Principal’s Update

Welcome to 2019 and our second year as Catherine McAuley College.

Welcome to all new students; we start the year with over 1420 students and nearly 270 Year 7s from various primary schools across Central Victoria. So, we extend a warm welcome, in every sense, to Catherine McAuley College and Mercy Education. With the commencement of our second year in the new uniform, it is satisfying to see the summer uniform spreading across the College.

The most significant news to begin 2019, would be the opening of the Sister Aloysius Martyn Arts Centre at Coolock Campus, Junortoun. It was huge relief that the occupancy was granted just prior to the Pastoral Planning Day. The interest in the building was demonstrated by the huge attendance to the Pastoral Planning Day last Thursday. Whilst there is still some work to be completed to the north of the building, students have been using the rooms and the benefits are already obvious in relation to space, noise control, modern furnishings and technology. The students love all the elements that the space provides internally and externally.

Congratulations and thank you to the Walsh & O’Meara team for working through severe heat to have the building ready. Thanks also to the various staff and Danihers team in helping with the transition so we could start using the building. There were landscapers working on finishing touches when families started to arrive early on Thursday morning. The rush of families reminded me of a scene from the movie ‘We brought a Zoo’. So, a huge thanks to everyone for your patience and support.

The blessing of the building and statue of Catherine McAuley is scheduled for later this term.

The next phase at Coolock involves the removal of the portables on the site and the continued schematic design development with the City of Greater Bendigo and Cricket Australia. More information will be circulated in the near future.

During the break, work on the Kelly Building project at St Mary’s continued through the heat. The new canteen and Allied Health Centre will be complete by the end of this term. The works have progressed well despite the hot conditions. This build will provide lots of new options in community service, hospitality and allied health. Mercy Health and Australian Catholic University are still partnering the Allied Health programs and the VCE results in this subject were the best in the State.

ATAR Scores
Whilst on our results, our 2018 VCE students should be very proud of their achievements and success. 38.9% of our students gained an ATAR of 70 or more which includes 8.2% who gained an ATAR of 90 or more. The percentage of VET units of competence completed was 91%. The number of students who received a tertiary offer was 152 (90.48%). This is significantly higher than in the recent past. There are a lot of happy graduates and we congratulate them and wish them every success for their future.

Welcome to new staff
We welcome the following recent appointments to our community and wish them every success in their time and adventures with us.

• Selinna Forward – Year 9 Level Learning Leader
• Karen Seaton – Multicultural Learning Support
• Kerrin Smith – Year 9 Level Learning Leader
• Glenn Solomons – Interdisciplinary Learning Leader
• Janene Crowle – Teacher
• Matthew Dudfield – Teacher
• Alyse Ennor – Teacher
• Shannon Hannaford – Teacher
• Clare Hope – Teacher
• Lea Lockwood – Teacher
• Jenni McGrath – Teacher
• Natalie Duane – Trainee
• Rowan Fitt – Trainee
• Joe Lloyd – Trainee
• Eliza Turner – Trainee
• Erin Varker – Trainee

Student Support Structure
Please remember that the Student Support structure has changed this year. The first point of call is your child’s assigned Mentor, followed by the Learning Team or hub and from there it is the Year Level Learning Leader. It will take a little time to acclimatize but we believe this structure will provide better support across the year and improve the delivery of various services and roles within the structure.

Finally, the College and Mercy Education Limited wish to express our thanks for your partnership in gracing us with the gift of sharing in the education and development of your child or children. It is a partnership that we want to make as genuine as possible and hopefully see greater contribution in feedback from the home front.

Have a great year.

Mr Brian Turner, Principal