Catholic Education Matters

Catholic education plays a critical role in Australia’s education system but its value is not always well understood.
In this episode of Catholic Education Matters, our executive director Kate Fogarty is joined by Dallas McInerney, CEO of Catholic Schools NSW, for a conversation about leadership, funding and the future of Catholic education in Australia.
With a background spanning financial services, government regulation and international policy, Dallas brings a unique perspective to education leadership, one shaped by governance, complexity and clear thinking.
Together, Kate and Dallas explore:
Why funding is mission-critical to sustaining Catholic education.
Why the narrative around non-government school funding is often misunderstood and how it has been misrepresented.
The need for clearer, more confident advocacy across staff, families and local communities.
What Catholic education contributes not just to students, but to communities and society.

As the next funding cycle approaches, this conversation is a timely reminder: we cannot assume understanding. The story of Catholic education must be clearly and consistently told.
Whether you are leading a school, teaching in a classroom, supporting from the central team or part of the wider Catholic education community, this is a conversation about leadership, advocacy and the future of education in Australia.
ABOUT CATHOLIC EDUCATION SANDHURST
Catholic Education Sandhurst is home to 51 Catholic schools and six early learning centres across regional and rural Victoria, educating 15,298 students. We empower regional young people, their families, our staff and communities to have 'life to the full' (John 10:10).
Visit www.ceosand.catholic.edu.au or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

What does 'know better and do better' actually look like in the classroom?
In this episode of Catholic Education Matters, Executive Director Kate Fogarty is joined by Learning Leader Craig Simpson to explore one of the most powerful commitments within our Cultural Covenant: a passion to 'know better and do better'.
From memory and retrieval to routines, attention and the thoughtful use of technology, this episode connects research to the daily reality of classrooms; and to the culture we are building across our 51 schools in regional Victoria.
This episode forms part of our ongoing series unpacking the Cultural Covenant and what it enables across the Sandhurst Diocese.
Whether you are teaching in a classroom, leading a school, shaping system strategy or reflecting on your own professional growth, this is a conversation about growth, coherence and aligning culture with evidence.
Now join us as we explore what truly matters in education.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Catholic Education Sandhurst - Cultural Covenant
Jared Cooney Horvath - The Digital Delusion
LME Global - The science of learning
Dr Aimee Maxwell
Sir Ken Robinson - Ted Talk
The Anxious Generation
Stolen Focus
Ochre Education
Steplab
Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve
Barbara Oakley

ABOUT CATHOLIC EDUCATION SANDHURST
Catholic Education Sandhurst is home to 51 Catholic schools across regional and rural Victoria, educating 15,490 students. We partner with schools, students and families to provide innovation and excellence in education, inspired by the Catholic story.
Visit www.ceosand.catholic.edu.au or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

What does culture look like when it’s named, shared and lived across a whole system?
At the beginning of 2026, Catholic Education Sandhurst launched something that will quietly shape our system for years to come, our new Cultural Covenant.
In this episode, Executive Director Kate Fogarty is joined by principals Alannah Darmody (St Liborius Primary School, Eaglehawk) and Joel Brian (St Brendan’s Primary School, Shepparton), to unpack what the Cultural Covenant means, how it was received across schools, and what it makes possible for our young people, their families, our staff and communities to live 'life to the full'.
The Cultural Covenant has been shaped by leaders, teachers and allied staff across the Sandhurst diocese. It answers four powerful questions:
Why do we exist?
What do we do?
How will we behave?
How will we succeed?

This episode marks the beginning of a series of conversations unpacking the Cultural Covenant and what it enables across our 51 schools in regional Victoria.
Whether you are leading a school, teaching in a classroom, supporting from the central team, or considering joining Catholic Education Sandhurst, this is a conversation about culture, clarity and the quiet power of shared purpose.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Catholic Education Sandhurst - Cultural Covenant
St Liborius Primary School Eaglehawk
St Brendan's Primary School Shepparton
Careers at Catholic Education Sandhurst
Patrick Lencioni

ABOUT CATHOLIC EDUCATION SANDHURST
Catholic Education Sandhurst is home to 51 Catholic schools across regional and rural Victoria, educating 15,490 students. We partner with schools, students and families to provide innovation and excellence in education, inspired by the Catholic story.
Visit www.ceosand.catholic.edu.au or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Literacy is not a matter of luck, postcode or chance; it’s a matter of equity, access and social justice.
In this episode of Magnify Matters, Distinguished Professor Pamela Snow, one of Australia’s leading voices in literacy, language and the science of learning, joins Tim Edwards (Catholic Education Sandhurst Assistant Director: Learning and Teaching) for a conversation about what it takes to ensure every child learns to read well.
Pam reflects on the personal, professional and research journey that has shaped her national leadership in literacy, from speech pathology and brain injury rehabilitation to her advocacy for evidence-informed reading instruction and the establishment of La Trobe University’s SOLAR Lab.
As a trusted contributor to early Magnify Sandhurst conversations, Pam helps connect decades of research to the lived realities of classrooms, teachers and systems working to lift learning outcomes for every student.
In this episode, Tim and Pam explore:
Why learning to read is a social justice issue, not an individual outcome.
What cognitive science tells us about how children learn to read and why the debate went on for so long.
Why the first three years of school matter more than any later intervention.
How strong Tier 1 instruction supports both learning and wellbeing.
The role of speech pathologists and interdisciplinary collaboration in schools.
Why lifting teacher expertise lifts the profession itself.

Whether you’re teaching in the early years, leading a school, shaping system-wide improvement or supporting learning at home, this episode offers clear principles, grounded insight and a strong case for doing fewer things — better — for every learner.
Now stay with us as we magnify what truly matters in education.
Mentioned in this episode
Professor Pamela Snow
The Snow Report
The Science of Language and Reading (SOLAR) Lab
Magnify Sandhurst
Catholic Education Sandhurst

ABOUT MAGNIFY SANDHURST
Catholic Education Sandhurst rolled out Magnify Sandhurst, an evidence-informed, science of learning school improvement initiative, to its 51 Catholic schools across the Sandhurst Diocese at the beginning of 2025. Magnify Sandhurst focuses on how the brain learns, how literacy is effectively taught, uses a low variance, knowledge-rich curriculum and the creation of positive classrooms. Our practice is calm, predictable, and repeatable to maximise learning time in all classrooms. Magnify Sandhurst is deliberately bold and wide-ranging, generating whole-of-system improvement.
ABOUT CATHOLIC EDUCATION SANDHURST
Catholic Education Sandhurst is home to 51 Catholic schools across rural and regional Victoria, educating more than 15,490 students. We partner with schools, students and families to provide innovation and excellence in education, inspired by the Catholic story.
Visit www.ceosand.catholic.edu.au or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Catholic Education Sandhurst Executive Director Kate Fogarty is joined by Tom Sexton, Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Executive Director, to discuss the recent enterprise bargaining wage offer from the Victorian Catholic Education Authority (VCEA) and Catholic school employers.
Drawing on their front-row view, Kate and Tom reflect on taking an unprecedented step of putting a best-offer directly to employees, the realities of cost-of-living pressures, and why unity and portability across Catholic employers still matter.
It’s a candid, good-faith conversation about leadership under pressure, communicating through noise, and keeping students, staff, and mission at the centre of decision-making.
Now join us as we explore what truly matters in education.
ABOUT CATHOLIC EDUCATION SANDHURST
Catholic Education Sandhurst is home to 51 Catholic schools across regional and rural Victoria, educating 15,490 students. We partner with schools, students and families to provide innovation and excellence in education, inspired by the Catholic story.
Visit www.ceosand.catholic.edu.au or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.