While he maintains he has a soft heart and loves showing grace, he certainly is keeping vigilant and is ready to help remind any staff who are going astray. 
It is reported that he has had cause to occasionally apprehend the odd culprits who forget their obligations as good SCEA citizens.  

He says the secret to good policy policing is:

• Knowing the law, 
• Providing advice and gentle reminders, 
• and being ever watchful, especially of those hiding in the hills (MCC, KCS, SHCC), lurking in the valley (SCC), hiding in the suburbs (BCS and ECC), or scarpering up north (NCGS).

There certainly is a lot going on in the neighbourhood:

• All SCEA policies have been completely reformatted and coded, and these have been uploaded to the SCEA Intranet as of Tuesday, 26 May. 

• All previous versions have been removed and replaced – so if you are hanging on to old hard copies, bin them and download the updated versions. 
  (Huge thanks go to Mrs Anna Guy for the substantial work in ensuring this has all happened with her usual professionalism and care).

• The SCEA Wellbeing and Chaplaincy Network is making substantial progress in establishing a common Student Wellbeing Framework for SCEA. 

Work has started on reviewing existing related policies.

• The “Graduate Teacher Support Policy and Procedures” has been out for a little while for consultation. 
  Can the 95 people who received this for their input please ensure they get their feedback to the Policy Policeman by Friday, 7 June at the latest?

• Behind the scenes, a new Sexual Harassment Policy has been developed and is currently out for final consultation with the SCEA Staff Committee.

While there are times when we need to ‘police’ our staff to ensure that we are following the guidelines set out for our schools, you should rest assured that our intent is always to ensure that our staff are treated with fairness and dignity as we seek to serve our communities of students and parents.

The post Episode 4: The Police Officer appeared first on SCEA.

Just in case you are unaware, there is a provision for Executive Study Leave as part of the CEO role – sometimes known as sabbatical leave in other education systems.  

During Dr Cross’s absence, Dr Gregg Weaver will be Acting CEO between the 5th June and the end of Term 2.

Mr Nick Wood will serve in the role for the 3 weeks over the holiday period.

Dr Cross will be visiting some of the large Christian schooling systems in the UK, including:

•  Aquinas Multi-Academy Trust (https://www.aquinastrust.org/)
•  Church of England Schools National Office (https://www.churchofengland.org/about/education-and-schools)
•  Emmaus Schools Foundation (https://www.emmaus-school.org.uk/)
•  Trinity School – Sevenoaks (https://www.trinitysevenoaks.org.uk/)

“My goal is to visit Christian schools/systems that are making a significant difference in their communities in the UK, with a particular focus on those that are larger than SCEA,” said Dr Cross this week.

“I look forward to learning a great deal from these visits and sharing what I have learned with you when I return to SCEA at the beginning of Term 3.”

In the coming edition of SCEA News, Dr Cross will send us a video from the United Kingdom when he visits one of these school systems.

Following these visits, Dr Cross will be taking a holiday with his wife (who is currently on Long Service Leave), and he will be back at work for the Christian Schools Australia (CSA) Mid-Year Conference on 15 July 2024.

The post Dr Cross travelling to the UK to see Christian schools and take a holiday appeared first on SCEA.

As well as improving the infrastructure (your computer, your printer, your wireless network, etc.), there are bigger plans ahead for all of us.

What does this mean for me?

• A pedagogical vision for our ICT formulated by a multi-faceted, SCEA-wide team.
• Cybersecurity protection now and into the future, and 
• New staff to assist you with teaching and operations within your school and the SCEA Head Office.

This week, we look at the new ‘Apps’ Team made up of three members:

•  Ms Lize-Marie Janse Van Rensberg (Applications Team Leader)
•  Mr Julian Mould (Applications Specialist)
•  Mr Long Nguyen (Applications Specialist)

What is an app?

Google defines an app as “a self-contained software package that allows users to perform specific tasks on a mobile or desktop device.”

That means this software is specialised and aims to help us achieve something.

By creating an Apps Team with dedicated professionals, the investment is being made to ensure that staff and students get the support they need to teach and operate within our SCEA environment.

Applications Team Leader – Ms Lize-Mari Janse van Rensberg

“My love for working with SCEA staff and sharing and enhancing knowledge across different applications drew me to this team.”

“Over the last few years, I’ve gained experience in overseeing the deployment and maintenance of various applications, including TASS and EnrolHQ,” said Lize-Mari this week.

“My passion is to search for applications and processes to streamline operations and enhance data accuracy. I love helping others and seeing the excitement on colleagues’ faces when they learn new, improved ways of performing tasks. The sense of accomplishment I get from successfully completing projects, and meaningful change within SCEA is very fulfilling.”

Applications Specialist –  Mr Long Nguyen

“Joining the expanding Enterprise Applications Team seemed like a natural fit for me to continue making meaningful contributions at SCEA.  I view this new opportunity as a chance to tackle a different challenge.”

“Processes, problem-solving, and projects are aspects of my work that excite me. Additionally, I find joy in finding solutions and assisting others to use technology to their benefit.”

Applications Specialist –  Mr Julian Mould

“I am a new joiner to SCEA and was selected by SCEA as the LMS Application and Technology Officer. I’m excited to be a part of an organisation with a wonderful holistic outlook and, of course, which serves our community so well by educating children in seven schools! I thought that this was truly fantastic.”

“The key part of the role is for me to be at the centre of the rollout of a new Learning Management System called Canvas, which will serve all seven schools across SCEA. Rolling out Learning Management Systems has been a key part of my work for the last ten years, so, as an educational technologist, it meets my passion for installing key software that helps to educate people of all ages.“

“In my recent roles, I have often worked independently from home. I was working in overarching online team structures – however, I worked in a self-directed way most of the time. Joining SCEA was my chance to work in and around real people in an office daily for the first time since 2020!”

This team of three experts will be working hard to ensure that our staff understand their work, equip our workforce for what they are trying to achieve and provide the personnel to make this happen!

The post The future of ICT in SCEA : The new ‘Apps’ Team appeared first on SCEA.

The SPCC visit allowed the SCEA representatives to reconnect with SPCC Chief Executive Officer, Mr Graeme Irwin. A previous SCEA group visited Mr Irwin and his team in 2022, and the SPCC team has moved forward in a number of areas of development since then. The area of teacher training was discussed, along with The Saints Academy initiative and Leadership Development for after-school programs.

The Christian Schools National Policy Forum is a two-day event that allows member school representatives to hear from keynote speakers on issues affecting Christian schooling in Australia, meet with federal politicians who represent their electorates in Parliament House and network with other Christian school staff from across the country.  

Keynote speakers:
• Dr Trevor Cooling (The Future For Christian Schooling)
• Dr Lisa O’Brien AM (‘A Better and Fairer Education System’ report findings)
• Ms Kara Martin (Developing an Organisational Theological Statement)
• Dr Jenny Donovan (Engaging with the AERO Research)
• Mr John Anderson (Telling a Better Story)

SCEA representatives met with Ms Tania Lawrence MP (the Member for Hasluck), who oversees the electorate in which five of our seven SCEA schools operate. The group also talked with former Deputy Prime Minister Mr John Anderson and Western Australian Senator Mr Matt O’Sullivan about the recent Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) report that may impact our schools in the future.

The formal reception at Parliament House was a chance to visit Australia’s Seat of Government and hear from the Shadow Education Minister, Hon. Sarah Henderson MP, who commended the excellent work being done by Christian schools across Australia.

The group flew back to Perth late last night, Thursday 30 May 2024.

The purpose of conducting the SCEA Research Trips is to see Christian education firsthand in other parts of the country, bring back insights, and learn to shape practice in our schools here in WA.

The travelling group for this trip consisted of:

• Dr Graeme Cross (Chief Executive Officer – SCEA )
• Mr Nick Wood (Chief Operating Officer – SCEA )
• Mr Craig Clark (SCEA Board Chair)
• Mr Jordan Thyer (SCEA Board Member)
• Mr Doug Holtam (Principal, Mundaring Christian College)
• Mr Derek Speldewinde (Dean of Pastoral Care, Northshore Christian Grammar School)
• Mr Matt Dufty (Head of Secondary, Ellenbrook Christian College)
• Mr Terry Eason (Head of Senior School, Swan Christian College)
• Mr Sidney Rajanayagam (Chief Human Resources Officer – SCEA) and
• Mr Giles Creelman (Head of Marketing & Community –  SCEA)

You may have noticed that this trip’s participants are men. The female leaders in SCEA have all elected to attend the upcoming trip to Brisbane later in the year.

The post SCEA Research Trip takes in St Philip’s (Newcastle) and the CSA National Policy Forum in Canberra appeared first on SCEA.

Mr Mike Pitman (former SCEA Principal) was elected to the Board Recruitment Committee (BRC) and both Mr Murray Thornhill and Mr Lance Staer were re-elected to the SCEA Grievance Committee as part of the AGM formalities.

The President’s Reception followed the AGM, with worship provided by Dr Gregg Weaver (Chief Education Officer – SCEA), Mrs Natalee Friend and Mr Karl Dietrich from Swan Christian College.

The Board members took time to converse with SCEA Association members and operational staff while Swan Christian College (SCC) provided excellent hospitality courtesy of ‘Chef Rob’ (Rob De Carmo) and his wonderful team.

A few photos from the night can be found below.

The post 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) celebrates God’s provision in our SCEA schools appeared first on SCEA.

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Here is some good news in relation to that 9.5% – its about to become 10%

As of yesterday (1 July 2021) the legislated Superannuation Guarantee (SG) rate increased from 9.5% to 10%. Further increases of 0.5% per year are to come from 1 July 2021 until it reaches 12% from 1 July 2025 onwards.

The SG rate increases were not affected by the 2021-22 Federal Budget. 

Our wonderful friends in SCEA Human Resources (led by Chief Human Resources Officer Mr Sidney Rajanayagam) have already programmed the increase, and all SCEA employees will be able to see the additional contributions on their payslips from the 14 July 2021 pay onwards.

If you have any question please contact the HR team via email: hr@scea.wa.edu.au

If you are feeling like taking Mr Rajanayagam out for coffee in the holidays to say thankyou for programming this change into your payslip, you can send a cheerful email to hr@scea.wa.edu.au

The post Superannuation Guarantee Increases to 10% appeared first on SCEA.

“On Wednesday we had a large group of students from outside of our SCEA schools and today we have 70 students from inside our SCEA network,” said Mr King.

“It’s been our most successful launch to date. That’s because we are creating a work culture here that reflects what we want to see across our nation – safe workplaces where female tradespeople can thrive and be successful in whatever they put their hand to. The guys here are being really respectful and it’s a credit to the work that is being done by our instructors in the classroom, the workshop and the cafeteria.”

Across the two days, more than 150 students experienced life in the workshop settings and a special thank you must be given to Swan alumni Sophie O’Doherty, who attended the event.  Sophie graduated from the STTC in 2020 and is currently completing an Auto Electrician Apprenticeship with Komatsu. Sophie spoke to the students about her time at the Trade Centre and her role as an ambassador for females pursuing trade careers.

SCEA students will be able to apply for the Swan Trade Training Centre through the Year 11 subject selection process that will take place later this year.

The post Students from SCEA schools join ‘Trade School’ for a day appeared first on SCEA.

Ethan is a Year 9 student who has just started at Swan Christian College (SCC).

Ethan is not your average student by any means.  He is passionate about dancing, and Swan’s Dance Program was integral to Ethan’s decision to enrol.

Ethan volunteers at ‘DreamBuilders’ church with staff members from SCC Junior School and is looking forward to settling in at Swan:

“Everyone has been really nice, and I’m excited about my future here.”

Ethan’s younger sister, Alice, already a student at SCC, loved being a part of the Junior School so much that she convinced her brother to come to Swan.

Ethan’s Year Coordinator is Helen Poole (pictured left in the photo), and Ethan is pictured with Swan’s Ms Marie Goodchild (Community Engagement and Enrolments Officer) and Ms Jane Jayes (Enrolments Officer).

Congratulations to all of our enrolments team across SCEA for this wonderful feat!  

The post SCEA Enrolment Number 4001 – Ethan makes history! appeared first on SCEA.

Belinda began as a Receptionist in November 2006 and then moved to the Payroll team, where she has seen her fair share of payslips, job advertisements and positional changes across our Association. Belinda is the longest-serving employee at the Head Office site.

During her time at SCEA, total staff numbers have jumped from 400 to more than 650 people. The total payroll bill at SCEA each fortnight is sizeable, with new and existing SCEA schools growing and adding to their staff numbers regularly.

Belinda’s tertiary studies (Masters of Business Administration) and her attention to detail have caught the eye of the commercial world outside of SCEA, and she finished up this week to pursue a consulting role specialising in HR and Payroll.

Belinda is highly regarded by her peers, who have yet to find fault in her after 15 years of perfect service!  They are a very positive crew, led by Chief Human Resources Officer Mr Sidney Rajanayagam, who spoke fondly of Ms Godfrey’s contributions to SCEA :

“Belinda has been a great servant to SCEA over the years, and many staff across the Association will miss her friendly, helpful demeanor and will be sad to see her go,”said Mr Rajanayagam.

In true style, Belinda was full of praise for SCEA this week:

“I have truly loved my time at SCEA, and I will miss the people that I work closely with and the daily conversations with staff all over the Association,” she said.

“I have made some great friends, and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given over the years to grow and develop in my role. I feel like I have grown up here, and it feels a bit like leaving home for the first time, but I am excited about this next adventure.

“I know I leave this position in great hands (the HR team is undeniably the best!), and I am reassured by the truth that ‘no one ever completely leaves SCEA.’  It has a way of getting into your heart, so I’m sure you will see me around sometime!”

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