Term 3 Week 8 - Thursday 8th September 2022
News from the Principal
We were pleased to celebrate Mercy Day last Friday, and were blessed with good weather to enable the fun to be enjoyed throughout the day.
I wish to offer thanks to all who contributed to making this day so successful:
- to the staff who planned the day and who supported the activities held during the day
- to the parents who assisted with the distribution of lunch on the day
- to the students who engaged fully in the celebrations and who conducted themselves proudly throughout the day
You will read more about Mercy Day in other sections of this Weekly Review.
Our Mercy Day Mass was heavily focussed on the commissioning of the 2022 - 2023 school leaders. Yesterday at the school assembly my address to students focussed on the call to leadership of every student at Catherine McAuley. I have included it here for your perusal.
The Year 12 Leadership Team have been excellent role models.
The School Assembly this week celebrated the achievements of many Catherine McAuley students.
Good morning Students and Staff,
I would like to begin by acknowledging the Dharug peoples, traditional owners of the land on which we meet today. I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging, and ask you to do likewise.
Last Friday, as you know, was Mercy Day. It was a fantastic celebration of who we are as a community who proclaim themselves to be Catholics inspired in the Mercy tradition. We often refer to ourselves as being women of excellence, hospitality, courage, justice and integrity, and we rise to that ideal very often.
Mercy Day is the perfect day for us to commission our new school leaders because the leaders we elect represent these values. We acknowledge the ways in which they act, speak and commit themselves to their school, and we say that they are Mercy women.
And so, if we look for Mercy values in our leaders, then being members of a Mercy school, as we all are, also commits each one of us to be leaders.
That’s a tremendously powerful statement - each one of us is called to be a leader. We are called to act, speak and commit ourselves to our school with excellence, hospitality, courage, justice and integrity. Let’s think about what that means.
This means that during a normal day at school we are striving to do our best - striving for higher things in all that we do.
It means that in the playground we have fun and we enjoy the company of our friends, but we do that in a way that upholds those around us. We don’t embarrass others, or play games that make others feel uncomfortable. We invite those around us to join in and we support one another in our words and actions.
We also love our environment, choosing to use as little packaging as possible and ensuring we reduce, reuse and recycle. We have chosen school leaders because they do this.
Ask yourself, ‘Am I my best self in the playground?’
In our classrooms we lead when we choose to participate fully in the learning, when we decide to become challenged by the discussion, when we aim to stretch ourselves during group work, when our focus on our work represents risk taking. This is leadership, and it is what we see our school leaders do. We are leading when we are our best selves in each of our classes.
Ask yourself, ‘Am I my best self in all of my classes?’
What about when we are using social media? A good leader will use social media to improve their lives; to find out information, to share something great that they have done, to promote a good cause. We all know too well the damage that can be caused by social media when it is used poorly; when it is used to troll someone, or to exaggerate something someone has done as a way of putting them down. We know that some people can become involved in repeating poor or distressing ideas using social media.
This is not leadership. Yet, if we claim to be Mercy women, then we will show leadership in our use of social media. We are kind, we uphold others, we use it for fun and for good.
Ask yourself, ‘Am I my best self when I am using social media?’
In the same way, you might ask yourself these questions about your interactions with your sporting teams, your workplace, your family members. If you are Mercy, then you are always a good leader; you are always showing leadership. And that is what is expected of you all because you understand what it means to be a Mercy woman.
This is Week 8 of a ten week term. The eldest school leaders of Catherine McAuley, the students in Year 12, are coming to the end of their time at school. They have been excellent role models, always striving for higher things. In these next few weeks of school for students in Year 12, let’s make things special for them by saying ‘hello’, ‘good luck’ and ‘thank you’. They have been great leaders, showing the rest of us what it is to be Mercy women.
Today we will celebrate the achievements of many Catherine McAuley students, and the Morley Centre will resonate with the good will and warmth of congratulations. I wish to thank the students we acknowledge today, as well as those who will not take the stage but whose work shows great leadership and achievement, for their commitment and for their embodiment of the Catholic Mercy spirit. I wish to thank every person who strives for higher things by demonstrating Mercy leadership in all that they do.
Pray With Us
News Articles
- ‘Things That Unite Us’ As The School Community Comes Together For Mercy Day
- The Blessing and Commissioning of the 2022-2023 Student Leaders
- Catherine McAuley STEM MAD Projects Gain National Acclaim
- Over $6000 Raised On Mercy Day For Mercy Works!
- Catherine McAuley Students Recognised At The Rotary Youth Vocational Awards
- Dance Students Compete At Arts Factor Secondary Dance Eisteddfod
- Big Science Competition 2022
- 2022 NSW Titration Competition
- Year 9 Student Named Golf Athlete Of The Year
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:
Year 12 Students Counting Down The Days - It is a tradition at the school that the Year 12 students hang a banner in Coolock Court during their final weeks which counts down the days until graduation. The Class of 2022 hung their banner on Tuesday afternoon and have begun counting down!
Since Year 7 the Class of 2022 has had a tree as their symbol. Year 12 Coordinator Mrs Beadman said that when the students started in Year 7 it was all about the roots and the trunk as the students established a strong base to help them on their journey. “The roots are our Mercy values and the trunk is always ‘MERCY’, solid and strong”, Mrs Beadman said. “As we have grown together so has the fullness of the tree. In Years 8 through 10 each term we used a new theme to strengthen the tree, such as kindness, courage, empathy, compassion, etc and the students needed to embrace these words in their everyday life at school”.
“So in summary the tree represents the growth of the individual student and our success as a Form - moving together and being considerate of what ingredients keep us thriving and what destroys our progress and growth”.
The banner was designed by Year 12 Visual Arts students Adhithi F. and painted with the help of other Year 12 Visual Arts students. Each day a leaf will be replaced with a flower and by the end the tree will be in full bloom.
Need To Know
Upcoming Fortnight
Term 3 Week 9
- Year 12 Study Day
- Year 12 Formal
- Year 11 Exams
- Year 10 Global Connections Excursion
- Year 8 Geography Excursion
- Year 8 History In-School Activity
Term 3 Week 10
- Year 12 Graduation Mass
- Year 12 Graduation Ceremony
- Student Leaders 2022-2023 Conference
- Duke of Edinburgh Award Training Session
- Year 9 STEM Club Excursion