Pastoral Academic Care (PAC)
Junior: TIME TARGETS
Senior: LEARNING Es
Wellbeing Element: ACCOMPLISHMENT + OPTIMISM
Character Strength: Perseverance
Parent Wellbeing: understanding and accepting yourself, understanding the world around you and understanding where you fit within the world and with others, provides you with a reason to get out of bed each morning and do what you do with passion. What are your understandings of these things? What is your sense of purpose in life? What can you do to make a positive difference every day, no matter how small?
Benilde
From everyone in Benilde we hope all families had a wonderful holiday before returning to school three weeks ago. The first three weeks have been a busy time for O’Connor with our new year 7’s beginning their high school journey. Benilde is excited to welcome 27 new students - 23 being year 7 this year.
In 2025, we will further strengthen this structure by allocating two teachers per Pastoral Class, made possible by consolidating one class. As a result, your child may have a new Pastoral teacher, or there may be some changes within their class group.
BENILDE 1 - Miss Kara Spicer and Mr Nicholas Bolger
BENILDE 2 - Miss Katelyn Foley and Mr Brian Shumack
BENILDE 3 - Miss Claudia Percy and Mrs Amber Smith
BENILDE 4 - Mrs Jenny Roff, Mr Garry Osborne and Miss Jayden Goodchild
BENILDE 5 - Miss Lauren English and Mr Mark Honeysett
Benilde’s leadership team also includes the following teachers: Mrs Mellissa Bell (Assistant Principal - Wellbeing), Mr Jon Hawthorne (Leader of Learning - TAS) and Miss Lauren Donnelly (Leader of Learning - English) who will also support your student throughout the year.
As a team our approach prioritises a supportive environment where each student feels valued, respected and cared for to achieve their personal best. Through a strong focus on Pastoral Academic Care, Academic Progress, and Co-Curricular involvement. We aim to foster a sense of belonging and responsibility within the House for all students. Regular attendance and active participation are key parts, ensuring that students make the most of their learning opportunities and contribute positively to our school community.
I would like to reinforce the importance of adhering to the school's uniform policy. Students are expected to wear the correct uniform at all times, including appropriate footwear as seen within the school diary. This not only reflects pride in our community but also promotes a sense of unity and discipline. Please remember that our Uniform Shop is open (by appointment) to allow access to our uniform for all families within the community.
The Cross and Dux ceremony where the new 2025 leaders were blessed for the year ahead. It was wonderful to see our house captains Michaela Gerard, Safal Timalsena, Maya Teege (Arts Captain) and Josh Bible (School Captain) both also Benilde getting involved and reading confidently in front of the whole school.
Week two also saw the highly anticipated OCC swimming carnival, it was amazing to see the majority of students here on the day and taking a real pride in the house - it was a sea of blue. All students got involved with the war cry (written this year by our captains and Year 12 team). It was wonderful to see the leadership step many of our Year 10 and 11 students take but also seeing our 7-9 students getting involved. From all the Benilde teachers we are extremely proud of your involvement and energy in this event.
I look forward to working with you all and if you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact me!
Miss Elizabeth Plane
House Leader - Benilde
La Salle
Welcome to the New School Year!
As we embark on this new academic year, we’re filled with excitement, fresh goals, and the promise of new experiences. Firstly I want to extend a warm welcome to all students, teachers, staff, and parents who combine together in the O’Connor community and our La Salle House.
This year brings our first year of working in House teams. Our La Salle captains, teachers and myself as House Leader have worked to create a warm and welcoming space for all students.
Our Pastoral Academic Care classroom teachers will be the first point of contact for families.
Our team consists of -
La Salle 1 - Mr Powers, Mr Fittler
La Salle 2 - Mrs Mitheu, Mrs Magann, Georgia McMahon
La Salle 3 - Mr Healy, Mrs McFarland
La Salle 4 - Mrs Frazier, Mrs Stoessel and Joe Schmude
La Salle 5 - Mr Wooster and Mrs Spires
Welcome to our Year 7 students! La Salle badges were given out on Thursday and were presented by the captains Tommy and Sloane. The badges are to be worn each day on the formal uniform.
The students have returned to school looking great in their uniforms. Please wear the uniform with pride and ensure that the timetable is read and sports uniform is only worn on days where PDHPE practical is on. Wednesday is always formal school uniform.
The swimming carnival was filled with house spirit and the colour green. The chants were very competitive and creative. Congratulations to our house who won the Chant/ War cry. Special thanks to our captains for sharing their great ideas. Participation is key to success and enjoyment of our carnivals. We were highly involved and had a great time.
As we look forward we look to focus on building a La Salle community that supports one another. Together, we can create an environment where kindness, respect, and curiosity thrive.
I have shared a special La Salle prayer that we have focused on.
I am looking forward to meeting as many families as possible for our Community Engagement Evening.
Mrs Kath Czinner
House Leader - La Salle
Merici
Dear Parents & Carers,
Welcome to the 2025 Academic Year at O’Connor Catholic College. Our College wishes to continue to focus on building in all of our students, a strong sense of belonging to the O’Connor Catholic College community and to their respective houses.
We have a strong team of teachers and support staff who are key to supporting your young person at the College as their Merici Pastoral Academic Care teachers. Each House has 5 Pastoral Academic Care teams of at least 2 staff members.
The Merici team is as follows:
Merici PAC 1 - Mrs. Anne Healey and Mr. Evans Madhuyu
Merici PAC 2 - Mr. Bruce Myers and Ms. Vanessa Willis
Merici PAC 3 - Mr. Stephen Kirkaldy and Mrs. Kaylene Osborne
Merici PAC 4 - Mrs. Natalie Mellowship and Mr. Jie Chen
Merici PAC 5 - Mrs. Vicki Channon, Mrs. Tracey Mackay and Mrs. Caroline Chapman
Merici’s leadership team also includes the following teachers: Miss. Mel Sampson (Leader of Learning - Creative and Performing Arts), Mrs. Camilla Clydsdale (Leader of Learning - PDHPE) and Mr. Andrew May (Religious Education Coordinator) who will also be involved in supporting your student throughout the year.
Your child’s Pastoral Academic Care teachers are the primary contact for your child, whether that be around learning or wellbeing. Please feel free to contact them via email (details available via the Compass app) or by contacting our front office: (02) 6772 1666.
You should make yourself familiar with our school online platform; Compass. This is a great communication tool, informing you of your child’s timetable, essential notes and other communications such as feedback on your child’s learning tasks and upcoming events.
I would like to reinforce the importance of adhering to the school's uniform policy. Students are expected to wear the correct uniform at all times, including appropriate footwear. This not only reflects pride in our community but also promotes a sense of unity and discipline. Students should only wear their sports uniform on days where they are timetabled to have a practical PDHPE or SLR (Sport, Leisure, Recreation) lesson. Please remember that our Uniform Shop is open (by appointment) to allow access to our uniform for all families within the community.
If you have any questions or concerns throughout the year, please do not hesitate to reach out via email (smccann@arm.catholic.edu.au) or contact the school during office hours. Your continued support and ongoing partnership with the College community is invaluable in your child’s education.
Kind Regards
Mr Shane McCann
House Leader - Merici
Photos of our new Year 7 Merici students with their Pastoral Academic Care teachers.
Some of our Year 12 Merici - Simpsons
Ursula
Welcome Back, Ursula House!
Welcome back to a brand-new year! I hope you all had a fantastic break, filled with rest, adventure, and plenty of good times. As we step into this year together, I couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.
Ursula House has always been known for its spirit, enthusiasm and being legendary, and I know that 2025 will be no different. Whether you’re returning as a senior leader or stepping into the house for the first time, you are part of something special—a team that lifts each other up, faces challenges head-on, and celebrates every success, big or small.
Above: Our freshly recruited Year 7 Ursula bears!
This year our teaching team looks a little different! As some of you may realise Jessica Armfield (me!) has take on being the House Leader and our PAC team is made up of the following helpful adults:
- Ursula One: William Blake & Matt Griffin
- Ursula Two: Steffan Fastier & James Russell
- Ursula Three: Megan Wooster, Bill Zsigmond & Kate Bloomfield
- Ursula Four: Cheryl Leggatt & Anthony Kelly
- Ursula Five: Luke Andrews & Bryan Allerton
Within the Ursula staffing team we also have; Stephen Chapman, Rachael Galvin, Mark Harris, Carleigh Eastlake and Mark Fulloon!
If your student is needing support or you need to give us information about how your student is travelling, either myself or their PAC teachers are the people to reach out to! Every morning your student will check-in with their PAC teachers to mark rolls and build relationships with students from all year groups - this allows our older students to step into a leadership role and gives our younger students an opportunity to chat to and understand what high school looks like in the older years! During this time our aim is to build strong Ursula student relationships, continuing to be a team that lifts each other up.
This year, our goal is to aim high in everything we do— in the classroom, on the sporting oval or in the pool, in service to our community, and in the way we support each other every day. House events will be bigger than ever, and I have no doubt that our Ursula pride will shine through in everything we take on.
So, let’s bring the energy, the enthusiasm, and the legendary Ursula spirit! Looking forward to an incredible year with you all.
Let’s go, Ursula!!
Above: Ursula Year 7 students playing ultimate paper scissors rock at the end of their first day of high school!
Miss Jessica Armfield,
House Leader, Ursula
Some words from some of our Student Leaders:
Saloan Paul - House Captain for LaSalle
The first two weeks of school have been jam packed and a lot of fun. We started day one with a walk through the school behind the school house flags, eventually separating into houses. In the first house meeting of the year the year 7's were taught the house chants by the house captains with the support of senior students. Also in the house meeting the year 7s were given their timetable and able to meet their pac teachers. In period 4 we had a connection session with the year 12s and year 7s, this enabled the senior students to have fun and learn more about the younger year. The first part of the session was split into houses so we could strengthen connections within our houses and the second part was all together to just have fun. By building this connection the house captains are able to foster house spirit to make the swimming carnival more fun.
On the second day of school we started with another house meeting but this time with all the students, this house meeting was mainly focused on chants and other elements of the swimming carnival, then the houses met on the front lawn to have a chant competition between each other, then it was on normal classes. On Thursday there was another house meeting where the captains focused on getting a team for each age group of the relays and trying to get students in their house to wear the house colours. We ended the day with a year 12 and year 7 liturgy in the Chapel.
The second week of school was mainly about building excitement for the swimming carnival so when it finally arrived the students were amped up. As a house captain it was nice to see the majority of the school there and active in the chants as well as dressing in their house colours.
These first weeks have really set the bar high for an involved school year that ignites fun and entertainment.
Lucas Philp - House Captain for Ursula
The start of the school year has been nothing short of exciting, with everyone settling back in and school spirit already at an all-time high. The biggest highlight so far has been the Swimming Carnival, with everyone across all houses and years have demonstrated incredible enthusiasm and participation. So many people got involved, giving it their best effort and contributing which made the day even more exciting. Seeing everyone step up and support each other has set such a positive tone, and I’m really hoping we can keep this spirit going for the rest of 2025!
Sophie: Sports Captain
This year’s swimming carnival was one of our best yet, the fantastic weather was just the beginning of a great day, which I'm sure we are all pleased to see after so many years of the Armidale weather doing its worst just as the swimming carnival comes around. Although the house spirit and energy shown by all students was really made the day. The time and effort put into the chants by our house captains should be congratulated, and the energy was not put to waste, producing some of the best and most energetic chants we’ve seen in a very long time, I'm sure it was difficult to choose, congratulations La Salle, although I think we all know Merici is still the better house. Costumes and decorations went all out, which only added to the atmosphere, some standout costumes were the ursula cupids, …… and of course, how could we not forget the iconic Simpsons. I was glad to see everybody embracing the spirit and contributing to the success of the day.
I'd like to give a massive shoutout to all the competitors, whether a talented swimmer or somebody willing to bomb in for some house points, the effort put in by so many does not go unnoticed. The participation shown on the day was inspiring to see and we are hoping to see more and more get involved in events over the coming year. Support from the sidelines can be just as important as what goes on inside the pool and the encouragement from peers during relays and other events showed.
The most important and prestigious event of the day was of course the year 12 floaty race, where some interesting swimming techniques and floaties were on display, we all had a lot of fun and I think it is important to mention the real winner which was definitely not Josh and ollie. Massive shoutout to all the teachers and staff for organising the day and ensuring it ran smoothly, your work is always appreciated. Let's keep the house spirit up and get keen for some exciting sporting events to come
