Dear Colleagues,

This weekend we will celebrate the Centenary at St Joseph’s Mungindi, a school with a rich tradition of providing Catholic education. St Joseph's was opened in 1924 by the Sisters of Mercy as a convent school at St Brigid's. In the 1930's, the school building was built and was named St Joseph's. The Sisters of Mercy taught at St Joseph's until 1975, and ran boarding facilities until 1980. Sr Mary Elizabeth Saunders was the last Religious principal of St Joseph's before lay principal Wendy Fenton in 1977, starting a tradition of lay principals all the way up to Frances Reynolds today.

Congratulations to everyone who has made St Joseph's Mungindi such a wonderful school where our young people are supported to become literate and numerate for a hope-filled future.

Last week I visited St Joseph’s Mungindi and had a welcoming party of a flock of guinea fowl!

Congratulations -

Amanda Scott - Highly Accomplished Teacher

Amanda Scott is now accredited and officially certified as a Highly Accomplished Teacher. She recently completed her site visit at St Nicholas, and the assessor's report was exceptional. This is a significant achievement for Amanda and our Diocese.

Only 32 teachers across all sectors were accredited at HA or LEAD just this year. Now, we have two certified, Highly Accomplished teachers, and hopefully, more teachers will be certified in the coming months.

Thank you to St Nicholas and John Clery for helping Amanda complete her site visit and John's interview with the assessor, which was also excellent.

This is a wonderful recognition of Amanda and the impact she has had both as a classroom teacher and as an ECT coach.

Appointment Subject Matter Expert (SME) Literacy EALD K/6 and Data

It was wonderful to announce the appointments to the Armidale Catholic Schools Mission and Learning Team of Jessica Scully and Andrew Millman on Monday.

Jessica has been working in a hybrid capacity, undertaking this role on a part-time basis whilst continuing her role at St Mary’s Primary School in Armidale. Jessica has extensive knowledge of the Data Ecosystem and has supported the Armidale system of schools to improve pedagogical practices in literacy and numeracy. From 2025, Jessica will work full-time in the role of Subject Matter Expert (SME) Literacy EALD K/6 and Data with Armidale Catholic Schools.

Andrew will undertake the Subject Matter Expert (SME) Literacy EALD K/6 and Data on a part-time basis whilst continuing his role at St Edward's Tamworth. Andrew is currently the Head of Curriculum and Pedagogy at St Edward’s Tamworth and holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons in Mathematics) from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Birmingham City University and a Graduate Certificate in Religious Education from Broken Bay Institute.

Jessica and Andrew will be joining Jacqueline Wait, who will continue in the Subject Matter Expert (SME) Literacy EALD K/6 and Data position on a part-time basis for 2025 while commencing as Assistant Principal at Holy Trinity Inverell.

Congratulations Jessica and Andrew! What a strong team to ensure our students realise a hope-filled future.

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