As this is the last Communique before the school holidays, I would like to wish all Catholic school communities a happy, safe and relaxing break.

For those who are planning to travel interstate, please be mindful of current COVID-19 restrictions that may affect your plans.

I would encourage staff and families to monitor the Queensland Government website to stay up to date with any changes that may occur in Queensland and in other states and territories. You can find out more information here.

I wish you an enjoyable and refreshing holiday.

Yesterday’s State Budget confirmed the capital funding promised for the non-government sector during last year’s election.

Capital funding for non-state schools will be $117 million, which represents a $16 million increase over the previous year.

Recurrent funding for non-state schools will rise to $790 million in 2021-22 in line with the Queensland bilateral agreement with the Australian Government.

The Catholic sector’s share of funding is determined in line with our sector’s share of student numbers.

More details of the budget are outlined in Circular 2021/060 issued earlier today.

The Commission held its June meeting yesterday and considered a number of current and ongoing issues affecting our sector.

I updated Commission members on the significant legal action being taken by the Copyright Agency against all school sectors, including all state and territory Commissions.  The litigation is about the way in which information is collected to determine the use of hard copy and electronic material in schools.

The Commission also endorsed updated Position Statements – Access to Catholic Schools during Election Campaigns and Educating for Sustainable Futures in Queensland Catholic Schools. These statements will be available on the QCEC website here.

The Commission also received the mid-year report on the operation of the QCEC Secretariat, reflecting the broad range of work carried out.

I am pleased to announce that this year more than 150 nominations were received from Catholic school communities for the Spirit of Catholic Education Awards.

The awards highlight the important work being undertaken by staff, parents, carers and volunteers who support Catholic school students across Queensland.

Nominees, including nine teams, have been recognised across several categories for excellence in their work, leadership, service, initiative and their drive to create positive change for students.

You can find the names of all nominees for the 2021 Spirit of Catholic Education Awards on the Catholic Education Week website here.

Certificates for all nominees will be provided to schools and offices for presentation during Catholic Education Week in Term 3.

This year’s award recipients will be announced in the coming weeks. Thank you for your ongoing support of these awards.

QCEC Director Education, Yvonne Ries, attended the recent official opening of San Damiano College, Yarrabilba, alongside the Executive Director of Brisbane Catholic Education, Pam Betts.

The new co-educational secondary college opened this year with three Year 7 classes and will continue to expand each year until 2026 when the first cohort of Year 12 students graduate.

To find out more about San Damiano College click here.

The Queensland College of Teachers will offer professional development opportunities for Catholic school staff throughout July. 

The Supervising Teachers and Train the Trainer Course will run across two days with the first day focusing on developing the skills of teachers supervising pre-service teachers. This day would suit any teacher interested in supervising a pre-service teacher who would like to strengthen their skills to ensure they deliver a supportive and engaging experience for their practicum student.

The second day is designed to give participants the skills to go back to their relevant schools and deliver the Supervising Teacher Training (day one) within their own schools. Participation in day two is recommended for experienced teachers and/or leaders who would be confident to deliver the program themselves. It is expected that these participants receive the support of their Principal or Deputy Principal.

The course will be held on 20 and 21 July at the ACU Leadership and Education Centre, Brisbane, from 9am to 3pm.

Please register by 9 July here or contact QCEC Education Officer, Hannah Orchard, via email at hannaho@qcec.catholic.edu.au.

On 10 June, ACARA staff Joe Sombono and Fiona Hornung spoke with the QCEC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Network to discuss proposed revisions to the Australian Curriculum.

The purpose of the discussion was to highlight the changes which have been proposed in response to feedback for a greater focus on including First Nations’ voice and experience in the curriculum.

ACARA talked through specific proposed changes which have been made to content descriptors, content elaborations, and a proposed in-depth history unit.

Representatives from Catholic School Authorities who were unable to attend the meeting can view the recording here.

More than 30 staff and board members from eight Queensland Catholic schools attended the Board Matters course for RI/PJP schools at the ACU Leadership and Education Centre in Brisbane this week.
 
The course was held for school leadership and board members to learn more about the roles, responsibilities and relationships between the Principal, Chair and School Board.

Participants completed a pre-workshop survey to ensure the event was specifically tailored to their needs.

The event was supported by QCEC and funded by the Australian Government’s Non-Government Reform Support Fund.

During Term 2, QCEC staff hosted around 40 cross-school moderation sessions for Catholic schools across Queensland to assist in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on Students with Disability (NCCD).

The NCCD captures the ongoing work undertaken by teachers and school staff throughout the year in providing personalised learning and support for students with disability. It reflects the valuable knowledge teachers acquire about students’ educational needs and the decisions they make about how these needs can be best supported.

The NCCD moderation process is an extension of existing school moderation practices. When moderating school-based decisions for the NCCD, teachers engage in professional dialogue about students’ level of adjustment and category of disability to make decisions that are consistent, reliable and defensible. These decisions gain additional quality assurance through Cross-School moderation.

Participants attending Cross-School Moderation sessions spoke of their increased understanding of the NCCD process and their desire to share these learnings with their school.  Participant feedback also affirmed the value of having the dedicated opportunity to meet collegially with colleagues from other schools to support and affirm their decisions.

Cross-sector moderation sessions in conjunction with the Queensland Department of Education and Independent Schools Queensland have also been conducted across Queensland throughout the second term. Schools are preparing their final data reports leading up to the 6 August census.

View the NCCD Cross-School Moderation gallery below.

More than 50 senior school leadership staff from 16 RI/PJP schools across Queensland gathered last week for the National School Improvement Tool (NSIT) course.

The Brisbane-based course on 10 and 11 June was hosted by the Australian Council for Educational Research in collaboration with QCEC. The course was designed to assist schools to review and reflect on their efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Participants also gained an insight on how to use the NSIT framework to conduct an evaluation of their school. The workshop also consisted of modelling pedagogical approaches as well as interactive activities and discussions.

This course was fully funded by the Australian Government’s Non-Government Reform Support Fund with no cost to participants or their schools.

I would like to congratulate Tameika Grist on her new appointment as Principal of St Mary’s College, Maryborough commencing in Term 1, 2022.

Tameika is currently the Acting Principal at St Mary’s College, Maryborough, and her past leadership experience includes Head of School (Secondary) at Xavier Catholic College Hervey Bay, Director of Pedagogy at St Mary’s College, Hobart, and Deputy Head of Junior School at St Mary’s College, Hobart.

Photo source: St Mary's College, Maryborough website

Congratulations to Paul Lucas OAM from Townsville Catholic Education who received the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to primary education.

Paul was a long-serving principal within the Townsville Diocese and currently works as an environmental consultant working with teachers at TCEO’s environmental education centre Gumburu.

Read more about Paul’s work in this article from the Catholic Leader.

The Australian Early Development Census data collection will end on Friday, 25 June.

 The 2021 collection is particularly important to measure any impacts of COVID-19 and inform future planning.

If you need assistance to complete, please contact aedc@qed.qld.gov.au or visit the AEDC website here.

The QCT TEACHX Awards celebrate the outstanding contributions of teachers in Queensland.

Every year, teachers from across all sectors and early childhood centres are nominated to share their stories and inspire colleagues.  In recent years, Catholic schools have been under-represented in nominations.

I encourage Catholic school communities to consider nominating outstanding teachers who excel in their roles in the following categories:

• Beginning - recognition for inspirational teachers with up to four years' experience.
• Excellence - recognition for inspirational Queensland teachers.
• Innovation - recognition for the ground-breaking work of teachers and school leaders in schools and early learning centres across Queensland.
• Leadership – recognition for classroom teachers or school administrators who have taken a leading role in enhancing teaching and learning in their school.
• Community - recognition for inspirational teachers who are the heart of the school community.
• Outstanding - recognition for teachers and school administrators with an outstanding history of service.

Please note entries will close in the school holidays on Friday, 9 July. Winners will be announced in conjunction with World Teachers’ Day in October.

This is an important way in which we can highlight the quality of teaching and learning taking place in Catholic schools.

To submit a nomination online, click here.