Catholic Schools Broken Bay Shaping Education for Tomorrow

Earlier today, at an all-staff Strategy Day, Bishop Anthony Randazzo launched a bold new five-year strategy for Catholic Schools Broken Bay (CSBB).

The new strategy, Shaping Tomorrow, Together in Faith commits CSBB to maintaining the extraordinary success achieved over the last five years in student learning, faith formation and building the capacity of staff. The new Strategy commits CSBB to establishing new secondary school options and will also see the introduction of exciting new initiatives in Early Years Education and Career Pathways.

The Shaping Tomorrow, Together in Faith Strategy was finalised after months of consultation with parents and staff and has been carefully calibrated to ensure enhanced support and engagement with families prior to formal schooling, throughout the school learning journey and in the transition of students to their chosen careers.

Prior to the formal announcement, staff and parents provided their reflections on the achievements of the Towards 2025 Strategy and outlined their aspirations for the future. Highlights amongst this feedback included CSBB’s establishment of the Eileen O’Connor Schools for students with additional needs; the expansion of St Pauls College Manly;the establishment of a new Religious Education Curriculum; the integration of new Syllabus with consistent approaches to Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment; as well as the focus on wellbeing and building teacher capacity through Collaborative Coaching and targeted professional development and support programs.

Addressing approximately two thousand CSBB staff, Bishop Randazzo thanked all for their professionalism and acknowledged the achievements under the Towards 2025 Strategy. He invited all to embrace the Shaping Tomorrow, Together in Faith Strategy with confidence, noting it was bold, innovative and only possible because of the hard work of the highly professional CSBB team.

Bishop Randazzo said

“Every step we have taken on the journey to date, we have taken, together, as a community.

We must never lose sight that we, the people of Catholic Schools Broken Bay, remain united as one system, working collaboratively with Parishes and Agencies in a shared mission: to form hearts and minds for the world, anchored in the love of Christ.

While much has been achieved, this journey is far from over and we look to the future with great faith and confidence as we seek to serve with courage.”

Danny Casey, the Director of Schools, joined Bishop Randazzo in thanking his colleagues and also outlined new initiatives to further embed the improvements over recent years and to respond to the clear and consistent feedback from parents and staff.

He confirmed CSBB’s continued commitment to building the capability of staff and strengthening pedagogical frameworks, including new technology to provide efficient, timely access to data to support learning growth. CSBB specific screeners will be introduced as a part of CSBB’s new commitment to direct involvement in Early Years Education and CSBB has announced plans to expand St Pauls College Manly to include Years 5 & 6.

In a further demonstration of CSBB responding to the needs of thecommunity, the Shaping Tomorrow, Together in Faith Strategy also includes establishing new secondary schools across the diocese, additional Eileen O’Connor support classes in more CSBB schools and the introduction of new options to better support the career pathways sought by CSBB students.

Further details of these and other new initiatives will be provided in the coming months.

Danny Casey said “The new Shaping Tomorrow, Together in Faith Strategy does indeed set a bold and innovative direction for our System.

We plan to go beyond the traditional approach of K-12 Schooling, without losing our laser like focus on delivering the best possible academic and faith outcomes.

We will partner with parents from the early years of learning through to post school life as we shape the future and embrace the many new opportunities it presents for our students.”