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12 CatholicOutlook August 2010
Catholic school funding – the facts
There have been mixed messages in the media about school funding. Here are
the facts about the way funding is provided to Catholic schools in Australia.
• Catholic schools have been providing
a quality Catholic education for
Australian children for 190 years.
• There are approximately 1,700
Catholic schools in Australia with an
enrolment of almost 704,000 students.
• In the Diocese of Parramatta there
are 77 systemic Catholic schools
serving more than 41,000 students.
• In Australia, the Catholic school
system employs more than 78,000
teachers and staff. This is more people
than the entire Australian workforce
involved in the manufacturing of
motor vehicles, or the same number
of people employed across every
department store in Australia.
• There are more than 4,000 teachers
and staff working in Catholic systemic
schools in the Diocese of Parramatta.
• Catholic school students receive
PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS PER SCHOOLING SECTOR
66%
14%
20%
AVERAGE RESOURCING LEVELS GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
AND AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS *
Funding per student
$12,000
$10,000
$8,000
$6,000
$4,000
$2,000
$0
100%
$12,639
GOVT
85%
$3,059
$2,012
$5,673
CATHOLIC
significantly less government funding
than students in government schools.
• Some of this gap is made up by
contributions from parents and
parishes through tuition fees, levies
and fundraising, however, Catholic
schools keep fees as low as possible
so they are affordable for families.
• No child is ever refused
enrolment because of a family’s
inability to pay school fees.
• Catholic systemic schools in the
Diocese of Parramatta offer sibling
discounts to all families, and fee
concessions and scholarships are
available for families in financial need.
• On average, Australian Catholic
schools operate at about 85% of
the resourcing level of government
schools, even when parent
contributions are taken into account.
Catholic school students make up 26% of total
student population in the Diocese of Parramatta
■ Other non-government schools 14%
■ Catholic schools 20%
■ Government schools 66%
76% in Catholic
systemic schools
in the Diocese of
Parramatta as
parent contribution
is $1,965
* National Report
on Schooling 2008
Published 2010 – Information and graphs supplied by the National Catholic Education Commission
■
■
■
■
State and federal funding
Federal funding
State funding
Parent contributions
Catholic schools brave the cold for Vinnies’ Winter Appeal
Catholic schools across the Diocese have held
fundraising events for the St Vincent de Paul
Society’s Winter Appeal to support the thousands
of Australians who will be homeless this winter.
Teachers from Terra Sancta College, Schofields,
and Holy Cross Primary, Glenwood, raised money
and awareness in their schools by sleeping out in
their school halls. St Mary’s Primary, Rydalmere,
Holy Trinity Primary, Granville, and Holy Cross
Primary, Glenwood, each held Pyjama Days
where the students were able to support the
campaign by wearing their pyjamas to school for
Nagle College knits blankets for Wrap with Love
Year 11 students, Allyson Gray and Hannah
Farrell, enjoy their lunchtime knitting
Holy Family Primary recognised for environmental initiatives
Holy Family Primary, Luddenham, has been
recognised in a local environmental project run
by the Penrith Lakes Development Corporation.
More than 80 primary and secondary schools
in the Penrith region entered the Penrith
Lakes Schools’ Environmental Competition,
which required students to describe their
school’s environmental initiatives in a 1000-
word entry. Holy Family’s submission outlined
the environmentally friendly practices at
the school such as the collection and use of
rainwater for toilet flushing, low energy lights,
solar panels and their water recycling plant.
Holy Family was one of three schools that
were awarded $1,000.
St Mary’s students enjoyed the pyjama day
to raise funds for the Winter Appeal
a gold coin donation. Students from Our Lady Queen of Peace Primary, Greystanes, and Emmaus
College, Kemps Creek, also donated items such as blankets, canned food and clothing.
Marco Torres shows students at Our Lady
Queen of Peace the basics of filmmaking
using various digital technologies
Nagle College, Blacktown South, participated in
the ABC 702 radio station’s annual Wrap with
Love project, which aims to provide knitted
blankets for thousands of people living in
poverty or homelessness around the world.
Thanks to the efforts of about 20 students and
donations from their friends and families, Nagle
College has so far produced close to 70 patches,
which will be joined to make blankets for
homeless people around Australia. The knitting
campaign will run across ABC local radio until
the end of July when donations in NSW will be
collected by Rotary NSW.
Innovative US educator inspires students and teachers
Mini Vinnies groups tackle social justice issues
Primary students from Catholic schools in the
Diocese of Parramatta and the Archdiocese of
Sydney participated in Mini Vinnies Gatherings
held recently at the Australian Catholic University
in Strathfield. Mini Vinnies, which is run across
Australia by the St Vincent de Paul Society, aims
to create awareness among young students about
social justice issues in their local community
and beyond. Students from Parramatta
diocesan schools – St Thomas Aquinas Primary,
Springwood, Holy Cross Primary, Glenwood,
St Michael’s Primary, Baulkham Hills, Mary
Immaculate Primary, Quakers Hill, and St Patrick’s
The environmental team responsible
for submitting the winning entry
During May, innovative US educator Marco
Torres visited Our Lady Queen of Peace Primary,
Greystanes, the Catholic Learning Community
of Blessed John XXIII, Stanhope Gardens, and
the Aengus Kavanagh Centre, Mt Druitt, to lead
challenge-based learning and digital storymaking
workshops for teachers and students.
Marco is internationally renowned for his work
in helping students enhance their learning
through the mastery of multimedia and digital
learning tools. Staff and students learned the
basics of filmmaking. The teachers were shown
how to take key aspects of the curriculum and
create a storyboard then bring the learning to
life through a short film.
Students learn about social justice issues
in the Mini Vinnies workshops
Primary, Blacktown – participated in workshops where they learned about social justice issues
including refugees, homelessness, outreach, justice and peace, and disability issues.
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