November 2025 Newsletter
- President's Message
- CaSPA Board Update
- AGH Camps - Platinum Partner
- CaSPA Activities Update
- ICP 2025 – What a gathering of leaders
- AERO – Support for School Leaders
- The School Photographer - Platinum Partner
- Alcohol – What every teacher should know in 2025
- CaSPA National Conference
- Call For Abstracts Now Open
- Box Of Books - Platinum Partner
- ARC Discovery Project
- BBI Upcoming Events
- CaSPA Principal Movements – Western Australia
- Liverpool Football Club International Academy Australia - Platinum Partner
- Catholic Education Northern Territory – Principal Position
- Minister Clare visits St Mary Mackillop College Canberra
- Research project into Maths choices influencing Year 11 and Yr 12 students
- Writers Toolbox - Platinum Partner
- The Prime Minister’s prize for science 2026
- CaSPA Meeting Dates
- Principal Profile
- Uniform Group - Platinum Partner
- CaSPA Social Action 2026
- CaSPA Professional Learning Scholarship 2026
- 2025 Review of the Disability Standards for Education
- UniSuper - Platinum Partner
- ACU Health & Wellbeing
- CaSPA Principal Spotlight
- Woods Furniture - Gold Partner
- INSTALLING THE SZAPP
Dear Colleagues,Since our last Newsletter it has very much been final exam season for our senior students and time to finalise Timetables for 2026. I know we are all in the process of trying to lock in staffing despite the shortages that still plague us.
Later this week we have a Catholic Education Stakeholders Meeting (CESF) where we will further speak to the challenges inherent in the role of Principal and the many successes we achieve in our communities. We are lobbying for the facilitation from the NCEC for a national stakeholder group to tackle the issues of Principal and senior leader wellbeing. CaSPA and ACPPA also made a joint representation to the NCEC Workplace Relations Forum regarding Principal and senior leader wellbeing and outlined the psycho social hazards we are faced with on a regular basis according to the ACU Health and Wellbeing Data and the inherent risk that governing bodies face as a result.
Recently I had the opportunity to discuss Disability provisioning across the country with AERO Senior Researcher Lucy Sutherland. We discussed the need to increase the threshold for funding access as well as the challenges in ensuring that the funding gets to the source of need, the students.
I wish to take the opportunity to thank outgoing director for Queensland Dan McMahon for his service to CaSPA. Dan has had over thirty years in the role of Principal and has been an exceptional advocate and voice for the role of the Principal as a Director of CaSPA and in his senior role in the Catholic Secondary Principals Association Queensland (CaSPAQ). We wish him all the very best as he takes on the role of Head of College for St Leo's College in the University of Queensland. You will be missed in our ranks.
If you have not yet seen it I include a link to the Apostolic Exhortation, DILEXI TE of The Holy Father Leo XIV to All Christians on LOVE FOR THE POOR. Pope Leo’s first such document, it is very much a continuation of the teachings of his predecessor Pope Francis. Key chapters include: GOD CHOOSES THE POOR and A CHURCH FOR THE POOR. The final passage speaks to catholic educators:
Through your work, your efforts to change unjust social structures or your simple, heartfelt gesture of closeness and support, the poor will come to realize that Jesus’ words are addressed personally to each of them: “I have loved you” (Rev 3:9).
Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s, on 4 October, the Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, in the year 2025, the first of my Pontificate.Dr Stephen Kennaugh GAICD
CaSPA President
The Board met in Melbourne at the start of the month and had our annual combined meeting with the State and Territory Association Chairs and Executive officers and their alternates. A full agenda began with the launch of our next Strategic Plan. An update on CaSPA finances was presented along with a detailed look at CaSPA activities over the last 12 months. It became clear that CaSPA is increasingly involved in Advocacy and being invited to more and more peak discussions. The combined group were joined by telephone mid morning with Jacinta Collins for an NCEC briefing and to cover next steps in our efforts to promote Principal Wellbeing.
The 2025 CaSPA Data Project was presented to the group, it covers trends in Schools, numbers and principal tenure. Each State and Territory gave a report concerning their jurisdiction and as always the sharing of these reports gave a rich blend of commonalities as well as the challenges specific to each place.
Profiles of all the CaSPA Board are available on the CaSPA Website: https://caspa.schoolzineplus.com/current-and-past-board-members
- 30 September Partnership Opportunities discussion with Mark Carrazzo , Be Your Best Program
- 8 October Open Access Webinar: Why Industry Data Matters to Your Association’s Success.
- 14 October CaSPA Board Briefing online
- 15 October Gallagher Bassett/Aon - NSW Catholic Sector Safety & Compliance Networking Forum
- 20 October Partnership Opportunities discussion: Ethics Beyond the Code (EBTC)
- 21 October National Workplace Relations Forum online - Stephen & Michael
- 22 October Conference Commitee meeting
- 23 October Partnership Opportunities discussion: Ben Maher, Full Spectrum: Education Activate Program
- 26-28 October CaSPA Board Meeting
- 27 October CaSPA AGM
- 28 October CaSPA Conference Meeting
- 31 October CER Employment Relations Forum
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What a gathering of leaders!
The 2025 ICP Council in Delhi brought together school principals, association heads, and education visionaries from around the world united by one purpose: to lead with courage, humanity, and innovation.
Across two remarkable days, delegates explored the future of school leadership from sustainability and wellbeing to AI, collaboration, and global partnerships.
A heartfelt thank you to our hosts, the SALWAN EDUCATION TRUST, and to every delegate who made this Council such an inspiring milestone in ICP’s 35-year journey of connection and leadership.
AERO - Support for school leaders implementing evidence-based practices
This month, AERO has released a new collection of free, practical, and easy to use resources. Created to help schools implement evidence-based practices, the new materials are flexible enough to work across different school contexts.
The new resources can be found on AERO’s website at Implementation in schools: Practical resources. They include:
- An interactive tool to find resources for your stage of implementation
- Help building and operating an effective implementation team to meet your school’s needs that includes a practice resource and professional learning module
- Examples from other schools including primary and secondary schools’ implementation plans, meeting agenda, discussion points and more
- Video examples of school leaders sharing their experiences building and operating an implementation team
Here are the details:
- Name: Alcohol: What Every Teacher Should Know in 2025
- Free live 30-minute Zoom webinar for school leaders and teachers to address alcohol use in your school.
Alcohol isn't new, but clear guidance on how to talk about it with young people is harder than ever to find. This session, led by Dr James Durl, will show you how to challenge the myths and support students to make healthier choices — without shame or scare tactics.
- When: Thursday 6 November 2025, 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM AEST (BNE), 1:00 PM - 1:30 PM AEDT (SYD, MEL)
- Platform: Zoom
- Cost: FREE
- We will cover the following topics:
✅ What the law really says about alcohol and underage drinking
✅ The health, social & environmental consequences of alcohol use
✅The dangers of polydrug use, especially mixing alcohol with energy drinks or other substances
✅ How to talk to students without lecturing or shutting them down
✅ Tools to help students recognise peer pressure and build refusal skills — especially relevant for Schoolies Week
✅ Free classroom activities to make alcohol education more effective
REGISTRATION page: https://bccm.eventsair.com/catholic-secondary-principals-australia-conference-caspa-2026/main-registration
We are pleased to invite you to the Catholic Secondary Principals Australia (CaSPA) National Conference 2026, hosted by the Catholic School Principals Association of New South Wales. This landmark event will be held from 7-10 July at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Sydney, and is expected to bring together more than 350 Catholic secondary school principals, along with primary principals, executive team members, and leaders working in school improvement across Australia.
Set under the theme of purposeful and faith-driven leadership, the conference offers a rich opportunity to reflect, connect, and collaborate with colleagues who share a commitment to Catholic education. Over three days, you will be invited to dream boldly, engage in thought-provoking discussions, and explore how we can continue to inspire purpose, critical thinking, and hope in the next generation of students.
Located in the heart of Sydney, the Hyatt Regency offers an ideal setting for meaningful professional and spiritual enrichment. We warmly invite you to join us on this national stage to help shape the future of Catholic education—together.
You are invited to submit your proposal to lead a concurrent presentation at the CaSPA National Conference via the link: https://lnkd.in/gwnpWky6
Presentation submissions will be assessed on the overarching theme “Inspiring Leadership; Celebrating Faith, Learning and Wellbeing into the future”.
The conference aims to be provoke thinking while being practical. Workshops should encourage thinking about tangible steps that schools and educators can take to make a positive impact on the future of learning. The conference will bring together a range of voices (including school leaders and teachers) and to understand and help build a vision for the how education can transform society into the future.
Now part of the Officeworks family, Box of Books continues to deliver the best experience for educators, students, and families across Australia, further strengthening our shared commitment to innovation, service excellence and lifelong learning.
Currently used in more than 200 schools across Australia, Box of Books is a versatile digital solution which provides content from publishers, digital services, and physical textbook suppliers from all around the world. It integrates seamlessly into schools’ digital strategies and learning management systems.
CaSPA supports the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project.
Digital technologies are reshaping how education professionals work and learn.
We want to find out how you learn as you work.
Share your experience in our anonymous online survey (15-20 mins of your time).
Click here to take the survey: Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management
Your responses are important to us!
Upcoming Events
There are a number of upcoming events to keep in mind:
27 October & 3 November Catholics, Faith & Science Register Now
30 October & 6 November Christ at Christmas Register Now
17 & 24 November Exploring Praying Register Now
with the Bible & Christian Meditation
20 & 27 November The Mass (in three hours) Register Now
For more details see Faith Formation and Professional Development – BBI or contact Gerard Moore: gmoore@bbi.catholic.edu.au or 0491 201 214.
Principal Position
Catholic Education NT, Darwin NT
Join a community where your work truly matters.
Catholic Education Northern Territory is a community of 18 Catholic schools across the Northern Territory, inspired by Catholic ethos and committed to educational excellence, equity, and nurturing.
The School:
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Thamurrurr Catholic College (OLSHTCC) is the sole provider of compulsory education in the remote Aboriginal community of Wadeye, 400 km south-west of Darwin. With enrolments of 450–550 students from Preschool to Year 12, OLSHT is a bilingual and bicultural school, integrating Thamarrurr culture and the Murrinhpatha language across all aspects of learning.
The Position:
The Principal leads OLSHTCC, guiding a diverse and dynamic school community in partnership with families, local groups, and community leaders. As part of the School Leadership Team, the Principal provides strategic and operational leadership across Catholic Identity, Teaching and Learning, Pastoral Care, Community and Culture, and the effective management of resources. This role is an opportunity to make a lasting impact through educational excellence, cultural respect, and faith-based leadership.
The appointment is to an ongoing, full-time position under a four-year contract, commencing 13 January 2026.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare visited our school yesterday to talk about the Government’s Educational Agenda and its emerging initiative around anti-bullying.
Minister Clare fully engaged with MacKillop’s Leadership and showed real capacity to listen with understanding to issues around school agency, Principal autonomy and the centrality of the principal to building safe communities. He visited three classes and fully engaged the students whilst displaying a warm personality and reassuring capacity to offer dignity and interest to adolescent students. Everybody at MacKillop is gratified that we have a Minister who is all over policy but keen to see what it looks like in a Catholic school and its classrooms.
Michael Lee OAMPrincipal
St Mary MacKillop College
I am an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Notre Dame Australia, and am leading a research project to investigate the factors influencing Year 11 and Year 12 students in Australian secondary schools to either enrol in or not enrol in mathematics courses. The issue of declining enrolments in senior secondary mathematics courses within Australia has been problematic for some time (Chief Scientist, 2020) and we are seeking to understand reasons for this trend by directly asking students for their opinion on the matter.
I am writing to seek your support to reach as many secondary school Principals about this research project. Specifically, we ask for your help to email the flyer (attached with this email) to the members of your association and/or advertise through your social medical channels, about this research project.
This project has been granted full ethical approval from The University of Notre Dame Australia’s Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval Number 2024-015F) as well as approval from the following jurisdictions:
New South Wales
New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education (Approval Number DOC24/3115517)
Sydney Catholic Schools
Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn
Diocese of Parramatta
Diocese of Bathurst
Diocese of Wagga Wagga
Diocese of Wollongong
Victoria
Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (Approval ID 24-05-335)
Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools
Diocese of Sale
Diocese of Ballarat
Diocese of Sandhurst
Western Australia
Department of Education Western Australia (Approval Number D240312353)
Catholic Education Western Australia
Writer’s Toolbox is a whole-school (P-12), AI-driven writing system that trains writing and thinking skills. For the student, Writer’s Toolbox works holistically, in step with their development across all subject areas. It is fully-adaptive for all ages and ability levels—growing with the student as they age and develop—supporting the individual’s journey of self-actualisation. For the teacher, Writer’s Toolbox provides direct insight into classroom learning, as well as self-paced and instructor-led professional development in the teaching of writing. For the school leader, Writer’s Toolbox tracks whole-school writing development and delivers evidence of value-add learning.
Used by over 700 schools globally, longitudinal research shows schools using Writer’s Toolbox lifted NAPLAN writing performance 2 to 10 times state average, with corresponding lifts in student confidence, engagement, and metacognition.
2026 Prizes nominations guidelines are now available at:
• business.gov.au/scienceprizes for the 5 Science Prizes, including 2 for innovation
• business.gov.au/knowledgesystemsprize for the Knowledge Systems Prize.
• business.gov.au/scienceteachingprizes for the 2 Science Teaching Prizes.
Nominations will open on Wednesday 22 October and more information will be shared soon. This is a once-a-year opportunity for nominators to spotlight the achievements of others in these highly regarded science awards, helping ensure their efforts are seen, valued and remembered.
Don’t be shy,if you are new or yet to be featured please complete the information below and forward this information to: admin@caspa.edu.au
Photo: Please provide a photo of quality
Name:
Current School:
Previous Position:
First Year as a Principal:
Year of Birth:
My big picture for my current school is:
The Joy of becoming a Principal is:
Favourite Book:
Favourite Food:
Interests / Hobbies:
My Favourite Well-Being Strategy:
Advice for an Aspiring Leader:
Favourite Leadership Quote:
What Title would you give to your TED Talk or Book:
If you have yet to feature in our Principal Profiles you are welcome to do so, simply send me an email at admin@caspa.edu.au with your answers and a picture.
The Australian Government Department of Education is pleased to announce that consultation for the 2025 Review of the Disability Standards for Education is now open. The 8-week consultation period will run until 21 November 2025.
The Disability Standards for Education 2005 (the Standards) outline the rights of students and their families, and the obligations of education providers to support students with disability to access and participate in education on the same basis as students without disability. The Standards are reviewed every five years to make sure they continue to meet the needs of students with disability.
The 2025 Review of the Standards will focus on 3 main topics:
- Effective implementation of the Standards
- Inclusive decision-making
- Clear responsibilities for assessment authorities and course developers.
We encourage you to provide your feedback on the Standards by making an online submission (written, video or audio files are accepted), completing an online survey, leaving an anonymous contribution on the Ideas Wall, or by participating in a consultation workshop.
More information about the review, including the Discussion Paper, is available at www.education.gov.au/dsereview2025.
We would appreciate any assistance you can provide by promoting the 2025 Review of the Standards with your networks and audiences. The easy-to-share resources included in the kit attached to this email can be used on your own channels to help raise awareness of the consultation and encourage those who would like to share their views to do so on the Department of Education’s website. You can share these resources on your website, social media channels, newsletters, noticeboards or by building them into existing activities and conversations with your audiences and networks.
Thank you,
2025 DSE Review Secretariat
Australian Government Department of Education
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The artwork Guwanyi wingara yirabana is our story. It means ‘learning journey’ in Dharug/Darug language. Designed by Trevor Eastwood from Dalmarri with our people, the artwork was made by many hands in a powerful gesture showcasing reconciliation in action.
UniSuper is one of Australia’s largest super funds, helping to shape retirement savings for our members for over 40 years. We have more than 650,000 members* from around Australia. With over $149 billion* in funds under management, we’re passionate about helping shape the future of our members. UniSuper is the place for brilliant thinkers and passionate people to come together, sharing in a wealth of wisdom and collective know-how. So, whether you’re in the know, or seeking to grow, with UniSuper you’re part of a collective, working together for a better tomorrow. Look forward to a retirement that doesn’t cost the earth with Money magazine’s Best Pension Fund 2024 and Best Growth Super Product 2024. Look Forward. Think Great.
At the 2024 July Conference Principals generously agreed to be filmed to give us a snapshot of profiles across the nation. In the coming newsletters we will share links to these.
The next profile is of Michael Carniato.
Michael Carniato: https://vimeo.com/1131483113/42fe5e578e?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci
