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Employment opportunity – Safeguarding Training Officer

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The Safeguarding Office (Chancery & Parishes), based in the Chancery at Pennant Hills is seeking someone with a passion and drive in child protection, justice, compliance and community engagement to join a welcoming and supportive team in the role of Safeguarding Training Officer. While this is noted as a full-time position, there is flexibility with the working schedule for the right candidate.

This is an exciting role providing a focus on best practice and by building the awareness and competency across the Diocese of Broken Bay.  This role requires strong relationships and connections with clergy, Chancery and parish staff to ensure Catholic Church values and principles are reflected in a safe environment for children and adults at risk.

You will have the opportunity to strengthen a culture of safe practices for children and adults at risk providing education and training, sharing your expertise and contemporary knowledge of research and best practice principles adhering to compliance requirements relevant to the delivery of training while providing support to parishes with safeguarding education and awareness initiatives and commitment to continuous improvement.

Pivotal to this role is the requirement to assist with preparations for internal and external audits, providing advice on processes and offering recommendations for improvements, educating, and supporting clergy and Chancery employees to develop an understanding of, and compliance with NCSS requirements.

The role requires qualifications or relevant industry experience in adult education and training, workplace professional development, safeguarding, child protection or social welfare and a thorough understanding of the requirements for delivering and developing adult education and training in a workplace.

The Chancery is committed to supporting its workforce and strives to create a working environment that allows our people to do their best work. In this role you will be rewarded with flexible working arrangements, ongoing professional development, and a supportive work culture with a passionate and fun team.

The Diocese of Broken Bay is committed to and promotes a culture of safety and care for all people, especially for children and others in the community who are vulnerable. Our Diocese has no tolerance to child abuse and is committed to ensuring our staff and volunteers understand the joint responsibility to safeguard all those within our community.

How to apply

To obtain a copy of the position description or for further details, please contact recruitment@bbcatholic.org.au. To apply submit a CV and brief cover letter addressing the skillsets required via email to recruitment@bbcatholic.org.au.

Applications close Friday, 17 November 2023.

Surf’s Up

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Congratulations to Harry B in Year 7 who made the 2023 NSW surfing state team and attended the surfing NSW High Performance Camp last week.

Harry is also attending a training day at the Melbourne Wave pool soon and will be competing in the Aussie Titles at Phillip Island.  Well done, Harry on your excellent achievements.

Broken Bay Volleyball

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St. Brigid’s Catholic College recently convened the inaugural CSBB indoor volleyball tournament at Niagara Park.  Under the expert guidance of Rebecca Ardern and Natasha McFadden, the event was a great success.

Our year 10 and 11 students displayed exceptional determination and sportsmanship, making us proud with their outstanding efforts in an open division.

St Brigid’s is looking forward to hosting this event again next year.

Special thanks to Mrs. Foo and Mrs. Cohen for coaching the teams on the day, and to Mrs. Cannon and our student helpers, Zali, Ella, and Sienna, for their help on the day.

HSC Drama Onstage Nomination

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Congratulations to Bridget M. who has received an Onstage nomination for her Outstanding HSC Drama monologue, reflecting her exceptional performance skills.  We are so proud of your achievement.

Onstage is a selection of exemplary HSC Drama projects.  Final selections for Onstage will be announced in December.

Explicit Instruction – Assistant Principal

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I attended a National School Improvement Colloquium earlier this week and I was struck by how many sessions were devoted to explicit instruction and how schools were implementing this approach to fit their context.

I am a huge advocate of explicit instruction and whilst trends in education come and go, it appears clear to me that the evidence supporting explicit instruction stands the test of time.

At St Brigid’s we have moved to delivering much more explicit instruction and outlined below is some information on what this teaching approach is and the benefits of it.

Explicit instruction is a teacher-directed approach to learning that is structured, sequential, and designed to build on previous learning.  It is a purposeful way of overtly teaching students, and it includes both instructional and delivery procedures.  Here are some benefits of explicit instruction:

  • Engages students: Explicit instruction engages students, teaches them the process of learning, and helps build decision-making and social skills.
  • Clear instructions: Explicit instruction makes learning crystal clear, and it gives kids lots of opportunities to practice skills and get feedback.
  • Effective for struggling learners: Explicit instruction is effective for students with exceptionalities, in particular students with learning differences.
  • It is also essential for struggling readers and aligns with what we know students need to break the reading code.
  • Reduces cognitive load: For students who struggle with working memory, explicit instruction reduces the load on working memory.  By freeing up some of the required working memory, we free up cognitive resources for the learning itself.
  • Increases performance: Explicit teaching is effective in fast-tracking student performance.  It aims to move beyond rote learning and to attempt to sequence learning for students.
  • Clear expectations: Explicit teaching is a useful teaching strategy for making sure all students are clear about the criteria.  Part of the process is setting the scene for each lesson, recapping previously taught information and stating aims and objectives moving forward.
  • Systematic and sequential: Explicit teaching is always systematic and sequential.  By directly supporting guided practice using a series of steps, it’s ideal for teaching.

In summary, explicit instruction is an effective teaching approach that engages students, provides clear instructions, and is especially helpful for struggling learners.  It reduces cognitive load, increases performance, and provides clear expectations.  It is always systematic and sequential, making it ideal for teaching.

Broken Bay Rugby Union

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Our junior boy’s rugby union team headed off to the Northern Beaches this week.  Another great day in sport for our students.  Taking to the field after participating in a skills and drill season hosted by NSW Rugby Union.

The boys had a good day and adapted well to playing rugby union, the team was made up of rugby league players and I believe this did show at times.  With smiles all round, the boy’s and coaches headed back to school without a win.  Thanks Mr Devlin and Miss Ardern for taking the boys and making it a day to remember.

Broken Bay Surf Lifesaving

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The Broken Bay Surf Lifesaving event never disappoints, a day at Terrigal Beach with a great bunch of kids is always a good day out.  On Tuesday we took 14 students to this event and had some success on the beach and in the water.  Congratulations to the following students who placed:

Majestik F – 2nd Junior Beach Flags and Sprit final

Kye Mc – 2nd Junior Sprint

Zach M – 1st Junior Board, 3rd Junior Ironman and 5th in the Swim

We had Evie S place 5th in the Junior Beach Flags and final of the Junior Sprint.  Both Lily T and Zali Mc made the Intermediate Sprit final and Zali, placed 4th and Lily 5th in the intermediate flags.  Great results from students who have never competed in a surf lifesaving carnival.

Zach was super keen to get into as many water events as possible and made combined teams for the board relay with St Paul’s and St Peter’s placing 4th.  He placed 6th in a combined Taplin event with St Edwards and Kobi G from St Brigid’s.

Thank you to Mr Philpott for watching the students in the water events and Ms Paliskis for taking on the role as shoreline water safety.  A big day for all involved and we appreciate your time and support at these events. Special thanks to Lakes Beach SLSC for their continued support.  They are always happy to let our students participate in this event and use their equipment.  We love the relationship we have with The Lakes Beach Surf Club.

We say this often, but our students really do get in and have a good go! Watching the students show each other how an event is done, cheering on the sidelines, and showing confidence in mixing with other schools.  This is a real testament to our students and the College.  They have passion, and a will to be involved, and they do it with pride.  Well done to all in the surf lifesaving team 2023.