Weekly Newsletter #18 - 15 June 2022
Reflection
Along the Track...
Education, and in particular, Catholic Education is transformational. Jesus of Nazareth, invites Christians to create God’s dream for the world in the present moment of their lives. Every day! In the following reflection Jim Quillinan explores this invitation;
From the Executive Director
Yesterday, the CEB Leadership Team held our meeting at St Brigid’s Primary School in Ballan, whose school community welcomed us warmly from the colder elements outside!
Thank you to the following students who did an exemplary job facilitating school tours: Jake, April, Tahini, Angus, Ruby and Aiofe. Our thanks are also extended to Angus and Eamon for leading us in the Acknowledgement of Country.
We certainly enjoyed St Brigid’s very generous hospitality over the course of the day. The Ballan community is being well served by St Brigid’s under Jayne Bosworth’s leadership. Please see the photos below for a snapshot of the day.
Our next Leadership Team meeting will be hosted by St Thomas’ Primary School, Terang.
I am looking forward to visiting our schools in Edenhope, Casterton and Coleraine this Friday.
A reminder for all DOBCEL Principals of Thursday’s VC briefing, the invitation to which was emailed out on 8 June.
Tom Sexton
Executive Director, Catholic Education Ballarat
Ballarat Office Details
Please see the downloadable .PDF provided below, which includes the updated Catholic Education Ballarat contact details for the 200 Gillies Street North, Lake Wendouree office.
NCEC 2022 Conference
Early Bird Registrations close Friday 17 June.
This is the first time in six years that Catholic educators have been able to attend a national gathering. With the COVID-19 pandemic still presenting challenges for many school communities and education offices, NCEC want to ensure maximum participation.
You can now register for the conference via this link, and attend LIVE at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre or participate VIRTUALLY. It’s your choice.
People & Development Update
We welcome:
Fiona Murphy
Fiona will commence 11 July as Manager: Organisational Development. Fiona comes to us from Grampians Health where she has been the Senior Organisational Development Consultant for the past 5 years and Senior HR Business Partner prior to this. Fiona has designed and undertaken strategic organization development projects and initiatives, identifying workforce gaps and developing training and other interventions to support and develop staff. She brings a high level of experience with more than 20 years’ experience in Human Resources/Organisation Development across multiple industries, including health and the not-for-profit sector.
Tania Lund
Tania will commence 18 July as our Staff Wellbeing and Engagement Advisor. In her most recent role with RACV Goldfields Resort, Tania has undertaken an employee engagement and wellbeing project to support the business and staff as the venue prepares to reopen after the Creswick floods earlier this year. Prior to this, Tania was Western Region Manager (Participation) with Netball Victoria, leading the implementation of member retention and participation growth strategies and initiatives, and held various HR/Employee Services roles with UFS Dispensaries before that time.
We farewell:
Grant Victor-Gordon
Grant has resigned his position as OH&S Coordinator, effective from the end of Term 2. Grant has been with DOBCEL since June 2020 and, during this time, has worked with Principals and school staff to improve OHS systems and to provide subject matter expert support on a broad range of operational OHS matters. We are grateful to Grant for his expertise and will miss his collegiality and enthusiasm. Grant goes with our best wishes to join Marsh McLennan, a global organisation that services Government schools across Central and Northern Victoria in insurance brokerage and risk management.
Recruitment for this position will commence shortly.
Christena Renouf
Christena has resigned her position as Manager: Finance and Accountability, effective from 1 July. Christena has been in this role since July 2019 and during this time has consistently demonstrated her ability to manage change and support her team in a highly professional manner. We greatly appreciate her contribution to the organisation and wish her well as she moves back into a role in the health sector.
Recruitment for this position will commence shortly.
Student Wellbeing Update
Student Wellbeing Team Term 2 Newsletter.
Please see the .PDF below for the Term 2 Newsletter, put together by the Student Wellbeing Team.
ResourceSmart Schools online system.
Key points.
- New online RSS platform launching in term 3
- Make sure your details are up-to-date by 24 June
- Information sessions coming Term 3
The new system will make it easier than ever to participate in the RSS program, and includes the following updates (based on feedback from our wonderful schools):
- Easier and faster navigation
- Fewer actions to undertake in the Sustainability Framework
- Updated module tips
- Clear guidelines for assessment of modules and stars
- Star Certification process now easier to manage and maintain
- Reset your own password
- If you work at multiple schools and campuses, you can now use a single account to access all your schools
- Notifications to help you self-manage your progress and your school account
How to get ready.
ResourceSmart Schools will need your help so that the transition to the new system can run seamlessly.
Please update your details in the existing system by Friday 24 June and ResourceSmart Schools will transfer all your data over to the new system – nothing else for you to do. Remember to include contact email, your bills, your data and school information.
ResourceSmart Schools will notify you at the start of Term 3 when the new system is live. Details on how to log in to the new system will be sent closer to the date.
Information sessions.
ResourceSmart Schools will be holding a series of online information sessions in the first month of Term 3 to help ease you into the new system. Stay tuned for more details.
In the meantime, if you have any questions please contact schools@sustainability.vic.gov.au
Not an active RSS school?
Register your interest online to start your sustainability journey!
ResourceSmart Schools will be in touch again next week to celebrate our ResourceSmart Schools Awards recipients, and with more information about the new ResourceSmart Schools Online platform.
Planning & Infrastructure Update
Portable Allocation 2022 Survey.
As a part of the Catholic Education Ballarat’s planning for 2023, we are currently in the process of:
- Auditing current placements of CEB relocatable classrooms
- Accessing school relocatable allocations needs for 2023
Could all schools please complete the 2022 Application for Placement of DOBCEL Portable Classrooms survey here no later than 24th June.
If you have any questions relating to this, please contact Penelope Irish (CEB – Properties & Facilities Advisor).
Air Purifier Update.
The second delivery of air purifiers and a delivery of filters is underway and will continue over the coming months.
Hopefully many schools have already received these deliveries and have commenced utilizing these air purifier units and filters.
Six filters will be provided for each air purifier unit (approx. 2 years’ use as we assume they will last 6-12 months and there are 2 per unit plus the ones provided with the unit).
If schools have any further enquiries or have excess air purifiers that may need to be returned DET will organise to pick up the units and there is a dedicated email address as follows, airpurifiers@education.vic.edu.au
Please note that due to the number of deliveries occurring at the moment, there may be a delay in response to any enquiries.
Career Opportunities in the Diocesan Education Community
Deputy Principal Vacancy.
- Deputy Principal – Student Engagement & Staff Development – St Brigid’s College, Horsham (closes 27 June)
School Vacancies.
- Learning Support Officer – St Mary’s School, Swan Hill – fixed-term position at 0.8 FTE (closes 17 June)
- Casual Relief Teachers – St Alipius Parish School, Ballarat East (closes 30 June)
- Casual Relief Teachers – St Francis Xavier, Ballarat East (closes 9 December)
- Casual Relief Teachers – St Columba’s School, Ballarat North (closes 18 December)
Catholic Education Ballarat Vacancies.
- Speech Pathologist – Ballarat or Warrnambool Office – ongoing position at 0.5 FTE (closes 20 June)
- Financial Accountant – Ballarat Office – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 20 June)
- Communications Administration Officer – Ballarat Office – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 24 June)
- Manager: Finance and Accountability – Ballarat Office – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 27 June)
- Occupational Health and Safety Coordinator – Ballarat Office – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (position advertisement will be available on the DOBCEL website in the coming days)
Other Opportunities.
- Lecturer/Senior Lecturer – Australian Catholic University Strathford Campus (closes 20 June)