WHAT IS PRE SCHOOL – POST SCHOOL EDUCATION?

St Ambrose Catholic Primary School Concord WestSydney Catholic Schools provides a pre-post school education that allows students to thrive from before they enter our schools to well after they graduate.

We provide support to all our students and families, not only throughout their time at our schools but through early childhood education, options for tertiary education and partnerships with key institutions to ensure success for students even after their formal education in our system has ended.

SYDNEY CATHOLIC EARLY CHILDCARE CENTRES

Sydney Catholic Schools maintains a close partnership with the Sydney Catholic Early Childhood Services.

Providing before and after school care, as well as long day care, Sydney Catholic Early Childhood Services is a not-for-profit service available for children and families from our schools and local community.

They offer quality education and care programs with qualified and passionate educators, where each child and family is recognised as unique and valued individually for their diversity and difference.

The early learning educators at Sydney Catholic Early Childhood Services provide opportunities for children to develop a strong sense of identity and social competence, where qualities of fairness, humour, empathy and understanding are developed within an exciting, spontaneous, hands-on, stimulating, relaxing and comforting indoor/outdoor environment.

CATHOLIC INTENSIVE ENGLISH CENTRES

Migrant and overseas students, including students from a refugee background, can access our Sydney Catholic Schools’ Catholic Intensive English Centres where staff help to ease students into their life in Australia through an accelerated English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) experience.

Our Catholic Intensive English Centres aim to assist eligible secondary students with the English language for social and academic purposes.

A liaison is also made available to families who works with school staff to provide practical advice to support newly arrived students.

Sydney Catholic Schools has three Catholic Intensive English Centres, located at:

Sydney Catholic Schools’ primary new arrivals program supports the needs of new arrivals to Australia, i.e. refugees and migrants who need extra support around their development of the English language.

The program places a qualified teacher in the local school of the new arrival and works with the student and their families to ensure a seamless transition into mainstream Catholic schooling.

Who is eligible for New Arrival Support?

  • newly arrived students from overseas, migrants and refugees, whose first language is not English and who require intensive English instruction;
  • students who hold a permanent resident visa or eligible temporary visa;
  • students who have enrolled within six months of arrival, for the first time in an Australian school (eighteen months if in Kindergarten);
  • Students with multiple entries into Australia or who have attended school in Australia in previous years will need to substantiate that they have spent more than 50 per cent of their time in a non-English speaking country.

How will the newly arrived student be supported?

  • A New Arrival teacher will provide intensive English language support for the student twice a week;
  • All eligible students can receive support for up to six months;
  • A progress report will be provided to the school at the end of each term and an exit report at the end of six months;
  • The New Arrival teacher will communicate regularly with the mainstream and English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) teacher regarding the student’s progress.

POST-SCHOOL VET COURSES

Sydney Catholic Schools is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) offering post-school training to students after they have completed their HSC. These courses are offered to students who have partially completed a Certificate III course as part of their HSC and wish to complete the remaining competencies and receive the full qualification.

Courses available:

  • Certificate III in Business (2015–2020);
  • Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care (2017–2020);
  • Certificate III in Information, Digital Media and Technology (2015–2020)

Sydney Catholic Schools fosters strategic partnerships with select universities. These partnerships benefit students by offering them opportunities to continue their learning journey, even while still attending one of our schools.

‘STEP UP INTO TEACHING’ PROGRAM AT AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
The transition from secondary school to university can be daunting but our Step Up into Teaching initiative introduces university-level study to secondary students in a controlled and supportive ‘sneak-peek’ way.

If you’re in Year 11 or 12 at a Sydney Catholic School you can study a first-year teacher education unit and receive credit if you then enrol at the Australian Catholic University – Strathfield Campus to study a relevant teacher education course.

MATHEMATICS AT UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME AUSTRALIA
The University of Notre Dame Australia Sydney Campus hosts day-long expert-led workshop sessions for Year 12 students enrolled in Mathematics Extension 2 at Sydney Catholic Schools.

In 2020, Notre Dame and Sydney Catholic Schools collaborated on this event for the second time. The day offers the opportunity for high school students, teachers and other experts to share knowledge, strategies and ideas to help increase the number and achievement of students studying high-level mathematics for the HSC.