This Friday is World Teachers Day and Catholic Education is hosting its first Virtual Symposium on school improvement and supporting disadvantaged students in a COVID world.

Around 1,000 educators across Australia are expected to join the three-hour symposium, as well as participants from New Zealand and overseas.

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The establishment of a not-for-profit company to oversee Melbourne’s 293 Catholic schools responds to the needs of the future, says National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins.

“The decision by Archbishop Peter Comensoli to restructure the management of Melbourne’s Catholic schools is in line with the direction of other Catholic dioceses and state bodies across the country,” Ms Collins said.

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The Faith in the Future Virtual Symposium will be held on Friday 30 October 2020 11:30am-2:30pm (AEDT).

“With the 2020 National Catholic Education Conference postponed until 4-7 September 2022, the virtual symposium offers an opportunity for the Catholic educational community to gather and participate in professional learning and engagement,” said National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins.

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The ABC’s ‘analysis’ of Catholic school funding published online today is simplistic and inaccurate, the National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins says.

“Despite the sophisticated-looking graphics, the ABC’s analysis doesn’t grasp the complexity of the funding model for non-government schools, and grossly misinterprets the way Catholic schools in New South Wales distribute funding.

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Catholic Education supports the Federal Government’s decision to reform Australia’s copyright laws to ensure teachers and parents are not involved in copyright infringement when they provide remote learning for students.

National Catholic Education Executive Director Jacinta Collins said Australia’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 emergency, including the need to provide remote learning for students, has shone a spotlight on a number of problems with Australia’s outdated copyright laws.

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Catholic Education has welcomed the Church’s decision to consolidate its professional standards response under a new national office.

National Executive Director Jacinta Collins said the creation of a single entity would help provide streamlined support to Catholic schools, parishes and agencies in their work of keeping children and vulnerable adults safe.

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The National Catholic Education Commission has welcomed the Australian Government’s announcement to expand the Exceptional Circumstance Supplementary Payment to support early childhood education and care services that are not eligible for the JobKeeper payment.

The supplementary payment applies to eligible early childhood and care services associated with non-government schools, that have experienced increased demand, were not operating during the reference period, or have seen a significant decrease in attendance from the 6 April.

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The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) welcomes the appointment of Jim Miles as Executive Director of Catholic Education Melbourne (CEM), by the Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli today.

National Catholic Education Executive Director Jacinta Collins congratulated Mr Miles saying she looked forward to continuing to work with him.

“Jim is currently the acting Executive Director for Catholic Education Melbourne - which is the largest Catholic school system in Australia - and has been an NCEC commissioner as part of that role,” Ms Collins said.

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The National Catholic Education Commission has welcomed the Australian Government’s announcement today of an additional $10 million to improve COVID-19 hygiene measures in non-government schools.

National Catholic Education Executive Director Jacinta Collins said the additional funding will be welcomed by school communities who are spending significantly more of their operational budgets on stronger hygiene and cleaning protocols.

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The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) has commissioned the Australian Catholic University’s (ACU’s) La Salle Academy to review the effectiveness of the Framework for Formation for Mission in Catholic Education.

The national framework, published in 2017, was developed as a resource for school leaders and school governance bodies with responsibility for the faith formation of staff in Catholic schools, to support the evaluation of their current practices and provide a strategic context for the enhancement of their formation programs.

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The Catholic education sector has welcomed the National Principles for School Education response to COVID-19 agreed at the National Cabinet today.

National Catholic Education Commission Executive Director, Jacinta Collins, said the National Principles reiterate the commitment of federal, state and territory governments for the continuation of quality schooling for Australian children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The National Principles show a continued commitment by governments to ensure Australian students receive a high quality education, while allowing for the delivery of remote schooling as needed during the pandemic,” Ms Collins said.

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Catholic education has welcomed the Australian Government’s JobKeeper wage subsidies to support families facing job losses and stand downs. However, the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) is concerned the support does not work for essential services such as low fee schools.

NCEC Executive Director Jacinta Collins said under the current arrangement high fee private schools will access federal wage subsidies to retain crucial staff, but low fee non-government schools will be left out.

“A business approach to schools simply won’t work,” said Ms Collins. “High fee Independent schools will be assessed as losing more income because they are starting from a much higher base.” 

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The National Catholic Education Commission has welcomed the Australian Government’s extension of funding to early childhood education for 2021.

The federal government will extend their national partnership funding to provide $453.2 million for next year to support early education for nearly 350,000 children.

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The National Catholic Education Commission has welcomed the Australian Government’s rescue package for early childhood and care services across Australia.

Under the plan, the federal government estimates around one million families will receive free childcare, and the government will pay 50 per cent of the sector’s fee revenue up to the existing hourly rate cap. The support would also apply to before and after school care and vacation care services.

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Catholic schools across Australia will extend school fee relief for families facing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

National Catholic Education Executive Director Jacinta Collins said Catholic schools have a long tradition of offering school fee relief and assistance to families facing financial difficulties.

“Catholic schools keep their fees as affordable as possible, but we know many families will be facing serious financial difficulties during this challenging time,” Ms Collins said.

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