Term 4 Week 6 - Thursday 16th November 2023
News from the Principal
Celebration Day Last Friday
Last Friday was a day of great celebration at Catherine McAuley, as we welcomed the Year 7, 2024 cohort to school for their Orientation Day. The students had a very full day, with lots of introductory activities aimed at helping them get to know one another and the school environment. The Year 11 School Leaders supported them on the day, as always, demonstrating what it is to be a Mercy girl imbued with hospitality and grace. It was lovely to meet the students and their parents, and we look forward to them being fully fledged members of the school community in 2024.
On Friday we were also the lucky audience for McAuley’s Got Talent, an annual talent show held to raise much needed funds and awareness for the Jesuit Refugee Centre. Staff and students in Years 7 to 11 were treated to ten performance acts that truly did demonstrate the great talent of Catherine McAuley students. We have added some photos of the day here for you, but I hope you have also seen the video grab of the performances on the school’s social media pages. Congratulations to each of the performers on their acts and on their confidence to share their talents with their school.
Kinchela Boys Home Bus
The Kinchela Boys Home Bus has been on the Westmead site this week. The Kinchela Boys Home Bus offers an opportunity for senior students and adults to consider the truths about the stolen generations, intergenerational trauma and the barriers to Reconciliation through the storytelling of Aboriginal elders.
Year 10 students visited the bus yesterday as part of the Mandatory HSIE curriculum, and a number of staff have also visited. It is a powerful learning experience and we have been lucky to have had the benefit of this learning.
Compass Review
Last term we conducted a review of Compass and the ways in which it is being accessed by parents and carers. We identified that there were 8 families in the school who had not been able to access Compass, and 12 who requested the IT Department contact them to further support them in their use of this platform. Further to this, if you require assistance downloading the Compass app and using it, please contact the Catherine McAuley IT Team on 02 9849 7137.
Year 10 Parent and Carer Focus Group
This week we met with a small group of parents of Year 10 students to hear their feedback about the school experience. There were a number of very positive things that were mentioned, including the quality of the learning environment, the Year 10 Exam block, the communication between school and families (including this Weekly Review), the new and improved School Locker uniform shop. They identified that students find Canvas difficult to use.
I’d like to thank the parents who attended for their feedback; it allows us to continue to improve things at school for your daughters and for you.
Striving for Higher Things
Throughout the term there are a number of Year Assemblies scheduled for each year group on Wednesday mornings, planned and led by the Leader of Learning Wellbeing for that year group. Yesterday morning I visited all of the Year Assembly meetings. For each Year Assembly that was taking place, there was a sense of celebration of the things that are being achieved by students, and there are many, and also some talk about the things that could be being done better.
This term students have applied themselves to looking after the little things so that the big things happen automatically. They have done this with your support, and I thank both them and you for ensuring this is happening. My message to students at the Year Assemblies was to continue to look after the small things between now and the end of the year, because at Catherine McAuley we ‘strive for higher things’ all the time. As we move towards the end of the year we look forward to hearing about their continued achievements in their social relationships, their academic learning, their sporting participation and any other area of school life they involve themselves in.
Mary Refalo
Principal
Pray With Us
Need To Know
No items this week
Upcoming Fortnight
Term 4 Week 7
- 2023 Arts Factor Dance Festival
- CAPTIVATE: Arts Factor - Battle of the Bands
- Performing Arts Showcase 2023
- School Morning Tour
- Year 12 Earth and Environmental Studies Excursion
- Year 8 Geography Excursion
- Year 8 History In-School Activity
Term 4 Week 8
- Year 12 2024 Music Excursion
- Year 12 2024 Geography Fieldtrip
- Year 10 PASS Excursion
- Year 10 Accelerated SOR In-School Activity
- Year 10 Preparing for Senior Studies
- Year 9 Peer Mentoring
- Year 9 STEM Excursion
- Year 7 PDHPE Excursion
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:
SHOUT OUT TO THESE YEAR 10 STUDENTS - Well done to the Year 10 students who assisted on Melbourne Cup Day at the St Patrick’s Cathedral Senior’s Ministry Melbourne Cup Lunch. These students were featured in the St Patrick’s Cathedral Bulletin with the following words:
“We wish to express our sincerest gratitude to the students from Catherine McAuley High School who graciously served at our Senior's Ministry Melbourne Cup Day last Tuesday. Your enthusiasm, respect, and willingness to assist wherever needed brought great joy and a sense of community to this cherished event. A special thanks also goes to the wider Catherine McAuley community for their continuing support of the Cathedral parish. May you all be blessed as you have blessed us with your generosity”.