Best wishes to the five Diocesan schools – Damascus College, Ballarat, St Joseph’s College, Mildura, St Joseph’s Primary School, Red Cliffs, St Augustine’s Primary School, Maryborough, and St Patrick’s Primary School, St Arnaud participating in the Energy Breakthrough event in Maryborough from November 20-24. 👏 The Energy Breakthrough is a dynamic collaboration between the Country Education Partnership (CEP) and the Central Goldfields Shire Council (CGSC), designed to inspire and empower students. This initiative encourages participants to engage with cutting-edge technology while considering its environmental impact and how it affects both local and global communities. A collaborative, cross-curricular approach is essential for success.  

Take a look at the latest edition of Our Diocesan Community for November. This issue also features stories about DOBCEL’s 2024 Ireland Spiritual Heritage Pilgrimage, the Our Lady Help of Christians Soup Bus food drive, and the recent leadership learning visit to Canada as part of the DOBCEL 2035 strategy development. Please click here to view the November edition.

The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a central and fundamental responsibility of Catholic Education. As we prepare to roll-out a training program specifically for Learning Support Officers (LSOs) working in DOBCEL schools in December, our Child Safe Manager, Jacinta Cook talks about the importance of ongoing training in implementing Victoria’s Child Safe Standards. Read more about our Child Safe policies and guidelines here:  https://dobcel.catholic.edu.au/child-safe/

Today, DOBCEL facilitated an English Curriculum Project Planning Day providing an opportunity for English subject teams to review and recreate their curriculum with a focus on mapping a developmental sequence of skills and knowledge for Years 7-10. With the new English Victorian Curriculum 2.0 also presenting an opportunity for review, the teams participated in a series of workshops with the goal to build practices and curriculum for their own school settings. The day was led by expert in the field, Kirstin Bourne, and built on professional learning opportunities over the past 18 months to enhance teachers’ knowledge of the pedagogy, curriculum and assessment required to improve student outcomes in years…

The final leadership gathering in Horsham for 2024 included a farewell to Principals who are concluding their tenure or retiring from our DOBCEL schools.

Ten remote Catholic primary schools across the Diocese of Ballarat will benefit from additional support to implement a structured literacy approach in 2025 thanks to a $100k grant from the Bertalli Family Foundation.

Today is World Teachers’ Day. It is a very special and important day for our DOBCEL community. 🍎 Our Executive Director, Tom Sexton would like to personally thank and congratulate the 1,700 teaching staff across the diocese – from the Murray to the sea – whether you’re working in one of our small rural schools, or a large regional setting. “We particularly recognise our Catholic school teachers for the special opportunities you provide for all your students to achieve the fullness of life, in every sense of the word,” Executive Director, Tom Sexton said. Watch the full video below to listen to Tom’s World Teachers’ Day message and see some…

World Teachers’ Day honours the dedication, hard work, and passion of teachers who play a crucial role in shaping the minds and futures of our children. World Teachers’ Day is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the incredible work teachers do every day. By celebrating this day and showing our appreciation, we can help create a supportive and encouraging environment that allows teachers to thrive and continue making a positive impact on our children’s lives. Mark the day with some fun activities around this year’s theme ‘Hats Off to Teachers’ with some resources in the links below: 👇 World Teachers’ Day – https://worldteachersday.edu.au/ Celebration Kit – https://worldteachersday.edu.au/celebration-kit #WorldTeachersDay2024 Check out our World…

Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited (DOBCEL) Executive Director Tom Sexton has been recognised as a thought-leader in education in Australia in a publication marking the 75th anniversary of the formation of the Commonwealth launched at Westminster Abbey, London today (9 Oct in UK). Please click here to view DOBCEL’s feature article or click here to view the full ‘Commonwealth at 75’ publication (DOBCEL is on Page 204/5). The British Parliament Trust’s publication – The Commonwealth at 75 – celebrates examples of leadership, innovation and development across the 56 nations of the Commonwealth and will be distributed to more than 400,000 individuals and organisations. With 40 years’ experience as a…

Alongside the co-design of the new DOBCEL 2035 strategy, our diocese has continued to grow partnerships with Canadian colleagues who have travelled similar journeys of education system improvement in recent years. A delegation including Terry Harney (DOBCEL Board Chair), Kathleen Donnellon (Board Director), Tom Sexton (Executive Director), Matthew Byrne (Deputy Director – Catholic Education), Michelle Haeusler (Principal, St Mary MacKillop College, Swan Hill), and Dave Runge (Future Schools), travelled to Canada over the recent holiday period to meet with both Catholic and government educators in the Toronto, Ontario, Edmonton, and Ottawa regions across an intensive ten-day period. ‘We aim to learn from both the successes and challenges of the Canadians…