Primary Principal (x4): Diocese of Wagga Wagga, NSW

St Francis Xavier Primary School, Urana (15 students) – ref no. TS1335

St Mary’s Primary School, Yoogali/Griffith (142 students) – ref no. TS1333

Holy Spirit School, Lavington/Albury (368 students) – ref no. TS1332

St Patrick’s Primary School, Griffith (480 students) – ref no.TS1331

Catholic Education in The Diocese of Wagga Wagga

The Diocese of Wagga Wagga is in rural NSW, located in the Riverina and south western district of New South Wales. The Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers are significant geographical features of our area – the diocese – and on our eastern border lie the mountainous regions of the Great Dividing Range. The area has large and small towns and some of Australia’s richest and most picturesque countryside.

The Diocese of Wagga Wagga has a rich faith tradition; our faith communities are nourished and sustained by the sacramental life of the church administered and accessed through 31 parishes.

Our Bishop is Gerard Hanna.

The Catholic Schools Office

The Catholic Schools Office (CSO) is accountable to the Bishop and is led by the Director of Schools, Mr Alan Bowyer. There are 27 primary schools and 5 secondary schools that educate in excess of 8,500 students through the dedication and work of approximately 1,000 staff.

The CSO is seeking to appoint a primary principal for each of the following four school communities:

St Patrick’s Primary School, Griffith

St Patrick’s Primary School is located in the rural Riverina city of Griffith which is part of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. St Patrick’s School is part of the Sacred Heart Parish and the school can be found adjacent to the Sacred Heart Church. St Patrick’s first opened in 1921 with 80 students and has been served over the years by the Sisters of Mercy and the Marist Brothers.

The school has students from Kindergarten to Year 6 with three classes at each year level. It is a welcoming community which has modern facilities and large playing areas for students; provides a safe and secure environment, within which students receive high quality education. Staff are fully committed to their vocation as Christian educators.

Educational Priorities for 2016

• Continuing to provide strong Pastoral Care for all members of our community.
• To continue to improve student achievement in all areas of contemporary learning.
• Continue providing for collegial planning and collaborative practices.
• Building on our whole school improvement framework.
• Continue to inspire learning through our Catholic Faith
• 21st Century learning – Information and Communication Technology.

 School Priorities

• Embed purposeful pedagogy and build teacher capacity to improve student learning outcomes.
• Further develop elements of a professional learning community.
• Use the Inquiry for Continual Improvement process to improve student learning in all KLA’s.
• Target professional learning to suit the needs of teachers and students
• Strengthen Catholic identity and empower teachers in classroom practice of Religious Education.

 February 2016 Census:  480

Information on the Griffith area can be found by clicking here

Holy Spirit School, Lavington – Albury

The community of Lavington dates back to the 1850′s when gold was discovered in the Black Range area. In 1966, Lavington ceased to be a separate village and was amalgamated into the Albury City Council.

The Holy Spirit Parish was established in 1970 and in late 1970 a school was opened with 50 children enrolled in Kindergarten, Year 1 and 2. The Holy Spirit School started with 3 teachers and was officially blessed and opened on Sunday 30th May, 1971.

Since these early days the student population has steadily grown and now boasts many wonderful resources and facilities including spacious grounds and many hard court areas. The latest acquisition (Feb. 2013), is a wonderful Contemporary Learning Space that encourages and promotes 21st century pedagogy.

At Holy Spirit we value:

• your child’s unique talents
• pride in appearance
• respect for the school and each other
• a safe, secure environment free from bullying
• a Contemporary Learning environment
• the Catholic faith

Educational priorities for 2016

• Continuing to provide strong Pastoral Care for all staff, students and all members of our school and parish community.
• To continue to improve student achievement in a C21st contemporary learning environment
• Providing for collegial planning and collaborative teaching practices.
• Building on our whole school improvement framework.
• Improve the use of data to inform teaching and learning across the school.

School Priorities

• Embed purposeful pedagogy and build teacher capacity to improve student learning outcomes.
• Further develop elements of a professional learning community.
• Use the Spiral of Inquiry for improvement in student learning in all areas of learning with a specific focus on Numeracy.
• Target professional learning to suit the needs of teachers and student.
• Use the National School Improvement Tool to identify areas for improvement across the school

February 2016 census:  368

Information on Albury can be found by clicking here

St Mary’s Primary School, Yoogali – Griffith

St Mary’s Primary School is a positive, vibrant, caring, faith based Learning Community, providing quality Primary education to students from within the Yoogali Parish. Students also travel to St Mary’s from Yenda, Bilbul, Beelbangera, Hanwood and all parts of Griffith. St Mary’s is supported by an enthusiastic, progressive School Council and an energetic Parents and Friends Association.

Our village is situated on the outskirts of the city of Griffith, an area rich in cultural diversity with a wide range of agricultural and commercial industries. At St Mary’s we strive for quality education in a safe and caring environment, across all aspects of the children’s growth and development.

Educational Priorities for 2016

• Continuing to provide strong Pastoral Care for all members of our community.
• Foster collaborative, dynamic and reflective collegial practices
• To continue to improve student achievement in all areas of contemporary learning
• Building on our whole school improvement framework
• Continue to develop a collective professional knowledge and skills base in reading comprehension

School Priorities

• Use of the Inquiry for Continual Improvement process to improve student learning in Literacy
• Embed purposeful pedagogy and build teacher capacity to improve student learning outcomes.
• Target professional learning to suit the needs of teachers and students.
• Continue to strengthen the link and relationship between school and parish to build our Catholic identity.
• Maintaining Student Pastoral Care and Wellbeing with resilience development as a focus.
• To foster daily the formation of our school story and charism through the lens of missionary discipleship.

February 2016 census:  142

Information on the Griffith area can be found by clicking here

St Francis Xavier Primary School, Urana

St Francis Xavier Primary School is centred on Christ and sacramental life of the Church. The school conducts a learning program which integrates the Key Learning Areas into units of work with a Science and Technology or Human Society and Its Environment focus.

Due to isolation from large centres, St Francis Xavier is a Country Areas Program school. This program has been very beneficial for our school since 1979 when CAP commenced. CAP funds allow students, teachers and parents to stay abreast of latest learning and teaching strategies, and to gain much needed resources to support learning.

School Priorities:

• Improve differentiated learning and teaching through effective pedagogical practices
• build the capacity of teachers to enrich learning through the effective use of technology
• professional development of staff and students in using technology for collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity

February 2016 census:  17

Information on Urana can be found by clicking here

Appeal of Living in Rural NSW

If you are from a metropolitan/coastal city, and have not experienced life in rural areas, there are three key aspects for you to explore and consider:

1. How would your financial position alter if you accepted a senior role in rural NSW?
2. How will your home life benefit by experiencing the sense of community rural living provides?
3. How will your career thrive because of the leadership experiences a senior appointment would provide?

Further Information

Bishop Hanna’s Mandate available on webpage at http://bit.ly/1H2Mq3Q

CSO Strategic Plan available on webpage at http://bit.ly/1JT0sZs

Building on Strengths available on webpage at http://bit.ly/1zPS2yF

A Framework for Learning available on webpage at http://bit.ly/1EfEIQF

Firestick available on webpage at http://bit.ly/1JuUhHB

Accreditation to Work, Teach & Lead in Catholic Education in the Diocese of Wagga Wagga

Available on webpage at http://bit.ly/1GSrJEY

 Position Overview

Position Title:    Principal

Reports to:       School Service Consultant

Principal’s Responsibilities

Religious Leadership : Religious leadership facilitates spiritual formation through a dynamic process of growth in the understanding and practice of Christian faith and spirituality. This is expressed in dedicated structures, specific programs, communal support and resources.

Educative leadership:  Utilises a developmental approach to link the development of effective learning and teaching with contemporary curriculum to provide high quality student learning.

Staff Leadership: Staff leadership meaningfully integrates the personal and professional experiences of staff through distributive leadership, mutual accountability, inclusive processes and planned professional learning.

Strategic Leadership: Strategic leadership is directed towards the development, alignment, attainment and review of the vision, mission and the strategic goals for the school as set out in the school’s improvement plan.

Organisational Leadership: Organisational leadership focuses on the development, support, monitoring and evaluation of operational processes.

Commencement

It is anticipated that successful applicants will be able to commence in these four schools for the commencement of the 2017 school year.

Conditions of Employment

• Salary and Conditions will be discussed as we progress through these recruitment projects. Incentives negotiable for all 4 roles.
• The CSO is open to negotiating the term of these appointments as well as the support provided to assist the new Principals
• Salary Packaging: employees may elect to take their remuneration as a combination of cash salary and benefits as outlined in the Diocese of Wagga Wagga Salary Packaging Employee Information Guide.
• Applicants who are successful in gaining an interview will receive an interview travel allowance.
• Relocation allowance will be provided for the successful applicants, if required.
• The successful applicants will undertake a New Working with Children Check and a National Police Checking Service (Crimtrac) prior to appointment.

Selection Criteria

We invite expressions of interest from people with leadership experience in Catholic primary schools/Education offices who are able to demonstrate:

• An appreciation of and active commitment to Catholic life and practice
• Innovation in leading contemporary learning initiatives
• Ongoing development and integration of learning related to Religious Education, Theology, Scripture, Leadership and Curriculum
• An affinity for rural & regional areas
• Accreditation to teach Religious Education and have completed a minimum of four units of study at a postgraduate level in Religious Education, or Theology, or specific Catholic Leadership

Are you Interested in these Opportunities?

If you are interested in any of these roles, there are two options for you to proceed:

1. If interested, but have questions requiring a response before deciding whether to progress, then either (a) telephone our Director John Chesher (0417 068 220) or (b) email our office via mail@traksearch.com or from this page of our website with your questions.
2. If and when you have enough information to start this process, then simply email us at mail@traksearch.com or from this page of our website stating your interest and nominating the role(s); also providing a contact telephone number.

At this stage we do NOT ask for you to labour over selection criteria, provide a resume or any application document – just a one-line email to Trak Search to indicate your interest in ‘Diocese of Wagga Wagga principal [name the school(s)]’ and providing your contact telephone number. The timeline and details for these appointments are outlined below.  All emails and applications are acknowledged within 48 hours.

The Selection Process

Key dates are as follows:

Trak Search has been instructed to provide a process that is welcoming for people interested in this role. Significant aspects include:

• Throughout the process, Trak Search is available for confidential discussions and to provide information to allow you to explore this opportunity and determine your interest in the role.
• A range of additional information will be provided to you as we progress through this process.
• At the outset you will not be required to: complete an application form; provide a resume or lengthy, comprehensive document to address the selection criteria; or provide any referee details. However, you will be invited to supply us with additional information (verbally and in writing) as you progress through the process.
• A late application could be accepted, providing it does not adversely impact other applications or the schedule. Please be aware however that any application received after close of business on the date noted above is more likely to be returned to you.
• At the appropriate time (refer above) we will seek written consent to speak with referees – listing referees on your resume does not signify consent.
• We expect to contact one work related referee prior to short listing, with additional references (including with a Priest referee) completed later in the process.  You should always expect that prior to reaching the final stage of the project, we will ask to speak with at least one person who has: directly managed you; recently; and for a significant time period.
• All information provided to Trak Search will be made available prior to short listing, in confidence, to the CSO Executive unless you instruct Trak Search otherwise.

You are also encouraged to view our Collection Statement which provides details on the manner in which we collect and use information obtained from you during your engagement with Trak Search.