2023 CEF Teaching Scholarship

The Catholic Education Foundation (CEF) has announced support for seven high school graduates embarking on their teaching careers as part of the inaugural CEF Teaching Scholarship program.

The program provides scholarship recipients with ongoing financial support as they earn their teaching degrees at Australian Catholic University, together with the opportunity to work as casual support staff members within Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS).

The recipients will additionally be paired with a Principal from one of SCS’ 148 schools, who will act as a mentor along the students’ four-year learning journey.

The seven recipients, who will be formally recognised at the Executive Director Excellence in HSC and VET Awards in March, will also partake in a bespoke Spirituality Retreat designed by the SCS Mission and Identity team.

The seven scholarship recipients were selected by a panel of SCS specialists and school leaders following an extensive application process.

The Teaching Scholarship program comes as the CEF, which is the not for profit charity of SCS, celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year.

In that time, the CEF has supported and funded over 36,793 student bursaries, providing students with genuine financial, cultural and social hardships access to a quality Catholic education.

Kathleen Badolato, Supervisor at the CEF, said it was exciting to see the program come to fruition after being in development for almost a year.

“This scholarship was just a small idea in April last year but thanks to the support of SCS Director of Finance & Property, Glenn McLachlan, and Executive Director, Tony Farley, we’ve been able to see it brought to life today,” Mrs Badolato said.

“Our vision at the CEF is to raise funds to support the bursary programs offered to our students and their families, and it’s been pleasing to be able to extend this mission to helping students enter the teaching profession” – Kathleen Badolato

“Each of the scholarship recipients were incredibly deserving of this achievement and we have no doubt they will all go on to have meaningful and impactful careers in education,” Mrs Badolato added.

Scholarship recipient Antonio Abdennour, who hopes to become a Technological and Applied Studies (TAS) teacher, said he was extremely grateful for the support of the CEF.

“My idea to become a teacher aligns perfectly with what this scholarship is all about,” Antonio said.

“The way I centre my learning and teaching is around self-empowerment and so the scholarship allows me to do that.

“I aspire to be as good an educator as some of the inspiring teachers that I’ve had.”

2023 CEF Teaching Scholarship Recipients