O'Connor Catholic College Newsletter

Principal's Report

Mrs Clare Healy

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

Welcome back to our new school year. It was wonderful to see so many students return to our College engaged and ready to learn. A special welcome to all our new students and their families. We look forward to a year filled with celebrations, engaging learning opportunities and community events.

 

This year we welcome a number of new staff into our community. This is an exciting time of growth for our College. They bring new and innovative thinking from different educational backgrounds which will enhance the learning of our students and indeed our College.

 

New Staff

Ms Brittany Berwise - Religious Education/English Teacher

Mrs Carleigh Eastlake - Inclusion Support Leader

Ms Rachael Galvin - Technologies and VET Hospitality Teacher

Mrs Sophia Haggerty - HSIE/Religious Education Teacher

Ms Erin Higgins - Aboriginal Education Assistant

Mrs Caitlyn Illig - Aboriginal Education Assistant

Mr Andrew McFarland - VET Information and Digital Technologies Teacher

Ms Laura Phillips - Science/Agriculture Teacher

Mrs Amber Smith - Sports Coordinator and PDHPE Teacher

Mrs Kara Spicer - HSIE and ATSI Focus Teacher

Ms Alicia Wicks - Library Assistant/Communications Officer

Ms Emily Wooster - Languages (French)/Inclusion Teacher

 

New Positions

Mrs Mellissa Bell - Assistant Principal - Wellbeing

Mrs Julie Burton - Curriculum Officer

Mr Stephen Chapman - Assistant Principal - Curriculum

Mrs Lauren Donnelly - Leader of Pedagogy

Mrs Felicity Magann - Leader of Learning Wellbeing - Year 7

Mr Shane McCann - Leader of Learning Wellbeing - Year 10

Mr Frank Patricks - ATSI Focus teacher

Mr Bradley Powers - Leader of Learning Wellbeing - Year 10

Mrs Tanya Simmons - Wellbeing Officer/Chaplain

 

Focus for 2023

Our focus this year is to engage our community in the areas of Faith, Innovation and Care. Over the last few years it has been a challenge to bring our community together. This year we are working on providing as many opportunities for our students, families and community to come together.

 

Faith

This year we are celebrating the 175th year of the Catholic Church in Armidale. Our College is blessed to be the original site of the first Catholic Church. There will be more information shortly once the celebrations are confirmed.

 

Save the Date - Founder’s Day - 30th June 2023

We would like to invite you to our Founder’s Day celebration. This year we are hoping to have representatives from our De La Salle and Ursuline families join us. We will send further information as the date approaches.

 

Innovation

This year we continue our work in ‘redesigning the learning’. It is important that our students are engaged learners. Engaged Learners actively participate, are motivated and create a learning environment where all students can be successful. At O’Connor we are looking for innovative ways to enhance our learning environments to support our engaged learners. 

 

This year we have created the following support structures:

  • Paired subject classes in Years 7 to 10.
    • This allows all students to have access to subject specific teachers even if their teacher is absent. This was an important learning from our COVID years. 
  • Co-teaching, co-planning, co-evaluating
    • Our teaching staff are encouraged to create strong Subject matter teams. This means all classes are given the same opportunity to enjoy engaging lessons created by a team of teachers with a wide variety of expertise. 
  • Middle school for Stage 4 - Year 7 pilot
    • This year we are working on the development of a transition program specifically targeted at our new Year 7. The transition from Primary to High School can be a challenge. Our new Transition team of experienced teachers are providing a tailored and engaging experience for our Year 7 students.   
  • Early commencement of VET in Year 10
    • Our Year 10 students have the opportunity to commence their HSC early. The VET subjects are dual qualifications which can be used in conjunction with a School Based Traineeship or Apprenticeship. These new subjects are part of the Elective subjects offered to Year 10 students. We are looking forward to the development of this HSC pathway especially for those students who are looking to begin their apprenticeship.

Care

Wellbeing is at the core of our College. We are very proud of knowing our students and working with our families. This year we are particularly focused on bringing our community together. We have come through the challenges of the last few years and it is important that we rebuild the ties which the pandemic isolation strained.

 

As a College we are focused on bringing the Living Well Learning Well Framework to life at O’Connor Catholic College.  

 

Our students, staff, parents and parish community are asked to help us live the values that make our College a thriving community of Faith and Care.

 

Our focus on the ‘We’ is really important as it reminds us that we have not only a right but also a responsibility to ensure all members of our community experience our ‘way of being’ be that in person, online, in our conversations and in our actions. 

 

 

Please note:

 

New Jacket - This year we have included a warmer styled jacket as an option to our Winter Uniform. The jacket can be worn in place of the blazer and can be purchased from the Uniform Shop. 

 

Please contact Mrs Vicki Cooper via the Front Office for more information.

 

The Uniform Shop can accept the Back to School Vouchers for  uniform purchases.

 

Parent contact - Please feel free to contact your child’s teachers either by emailing through Compass or calling the Front office. Our staff will be happy to contact you during work hours. We respect your evenings and weekends as family time and ask for your understanding that this may delay the timing of a response to you.  

 

We are looking forward to a wonderful year with our community.

 

God Bless,

Mrs Clare Healy

Principal