Catholic Schools Office launches new Learning Framework

Diocesan principals and student leaders, members of the Catholic Schools Council and Catholic Schools Office (CSO) staff gathered at St Joseph’s College, Lochinvar on Thursday, 27 May, for the launch of the new CSO Learning Framework.

The development and implementation of the new Learning Framework is a foundational, unifying set of statements and resources about learning for diocesan schools that makes connections with policies, practices, pedagogies and structures to impact and influence the quality of learning experiences for students and staff.

During his opening Liturgy, Vicar General, Father Brian Mascord, cited lines from “A Parable of Encouragement” and related it to this exciting new Framework saying, “From little things, big things grow; we are communities of learning – we are the mustard seed”.

The creation of the Learning Framework stemmed from an outcome of the 2015 CSO System Strategic Plan and is built around five key elements: Leading Learning, Collaborative Learning, Personalised Learning, Supportive Learning and Professional Learning, which are informed by contemporary research and best practice.  

Informed by the Australian Professional Standards, National School Improvement Tool, Early Years Learning Framework and other supportive foundational documents, the Framework is based in contemporary research and practice. Leading educational researchers such as Dinham, Duignan, Robinson, Sharratt, Fullan, Hattie, Timperley and others provide the roadmap for The Learning Framework Unpacked.

Committee members, Mark Twohill and Catherine Murray, walked the audience through the new Learning Framework website, highlighting its ease of use, the many examples and illustrations of best practice, ideas and strategies for teaching and learning, and resources to support learning that will be continually updated. As Mr Twohill explained, the website is “an active site I can go to as a teacher so that I can improve my teaching skills practice”.

Event MC and CSO Assistant Director, Gerard Mowbray, also commented on the website, calling it a “treasure trove of doable, real world examples of best practice that we can continue to share into the future”.

Director of Schools, Michael Slattery, thanked the leaders within Teaching and Learning and the organising committee, led by Head of Teaching and Learning, Kathryn Fox, for their hard work and vision for this project.

“I believe this Learning Framework will provide our schools with contemporary learning practice and ultimately equip our students with learning experiences for global participation in knowledge, innovation, skills and values for full participation in the world of the 21st century,” Mr Slattery said.

Following the launch, Professor Stephen Dinham, who is one of the leading educational researchers to provide the “roadmap for the Framework”, presented to school leaders on “leading, learning and teaching”.

If you are a teacher in our diocese, please log onto the Learning Framework website and have a look around for yourself. 


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Alyssa Faith Image
Alyssa Faith

Alyssa Faith was the Communications Manager for the Catholic Schools Office, Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle from 2016 - 2017 and a regular contributor to Aurora and mnnews.today.