Latest News
11 November 2025
What happens when 12,000 Catholic teachers design AI to meet their needs?
Over the past few weeks, we have been crunching the numbers, to see what happens when teachers design AI to meet their needs.
Across 17 dioceses and 24 independent schools, 12,000 teachers have created over 2,000 agents inside the walled-garden ecosystem of cechat, an AI tool built with insights from Catholic educators.
The agents represent a desire to create, values-driven, student focused resources. Here’s what the data tells us:
📘 Reporting & Commenting — 360+ Agents
From report writers and RE comment generators to homeroom and proofreading agents. Teachers tackled these important yet time consuming activities with cechat, saving hours while enabling them to retain a human focus.
🎓 Tutoring & Study Buddies — 250+ Agents
Subject-based assistants in Maths, English, Science, Religion, PDHPE, and History; designed not to give answers, but to guide thinking. Authentic, curriculum-aligned scaffolds built for student growth.
🧩 Lesson & Program Planning — 170+ Agents
Explicit teaching planners, Teaching, Learning and Assessment Plan templates, Learning Intentions and Success Criteria generators and rotation builders. These agents aren’t replacing planning, they’re streamlining it, so teachers are able to spend more time teaching.
🧠 Assessment & Feedback — 130+ Agents
NAPLAN moderators, rubric builders, formative and instructional assessment feedback tools; precision, consistency, and reflection made practical at scale.
🏫 Admin / Ops / Policy — 110+ Agents
Risk assessment helpers, policy explainers, enrolment tools, HR and IT support bots. Quietly transformative, the invisible AI behind workload reduction.
💛 Inclusion & Wellbeing — 80+ Agents
NCCD planners, Life Skills assistants, behaviour supports and wellbeing check-ins, built within a framework of dignity, inclusion, and care.
✝️ Catholic Identity & RE — 70+ Agents
Agents bringing prayer, Religious Education, and Catholic Social Teaching to life, anchored in mission and meaning.
⚙️ Innovation & Meta-AI — 15+ Agents
AI literacy, prompt building, ethical design and system agents — teachers exploring the power of AI with cechat.
This data shows that teachers are using cechat to support their teaching practice, using technology to build time-saving tools with purpose within a governed, walled-garden environment, grounded in Catholic values; safety, inclusion, formation, and service.
cechat is national. It’s authentic. And it’s built by teachers, for teachers.
Over the next week, we will be releasing our favourite agents from each category; the ones that they believe capture the creativity, empathy, and innovation of Australian Catholic educators.
We can't wait to share with you...
18 September 2025
We presented at the University of Oxford!
CEnet was delighted to have the opportunity to present yesterday at the prestigious AI in Education (AIEOU) conference at the University of Oxford.
This event provided a notable platform to share insights from our cechat journey. Our presentation, "AI with Heart: What happens when Australian schools co-create AI?", engaged a distinguished global audience of educators, students, researchers, technologists and policymakers at Pembroke College.
The conference itself was described as a "watershed moment", fostering globally relevant discussions on AI in education and challenging the status quo. CEnet had the privilege of contributing to this progressive dialogue, underscoring our commitment to ethical and co-designed AI solutions for Australian Catholic schools.
Our sincere gratitude to University of Oxford for this invaluable opportunity!
27 August 2025
We’re releasing our Assessment Framework!
We’re excited to release The AUTHENTIC framework, providing Australian Catholic teachers with a research-based approach to assessment design that focuses on developing human capabilities while thoughtfully integrating AI tools! This practical guide synthesises established educational practices with AI-era considerations, aligning with Australian Curriculum requirements and educational standards.
View our Framework, and Quick Start Guide!
For support or questions: cechat@cenet.catholic.edu.au
29 July 2025
Global Research Partnership Announcement: ACU and CEnet join forces to investigate AI’s role when considering teacher workload
We are proud to announce a new research partnership between CEnet and the Australian Catholic University (ACU) to explore the transformative impact of cechat on teacher workload, equity and wellbeing.
Jamie Sherson (MRes, GradDipEd, BExHSc), an Associate Lecturer and active PhD candidate at ACU’s National School of Education will be leading this important research.
Jamie coordinates ACU’s Step Up into Teaching (SUIT) program - an initiative creating new pathways for low-SES students into education. His research focuses on initial teacher education, teacher wellbeing, and the integration of technology (including screen time and physical activity) in schools.
The research is being conducted to inform future improvements to the cechat platform and to report back to key funding bodies supporting the initiative. Findings will provide evidence-based insights into how AI can support teachers in their day-to-day responsibilities, particularly around planning, administration, and workload management.
Key Focus Areas
Teacher Workload: Measuring time saved in lesson planning and administrative tasks.
Wellbeing and Job Satisfaction: Exploring the relationship between AI-supported work practices and teacher wellbeing.
Equity and Contextual Impact: Understanding cechat’s use across metropolitan, regional, rural, and within differing school contexts.
There will be opportunities for you to share your insights and experiences, including through an upcoming survey. Your experience directly informs the ongoing development and refinement of cechat.
For support or questions: cechat@cenet.catholic.edu.au
20 June 2025
Pilot completion, onboarding pause, Pre Release Phase, and research partnership
We are proud to share that cechat now supports over 35,000 users across Australia—making it the most widely used generative AI tool in an educational context nationwide!
As we prepare for the next phase of growth and innovation, cechat will temporarily pause all new user and school onboarding as of Monday 23 June 2025.
This decision marks the successful completion of our pilot phase as we transition into the Pre Release Phase, during which we will:
Deliver major new feature updates
Enhance agent capability and customisation
Strengthen platform performance and support
Onboarding will resume at the beginning of Term 3, when schools will once again be able to join the platform and explore the full potential of cechat in the classroom, staffroom, and beyond.
>> onboarding
Terms 3 and 4, 2025 will be the last opportunity for any school, system or educator to join cechat before we transition to a paid service in 2026.
If you’ve been thinking about trying cechat—now is the time to join in our Pre-Release phase! Join the 35,000+ users already experiencing the difference AI can make when it's built for education, by educators.
>> research partnership
We’re also excited to announce our formal research partnership with Australian Catholic University (ACU). Under the leadership of Jamie Sherson, this study will evaluate cechat’s impact as a pilot, particularly in contributing to the government’s priority area of reducing teacher workload.
As part of this research phase, all participating schools will be asked to complete a short survey in Terms 3 and 4. Your input will help shape the national conversation around ethical, effective AI in schools, and help ensure this technology is led by the voices of those who use it most.
We’re incredibly proud of what has already been achieved:
35,000+ users onboarded
Over 1200 agents created and deployed
Real-time support delivered across teaching, leadership, wellbeing, and curriculum areas
Thank you to every educator, student, and leader who has helped shape cechat into what it is today. Your feedback, creativity, and trust have powered this innovative project and continue to inspire what’s next.
For support or questions: cechat@cenet.catholic.edu.au
We’ll see you in Term 3 with even more to share. Don’t miss your chance to be part of it!
26 May 2025
…and that’s a future forward wrap!
What an unforgettable experience!
Thank you to everyone who attended the Future Forward 2025 conference. Your presence, passion, and insights made the event truly remarkable. The energy in the room was electric, and it’s clear that our shared commitment to shaping the future of Catholic education is stronger than ever. Whether you joined keynote sessions, workshops, or one-on-one conversations, your contributions helped create an environment of innovation, reflection, and real possibility. We are grateful for your generosity in thought and spirit.
cechat: The trial continues
Many conference attendees expressed an interest in preserving the Future Forward Conference Assistants for future reference and further exploration. We’re happy to let you know that we’ve extended access to these assistants for a few more weeks. When they are retired, you’ll still be able to copy and paste prompts into new cechat assistants if you’d like to revisit or adapt the experience.
And if you didn’t get a chance to try cechat at the conference but would like to join the trial – it’s not too late! Email the team to get started with access, training, and any support you need.
23 April 2025
Introducing: Let’s chat cechat!
Discover how cechat has made a difference in our school community! Let’s chat cechat showcases experiences from teachers, highlighting the positive impact of our platform. From enhancing learning opportunities to fostering a supportive environment, cechat has proven to be a valuable resource. We invite you to view these interviews and see how cechat is transforming education in Australian Catholic schools. Click below to view and be inspired by the success and growth within our community.
Our thanks to Hamish Jefferys (John Therry Catholic College) and Jason Szkwarek (Carroll College Broulee) for providing our first testimonials!
To view: https://cechat.ai/testimonials
3 April 2025
Registration for Future: Forward 2025 NOW OPEN!!!
CEnet is delighted to invite you to our second national Future: Forward 2025 Conference, a pivotal two-day event focused on Artificial Intelligence in Catholic Education.
This year, we embrace boldness in AI leadership, aiming to bridge gaps, foster innovation, ensure gender equity, and amplify student voices within our educational landscape.
The Future: Forward 2025 conference is designed to bring together decision-makers, theologians, curriculum leaders, educators, and data, IT, and security experts from Catholic education dioceses across the nation . It promises a dynamic blend of hands-on exploration, in-depth discussions, and practical implementation strategies to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the evolving world of AI in education.
At Future: Forward 2025, you will:
➡️ Engage in dynamic think tank sessions focusing on the ethical, practical, and innovative uses of AI.
➡️ Explore the forefront of AI in Education with insights on co-creation, ethical implementation, and supporting teachers in leading AI integration.
➡️ Participate in interactive sessions and debate sessions.
➡️ Discover practical applications of AI in education and witness best use cases of cechat.
➡️ Hear directly from students about their experiences with AI technology in education.
➡️ Participate in hands-on workshops to build real AI strategies.
➡️ Contribute to strategic AI roadmaps in interactive roundtables and workshops.
➡️ Network with peers from Catholic education dioceses across Australia.
This event will take place 22 + 23 May 2025 at the Campbelltown Catholic Club, NSW.
For more information and to register go to: https://cenet.catholic.edu.au/future-forward-2025
Update: 19 May 2025 - Registration now closed. Please email engagement@cenet.catholic.edu.au for any late registrations.
24 March 2025
Temporary Pause on cechat Onboarding
We have some exciting news to share about cechat’s incredible journey! In just a short time, we’ve seen phenomenal adoption across schools nationwide, with over 25,000 users and rising fast. The impact has been immense, with educators and students engaging in AI-driven learning, streamlining workloads, and transforming the way AI is used in education.
To ensure that we continue delivering an outstanding user experience, we are taking a short pause on onboarding new schools while we consolidate our rapid growth. This means that:
The last day for onboarding new schools before the pause will be March 28th, 2025.
Onboarding will resume from May 2nd, 2025.
During this time, we will be enhancing platform performance, refining user support, and ensuring an even more seamless AI experience for educators and students.
For those already using cechat—this does not affect your current access! You can continue using cechat as usual while we fine-tune things behind the scenes.
We are incredibly grateful for the enthusiasm, feedback, and partnership of educators across Australia who are shaping the future of AI in education with us. Thank you for being part of this journey—we can’t wait to return stronger than ever in May!
If you have any questions, please email cechat@cenet.catholic.edu.au
24 February 2025
‘Name Our AI Tool’ Competition: We have a winner!
Thank you to everyone who participated in our ‘Name our AI tool’ competition! We're grateful to everyone who took part by casting a vote or submitting a creative name; each of you went into the draw for a fantastic prize for your school.
We are delighted to announce that Richard Bauer from St Joseph’s Nudgee College, Queensland, is our winner!
Richard has won a set of 5 x micro:bit V2.2 GO Bundle micro controller kits – perfect for getting students creative with coding and electronics.
Our AI tools are currently called "agents," but this competition was all about finding a new name – and we are delighted to advise that "assistant" gained the most votes.
Congratulations Richard, and a big thanks to everyone who got involved!
10 February 2025
Welcome Back to School: Exciting updates and cechat’s new central hub for communication
As we begin the academic year, we’re excited to share updates that make cechat even more dynamic and user-friendly for staff and students. In addition to these updates, we’re also introducing a streamlined approach to how we communicate changes and new features moving forward. To make staying informed even easier, we’re launching this dedicated webpage where all cechat updates will be posted. This space will now serve as the true north for all future communications, ensuring you have a single, centralised location for the latest news and features.
While we will continue to share key updates via LinkedIn and post resources to Google Classroom, this new webpage will be your go-to space for everything cechat. You can expect announcements, feature changes, and rollout details to be consistently updated here.
23 January 2025
What’s new in cechat?
Universal chat
A brand-new universal chat feature is embedded into the user interface, fostering seamless collaboration, brainstorming, and creative project design within a secure and Catholic-values-aligned environment.
Templated agents
We’ve added pre-designed tools to save you time and provide inspiration:
Universal Prompt Agent: Ideal for idea development.
Assessment Support Agent: Crafted to help with assessment creation.
Programming Agent: A supportive tool for planning programmes of study or units of work.
Professional Development Agent: COMING SOON!
Personalised features
Our personalised tools let users customise cechat to meet specific learning or teaching needs, ensuring a tailored experience.
Refined user experience
Session timeout has been extended to 4 hours to ensure uninterrupted use.
A more user-friendly login process is now in place, making it easier to pick up where you left off.
Enhanced landing page and design
Updates to the landing page and styling make navigating cechat simpler and more intuitive.
23 January 2025
Go into the draw to win a prize: Help us name the AI tools!
We’re launching an exciting competition to name the AI tools within cechat! These tools are currently called "agents," but we want to know—what do you think they should be called? Would you prefer something like "buddy," "assistant," or another term entirely?
Here’s how it works
Submit your preferred name via a Google form. Everyone who casts a vote or offers their own creative name goes into the draw for a prize for their school!
The Prize!
Go into the draw to win a set of 5 x micro:bit V2.2 GO Bundle micro controller kits for learning how to code and work with electronics!
This is your chance to leave a creative mark on cechat and shape how the tools are identified moving forward.
Be a part of it! Enter Now.
Submit your entry here: Help us name the AI tool competition!
Entries close COB 21 February 2025 and the competition winner will be drawn on 24 February 2025 .
We will contact the lucky winner directly by email on 25 February and post the announcement in the Latest News section of this website.
Good luck!
23 January 2025
cechat pilot phase schools onboarding rollout schedule
We’re also excited to share the cechat 2025 Technology Foundation Assessment Phases timeline:
Schools Onboarding: Phase One:
Monday, January 27th, 2025: All staff in the 10 pilot schools will gain access to cechat with the new features.
By Monday, February 17th, 2025: Students in these schools will also gain access and complete the AI literacy quiz using a customised tool within cechat.
Schools Onboarding: Phase Two:
Friday, February 28th, 2025, and weekly thereafter: Two schools per diocese will be onboarded each week, with all staff and students gaining access.
23 January 2025
Thank you for your feedback
This year’s updates reflect the valuable input from our incredible usership. Your feedback has been essential in shaping cechat into the tool it is today.
Don’t forget to join the naming competition and share your creative ideas! If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
We’re excited to embark on this journey together, making 2025 a year of innovation, creativity, and growth with cechat!
17 December 2024
Expanding cechat’s reach across Australia
CEnet is proud to announce the extraordinary growth and adoption of cechat, our innovative generative AI solution, across Australian Catholic dioceses. This milestone highlights cechat’s transformative impact on teaching, learning, and administrative efficiency, supporting schools in both urban centres and regional communities.
Our interactive map showcases the breadth of cechat’s use, with schools across many Australian dioceses already embracing this technology to enhance educational outcomes. From streamlining workflows for staff to fostering student engagement, cechat is designed to meet the unique needs of Catholic schools, large and small.
The cechat impact
Over 110 schools are actively engaging with cechat.
14 member dioceses, 1 non-member diocese and 14 independent schools have onboarded educators and support staff.
3 Catholic Education Commissions are participating in the pilot.
2 trial schools have introduced students to the pilot.
This growing adoption reaffirms CEnet’s vision of delivering collaborative, scalable, and secure technology solutions to Catholic schools and organisations.