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AS PARTNERS IN CATHOLIC EDUCATION AND OPEN TO AS PARTNERS IN CATHOLIC EDUCATION AND OPEN TO GOD’S PRESENCE, WE PURSUE FULLNESS OF LIFE FOR ALLGOD’S PRESENCE, WE PURSUE FULLNESS OF LIFE FOR ALLSTRATEGIC DIRECTIONS 2020-2024STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS 2020-2024PARTNERING: PARTNERING: A STEP FURTHERA STEP FURTHER
In educating a balance must be maintained,your steps must be well balanced,one step on the cornice of safety but the other into the zone of risk.And when the risk becomes safe, the next step must ventureinto another area of risk.Education cannot be confined to the safety zone.No. This would mean preventing personalities from developing.Yet, it is not possible to educate solely in the risk zone either, this is too dangerous.It is a balance of steps, remember it well.I also want to encourage you, educators, to seek new, unconventional forms of education, so as to comply with the needs of places, times and people.Always go a step furthergo a step furtherand never be satisfied with conventional things. Seek new forms in accordance with the places, times and people.I encourage you to do this. – Pope Francis, 2013AcknowledgementsWe would like to acknowledge and thank:• Dr Patricia Hindmarsh for her work in leading and managing the process of consultaon, planning and discernment. • Mrs Eileen Rice, Sr Helen Nolan rsm, Fr Ma Thomas and Mr Peter Morgan for their contribuon as members of the Working Party.
Message from the BishopIn my student days, we had a philosophy teacher who used to quote Lan proverbs. One of his favourite sayings was “Parvus error in principio magnus est in ne”. This might be translated as “A small error in the beginning becomes a large error in the end”. We might think of someone shoong an arrow at a target. As they take aim, they need to point the arrow in exactly the right direcon if they are going to hit the mark. If they point the arrow just one cenmetre o line, the arrow could be a long way o target when it lands. We can apply this to many areas of life. If we are aiming to achieve some goal, it is important to line up the target carefully to start with. Otherwise we might miss the target altogether.In formulang strategic direcons for Catholic educaon in our diocese, we are seeking to express our goals as clearly as possible and point our services in the right direcon to achieve those goals. The central aim is summed up in the statement of our diocesan educaon vision: “As partners in Catholic educaon and open to God’s presence, we pursue fullness of life for all”. This echoes the words of Jesus, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) The strategies include enhancing the partnerships between students, teachers, parents, priests and parishioners in our local faith communies; arming eecve methods of teaching and learning and also promong fresh methods that respond to new needs and opportunies; and encouraging everyone involved with our schools to be connual learners. I thank all those who have contributed to the consultaons about this document. May this text provide a reference point for each of our schools as they formulate their own detailed goals and strategies for the years ahead. May these Strategic Direcons help us all stay on target in our eorts to share Christ’s fullness of life with everyone in our community.Paul Bird CSsR Bishop of BallaratMessage from the DirectorMany voices have been heard in the consultaon meengs leading up to the development of these Strategic Direcons, Partnering: A Step Forward. We are grateful to those who provided feedback, which included both armaon and advice. The Planning Group has listened carefully to all those who contributed. The ve key Strategic Priories have resulted from processes of both speaking out and aenve listening. This focus will form the basis of our systemic strategic direcon over the next four years. It is a tribute to all responsible for Catholic schooling that so many posive and encouraging words have been spoken. Alongside this, the construcve, well-considered advice that has been received is an indicaon of a healthy commitment to the future of our Catholic schools, which are recognised as more signicant now than ever in this changing, contemporary world. Parcipants in the process, including parents, sta and pastors, have expressed great faith and hope in Catholic educaon across the Diocese. Tom Sexton Chief Execuve Ocer Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Educaon LimitedFOREWORD3
Our VisionAs partners in Catholic education and open to God’s presence, we pursue fullness of life for all. NORTHERN ZONECENTRAL ZONESOUTHERN ZONEEdenhopeColeraineHamiltonPenshurstMortlakeTerangCamperdownKoroitPort FairyPortlandDenningtonWarrnamboolColacCoragulacCastertonMaryboroughDaylesfordBallanGordonSpringbankClarke’s HillCreswickDunnstownBallaratMilduraMerbeinRed CliffsRobinvaleSwan HillSea LakeWarracknabealCharltonDonaldMurtoaHorshamAraratStawellNhillSt ArnaudHopetounThe Diocese of Ballarat has 64 diverse primary and secondary schools in total, providing disncve Catholic educaon in rural and regional sengs from the Murray to the Sea.The Diocese is divided into the Northern, Southern and Central zones and has over 18,000 students enrolled in 52 Primary Schools (F-6), one Foundaon to Year 8 School and 11 Secondary Schools (7-12).OUR DIOCESAN EDUCATION COMMUNITY4 Partnering: A Step Further – Strategic Directions 2020-2024
The Diocese of Ballarat, stretching from the Murray to the Sea, covers a vast area and includes diverse communies. We rightly celebrate Catholic educaon with its system of sixty-four ourishing Catholic schools scaered across the Diocese. Equally, we ask how we can consolidate and creavely partner together to connue improving the quality of our schools. During 2019, opportunies for consultaon were oered to express future hopes and aspiraons for Catholic educaon. Meengs were held in several centres, including: • Ararat• Hamilton• Horsham• Warrnambool• Colac• Halls Gap• Swan Hill• Mildura• BallaratThose present expressed that in small, remote and regional schools, signs of hope remained for families in mes of drought and social challenge, and that larger, increasingly mul-cultural schools and colleges are oering quality educaon for a changing world in cies and regional towns. Parishes and schools are working in partnership. Families are condent to entrust their children to our schools, which they see as compassionate, caring communies oering excellent learning opportunies. There was an expressed appreciaon of Catholic faith and life, and the Gospel spirit that characterises our schools, which one parent described as, ‘The jewel in the crown’ of the Diocese. There is joy in the openness and welcoming nature of Catholic schools to all who present for enrolment, regardless of their background.STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS BACKGROUNDParents, priests and sta idened the following pressing signs of the mes which are impacng families and schools: • The drought, which is aecng family nances and wellbeing• The digital world, as both opportunity and great challenge• The crisis of clerical sexual abuse• The state of our planet• The diversity of ethnic and religious background of students• Economic growth and inequity • Mental health challenges• The ‘consumer’ society • The unrealisc expectaons that families somemes place on their children and on sta People expressed condence that Catholic schools in our diocese are facing these challenges and are providing safe, respecul, inclusive and high quality learning environments that young people need.The areas idened for change and improvement through the consultaons are reected in the ve Priority Areas of these Strategic Direcons and the global intents related to each of the Priories. These Strategic Direcons, tled Partnering: A Step Further, have drawn inspiraon from our Diocesan Educaon Vision and Mission Statements, which require us to act as ‘partners’ in Catholic educaon.Over the next four years, we have a moral imperave to raise the bar for all students and to close the gap for lower performing groups, relave to the higher order skills and competencies required to be successful world cizens. It is the intenon that schools and the Catholic Educaon Oce will use these Strategic Direcons as a ‘touchstone’ document in preparing their own goals and strategies. Partnering: A Step Further will inform local School Improvement Plans, Annual Acon Plans and Posion Descripons. Partnering: A Step Further is intended both as a means to unify the overall direcon and ensure equity in the allocaon of resources for Catholic schools in the Ballarat Diocese, while respecng their autonomy to respond to the needs of their unique context. 5
PARTNERSHIPSOur Diocesan Educaon Vision states that, “as partners in Catholic Educaon and open to God’s presence, we pursue fullness of life for all”. The contemporary contexts of which Catholic Educaton is integrally a part, present opportunies and challenges that require new learning, new leaderships and new ways of being with each other. Research indicates that if educaon systems are ourishing in these changing and complex environments, then all within the system need to be dynamically connected and in partnership with each other, as they strive to bring the vision to life for all.As partners and in partnership we have the opportunity to create a highly eecve and ourishing system that:• Engages deeply with its moral purpose to ensure that all young people in our school communies become creave, adaptable, self-movated learners who achieve their full potenal in all aspects of learning.• Inspires and supports leaders connually to develop their knowledge and capacies, and in turn, strengthens the collecve experse of leaders across the system in improving learning for all young people in our school communies.• Values sustained opportunies for professional learning for all educators.• Engages in collaborave evidence-informed professional inquiry that creates new knowledge and innovave pracces in response to local and system contexts and needs.• Focuses on discerned system priories and iniaves that respond to local and system contexts and oer authenc opportunies to partner in achieving excellence in learning for all young people.Partnerships are focussed on the following:• Mutual benet, where all are learning with and from each other, sharing collecve experse and evidence informed pracces through inquiry approaches to professional learning.• Transparency, where all are commited to improvement processes that are clear in purpose, are posive in intent and support the collecve learning of the system as a whole. • Relaonships of trust that respect diversity of perspecve within the context of system, zone, network, cluster or individual school community projects or iniaves.It is the intent of these Strategic Direcons to oer inspiraon “as partners in Catholic Educaon and open to God’s presence” to “pursue fullness of life for all” more intenonally.6 Partnering: A Step Further – Strategic Directions 2020-2024
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES …to create Christ-centered learning-focussed communies, responsive to the needs of our me and contexts? …to create safe and respecul communies of hope where all can ourish? …to ensure quality learning and teaching that promotes excellence and fosters authenc human development? ...to ensure cooperaon and collaboraon underpin eecve family engagement, governance and stewardship? …to foster leaders to serve our Catholic Educaon communies? Fostering inspiring leadershipBuilding inclusive Catholic learning Empowering Enhancing family engagement, governance and stewardship Achieving best How might we partner as a Diocesan Educaon Community...As partners inCatholic Education and open to God’s presence, we pursue fullness of life for all. 7
The ve priories were discerned following the diocesan consultaon processes:• Empowering all to ourish• Building inclusive Catholic learning communies• Achieving best pracce• Fostering inspiring leadership • Enhancing family engagement, governance and stewardshipFOR CONSIDERATIONIntroductionThe following quesons are oered as a further opportunity for school communies to engage with the quesons that were raised in the broader educaon community of the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat, as schools discern and respond to local needs and contexts. 8 Partnering: A Step Further – Strategic Directions 2020-2024
• How might we create cultures of respect, trust and safety where the human dignity of each person is embraced and celebrated?• How might we create and nurture communies of inclusivity and belonging where all are known and understood, in parcular the most vulnerable in our communies?• How might we foster authenc partnerships that foster relaonships of mutual benet, equity and transparency that are anchored in the wellbeing of all?• How might we create cultures of learning where all are invited to have an authenc voice and to be agents of their learning?• How do we bring aenon to ways of being and parcipang in online spaces that are safe and respecul?How might we partner as a Diocesan Education Community to create safe and respectful communities of hope where all can flourish?Building inclusive Catholic learning communities• How might we design and oer opportunies for deeply understanding the Catholic Tradion and create the condions for developing condence in our emerging Catholic Identy? • How might we come to understand deeply and enact the ndings of the Enhancing Catholic School Identy (ECSI) data, in partnership and in dialogue, with our faith communies?• How might we priorise and oer opportunies for personal and professional dialogue that invites a deep engagement with the Mission for all?• How might we design and oer professional learning opportunies that empower and skill all within our system to enact the Awakenings curriculum in ways that are meaningful to all learners and enable them to achieve fullness of life?How might we partner to create Christ-centered learning-focussed communities, responsive to the needs of our time and contexts?Empowering all to flourish9
Achieving best practice• How do we enact pedagogical approaches that ensure each young person achieves their opmal growth and development, across all dimensions of learning?• How can we create the condions where young people are posioned as acve agents in their own learning – where they are oered opmal voice, choice and power – as partners in their learning with peers and adults?• How might we create a culture of innovaon and creavity that is responsive to the complexity and diversity of the learning needs of young people?• How do we create authenc partnerships of learning across our system that provide opportunies for collaboraon, inquiry and innovaon? • How can we ensure that our pracce is evidence based and data informed? How might we partner as a Diocesan Education Community to ensure quality learning and teaching that promotes excellence and fosters authentic human development?FOR CONSIDERATION10 Partnering: A Step Further – Strategic Directions 2020-2024
Enhancing family engagement, governance and stewardship• How might we develop authenc partnerships based on mutual trust and respect that connect families, schools and parishes?• How can we acvely engage, challenge and support families in the learning process? • How do we support families in the transion points of schooling i.e. Kindergarten to School, Primary to Secondary, Secondary to Terary?• How do we ensure that partnerships and communicaon exist between the various governing authories?• How do we ensure eecve governance policies, procedures and relaonships?• How might we ensure that eecve delegaons and accountability policies and processes are in place to ensure the safety of all?• How do we ensure pracces of eecve nancial management, capital development and stewardship of all resources?How might we partner as a Diocesan Education Community to ensure cooperation and collaboration underpin effective family engagement, governance and stewardship?Fostering inspiring leadership• How might we create a system wide culture of leading that fosters connected and sustainable leadership growth and development, now and into the future?• How might we provide diverse and ongoing opportunies for learning and development, where leaders are empowered to lead their own learning, in the context of their faith communies? • How might we acvely seek dynamic and emergent ways of partnering with a focus on creang new knowledge and enacng new paerns of working, learning and leading across the system?• How might we enact innovave and creave organisaonal structures (connecons and relaonships) that provide the space necessary for adapve responses to enacng our Diocesan Educaon Mission?• How do we meet the diverse leadership needs and ensure the sustainable use of resources across the Diocese?How might we partner as a Diocesan Education Community to foster leaders who serve our Catholic Education communities?11
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