The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) has appointed Director of Schools for the Broken Bay Diocese, Peter Hamill, to the role of Deputy Director. ­

Executive Director Jacinta Collins, who announced the appointment today, said Peter comes to the NCEC with a wealth of experience and understanding of Catholic education and administration, having served as an educator, school and system leader for over 43 years.

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Catholic Education has hailed the announcement of planning for the first Catholic secondary school located on an Australian university campus as an exciting development for the future of Catholic schooling.

James Cook University and Catholic Education in Cairns announced a Memorandum of Understanding to investigate a new secondary college at JCU’s Cairns Smithfield Campus, as well as an on-site childcare centre operated by Catholic Early Learning and Care. The College will be autonomous and operate under a long-term lease.

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The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) today welcomed the reappointment of the Hon Dan Tehan as Education Minister, saying it provides stability and enables better progress on important issues.

NCEC Executive Director Jacinta Collins said Mr Tehan’s reappointment gives him the opportunity to finalise the new school funding arrangements he announced in September last year.

“Catholic Education is pleased Mr Tehan is able to continue in this role,” Ms Collins said.

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More than one in five Catholic schools are already solar smart and others will be lining up to join Labor’s Solar Schools program if the Opposition wins government. 

“Catholic schools with solar panels achieve substantial cost savings, so money that was spent on power bills now goes into teaching,” the chair of Catholic Education, Greg Crafter, said. 

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The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) has welcomed the Government’s formal budget commitment to better target funding for Australia’s low-fee schools.

NCEC Executive Director Jacinta Collins acknowledged Education Minister Dan Tehan’s focus on low-fee schools which educate so many disadvantaged students.

“Now that the Government’s funding package is locked in the Budget, the NCEC looks forward to seeing the detail of Labor’s plans for Catholic schools,” Jacinta said.

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The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) today welcomed announcements by Labor’s shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek to boost funding for students with a disability, create a National Principals’ Academy, review NAPLAN and ensure funding support for all school sectors.

In her National Press Club address, Ms Plibersek said a Labor government would increase funding for students with a disability by $300 million over three years. She also reiterated Labor’s proposals to establish an Evidence Institute for Schools and provide bursaries for students who wanted to become teachers.

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Analysis of school funding data reported by the ABC today gives a false impression that government schools attract less public funding than non-government schools.

“Comparing schools with similar socio-economic characteristics using ‘per-student’ funding data is fraught with problems because it ignores variables such as school size and teacher salaries,” NCEC Acting Executive Director Ray Collins said.

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Families who choose a non-government schooling option will continue to be supported after the Federal Government today announced important changes to its school funding arrangements, the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) said. 

The NCEC fully supports the package of measures unveiled today. 

“The 2017 model created unintended consequences that threatened the future of low-fee, faith-based schools in remote and higher SES areas,” Acting Executive Director Ray Collins said. 

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The Acting Executive Director of the National Catholic Education Commission, Ray Collins, today congratulated Dan Tehan on his appointment as Federal Minister for Education.

“We look forward to working with Mr Tehan to resolve the many outstanding funding issues affecting our sector,” Mr Collins said.

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The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) has welcomed the delivery of the final report of the Review of the Socio-Economic Status (SES) Score Methodology to the Australian Government today, but said, “now the hard work begins to achieve a fair and equitable school funding model”.

Acting executive director Ray Collins said the highly anticipated report, delivered by the National School Resourcing Board (NSRB), endorses the Catholic sector’s long-held position that the current methodology for measuring a school’s SES is flawed.

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The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) welcomes the passage of new laws through the Australian Parliament to ensure educational bodies are protected from online copyright infringements by their staff and students.

NCEC acting executive director Ray Collins said the Copyright Amendment (Services Providers) Act 2018 would extend protections, known as ‘safe harbours’, to schools, universities and other educational bodies who provide internet access, removing the threat of penalties if staff or students illegally downloaded copyrighted material such as films and music.

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The National Catholic Education Commission welcomes the commitment by the Labor Party in last night’s Federal Budget reply to restore the level of funding for schools originally proposed by the Gillard Labor Government.

The NCEC’s acting executive director Ray Collins said the changes to school funding introduced by the Turnbull government are having a serious impact on more than 500 Catholic schools across Australia.

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Catholic school communities expecting significant initiatives addressing the concerns raised with the Federal Minister for Education Simon Birmingham and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would be disappointed with last night’s budget.

Whilst Senator Birmingham has promised the government will respond to the Independent Report of the Review into the Socio-economic Status Score methodology from the National School Resourcing Board later this year, there is little in the budget that details how the government will address this, and the other “landmark” reviews the government has received this year.

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The National Catholic Education Commission welcomes the report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools, Through Growth to Achievement, released by the Australian Government today.

The NCEC’s acting executive director Ray Collins says, while there is a need to look at the report in further detail, the wide-ranging report appears consistent with the submissions lodged by Catholic education entities, takes into account current educational research and thinking, and responds to the key challenges being faced by Australian schools and systems.

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