Updates

FREE AccessEAP Awareness Sessions

AccessEAP are inviting all CEDoW staff to a complimentary online EAP Awareness Session. Each session will provide practical information about the confidential support available.

What will you gain from attending? Understand how the free, confidential EAP counselling service provided by AccessEAP can support your mental health and wellbeing. The qualified facilitator will also be sharing mental health and wellbeing insights and tips to support you in daily life.

Who can attend these sessions? All CEDoW staff can register and attend a free session.

Upcoming Awareness Sessions: Click on your preferred date below to register. Places are limited, so book now to secure your spot.

If you have any questions regarding these sessions, please contact Workplace Safety and Wellbeing at whs@dow.catholic.edu.au.

For CEDoW’s full range of workplace, safety and wellbeing resources, please visit the Workplace Safety and Wellbeing Hub on Gateway.

Urgent request from CatholicCare Wollongong

CatholicCare's Fostering Futures program are seeking a forever home for Lachlan* aged 12. Lachlan is a happy, loving boy who would like a family who can take him to the park to ride his scooter, kick a football around or push him on the swing. An ideal carer for Lachlan is someone who can help him find his feet in new surroundings.

There is a critical shortage of foster carers at the moment and Lachlan has been waiting for a long time for his forever homes. Like all kids, he deserves a home where he can feel safe, secure and loved.

CatholicCare have over 30 years' experience helping carers give vulnerable children a loving home and a brighter future. Carers receive comprehensive support including training, regular case worker support and career allowance for the child's day-to-day financial needs.

If you can provide a safe and supportive home for Lachlan or kids like him, we'd love to hear from you.

Please call 0418 783 956 or email fosteringfutures@catholiccare.dow.org.au for more information, and you will be supported every step of the way.

*Name has been changed for privacy.

St Benedict’s, Oran Park – Careers Expo

On 3 April 2025, St Benedict’s Catholic College, Oran Park, hosted a Careers Expo for students in Years 10 to 12. Coordinated by Tracee Brown, the college’s Transition and Pathways Specialist (TaPS) and VET teacher, the event featured a variety of vendors and service providers, allowing students to explore a wide range of career pathways.

Students engaged with exhibitors and gathered information to help guide their future career decisions. CEDoW hosted two stalls—one promoting VET opportunities and the other highlighting the Step into Teaching Scholarship Program.

Christina Desmond, VET/RTO Training Manager, and Sherryn Moore, Talent Pathways Officer, represented CEDoW at the event. Christina promoted CEDoW’s VET courses, while Sherryn provided information about CEDoW’s scholarship programs. It was a highly successful event and exceptionally well coordinated by Tracee Brown.

In early Term 2, CEDoW representatives will visit each secondary school, targeting Years 11 and 12 students, to promote the Step into Teaching Scholarship Program and the Australian Catholic University Step Up Into Teaching Program. Students considering a pathway into teaching will receive key information to support their decision-making.

Turn-around times for non-urgent legal matters

'Turn-around' times for non-urgent legal matters are longer than would ideally be the case due to the unprecedented number of requests for legal services. The legal team reviews all requests for legal advice before prioritising the preparation of responses. This process is necessary given the modestly sized legal team attempting to serve a seemingly ever-increasing demand.

Be assured that all urgent matters (typically student-related school-based requests) will continue to be promptly answered.

Your patience and understanding is appreciated.

Michael Knight
Assistant Director
Governance, Assurance and Risk

Supplier Payment Run – Public Holidays

Due to the upcoming public holidays on Friday 18 April 2025, and Friday 25 April 2025, the payment runs have been brought forward by one day to:

• Thursday 17 April 2025
• Thursday 24 April 2025 

The payment run will return to normal processing on Tuesday 29 April 2025. 

Accounts Payable Team

Resources to Celebrate a Millennial Saint

Did you know that Carlo Acutis, the inspiring teenager who used his computer skills to share his faith, will be officially canonised as a saint on 27 April 2025, during the Jubilee of Youth week?

To mark this special celebration, CEDoW has developed digital resources that embrace Carlo's tech-savvy spirit and his passion for evangelisation. Created using apps and AI, these resources are perfect for exploring Carlo's life with your students:

• For primary students: An interactive digital school magazine. Access the magazine via Publuu here.
• For secondary students: A thought-provoking podcast and discussion guide. Access the guide via Publuu here.

These resources, inspired by Carlo's own use of technology to spread faith, demonstrate how to engage with and share faith in the digital age and can be explored for learning activities across Religious Education, English, ICLT, HSIE, Music and Art, and Civics and Citizenship.

The CEDoW resources for Carlo Acutis can be accessed here.

Palms Australia Easter Newsletter

You can read the latest Palms Australia newsletter here.

The newsletter features an inspiring update on CEDoW’s former Head of Human Resources, Carolyn Hadley, and her immersion experience as a volunteer teacher in Timor-Leste.

NAPLAN 2025 Concludes

NESA has advised Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW) expects that schools will have access to their school and student summary reports (SSSR) in the national assessment platform from the week commencing 28 April 2025.

The initial SSSR released through the platform will contain students’ proficiency level results for Reading, Numeracy, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation test domains. Writing results will be included in a second SSSR release in mid-May.

NESA will email schools directly with instructions on how to access their results in the national assessment platform.

In preparation for the release of the SSSRs, ACARA has developed a 2025 How to interpret the SSSR guide.

The guide has been uploaded to the NAP website under Results and Reports.

The NSW Department of Education has yet to confirm the date for the release of the 2025 NAPLAN results in Scout. CSNSW will advise schools once the date has been confirmed.

Questions? Schools should contact the NAPLAN team at NESA for any assistance by calling 1300 119 556 or 02 9367 8382 or emailing naplan.nsw@nesa.nsw.edu.au. 

CSNSW acknowledges and thanks schools for their efforts to deliver 2025 NAPLAN.

Workplace Learning Update

Workplace Learning (WPL) insurance arrangements have changed, and new resources are available to schools. After 31 March 2025, each diocese will maintain its own public liability insurance for students attending school-approved work experience or work placement for VET courses. 

This insurance covers:

• Injury to students
• Loss or damage occasioned by students
• Indemnity cover for host employers (subject to individual school's policy terms, conditions, limits and exclusions). 

Host employers must also have current public liability insurance. 

CSNSW Workplace Learning Guides, forms and videos are available from CSNSW's VET Workplace Learning webpage.

Pulse Behaviour Dashboards Are Now Live

Behaviour related Pulse dashboards have been deployed in your school. Key personnel (school leadership, PB4L teams, pastoral leaders) now have access to the following dashboards:

Behaviour Analysis Dashboard

The following information can be found in this dashboard:

• Whole school behaviour data including data from the last 14 days
• Role related data including information on Impacted students
• Year level behaviour trends
• Behavioural pattern information across groupings

Behaviour Analysis Dashboard – Individual Student

The following information can be found in this dashboard:

• Detailed view of individual student behaviour
• Behaviours over time and the role a student has played in incidents
• Details of each behaviour issues (Problem behaviour , teacher response , location and time)
• Behaviour timing analysis KLA/Subject Analysis

Behaviour Analysis Dashboard - Problem Behaviour

This dashboard will assist schools to dive deeply into behaviour definitions and to ask curious questions such as:

• What are the problem behaviour details being selected by staff?
• Are there particular behaviour(s) happening in various locations?
• When are particular behaviours taking place?
• Does our behaviour definition matrix capture behaviours across the school Is the “other” option over represented in the data?)

Dashboards have been designed to provide easy access to your Compass portal behaviour data with the aim of:

Facilitating Data-Driven Decisions: Provide actionable insights into behaviour patterns, allowing schools to identify areas of strength and areas needing targeted support.

Enhancing Individual Student Support: Offer detailed student-level data to inform individualised behaviour support strategies, contributing to positive academic and social outcomes for all students.

Strengthening School-Wide PB4L Implementation: Visualise the effectiveness of our PB4L initiatives, enabling your school to continuously refine and improve school-wide systems and PB4L implementation.

LMS Pulse training support: To assist with navigating Pulse, you now have access to an optional training model through LMS. The module provides technical and PB4L related process guidance using a school based example with questions that guide your school to start analysing your data. The module is located here. 

DLST Network Meeting #2 

Please see the link to the Zoom recording and slide presentation from the DLST Network Meeting held on Friday 4 April 2025.

The following topics were discussed:

• PP Meeting Bookings in Compass
• Updates on PPs Moderation
• Case Collaboration
• Supported Enrolments
• NCCD Resourcing
• DLST Refresher/Induction
• Partial Attendance
• DLST Hub
• BOL
• Reminders.

CEDoW Library

ACEN eBook of the Week

This week’s Sora eBook theme is World Health Day. 

See the link here to explore the eBook titles for primary, secondary, and staff through the Australian Catholic Education Network (ACEN). Click on each image or use the QR code to access further information. To sign in to Sora, select "ACEN" as your school.

ClickView Highlight

This week’s ClickView highlight is Respectful Relationships & Healthier Masculinities. You can view it here.

If you have any questions, please contact Jim Gallagher, Library Services Manager, at gallagherj01@dow.catholic.edu.au. 

Have an Ethical Easter in 2025

“Every person ought to have the awareness that purchasing is always a moral – and not simply an economic – act.” – Pope Francis

A significant portion of the chocolate available in Australia is produced using cocoa beans harvested by child labourers, many of whom endure enslavement and exploitative working conditions.

Indulge responsibly, select ethically sourced chocolate, and support companies working towards eliminating slavery from their supply chain this Easter and beyond.

Click on the links for tips and further information.

Slavery Free Easter Chocolate - Catholic Earthcare

Indulge Responsibly Easter Poster

Also, consider not buying something that is overly packaged. Lots of Easter eggs come encased in several layers of foil, cardboard and plastic - each of which come with an environmental and often human cost of their own. Remember to recycle your foil…

“The knowledge about what we buy is the first act in not being complicit. Look at where those products come from.” – Pope Francis