Updates

Sent Forth in Strength and Hope – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday 

Attention: Principals and RECs

6 July 2025 marks Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday and the beginning of NAIDOC Week.

This year’s theme, “Sent Forth in Strength and Hope,” resonates deeply with the Jubilee Year of Hope’s overarching theme, “Pilgrims of Hope.”

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) has prepared a range of liturgical and other resources to support the celebration, which can be accessed HERE.

The journey of hope is beautifully captured in the Dharawal Dreaming story of Wiritjiribin, the First Lyrebird. To learn more about Wiritjiribin and the spirit of hope, explore pages 6-7 in the CEDoW Guidebook for the Celebration of the Year of Jubilee.

Important Updates: Amended Student Anti-Bullying Procedure and new Compass template

Familiarisation of the amended Student Anti-Bullying Procedure and relevant section of the Student Pastoral Care and Wellbeing Policy will commence in Term 3, 2025.

The new Compass ‘Suspected Bullying: Review and Outcome template’ will be released for use from the commencement of Term 3, 2025.

Why the change?

The revisions were driven by a need to make the procedure practically workable whilst reflecting internal changes to positions. The changes also aim to enhance school processes for the review and response to suspected bullying.

The amended procedure includes:

• Revised position titles.
• Refined requirements and workflows.
• Consolidation of the two existing Compass templates (Bullying Investigation and Bullying Findings and Actions) into a single, streamlined template with refined content.

It's also important to note that the Commonwealth and state governments are working on a national standard for addressing student bullying. We anticipate further updates to CEDoW policy once this national standard is released.

What resources are available to help with the implementation?

1. Information session ~ CEDoW will host a 1hr online information session for school leaders and staff with the delegated responsibility for reviewing suspected bullying early next term.
   
   • The primary school information session will be held on Wednesday 23 July at 9.30am. The Zoom link is available HERE. Requests for the session recording can be made via the contacts below.
     
     
   • The secondary school Information session will be held on Thursday 24 July at 1pm. The Zoom link is available HERE. Requests for the session recording can be made via the contacts below.
     
     
2. Support materials ~ Draft support materials are available HERE to assist schools in the prevention and response to bullying.
   
   
3. Compass template training video ~ A (17 minute) training video is available HERE to guide school leaders in the effective use of the new Compass template.

For future reference, these resources are available on the WSS Gateway site.

Need further help?

The Wellbeing and Student Support team will continue to provide ongoing differentiated support as schools transition to the requirements of the new Procedure. It’s expected that schools will be ready to fully implement the new Procedure by the commencement of Term 4 (13 October 2025).

If you have any questions about the Student Anti-Bullying Procedure, please contact:

• Liam Nicholls - nichollsl02@dow.catholic.edu.au
• Jennifer Sharp - sharpj05@dow.catholic.edu.au

If you have any questions about the new Compass template, please contact:

• Compass Support - compass@dow.catholic.edu.au
• Nicole Jones - jonesn09@dow.catholic.edu.au 

End of Financial Year Payroll Update 

As the financial year draws to a close on 30 June 2025, it's an important time for all employees and our payroll team. This update provides essential information regarding upcoming superannuation changes and key ATO deadlines to ensure a smooth transition into the new financial year.

• Superannuation Increase: From 1 July 2025, the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) rate will increase from 11.5% to 12%. This means CEDoW will be contributing a higher percentage of your ordinary time earnings to your super fund each fortnight. Our payroll system will be updated to reflect this change for all salary and wages paid on or after 1 July 2025.
  
  
• Super on Government-Funded Paid Parental Leave (PPL): A significant new initiative, from 1 July 2025, superannuation will be paid on government-funded Paid Parental Leave (PPL) for eligible parents. This aims to reduce the impact of career breaks on superannuation balances. The ATO will make these super contributions as a lump sum, including interest, after the financial year in which the parental leave pay was received (with payments starting from 1 July 2026). At CEDoW we already pay superannuation on all CEDoW funded paid parental leave and we welcome this initiative from the government to match us.
  
  
• Contributions Cap: For the 2025-26 financial year, the concessional contributions cap will remain at $30,000. This means you may need to consider any superannuation salary packaging arrangements or additional contributions - we recommend speaking to your accountant or financial advisor.
  
  
• Finalisation of Income Statements (Single Touch Payroll - STP): For all CEDoW employees, your income statement (previously known as a payment summary or group certificate) will be finalised and available through myGov via Single Touch Payroll (STP). Employers have until 14 July 2025 to finalise their STP data for the 2024-25 financial year. It's crucial for us to meet this deadline so your pre-filled tax return information is accurate and readily available.

We encourage all employees to familiarise themselves with these changes and consider how they might impact their personal financial planning. If you need some advice and support you can contact UniSuper via unisuper.com.au/superbookings or call them on 1800 823 842. Appointments are fee-free and open to both members and non-members.

Should you have any questions regarding these updates or your individual payroll circumstances, please do not hesitate to contact Payroll via payrolladmin@dow.catholic.edu.au. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we navigate the End of Financial Year.

Pat Murray
Payroll Manager – People and Culture

Digital Forms – Private Vehicle Travel Claims Forms

From Monday 16 June 2025, the Private Vehicle Travel Claim form is now entirely digital, replacing any previous paper-based or Google Sheets forms. This means there will be some minor changes to how these forms are completed and approved.

The new version of the form is available to be accessed from the same location as the previous version via Staff Gateway Private Travel Claim form.

The form can be completed online and updated at any time throughout the month.

The new form uses a digital approval workflow. Once submitted, it will be automatically forwarded via email to your manager for approval. After your manager approves it, the form will be submitted to the Payroll team for review and processing in the next pay period.

See the instructions for approving a travel claim HERE.

If you have team members who travel in their private vehicles for work purposes, the Private Vehicle Travel Claim form will now be sent to you via email for approval. Follow the prompts in the email to approve or decline the request. Once approved, the form will be automatically forwarded to the Payroll team through the digital workflow.

If you have any queries, please contact help@dow.catholic.edu.au.

CEDoW Year 1 Phonics Screening Check Registration

The CEDoW Year 1 Phonics Check assesses essential phonic knowledge and word recognition skills that form the foundation of reading proficiency and long-term literacy success. This is a curriculum-aligned, Tier 1 screening assessment that purposefully gathers data to inform future teaching and learning, while also providing insight into the observable strategies and behaviours students use when decoding both real and pseudo-words.

The assessment takes 5-7 minutes and is carried out by classroom teachers with each student individually. All resources will be provided digitally to participating schools at the beginning of Term 3.

The assessment window for 2025 is from Week 4, Monday the 11th of August 2025 - Week 6, Friday the 29th of August, Term 3.

Participating schools will be able to access 0.5 day release per class to complete the check using Code F03.

Schools can register via the linked Google form. Registration closes: Friday 4 July 2025.

Please contact Jo Treffone or Lexie Hingston if you have any questions.

2025 NCCD Final Briefing

Audience: Principals, Assistant Principals and Leaders of Pastoral Care and Diverse Learning - K-12
Date: Monday 30 June 2025
Time: 9.30 am - 10.30 am (via Zoom)

The Wellbeing and Student Support team is holding an optional online briefing designed to help principals, assistant principals, Leaders of Diverse Learning and Leaders of Pastoral Care strategically interpret and utilise a series of Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) reports.

If you have not received the calendar invitation and would like to attend, please email wssadmin@dow.catholic.edu.au. 

2025 NCCD Update: NCCD Lockdown is Coming

Audience: Principals and Leaders of Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD)

Have you clicked the NCCD button yet?

From 4 July 2025, the NCCD Section of the Online Tool will be locked down.

This section will appear as read only for all users from this date, except for Diocesan NCCD Moderators.

The PPSD section will remain open.

If any changes are required after lockdown, please contact one of the system moderators for support: Katie Carroll, Louise Brown, or Rebecca Gibbs.

NESA News – NAPLAN Results 

Final Student and School Summary Reports (SSSR) are now available.

Principals and NAPLAN Coordinators will receive an email with instructions on how to access the reports. For additional support, please contact the NAPLAN team.

Read more HERE about NAPLAN results and reports.

2024 HSC Data available now

2024 HSC Data is now available on NESA’s website. It provides clear information on student participation and performance in the HSC, and the programs designed to maintain the fairness and integrity of the HSC.

What’s new?

For the first time, we have also published additional data on:

• The most common combinations of HSC courses studied, as well as course completions for non-Board Developed Courses
• The number of Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications that HSC students enrolled in.

2025 HSC written timetable

HSC exams take place over 4 weeks:

• Week 1 (Thursday 16 October to Friday 17 October)
• Week 2 (Monday 20 October to Friday 24 October)
• Week 3 (Monday 27 October to Friday 31 October)
• Week 4 (Monday 3 November to Friday 7 November)

Students can view their personalised timetables on Students Online, while schools can access cohort timetables on Schools Online.

Find out more information about the 2025 HSC written exam timetable HERE.

Tweens and Teens: Free Parent Webinars – Council of Catholic School Parents

The Council of Catholic School Parents is hosting two free online parenting seminars by author and speaker Michelle Mitchell, held at 7.00 pm on 24 and 25 June. These seminars have been organised by the NSW Council of Catholic Schools Parents.

Michelle Mitchell is a much sought-after parenting specialist known for her compassionate and grounded advice on raising tweens and teens. She began her career as a classroom teacher but soon developed a special interest in wellbeing. The core of her work is helping parents become the trusted leadership presence their growing children need. 

The details of the two online webinars are below, including links to the flyers for each webinar and the registration link. Please share this information with your school community as appropriate.

Parenting Tweens: What Kids Need Now, Before the Teen Years
For parents and carers of primary school students aged 8+
See the flyer HERE.
Tuesday 24 June 2025
7.00 pm – 8.00 pm
Click HERE to register.

Parenting Teens: Staying Connected Through the Teen Years
For parents and carers of high school students aged 12+
See the flyer HERE.
Wednesday 25 June 2025
7.00 pm – 8.00 pm
Click HERE to register.