Across our schools and the wider DOBCEL community, recent weeks have provided many reasons to celebrate the strength of our people, our commitment to learning and our connections both locally and internationally.
This week, Tom Sexton (Executive Director), Julia Petrov (Strategy Implementation Manager), Anne Pekin (Board Director), Ben Shields (St Patrick's Primary School Ballarat) and Emily Clarke (St Alipius Parish School Ballarat) represented DOBCEL at the Education Systems Summit in Turku, Finland, where they shared our work on CIRPs and built valuable connections with education colleagues from Finland, Norway, Denmark and Canada. Their workshop was very well received, and a visit to Turku Cathedral School—celebrating its remarkable 750th anniversary this year—provided another opportunity to learn from a very different educational context. The team now travels to Tampere for the European Conference on Educational Research, where they will present a paper on DS 2035 and contribute to an international panel. It is wonderful to see our work contributing to, and learning from, the global education conversation.
Closer to home, our schools continue to demonstrate what it means to create communities where students and staff can flourish. At St Francis Xavier Primary School, Ballarat East, students have embraced Bullying? No Way! Week by creating a vibrant Kindness Wall—a simple but powerful expression of inclusion, respect and belonging.
Professional learning and collaboration have also been strongly evident across our schools. Staff from St Patrick's School, Nhill, and St Mary's Primary School, Warracknabeal, spent an engaging day exploring mathematics teaching with Michael Minas, while St Pius X generously opened its doors to colleagues from St Joseph's Primary Schools in Warrnambool and Penshurst and DOBCEL staff to share its impressive work strengthening Tier 1 SWPBS practices. The growth in St Pius X's Tiered Fidelity Inventory from 30% to 80% is a significant achievement and an excellent example of the impact of sustained, evidence-informed practice and collaboration.
We also continue to see the extraordinary capabilities of our young people. More than 300 students gathered at Damascus College for the STEM MAD Showcase, bringing creativity, compassion and problem-solving together to develop solutions to real-world challenges. The presence of educational leaders Coby Reynolds and Professor Pasi Sahlberg added to a wonderful celebration of student agency, innovation and learning with purpose.
Finally, I encourage our registered teachers and school leaders to participate in the Australian Teacher Workforce Survey. The experiences and perspectives of educators are important, and this national survey provides an opportunity for our profession to help inform future policy and support for schools.
Thank you to everyone involved in these initiatives. Whether we are sharing our work internationally, learning alongside colleagues, strengthening wellbeing and inclusion, or empowering students to make a difference, each of these stories reflects the generosity, expertise and shared commitment that characterise our DOBCEL community.
With best wishes,
Megan Ioannou
Acting Executive Director
