Message from the Director

Dear Colleagues,

Yesterday at Armidale Catholic Schools we held a whole office staff meeting. The focus of the meeting was 'Literate Numerate Students for a Hope-Filled Future'. No matter what our role in our system our vision is the same:  A Christ-centred inclusive learning community that supports young people to realise a hope-filled future. As a collective we reviewed the 2024 AIP by asking the questions

• How are we going?
• How do we know?
• What are we going to do next?

This guides our continuing work in our office, in our teams and individually in order to support our schools.

As part of the meeting, staff were invited to share how their role leads to 'Literate Numerate Students for a Hope-Filled Future' using the following diagram:

Some examples of what people came up with are:

It is so important that we have strong teams in the office, as well as in our schools, to work together to improve the faith, learning, and wellbeing outcomes of our students, staff, and families. Our staff in the office are part of a strong support structure to work collaboratively with schools. It has been great in my first 6 months as director to meet individually with each staff member in the office. Doing this has enabled me to understand the integral part each person plays in our organisation and the diligence and enthusiasm with which they approach their work. 

It has been great to be out and about the Diocese again with visits to St Joseph’s Walgett and St Joseph’s Wee Waa. In both schools, the precision in practice is evidenced in learning spaces and teacher spaces with the Non-Negotiables visible in all areas. In Catholic Schools Week, I visited McCarthy and it was impressive to see the work that is occurring using the 14 Parameters to reflect and guide the work. The Data Walls at the three schools put our young people at the centre of the learning and it is evident that staff are putting faces on the data in their decision making. 

14 Parameters Reflection - St Joseph’s Walgett

Data Wall using NAPLAN Results - McCarthy Catholic College Tamworth 

Data Wall using PM Benchmarks - St Joseph’s Walgett

Data Wall showing Correlation between PM and PAT Reading - St Joseph’s Wee Waa

I love school visits as it really ensures my focus is on our young people ensuring we are working together towards Literate Numerate Students for a Hope-Filled Future. Thank you for all the hard work you all do every day to support our young people.

As we approach the end of term 2, I want to thank you for another great term. I hope you get some time to relax in the holiday period. 

Regina

Director of Schools