As we come to a close for another term I would like to extend a huge thank you to the staff for their dedication and commitment as they worked with your children to achieve their learning goals for Term 3. It has been a very busy term supporting and providing learning experiences to support and challenge every child at St Monica's. 

In the lead up to the 2020 ACT Election, the Catholic Education Commission of Canberra-Goulburn endorsed three policy priorities for all parties to consider in relation to:

1. Equitable School Funding

• Provide Catholic schools with 25% of the cost of education in an ACT Government school, per-student (Currently only 20%).

2. Land Release and Planning

• Make land available for Catholic schools.
• Improve planning policies to include Catholic schools.

3. Support for Catholic Early Learning Centres

• Provide financial support to Catholic Early Learning Centres to support equitable access and construction of new centres.

Recently, the Canberra Liberals announced a commitment to support Catholic Education’s funding and land release policy priorities. The challenge for Catholic Education in the ACT is to continue advocating for this policy to be adopted by other parties. The election outcome remains uncertain and our System is focused on ensuring that all major parties commit to our policy priorities.

As soon as other parties commit to one or more priorities, Catholic Education will announce to all parents.

What can you do as parents of children who attend a Catholic School in the ACT?

You, as parents and supporters of Catholic Education, can assist by engaging with candidates in the lead up to the ACT Election, making it clear that equitable funding of Catholic schools is an important election issue for you. Feel free to contact/approach candidates or current MLA’s from other parties that have not committed.

Continued follow up to our Annual Parent Survey

Through the comments, several parents express concern that a number of popular teachers have left St Monica's. Teachers are appointed to a school, following an interview process. A number of our current teaching staff hold a permanent position while several have been granted temporary contacts. Temporary teachers are employed to fill the positions created by staff members taking leave or requesting a change in the number of days they wish to work. Teachers holding a permanent position will often elect to apply for a move to broaden their teaching experience or apply for a leadership position. Teachers holding temporary contracts are required to reapply for a position each year with positions dependent on staffing arrangements and the staffing allocation granted to a school by CE. 

The iPad is a tool to support learning and should never be seen as a way to replace the importance of quality teacher input and direction. The iPad is a way to capture the learning and explore alternatives to present and investigate areas of learning. With the National School STEM Education Strategy (2015) and the development of the Australian National Technologies Curriculum, technology subjects have become a focus in education. Consistent with this research, industry surveys show that STEM literacy is increasingly becoming part of the core capabilities that Australian employers need. In order to carry out authentic learning tasks with technology, it is important students are equipped with the right tools. The school has iPads available to students however the CE has a policy that all IT hardware be replaced every 5 years if we want access to technical support for hardware. This creates a big cost to the school and still does not provide the ideal 1:1 ratio of students to devices. Our school IT budget goes towards apps for school-owned devices, laptops, and other technologies like robots and STEM resources. By implementing the BYODD program, students have the tools they need to engage in individualised learning and having access to school work at home. 

Term 3 School Fees