1051_policy For About Schools

about Catholic Schools

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History ‘About Catholic Schools’ was first published in July 1977. Over the years there have been a number of changes to its size, layout and frequency. It started out as a monthly and is now a quarterly. It used to include stories from Catholic schools across the entire Sydney area; now it focuses on systemic schools in the Sydney Archdiocese. It has also changed from being a largely black and white publication to full colour, and has expanded to 24 pages from the original four. The aim of today’s magazine is to produce a professional, vibrant publication which displays the wide range of activities, achievements, innovations and issues happening in our schools, and in Catholic education in general, in the Archdiocese of Sydney.

Role and purpose ‘About Catholic Schools’ exists for a range of purposes: • To inform parents about Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Sydney • To inform parents about innovations, developments and changes in education generally • To continue discussion and explanation on education issues being debated in the media such as bullying, literacy, testing and assessment • To showcase the views, opinions and work of the students in systemic schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney • To celebrate and record events, activities and successes in Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Sydney • To give individual schools an opportunity to celebrate events, activities and successes • To announce curriculum developments and changes which will impact on schools • To provide information on CEO, Sydney initiatives, policies, publications and courses • To report on RE and Evangelisation intiatives and developments



• To act as a promotional vehicle for the Sydney Catholic school system, especially during promotional campaigns such as the Enrolment Period.

Focus The focus of the magazine is parish primary and secondary systemic schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney; Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Sydney; and education, religious, youth and student issues.

Target audience While ‘About Catholic Schools’ is of interest to Principals, teachers and students, the main target audience is parents.

Frequency ‘About Catholic Schools’ is a quarterly magazine, published each school term.

Quantity and cost Each issue costs approximately $18,000 to print, with 60,000 copies produced – a unit cost of about 30 cents.

Advertising The magazine includes paid advertising, but does not endorse any product or accept editorial supplied by advertisers. A standard issue may contain up to four pages of advertising. The revenue from these ads helps to defray the cost of production.

Distribution The magazine is distributed to all systemic schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney. One copy is given to each family and to the parish priest. Copies are also available for school staff. A number of schools put left-over copies in the back of the church for parishioners to take home. ‘About Catholic Schools’ is also distributed to Catholic Education Offices around Australia; other Catholic Church representatives, organisations and agencies; Congregational schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney; local libraries; newspaper, radio and television editors and writers; education and religion reporters; suburban newspaper editors; the NSW Department of Education and Training; the NSW Board of Studies; politicians in State and Federal Parliament; retired teachers; and members of Religious Orders.



EDITORIAL ISSUES Featuring the issue rather than the school Each edition of ‘About Catholic Schools’ includes a feature story on an educational issue or key event. These features provide opportunities to link stories from a number of schools under the one topic, and are a way of promoting the system of schools, and the varied learning opportunities in Catholic education in general, rather than individual schools. Some of the issues that have been featured include the environment, World Youth Day Sydney 2008, school performance and new school review frameworks, 185 years of Catholic education, A-E student report cards, classrooms going digital and the launch of the new K-12 Religious Education student textbooks. While the emphasis of ‘About Catholic Schools’ is on events and issues which link all schools in the Archdiocese, each edition includes some individual school stories, particularly where a major achievement or innovation needs to be recognised.

Individual school stories Our ‘Around the Schools’ feature has been created to provide pictorial and editorial coverage of a range of school events and activities. Schools are encouraged to send in photos and stories for this section. If a school story is particularly interesting and different it may be included as a stand-alone story, or the Editor may follow up with the school to do a more substantial article. While every effort is made to include stories sent in by schools, often a shortage of space will limit inclusion. Stories may have to be edited to fit the page or section. Sometimes the photo supplied by the school may not be suitable for publication. However, if there is enough time, the Editor may organise for the CEO staff photographer to take a new photo more suitable for publication.



Who writes the stories? The majority of stories are written by the Editor. Most stories sent in by schools are edited for style and included in the ‘Around the Schools’ section, or incorporated into larger feature stories at the discretion of the Editor. Schools need to notify the Editor well in advance about an important event or initiative happening at their school for a chance to appear in ‘About Catholic Schools’. The Editor is especially interested in hearing about new and innovative programs and activities that are having excellent educational outcomes for students. Most Primary and Secondary schools contact the Editor only when they are holding a special event such as the Opening and Blessing of new school buildings, or a visit from a special guest. However, often the most interesting stories are actually happening in the classroom. You only have to look around the walls of classrooms, particularly in primary schools, to see all the great work students are doing on all sorts of interesting issues. CEO, Sydney staff are also encouraged to keep the Editor informed about key issues, announcements, releases, and events so that they can be included in the magazine. However, while every effort is made to cover school events and CEO activities, the Editor cannot attend every event in person. In these instances, schools and CEO staff can write up the story or provide information on the event or issue and forward it to the Editor to be considered for inclusion in the magazine.

Regional Office stories When Regional Office initiatives are featured, the emphasis will be on the issue or event and the schools involved rather than the individual Region, as the aim is to present a unified picture of Catholic education across the Archdiocese of Sydney.



Congregational school stories Congregational schools are included in the magazine when they are part of events involving systemic schools such as ‘The Archbishop of Sydney Award for Student Excellence’. However, stories on individual Congregational schools are not included.

Challenges • Ensuring a wide range of schools is featured, while trying to meet competing needs such as making sure the stories that are included are interesting and have not been featured before • Making sure the layout is not compromised, so that everyone can be included • Communicating information about educational initiatives in plain English to keep parents informed and involved • Keeping up-to-date on curriculum and Religious Education issues • Educating teachers about taking good photographs and identifying what is newsworthy and interesting to a broader audience.

Bernadette Zebec Editor ‘About Catholic Schools’ January 2008 Phone: (02) 9568 8223 Fax: (02) 9568 8422 Email: [email protected]





Catholic Education Office, Sydney 38 Renwick Street, PO Box 217 Leichhardt NSW 2040 Phone: (02) 9568 8221 Fax: (02) 9568 8422 www.ceo.syd.catholic.edu © Catholic Education Office, Sydney First published 2007; revised February 2008. PN 1051 Licensed under NEALS