News & Events

On Wednesday February 26, two regional Catholic Education SA schools were visited by Jacinta Collins, Executive Director of the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC), as part of a four-day visit to South Australia.

Jacinta was joined by Director of Catholic Education South Australia Dr Neil McGoran and Nichii Mardon, Director of Catholic Education Port Pirie Diocese, in visiting St Joseph’s School, Peterborough and St Joseph’s School, Gladstone.

The visitors were met at St Joseph’s School, Peterborough by Principal Rebecca Fahey, enjoying a morning tea with staff before a site tour and visits to classrooms. The class visits gave Jacinta, Neil and Nichii the opportunity to see class lessons in action and ask students directly about their learning.

The classroom visits were followed by a whole-school Mass for Ash Wednesday.

The children and school staff were very excited in the lead up to the visit. “Given our remote location, we don’t often see visitors of this stature in our school, so it is a real honor to have Jacinta, Neil and Nichii come and visit us. It is a privilege and we were very excited to share our story of Peterborough and showcase our little school”, said Principal Rebecca Fahey.

The next school visit was to St Joseph’s School, Gladstone. Now 129 years old, St Joseph’s was established at Gladstone by the Sisters of St Joseph in 1891. It is the smallest Catholic school in South Australia with 48 students in 3 classrooms from Reception to Year 7.

All 3 classrooms were visited following a meeting and lunch with Principal Martin Hayes and a site tour with school captains Liam Coe and Emma Hanley.

A former Victorian Senator, Jacinta Collins was appointed Executive Director of the NCEC in February 2019, after serving on the frontbench in portfolios including school education and early childhood.

Jacinta is renowned as a strong advocate for social justice and quality education across all sectors, with a strong commitment to the values that underpin Catholic schools and a deep interest in providing quality school education and development opportunities for all children.

Jacinta acknowledges that understanding the needs of regional, rural and remote students is a critical part of representing Catholic education at the national level.

“Nearly 40 per cent of our 1,746 Catholic schools are outside major metropolitan areas of Australia,” Jacinta said. “And we know that the backgrounds and needs of regional, rural and remote students are vastly different to their peers in the cities.”

“Our role at the national level is to advocate for the needs of all students, and to do that it’s important for us to speak to students and staff in these communities, and see, first-hand, how we can best support them in responding to these needs.”

The NCEC works to maintain effective liaison with the Commonwealth Government and other key national education bodies, seeking to influence national education policy, with the vision for Catholic education to provide excellent, inclusive and contemporary schooling in Australia.

Other activities planned for Jacinta’s four-day visit include a Women in Leadership breakfast and a tour of Nazareth Catholic College on Thursday, after attending a Shrove Tuesday mass with Catholic Education SA leadership and staff on February 26.