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‘Sport is a key element of a cohesive and thriving community. It is a tool for achieving outcomes in

areas such as education, health, leadership development and fair play, and is unrivalled in its ability

to link heart, mind and body, to connect individuals and to inspire communities.’ (Sport Australia).

23 July, 2021

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

I write to inform you of changes to the delivery of sport at your child’s school to begin in 2022.

Background information

In June 2020 Ernst and Young were engaged to review the current model of secondary sports across

Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) and provide a K-12 model of cohesive sporting opportunities and

representative pathways for all students. Many parents were involved in this process by way of a

survey. The review provided recommendations which have been used to inform the future state of

sport for Sydney Catholic Schools. The review gathered over 20,000 responses, with the largest voice

from students (15,531). Key to these findings were:

● Strategic objectives: Sport should aim to improve the wellbeing and physical literacy of all

students through regular participation in organised sport and physical activities and identify,

develop and celebrate elite sporting talent,

● Governance: the formation of a new division to govern the delivery of sport across the

Archdiocese of Sydney,

● Inclusive participation: SCS should prioritise working with secondary schools to make

enhancements to the regular inter-school sport offering, given this is viewed as the most

important and widely accessed, and

● Pathways: Engage with Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW) to ensure appropriate representation

at the Combined Catholic Colleges (NSWCCC) level.

Following the review, further engagement with Secondary Principals continued to inform the future

sports model.

Outcome

The resultant outcome is for Sydney Catholic Schools to have a comprehensive sports program for all

students that ensures:

● Safe and inclusive participation

● Equitable opportunities at a level which challenges each student

● Appropriate risk mitigation and compliance

What this means for sport in SCS

Sport is a vital component of a child’s holistic education. Sydney Catholic Schools is dedicated to

upholding the values and practices that create safe learning environments for students. In this, SCS is

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committed to the vision of the National Safe Schools Framework (NSSF), that “all Australian schools

are safe, supportive and respectful teaching and learning communities that promote student

wellbeing“.

Sport in SCS will endeavour for all students to have access to regular sporting opportunities which

challenge them. From participating in structured physical activities, to competing among the best

athletes in our system across a range of sports.

Our model caters for the oldest existing schools in our system, as well as communities that are

emerging across Sydney.

What this means for your school

All schools in the SCS network will have a common day for weekly representative inter-school sport.

This common day will be Thursday. This allows for consistency in practice, as well as enabling for a

robust and structured competition across Sydney.

Your school will let you know what your child’s timetable on a Thursday will look like. Depending on

your child’s Year level, it may involve structured sport/activities, study classes or timetabled classes

for students not participating in representative inter-school sport.

Your school will let you know how to try out for representative school sport teams, as well as which

activities are available alternatives to representative sport.

Stage Groups for Inter-school sport

Age Groups for Weekly and Gala inter-school sport will be:

● Year 8 Open - Students in Year 7 and 8

● Year 10 Open - Students in Year 9 and 10

● Senior Open - Students in Year 11 and 12 (Up to 19 years)

Age Groups for inter-school carnivals will be:

● 12s, 13s, 14s, 15s, 16s and Senior Open.

Most inter-school sport will consist of:

● playing regular round games against other schools in the conference

● a Conference Finals series, and

● a Sydney Finals Series for winners of each conference

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Sports offered in the Inter-school Sports competition

Term Girls Boys Type

1

Touch Touch

Basketball Volleyball Weekly

Waterpolo Waterpolo

Swimming Swimming Single Day

2

Football Football

Weekly

Netball Rugby League

Cross Country Cross Country Carnival

3

Tennis Tennis

Weekly

Hockey Hockey

AFL AFL

Rugby 7s Rugby 7s

Athletics Athletics Carnival

4

Volleyball Basketball

Oztag Oztag Weekly

Cricket Cricket

Gala

Surfing Surfing

Single Day

Mountain Biking Mountain Biking

Diving Diving

Gymnastics Gymnastics

Badminton Badminton

Golf Golf

Dance Dance

Chess Chess

Table Tennis Table Tennis

Softball Baseball

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What are Conferences?

Conferences are a group of schools who will play regular sports against each other. There is a Boys

side and a Girls side to each conference. Conferences have been created to allow for challenging

competition while taking student travel into consideration. At the end of a sports season, a

Conference Champion will be determined. The Conference Champions (x4) will play off to determine

the Sydney Champion in each given sport.

School Name Suburb

Conference 1

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Kensington

Christian Brothers High School Lewisham

Champagnat Catholic College Maroubra

Marist Catholic College North Shore North Sydney

Marcellin College Randwick

Brigidine College Randwick

Holy Cross College Ryde

St Mary's Cathedral College Sydney

St Clare's College Waverley

Conference 2

De La Salle College Ashfield

Bethlehem College Ashfield

Trinity Catholic College Auburn/Regents Park

Southern Cross Catholic Vocational College Burwood

Marist College Eastwood

Rosebank College Five Dock

Domremy Catholic College Five Dock

St Ursula's College Kingsgrove

Holy Spirit Catholic College Lakemba

Casimir Catholic College Marrickville

St Charbel's College Punchbowl

Marist Sisters' College Woolwich

Conference 3

Marist College Kogarah

Our Lady of Mercy Catholic College Burraneer

De La Salle Catholic College Caringbah

De La Salle Catholic College Cronulla

St John Bosco College Engadine

Bethany College Hurstville

Aquinas Catholic College Menai

Marist Catholic College Penshurst