Message from the Director

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to Term 4! It was great to join together yesterday for our second Curriculum Professional Development Day across our diocese. For our teachers, I hope the time you had working on the curriculum was valuable and provided an opportunity to collaborate on the new syllabuses. 

2024 Catholic Schools NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Conference

Next week, ACS co-host with CSNSW the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Conference. The theme for the conference is Spirit on Country, Learning together then now and always. This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase our Diocese. I want to thank you for the way you have embraced this opportunity to learn together. The Message Stick Journey has been one way our schools and parishes have engaged in this learning journey as we head to the Conference. Thank you to all our students, staff and families who will participate in the dancing, completed artworks, shared language and stories. It is your efforts that will make this conference truly special. Thank you to the ACS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Team, Karen Tighe, James Russell, Judi Wark and Justin Matthews, for the incredible amount of passion and hard work you have put into the Conference. I look forward to joining many of you next week. 

2024 K-12 Curriculum Reform Conference

During the first week of the holidays, Donna Fiechtner, Michael Whitton, Rod Whelan, Jason Hanrahan, and I presented at the CSNSW Curriculum Reform Conference. The theme for the conference was Animating the Curriculum for Human Flourishing, which explored the transformative nature of the reform and considered what it means to offer a distinctly Catholic approach to developing the whole person: intellectually, spiritually, ethically, physically, and creatively. At this conference, we presented ACS Living Well Learning Well Framework. With over 80 attendees, the presentation was an overwhelming success. 

Congratulations

Amanda Scott has successfully completed Module 2 of her Highly Accomplished Accreditation submission (HA/LT). All descriptors (12) were fully demonstrated. 

The strengths of her assessment report included the following:

• The documentary evidence in this module demonstrated the applicant’s capacity to work collaboratively to improve their own practice and the practice of colleagues. 
• The applicant's commitment to continued learning was demonstrated through the documentary evidence and is a strength of their application. 
• The documentary evidence in the module confirms the applicant is supportive of beginning teachers and provides valuable mentoring and coaching.

Congratulations, Amanda. This is a fantastic achievement and so well deserved!

2024 HSC Exams 

The HSC written exams commenced today, with English papers this morning. I wish the students sitting these exams all the very best. Thank you to the staff who have prepared and supported the students for these HSC exams. 

It was wonderful to attend the Year 12 Graduation assembly at O’Connor Catholic College on the last Friday of Term 3. The Graduation was full of joy and celebration, and it was fantastic to see how the Year 12 students have grown as young people ready to make the world a better place. 

Have a great term, everyone, and I look forward to visiting many of your learning communities throughout the term.

Regina