Catherine McAuley Westmead eNewsletter

News from the School Captains

End of Term 2
Our community has officially wrapped up Term 2 of 2022 and are all definitely looking forward to a well-deserved break. This term we have grown as a school community with some amazing student-led initiatives like Wellbeing Wednesdays, lip-sync battles, Environment Week and STEM Week. We’ve also seen students excel in debating, representative sports, titration, performing and creative arts. The ‘superpowers’ that we wrote about in our last edition of the Weekly Review have evidently been in the spotlight this term.

Learning Doesn't Stop During Holidays
Whilst all students definitely deserve a break from school this doesn't necessarily mean we need to shut down our brains and stop thinking altogether; learning doesn't stop just because we are not in the classroom anymore. Regardless of where we are physically, we always have the opportunity to learn more about ourselves; about our strengths and weaknesses, our response to challenging situations or how we can build the best connections with family and friends. Particularly in the holidays when we’re not learning content in class, we also have the chance to educate ourselves about the wider world we live in.

Watching the news is a great way to develop a broader understanding of our society and stay in the loop. We encourage you to do this with your daughters and let them think critically about what they’re seeing, how it aligns or clashes with their values and how it affects them as a young woman. There is a power that comes with education, which we have the opportunity to harness with resources like the internet at our disposal. The internet gives us the opportunity to stay connected, know what's happening and develop our own opinions on global issues which, not too many years ago, we would have never heard about. In learning how to utilise this technology, we can become more intelligent, more conscious of others and better understand our place in the world - the same world that we will go out and discover when we leave school.

In becoming more knowledgeable, we also develop our own unique voices which will become a central part of who we are as people and a tool for making our legacy wherever it may be. Experiences inside and outside of school will shape this voice and your influence as a parent/carer is one of the most significant contributors to this. The discussions you have with your daughter will be the precedent for those she has with people around her. Give her the skill to articulate her ideas by not only asking for her opinion but also listening when she gives it to you.

So even though our learning may physically stop in the classroom for a while, we can use these holidays as an opportunity to learn about ourselves, our friends and the world around us. Have a safe and enjoyable break, watch the news, have intelligent conversations and we look forward to welcoming the community back on Monday, 18th of July for Term 3.

Victoria Carr and Zara Zama
School Captains

Pray With Us

Mercy Moments - Towards An Ever Wider We

News Articles

This Week on Social Media

Follow Catherine McAuley Westmead on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for regular updates. One of the posts from this week is shown below:

On Tuesday eight students from Years 10 and 11 (students from Mercy in Action group, SRC and the Assistant Social Justice Leader) visited the House of Welcome in Granville. The House of Welcome is an asylum seeker agency who provide transitional accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees.

Accompanied by Mr Nguyen, MAG Coordinator, students heard stories from people seeking asylum and discussed ways in which they can lead our school community towards social justice.

Need To Know

Upcoming Fortnight

Please see school calendar in sidebar for dates and details.

Term 3 Week 1

Catherine McAuley celebrates NAIDOC Week
PDSSSC Netball Gala Day
Year 11 2023 Subject Selection Market and Parent Information Night
Year 10 PDHPE Excursion

Term 3 Week 2