All teachers, leaders and support staff from our 56 Catholic schools and 8 Early Learning Centres, came together virtually for a professional learning initiative that will continue to improve the learning outcomes of all students across the Archdiocese.

The Catalyst professional learning program is based on the latest research and best practice teaching methods. Catalyst aims to further enable teachers to transform lives through learning.

Participants were introduced to the Science of Learning education theory by national and global presenters. These included: Melbourne teacher and learning specialist Ollie Lovell; Tom Sherrington, a high impact instruction specialist from the United Kingdom and; Toni-Ann Vroom, a writing instruction specialist from the United States.

Teachers also heard from Archbishop Christopher Prowse and from Director, Ross Fox, who spoke about the vision for teaching and learning within the Archdiocese and two bold goals:

• To ensure every student is a competent reader.
• High impact teaching is visible in every classroom.

Under the guidance of Principals and leadership teams, staff members from each school participated in the shared sessions together, which were broadcast live from the Catholic Education Office in Manuka. Each school had the opportunity to plan together how Catalyst will be rolled out and set goals for the year ahead.

The feedback from the day was overwhelmingly positive, with many teachers expressing their excitement about the new initiative and their desire to see their students succeed.

Patrick Ellis, Education Lead, Catholic Education Office, Manuka, said that the day was a great way to start the System’s Catalyst journey.

“The combination of live and pre-recorded presentations and keynote speakers focused on high-quality, evidence-based professional learning to support and develop excellent teachers to transform their students’ lives through learning,” he said.

“We look forward to watching Catalyst take shape in our schools throughout this year.”