A new vision by Catholic Education South Australia director Dr Neil McGoran is putting resources into schools, supporting families and ensuring every student has access to high-quality learning.
In 2019, Dr Neil McGoran, director of Catholic Education South Australia, introduced the Living, Learning, Leading framework, a vision for education that recognised the abilities of every student and their potential for success.
Today, in a post-pandemic world, Dr McGoran is enhancing that vision, reinforcing the importance of young people being confident and comfortable not just as learners but in their relationships – with themselves, with others and with God. This inherent sense of wellbeing and belonging has never been more evident than over the past few months.
“This has been a great piece of learning and reflection for us through COVID-19, where young people were essentially learning from home,” Dr McGoran says.
“What the children missed most about school was that sense of community: the other people they’re connected with, the care and compassion they receive so, when they went back to school, that was the thing they wanted to celebrate the most.”
Dr McGoran’s vision is now to expand that community to everyone, regardless of religious beliefs, social diversity or financial status. “We’re supporting our schools to be even more inclusive of people from all backgrounds, such as students with disabilities or from low-socio-economic areas,” he says. “To support that, we’ve made quite a few changes going into next year on the way we’re structuring Catholic Education in South Australia.”
Those changes include wrapping additional support around schools and teachers. “We’re breaking into six regions, each with a school performance leader responsible for the learning, wellbeing, spiritual formation and infrastructure development within the region,” Dr McGoran says.
“We’re also putting in coaches for literacy and numeracy, plus access to a range of allied health services such as speech pathologists and psychologists. We’re trying to boost the support we provide for young people in order to increase the outcomes they have in their learning and wellbeing, and also their sense of connection and being part of that community.”
Another significant change will help families financially impacted by the fallout of COVID-19. Fee remissions have been introduced which will continue for the remainder of the year and beyond, while 2021 will see a new price point for primary schools and adjustments to the school card. “For the next two or three years, we want to ensure families impacted by COVID-19 are able to stay in our schools, and if they’re not in our schools they’re welcome to come in under this new arrangement,” Dr McGoran says.
“We need to ensure a full education is a priority for all our young people and that includes their learning, their wellbeing, their sense of self and their aspirations. Under no circumstances can we as a society support young people having to move out of school because their parents can’t pay.”
Creating a safe space away from the regular classroom is helping young students get the most out of their education.
