John Therry Rosemeadow Year 12 students have put their hospitality skills to the test, cooking up a storm for over 70 senior students and teachers. The group is studying the VET subject of Hospitality as part of their Higher School Certificate; they were offered this unique learning experience from local non-profit, MWLP, as part of their mandatory work placement requirements.

Contemporary resources, teacher professional learning and knowing every student personally. These are some of the elements which are helping Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW) schools to excel – and their progress is earning them top outcomes.

This week, the nation’s NAPLAN test results were released with three Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong schools recognised as some of the state’s most improved performers - St Brigid’s, Gwynneville; St Clare’s, Narellan Vale and St Michael’s, Mittagong. These schools were identified to have shown 'substantially above average gain' in reading and/or numeracy achievement.

Keep clear! Archaeological dig in progress! Cue the Indiana Jones music and grab the trowels and dusting brushes – Year 7 students at St Francis Catholic College, Edmondson Park have used their expertise to excavate and explore a unique dig site on school grounds, uncovering a number of hidden artefacts to analyse.

Read more about this practical, hands-on History task designed by the staff at St Francis – an exciting and memorable way for students to consolidate their learning and apply the theoretical skills explored in class over the past term.

Passion and culinary skills are currently on display, with students from St Clare’s, Narellan Vale now featuring in ‘Foodie School’ – a YouTube cooking series hosted by renowned chef and dad, Peter Sheppard, in partnership with the Campbelltown Catholic Club.

Launched last week, the fun and educational initiative aims to help children and families enjoy the steps involved in food preparation and encourages good eating habits by learning the source and importance of cooking with fresh, quality ingredients.

Remembering. Healing. Reconciliation.

The Appin Massacre Memorial event is held in recognition of the Aboriginal people who were killed by government troops in April 1816. Held annually for over 20 years, this memorial is an important cultural gathering for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to come together in a spirit of reconciliation and healing.

Read more for details on the 2019 Memorial and to download the event flyer.

There’s a lot more to the gardening club at Holy Cross Helensburgh than the beautiful gardens they’ve planted and nurtured – it’s a welcoming environment where friendships blossom and students are supported to grow; where the seeds of stewardship are sewn through many aspects of school life, and learning from nature and getting your hands dirty is valued like study from books.

Read more about the school's impressive horticultural setup: a vegetable garden known as ‘The Patch’, an orchard, their Yalunga Garden (a peaceful native garden space), and their latest venture – bush tucker plants now also growing in The Patch.

Pope Francis has urged young people to embrace their role as the present and the future of the Catholic Church by building relationships with their community and with God. 

The Holy Father has issued the apostolic exhortation following last year’s Synod of Bishops on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment. The exhortation, Christus Vivit (Christ is Alive), takes the form of a letter to young people and, through them, to the entire People of God. 

Read more about Christus Vivit and download a copy at the link below.

A gentle sea breeze and the feeling of the sand between your toes; water lapping onto the rocks nearby. It could be mistaken as a break far away from the classroom, but this is the future for students’ Science, Maths, English and Geography lessons at Stella Maris, Shellharbour.

Stella Maris is set to incorporate outdoor learning into a typical school day for their classes – an innovative approach to teaching an integrated curriculum and, quite literally, a breath of fresh air that will benefit students academically, physically, mentally, socially and emotionally.

With staff keep cups, no plastic cutlery in the canteen, reusable or biodegradable containers for lunches and refillable water bottles, the 'green' spirit is alive and well amongst the staff and students at Holy Spirit College, Bellambi.

Congratulations to St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, Moss Vale, whose lovingly-grown tomatoes from the school’s fruit and vegetable gardens have won two 2nd place prizes at the Moss Vale Show this month!

The award-winning produce – including the tastiest varieties of grape, cherry and gourmet tomatoes – caught the keen eye of the show’s judges to win runner up in both the ‘best of all tomatoes’ and the broader ‘best of all vegetables’ categories.

Leadership, collaboration and authentic teaching: these were some of the topics covered in a Diocesan first, where experts in education gathered to collaborate and share their passion.

The professional development event was six months in the making – part of a broader strategic approach to improvement – and brought together teachers and support staff from all Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese, with the experience offered as nine different events separated according to staff's positions.

Thousands of students from across the Diocese have gloved up over the past two weeks for Schools Clean Up Australia Day. From clean ups of school grounds and local parks to themed classroom learning and activities raising awareness amongst students and staff, our schools have embraced this year’s theme, ‘Change Starts With You’ by taking action to protect and care for their local environment.

An invitation is extended to the faithful of the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong to come together at the 2019 Diocesan Gathering on Saturday 30 March.

The Gathering is an opportunity for people from across the Diocese to reflect on the issues raised in the Plenary Process in our Diocese, hear the experiences of a selection of Local Animators and next steps in the process of listening and discernment.

Following media reports of the conviction of Cardinal George Pell in the County Court of Victoria, a statement has been released by the President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Mark Coleridge, to the community. A copy is linked here for your information.

Please also find here, a pastoral letter from Bishop Brian Mascord on the sentencing of Cardinal Pell. 

To mark the start of Lent, 40 Catholic schools from the Diocese of Wollongong gathered at St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School in Gwynneville to launch Caritas Australia's Project Compassion appeal for 2019.

This year, the annual fundraising and awareness-raising campaign shares six stories which show the power of hope and the work of Caritas Australia in communities in Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Australia, Bangladesh and Vietnam.

'The future has a name - and that name is HOPE.'

In the midst of Catholic Schools Week, the 2019 Diocesan Education Mass was a special and moving celebration for our CEDoW education community. It saw over 800 Catholic educators from all corners of our growing Diocese come together at St John Vianney Co-Cathedral in Fairy Meadow in a strong statement of unity and spirit, and celebrate not just who we are, but what we believe in. 

Over 200 Year 6 students from our four Southern Illawarra primary schools, St Paul's, Albion Park; Stella Maris, Shellharbour; Nazareth, Shellharbour City; and Ss Peter and Paul, Kiama, all gathered at Nazareth Catholic Primary School to enjoy the Southern Illawarra Catholic Schools (SICS) Year 6 Leaders Day - a day jam-packed with fun experiences that engaged and supported them in ideas around leadership, identity, self-esteem, empathy, social justice and teamwork.

There was mingling, laughter and unexpected gifts, as over 190 guests gathered on 28 February at Villa D’oro Function Centre for a dinner to welcome new staff into Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW).

Each year, newly appointed staff attend the dinner together with their principals, including leadership team members, early career and experienced teachers, support staff and CEO officers.

St Joseph’s Albion Park War on Waste (WoW) Club members have joined forces with community environment groups, Two Week Red Bin Challenge and Oceans in Focus, to clean up over nine large garbage bags full of plastics and rubbish around local Barrack Point beach spot, Little Lake.

Students, families and staff from Catholic school communities in and around Townsville have been devastated by the worst floods ever recorded in the region. This comes on top of the devastating drought conditions which have severely impacted these communities.