Weekly Newsletter #34 - 2 November 2022
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Reflection
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From the Executive Director
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Catholic Education Update
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Mission Week at St Mary’s Primary School, Donald
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Wiradjuri Dreaming Stories
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Country Dioceses Leadership Program (CDLP) 2023 Applications Open
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Teaching & Learning Update
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People & Development Update
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Wellbeing Team Update
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OctoberVET Ballarat 2022
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Career Opportunities in the Diocesan Education Community
Reflection
Holiness?
Today is All Souls Day and yesterday was All Saints Day, these significant days in the liturgical calendar call us all to “holiness.” What does it mean to be holy? The following reflection by Isabella R Moyer explores the notion of holiness and how it may relate to our work.
Saints are all around us, women and men whose generous spirit reflects the Gospel call to love and serve God and others. Some do it by making the ordinary holy through a spirit of simplicity and humility. Some do it by showing extraordinary courage in sickness and adversity. Some do it by railing against injustice and working to bring equality and dignity to all.
The Gospel reading for All Saints Day invites us into the beatitudes, that wonderful litany of "Blessed are." In the beatitudes, holiness is equated with being poor in spirit, meek, mourning, hungering for righteousness, merciful, and clean of heart.
Interestingly, there is no mention of blessed are the rule-makers, the obedient, the self-righteous or the judgmental. We all know what Jesus thought of those who equated holiness with obsessive discipline and laws. Jesus was about reaching people in their hearts, giving them reasons for hope and joy, and encouraging true and lasting conversion.
We continue to be surrounded by prophets of doom who castigate and blame the women and men of today for succumbing to the evils of secularism and materialism. These pessimistic prophets seem unable to see holiness in the world, or acknowledge that saints are living among us in the messiness of life. Sadly, they see holiness only within the four walls of the church.
Yes, we need a strong and vibrant community where we can pray and be formed, but the church is not meant to keep us in. The church's role is to send us forth. Saints know this. They are women and men whose lives flow seamlessly from prayer to action. We need to hear their stories and be inspired by their witness.
Isabella R Moyer National Catholic Reporter, November 2, 2012
Let us Pray.
Holy, life-giving Spirit,
infuse in us your ability to remain present to your people.
Help us to be there,
to be right there,
for the people who need us.
There for young people,
there for the elderly,
there for the brokenhearted;
fire our hearts with your life-changing presence.
Even though we know you to be everywhere
and in everything,
give us the ability to be fully in one place at a time,
open and ready to love.
Amen.
Author Unknown
From the Executive Director
Enterprise Bargaining Agreement Update.
I feel it is very important that all DOBCEL staff receive an update on EBA negotiations from an employer point of view.
I appreciate that many of you - like me, are frustrated by the time it is taking to come to agreement on our new EBA.
I think it is important that DOBCEL staff are aware that the CECV Bargaining Team has made a number of commitments to the IEU regarding teacher workload and other conditions. A majority of these commitments are consistent with and align with the major workload improvements recently agreed to by the Victorian Government. The IEU has made no significant concessions through the course of the bargaining process.
Since early August until this week, IEU negotiators have refused repeated requests from our bargaining team to meet. There are a small number of matters we haven’t agreed on. These matters cannot be resolved if the IEU refuses to meet with us.
The pay rise was delivered by the employers, with no input from IEU, as we the employers didn’t want our staff to wait any longer for their well-deserved pay rises. DOBCEL was key in promoting and ensuring this pay rise went through when it did.
In terms of the overall timing, it is important to note that until the DET agreement was agreed to in July 2022, no meaningful negotiations could take place; this is a very long-standing practice that both IEU and Employers recognise.
In my time, DOBCEL has always recognised and valued the work of our fantastic staff, particularly the way all staff across our schools have managed the unprecedented pressures associated with COVID-19 in recent times. Indeed, this extraordinary work was acknowledged this Term through the Circuit Breaker Long Weekend which was designed to provide respite and acknowledgement of the contribution of staff for their great work. We will continue to look at ways to improve working conditions.
We will continue to negotiate for conditions that ensure the sustainability of our schools, that can be effectively put into practice and that assure the educational experience of our students.
Let me assure you that we are determined to reach an agreement in the interests of our school communities, staff and students as quickly as possible. In my discussions with Deb James two weeks ago, we both agreed it is in no one’s interest for these negotiations to drag on.
Ireland Recruitment.
Last week I returned from Ireland having spent just over two weeks recruiting teachers and psychologists, along with Paul Desmond and Jenni Kennedy from Sandhurst to come and work in our Dioceses in the coming years. It was a very positive trip, as we made a number of important connections which will help future recruiting trips and most importantly, we have 33 Irish teachers and 2 Irish psychologists interested in working for us in 2023 and 2024.
We now begin the second stage of converting these expressions of interest into staff in our schools in 2023 and 2024. It is our intention to continue to recruit from Ireland in the coming years as our shortage of teachers continues to impact our schools.
Flood Update.
While I was away in Ireland floods impacted on a number of our school communities. I appreciate the way in which we have all supported each other at this time. Of course floods are still making their way down the Murray River towards Swan Hill this week and then onto Robinvale and Mildura. While in the Casterton area, floods threats have risen overnight. We will continue to support our school communities through these tough times.
Finally I would like to thank Matthew Byrne for acting in my place while I was in Ireland. Matt was very well supported by Megan Ioannou, Paul Jans and Ange Jones.
Tom Sexton
Executive Director, Catholic Education Ballarat
Catholic Education Update
Dear All,
this is an updated communication regarding the program taking place IN PERSON at the Catholic Leadership Centre and ONLINE via YouTube Livestream (further advice in due course) from 9:00am-1:00pm on Friday, 11 November.
You are invited to attend a presentation by Prof Didier Pollefeyt and Drs Jan Bouwens who in two parts will focus on the mission and identity of the Catholic school today (refer to the attached program below). Professor Pollefeyt and Drs Bouwens are visiting Australia in November and come to us from the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University Leuven (Belgium).
Dr Paul Sharkey (MACS), with Prof Pollefeyt and Drs Bouwens have confirmed a process of lecture-workshop-plenary with content that over two sequences will strengthen an understanding of religious education and a Catholic understanding of self, of others and of God and consequently, of what it is to be a Catholic school today. See details here.
Sequence 1. The Lustre of Life: critical considerations for religious education pedagogies
Sequence 2. Teaching the Unteachable or Why Too Much Good Is Bad: religious education in Catholic schools today
Looking forward to connecting with you as we seek together, to deepen our understanding of what it is to be a Catholic school today.
Gina (Bernasconi)
Education Officer: ECSI
Mission Week at St Mary’s Primary School, Donald
Mission Week at St Mary’s Primary School in Donald is held during October each year. It is an opportunity for us as a whole school community to work together to raise awareness and money for Catholic Missions worldwide missionary network. It is a time when we are called upon to share our resources with communities and families around the world.
Last week we celebrated Mission Week with a whole school Liturgy at the Church. This was followed by a Crazy Hat dress-up day to fundraise money for children in Ethiopia.
We looked into how you can make games with the resources you have, which linked in with sustainability, repurposing and recycling. Children worked in different groups across year levels to plan and build cardboard arcade games to play using recycled materials. It was a wonderful experience for the 2022 Catholic Mission Week.
Wiradjuri Dreaming Stories
Every year Common Ground works with different First Nations communities to film five Dreaming stories, which are then shared online with the intention of bringing people together to watch them. This year the First Nations Bedtime Stories is a collaboration between Common Ground and Jack Steele, a Wiradjuri man (NSW) who produced, directed and edited the video stories. Further learning is provided by Jordyn Green and Steph Isbester, two Wiradjuri teachers who have developed resources to accompany the stories.
Common Ground invites schools and learning centres to participate in this initiative. For more information, please visit their FAQ page or directly sign up here. Schools can also access last year’s stories as well as other educational resources.
Country Dioceses Leadership Program (CDLP) 2023 Applications Open
The Country Dioceses Leadership Program (CDLP) enables middle leaders from across three country Dioceses (Ballarat, Sandhurst & Wagga Wagga) to engage in a residential 7-day professional development program with a significant focus on the skills, knowledge and capabilities for effective middle leadership within a Catholic context.
The program provides opportunities for participants to identify their effective leadership practice and apply this within their own school context through a spaced learning model, and a coaching program.
Applications for the 2023 program close on Friday 4 November, 2022.
See further information and applications forms below.
Teaching & Learning Update
Professional Learning 2023.
Please see below for some Professional Learning opportunities available in 2023. As these particular opportunities require confirmation of external facilitators, please register your interest by Friday Nov 4.
Please contact Sue Paulka for further information.
Data Literacy and Storytelling.
Dr Selena Fisk will be presenting Data Literacy and Data Storytelling workshops across the Diocese on the following dates next year:
- Mildura - March 20
- Horsham - March 21
- Warrnambool - March 22
- Ballarat - March 24
The learning will focus on developing strategic approaches, including school data plans, to the data that schools collect, collate and use, and equipping school staff at all levels to have highly effective conversations about that data so that all decisions being made can be informed by actual evidence.
Term 1 days will be face to face with Selena Fisk and will be followed up by webinars in Terms 2 & 3, facilitated by CEB teams, and a presentation of action research learning at the end of Term 3.
This professional learning will be applicable for both primary and secondary teams.
Please register your interest here.
Learner Agency.
Increasing Learner Agency and moving to a more student-centred approach to learning and teaching has been identified by many of our schools as a school improvement priority over the next few years. The learning will focus on the following areas but will be co-designed to ensure fidelity to individual and local contexts:
Shifting & Shaping Identities
- Understanding deeply and listening to self, young people and community
- How might a deep understanding of self, young people and community create the conditions for strengthen agency?
Developing Assessment Capable Learners
- Assessing for deep understanding and progress over time
- How might we partner with young people to develop assessment capabilities and dispositions?
Co-designing Learning Pathways Together
- Mapping the curriculum landscape
- How might we co-design curriculum that is authentic and matters to the lives of young people and their communities?
Learning & Leading for change
- Creating dynamic and collaborative cultures for local change
- How might we partner to learn and lead for change that enables authentic and inspiring learning for young people and adults?
There are possibilities for school teams to partner in this work in communities of practice across our Diocese. The professional learning will be applicable for both primary and secondary teams and will be facilitated by Dr Jayne-Louise Collins from Ed Partnerships.
Please register your interest here.
An initial co-design and information session will be held on Monday November 14 - time and location to be confirmed.
Co-creating an Educational Landscape: Strengthening our approaches to curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy through the engagement with research informed guiding principles.
This professional learning inquiry will be co-designed with interested school communities who are ready to explore the use of one or more sets of the guiding Educational Landscape principles; Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy, in the context of their School Improvement Plan.
A cycle of professional inquiry will guide the learning which will start with participants bringing evidence from in-school investigations that invite young people and colleagues to share their experiences and perceptions of curriculum, assessment and/or pedagogy.
These investigations form the basis of a context analysis that will support the design of a localised professional inquiry broadly focused on strengthening curriculum, assessment or pedagogy design and enactment in their school community. The use of the guiding principles will be central to this localised professional inquiry.
Participants will be offered processes to use as they explore ways to translate these guiding principles into their day-to-day work as designers, leaders, teachers, and learners, with colleagues and young people in their own local communities.
This professional learning will be applicable for both primary and secondary teams and will be facilitated by Dr Jayne-Louise Collins from Ed Partnerships.
Please register your interest here.
An initial co-design and information session will be held on Friday November 18 - time and location to be confirmed.
People & Development Update
The Passionate Nutritionist.
Mel Bald is a degree qualified Geelong nutritionist, as well as having qualifications in Exercise Science. Mel is all about helping achieve optimal health through nutrition, lifestyle strategies and using the science of behaviour change to help healthy habits stick.
We are fortunate to have Mel share one of her recipes with us, it’s a taste sensation!
Feel free to check out Mel’s Website and Blog. You can also follow Mel on Facebook and Instagram.
We hope you enjoy trying the recipe! We would love to hear and share your experience, please send any comments to Tania Lund.
Asian Chicken and Veggie Bowl.
This meal has the benefits of using a lean protein source and seven different vegetables all in the one bowl. It gives you a good amount of protein (around 31 grams per serve), is low in carbohydrates and has a good amount of fibre. This means it will help keep you full for the rest of the afternoon, so hopefully reduce the afternoon snack attack urge!
It is a great option for lunches as it keeps and reheats well and is an all-in-one meal.
Check out the recipe below!
Wellbeing Webinar Series.
We are pleased to offer the Wellbeing Webinar Series, in partnership with Converge International, to all DOBCEL staff and their families. These virtual sessions are accessible from anywhere.
Our last Wellbeing session:
Session 5: Mental Fitness
When: Thursday 10 November 2022, 4:00pm to 5:00pm
- Discover the difference between mental health, mental wellbeing, and mental fitness
- Discover mental fitness ‘set point theory’ and its relationships to lifetime wellbeing
- Understand the interplay between life stress, wellbeing, and mental fitness
- Discover the 4 domains of mental fitness and how these differ from person to person
- Learn tips to improve your mental fitness
- Understand how your unique routines and disciplines can strengthen your mental fitness
Click here to join the meeting
All previous session recording, participation handouts and links, are available via the PDF below.
Wellbeing Team Update
DOBCEL Student Wellbeing Framework - Northern Zone.
The Student Wellbeing Team would like to invite the Northern Primary School and Secondary Wellbeing Practitioners (pastoral care workers, counsellors, psychologists) to meet on Wednesday 23rd November.
Please forward the Trybooking link below to the appropriate Wellbeing member in your school. Any questions please contact Brooke Nester.
Date: Wednesday 23 November 2022
Time: 9:30 AM - 11:00
Location: St Joseph's College Mildura - 154 Twelfth St, Mildura Vic 3500
Youth Mental Health First Aid.
Increase your capacity to support student’s mental health. Mental health first aid strategies are taught in an evidence-based training program authored by Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Australia.
The course teaches adults how to assist adolescents who are developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis.
- Dates: 15th and 16th of November 2022
- Venue: Sovereign Park 223 Main Rd Ballarat
- Participants / Target Audience: Teachers, school nurses, LSO’s, year level coordinators, administration staff, (anyone in the school community).
For further information contact Brooke Nester
OctoberVET Ballarat 2022
Researching Adult and Vocational Education (RAVE) supporters,
Ballarat holds it's fifteenth annual OctoberVET event, on Wednesday November 23rd 2022.
Each October or November, RAVE hosts an 'OctoberVET' event open to all members of the community. The free research-based event is part of the series of annual national OctoberVET events around Australia, an activity of the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA).
This year, OctoberVET Ballarat is back face to face:
- When: Wednesday November 23rd 2022
- Where: Building K at FedUni SMB Campus (Level 1), 136 Albert St, Ballarat Central (Ballarat Tech School). From 2.00pm to 5.00pm.
There is a minimal registration fee, to cover catering and other costs, of $15. Afternoon tea will be provided.
The theme of the event is ‘Inclusivity and the future of VET’, with keynote speaker is Adjunct Professor Robin Shreeve, an ‘elder statesman’ of VET, who has held many senior appointments in government agencies and in TAFE systems in Australia and the U.K.
Other speakers and topics include:
- Annette Foley and Trace Ollis - Inclusive ACE pedagogies: Capabilities for work, skills and life.
- Erica Smith & Andy Smith – Career practitioners’ views of careers in retail and hospitality
- Anthony Pearce – Opportunities and challenges: Applied Learning reform in Victoria
- Lizzie Knight - Inclusive practices in VET
- Cheree McDonald - Revealing the impacts of Work Based Learning for Vulnerable Youth.
- Erica Smith – An insider’s update on the TAE Training Package review
The program will be sent out soon, and will also be available on the RAVE website, via VET Research events.
Registrations for the event are now open. For all enquires please email VET research.
Career Opportunities in the Diocesan Education Community
Catholic Education Ballarat Vacancies.
- Policy and Governance Administrator – ongoing position (closes 14 November)
School Vacancies.
- Classroom Teacher – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, Merbein – ongoing position (closes 2 November)
- Generalist Teacher – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, Merbein – fixed-term position with possibility of PE component (closes 2 November)
- Classroom Teacher with optional POL 2 – Siena Catholic Primary School, Lucas – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 3 November)
- Classroom Teacher – St Thomas More School, Alfredton – fixed-term position at 1.0 FTE (closes 4 November)
- Pastoral Care Worker – St Thomas More School, Alfredton – fixed-term position at 0.5 FTE (closes 4 November)
- School Wellbeing Officer/Counsellor – St Columba’s School, Ballarat North – fixed-term position at 0.6 FTE (closes 4 November)
- Classroom Teacher (Experienced or Graduate) – St Patrick’s School, Stawell – fixed-term position at 1.0 FTE (closes 4 November)
- Classroom Teacher – St Mary’s School, Donald – fixed-term position at 1.0 FTE (closes 4 November)
- VCE English/Drama Teacher – St Patrick’s College, Ballarat – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 6 November)
- Teaching Opportunities – Loreto College – ongoing positions at 1.0 FTE (closes 7 November)
- Graduate Classroom Teacher – St Thomas’ School, Terang – fixed-term position at 1.0 FTE (closes 7 November)
- Maintenance Officer – St Patrick’s College, Ballarat – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 9 November)
- Classroom Teacher (Yr 3-6) – St Joseph’s School, Penshurst – fixed-term position at 0.6 FTE (closes 9 November)
- Teacher of English, Humanities & RE – Emmanuel College, Warrnambool – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 10 November)
- Classroom Teacher – St Patrick’s Primary School, Ballarat – fixed-term position at 1.0 FTE (closes 11 November)
- School Services Manager – St Patrick’s College, Ballarat – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 13 November)
- Classroom Teacher (2) – St Columba’s School, Ballarat North – fixed-term positions at 1.0 FTE (closes 14 November)
- Mental Health Clinician – St Mary MacKillop College, Swan Hill – ongoing position at 1.0 FTE (closes 15 November)
- Specialist Teacher (Science or PE) – St Mary’s School, Ararat – fixed-term position at 1.0 FTE (closes 21 November)
- Casual Relief Teachers – St Francis Xavier, Ballarat East (closes 9 December)
- Casual Relief Teachers – St Columba’s School, Ballarat North (closes 18 December)
- Casual Relief Teachers – St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Warracknabeal (closes 18 December)
- Classroom Teachers – Primary and Secondary Schools (closes 31 December)