From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers, Staff and Students,

Welcome to the 2025 school year! It is with great pleasure that I welcome all our students, staff and families to McAuley Catholic College, especially our 128 Year 7’s and our new staff. We have had a very positive start to the year, with high enrolments in most year groups.

On Tuesday, Years 7, 11 & 12 started their school year, and it was an exciting start with Year 7 students and their parents able to gather for a meet and greet opportunity in the courtyard and at Catherine’s Cafe.  In our brief Welcome Assembly, we presented each year 7 student with a college badge, and we asked them to wear it with pride. Our Year 11 students have transitioned into senior school with new white shirts, a new suite of subjects and have started straight into their studies. We also welcomed back our Year 12 students, who should be ready to continue with their HSC work. We have included some photos from Day 1 in this newsletter.

Years 8, 9 & 10 returned to school on Wednesday and there was an excited buzz around the school, with perhaps a little bit of nervousness evident at times. We started the day with our first whole school assembly for the year in the hall which was very full with our largest enrolment of the school, reaching over 600 for the first time. At the Assembly, I welcomed everyone to McAuley and outlined my expectations of all students.

To demonstrate our growth, we have had two demountable or modular classrooms moved to the site, which are located next to the science block. These classrooms have been refurbished to create a great learning space.

The overall Mission of the College continues to be the development of the whole person through spiritual, academic, cultural, physical and wellbeing experiences. This year we continue to focus on High Expectations as well as on building strong relationships, improving student engagement and achieving student academic and personal growth through the continued implementation of the Berry Street Education Model and The Learning Collaborative based on Dr Lyn Sharratt. We have been building a strong wellbeing - pastoral care base to ensure students are ready to engage in learning.  Everything we do is under the guidance of Jesus Christ, who is our model, as demonstrated by the Sisters of Mercy and Marist Brothers, whose ethos and charisms form our traditions and history. 

WELCOME TO NEW STAFF

We welcome the following staff to McAuley in 2025:

Teachers: Georgia Instrell - Science; Zoe Taylor - Maths & Sport ;

Teacher Assistants:  Lacey Hammond, Maddy Cameron;  

College Youth Minister: Jacob Somers

Administration: Stephanie Haines

On behalf of all members of our College community, I warmly welcome each of these staff members to McAuley in their respective roles and know that they will each make a valued contribution to our College during their time with us. We will introduce each of these people in more detail over the subsequent editions of the newsletter.

We welcome back:

• Tom Howard, Jessica Stainlay, Jim Hand who are returning from leave. 

Changes to staffing positions: Some of our staff have changed roles:

Ashley Esad - Leader of Administration; Jess Stainlay - Leader of Science; Caroline Spence - Yr 7 Coordinator; Brendan Smith - full-time Science & Maths; Nelson Burgess - full-time Maths & PE; Chelsea Brown - TAS & RE teacher; Brayden Jamieson - Office Administration; Eliza Corcoran - Leader of Sport; Maria Rouse - Careers.

Staff currently on leave:

Rod Paton - terms 1 & 2; Lew Molloy - terms 1 & 2; Tegen Filewood - all year

Sad News

Sadly, we started the year with the news that Sandra Bartholomew’s husband, Grant, passed away on Tuesday 4th, February. Grant’s funeral will be held at St Mary’s Catholic Church, Grafton, on Thursday, 13th February, at 11am. Please keep Grant, Sandra and their family in your thoughts and prayers at this time. 

 UNIFORM

The introduction of our new uniform is a 2-year transition process - this is our second year of the transition, so by the start of 2026, all students will be in the new uniform. All our new students are to be wearing the new school uniform. Everyone is welcome to wear the new uniform. 

• There have not been any issues with the supply of the new uniforms, so all students are to be in the correct uniform.
• PE uniform is worn on Thursday and for junior students (7-10) when they have PE practical lessons (indicated on their timetable)
• Each Wednesday, all students are to wear their formal uniform 
• Wearing the uniform correctly and with pride is an important part of who we are  & connects directly to our expectations of respect and responsibility, safety and effort.
• The uniform needs to be worn correctly each day

Ten per cent of all uniform sales through P&C uniforms (onsite and online) is returned to the College. We are currently using these funds to purchase new team uniforms. Last year, we were able to acquire new sets of soccer (football) uniforms. 

Year 12 2024 HSC results

Congratulations to our Year 12 students who achieved their HSC at the end of the 2024 school year. We are proud of the achievements of each and every one of our students. There were some outstanding performances, and we congratulate Brooklyn Roach, who achieved our highest ATAR of 94 and will be acknowledged as Dux at our special assembly on Thursday, 13 February. Also, at the Assembly, we will acknowledge Eva Patricks, who achieved an ATAR of over 90 and all our students who achieved a band 6 in one or more subjects. 

 Important Beginning of the Year Information in this Newsletter 

The majority of this Newsletter provides parents & carers with introductory information on staff (Year Coordinators, House Leaders and Homeroom teachers), communication, requirements and procedures.  Hopefully, this helps you navigate the start of the year smoothly. 

Kind regards,

Kate

Kate Thomson
Principal

“We should be shining lamps, giving light to all around us.”

Catherine McAuley