eBulletin3_2011 - Catholic Education Office

Please submityour articles for thenext Bulletin byArticle10 June 2011TitleBER OpeningsThroughout this year I have been delighted to attend anumber of openings of Building the Education Revolution(BER ) projects. At each of these openings I have made thepoint that our schools could not be more pleased with theboost that the BER has given them. As students proudlyshow me around their new hall or their new library orperhaps their newly refurbished classrooms I am in awe ofhow well spent every dollar has been and how far every lastcent has been stretched. The media has sought to malignthe BER as a waste of funds and a rort, but I invite anyreporter or politician or skeptic to step through the doorsof a Catholic school in the Archdiocese to see how well thePlanning and Facilities Team at the CEO, School Principalsand Staff, School Boards and Councils and the relevantarchitects and builders have efficiently and economicallydesigned and built facilities for school life and learning inthe 21st century.NAPLAN 2011May also sees the advent of NAPLAN and our schools arenow well used to the regimen of testing that applies tostudents in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. We rely very heavily on thedata from NAPLAN and particularly on the longitudinaldata to inform the professional learning that teachers needin order to improve educational outcomes. NAPLAN is justa small and incomplete picture of an individual student’sachievement but it is a very important picture when wholecohort and whole school results are analysed.CEO Strategic PlanningJust as schools are already looking to enrol students for 2012,so too is the CEO looking to 2012 and beyond. The nextstage of Strategic Planning, 2012 – 2014, has commencedand we will be seeking input from members of the Catholiceducational community. One aspect that we will be refiningover the next few years is the Religious Accreditation ofstaff teaching in our schools. With the other Dioceses inNSW we will be seeking to institute a common baselineof expectations and qualifications for everyone involvedin a Catholic school and then a progressive standard of REqualifications for teachers seeking promotion positions.Throughout May we celebrate Mary, Mother of God. Manyschools held special mother and grandmother breakfastsand morning teas during Catholic Schools Week and intheir prayers they remembered all mothers but particularlyMary. Jesus, dying in agony on the Cross, said to St John,“This is your mother”, and in doing so he was not merelyentrusting Mary to John’s care but also making Mary thespiritual mother of all followers of Christ.In our Catholic Schools Prayer we pray to Jesus, that :May our Mother, Mary,guide our footsteps as sheguided yours.and in this month of Mary we echo these words that wemake in faith, in trust and in hope.Moria NajdeckiDirectorTHE BULLETIN EDITION 1, 3, 2011 12