EDUCATION AT SYDNEY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
The education offered across Sydney Catholic Schools is a holistic and inclusive one. Our qualified educators use research-driven methods to inform their teaching and are committed to delivering a world-class education, providing the best teacher in every classroom, every day.

Our core values of Truth, Excellence, Curiosity, Empathy and Collaboration drive our decisions, as we place the student at the core of everything we do.

Whilst delivering the core curriculum, we also offer a multitude of other opportunities for students to thrive across our diverse system.

Our educational philosophy is to focus on the development of the whole child – academically, emotionally, physically, socially, and spiritually. In harmony with our values, each decision our system makes considers the education and wellbeing of each and every child.

THRIVING CATHOLIC COMMUNITIES THROUGH EXCELLENT TEACHING AND LEARNING
Fostering and encouraging excellence is at the heart of Sydney Catholic Schools. We are committed to ensuring our teaching and learning is rigorous and of high quality. Through consistent professional development into research-based practice we ensure our teachers are at the forefront of educational excellence.

To create thriving Catholic communities we:

  • participate in the life and mission of the Catholic faith community;
  • deepen our students’ knowledge and engagement with the Catholic faith and tradition;
  • build each students’ capacity to continuously reason reflectively, logically and critically;
  • embrace the interdependence of human existence as global citizens, who are responsible to and for themselves and others;
  • provide an engaging, holistic learning experience, where students thrive academically and where every student excels in a multitude of ways, through personalised and self-paced learning.

KEY INITIATIVES
At Sydney Catholic Schools we are consistently looking at ways to innovate and provide a purposeful, engaging and challenging education to all our students in new and exciting ways.

We are putting the best teacher in every classroom, every day. Our Master Teacher and Instructional Specialist program is aimed at improving every teachers’ capacity to improve the learning outcomes of all students through excellent research-informed teaching and leadership practices.

Our Master Teachers and Instructional Specialists work to improve teacher practice through leadership programs, providing expert advice, coaching and giving feedback on teaching practice.

The program is focused on transforming teaching and learning across our schools. Through the ongoing enhancement of teacher practice, the program engages teachers with research, to learn about and implement the best possible teaching strategies that personalise teaching and learning to meet the diverse education needs of every student.

Research shows that students can gain 18 months of extra learning by the age of 15 years when they participate in personalised, data-informed, high impact learning activities that motivate, challenge and engage them. Our Master Teacher and Instructional Specialist program is designed to bring this type of learning to each classroom across our system.

The world is changing at a pace never seen before. What will the world look like in 2030 or 2050, and how can we equip our students to live their best life both in and beyond school? These are some of the questions that our new Global Capabilities team will tackle.

Initially, our newly formed Global Capabilities team will consult with schools to understand the current nature of a students’ learning journey. We will then provide schools with a framework to monitor, track, credential and report on a broader set of capabilities including:

  • communication;
  • collaboration;
  • critical thinking;
  • creating new value;
  • confident learner; and
  • cultural capability.

The value of a more comprehensive Learner Profile, inclusive of learning both in and beyond the curriculum, will help students articulate their learning, growth and attainment in a more holistic manner.

In 2020, Sydney Catholic Schools conducted a review of sport and our sporting pathways. We received more than 20,000 responses from our community of staff, students and parents, which highlighted the importance of students’ regular participation in sport.

Informed by our community, we will:

  • deliver an engaging skill and participation-based developmental program for students in sport from preschool to post school; and
  • develop comprehensive pathways to representative sports through Sydney Catholic Schools and Catholic Schools NSW representative teams to NSW level representation.

Our programs will be rolled out over the next four years and are key to supporting our students’ physical and mental health, as well as developing key social skills, building self-esteem and confidence.

Research shows that learning an instrument and playing in a musical ensemble strengthens neural pathways in the brain and can significantly improve academic success and student engagement.

With this in mind, Sydney Catholic Schools have developed and commenced the rollout of our new comprehensive music program – the Amadeus Music Education Program.

Led by our specialist music teachers and industry professionals, our program provides both access and opportunity for all our students to music through the provision of equipment, music classes, small group tuition, ensemble lessons and performance opportunities.

The program also provides an opportunity for music scholarships across Years 9 to 12 to cover the cost of private tuition.