From the Director’s Desk When I first began teaching at Kinglake Primary School in Victoria, there were three terms, and a six to seven week break over Christmas. Today it is a connual roll out of four terms, and at mes it is difficult to tell when one finishes and another begins. However, pupil departs remind us that the year is nearly finished. Across our schools in 2009 many significant events have taken place. Firstly, the introducon of the School Improvement and Renewal Framework (SIRF) and its implementaon has been significant. Our shared goal is to improve school effecveness, and this won’t happen in the CEO, it must happen in schools. Another project of significance has been the introducon of funding for schools for the renewal of their signs and symbols of our Catholic Tradion and we are looking forward to the implementaon of these creave ideas in 2010. A further achievement has been a major focus in Pastoral Care & Wellbeing with a focus on Occupaonal Health and Safety. In expressing thanks to all staff in Catholic Educaon I reiterate the key principles that drive us: schools exist for students and staff are our best asset and our work has the capacity to change lives. I wish you and your families safe travels over the holiday season. God bless you and thank you for your efforts. Michael Avery Doodle 4 Google Gabriel Emblard from St Paul’s School is the Year 4-6 Northern Territory State winner of Google’s Doodle 4 Google compeon. Google has asked young people from across Australia to design their own doodle with the winning doodle to be used as the logo on Google’s website on Australian Day 2010. The theme for this year is, ‘My wish for Australia.’ Gabriel’s wish is that we are more peaceful and that the outback of Australia is not covered in buildings or development. Out of thousands of entries Gabriel’s drawing was chosen by judges Ken Done, Anne Gedes and Hugh Evans as one of the best 32 entries in the country. Gabriel won an all expenses paid trip to Sydney for the naonal ceremony. Congratulaons Gabriel, this is an absolutely wonderful achievement!
Transcript
From the Director’s Desk When I first began teaching at Kinglake Primary School in Victoria, there were three terms, and a six to seven week break over Christmas. Today it is a continual roll out of four terms, and at times it is difficult to tell when one finishes and another begins. However, pupil departs remind us that the year is nearly finished.
Across our schools in 2009 many significant events have taken place. Firstly, the introduction of the School Improvement and Renewal Framework (SIRF) and its implementation has been significant. Our shared goal is to improve school effectiveness, and this won’t happen in the CEO, it must happen in schools. Another project of significance has been the introduction of funding for schools for the renewal of their signs and symbols of our Catholic Tradition and we are looking forward to the implementation of these creative ideas in 2010. A further achievement has been a major focus in Pastoral Care & Wellbeing with a focus on Occupational Health and Safety.
In expressing thanks to all staff in Catholic Education I reiterate the key principles that drive us: schools exist for students and staff are our best asset and our work has the capacity to change lives. I wish you and your families safe travels over the holiday season. God bless you and thank you for your efforts.
Michael Avery
Doodle 4 GoogleGabriel Emblard from St Paul’s School is the Year 4-6 Northern Territory State winner of Google’s Doodle 4 Google competition.
Google has asked young people from across Australia to design their own doodle with the winning doodle to be used as the logo on Google’s website on Australian Day 2010.
The theme for this year is, ‘My wish for Australia.’ Gabriel’s wish is that we are more peaceful and that the outback of Australia is not covered in buildings or development.
Out of thousands of entries Gabriel’s drawing was chosen by judges Ken Done, Anne Gedes and Hugh Evans as one of the best 32 entries in the country.
Gabriel won an all expenses paid trip to Sydney for the national ceremony. Congratulations Gabriel, this is an absolutely wonderful achievement!
A Sacred MissionSacred Heart Primary School held a Mission Fair on Friday 6th November to raise money for Catholic Missions to support their projects around the world.
Food and drinks were for sale, as well as activities including, water balloons, karaoke, face painting, treasure hunts in slime buckets and a spooky haunted house!
A grand total of $1817 was raised on the day which was a fantastic effort. A big thank you goes out to school families and staff for supporting the mission fair with many generous donations.
Sacred Heart is also raising money for missions through moneyboxes and ‘Sacred Heart Kids Care’ wrist-bands. Keep up the good work!
Celebrating O’LoughlinIn 1987, Bishop John O’Loughlin had the vision to build a Secondary School in Darwin’s Northern Sub-urbs. Each year, in November, O’Loughlin College celebrates the anniversary of Bishop O’Loughlin’s death, in 1985, and remembers this great man.
This year the staff and students of O’Loughlin Catholic College, celebrated mass at St Mary’s Cathedral with Bishop Eugene Hurley and Fr. Simon Wayte and remembered Bishop O’Loughlin through the celebration of the Eucharist together. This was a time to look back on history and on the growth of the College, to reflect on each one’s story and to thank God for Bishop O’Loughlin and all those who have worked so hard to establish the College.
After mass staff and students returned to the College where the celebrations continued with a fun fair. The fair included a delicious BBQ lunch and a variety of games and activities. The day was finished off with a traditional O’Loughlin Catholic College Talent Quest where the spirit of O’Loughlin Catholic College continued!
The Countdown Begins!On October 29th, 23 pilgrims from eight schools, the Catholic Education Office and St Vincent de Paul gathered at the Catholic Education Office to finalise the preparations for their pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Rome and to collect their study tour jackets for the cold temperatures that await them. With only a few weeks before departure the pilgrims are starting to count down to the trip of a life time!
The staff at the Catholic Education Office wish the pilgrims well and look forward to listening to the stories of their journey’s through Nain, Mt Tabor, Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee on their return. Good Luck!
going..going..
green!
Time to RememberOn the 11th of November at 11am Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School gathered as a school community to acknowledge the significance of Remembrance Day. The service was led by Miss Caoimhe and the senior students
The celebration is one of two special rituals held at Holy Spirit School to remember and honour all the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for all Australians.
Major Chris Delaney shared with the community the significance of the red poppy and the story behind the Flanders Fields poem. Each class prepared an exhibit of poppies that they lay at the base of the Australian flag.
We thank Major Delaney for supporting the community in deepening our aware-ness and knowledge of significant events that have become part of our traditions.
it takes 1 litre of water to make 3 sheets of A4 paper...
think before you print!
T&L UpdateIt is hard to believe that 2009 is drawing to a close. Once again we have so many to thank and so much to be thankful for.
A review of the CEO Calendar of Events, the CEO Annual Report and the scope and extent of activity that has taken place in and across our system of schools is testament to the hard work and dedication of many. To those staff responsible for the care of students and for the provision of quality teaching and learning that occurs in our classrooms daily, we give thanks.
The plethora of educational activity, professional learning, planning, re-porting, network attendance, program implementation, submission writing, on-going advocacy and connectivity that have taken place throughout the year continues to amaze me.
Catholic Education Northern Territory is responding to the Commonwealth Government’s ‘Education Revolution’ and the national agenda including NAPLAN, National Curriculum and more recently National Partnerships.
Much work and activity has continued throughout 2009 in response to both
the Northern Territory and Commonwealth gov-ernments’ emergency
response / intervention. In many respects it has
been an amazingly busy and unique period for all involved in education in the NT if not, all of Australia.
What my diary does not clearly display or articulate is the amazing work going in our classrooms - our core business, engaging our students in their learning. To our teaching staff and all school staff that support the work of our teachers I thank you very much.
Ultimately everything that is done, every lesson that is planned, every meeting that is attended, every professional learning session that is conducted and every decision that is made, is for the children in our care, the students in our classrooms and communities.
I thank each member of the CEO Teaching and Learning Team for their professional and personal support of staff in our schools. Each member of the team is often called to wear a variety of hats, and undertake a range of roles and tasks which they embrace willingly. I highly value and appreciate the work, commitment and service of the Teaching and Learning Team.
In particular I would like to thank Emma Worm who joined the CEO at the beginning of 2009. Emma has been working in the area of Health and Wellbeing across our system of schools. Emma will be joining St Paul’s
Catholic Primary School in 2010. I thank Emma for her contributions and wish her all the very best for next year and beyond.
I would also like to thank Jacqui Langdon, who after two years in the CEO and many years at Holy Fam-ily Catholic Primary School has been appointed as Acting Principal at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School for 2010.
It has been a privilege to work with Jacqui and I thank her for the out-standing leadership she has given to our system of schools especially in the areas of strategic planning, school renewal and significant national proj-ects. It is with great delight that Emma and Jacqui continue to work in Catho-lic Education here in the NT.
I wish all of our school communities a safe, happy and holy Christmas. May the Christmas period be a time of family, friends, rest and renewal. I hope and pray that 2010 is filled with joy, good will, optimism and promise.
God Bless
Brenda Keenan
Deputy Director Teaching and Learning
Middle Years Take OffAs part of the 2009 Australian Government Quality Teacher Program (AGQTP), the Catholic Education Middle Years net-work developed a professional learning community focused on Authentic eLearning in the Middle Years. With a focus on ICT and providing opportunities for teacher learning, the main aim of this professional learning community has been to encourage Middle Years teachers (yrs 5-9) to embed this learning into their common classroom practice.
The funding received for this project enabled 12 teachers to travel to the 6th International Conference of the Middle Years of Schooling Association held in Brisbane during May. The focus of the conference was “Connecting in the Middle Years – Switch on! Jump in! Take Off!” The middle years teachers who attended were incredibly motivated and couldn’t wait to get back to their schools to try out some new uses in ICT and engage their students.
The professional learning from the conference and ongoing classroom trials was further extended recently when the con-ference delegates shared some of their learning with a broader audience of middle years teachers from other Catholic Schools.
Presenters covered topics ranging from Movie making, Wikis, Blogs, Widgets, Google Groups and Cyber safety. They gave many practical suggestions to enable teachers to engage students in ICT friendly learning environments including the reality of the chal-lenges that often accompany these new advances in technology!
Action LearningThe showcasing of Literacy and Numeracy Action Learning Projects from Early Learning Centres and Preschools were the highlight of the Strong Foun-dations Conference at Charles Darwin University, in November. School staff and CDU mentors presented digital presentations of their projects, sharing their learning journey and the success-es and challenges they faced through-out the year.
The Children’s Commissioner, Dr Howard Bath and representatives from DEEWR, NT Department of Education and Early Childhood Australia were amongst those who attended. The conference also included professional learning sessions for staff with key note presentations from Marjory Ebbeck- External Evaluator from the University of South Australia and Professor Alison Elliot, Dr Margie Maher and Dr June Slee from CDU.
Participants were thrilled to have the opportunity to hear about other Action Learning projects and to network with a range of experienced early childhood educators. School staff will continue their focus on improving literacy and numeracy outcomes in 2010 as they strengthen their partnership with CDU staff through the Strong Foundations Project.
Growing Our OwnDuring 2009 the Catholic Education Office, NT introduced the Growing Our Own Project– A two way approach to teacher preparation for Northern Territory Catholic Schools. The intent of the Growing Our Own program is to build the capacity of all staff working in Indigenous Catholic Community Schools. The students in Indigenous Catholic Community Schools need good role models and confident and skilled teacher practitioners who are going to support them in their learning.
In partnership with our Indigenous communities, Charles Darwin University and the Australian Government, it is recog-nised that local Indigenous teachers are best placed to deliver and plan Indigenous languages and culture curriculum that will best serve the needs of our children. All Indigenous Catholic Community schools have made a significant commitment to the Growing Our Own Project to improve literacy and numeracy in schools and the project continues to grow and be successful.
Curriculum FunRoz Haines the Curriculum Coordinator at OLSH Wadeye, organised an interesting, fun and informative curriculum evening this term which was attended by teachers and teaching assistants in preparation for 2010. Curriculum presentations were provided by a number of teaching staff. Teacher Linguist, Sister Tess Ward, an Indigenous staff member from the school leadership team and Francella Bunduck, spoke about the bilingual program and assessment of Murrinhpatha.
Carrie Veith, the Accelerated Literacy Program coordinator, outlined the Speaking and Listen-ing planning and teaching requirements for the program. Deputy Principal, Chris Pollard, spoke about the Integrated Studies scope and sequence 2010 and 2011 and Numeracy coordinator Bernadette McGinty presented the new maths curriculum packs developed by Ann Coffey from the Catholic Education Office.
Following the presentations everyone enjoyed dinner together and Roz then drove everyone home in the bus. The night echoed with the sounds of laughter and singing in Murrinh-patha by the teaching assistants - a lovely reflection of a successful evening.
Be InspiredJulie Andrews of Holy Family Primary School was named as a finalist in the National Excellence in Teaching Awards (NEiTA) along with nine other NT teachers.
The awards promote public recognition of the teaching pro-fession, specifically those teachers and leaders whose inspirational approach to education stimulates student learning.
The awards showcase the diversity of Australia’s teaching profession. Congratulations Julie on your inspirational work!
Tuckshop TalkThe tuckshop at Xavier College is run by two Tiwi women, Austina Tipungwuti and Cecelia Puruntatameri. This is Austina’s first year working at the tuckshop and Cecelia’s 7th. Each day the ladies come to work to prepare breakfast, morning tea and lunch for the students at Xavier. Throughout the Tiwi Islands, they are the only Tiwi people to work, run and organise the tuckshop and nutrition program for students.
Austina and Cecelia are very thankful for the support and training they have received from the community. Red cross taught them about Health & Safety and how to serve food to the students. Karen Sheldon from Karen Sheldon Catering assisted them with making menu’s as well as sausage rolls, pizza, pies, pumpkin soup and fried rice.
They also received training from James from Taminmin High School who taught them about health and safety in the kitchen. James spent two hours with them everyday after work for one week, explaining the importance of Occupational Health and Saftey and making sure the canteen is always clean and hygenic.
Additionally, Chris O’Connor, a chef from Albury in Victoria, kindly showed Austina and Cecelia some cooking skills and techniques, as well as guidance and tips on where and how to store the food.
They follow a menu to help them with cooking the meals and they change the meals every day, so the kids don’t get bored. Austina and Cecelia believe Tiwi women should work at all Tiwi Schools because the kids come to school if they get good food and they can talk to them in language. Well done Austina and Cecelia, keep up the good work!
‘celebrating 100 years of catholic education in the
northern territory’
The Catholic Education Office 2008 Annual Report
is now online
www.ceo.nt.catholic.edu.au
Wadeye to Mater ChristiIn September, 10 students and 8 staff from OLSH Thamarrurr School, Wadeye, flew to Melbourne for a week to establish a partnership with Mater Christi School in Belgrave, and to look at the possibility of the students attending the school in future years.
The students were Year 6-9 girls, and 6 of the staff were women from the schools Indigenous Leadership team. Accommodation was provided in cabins at the Belgrave Convention Centre. The students were paired with buddies in Year 10, and they spent 3 days attending classes together. They enjoyed activities such as PE, Music, Computers, Cooking, Art, Science and Social Studies.
A welcome and farewell liturgy was held at the school’s assembly where the OLSH staff and students sang songs in Murrinhpatha, and shared some traditional dancing and face-painting. Other activities enjoyed during the week were dinner with the buddy families, a trip on Puffing Billy in the Dandenongs, a visit to the MCG and Melbourne Zoo, horse-riding, lots of BBQs, shopping and music.
The week’s activities, accommodation and many of the meals were organised by two past staff from OLSH School, Pat O’Meara and Rosemary Hogan, with much support and co-operation from staff at Mater Christi. The students enjoyed sharing stories and getting to know their buddies. Staff at Mater Christi are now planning a visit to Wadeye in 2010, with the hope of renewing friendships and developing their understanding of Indigenous culture. OLSH students and staff are looking forward to this visit!
Adventurers and ExplorersThis term Ms Monty’s year 5/6 class from St Francis of Assisi Primary School went on an excursion to the Darwin Botanical Gardens. The students had a fantastic time learning about the traditional ways Indigenous people used Top End plants for food water, medicine and arts and crafts.
After the Botanic Gardens the students visited Parliament House for a guided tour where the saw paintings of the past Chief Ministers, and even got some books to take back to the school library to share with other students. The class thoroughly enjoyed the day expoloring and learning!
Well Earned R&RIn Term 3, 19 students from Murrupurtiyanuwu Catholic School, Bathurst Island, had an excursion to Darwin. The Year 5 and 6 students earned the right to go on the outing through good attendance, hard work and responsible behaviour, at school throughout the term.
Along with five staff members the children caught the ferry to Darwin on the Monday afternoon and then travelled to the caravan park where they were stayed in cabins. The group visited Crocodylus Park, the wave pool at the new Wharf Precint and went to the cinema to see the movie ‘Up’. The students also participated in an Outdoor Education Program at Lake Alexander where they participated in new and challenging activities such
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Join in the Walk Against WarmingSaturday, December 12th
5pm, Nightcliff Jetty
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as rock climbing, canoeing, life saving, orienteering, basketball, cricket and athletics.
As well as these activities the children enjoyed the opportunity to use the big trampoline and swimming pool at the caravan park; they had the tasks of shopping for their weeks supply of food at the supermarket and keeping their cabins tidy and they had the pleasure of dining at Stokes Hill Wharf and Hungry Jack’s.
The staff who accompanied the students on the excursion were extremely proud of the way they all conducted themselves and the spirit in which they participated in all aspects of the excursion. Everywhere they went the group was complimented on their good beahviour and friendliness and they were a credit to their school and families. A well earned trip!
Author Andy Amazes St Francis Xavier received a special visitor on Monday, November 23rd. Fred Hollows foundation sponsored the children’s author Andy Griffiths for a visit to the school. He spent some quality time with the staff and students.
Andy’s interesting and enthusiastic manner was a highlight for all students and staff. He told some amazing stories and drew pictures to show how much fun writing can be.
The children laughed with Andy at the fascinating stories he told. It was a great opportunity for the small community school to have a world famous author share his time with them. Thank you to the Fred Hollows Foundation and to Andy. The children can’t wait for the next visit!
LACEC FootballLtyentye Apurte Community Education Centre was lucky enough to have players from the Richmond Football Club visit the school this term.
Players from the football team travelled to Santa Teresa and spent the day with excited students from the school.
The students participated in many activities, workshops and had fun playing with the ball and learning new skills from the experienced players. They also asked their role models many questions!
It was a very enjoyable day and the students were thrilled to show the players around the school. They are already looking forward to the next visit!
A big thank you to Richmond football club and the players who travelled to Santa Theresa for the workshop.
IT Message2009 has been a year of significant and positive change for Catholic Education IT. The largest project this year has been the implemtation of a new email system.
This has allowed us to break down some of the barriers of digital communication and has paved the way to increased collaboration and productivity for our school communities and enable us to innovate service to our schools in new and exciting ways.
The CEO and all school emails now come together under the one banner of “@nt.catholic.edu.au”. The CEO website has also changed to www.ceont.catholic.edu.au Thank you all for your support in 2009 and we look forward to ongoing success in 2010.
St John’s College
celebrating 50 years of quality education in the Northern Territory in 2010
CEO Welcomes new staff!The Catholic Education Office would like to extend a very warm welcome to all new staff commencing in the 2010 school year. Please refer below for new appointments.
2010 looks to be another exciting year for our schools and we wish all new staff the very best in their new endeavours.
Holy Family School Acting Principal (2010) –Margaret Guit • Acting Deputy Principal (2010)- Amanda Jones•
Holy Spirit School Acting Deputy Principal (2010) – Shandell Bryant•
St Mary’s SchoolActing Principal (2010) – Jacqui Langdon•
St Paul’s SchoolPrincipal – Kelly Smith • Assistant Principal Religious Education – Paula Sellar• s
St Francis of Assisi SchoolDeputy Principal – Melanie Bolwell• Assistant Principal-Religious Education – Robert Burns •
St John’s CollegeActing Deputy Principal Snr Campus (Term 1)- Garry Griffin• Assistant Principal-Religious Education – Matthew Bourke•
O’Loughlin Catholic collegeHead of Senior School – Paula O’Callaghan•
St Joseph’s College, KatherineDeputy Principal- Peter Maloney• Assistant Principal Middle School – Mark Pickham •
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College, Alice SpringsReligious Education Coordinator, Sadadeen- Vicky Howie• Religious Education Coordinator, Traeger- Paul King• Religious Education Coordinator, Bath- John Healy•
Murrupurtiyanuwu Catholic SchoolDeputy Principal - Matthew Foley• Acting Principal (24/05/10-18/06/10)- Tony O’Brien•
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Thamarrurr Catholic SchoolPrincipal - Shayne Kidd • Deputy Principal (2010)- Marea Moulten• Deputy Principal Primary (2010)- Karen Gizzie• Head of Campus (Secondary) – Regina Glass • Head of Campus (Primary) – Rosalind Haines •
CEO RefurbishmentThe CEO has embarked on the first stage of a 3 stage major refurbishment, in Septem-ber this year, to create more office space for the growing number of employees. The first stage involved relocating the existing confer-ence rooms into the building facing Beaton Road.
Stage 1 is on schedule and is expected to be completed by 24 December 2009. Addition-al office space for up to 15 personnel will then be created. These works will be broken up into a further 2 stages which will also in-clude an extension to the staff room and a covered outdoor area. This is anticipated to be completed in the year 2010.
From the Editor...I have thoroughly enjoyed my first six months at the CEO and I am looking forward to the next! I would like to thank you for your support and I hope you have enjoyed reading the new look Circular. Keep an eye out for the first CIrcular in 2010. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Susannah McBride Media and Communications Coordinator
