The new federal ministry was announced last night, including the new Minister for Education and minsters in a number of other portfolios relevant to Catholic education.

The new federal Education Minister is Jason Clare who represents the western Sydney seat of Blaxland. The Minister has held portfolios including Defence and Home Affairs in previous Labor governments from 2011-2013. NCEC has congratulated Minister Clare in a media release available here.

The Prime Minister has named Queensland Senator Anthony Chisholm as Assistant Minister for Education. We look forward to continuing to work with Senator Chisholm in his new role.

Other appointments of interest are Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth Dr Anne Aly, and Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Connor.

Image L-R: Hon Brendan O'Connor MP, Sen. the Hon. Anthony Chisholm, Hon Dr Anne Aly MP and Hon Jason Clare MP (source: aph.gov.au).

The Bishops Commission for Catholic Education (BCCE) was elected by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference at the Plenary meeting in May.

As reported by the National Catholic Education Commission, Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher OP, will continue in the role of BCCE chairman while re-elected member Bishop of Wagga Wagga, Mark Edwards OMI will continue on the Commission with new members Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Daniel Meagher and Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne, Tony Ireland.

Bishop Meagher and Bishop Ireland will replace outgoing members, Bishop of Bunbury, Gerard Holohan, and Bishop of Rockhampton, Michael McCarthy. However, Bishop McCarthy remains a member of the Queensland Commission.

Queensland Catholic School communities have been celebrating National Reconciliation Week (NRW) from 27 May through to this Friday 3 June.

This year’s theme Be Brave. Make Change. challenges the community and organisations to take action to learn about shared histories and cultures while exploring how to achieve reconciliation in Australia.

There have also been many events in Catholic schools over the last week where this challenge has been taken up and students and staff have explored First Nations history and culture. Some of them are captured in the photo gallery below.

Last week as part of NRW, QCEC was invited to attend the unveiling of Queensland’s first dedicated State Indigenous war memorial in ANZAC Square in Brisbane.

It was a beautiful ceremony attended by many guests including First Nations Elders, veterans, Australian Defence Force representatives and community members and school students.

This year more than 160 Spirit of Catholic Education (SOCE) Awards nominations were received from Queensland Catholic school communities.

The SOCE Awards are presented annually in conjunction with Catholic Education Week to celebrate outstanding contributions to Catholic education in Queensland. Nominees, including nine teams, have been recognised for excellence in their work, leadership, service, initiative and creating positive change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

My congratulations to all those who have been nominated this year and thank you to everyone who took the time to submit nominations and to the members of the judging panels who have a difficult task in deciding the final recipients. A list of all nominees for the 2022 Awards is available on the Catholic Education Week website here.

Today I attended a meeting of the Queensland Workforce Strategy Consultation Group to discuss the proposed elements of the draft Queensland Workforce Strategy.

The draft strategy was developed from outcomes of the Workforce Summit in March which addressed current and future workforce challenges in Queensland and how they can be overcome to encourage future growth across Queensland businesses, communities and regions.

Of particular interest to our sector is the goal to improve school to work experiences and to ensure that successful partnerships between schools and industry go hand in hand with quality career advice, work experience and work readiness.

I would like to thank more than 80 Queensland Catholic school staff and presenters who attended the QCEC VET Forum on 19 and 20 May.

The event, themed Destination Career, was a great success and provided attendees with the opportunity to participate in industry site visits and learn more about career pathways and industry engagement.

Minister for Training and Skills Development, Hon. Di Farmer MP, opened the event and spoke on future opportunities for Queensland VET students while additional presenters covered topics including gender diversity in the industry and the Prep to Year 12 approach to career education and pathways planning.   

Fifteen Queensland Catholic school teachers attended Supervising Teacher Training at the ACU Leadership and Education Centre in Brisbane yesterday.

The Professional Development (PD) event was delivered by the Queensland College of Teachers, in conjunction with QCEC, and was designed for teachers interested in supervising a pre-service teacher. The aim of the training is to strengthen their skills to ensure they deliver a fair and valuable experience for their student teacher.  Participants also included some Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher aspirants interested in better understanding the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers to support them in their HALT application journey.

Supervising Teacher Training is one of a series of free PD events hosted by QCT in conjunction with QCEC this year. To register for an upcoming online event, click on the links below.
 
1 June 2022 – Transitioning to Full Registration and Registering your Practice
19 July 2022 – Professional Boundaries
3 August 2022 – Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: a whole school approach

This activity is supported by funding from the Australian Government's Non-Government Reform Support Fund.

Earlier this week QCEC Director Education, Yvonne Ries, and I had an introductory meeting with Australian Catholic University’s (ACU) new Dean of Education, Faculty of Education and Arts, Professor Mary Ryan.

The meeting was an opportunity to welcome Mary and congratulate her on her appointment. As Professor Ryan is based at ACU’S North Sydney campus it was very pleasing that she has taken time to visit and lay the foundations for a strong ongoing partnership with Queensland Catholic education. Professor Ryan is also engaging directly with many Catholic School Authorities in Queensland to better understand and respond to the particular needs of our schools.

I was also pleased to welcome Professor Donna King, National Head, ACU School of Education and Associate Professor Miriam Tanti, ACU Associate Dean, Partnerships.

Image L-R: Yvonne Ries and Dr Lee-Anne Perry AM (QCEC) and Mary Ryan, Miriam Tanti and Donna King (ACU)

The Official Blessing and Opening of Mackay’s newest Catholic secondary school, Catherine McAuley College, took place last Friday.

Bishop of Rockhampton, The Most Reverend Michael McCarthy DD, conducted the Blessing ceremony and liturgy, and the college was officially opened by Member for Mackay, Julianne Gilbert MP, representing the Queensland State Government, and Director of Catholic Education Diocese of Rockhampton Leesa Jeffcoat AM.

Representatives of the Sisters of Mercy, who have a long association with Catholic education in Mackay, were also present for the opening of the college which is named in honour of their founder.

Catherine McAuley College is the first Catholic college to open in the Diocese of Rockhampton for over 20 years.

Congratulations to Peter Pashen who has been appointed as Principal of St Martin’s Primary School, Carina, commencing in 2023.

Peter is currently the Principal at Stella Maris School, Maroochydore, and he has a wealth of experience in leadership positions spanning Catholic schools throughout Queensland.

Image: Peter Pashen (source – Stella Maris School website)

The National Catholic Education Conference to be held in Melbourne from 4-7 September.

The conference will provide a significant formation experience for those involved in Catholic education, including bishops and clergy, diocesan education directors and staff, school principals and leaders, teachers, parents and students, to come together to network and share ideas and practice relevant to our work and mission.

Early bird tickets will close on 17 June, and you can view the preliminary program here. Attendees have the option of attending both virtually or in-person at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. To register click here.

#HATCHAT and #LEADFEED Session
Queensland Catholic school teachers aspiring to certification will have the opportunity to meet some of Queensland’s Highly Accomplished and Lead Catholic teachers online next week. QCEC will host the next online #HATCHAT #LEADFEED session on Tuesday 7 June from 3.30-4.30pm to give aspirants the chance to hear the individual stories of certified teachers, ask questions and gain tips for their own certification journey. To find out more and register click here.

Senior External Assessment
Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) will speak with the Queensland Catholic sector in a dedicated session focussing on external assessment at 3.15pm on 14 June. This online opportunity will feature a presentation from QCAA on external assessment processes and learnings from the first years running external assessment in Queensland. The event will also incorporate masterclasses, which give teachers the opportunity to share their learnings from marking external assessment pieces to assist with the preparation of students and teachers. To register click here.

Student Protection In-Service Day
The QCEC Student Protection In-Service Day will be held on Friday 22 July at the ACU Leadership and Education Centre in Brisbane. The In-Service Day gives participants the opportunity to find out about the latest information on student protection and strategies for keeping children safe. In-person or online attendance options are available and further details about the agenda and registrations is available here.

ICT Symposium
QCEC will host the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Symposium on Thursday 18 August from 9am – 3.30pm in Brisbane. The event will focus on national education initiatives enabled by technology such as the Schools Unique Student Identifier (USI) developments and National Assessment Program (NAP) improvements. The final program and registration details will be provided early in Term 3.

Missed a Circular? Below is a list of Circulars that have been issued recently. Use your login to access them.   

2022 Circulars

053     QCEC ICT Symposium Date Claimer
054     Feedback on QCT proposal regarding 10 year renewal of Certification for Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers
055     Change to Catholic Education Week Launch Schedule
056     Ed-LinQ – Gaming and Screen Use in Students (4-hour workshop)
057     Review of QCEC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Position Statement
058     2022 Spirit of Catholic Education Awards Nominees