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- Acting Executive Director
- Bishop James Foley retirement
- Teacher Workforce Shortages
- Commission meeting
- RI PJP Principals meeting
- Catholic Secondary Principals Association of Queensland
- 2022 QCEC ICT Online Symposium
- Treaty Advancement Committee Report
- QATSIF Scholarship Graduation
- Queensland Catholic Schools’ and Colleges’ Music Festival
- Hermitage Schools Plant Science Competition
- New principal
- World Teachers' Day Queensland
- QCEC Events
- Circulars
This week marks a major milestone in the history of the Catholic Church in Cairns, with the retirement of long-serving Bishop, James Foley.
Bishop James has been a dedicated servant of the Catholic community in Far North Queensland for 30 years and has always shown a great interest in Catholic education, and particularly the Catholic schools operating in the Cairns Diocese. Bishop James has shown an obvious commitment to the young people of the diocese – in terms of both their education and spiritual formation – since his ordination as Bishop in 1992. Much has happened and changed since then, but Bishop James has been a constant source of wisdom and encouragement and a great contributor to Catholic education, including his past service as a Member of the Commission.
After his final Mass last Sunday evening, Bishop James was congratulated and thanked for all he has done, and he ceremonially laid his crozier on the altar of St Monica's Cathedral, signifying the end of his formal role in the Cairns Diocese.
The Catholic education community sincerely thanks Bishop James for his guidance and stewardship over three decades, and we pray that he has a happy and healthy retirement.
The Vicar for Education and Parish Priest of Innisfail, Fr Kerry Crowley, has been named by Pope Francis to be the Administrator of the Diocese until a new Bishop is selected.
Photo source: FacebookOn 8 August 2022 the Education Minister, the Hon Jason Clare MP, released an Issues Paper on Teacher Workforce Shortages ahead of a national meeting of Education Minsters on 12 August 2022.
The first half of this meeting was a Teacher Workforce Roundtable focussed on tackling the nationwide teacher shortage. The Roundtable included principals, teachers, academics, and education experts. The roundtable was held prior to a national Jobs and Skills Summit in September so that ideas generated could be fed into those discussions.
The Roundtable and Issues Paper both identified that supply and retention challenges in the teaching profession are a result of a variety of factors including declining numbers of new graduate teachers, increasing demand from a growing student population and an ageing teacher and leadership workforce. These have been exacerbated by the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic including changes to Australia’s skilled migration.
The Issues Paper identified that some of the main drivers of teacher shortages include the status of the teaching profession and workload issues. Initial Teacher Education (ITE) was discussed with reference to ensuring there is a future pipeline of teachers who are of a suitable standard and are available when and where needed; recognising that ITE policies on funding, program costs, enrolment targets and benchmarks may need further consideration.
The Roundtable provided an opportunity for Ministers to hear directly from a broad range of education sector representatives in relation to the current causes and factors impacting increasing teacher workforce shortages. Discussion focused on:
- Initial Teacher Education programs, graduate retention rates and the best approach to university practicum placements,
- workload and work intensification issues within the teaching profession.
- strategies to reduce the burden of increasing compliance requirements (including but not limited to Nationally Consistent Collection of Data compliance)
- the importance of teacher wellbeing and professional development.
After the Roundtable Federal, State and Territory Ministers agreed to develop a national action plan, to be considered and agreed in December 2022.
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Around 60 registered participants joined online to attend the QCEC ICT Online Symposium last week.
The symposium was designed for Queensland Catholic education sector representatives with a focus on national education initiatives enabled by technology.
Overall feedback from the day was very positive and I would like to thank all QCEC staff who invested their time and effort to ensure the event was such a success.
The Queensland Government held their Path to Treaty event on 16 August.
The event celebrated the release of the Treaty Advancement Committee Report and the Queensland Government’s response which outlined the next steps in the path to treaty journey to create a new future between First nations and non-Indigenous Queenslanders.
Read the Queensland Government Response to the Treaty Advancement Committee Report here.
Image source: Queensland Government website
Read LessRecently QCEC Education Officer Dr Shannon O’Gorman attended the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation (QATSIF) Scholarship Graduation Ceremony for 2022.
QATSIF currently supports over 3,900 Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Year 11 and 12 students with their QCE and QCIA (For students with a verified disability) studies, many of whom attend Queensland Catholic schools.
Congratulations to all the 2022 recipients and their families.
Image: Mt Alvernia College students with QCEC Education Officer Dr Shannon O’Gorman
Read LessThank you to the many Queensland Catholic school communities who participated in the Queensland Catholic Schools’ and Colleges’ Music Festival (QCMF) from 11-14 August.
The QCMF was hosted by Villanova College, Coorparoo and each year showcases outstanding music education across Queensland Catholic schools, covering a range of genres within the classical and contemporary styles.
QCEC is a proud sponsor of this event. For more information visit QCMF on Facebook or alternatively, check out the photo gallery below.
Congratulations to Christine Ioannides who has been appointed Principal of Good Shepherd Primary School, Springfield Lakes, commencing January 2023.
Christine is currently Acting Principal of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Primary School, Darra and has a strong leadership background across Catholic education in Queensland.
As we welcome Christine to her new role, I would also like to thank the current principal, Judith Seery, for her ongoing commitment to the sector with more than 50 years' experience in Catholic education across Australia. Judith will continue in her role until her retirement at the end of 2022.
Image: Christine Ioannides (source - Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Darra)
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World Teachers’ Day (WTD) Queensland will be celebrated on Friday 28 October and is a great opportunity to recognise and thank teachers for the encompassing roles they play in Catholic schools.
This year’s theme is ‘Teaching through every moment’. How will you celebrate WTD this year? We look forward to sharing your stories on social media alongside the hashtag #wtdqld2022.
