St John’s Campbelltown student, Eva Grados, has tumbled her way to the top, scoring her first lead role in a feature film – ‘A Second Chance: Rivals’ – as talented young Aboriginal gymnast, Alkira.

Mixing it on set with the likes of Olympic gold medallist, Sally Pearson, and AFI Award winner, Natasha Wanganeen, the 12-year-old thoroughly relished the experience, and is now enjoying the red carpets and fanfare buzz around the Australian film’s premiere. The movie hits NSW cinemas this weekend.

Throughout September our Catholic Schools have joined with the Global Catholic community and other Faith traditions to pray, reflect on our lifestyles, and undertake prophetic actions to mark the Season of Creation. 

The following stories are just a taste of some of the ways our schools have celebrated...

Leadership, inclusivity and the importance of owning your choices - these were some of the wisdom-filled topics shared by Bishop Brian Mascord when he came together with over 2,000 students from systemic and congregational secondary schools to mark the students’ final year at secondary school.

CEDoW Education Officer, Cathy Brown, said the purpose of these gatherings is for our Year 12 students to meet together as young women and men of the diocese to have the opportunity to converse with Bishop Brian.

“The dream has always been to give young people a dynamic, relevant and inspiring experience of the Catholic faith and this year, we saw that dream once again become an exciting reality.” These were the words of Seth Harsh, the Director of the Wollongong LIVE festival, who opened the annual event with a talk unpacking the theme ‘Called’. The subject? 'Who are we called to be, and by whom?’.

After a most distinguished 39-year career as a Catholic educator and leader, Mary Immaculate Catholic Parish Primary School, Eagle Vale’s Don Spencer has enjoyed his last day as principal, retiring from his position last Friday, 13 September 2019.

Read more from Don on his retirement, and the Mary Immaculate community's retirement celebrations for Don at Eagle Vale last Wednesday. 

It’s the final countdown to nominate someone for a prestigious Lighting the Way Faith & Learning Award for 2019.

Hurry! The deadline for nominations is THIS FRIDAY, 20 September.

Head to www.dow.catholic.edu.au/ltw-awards for more information and to nominate today.

Forget the Scarecrow’s wish: ‘If I only had a brain’! Students at St Joseph’s Albion Park have creatively and cleverly tackled a ‘Wizard of Oz’-inspired challenge at the Tournament of Minds Regional Final, outdoing all other Illawarra and South Coast secondary schools to win the Arts competition and earn their place in the NSW State Final!

Read more about the ToM success at St Joseph's, as well as at St Clare’s Narellan Vale, inside.

CEDoW staff have joined educators from across NSW at the Hunter Valley in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle to attend the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Catholic Education NSW State Conference.

In its second day today, the conference has been a fantastic opportunity to explore, connect, discern and share knowledge and wisdom in relation to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander education.

Robots ready to rumble! After weeks of practising and refining their coding, students across the Diocese who qualified for the CEDoW 2019 mBot Challenge Finals were set to let their mBots do the talking! The culmination of northern and southern regional rounds, the Finals saw over 250 people pack into the Fraternity Club at Fairy Meadow to cheer their teams on, as students coded their mBots to battle, dance and race their way to success.

How do you raise resilient children? How can I help my teen manage anxiety and stress? What’s going on inside my child’s adolescent brain? 

Parents at Holy Spirit College, Bellambi have gained insight into the answers, hearing from adolescent expert, author and educator, Maggie Dent, on how to help teens cope, conquer and shine, with what she calls "calm, common-sense, connected parenting".

Read more about her visit and what advice she gave to parents and teachers.

The next generation of teachers was celebrated at a special event last week to commemorate the achievement of 66 proficient teachers – 30 primary and 36 secondary – who will educate and guide the minds of tomorrow.

At Villa D’oro Function Centre in Wollongong, guests gathered for the Teacher Accreditation Recognition Ceremony - an initiative under CEDoW’s Awards and Recognition Program, acknowledging the achievements of teachers who have reached this significant career milestone.

It’s not every day another country hears of your school’s innovative learning and teaching, and sends delegates to visit to learn more. But that’s exactly what has happened at St Joseph’s Catholic High School, Albion Park, where the High Commissioner for Zambia and his delegation have seen firsthand how the school is using technology to improve student outcomes.

From Kiama to Eagle Vale, Fairy Meadow to Moss Vale, Year 6 leaders across our diocese congregated as faith-filled communities, when Bishop Brian Mascord led a series of regional Masses to mark the students' transition to secondary school – an important milestone in each child’s educational journey.

The yearly Masses, which are a coming-of-age tradition for students graduating from their primary school education, are an opportunity to celebrate the Eucharist and they also remind students how they can foster their relationships with Jesus through compassionate actions and loving words as they grow.

App smashing, augmented reality, iPad tips and tricks, and even creating new and innovative ways of learning using Apple apps and technology – it’s all at the fingertips of St Joseph’s Bulli teacher, Michelle Bunder, who has been accepted into the Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) Class of 2019!

Read more from Bunder on her experience as an Apple Distinguished Educator, attending the recent ADE Institute event, and using Apple technology in the classroom to enhance learning and teaching.

The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong, Most Reverend Brian Mascord, is seeking to appoint a Director of Schools following the announcement that Mr Peter Turner will retire at the end of 2019. To commence January 2020.

Details to apply inside.

In just their first time participating in Wakakirri – Australia’s largest Story Dance Festival involving hundreds of schools and over 20,000 students across the nation each year – St Paul's Moss Vale has won not one, but two awards for their fantastic contemporary dance performance.

A phenomenal effort from the St John’s Nowra Wakakirri dance troupe – they’ve performed spectacularly to win the 2019 Wakakirri Shoalhaven Regional Challenge and pick up a further nine performance and production awards for their powerful dance telling the heartfelt story of a Syrian refugee's tumultuous journey fleeing home.

From the art room to the playground, the school grounds to the library, there has been plenty happening to mark NAIDOC Week 2019 as CEDoW schools have come together to celebrate the invaluable contributions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have made - and continue to make - to our communities, our families, our rich history and to our nation.

With over 700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their families enrolled in our systemic Catholic schools across the diocese, CEDoW communities were enthusiastic participants in the annual NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee) Week.

My Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I write to you concerning the decision handed down today by the Supreme Court of Victoria’s Court of Appeal in relation to Cardinal George Pell’s conviction on five charges of child sexual abuse. The court rejected the cardinal’s appeal, in a 2–1 ruling...

Read more from Bishop Brian inside.

Caped crusaders, crazy costumes and colourful characters – it’s shaping up to be a jam-packed week of fun and creativity this Book Week, bringing children and books together in our schools all across the Diocese. With inspiration from this year’s theme, ‘Reading Is My Secret Power’, we have a lot to look forward to! 

Here is a snapshot of some of the wonderful celebrations of children’s literature in our schools this week – 10 ways our CEDoW schools are marking Book Week 2019.