In 2021 there were 348 enrolments, all CESA teachers, across the University of South Australia’s Graduate Certificate in Education (Catholic Education). The four courses (Christian Scriptures, Theology, Teaching Methodologies and Curriculum Design) were taught in a total of 18 classes by the Religious Education Team and University of South Australia personnel, in fully ‘blended’ study modes (a mix of face to face and online delivery). As well as the courses offered in Adelaide, a Christian Scriptures course was delivered in Port Pirie; a Theology course in Mt. Gambier; Teaching Methodologies and Curriculum Design courses were also delivered in the Port Pirie Diocese.
The 90 teachers who completed the Christian Scriptures course had their course fee paid as part of the Study Incentive Program (SIP). By special arrangement between CESA and UniSA, no course fee applies to the other three courses, which are mostly presented by CESA consultants.
Formal course evaluation and feedback indicated that teachers valued the professional learning and formation offered through these courses; the links with classroom practice in Religious Education and other learning areas; the opportunity to develop learning communities and networks with colleagues from other schools and the deepened sense of the Catholic school’s overall purpose and mission. There was particular appreciation of the way these courses address common misconceptions around scriptural and theological interpretation, which can invite a renewed response to the ‘abundant life’ and ‘joy of the gospel’ that are central to the Catholic ethos.
The explicit nexus between the personal and professional aspects of Catholic school teaching and learning was also noted by course participants, who appreciated the formational aspects of their studies. It is significant that an increasing number of secondary teachers decide to teach Religious Education for the first time, after completing this program. With a renewed focus on Catholic identity, the courses also complemented the Enhancing Catholic School Identity Research project.
These four Catholic Studies courses meet the CESA Teacher Accreditation higher education requirements.
In 2021 the CESA-University of South Australia partnership continued to educate and form pre-service teachers for their future roles as Catholic-school educators and religious leaders.
The two RE Team staff seconded to UniSA (1.6 FTE) coordinated and taught four Catholic Studies courses, offered to both undergraduate and postgraduate pre-service teachers at the Mawson Lakes and Magill campuses: Christian Scriptures, Theology, Contemporary Catholic Schools and Religious Education.
These four courses are taken as a ‘specialisation’ in the Primary and Early Childhood programs, which then qualifies pre-service teachers to teach Religious Education in Catholic schools. The specialisation also meets the CESA Teacher Accreditation higher education requirements. The first course is also available as an elective, which can be credited toward the Graduate Certificate.
In addition to these courses, two new Catholic Studies courses were offered for the first time in 2021, as part of the new Catholic Studies sub-major in the Bachelor of Secondary Education (Honours) program: The Four Gospels and Being Human in a Relational Universe.
Formal student evaluation of these undergraduate and post-graduate Catholic Studies courses continued to highlight student engagement with the knowledge, skills and dispositional aspects. Student responses to the formal course evaluations emphasised the impact of the formative dimension of their studies, especially the ways in which new learnings and insights touched and shaped their faith and life perspectives. Many of the responses articulated a deepened vocational approach to the role of Catholic school educator. Students frequently identified Catholic Studies as their favourite university subject.
The Graduate Certificate in Education (Catholic Education) continued to be an integral aspect of the CESA partnership with UniSA (see above). As in previous years, the seconded CESA staff also collaborated with the UniSA School of Education’s Professional Experience Office in the placement and mentoring of pre-service teachers in Catholic schools.
The REFF Team continued in its collaboration with the Adelaide campus team of the Australian Catholic University’s (ACU) Faculty of Philosophy and Theology (situated on the CEO’s Thebarton site). The RE Team continued to work with the Leadership Development Section with CESA’s partnership with the ACU to develop new ways of supporting teachers and leaders accessing Masters courses offered by the ACU, particularly those in Educational Leadership, Theological Studies and Religious Education.
In 2021, 279 teachers received Level 1 Catholic Professional Formation (CPF) Allowance, 86 teachers received a Level 2 CPF allowance, and 365 teachers were paid Level 3 CPF allowance following successful completion of study in the Catholic studies domain as per the SA Catholic Education Enterprise Agreement. There were also seven CEO staff members who received the CPF 3 Allowance.
In 2021 the REFF Team facilitated 26 Professional Learning Workshops in the religious domain. The workshops varied greatly in content and presentation and were focused on scripture, theology, curriculum, religious leadership, faith formation, spirituality & MITIOG. These workshops were a mixture of face to face workshops and online modules. There were 589 people who participated in these courses in 2021.
The work of the SACCS Ecology Advisory committee was assisted through the recruitment of a significant number of new members. There were particular working groups who engaged in planning and action within the Ecological Conversion and Action Plan in the domains of Catholic Identity, Systems, Resources, Learning and Leadership. A digital collaboration space was curated on the Catholic Identity intranet which increased capacity to be able to share resources and encourage the development of understandings in the area of ecological conversion. A particular focus was re-establishing the Ecological Conversion network where an online meeting was held in Term 4 with good participation and where schools presented areas of their engagement in ecological conversion.
The REFF Team continued to support schools in their delivery and understanding of prayer in ways that aligned to the CESA Being with God prayer and liturgy resource. Online prayer and liturgy resources were provided through the CESA learning online website.
The Staff Spiritual and Religious Formation (SSRF) team provided a range of formational experiences and programs designed to provide effective, localised and engaging opportunities for leaders of schools to lead spiritual and religious formation with their staff. These opportunities were designed to support schools, building on the CESA framework for staff formation which is outlined in like a mustard seed: A CESA Stimulus and Foundation Paper for Staff Spiritual and Religious Formation.
The early career teachers formation program was further developed in 2021 with a trial group of 20 teachers participating in an overnight retreat. Planning was undertaken to broaden the number of offerings and participants in 2022 and beyond. A series of podcasts was developed where these early career teachers shared their insights and experiences of the retreat and their ongoing formation in Catholic Education.
In 2021, the program Making Nests was run in Port Pirie and Adelaide. Due to COVID-19 restrictions these were converted into a hybrid of face to face and online engagement for 2021 catering for 25 participants.
The Making Nests program provides a professional and collaborative learning community to develop capability for planning and leading staff Spiritual and Religious formation. Participants engaged with the text Listening to God’s Word by Alice Camille as a touchstone for developing capabilities in cultivating engagement with scripture in staff formation.
The REFF team continued to support school leaders in enhancing the Catholic identity of their schools through formation in leadership, prayer, scripture, and theology. The team continued to develop tools and scaffolds for school leaders to be able to strategise and plan for staff formation, shared these at regional and system gatherings and companioned and consulted with leadership teams to support their work. The team worked with individual school teams outside of the initiatives mentioned above as they planned staff spiritual and religious formation using the Living Learning Leading and Leadership Standards. The team particularly supported schools in planning and facilitating reflection days in a COVID-19 environment throughout 2021.
The Family Faith Formation Team supported and worked with family and parish-based ministries for families and children through a variety of ongoing initiatives in 2021. The team provided support to parishes in preparation for Sacraments of Initiation and facilitated training for parish personnel in leading ‘Liturgy of the Word with Children’ within various parish and school communities. Utilising the 2014 Archdiocesan document, Partnerships in Sacramental Catechesis: The Pastoral Framework for the Sacramental Catechesis of Children and the report for the Archbishop, Review of the Implementation of the Pastoral Framework and the parish and school surveys, the Family Faith Formation Team held a workshop for Sacrament teams to appreciate successes and identify challenges to discern ‘Where to next?’ The Family Faith Formation Team liaised with the parish teams towards making the Sacramental process a family-centred journey within parish-school communities and to respond to the Pastoral Framework question: What does authentic and healthy Sacramental catechesis of children and their families look like? The Family Faith Formation Team did this through working with Sacramental teams to build and strengthen the collaborative partnerships between the parish and the school through updating or redesigning their Sacraments of initiation programs.
Across the year, several workshops and training sessions were held for Sacramental teams, catechists and Children’s Liturgy of the Word leaders, occurring across various parishes. Training was provided for new catechists alongside the formation series for catechists. The newsletter, Making Connections: Children’s Ministry Update was published four times and distributed to parishes and those involved in children’s catechesis. Other initiatives included workshops for catechists, resources such as Faith Facts, Growing Faith, Say a Little Prayer, the redesign of information leaflets from Sacrament information for parents and Liturgy of the Word for Children. The Team continued to develop Sacrament of Confirmation PowerPoint for preparation sessions. Additionally, Sharing Sacrament Ideas gatherings were held in various parishes across the Archdiocese. Through a collaboration with the Catholic Resource and Information Service further resources were added to the CRIS collection. The office organised annual events at St Francis Xavier Cathedral: The Archdiocesan Commissioning Mass for catechists and the CEO Catholic Identity Section.
In 2021 the Catholic Office for Youth and Young Adults (COYYA) focused its work on leadership development for youth ministry leaders, youth events and the Diocesan Youth Assembly. Beginning with the New Horizons Youth Ministry Leaders Conference. Over 60 youth ministry leaders from schools, parishes and communities across the Archdiocese of Adelaide gathered at St Mary’s College for a two-day conference which featured James Camden, Diocesan Youth Ministry Coordinator for the Paramatta Diocese, Ellen Hales, Youth Ministry Coordinator for the Lismore Diocese and several other local presenters.
COYYA also hosted Genevieve Bryant as a workshop presenter and performer for the annual Pentecost Vigil at the Monastery and the celebration of the 200 year anniversary of Catholic Education in Australia. COYYA organised several youth listening forums in parishes and schools across the Archdiocese in connection with the Diocesan Assembly. COYYA strongly supported the Diocesan Assembly in September at Cabra College and concluded the year with the first Diocesan Youth Assembly in nearly 40 years. The Youth Assembly was held at Nazareth College in Findon.
ArchD Radio continued to grow in 2021 to encompass more schools and developed several new podcast series for schools, Catholic Education Office projects and the Archdiocese of Adelaide. The Arch D Awards, held at the Capri Theatre in Goodwood, celebrated Arch D’s 10th anniversary.
COYYA continued to support the Council for Ministry for Young People which met monthly to focus the strategic direction of youth ministry throughout the Archdiocese of Adelaide.
The Catholic Resource & Information Service (CRIS) supports the mission of parishes, schools, church agencies and the broader Catholic community with the provision of resources in the areas of contemporary religious education, liturgical and sacramental practice, Scripture and theology, adult faith formation, pastoral care, Indigenous studies, contemporary issues and the needs of the Catholic and wider community.
During 2021 the Catholic Identity Section moved from the Kintore St site to George St. This required the REFF collection, which is part of the CRIS data base, to be consolidated. During 2021 there were 422 new bibliographic records added to the CRIS catalogue bringing the overall collection to 21,585. Most of the titles were already in the main CRIS collection and were surplus to needs. Some of the excess titles were re-homed through a book sale in November which raised $593 for Catholic Charities and the ATF Denis Edwards Theology book prize.
There were 8,493 borrowers registered with 1,332 of these involved in tertiary and Graduate Certificate in Education (Catholic Education) study.
Consultation with the ICT team continued planning for the inclusion of digital resources in the CRIS collection as well as moving to the new library management system being adopted in schools. In the future this will allow for cross library browsing and borrowing.
CESA funded 64 schools in 2021 with the Federal Government funded and State administered National School Chaplaincy Program (NSCP). The REFF Team provided the administration of this program for CESA schools, which included calling for and processing applications for funding toward the employment of school chaplains, youth ministers and, where appropriate, pastoral care workers. Support was also given for the School Chaplaincy Network, which provided professional learning and support for people employed in these positions.
Of the 64 CESA schools which received NSCP grants: ten received $6,000, 27 received $9,000 and 27 received $12,000. Three schools received a 20% remote school loading afforded by the Program. Four schools withdrew from the 2021 program and this amount was reallocated to schools which demonstrated an interest in additional 2021 funding. The total of CESA NSCP school grants for 2021 was $663,600.
All 64 schools funded in 2021 expressed that they intend to continue in the program for 2021. The final meeting of the cross-sector panel tabled important considerations for the negotiation of a new agreement in 2022.
