23 November 2017

Newsletter Articles

'Invest in love,' pope says on first World Day of the Poor

People have a basic choice in the way they live: either striving to build up treasures on earth or giving to others in order to gain heaven, Pope Francis said. "What we invest in love remains, the rest vanishes," the pope said in his homily Nov. 19, the first World Day of the Poor. Between 6,000 and 7,000 poor people attended the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica as special guests, the Vatican said. While almost all of them live in Europe, they include migrants and refugees from all over the world. Among the altar servers were young men who are either poor, migrants or homeless. The first reader at the Mass, Tony Battah, is a refugee from Syria. Those presenting the gifts at the offertory were led by the Zambardi family from Turin, whom the Vatican described as living in a "precarious condition" and whose 1-year-old daughter has cystic fibrosis. In addition to the bread and wine that were consecrated at the Mass, the offertory included a large basket of bread and rolls that were blessed to be shared at the lunch the pope was offering after Mass. Some 1,500 poor people joined the pope in the Vatican's audience hall for the meal, while the other special guests were served at the Pontifical North American College — the U.S. seminary in Rome — and other seminaries and Catholic-run soup kitchens nearby. Read Full Article

Trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh may test Francis' diplomatic skills

Pope Francis will undertake one of the most overtly political foreign visits of his papacy in late November, traveling to the Catholic minority countries of Myanmar and Bangladesh as global attention has been drawn to majority Buddhist Myanmar's persecution of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims. While the pope has shown a unique ability to thread tough diplomatic needles in his trips abroad — his visit to Colombia in September, for example, was praised for the careful way he backed a widely unpopular peace deal with guerilla militants — the upcoming Nov. 26-Dec. 2 Asian sojourn may test even his skill set. Human rights advocates and experts with experience in the region want Francis to confront Myanmar's de facto prime minister, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, over her country's treatment of the Rohingya. Some 537,000 of the minority group have fled violence in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine for neighboring Bangladesh, according to U.N. figures. But local church leaders have advised the pope to refrain while in the country from specifically mentioning the Rohingya by name, for fear of reprisals from Myanmar's military, which still has control of the nation despite a process of democratic reforms that began in 2015 after a half-century of military rule. Read Full Article

NESA Syllabus Development Process Consultation

NESA is conducting a survey to gather stakeholder feedback regarding its current syllabus development process. We recognise that the sectors play an important role in the delivery of key messages about NESA’s syllabus development processes. We value your input and encourage you to provide feedback. You may wish to provide an individual or group response. This survey focuses on:

• previous engagement with syllabus development processes
• methods of feedback and consultation
• stakeholder expectations of NESA when responding to feedback.

The results will be used to inform future decision making about the processes NESA uses to develop syllabuses. The survey closes Sunday 10 December.

For more information, contact:

Justine Ferrari
Project Manager syllabusfeedback@nesa.nsw.edu.au

HSC minimum standard – Disability Provisions, Exemptions and Appeals Policy Information from David de Carvalho

As you know, the HSC minimum standard has been introduced to ensure that students leave school with a basic level of literacy and numeracy to achieve success in daily life.

I’m writing to let you know that NESA has developed an HSC minimum standard: Disability Provisions, Exemptions and Appeals Policy to ensure students of all learning abilities have a fair opportunity to demonstrate the minimum standard of literacy and numeracy. It has been created in line with feedback and advice from NESA’s Special Education Committee and key stakeholders.

The policy sets out the suite of provisions and conditions for students sitting the minimum standard literacy and numeracy tests, including disability provisions, exemptions, appeals and credentialing. The policy is aligned, where possible, to policies for the current HSC examinations, and also takes into account the distinctive features of the minimum standard online tests.

A key feature of the policy that I would like to highlight is the category of Principal Approved Provisions, which will allow you to approve and implement some practical arrangements that would normally require NESA approval for HSC examinations. In keeping with disability legislation, decisions about Principal Approved Provisions should be made as part of the student’s collaborative curriculum planning process.

We have increased the scope for principals to approve applications to ensure minimal administrative burden for schools and to acknowledge that the minimum standard online tests are unlike HSC assessments in nature and purpose.

We are asking principals to familiarise themselves with the policy. We will be releasing guidance on implementation of the provisions before the first test window in February 2018.

The Heart of Leadership

Conceptions of leadership often focus on external behaviour, concentrating on what the leader should do. However, it is critical to consider who the leader ‘is’ and develop consciousness around vulnerabilities, connections, fears and powers. Educational leaders must inter¬rogate their emotional lives in order to “form an infrastructure for becoming a real person” (Ackerman, Ostrowski, 2004, p.316). This article looks at two elements that comprise the heart of leadership:

1. Relational leadership
2. Understanding self.

Relational leadership

Relational leadership involves understanding the role of relational trust that is necessary to improve teaching and learning. Educational leaders must maintain quality relationships with staff, students, parents and The Board. Emotional engagement and interpersonal relationships are foundational in emotional leadership. Relational leadership is displayed in the Aus¬tralian Professional Standard for Principals.

Understanding self

The heart of leadership necessitates a deep under¬standing of self. Understanding self as a leader also connects to the Australian Professional Standard for Principals. In the professional practices standards, the notion of ‘developing self and others’ and ‘lead¬ing improvement innovation and change’ is most effective when underpinned by a deep understand¬ing of self as a leader (AITSL, 2014).

ACU Study Tour in the Phillipines

The study trip is on Catholicism, Catholic education and social justice. It is aimed at increasing the participants’ knowledge and understanding of the character and role of education, particularly in Catholic schools in a developing Asian country, as it is influenced by social inequalities and the socio-religious culture of the society. The social justice and Filipino (folk) Catholicism dimension of the study-trip will provide an experience of religion as the “sigh of the oppressed” and theology “from the heart of the people.”

ACU COURSE CREDITS:

This is a unit worth 10cp or 20cp toward the Graduate Diploma in Theological Studies, Master of Theological Studies, and Master of Professional Studies in Theology at ACU. It can be credited, as well, as 10cp or 20cp toward the Master of Religious Education subject to approval from the Course Coordinator. Depending on the elective option, and subject to approval from the Course Coordinator, it can also be credited as 10cp or 20cp towards other courses at ACU e.g. MEDLEA, MEDLN, MED, MEDN, MEDLCL, PCRLED, and GCEDLN.

TOUR COST: AUD 2,400 (Hotel Accommodation, Twin Share)3

Malcolm Gladwell & Steven Levitt LIVE

Your final chance to see best-selling author and New Yorker columnist, Malcolm Gladwell LIVE. ACSP members enjoy a special discounted rate – save $100.

Don’t miss Malcolm Gladwell & Steven Levitt LIVE in The Future: Disrupted & Reimagined.

Two of the most influential minds of our time deep dive into the social sciences and technology disruption to decode what drives human behaviour, motivation, innovation and success.

Digital technology and constant innovation means traditional business models and methodologies are under immense pressure to change. Gladwell highlights the new skills and knowledge requirements that are essential to keep pace with this everchanging market.

Named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people and one of Foreign Policy’s Top Global Thinkers, five times best-selling author of Outliers, Blink and The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell joins ‘rogue’ economist and best-selling author of Freakonomics, Steven Levitt LIVE in Sydney and Melbourne.

INTRODUCTION TO IoT YR 7-10

Coder Academy are piloting an Introduction to IoT course aimed at Yr 7-10 teachers on the 25th and 26th November at Coder Academy in Ultimo.

It is buidling on the Crack the Code material created by the Department of Education. It will help teachers understand how to use Arduino to build their own Smart Parking or Smart Home app. All resources will be available in Canvas.

The clear message they have been getting from teachers is that they do not feel ready for the Mandatory 7/8 Digital Technologies Syllabus and they want projects that they can deliver. This course will provide that. It is relevant for any TAS teacher wanting to upskill but more importantly it is good for ALL teachers who are likely to end up having to teach mandatory digital technology!

Coder Academy will run it under their NESA approved Hands on Introduction to Coding course. It will be worth 7 hours of Proficient Teacher PD.

As a special offer to teachers to test their product they would like to offer a 50% discount to any teacher that wants to book. If they use the promo code TEACHER50 when booking then they can get a 2 day course for $175. This is incredible value.

INTRODUCTION TO MAKERSPACE K-6

Coder Academy have been running a series of Introduction to Makerspace days across NSW in partnership with the Department of Education and Digital Technologies Hub. They just finished in Armidale last week and the feedback has been fantastic. They are running this day in Sydney on the 30th Nov, If you have staff who are keen to better understand how to integrate and teach coding, robotics, virtual reality, augemented reality etc then this is the course for them :-).

Connected Leader APPA Journal

APPA has recently completed a major survey and report on Policy to Practice. The report, Back in Balance: How policy and practice can make primary principals highly effective (APPA 2017) identifies that the key to ensuring we have effective leadership is trust and support for our school leaders. Trusting and working with principals and teachers to be empowered to lead their school’s teaching and learning will be the difference between successful reform and more of the same. Schools need autonomy with curriculum priorities to enable context to be a key component of teaching and learning. Assessment and reporting should be aligned to the school’s need and purpose. Education must become a long term, bi-partisan approach not interrupted by elections or politics. Our school communities need certainty in a changing world. APPA is very cautious of any drop-in solutions from other countries and believes that, while we can learn from other systems, many of our solutions can be found within our country. READ ARTICLES

Schoolzine

Schoolzine is proud to be a digital partner and supporter of ACSP NSW - Association of Catholic School Principals in NSW Inc.

Schoolzine has been an industry leader in digital school communications for 10 years. They are dedicated to customer service, product development and understanding the school landscape that keeps them at the top of the industry. Schoolzine’s Parent Engagement Platform consists of 3 packages, an eNewsletter, Mobile App and Website offering. Purchased separately or together, they guarantee each package will make engaging with parents easy and even enjoyable for a school of any size. Schoolzine addresses the need for media-rich, interactive content that engages parents.

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