Welcome to the Catholic Schools Guide, 2012: Melbourne, Sydney & Adelaide.

Catholic schools offer something that is special and fundamentally different. The Catholic Schools Guide has been published to provide feature profile on Catholic Secondary schools in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide order to give parents of prospective students easy-to- access essential information. The magazine is published annually.

The cover of the 2012 edition (pictured right) features the crests of the Catholic Secondary Colleges who are profiled.

All information contained in the printed Guide is available at this website. To read a profile on a College, simply click the Finding A School icon. To receive a hard copy of the publication, join the mailing list, send me an e-mail and we shall post you a free copy.

Catholic Education

Catholic Colleges continue to deliver success against academic measures. For example, a 2007 report published by the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) as part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, a research program jointly managed by ACER and the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training, the author Gary Marks found that in terms of university course completion rates….

“Students who had attended Catholic secondary schools showed the highest levels of expected course completion (88% for any course). There was little difference in course completion between students who attended government (79%) and independent schools (81%).”

Technology and Innovation

Catholic schools, both primary and secondary, are leading the technological revolution in the rapidly changing landscape that is sweeping the education system. Professor Geoff Romeo, from Australian Catholic University, addresses technology and its impact on education; while Dr Gerard Calnin, who is overseeing the Digital Education Revolution on behalf of the Catholic Education Office in Victoria, writes on its impact in the our sector. Master in Applied Linguistics, Stephen Campitelli explores issues around language and how it is in a constant state of change. I am also grateful to Tony Richards, from IT Made Simple, explores the consequences of posting information on the internet in his article The Forever Key.

Caritas Australia

Once again, the Catholic Schools Guide is delighted to be supporting the wonderful work of Caritas Australia. Caritas is a phenomenal worldwide organisation that is committed to the 8 Millennium Development Goals in an attempt to halve global poverty by the year 2015. I urge all readers to read the emotive piece on Flabiana who lives in Timor Leste (East Timor). Project Compassion is a flagship fundraising and awareness program of Caritas. Please encourage your school or College, if not already involved, to jump on board.

Essential Tips

Many parents ask me for advice when visiting schools. So I have written a short booklet with 23 ‘essential tips’ to help parents when considering a College for their child. Remember, one size does not fit all. Each child is special and many have particular needs that certain schools are more adept at delivering than others. Ask lots of questions, read the prospectus, go to more than one Open Day and take a tour on an ordinary school day. You can purchase a copy by clicking on the icon over on the left hand column.

More information

The Catholic Schools Guide is an independent publication. Please contact me with your comments and suggestions.

Greg Campitelli
Publishing Editor
Catholic Schools Guide