On Monday the 20th of July we sent out a survey to members of the Sydney Catholic School Community to get your feedback on remote learning. Check your e-mail inbox and spam filter and make sure you tell us how you felt about remote learning and ways we could improve if we find ourselves in that situation again.

Your feedback is important to making sure we deliver the best possible teaching and learning environment to all our students. The survey closes on the 3rd of August, so don’t miss out.

We take a behind the scenes look at the team helping schools transition to remote learning. 

In this unprecedented time of rapid change, a team of educational experts has been working around the clock at Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) central office. 

Known as the Education and Research Directorate (E&R), the team has been creating systems and tools to help teachers and students in this new world of learning at home.

Led by Dr Kate O’Brien and consisting of K-12 education specialists from across all areas of the curriculum, E&R is a hub of innovation.

“We’re working really hard to build the systems that school leaders, teachers and support staff need to keep their students engaged and learning”. Dr O’Brien said. ‘“Our key priority is ensuring our students’ wellbeing remains positive and that the learning continues in interesting ways. As a parent and grandparent, I acknowledge the complexity of supporting our children in the home with their learning. It is important that this is a positive experience, with fun and family connectedness. Play games, share ideas and help each other”.

Regardless of where our students are, this resource helps schools ensure all SCS children are learning and thriving.

“We’re in constant contact with principals and school staff, hearing their feedback and tapping into the talent of more than 10,000 teachers. This means we’re updating our resources and guidance on a daily basis”. Dr O’Brien said. 

One of the team’s latest creations is a website especially for teachers with information, ideas and resources to enhance innovative ways of teaching. There are also helpful links that support education delivery in a variety of ways. 

The …

Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) has ended the school term one week early to give teachers at the organisation’s 150 primary and secondary schools more time to plan remote learning.

SCS joins 11 other NSW and ACT dioceses in bringing forward the end of Term 1 and replacing lessons with staff development days from 6 April.

The decision, made in consultation with the NSW Government and Catholic Schools NSW, will also give families welcome downtime after measures to halt the spread of COVID-19 have left many to complete their own work and supervise their children’s learning at home.

The extra days this week will really help our family take a breath and work out the best way we can, as a family, tackle remote learning.

Schools will remain open to supervise students where needed, but no new lessons will be posted until Term 2 resumes on 27 April.

Educators and parents from Sydney Catholic schools have welcomed the decision.

SCS’ Director of Education and Research Kate O’Brien said teachers would use the additional time to plan units of work that could be completed at home independently or with minimal assistance, and timetables to best connect with students and their families in a rapidly changing space.

Students have so far shown a creative approach to remote learning, and filmed themselves making cakes, volcanoes, and new house plans at home. Podcasts have also become a new medium to explain what they have learnt from reading and literacy tasks.

“It is a very complex time for all families and having to supervise work and manage the impact of COVID-19 means different things to different families,” Ms O’Brien said.

“Teachers want the learning to be fun, to be filled with opportunities to do something a little different.”

Acting Principal of De La Salle Catholic College Cronulla Stephen …

More than 2,500 students at Sydney Catholic schools have embraced the Japanese language in the virtual world, and their learning journey continues in a real space.

It has been a year since Sydney Catholic Schools’ Japanese Centre of Excellence was established at Casimir Catholic College and St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School Marrickville to give students the opportunity to develop their skills in the language from Kindergarten through to Year 12.

The centre offers a continuity that is missing from many school language programs and, though still in its infancy, is creating plenty of buzz among parents and students who see the advantage and fun in mastering an Asian language.

The best thing about learning Japanese is that you actually know how to communicate in someone else’s language.

 

“Ultimately the centre hopes to provide a place for students from all of Sydney Catholic Schools’ 150 primary and secondary schools to learn Japanese if they wish, regardless of whether or not they have a Japanese teacher at their school,” said the centre’s co-ordinator Andrew Finch.

“This opportunity will be supported by a team of experienced teachers and the use of the latest technology. Students who want to challenge themselves by learning a new and exciting language can enjoy that learning throughout their whole school journey, all the way through to the HSC.”

The Centre of Excellence follows a successful pilot and rollout of the Japanese Online course created by Sydney Catholic Schools for students in Years 5 and 6.

The digital lessons use friendly avatars and bright animations to introduce students to Japanese language and culture. LearnX Live! recently awarded the program three gold and two silver awards across categories including Best e-Learning Design …

Catholic Schools Week is a time to celebrate the skills and qualities our dedicated staff bring to their school communities to ensure students grow and thrive in their learning and in life.

While administration comes with the territory for new principals in 2020, at Sydney Catholic Schools they are supported to focus on the education they deliver best.

At an induction day for the organisation’s new principals, Assistant Director of Teaching and Learning at Sydney Catholic Schools, Iris Nastasi, said principals should be recognised and celebrated for the capacity they have to make a difference to the lives of others, including teachers and students.

“We spoke about leading from the head and the heart,” she said. “It’s about a big picture and vision, being confident and courageous.

“These are people who are putting their hand up to lead vibrant Catholic communities at a time of great change.”

It’s about a big picture and vision, being confident and courageous.

Stephen Gough, who looks after leadership development at Sydney Catholic Schools, said while principals were faced with various compliance and administrative tasks, there was a genuine push to move away from the transactional to the transformative.

“There is no other job where you get that same connection with the community,” he said.  “The legislative and compliance matters can be challenges, however our principals know that they are well supported, so the core business of the principal is about quality Catholic education.”

Sydney Catholic Schools’ newest principals reflect on the possibilities inherent in a year of leading change, and how they ensure excellence in teaching and learning and vibrant communities anchored by a shared Catholic faith.

Primary

Geoff Carey, St Michael’s Catholic Primary School Daceyville

After spending the past three years as Head of Innovation at Sydney Catholic Schools, Geoff Carey is ready to open doors for the students at …

On the eve of Catholic Schools Week, Executive Director of Sydney Catholic Schools Tony Farley shares why families may choose to embrace and be part of the thriving communities and classrooms that are Sydney Catholic schools.

So why send your child to a Sydney Catholic school?

It’s a question parents ask every year as they navigate the seemingly endless education options that exist across the city of Sydney.

Even faithful practicing Catholics find themselves weighing up the options of public education, independent schools and sometimes home schooling for a small but growing number of families.

The mission of Sydney Catholic Schools is to know and love Christ through learning. Quite simply, Sydney Catholic schools are places where tradition meets the future with optimism and creativity and where our vast network of schools provide educational opportunities that are second to none.

Our vision is for thriving Catholic communities through excellent teaching and learning. Communities that hold fast to the teachings and beliefs of the Church while being places of love and safety for students and families who reflect the diversity of a society that is constantly changing.

Our schools are led by professionals who are … passionately committed to the success and growth of each and every student.

Excellence in learning is both concrete and real. Our students can expect to be high achievers in NAPLAN and the HSC while also having the capacity to critically and analytically think in a way that helps them thrive in the world of work they will enter.  Regardless of the educational path they pursue, students are challenged to be the best version of themselves. Sydney Catholic schools are unapologetic about striving for excellence in all the opportunities offered.

Students … confidently live and share their faith with others.

Sydney Catholic Schools is about to celebrate 200 years of Catholic education in Australia, …

Reading Recovery is part of an approach to literacy at SCS that is based on a deep understanding that acquiring it is a complex process.

Three students from Sydney Catholic Schools have proved that a balanced approach to the HSC is best after receiving First in Course awards while pursuing the things they love.

The awards place them among NSW’s top achievers from the 75,000 students who sat one or more HSC courses this year, and were presented by Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Education Minister Sarah Mitchell at The University of NSW today.

Patrician Brothers’ College Fairfield graduate Robert Ciccarelli competed at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires during the first month of Year 12, then put his top 20-ranked fencing career on hold to focus on study.

I found training for the games much easier than preparing for the HSC.

Working with his father to maintain a classic muscle car – a 1965 Plymouth Barracuda – from childhood also helped him to top the state in Automotive Examination, turning a hobby into academic success. Robert studied the subject at the St Joseph’s Trade Training Centre at Good Samaritan Catholic College Hinchinbrook and said he felt grateful that one of his exams aligned with a hobby.

“It was strange truly prioritising my education over anything else for the first time to the same extent as fencing,” he said. “It was a bit of a dynamic shift trying to focus on that just once a week rather than every day for three to five hours.

“I found training for the games much easier than preparing for the HSC. I really enjoy being busy. In the moment, it’s stressful, but I enjoy a challenge.”

Robert said he was ecstatic to receive a First in Course award. He plans to complete a project management degree and fence competitively once more at the 2024 Olympic Games.

“It’s an achievable goal,” he said. “Now it just becomes a question of managing uni, finances, …

Talking for eight hours a day presented few problems for Reyabel Villanueva as a young teaching graduate but after taking on a different grade four years into her career, she began to feel the strain on her voice.

“Being in a Kindergarten classroom for the first time this year, I just felt strained and exhausted talking to students all the time,” she said.

“I tend to not take any sick days because I always want to be there for the students, but a lot of my colleagues have said that I also need to be aware of my own wellbeing.”

Reyabel, who teaches at St Michael’s Catholic Primary School Stanmore, now uses a multi-sound doorbell to gain her class’ attention between activities to save her voice. She is one of eight who gave up a portion of their school holidays to attend Sydney Catholic Schools’ (SCS) first advanced voice care workshop.

Combining the expertise of speech pathologist Cecilia Pemberton and the Sydney Theatre Company’s voice coach Charmian Gradwell, the workshop gave teachers advanced techniques to project their voice safely and avoid injury.

Talking with an injured voice is like running on an injured knee.

Though they each see the voice through a different professional lense, both stress importance of teachers being aware of vocal exhaustion.

“Teachers are the marathon runners of voice use along with actors, and very often they don’t take care of themselves in that respect,” Ms Gradwell said.

“Voice is one of the main tools of their trade, so to be aware of vocal hygiene, longevity and variety is important so that they have vibrant communicative voices at all times. We all talk well from birth, but when you are using your voice eight hours a day for something you need to be mindful of different acoustics.”

Sydney Catholic Schools’ first STEM Symposium and Competition has inspired the creation of more than 100 exciting student projects, including a glove that speaks Australian sign language, a robot turtle designed to prevent pollution, and a search engine for those who can’t yet read.

Fifteen finalist teams received awards at the first SCS STEM Symposium in November, where parents and STEM educators gathered to see their innovative designs. Each solved problems from the ground up using a range of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths skills, reflecting the key tenets of SCS Statement on STEM learning launched earlier this year.

The People’s Choice Award and Award for Animal Welfare went to the Paraspinomatic 3000 – a hand-held device designed by students from St Ambrose Catholic Primary School Concord West that was successfully trialled at a local agricultural high school.

“We focused on parasites on cattle which are very dangerous and could affect our food chain. Our device uses oil to kill them,” said Louis De Lorenzo, who worked with Year 5 classmates Anikan Nguyen and Daniel Nikopoulos. 

Many projects shared this focus on improving the world, a result of the way STEM is thought about and taught at Sydney Catholic Schools.

“STEM is not an add on, it’s an essential part of a 21st century learner’s toolkit.”

Bethlehem College Ashfield’s project was more difficult to test in the field. Elizabeth Praum, Winnie Wang and Jessica Chan’s ‘Solar Wind Sails’ device is designed to convert solar and wind energy to electricity which can be sent to earth using microwaves.

“The device is designed to be launched 500km above the earth’s surface on the edge of the Thermosphere, where it will be exposed to …

Innovative teaching is helping students from Catholic schools in Sydney’s south to explore their interest in complex scientific fields, with projects that aim to future-proof Australia’s crops and find a potential cure for cancer.

When Extension Science was introduced to the HSC curriculum for the first time in 2018, Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) chose to run it through a weekly video conference helmed by a teacher who is also a qualified analytical chemist.

The subject is supported by two face-to-face lessons per term to allow students to take it where their schools did not have the resources to teach the small numbers interested in the new course. The course develops scientific thinking, with students asked to develop a research question on a topic of their choice and write an evidence-based research report of their findings.

“Instead of just a theoretical perspective, it’s a real perspective, and that strengthens anything you do in the classroom.”

Program co-ordinator Sylvia Eleftheriades is an analytical chemist and teacher at De La Salle College Caringbah. She said the depth and choice the course provides gives students the self-reliance and skills to tackle university head-on.

“They basically have free reign,” she said. “They need to have a different mindset to learning and how they view mistakes along the way. Instead of treating mistakes as negative, they ask ‘What did I learn from this? Where to from here?’

“The individual disciplines – chemistry, physics, biology, and earth and environmental science – are very specific in their approach, whereas Science Extension can link more than one discipline so it’s more real-world and they can see where it fits in the scheme of things.

St John Bosco College Engadine student Liam …

Studying the highest levels of HSC mathematics can be daunting, especially if you’re the only one in the class.

Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) has launched a new online forum to support those who take on the challenging subject at a specialist-led event hosted by The University of Notre Dame, where Mathematics Extension 2 students from 27 Sydney Catholic high schools got a 360-degree view of the career possibilities high-level mathematics creates.

Held at the University’s Broadway campus on 29 August, the event allowed the 89 students to hear from experts on four of the most challenging topics in the course – Inequalities, Induction, Mechanics and Circle Geometry. A panel discussion at the end of the day gave students insight from past Extension 2 students on how the subject related to careers in fields including engineering and medicine.

Mathematics teacher at Freeman Catholic College Bonnyrigg Heights Carla Giuliani-Bruno led a session on Circle Geometry, while academics Peter Brown and Alan McCarthy and educator Morris Needleman also drew on their extensive mathematical and teaching experience to unpack other topics for the students.

Future focus

SCS Education Officer: Mathematics and Numeracy K-12, Dr Christine Mae, and her colleagues Jan Harte and Angela D’Angelo, hope that increased support and resources will highlight the importance of Mathematics and the career options it opens for students.

The event and new online forum are part of a six-year goal to encourage more students to take the highest levels of HSC Mathematics. The online forum comes less than six months before the course’s new syllabus is introduced in 2020, and will address challenges associated with the course. These include the demanding workload it presents for students and teachers, and the fact it is almost always run before or after regular school hours.

“Mathematics Extension 2 is one …

Year 4 students from 11 Sydney Catholic Schools gathered at St Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School Prestons for a quizzical competition in celebration of reading and literacy.

In teams of four and dressed in wizard hats, Hawaiian leis, bright pink bows and more, the 88 students had their recall and interpretation skills tested at a first-ever cluster LITQUIZ for schools in Sydney’s south on 10 September.

A team from the host school won the day by a single point, scraping past a team from St Luke’s Revesby by blitzing categories such as ‘fractured fairytales’, ‘heroes and villains’ and ‘curious characters’.

Susan Bombardiere, Organiser and Literacy Cluster Coach, said students left the day buzzing with excitement, and that one child asked her if they could hold another one the following week. “We know that there’s great interest when children are learning to read, but our data tells us that sometimes interest in reading drops off when students reach Stage 2,” Ms Bombardiere said. “Reading can begin to feel a bit clinical, so we wanted to bring back the love, the enjoyment and the richness around reading.”

“I also think it’s important that every child has a chance to come together and mix with other students, because sometimes individuals only know a small set of children and experiences. We often get together and we compete in big competitions in sport or public speaking, but never anything around literature.”

We wanted to bring back the love, the enjoyment and the richness around reading.

The day’s aim meant participation was not limited to gifted children – involved schools were encouraged to invite students who enjoyed literature and read widely, regardless of their level of ability.

Teachers built specific time into the day to ensure children could connect with those from other schools, with the aim of reframing reading …

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics become tools to help students connect with and help their communities when the partnerships redefining STEM at Sydney Catholic Schools bring learning to life.

In the rainforest-themed classroom at the Taronga Institute of Science & Learning, Jay Khera is discovering the differences between the habitat and animals of Australia and Sumatra. He and his Year 5 peers will see a tiger from the west-Indonesian island as part of their next zoo experience of the day.

It is a safari-style adventure with a mock plane trip to Sumatra and through bamboo-lined walkways to the tiger’s home enclosure. The flight’s captain reels off facts about the place and the deforestation caused by palm oil production before the students land.

Through the November excursion, Our Lady of the Annunciation (OLA) Catholic Primary School Pagewood students gained a tangible link to the content they have studied about the two islands as part of the primary Geography and Science curriculums.

“We learnt about a poisonous frog that lived in the Blue Mountains,” Jay said. “A lot of animals are endangered and Sumatra has a lot of different species.”

OLA is one of hundreds of schools who visited Taronga Zoo in 2018 for education programs that connect students with the research and work of the largest zoo-based team of conservation scientists in Australia.

The Taronga Institute of Science & Learning is the new home ground for this. It made headlines in October last year when it was officially opened by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and aims to further conservation through research and education.

A day later, Sydney Catholic Schools’ (SCS) Teaching and Learning team was the first staff group to experience the site’s immersive habitat classrooms. The rooms give primary and secondary school students the chance to observe animals moving freely in an environment that simulates …