The National Catholic Education Commission has welcomed the recent decision by Education Ministers to progress the implementation of a national Year 1 numeracy check, as outlined in the Better Fairer Schools Agreement.
At the recent Education Ministers’ Meeting in Adelaide, it was confirmed that Catholic education will pilot the implementation of national Year 1 numeracy checks in 2026. This marks a significant and welcome step toward the early identification of students’ learning needs, enabling more timely, targeted, and evidence-based support for young learners. Catholic schools across the country already engage in a range of practices to monitor early mathematical development.
This national initiative complements our Mastery in Mathematics program, which continues to support teachers with quality curriculum resources for Years 7 to 10. The program has been widely embraced, with more than 1,400 schools and almost 27,000 users from Catholic, government, and independent schools accessing the materials.
Through our national strategic priorities, we remain committed to promoting the use of data, evidence, and quality resources to support teachers and improve learning outcomes for all students.
Wayne Bull retirement
Last week I joined a warm farewell for Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA) Executive Director, Wayne Bull. Wayne has made an extraordinary contribution to Catholic education over more than four decades. Beginning his teaching career at Mercedes College in 1979, he went on to hold leadership positions at Mercedes College, St Brigid’s College in Lesmurdie, Lumen Christi College, and La Salle College.
Over the past six years, Wayne has served as both Deputy Executive Director and Executive Director of CEWA, leading a system of approximately 160 schools which educates more than 83,000 students across the state. Wayne was recently honoured with a Member of the Order of Australia for his significant service to Catholic education and to Indigenous education support. Wayne also served as a Commissioner of the NCEC for 18 months, contributing his experience and wisdom to national discussions.
On behalf of the Catholic education community, I thank Wayne for his outstanding service and leadership and wish him the best as he begins his well-deserved retirement on 4 July.