News

ICT Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Approach 2018

Since 2014 we have extended the invitation to families to BYOD from years 8-12. There have also been some students from years 6 and 7 who were invited by their individual class teachers to avail themselves of this opportunity. 

While from 2014 the BYOD approach has been an invitation, the significant nuance next year is that BYOD will become an expectation.

In the Senior School from 2018

We are asking each Senior School student to commence 2018 with their own laptop device.  This means that there will not be loan devices in the PRC. There will however be a small number of day loan devices in the Library/resource hub to accommodate only temporary student ICT needs and issues. This small pool of loan devices will not be available for long-term use.  

In the Middle school from 2018

The current situation with devices in classrooms will continue, with students in years 8 and 9 being invited to participate in the BYOD program.

In the Middle School from 2019

We are asking each Middle School student to commence 2019 with their own laptop device. 

For more information about the BYOD program, obtaining free Microsoft Office software and device options, please visit the Portal@TWC help site www.tenison.catholic.edu.au/portaltwc

This website contains easy steps for both parents and students, located under the ‘BYOD information’ tab at the top of the site. Families can also email byod@tenison.catholic.edu.au with further questions.

Our students are from a highly digital generation and to prepare them for the future and their lifelong learning journey, BYOD has offered the exciting opportunity to transform our learning environment to meet their future needs. We have found that BYOD:

• is a way to transform our teaching and learning environment to consider new possibilities for our student’s personal learning journey;
• promotes individual, self-directed learners who can find solutions to education problems;
• provides an engaging learning environment for students to discover and explore their own learning journey.
• supports anytime, anywhere collaborative learning environments.

There will also be implications for the re-purposing of some of our current ICT classrooms that currently have desktop computers located in them. This strategy will gradually, deliberately and carefully evolve in unison with our master planning approach.

We urge families for whom this approach will cause significant hardship to contact Mr Neal Turley, Business Manager, to discuss your individual circumstance and how the College can support your family in this approach.

Social Justice Sunday - Everyone’s Business: Developing an inclusive and sustainable economy

Pope Francis has called for an economic system that places men and women at the very centre – one that meets the needs of all people and is just and sustainable. He denounces economic structures that take a purely utilitarian view of human beings, treating them as mere elements of production, to be thrown away if they are not seen as useful or productive.

In their Social Justice Statement for 2017–18, ‘Everyone’s Business: Developing an inclusive and sustainable economy,’ the Bishops of Australia call for an economy that is founded on justice and offers dignity and inclusion to every person. The Bishops’ Statement is built around the Gospel for Social Justice Sunday, 24 September 2017. Jesus tells the parable of the workers in the vineyard, where all are active contributors and are recognised for their human dignity.

Australia has experienced a quarter of a century of continuous economic growth, but the benefits of this good fortune have not been distributed equally. In our workplaces, conditions and security of employment have been eroded, while those who are unemployed subsist on incomes well below poverty levels. Australia is experiencing a housing crisis. And our Indigenous brothers and sisters struggle with economic and social burdens that most Australians cannot imagine.

In the light of these challenges, the Statement calls us to build an economy founded on true solidarity with those who are most vulnerable. Such a society will reject an ‘ideology of the market’ that forgets the principles of justice and equity. Justice must be built into the very foundations of our community, and business can work for everybody’s benefit, not just for shareholders. The excluded and vulnerable must have a voice in decision-making. God is calling us to use his abundance wisely, for the good of all and of our planet.

The Statement calls for an economy that is founded on justice and offers dignity and inclusion to every person. For further details about the Social Justice Statement, visit the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council website www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au

David Mezinec | Principal

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO NEWSLETTER