THE CATHOLIC Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has unveiled the new organisational structure covering its 58 schools, but concerns persist about the wellbeing support available to students under the new model.
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The diocese commenced its restructure of the Catholic Schools Office (CSO) leadership and teams in late August. Its proposed model included abolishing the Director of Schools role and giving responsibility for the operational management of schools to the Chief Operating Officer.
It also proposed keeping educational roles within a distinct educational unit, but transferring all non-educational roles to the relevant area of specialisation or expertise.
The diocese explained the final structure to staff on Monday.
It includes a new Head of Catholic Schools position, which will report to the Chief Operating Officer, who will oversee the operations of schools.
There are four assistant head roles, covering school improvement; transition and projects; religious education and spirituality; and learning and wellbeing.
A diocese spokeswoman said school counselling services would continue to operate as is, based on feedback received during the seven-week consultation period.
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The final structure includes a note the counselling team would be "reviewed with a view to move to or further integrate with Catholic Care, however lead coordinator role will remain within CSO".
"There is no immediate change to their structure; a deeper review of this area will be undertaken and no matter the outcome, their place of work and conditions remain the same and more readily available to schools than before, as the diocese is committed to increasing the number of school counsellors," she said.
Independent Education Union NSW/ACT branch Newcastle organiser Therese Fitzgibbon said the union welcomed the reinstatement of a head of education "but notes that this person will no longer hold the title of Director of Schools and will report to a Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operations Officer rather than directly to the Bishop".
"Ultimately educational decisions will not rest with an educator," Ms Fitzgibbon said.
"The union continues to hold concerns about the employment arrangements for school psychologists and counsellors.
"We call on the diocese to guarantee that this group of employees will not be moved into Catholic Care.
"These members are educational specialists and their roles are critical to schools.
"A movement to Catholic Care will ultimately increase staff turnover and reduce the quality of the service provided to students."
The structure also includes four new regional service advisor roles who will do "annual health check site visits" to schools, plus six executive principal roles.
Diocese chief executive Sean Scanlon said the diocese was taking an "education first approach that is student outcome based".
"We seek to support schools to manage their administrative burdens and assist them to address the significant governance and compliance obligations of today's education environment.
"This will allow schools to focus on the learning and wellbeing of students."
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Helen Gregory
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting.
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting.
