Relevant Websites

Archbishop Denis Hart’s Pastoral Letter on the Catholic Church in Education, Learning is a Discovery that Brings Hope, offers reflections on being a Catholic school

The VCAA’s Curriculum Planning website: offers school leadership a range of resources to support planning and documenting a comprehensive school-wide curriculum

AITSL’s Leading Curriculum Change: a nationally delivered, online professional learning program for Australian teachers which aims to build capacity throughout the profession with targeted learning opportunities in areas such as leadership, curriculum, innovation and community partnerships

CEM Policies and Strategies

Horizons of Hope - An Education Framework for the Archdiocese of Melbourne

Learning and Teaching: information about current CEM strategy areas, including the Student Wellbeing Strategy

RESource: online educational support for teachers of Religious Education

Scootle access: Learning Resources (LRESA)

Other useful resources

Contemporary Learning Schema

Learning Innovation Tool

Our Schools > Curriculum/Learning Programs > Holistic Planning

Holistic Planning
Holistic planning in a nutshell

Catholic educators see learning as a journey of endless possibilities, where students are animated to seek meaning and explore questions about the world around them. At the very heart of each Catholic school is a desire for the full flourishing of each student, across religious, physical, cognitive, emotional and social domains. Helping learners to 'put life together' meaningfully in the context of an ongoing engagement with Catholic faith is the privilege of Catholic educators and the great contribution they make to the learning of their students.

In a Catholic school:

Learning experiences are designed to help learners develop their knowledge, skills and understandings in all learning areas,
Curriculum is enriched by the values, beliefs, perspectives and experiences of each member of the learning community when they engage actively with Catholic understandings of the human person.
The process of curriculum design is shared with students, creating within them a sense of agency and self-efficacy as learners.
Educators have a strong knowledge of the curriculum, as well as a clear understanding of the pedagogical choices that will ensure learning is effective for each student. Learning progress is closely monitored against curriculum achievement standards.
The learning community works together to search and make clear the connections between the curriculum, the world and the Catholic tradition.
Learners are challenged to explore and consider deep questions and big ideas, enabling them to interpret and make meaning of their life, the world and their social context.

Holistic planning design elements

Within the Archdiocese of Melbourne curriculum is broadly defined and reflects a holistic curriculum design approach which privileges connectivity, breadth and richness and is distinct from non-Catholic schools. This is reflected in the school curriculum planning resource Curriculum Renewal in a Catholic School - Design Elements .

The Curriculum Renewal in a Catholic School resource is intended to complement the multifaceted approach to curriculum design already flourishing within the Catholic sector. It represents the understanding that a holistic curriculum incorporates the formal curriculum frameworks (the AusVELS and the RE Curriculum Framework) as well as eight other elements of curriculum design which work together to privilege connectivity, breadth and richness:

Curriculum Renewal in a Catholic School: design elements

The following additional resources further support Archdiocesan schools in reviewing their approach to curriculum:

The Curriculum Renewal– Whole School Design planning resource has been designed to support school leaders to engage their school community to reflect on and develop a shared aspiration for learners and learning that responds to their Catholic context.
The Curriculum Renewal – Teachers as Designers planning resource has been designed to support classroom teachers to collaboratively plan for learning and teaching in a Catholic context.
A Process Guide has also been developed, attached, to provide assistance around using the suite of Curriculum Renewal resources.

Video Overview of the design elements

Aspiration, approach and planning for learning and teaching in a Catholic context: Whole-School Design

pdf Poster new-window Supporting Resources

Teachers as designers_sm

Unpacking the Design Space: Teachers as Designers

pdf Poster new-window Supporting Resources

A Guide to understanding the Support Resources

pdf Poster

When planning across the curriculum, the following resources need to be considered:

Deepening the conversation in your school

We encourage school leaders and teachers to take a strategic approach when engaging with this resource, identifying and exploiting key leverage points for reform conversations, curriculum innovation and collaboration.

The Curriculum Renewal in a Catholic School resource might help schools to:

Design a comprehensive school-wide curriculum plan
Design a comprehensive curriculum plan for a stage or band of schooling
Design a year-level program addressing some or all of the learning areas and/or general capabilities
Formulate classroom curriculum designs and learning sequences.

Key questions for consideration might be:

Which current strengths in your school curriculum design are reflected in the design elements?
What is currently in place in the other design elements that can be built upon?
What new ways of thinking and working are possible in light of the Curriculum Renewal in a Catholic School resource?
In response to your current priorities for improvement, what needs to be further enacted and how will you plan for this?

Here’s how some schools have been responding:

Preparation for AusVELs at Sacré Coeur By Jennifer Carter, Director of Studies, Sacré Coeur,Glen Iris ( page 4, Director’s e-News NO. 12 | 20 JULY 2012)

Jennifer describes ten elements of the change process Sacré Coeur undertook to ensure a successful transition to the Australian Curriculum through AusVELS. Sacré Coeur tackled the change using a 10 element framework with which staff, students and parents were familiar.

Our Journey with the New Curriculum By Mark Miatello,Deputy Principal and Learning & Teaching Leader, and Helen Cozmescu,Literacy Leader, at Resurrection School, Kings Park ( page 3 Director’s e-News NO. 2 | 8 February 2013)

Resurrection School opts to be an AusVELS trial school. Staff explore the similarities between the existing VELS documentation and the new Australian Curriculum. Their experiences in trialling the new curriculum showed the paramount importance of collegiality.

St Paul Apostle Community Garden: A Story of Communities Working Together for the Benefit of All By Helen F. Greenhill, Principal, St Paul Apostle South School, Endeavour Hills ( page 3 Director’s e-News NO. 17 | 9 MAY 2014)

In 2013 the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) parish group got together with the St Paul Apostle South School to discuss and plan a community garden. This involves a joint partnership between parishioners, students, parents and teaching staff. The purpose of the garden is multi-faceted. Not only does benefit the students and their learning about sustainability, healthy eating and cooking, but it also provides vegetables to the Parish Soup Van. Most importantly of all, it provides an ongoing way of developing bonds between the parish and the school and thus building community – one of the cornerstones of our faith.

Detailed list of Director's eNews articles with a Learning & Teaching focus.

Got a great holistic planning resource? Please let us know Feedback about the Curriculum in Catholic schools portal, particularly ideas for new content, is welcome via ausvels@ceomelb.catholic.edu.au.