BRISBANE Catholic Education’s 132 schools celebrated the launch of a new document on October 12 to guide their renewal for the next five years.
The Strategic Renewal Framework for Catholic Schools 2007-2011 details eight archdiocesan educational priorities that provide direction for the renewal of each Catholic school.
The three frameworks on strategic renewal, spiritual formation and leadership provide direction for the work of Brisbane Catholic Education to 2011.
One of the key architects of the new framework, Tony Harkness from Brisbane Catholic Education, said the document replaces a previously revised version of the 2002 plan and is underpinned by the archdiocese’s vision of Jesus, Communion and Mission.
The priorities outline a longer term strategy for Catholic schooling in which schools can effectively plan for and manage renewal.
Under the framework, schools ideally undertake renewal in partnership with the family and the local Church community, with each partner having a distinctive but complementary role.
The document notes that research indicates schools which are founded on strong beliefs and values and plan systematically and strategically from them are more effective schools.
The spiritual formation framework, named Catching Fire, reflects the spiritual formation of staff who work across Brisbane Catholic Education.
While underlining the impact that the individual spirit of each staff member has on students, parents and other staff, Catching Fire is respectful of the individual’s journey as well as the shared mission of Catholic education.
The third framework, leadership, presents a strong direction for the future in terms of the development of leadership dimensions and capacities for those in positions of leadership within Catholic education.
There have been significant cultural, social, economic, environmental and political changes in education in recent years. Not all of these are supportive of the Catholic Christian ethos.
Schools are urged to continuously focus on their vision, to inform and guide their choices about how to proceed from where they are.
They are urged to engage with the archdiocesan vision of Jesus Communion Mission and the synodal priorities within a changing parish scene.
Governments have continued with significant structural and policy reforms in schooling. These include increased educational accountability and reporting requirements from both Commonwealth and State Governments.
At a state level, the start of the Preparatory Year, middle schooling initiatives, senior schooling reforms, and a review of the Queensland curriculum assessment and reporting frameworks will all have an impact on Catholic schools in coming years.
Schools will use the Strategic Renewal Framework to inform their planning, action and reporting.
The framework’s eight priorities are:
* Religious and evangelising mission of school
Teaching, challenging and transforming in the context of Jesus, Communion and Mission in partnership with the archdiocesan Church will be central to the Catholic identity and the religious and evangelising mission of schools.
* Student learning outcomes
Catholic schools are committed to improving the learning outcomes of all students – outcomes that provide for the education of the mind, soul, heart and body of students. Catholic schools are committed to “empowering learners of all ages to shape and enrich our changing world by living the gospel of Jesus Christ”.
* Student support
Catholic schools aim to provide support for the diverse needs of all students – more than 56,000 students in 132 different archdiocesan school contexts.
They want to know and understand who are the students attending these schools. They want to educate and support each and everyone of them.
* Staff support
Staff and the Catholic heritage and philosophy of education are Catholic schools’ greatest assets. Catholic schools aim to develop professional, collaborative learning cultures, supportive and productive work environments and leadership opportunities for all staff.
* Partnerships and relationships
Catholic schools will build on their already strong partnerships with parents and local communities with a special commitment to promoting dialogue in the context of shared decision-making.
* Information, communication and learning technologies
Research indicates that technology by itself will not drive or sustain change in schools but it will help accelerate change and make change more sustainable. Catholic schools will look for workable and sustainable ways for integrating technology into our administrative, teaching and learning processes.
* Resourcing Catholic schooling
Using resources effectively to enhance the quality of educational provision as well as increasing the availability and access of Catholic education in Australia’s fastest growing region will be a key priority.
* Renewal and quality assurance
Doing what they do, collaboratively, in a planned and strategic way, evaluating their effectiveness and reporting on their achievements to their stakeholders will ensure that each Catholic school is acknowledged by the broader community as providing a quality Catholic education.
