Australian Catholic Primary Principals' Association eNewsletter

Dear Members,

There have been several major updates confirmed since the last ACPPA communications.

We have signed a new financial partnership with MultiLit that was announced at the APPA Conference in Hobart at the Catholic sector function. We really believe that this type of business partnership will not only benefit the association, but also principals and individual schools. We look forward to building this partnership over the next two years and encourage you to support this connection with MultiLit as well as all of our valued partners.

We have completed an agreement with ACU regarding access to data for Catholic primary leaders in the principal well-being survey. This is a key component of each State and Territory association being able to leverage the data in the discussions with employers, as well as for our national association to do the same and support what is happening in the jurisdiction. This survey is a significant research project through ACU and it is important that as leaders in Catholic education, we are able to use this data to inform discussions.

The recent APPA conference in Hobart was a great opportunity for our Catholic sector principals to gather and network together. It also provided a great opportunity for our business partners to meet and mingle with our members, giving them the level of access afforded by our partnerships. The next APPA conference will be the Trans Tasman Conference to be held in Christchurch in September 2024.

The ACPPA Board Directors gathered together in Melbourne for the Board meeting, which also combined the AGM. The Board were able to spend time together discussing issues of national importance and the impact for State and Territory associations.

We would like to congratulate the Catholic School Parents Association as they celebrate their 10th birthday in August. This association has branches in most areas of Australia and is a wonderful support for parents and school communities.

Peter Cutrona

PRESIDENT

Mary MacKillop Feast Day August 8th

Each year on the 8th of August we celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Australia's beloved first saint and patron saint of our Archdiocese. On this day, we celebrate the important role she played in making education accessible for children in our country. Mary MacKillop devoted her life to ensuring a holistic Catholic education for children from rural, poor families.

St Mary MacKillop's impact on Australian education was remarkable. She was a trailblazer and a leader who passionately advocated for the education of underprivileged children and children in remote areas where others either would or could not go. For such children and their families, Mary opened a door of hope into the future.

Source: https://catholicfoundation.org.au/events/mary-mackillop-feast-day/

God of the prophets you gifted Mary MacKillop with vision and courage.
In her we see one who was not afraid to speak fearlessly your gospel of love.
We pray for the sensitivity and imagination to read the signs of our times, and to articulate new possibilities for our own day.

Like Mary, may we learn to confront all that is oppressive and unjust, and empower others towards true freedom and integrity. Spirit of wisdom, be with us as we face new horizons.

Amen

MultiLit and ACPPA announce partnership

MultiLit is delighted to partner with the Australian Catholic Primary Principals’ Association, to support the promotion of evidence-based literacy education and our shared focus on improving literacy outcomes for students.

MultiLit thanks ACPPA President Peter Cutrona for his warm welcome as a “valued partner”.

“MultiLit’s programs and resources are highly regarded by the Australian education community, and we believe that this partnership with ACPPA will greatly benefit our principals and the schools they lead,” Mr Cutrona said.

MultiLit Managing Director Iain Rothwell said the partnership continues MultiLit’s successful collaboration with the Catholic education sector, which includes working with Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn as part of its Catalyst school improvement project and supporting Catholic Education Tasmania with early literacy programs.

“We are excited to partner with the ACPPA, which shares our deep commitment to improving educational outcomes for students,” Mr Rothwell said.

“MultiLit has been engaging in educational research for more than three decades and partnerships such as this support our objective to ensure that evidence-based teaching methods and programs make their way into classrooms where they can have the most benefit.”

Introducing MultiLit

As a leading provider of evidence-based instruction, MultiLit’s mission is to ensure every child learns to read. Through our commitment to research and innovation, we provide an ever-evolving suite of programs, tools, professional development and resources to support educators and their students.

From inception, MultiLit has based all instructional materials and resources on the best scientific evidence, as well as incorporating new findings as they emerge. Our highly regarded MultiLit Research Unit (MRU), with its team of nine PhD qualified researchers, is at the heart of MultiLit’s approach to innovation and development.

MultiLit’s programs are evidence-based and extensively trialled in classroom settings. This coupled with our in-depth understanding of curriculum and the contemporary classroom, ensures our programs are both user-friendly and practical for use.

We provide a comprehensive Professional Development program delivered by trainers with deep expertise and commitment to excellence in professional learning. Our responsive and knowledgeable School Partnerships team provides ongoing support to educators, ensuring they have the confidence and capability to implement programs and strategies consistently and with fidelity.

MultiLit looks forward to working in partnership with ACPPA to support ongoing student success.

For further details about MultiLit watch this video or visit https://multilit.com

Image: ACPPA President Peter Cutrona, MultiLit Sales Director Matt Maher, ACPPA Vice President Phil Schultz

MSP Photography are passionate about providing quality, photographic memories for students and families, while making Photo Day as easy as possible for School staff.

Click here to find out more about MSP Photography

Protecting our planet and our children’s future

Woods Furniture is not just a typical school furniture supplier; they are deeply committed to protecting the environment and ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come. The company emphasises that environmental protection is not just a process within their business but a way of life. They consider the environmental impact at every stage of their business operations, including renewable energy use, rainwater harvesting, partnering with like-minded suppliers, recycling, and waste minimisation.

In addition to their dedication to environmental sustainability, Woods Furniture also demonstrates a passion for the history and culture of Australia's First Peoples. They have introduced Indigenous artwork into their products, ranging from soft furnishings to tables and storage units, to help children deepen their understanding of the world's oldest continuous living cultures. To ensure that their engagement with Indigenous artwork is genuine and not a mere token gesture, Woods Furniture collaborated with Southeast Queensland artist Steven Bekue, a proud Bundjalung and Bidjara man, to paint original artworks representing his culture.

Woods Furniture not only focuses on producing high-quality, sustainable products but also takes pride in supporting Australian manufacturing. They provide career opportunities for their staff, offering job security and potential career growth paths. Many of their management team members started as general laborers within the company and were given opportunities to progress in their careers. Tony Rogers himself left school at year 11 and worked as a labourer before working his way up in the furniture industry. This experience has made him acutely aware of the importance of local manufacturing and its role in providing employment opportunities and career paths for individuals.

The company also acknowledges its corporate social responsibilities and believes that everyone has a responsibility to contribute to creating a better world. Woods Furniture's dedication to environmental sustainability, support for Indigenous culture, and commitment to local manufacturing and job opportunities exemplify their strong belief in contributing positively to society and the planet.

Woods Furniture are proud to have been long term partners of ACPPA

Click here to find out more about Woods Furniture

ACPPA Board Directors meet together in Melbourne

The ACPPA Board gathered recently in Melbourne. The Board continued to work in sub committees to enact the strategic plan and discuss topics impacting principals across the country. The Board were also engaged in conversations with:

Dr Edward Simons (Executive Director MACS) who spoke about the strategic plan of MACS and how this can align with the work of ACPPA.
Danielle Cavanagh (ACARA) who shared information about the updates from ACARA and opportunities for schools to engage with professional learning and curriculum projects.
Tyson and Josephine Brennan (Brennan Law) joined the sub committees to discuss ways to engage ACPPA members in the areas of Wellbeing and Professional Learning.

MSP Photography, a valued ACPPA partner, took this opportunity to photograph the ACPPA Board Directors in both formal and informal settings.

ACPConnect continues to provide a platform for principals to access a range of wellbeing and faith resources. The portal is one way that ACPPA, partnered with Brennan Law, Catholic Secondary Principals Australia (CaSPA) and Lutheran Principals Australia (LPA), provides support to principals.

In addition to the portal, the first of the ACPConnect 'Principal Talks' podcasts is available on Spotify. With more episodes underway, we look forward to sharing the stories of principals and their journeys. Keep an eye and ear out for the future episodes, including some wonderful stories from principals about their pilgrimage experiences.

To access ACPConnect, head to ACPConnect

HIGHER NAPLAN EXPECTATIONS AND SIMPLER, CLEARER
REPORTING TO PARENTS IN TERM 3

More meaningful reporting to parents and carers

In the coming weeks, parents and carers across Australia will receive NAPLAN Individual Student Reports (ISRs) that more clearly and simply show their child’s NAPLAN achievement against the higher national standards agreed by all education ministers earlier this year.

This will help parents, carers and teachers to make sure children are getting the best out of their schooling and learning the skills they need to succeed at school, and beyond. Parents and carers will begin receiving the new reports in the first half of Term 3.

The new reporting shows how students are achieving in literacy and numeracy skills against challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing, based on previous years of schooling. The new reports have 4 levels of proficiency, “Exceeding”, “Strong”, “Developing” and “Needs additional support”, and will more clearly identify those students who need additional support.

“This new approach to NAPLAN reporting is based on advice provided by expert teacher panels and the views of parents and carers themselves,” said ACARA CEO, David de Carvalho. “The new reporting system clearly states whether students are meeting these higher expectations. Parents want to know if their child is where they should be at that stage of their schooling. With these new reports, they will know at a glance whether students need literacy or numeracy support to improve and meet the NAPLAN expectations for their year level.”

The specific timing of the release of the ISRs to parents and carers varies across states and territories but schools should begin receiving the reports in coming weeks to provide to parents and carers.

“It’s important that as teachers, schools, parents and carers begin receiving these reports that they keep in mind that expectations have been set at a higher level than previously and it is to be anticipated that a higher number of children will not yet be meeting the expectations at the time of testing,” Mr de Carvalho said.

Schools and teachers are best placed to discuss a student’s progress. NAPLAN tests are a point in time assessment and only one aspect of each school’s assessment and reporting process. As they are held once every 2 years for each student, they cannot replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance.

This new way of reporting means that NAPLAN results from 2023 will not be comparable to the NAPLAN results from previous years. Reporting on NAPLAN changes over time will start this year, building upon the 2023 results.

Each child’s NAPLAN Individual Student Report now shows how they’re performing against these 4 easy-to-understand proficiency levels:
• Exceeding: The student’s result exceeds expectations at the time of testing.
• Strong: The student’s result meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing.
• Developing: The student’s result indicates that they are working towards expectations at the time of testing.
• Needs additional support: The student’s result indicates that they are not achieving the learning outcomes expected at the time of testing. They are likely to need additional support to progress satisfactorily.

Additional information for each year level is available on the ISRs and on the National Assessment Program (NAP) website that makes it clear to parents and carers what their child’s literacy and numeracy skills are at the time of NAPLAN testing and supports discussions with their school on their child’s progress.
The new approach replaces the previous numerical NAPLAN bands and the national minimum standard. The proficiency levels on the new reports are based on the expert judgement of teachers who used student responses to NAPLAN questions linked to the Australian Curriculum to identify what students should be able to answer at the time of testing in each year to be considered as having met a challenging but reasonable expectation.

Student reports continue to show the national average and the range of achievement for the middle 60 per cent of students in their year level, allowing comparison of a child’s achievement against these measures.

Detailed information on the assessments is at: https://www.nap.edu.au/

Source: ACARA NAPLAN Reporting 2023

The Australian Primary Principals Association Conference was held in Hobart recently. This event saw principals from different sectors and jurisdictions across the country gather together in a beautiful setting to engage and explore elements of the educational landscape.

The ACPPA representatives were fortunate to be able to interact with the three major partners: MSP Photography, Woods Furniture and MultiLit.

Photographs:

Representatives from the partners are photographed below with the ACPPA President, Peter Cutrona, and Vice President, Phil Schultz

APPA and ACPPA Presidents

ACPPA President and Vice Presidents

School Partnership Opportunities with Australian Schools Plus

From now until 11 September 2023, eligible schools can apply for an exciting opportunity to partner with Schools Plus and embark on a journey of transformational change.

Schools Plus is a national not-for-profit that believes every child has the right to the same opportunities to thrive and reach their full potential. Partnership Opportunities offer a suite of funding, coaching and program management support for schools to lead their own strategic initiatives that meet the needs of their school community and create positive outcomes for the next generation.

From 7 August to 11 September 2023, schools can apply for a Single or Multi-year Partnership Opportunity with Schools Plus.

To be eligible, schools must have an Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) value below 1000. Both individual schools and clusters of schools (three to 10 schools) across all states and sectors in Australia, can apply.

This is an exciting opportunity for schools to access funding, coaching and resources across a single year or multiple years, creating transformational change for their children and school communities.

Examples of successful projects include:

Single year - Oral Indigenous language training for teachers, parents, and students to support students’ literacy.
Multi-year - Design and dissemination of a Passport for Learning tool across a network of special schools to provide individualised support to learner.

For more info, visit www.schoolsplus.org.au/for-schools/partnership-opportunities

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic College welcomes Education Minister

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic College (OLSH) Alice Springs, welcomed the Federal Minister for Education, Jason Clare MP, and National Catholic education executive director Jacinta Collins this week as part of a high-level education delegation looking at the unique challenges facing central Australian schools.

Jacinta joined the Minister, the chair of the government’s expert panel advising the government on the National School Reform Agreement, Dr Lisa O’Brien AM; Department of Education deputy secretary, Schools, Meg Brighton, and Catholic Education Northern Territory director, Paul Greaves.

“My thanks to OLHS principal Paul Melloy, staff and students for the informative and engaging visit,” Jacinta said.

“It was evident OLHS fosters a strong community, a collaborative learning environment and strives to make education accessible and impactful for all.”

Paul Greaves said he was privileged to participate in the meeting that Minister Clare had with a group of Aboriginal students from OLSH.

“The school has an enviable record in supporting attendance and engagement of Aboriginal students, and in getting Aboriginal students to complete Year 12 and gain a Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training. It was particularly impressive to hear the students share with the Minister their reflections on why this is the case.”

Catholic education has three schools in the Alice Springs district, OLSH, St Joseph’s Catholic Flexible Learning Centre and Ltyentye Apurte Catholic School.

During the Alice Springs visit, Northern Territory Catholic school principals and education office leaders took part in round table discussions led by Minister Clare addressing how the On Country Learning funding could be used by schools.

Jacinta said the visit to Alice Springs was an invaluable opportunity for the Minister to visit one of the local Catholic schools, and also to speak with Catholic education leaders to gain a better awareness of the issues facing remote schools.

“It is vital that our governments and those creating policy can engage directly with our school communities to deepen their understanding of their needs and the impact of programs and funding,” Jacinta said.

The On Country Learning measure, announced in the 2023-24 Federal Budget, commits $40 million over 2023-24 and 2024-25 to support improved attendance and engagement at the 46 schools in the Central Australia region that are currently operating below the 100 per cent Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).

“This additional funding will provide a boost to our schools in Central Australia which have significant challenges around disadvantage, attendance, wellbeing and other factors that impact greatly on student learning outcomes, particularly for our First Nations students,” Jacinta said.

“It will support these schools operating below the Schooling Resource Standard and we look forward to the future bilateral agreement between the Commonwealth and Northern Territory to bring our schools up to 100 per cent of the SRS over the long term.”

Minister Clare said schools had been advised what proportion of the funds would be allocated to them, with a number of potential funding concepts discussed, including forming a centralised team of occupational therapists and psychologists to visit remote schools and the employment of more indigenous educators.

“I hope that principals’ look at this funding and think about people in the local community, particularly indigenous Australians, who could be employed to provide the extra services and support students need,” Minister Clare told the Northern Territory News.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic College Alice Springs students with principal Paul Melloy, National Catholic education executive director Jacinta Collins and Catholic Education Northern Territory director, Paul Greaves.

Source: NCEC Media

After the recent ACPPA Board Meeting, the Executive Officer, Gez Mulvahil, spent time visiting with principals in some Victorian schools. These visits gave Gez the opportunity to listen to the successes and challenges that principals are experiencing in their schools. The VACPSP have a very collegial network and this was validated through the support of the national association.

Ashley Marsh, from Catholic Education Sandhurst, joined Gez and Principal Paul Dullard at Holy Rosary, Heathcote.

ACPPA would like to thank the schools in Victoria for their offers to visit and while not all could be included in this quick trip, it is hoped that there will be future opportunities to connect with principals in their schools.

Images:

St Patrick's, Kilmore

St Mary's, Williamstown

St Raphael's, Preston

Holy Rosary, Heathcote