Weekly Newsletter #7 - 16 March 2022
Reflection
What sort of symphony are we creating?
Storytelling is a part of what it is to be human. From stories we can learn and gain meaning and insight to a variety of situations.
Jesus told many stories, most notably the parables. These stories prompted those listening to investigate and reflect upon the meaning the story could contain for them in their lives, particularly, their relationships with others, with creation and God.
During this time of Lent the parables invite reflection and deep discernment.
Michael McGirr, offers the following reflection for one of the famous parables in Luke’s Gospel. (Luke 15:1-32)
“God makes music with our lives. We may think they are humdrum but, in our faithfulness and love, God hears a great choral symphony. This is clear in the wonderful story of the father with two sons. We are both of those children at different times. Sometimes we are like the first one and think we know everything and just want what we think is owing to us. We feel entitled. Then we get stuck far from where our hearts need to be. Other times, we are like the second son, keen to pass judgement and condemn others we think are getting a softer deal. The beauty of the story is that Jesus challenges many forms of anger. The father embraces them all. Forgiveness is a melody that many find difficult to play. We struggle with it too. May we learn to make harmony from whatever life sends our way.” (McGirr p.38)
What sort of symphony are we creating? I wonder if this story of the father with the two sons or some of the other parables offer us the “musical score” to create a symphony? Lent maybe a time to re-examine the type of “symphony” we are creating in our own lives and the lives of others. Creating that beautiful symphony that picks up many of the melody lines of the Good News of Jesus, that the world desperately needs.
Source: McGirr, M (2021) Cup We Bless - A tea or coffee break for every day during Lent Garrett Publishing: Mulgrave
From the Executive Director
I am looking forward to our Leaders Gathering in Horsham tomorrow where we will gather on St. Patrick’s feast day.
St Patrick is a very important saint in our Irish Catholic tradition. We have many churches and schools named in memory of St Patrick across our diocese including our Cathedral in Ballarat.
You may be familiar with "The Breastplate," Patrick's poem of faith and trust in God;
"Christ be within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ inquired,
Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger."
I hope all our St Patrick’s communities enjoy celebrating this feast day.
After a thorough interview process which attracted a strong field of candidates, we are pleased to formally announce and warmly welcome Kerrie Zammit to the CEB Team into the role of Executive Assistant to the Executive Director.
Kerrie brings both extensive experience and a highly knowledgeable skill set to the role, having fulfilled Personal and Executive Assistant duties in Catholic Education for over nineteen years. Kerrie has held such positions at Thomas Carr College in Tarneit and MacKillop Catholic Regional College in Werribee, which saw her work closely with the Boards and Committees that shape the strategic direction of such institutions.
We welcome Kerrie on Monday 4th of April. Kerrie will undertake three weeks of transitional collaboration with Cathy Dunbar, whose own contribution at CEB spans a remarkable thirty-seven years.
Supporting those in Need
Diocese of Lismore 2022 Flood Appeal.
To ensure a coordinated response, it is requested that all donations be channelled through Bishop Greg's Diocese of Lismore 2022 Flood Appeal found here at https://www.lismorediocese.org.
It would be greatly appreciated that all fundraising efforts support this appeal.
BSB: 037-889
Account No: 1061 5829
Account Name: DOL Flood Appeal
Caritas Australia Partnership with Caritas Ukraine.
If you or your school would like to contribute directly to Ukraine through their fundraising measures, learn more and donate to the Caritas Australia Ukraine Crisis Appeal by visting the webpage at Ukraine | Caritas Australia.
Project Compassion.
Caritas supports projects that enable these people to take hold of their lives and develop ways and means to provide a better form of existence for them and their children.
Information for teachers and school leaders can be found at https://www.caritas.org.au/.
People & Development Update
Diocesan Leadership Awards Nominations Open.
DOBCEL is proud to again sponsor the Diocese of Ballarat Leadership Awards recognising outstanding service and leadership within the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Ballarat, our school communities and Catholic Education Ballarat.
The Diocesan Award categories are:
Partnership Award
Nomination criteria for staff or community members who demonstrate:
- a commitment to enhancing partnering between the School, Catholic Education Ballarat, Parish, or the local community that enhance learning for students;
- ongoing witness to partnership in Catholic education and an active presence in the education, parish, diocesan and/or local community;
- promotion of Catholic education as partnership in local and/or extended community.
Catholic Leadership Award
Nomination criteria for staff who demonstrate:
- leadership that provides active witness to God’s presence in education, parish and/or diocesan community which enhances Catholic identity;
- excellence in leadership around Religious Education, spirituality, liturgy, religious art, social justice, the founding charism, evangelisation and/or ecology.
Fullness of Life Award
Nomination criteria for staff who demonstrate:
- leadership that leads to fullness of life for colleagues and/or students;
- excellence in education, staff formation or professional learning, student learning and/or;
- educational innovation for demonstrated commitment to evidence-based practice in education.
Nominations are invited via the Nomination Link until Friday 1 April 2022.
COVID-19 vaccination booster deadline reminder.
A reminder of the vaccination booster deadlines prescribed for all education workers under the pandemic COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination (Specified Facilities) Order.
Third dose deadline for workers in education facilities was extended until 25 March 2022 to be, meaning education workers must be fully vaccinated (boosted) by that date if eligible to be boosted
There are limited temporary exceptions as follows:
- Fully vaccinated education workers who are not yet eligible for a third dose will have a third dose deadline of three months and 14 days from when they had their second dose
- If the education worker, who is fully vaccinated, was diagnosed with COVID-19 (via a PCR test or Rapid Antigen Test submitted to the Department of Health) they now have a booster deadline of no later than 4 months from the end of the required self-isolation period
- Workers who are recent international arrivals will have a new third dose deadline of four weeks from the date of their arrival, provided they have evidence of a future vaccine booking.
All DOBCEL employees must show evidence of their vaccination status (boosted, medical exemption, or temporarily excepted as above) to their principal or their delegate before 25 March 2022.
If you are temporarily excepted, have a current medical exemption, or do not meet the mandated vaccination requirements you should talk to your principal/their delegate as soon as possible, before 25 March regarding your circumstances.
Mandatory Reporting eLearn due for completion Term One -
Three weeks to go.
Congratulations and thank you to those staff who have already completed the Mandatory Reporting eLearn Module. All school and CEB staff employed in the Diocese of Ballarat are required to complete the Mandatory Reporting eLearning module by the end of Term One each year, including those who are mandated and those who are not mandated.
As advised in the recent CECV Circular to principals (25 February 2022) the Department of Education and Training (DET) eLearning module 'Protecting Children - Mandatory Reporting and Other Obligations' is available to non-government staff via the DET Information Sharing and MARAM Online Learning System. Staff who already have an account with the DET's online learning system should use their existing details to log in. Staff without an account can sign up by going to the online learning system homepage.
Our preferred position is that the current advice remains, however, if you completed the module between July-December 2021 for a range of reasons, please wait to be reminded by the system to complete the module. Please submit your most current certificate to your principal, by the end of term one. This can be accessed via MARAM.
CEB staff should submit their certificate (or alternate evidence) to Jacqui Righetti
Please feel free to contact Jacqui Righetti (CEB) on 0409 114 268, Ext 165, jrighetti@dobcel.catholic.edu.au for enquiries 2022 Reporting Guidelines.
An updated version of the Reporting Student Progress and Achievement - Revised Guidelines for Victorian Catholic Schools was released last week.
Of particular note are the changes to the requirements for reporting for EAL/D students:
From Semester 1, 2022, EAL reports for students in Foundation to Year 10 are to include both students’ achievement level against the Victorian Curriculum F–10: EAL and an additional scale, providing a summary of expected progress using the new five-point expected growth scale.
Please contact Meagan Becker (mbecker@dobcel.catholic.edu.au) if you require any assistance in reporting for EAL students.
Please see the overview of changes for a summary of all amendments to the Guidelines.
Planning & Infrastructure Update
Victorian Government School Shade Sail Program – Extension Requests to Program Timeline.
CCG (Vic) Ltd is aware of the challenges many schools are currently facing in delivering their shade sail project within the program timelines. Schools are reminded that under the current program guidelines schools should aim to have their shade sails fully installed, paid for and acquitted prior to 30 June 2022.
Quotations from the builder should state the estimated start and completion dates for the project. When these dates can’t meet the above the project timeline, schools should contact Mr T Hartshorn, Capital Programs Officer by telephone 9267 0228 or via email at thartshorn@macs.vic.edu.au for consideration and approval of any variation to the current program timelines.
Providers are encouraged to continue to quote projects, even if they are unable to do the works until after June 30 2022, however, these projects must still be undertaken as quickly as possible.
For enquiries relating to shade structures, infrastructure or diocesan procurement processes, please contact Ashley Wiseman via email awiseman@dobcel.catholic.edu.au or Penelope Irish via pirish@dobcel.catholic.edu.au.
Catholic Education Update
Responding To Challenging Student Behaviour in the Least Restrictive Manner.
For schools dealing with heightened student behavior that may expose students and staff to the risk of physical harm the CECV Positive Behaviour Guidelines suggest training be provided to staff by an approved provider.
In response to requests from schools the training options provided by Team Teach were shared in last week’s newsletter and again today. The training addresses how feelings drive behaviours, de-escalation and de-fusion, personal safety and physical interventions.
DOBCEL has a commitment to a broad based approach to positive behaviour support. All schools seek to grow and develop their existing capabilities to build safe learning environments.Many schools currently engage in:
- SWPBS (School Wide Positive Behaviour Supports) - a whole-school framework which helps schools to create positive learning environments. SIMON supports SWPBS and is can be used with the Social Behaviour module. Please contact SIMON Support via email on support@simonschools.net for details.
- ReLATE - a whole school culture change model designed to deepen understandings of trauma and enhance capacity to implement trauma-informed and responsive practices.
The training options provided are a specific addition to the broader based approaches that exist in schools. Further information and support about these approaches can be gained by contacting Tony Perkins, CEB Leader Wellbeing.
Training Opportunities
Team Teach offers Level 1 and Level 2 ‘Positive Behaviour Support Training’ and ‘Train the Trainer’ courses. See outlines at the following links:
Level 1 Positive Behaviour Support Training
Level 2 Positive Behaviour Support Training
Intermediate Train the Trainer Course
Please access this Training Options link to explore the possible options and indicate your interest.
Inclusive Education - Universal Design for Learning.
The recent Diocesan launch of the Actioning Education for All guide emphasized our shared commitment to inclusive education practices in our school communities.
How do schools best cater for all learners?
What are your challenges in designing inclusive education?
School staff are invited to an online webinar to share their understandings and to build on the shared experiences in schools on March 21, 2022 at 4:00 p.m.
Beginning with our shared experiences of inclusive education practices in schools, we will reflect on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). We will hear from school colleagues who are engaging in these principles of learning and consider future possibilities to extend our learning.
Please add your name to the below document via the link if you would like to attend this webinar:
UDL March 21 Webinar Participants
Mathematics Professional Learning 2022 - Peter Sullivan.
This year we have Peter Sullivan presenting Professional Learning- Learning through Challenging Mathematical Tasks
The purpose of this professional learning is to improve teacher practice and student outcomes in Mathematics through the planning and presentation of challenging problem solving tasks.
If you participated in the professional learning with Peter throughout 2020 or 2021, you are invited to Continue the Journey and reconnect with Peter through 2 days of spaced learning in 2022.
Or, if your school has started to implement Peter’s work, we invite you to send other colleagues to engage in the process of collaboratively developing tasks which will be challenging and engaging for students.
This professional learning will be held at Sovereign Park Ballarat on:
- Thursday 24th March, and
- Monday 22nd August
Please Register by clicking here.
Learning and Teaching and Curriculum Leaders.
Matt Sexton - A day with Curriculum Leaders - May 13th.
The purpose of this professional learning is:
- To enhance the skills of participants in their role of leader. Where are you at? Where do you want to get to?
- Further develop partnership where participants can learn from, and with each other, to model and experience the benefits of a system level Professional Learning Community.
- Support Middle level leaders to engage in professional dialogue, with a focus on current and progressive pedagogical theories and practices.
Dates:
Fri 13th May 9:15am - 3:30pm (Location to be advised, depending on registrations)
Thurs 9th June 4:00 - 5:00pm via VC
Please Register here.
Literacy.
Intervening for Success: Getting Results with the Lowest Achieving First Graders
A 1-hour complimentary webinar to discuss supporting the accelerated learning of the lowest-achieving students in your school.
Please note that this webinar is USA based and will be held on March 29th at 6.30am (AEST).
The Hatchery.
Click here for The Hatchery's Schools Learning Community 2022 Calendar!
Term 1
Differentiation in Teaching and Learning Digital Conference 23rd & 24th March (flyer)
Atomic Habits Digital Seminar (with best-selling author James Clear) 25th March
Term 2
Data Informed Teaching Digital Conference 25th & 26th May
An Introduction to Formative Assessment Digital Seminar 17th June
Term 3
Engaging Teachers in Differentiated Instruction Digital Conference 17th & 18th August
An Introduction to Deep Learning Digital Seminar 9th September
Term 4
Data Informed Wellbeing Strategies Digital Conference 26th & 27th October
Effective Professional Learning Teams Digital Seminar 18th November
Access to ALL of these events is included in a School membership, plus videos, discussion groups and supplementary content for a complete learning experience. Memberships are priced at $999+GST per person and if a school opts to invest in 5+ memberships The Hatchery will give ALL STAFF at the school a login to our Schools Learning Community, meaning they can all access our on-demand content library which consists of all event sessions once they have run.
ResourceSmart Schools Grants & Awards
ResourceSmart Schools would like you to be aware of the following grants which are currently open for applications:
- the Woolworths Junior Landcare grants are accepting applications and close on Friday March 18th.
- and most importantly the ResourceSmart School awards are open and close on Friday March 18th.
Career Opportunities in the Diocesan Education Community
Catholic Education Ballarat Vacancies
- Payroll Administration Officer – Ballarat Office – ongoing at 1.0 FTE (closes 14 March)
Principal Vacancies
- Damascus College, Ballarat – commencing Semester 2 2022 or later by negotiation (closes 4 April)
School Vacancies
- Classroom English Teacher – Marian College, Ararat – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 18 March)
- Counsellor/Psychologist – Loreto College, Ballarat – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 21 March)
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Worker – St Alipius’ Parish School, Ballarat East – fixed-term position at 0.6 FTE (closes 25 March)
- Classroom Teacher – St Mary’s School, Donald – fixed-term position at 0.6 FTE (closes 8 April)
- Casual Relief Teachers – St Alipius’ Parish School, Ballarat East (closes 30 June)
- Casual Relief Teachers – St Francis Xavier, Ballarat East (closes 9 December)