...Dear Parents and Carers,

Thursday 14th November was a historic day for the St Mary’s with the visit from the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Board and senior MACS staff. In total 19 visitors.

The day began early, and prayer was led by Primary Captains and Vice Captains: Kai Rayner, Macey Shields, Harry Edward and Isabel Gordon. Our primary leaders were nervous but did not miss a beat. Following the Year 11 exams, senior leaders: Andrew Bree, Sophie Munro, Cooper Shearer and Felicity O’Halloran joined the Board for lunch. College Advisory Council (AC) parent members were unavailable to join for morning tea due to work commitments. Fr Eugene, Mrs Spencer (AC) and the College Executive joined the Board during the day to meet the members.

MACS have many schools in the urban areas of Melbourne. The Chair of the MACS Board Gerard Dalbosco is from Porepunkah near Bright and Anthony O’Shannessy, the Director Finance, Infrastructure and Digital is a Benalla local. They understand the difference between city and country life. The Board meeting schedule was tight and included a tour of the College and a 30-minute principal presentation with the majority of the College Executive in attendance. The presentation included:

College heritage
Learning & Teaching
Student Wellbeing
Student growth
The financial impact of Capital Works programs and returning to Year 12
The future
Questions from the Board.

The Board were high in praise for everything about the day. The professionalism of the organization, the obvious quality of learning and teaching and the Colleges approach to student wellbeing. They could see the evidence of growth in student learning through improved NAPLAN data, the College’s approach to evidenced based learning and the wonderful way our College embraces families and students from non-Catholic backgrounds.

The MACS Board require experience and expertise in governance and policy. As an incorporated body there is a necessity for working within the legislative nature of education.

We were grateful for the opportunity to host the MACs Board meeting on site at St Mary’s. It was their first visit to our College, and they were left in no doubt where St Mary’s is heading in the vision and belief of the Mercy values. Our primary senior years ensures the playground was spotless. Nick Liddell’s maintenance team had the lawn and gardens looking a treat, which was noted by the Board. Our Director Business Services and Compliance, Mrs Melville professional approach to the organization of the visit and the strict agenda timeline ensured everything about the day was seamless. This visit would not have happened without the support and insight of the Executive Director Dr Edward Simons. Ed enjoys coming to St Mary’s, as he does visiting any MACS school. His passionate and visionary leadership is a joy to see in action.

Dr Edward Simons Executive Director

Edward is highly experienced working in the education sector in the UK and Australia across a variety of roles, including as a teacher, principal, and as principal policy advisor to a Minister for Education. With a strong commitment to his Catholic faith, Dr Simons is an active member of his Parish, along with his young family. As a proud MACS parent, Dr Simons is committed to serving and walking alongside our schools to fulfill our mission to form lives of faith, hope and love in the light of Jesus Christ.

Gerard Dalbosco Chair

A career in senior leadership roles including Oceania Managing Partner and CEO; Asia Pacific Managing Partner – Markets, and Joint Deputy CEO; Oceania Managing Partner – Transaction Advisory Services; and Melbourne Managing Partner. Gerard has considerable governance experience. Previous governance roles have included Mercy Health, Loreto Mandeville Hall, Committee for Melbourne, Berry Street, Newman College and NGV Business Council.

Róisín Annesley is a senior member of the Victorian Bar with almost 30 years legal experience. Róisín brings significant legal and ethical knowledge and corporate governance experience to MACS.

Professor Greg Craven OA

One of Australia’s foremost education leaders and legal scholars, with a long and distinguished history of contributions to higher education, law, policy and the Catholic Church. Professor Craven has held leadership, research and teaching positions at the University of Melbourne, Monash University, Curtin University, the Victorian Parliament, University of Notre Dame Australia and Australian Catholic University. Professor Craven has a long history of service to the community, having served on many public bodies. He was appointed by Pope Francis as a Consultant on the Congregation for Catholic Education.

Fr Michael Gallacher is the Parish Priest of St Roch’s, Glen Iris. Fr Michael completed postgraduate study in canon law and serves as a member of the diocesan Tribunal. Fr Michael also played an integral role on the Steering Committee, leading to the establishment of MACS.

Carolyn Ireland is an experienced company director with a long and distinguished career in a variety of executive and directorial roles in industry. A chartered accountant. Carolyn brings a deep experience of the education sector to the MACS board as a director of the Xavier College Foundation. She is also a director of International Women’s Development Agency, an aid agency operating across South-East Asia, and Director of Defence Health.

Geraldine Leslie is a human resources executive with significant experience in leading people and business operations, including human resources, safety, diversity and inclusion, culture, capability, change management, corporate affairs and customer services. Carolyn is the Executive Manager Human Resources for the Salvation Army Australia.

John McLindon is an executive leader with a distinguished career using data insights and technology to deliver effective company growth strategies and develop large-scale public policy. John is the CEO of SwiftFox CRM, a tech platform that uses artificial intelligence to help organisations understand their data and make better data-led decisions. John also has experience at the highest levels of government, including Chief of Staff to the Premier.

Lucinda Nolan has had a formidable career in public and emergency services, having served as the first female CEO of the Country Fire Authority (CFA), one of the world’s largest volunteer-based emergency service organisations. Prior to joining the CFA, Lucinda spent 32 years with the Victoria Police, reaching the rank of Deputy Commissioner. She was awarded the Australian Police Medal in 2009. Previously the CEO of the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, Lucinda brings to the board extensive corporate governance experience through current and previous directorships. Lucinda was a director on the board of the Hawthorn Football Club.

Dr Margaret O’Donnell OAM has had a long and distinguished career in Catholic education, having served as a principal for more than 20 years, and brings a keen insight into the challenges school leaders and teachers face in delivering a uniquely Catholic education. Following her retirement as a principal, Dr O’Donnell worked as a principal consultant in the Archdiocese of Melbourne to support the principals of 16 schools from Mornington to St Kilda in the southern region. Dr O’Donnell brings corporate governance experience through her service on the Board of St Vincent de Paul in Victoria and as a committee member of the Eastern Palliative Care Association. In 2018, Dr O’Donnell was awarded with the papal Croce Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. This award from Pope Francis recognises distinguished service to the Catholic Church. She is a member of the Order of Malta.

Tim O’Leary is Executive Director Stewardship at the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, responsible for the business, financial and governance aspects of the Archdiocese. He has held senior corporate affairs, human resources and sustainability executive roles. Tim has extensive corporate governance experience, including as a director of Mercy Health and member of Council at Newman College.

Master Planning and Capital Works

Stage 1

The successful tender will be announced in December or January. All tender documents are thoroughly scrutinized so there are no unknown costs. Sitework will begin in January.

Stage 2

Plans for the extension of the Monsignor Toms Science Centre will begin in 2025. Adding 2 more Science classrooms will be important for the College’s return to Year 12. Ideally, Stage 2 will begin next year.

Over the years I have been staunch in defending the rights of Catholic education to receive fair funding. There is an absurd and ridiculous view that Catholic Schools are all elite, have everything and that we get too much support – so uninformed and so far from the truth. Fair funding is just funding and parents in Catholic education are to be admired for the sacrifices they make to enable their children to have a holistic education. Going back decades, Catholic communities had to go to great lengths to argue a case for just government support and we are forever grateful for the financial support we do receive from state and national levels of government.

The Race that Stops a Nation and Two Families

It is not every day a Melbourne Cup turns up in your school. Congratulation to the Clydesdale and Symons families on having two grandfathers directly involved in the ownership and training the winner of the 2024 Melbourne Cup. An extraordinary day and victory.

Best wishes

Wayne Smith

Principal

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