their first and last year of schooling. Welcome back to existing and new students, families and staff across the diocese. We enter another school year in the midst of our ongoing pandemic with all its challenges, particularly in the first few weeks of this term. I believe we can draw strength from our diocesan vision statement: As partners in Catholic education and open to God’s presence, we pursue fullness of life for all. Our vision calls us all to be bearers and beacons of hope within our school communities. The importance of this was no more evident than last Saturday when much of Australia watched Ash Barty win the Australian Open which in itself seemed to give many Australians a boost of hope and happiness. I think there is a lot we can learn from Ash as someone who has harnessed her sporting talents, has a superb work ethic, surrounds herself with a quality support team and has retained her humble and happy disposition throughout the professional ups and downs of an elite sporting career and like us, continues to deal with the challenges of COVID. I am confident that we will overcome these challenges as we continue to 'pursue fullness of life for all’.
My CEB team will continue to do everything within our power, as we have done for the past two years, to support school communities to navigate through these complex times. We have postponed our larger scale meetings and professional development activities to virtual meetings for the first 4 weeks of school, this will include swapping our scheduled Leadership Gathering in Horsham on February 17 & 18 to a VC meeting, and we will reschedule the face to face Leadership Gathering to Week 8 (March 17 & 18).
On the 17th of January we relocated into our new refurbished office at 200 Gillies St, Lake Wendouree. The building is about 90% complete, with some external works around the front entry to be completed prior to Easter and our Catholic Identity iconography to be installed throughout the building in the coming months. As COVID permits, we will welcome visitors to drop in and have a look through our new building. We also look forward to hosting meetings in our new offices.
During Term 3 and 4, 2021, principals and CEB staff worked on our top priorities for 2022. The consultation discerned the following six priorities:
- Promote and embed professional learning opportunities that immerse us in Catholic Identity, Religious Education & Mission.
- Develop and deliver a DOBCEL staff wellbeing plan; and a student/school community wellbeing plan including the roll-out of endorsed Student Wellbeing Review recommendations.
- Clarify and enhance pathways for Catholic educational leadership for those aspirant or new to educational leadership and those extending their leadership capability.
- Establish networks and forums for improved collaboration and sharing of best practice and innovative learning and teaching across the system.
- Focus on Family Engagement as a Diocesan Education Community, with a particular focus to reigniting the relationships post-pandemic.
- Develop and launch a strategic marketing plan to promote and celebrate Catholic Education across the Diocese of Ballarat.
I invite principals to consider the role each of us as partners in education will play in implementing these priorities and what are the likely success measures for each priority. We will consult on our implementation strategy during our Leadership Gathering VC on 17 & 18 Feb.
Tom Sexton
Executive Director, Catholic Education Ballarat
Updated Organisational Chart and Directory
The updated 2022 CEB Organisational Chart and DOBCEL Directory are now available to download.
Staff Announcements
Haiden McLachlan
Haiden has resigned from his position as ICT Support Officer/System Administrator, with his last day being Friday 4 February. We are indebted to Haiden for the skills and dedication he has brought to his role at CEB over the past 8.5 years, and we wish him well as he pursues a new position as ICT Manager with YMCA. We are currently advertising for an ICT Support Officer.
New Ballarat Office Details
The new Ballarat CEB office is now open.
The new street address and postal address are:
200 Gillies Street North, Lake Wendouree, VIC 3350
Map location
The new office phone number is:
Download a one-page PDF of CEB 2022 contact and location details to print.
System Improvement Updates
Safer Internet Day
World Safer Internet Day 2022 is Tuesday 8 February.
World Safer Internet Day gets the ball rolling on what promises to be a most significant year regarding Child Safety. Over the coming months we will be moving to the new Child Safe Standards (CSS) by 1 July 2022. The new Standards aim to provide more clarity for organisations and are more consistent with Standards in the rest of Australia.
Safer Internet Day is a global campaign dedicated to creating a safer online world for everyone. The 2022 Safer Internet Day campaign theme here in Australia is #PlayitFairOnline. The eSafety Commissioner has teamed with the AFL to produce a wide range of resources to help Australians to stay safe and have fun when they are online, they can be found here. The link provides classroom resources for the Early Years, Primary and Secondary education.
If you would like any further information, please email jrighetti@dobcel.catholic.edu.au or phone
Learning and Teaching Updates
Leading 4 Learning in a Catholic Education Context
Leading for Learning
The Leading for Learning in a Catholic Education Context program (L4L) has been designed specifically for the Catholic school context, described by the Enhancing Catholic School Identity Project (ECSI), to inform, guide and support the professional learning and development of current and aspiring leaders in Catholic schools.
See the L4L Flyer and L4L Program Description for further details and register here. For further information contact Marg McDonald on
Leading for Learning - Journey Continues
This program has been designed to build on and extend learning for those who have completed L4L. The program seeks to enable the development and integration of the personal, spiritual and professional life of emerging leaders to lead for flourishing, and excellence for all in our schools informed by the current context of Catholic Education.
The long term aim of the program is to enable the development of excellence in educational leaders in Catholic schools ensuring leadership succession across rural and regional communities in our diocese.
See the L4L – JC Flyer and L4L Program Description for further details, and register here. For further information contact Marg McDonald on
Leading for Learning: Senior school leaders enhancing Catholic school identity through the prayer renewal process
In a context that is increasingly detraditionalising and pluralising, ECSI research has confirmed that there is a direct correlation between personal and communal prayer life and the enhancement of Catholic identity.
This program aims to support the development of personal and communal prayer life by means of the prayer renewal process and the 10 Characteristics of Prayer in a Catholic Dialogue School, led by participating school leadership teams.
See the L4L – Prayer Renewal Process Program Description for further details and register here. For further information contact Gina Bernasconi on
CEB Graduate Teacher Program
The Diocesan Graduate Teacher Program is designed to support graduate teacher induction into the Ballarat Diocese and the teaching profession, within the Catholic Education context. It reflects the partnership between schools and Catholic Education Ballarat, who together support the professional growth of graduates.
The program runs over four days in Terms 1, 2 and 3 and is intended to support graduate teachers as they move into the profession by building connections, promoting collegial networking, nurturing wellbeing and enabling personal and professional growth.
The 2022 program is open to graduate teachers in their first year of teaching from both primary and secondary settings. Due to the interruptions of COVID-19, any graduates from 2021 who would like to complete the program are also welcome.
Registrations open Friday 3 December and close Friday 18 February. Please click here for further information.
Wellbeing Updates
Wellbeing Team Service Delivery Review February Update Newsletter
An outline of the next steps to occur in response to the 2021 Wellbeing Team Service Delivery Review is contained in the linked Update. In the Update, schools are invited to select an online forum to engage further in this process.
Further information will be provided to Principals within the Diocesan Leadership Gathering agenda.
Career Opportunities in the Diocesan Education Community
Catholic Education Ballarat Vacancies
- ICT Support Officer & System Administrator – Ballarat – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 7 February)
- Marketing & Communications Officer – Ballarat – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 7 February)
- Financial Accountant – Ballarat – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 7 February)
- Education Consultants (2)– Central and Mid-North Zones - upcoming opportunity for Term 2 – information pack available and applications to open soon
School Vacancies
- Classroom Teacher (Accounting, Business Studies, Economics)– St Joseph’s College, Mildura – ongoing position at 0.75 FTE (closes 4 February)
- School Administration Officer – St Francis Xavier, Ballarat East – fixed-term at 0.6 FTE (closes 14 February)
- Casual Relieving Teachers – St Patrick’s College, Ballarat (closes 28 February)
- Mathematics Teacher – St Mary MacKillop College, Swan Hill – fixed-term position at 0.75 FTE (closes 2 March)
- Casual Relief Teachers – St Alipius’ Parish School, Ballarat East (closes 30 June)
- Casual Relief Teachers – St Francis Xavier, Ballarat East (closes 9 December)