Assistant Principal  -Curriculum

Welcome back to a new school year, everybody.  How exciting it is to have our school community together again this year.  I’m really enjoying the enthusiasm of our staff and students as I walk around the school.  I am continuing my role as Assistant Principal Curriculum.  This means I’m responsible for subjects, programs, the timetable and reports, with the specific support of the Curriculum Officer (Mrs Julie Burton) and the KLA Leaders of Learning.  To put it mildly, it has been a busy start to the year.  In this article, I’ll mention our new staff and their roles.  Finally, I’ll elaborate on a new role for one member of staff in a section titled “A pathway for everyone”.

I know that Mr Gibney has mentioned new staff in his Principal’s report, so I’ll keep it brief in my section.  I wandered around the College today to get an action shot of our new staff as they worked.  

Firstly, welcome to Mr Phillip Gibney, our new Principal.  I have been working very closely with Phil since early in January, along with Mrs Bell, and I am very impressed with the start he has made.

Mr Gibney is hard to find in his office as he prefers to be out and about in the school, greeting parents and students at the start or end of the day, talking with students during recess and lunch, and walking through classes.  I can’t believe how many students and teachers Mr Gibney knows the name of already.

Mr Gibney says he has an open door policy, so feel free to talk with him when the situation arises.  It’s not hard to spot him in a crowd. 

Next is Mrs Susanne Hughes.  Mrs Hughes is our German teacher.  She also teaches some HSIE and Music classes.  She also runs our school choir.

Here is Mrs Hughes in action in one of her five Year 7 German classes.

In the Science classrooms, we have two new teachers.  Mr Brian Shumack and Mrs Tracey Mackay.  Mr Shumack comes to us from UNE while Mrs Mackay moved over from Uralla Central.

Mr Brian Shumack

Mrs Tracey Mackay

Bridie Giles has come on board as our Lasallian Youth Minister (LYM) this year.  She has started working with our RE classes, helping organise retreats (Year 7, 8 and 9 are next week), and organising our Masses and Liturgies.  Welcome back, Bridie, and thanks for making a big difference to all those you meet.

Bridie, our new Lasallian Youth Minister, has been actively helping in classes.

We also have a new Learning Mentor for senior students.  Our Dux for 2023, Roie Wood, has returned this year to help our Year 11 and 12 students with their learning and assessments.  So, Year 11 and Year 12, keep an eye out for Roie if you need any help.

Roie Wood (front left) is our new Learning Mentor for senior students.

A pathway for everyone

In my role as AP Curriculum, I have been working with many students on their subjects.  In particular, Year 11 students have been seeing me to make the finishing touches to their pattern of study.  Here are the lines:

Link to the Yr 11 Subject Lines

You can see on this table that there are many subjects that students can choose from.  Many students are following an academic pathway which will result in them getting an ATAR at the end of Year 12.  In addition to the courses offered online here, you can see the TAFE / Distance Education box at the bottom.  This means that they can study a TAFE (TVET) course while at school.  Courses like Retail Services, Automotive, Animal Studies (Vet Nursing), Dental Assisting, Real Estate, Electrotechnology, Early Childhood and Human Services (Nursing).  Some of these are done online and some are done at TAFE Armidale, face to face.

These are on top of the VET subjects we run here at school.  We have many many students studying Construction, Business Services, Information Technology, Hospitality, Primary Industries and Fitness.  Students studying any of these VET (Vocational Education and Training) will get a Certificate 2 or 3 at the end of their study (or a Certificate of Attainment).

In addition, some students are enrolled in a School Based Traineeship (SBAT).  This means that students are employed by a business and work there one day a week while attending school on the other days.

All of these options contribute to the units needed to complete Year 11 (12 Units) and Year 12 (10 Units).

Other academic subjects that are completed via Distance Ed.  Spanish, Economics, Modern History, Japanese, Arabic and English as a Second Language (ESL) are some of the courses students are studying via distance education.

Finally, we have more and more students being accelerated.  They are completing Year 11 subjects while still in Year 10.  This included Physics, Music, Agriculture, Mathematics Ext 1, Construction, Business Services, Information Technology and Primary Industries.  

The point of this article, which has become so much clearer this year as I work directly with these students, is that everybody can find a pathway that suits them at O’Connor.  The result, we hope, is that each student is motivated as they are studying subjects that suit them.  

We are so lucky to have Mrs Rachael Galvin.  She has been appointed to the new role: Leader of Student Pathways.

Mrs Galvin has hit the ground running in her new role.  She helps many students as they apply for jobs, apprenticeships or SBATS.  She has organised university visits and excursions to career expos.  Mrs Galvin has already organised guest speakers to come and visit our school.  If you have any questions about pathways and careers, see Mrs Galvin or send her an email.  rgalvin@arm.catholic.edu.au

In closing, I’d like to re-iterate my welcome to the new staff at our College.  I’d also like to welcome all the new students and thank them for making the choice to move to O’Connor for the next stage of their schooling.  I love it here, and hope you will too.

Mr Stephen Chapman

Assistant Principal - Curriculum

Never stop learning; for when we stop learning, we stop growing  - Jack Lewman