Principal's Page
Jo Flynn
Thank You
A huge thank you to Mrs Monique Dunn for the wonderful celebration of Mission Week. It has been fun seeing the crazy socks and huge explosions of colour and we are looking forward to the FUN day on Friday. A lot of organisation goes into these events so I would like to acknowledge this. The money raised will be put to good use by Catholic Mission. See a summation of Mission Week on the REC page.
NAIDOC Week
Our NAIDOC activities have been thoroughly enjoyed this year. Students were happy to join the march to Robinson Park on Monday while Tuesday saw all students enjoying a variety of indigenous games. I would like to thank Katrina and her team from Orange City Council who made this day possible.
Catherine McAuley participated in the NAIROC eisteddfod and I am pleased to say that we placed third against strong competition.
A huge thank you to Maddy Griffiths-Leonard our Aboriginal Education Officer for her work in making this such a success. Thanks also to Jo Wright for helping to prepare the students for this event.
Music Award
I am delighted to share some exciting news with you — both Sarah and Catherine Stone have been successful in their recent auditions for scholarships at the Orange Regional Conservatorium.
Catherine has been awarded the 2026 Ensemble Scholarship, which will support her continued participation in strings group classes next year.
Sarah has received the 2026 Junior/Intermediate Open Scholarship — a full-year scholarship supporting individual lesson fees for students in Years 3–10 who demonstrate exceptional musical talent. This scholarship can be used for any instrument or voice study at the ORC.
I am sure you will agree that this is a terrific accomplishment and after we witnessed their talents in the annual McAuley has Talent Show, one that is well deserved.
Police Talk
Senior Constable Jane Heffernan spoke with the students from Years 4-6 about the use of social media, in particular in light of the new laws that are due to take effect on 10 December. It was an excellent talk and I thank the parents who were able to attend this talk. I am sure you found it as informative as I did.
I sent out a COMPASS notification with a summary of what was discussed and some links to useful websites which I will include below.
Some of the main points were:
- No social media under 16 as of 10th December 2025.
- Kids Messenger is the safest platform for communicating with friends.
- Devices should only be used in an area with parental supervision (never in bedrooms)
- Hand phone in to parents at night
- Parents must know all passwords to your devices
- Write the rules of device use together and put it on the fridge.(Senior Constable Heffernan has a sample list of rules and other resources, the links to which are shared below)
- Group chats bring out the worse behaviour so they are best avoided
- No headphones.
- Inappropriate content sent to you. Take a photo on another device. Talk to your parents or a trusted adult. Block the sender.
- From the age of 10 police will investigate inappropriate messages/content being sent to others.
These are resources from Think U Know - ThinkUKnow Australia is an evidence-based education program led by the Australian Federal Police.
Prefilled Agreement:
Blank Agreement:
Family online safety contract (blank).pdf
Tips for Parents:
Online safety basics | eSafety Commissioner
Have a great fortnight,
Jo Flynn