St Aloysius College Newsletter

Principal's Message

Mr Stephen Mahoney

Dear Parents and Caregivers

 

WELCOME TO THE 2025 SCHOOL YEAR.

 

I particularly would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Year 7 and also to our new Year 11 cohort and their families to St Aloysius College. We trust that your years associated with the College will be both enjoyable and rewarding.

 

I am pleased to report, here in the second week of the term, how impressed the College staff are with the smooth start we have had to the year. Students have engaged very quickly into the classroom with staff.

 

I hope that 2025 will be marked by a spirit of generosity and goodwill in our College community as we work together to nurture and educate your sons and daughters on their HSC journey and individual pathways.

 

I highlighted the following four key messages to students when speaking to them:

  • Engage in the College life of our school.
  • St Aloysius’ students will always compete in everything we do…no excuses.
  • Staff at our College always seek to care and support you. 
  • The Five Core LaSallian Principles underpin all that we do.

 

A few further tips from me for the beginning of the year:

  1. Begin your time at St Aloysius with good (study) habits
  2. Use the College’s Learning Centre/Library
  3. Collaborate with friends in times of study
  4. Have effective study notes - not sure how? See any of our College staff
  5. Seek feedback - know what you’re doing right...but know areas to improve
  6. For senior students complete HSC practice papers - submit to College staff. Repeat.
  7. Look after yourself - mentally and physically. Never be ashamed to ask for assistance.
  8. Do the little things right…be on time to school/class - it's about routines.
  9. Have a sense of pride in wearing the new College uniform - it says a lot about you.
  10. Foster good relations with the College staff - it’s about relationships.

“Maturity doesn’t come with age; it comes with acceptance of responsibility.”

 John C. Maxwell

St Aloysius College Open Day - Monday, 3 March 

Principal’s address - 4.00pm

We are thrilled once again to open our College to the community on Monday, 3 March. We look forward to welcoming as many visitors as possible to help with enrolment questions/advice for Year 7 2026/7 and also to students from Year 10 at OLM and De La Salle Caringbah enrolling in Year 11 2026. 

Commencement Mass/HSC Assembly

We celebrated our Commencement Mass / 2024 HSC Assembly at St Aloysius Parish at Cronulla on Wednesday, 12 February. A big thank you to Fr James for a wonderful opening Liturgy for our College and his welcome to our new Years 7 and 11 students. (Please see our Facebook page for further details and photos.)

 

I provide below my Principal’s address to our 2025 HSC cohort, and also a very impressive Dux address from Alannah Carmody delivered at the assembly directly after Mass. 

 

2025 Principal’s Address 

 

Dux Address: 2024 HSC Dux

Year 11 Parent/Student Information Night  

A letter with specific details of this information night including an RSVP will be sent to parents/carers next week. We look forward to seeing you on Monday, 24 February at 6.00pm in Carmody Hall.

College Swimming Carnival

Parents are most welcome to attend our swimming carnival being held at Caringbah Pool on Friday, 21 February. Specific details of the day will be sent to parents via Compass.

Staff Development Day

On Friday, 7 March all staff will be engaged in a Professional Development Day at the College focusing on student wellbeing. No classes will occur on this day.

 

Please contact the College Office on Ph: 8522 1500 if you need supervision provided for your son/daughter.

Year 7 Parent Information Night - Monday, 10 March 6.00pm - 7.00pm

We look forward to seeing all Year 7 parents at the information night that will be held in the College Library. A note with full details will soon follow.

2024 HSC Results

(As reported at the end of last year)

Congratulations to the Year 12 Class for 2024 on their excellent results.

 

A snapshot of our results:

  • Alannah Carmody achieved an ATAR of 96.95.
  • 89% of all student results were in Band 4, 5, or 6.
  • 40 students appeared on the Distinguished Achievers list.
  • 15 students achieved an ATAR over 90.

Additionally, many students successfully pursued vocational pathways:

  • 17 school-based apprenticeships across industries such as carpentry, early childhood, electrotechnology, plumbing, hairdressing, nursing, cabinet making, and automotive.

     

  • A large number of students attained VET qualifications, including:
    • 30 in Certificate II Cookery,
    • 15 in Certificate II Construction Pathways,
    • 13 in Certificate II Skills for Work & Vocational Pathways,
    • 11 in Certificate III Business,
    • 4 in Certificate II Design Fundamentals (Graphic Design),
    • 5 in Certificate II Beauty,
    • 1 in Certificate II Design Fundamentals (Interior Design),
    • 1 in Certificate III Real Estate,
    • 2 in Certificate II Animal Care,
    • 1 in Certificate III Tourism, Travel, and Events,
    • 1 in Certificate III Electrotechnology,
    • 1 in Certificate III Information & Digital Technology.

These results reflect the diverse and dynamic opportunities available to our students.

St Aloysius College Cronulla - Annual Improvement Plan 2025

I share with parents the 3 broad goals of the College’s Annual improvement plan for 2025.

  1. Communicate to staff the most effective strategies for leveraging data to improve student performance.
  2. Develop strategic change management processes as the school transitions to a comprehensive Year 7-12 college that will empower staff, optimise opportunities for stakeholders and is clearly communicated.
  3. Cultivate a thriving Catholic community rooted in Christ’s Mission by fostering synodality and enhancing the engagement of students, staff, and parents in prayer, liturgy, parish involvement, and mission activities.

Staff changes for 2025

With our College moving to a Years 7-12 coeducational school I am pleased to share with you our Leadership/Middle Leadership roles and the staff taking the College forward during this transition.

New Staff - 2025

We also welcome the following new staff to the College…

 

Mr Darrin Munro: Leader of Intervention

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr Robert Reilly: Leader of Administration and Operations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs Lea-Kathryn Nelson: Instructional Leader: Creative and Performing Arts 7-12 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms Bethany Stevens: Science teacher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs Bronwen Cartwright: Temporary - English teacher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of the above staff come to our College with significant years of experience within Catholic Education and I wish them well in their new positions at our College.

Communication and contact

 To access/gain information from the College:

 

To assist parents and students with concerns, or in need of clarification of an issue the following guidelines may assist you.

 

Compass

All parents need to have a COMPASS login - as this is the main administration system of the College. All of the school letters/ reporting/ class teacher communication occurs through this system. Please telephone the College office on 8522-1500 for assistance with login or if your password has expired.

 

If I need assistance from the College:

Who do I direct my email/phone call to:

 

Subject related (classwork/homework/application in class etc.)

  • The subject/class teacher should be contacted. (Please consult your sons/daughters timetable for relevant teachers names via compass)

Wellbeing/Pastoral Issue (attendance/friendship issues/change of family circumstances at home/Social Media concerns etc.)

  • the Head of Year 7 Wellbeing - Mrs Rachel O’Connor
  • the Head of Year 8 Wellbeing - Ms Rebecca Hines
  • the Head of Year 11 Wellbeing - Mrs Michelle Aurelius
  • the Head of Year 12 Wellbeing - Mr Peter Robertson

More serious Wellbeing issues can be directed to our Deans of College - Mr Jon Cullerton and Mrs Therese Hughes.

 

*Please note: Parents/carers need to allow staff 48 (business) hours to return phone calls and emails as all of the staff listed have teaching loads. Staff are also not expected to respond to phone calls outside of the College business hours of 8.00am - 4.00pm or on weekends. We appreciate your assistance with this.

 

Counselling Assistance

  • For general Counselling advice and assistance to students/follow up of external Psychologists the College Counsellor should be contacted: 
  • Ms Olivia Dawson (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday) 

Curriculum Issues 

If seeking more specific detailed advice on academic issues relating to a certain subject (after discussion with subject teacher) or more serious subject concerns refer to:

  • Dean of Mission (Religious Education): Mrs Therese Hughes
  • Instructional Leader: Creative Arts (Visual Arts, Music, Drama): Mrs Lea-Kathryn Nelson 
  • Instructional Leader: Diverse Learning: Mrs Emma Heffernan
  • Instructional Leader: English: Mrs Gabrielle Randall
  • Instructional Leader: Human Society and Its Environment: Mr David Callander
  • Instructional Leader: Mathematics: Mr Luke David
  • Instructional Leader: PDHPE: Ms Sarah Fox
  • Instructional Leader: Science: Mrs Jennifer Ming
  • Instructional Leader: Technologies: Mrs Lisa Sampson 
  • Instructional Leader: Pathways & Partnerships (Careers): Mrs Yvette Kennedy
  • Instructional Leader: Vocational Education: Mr Andrew Christoforidis
  • Instructional Leader: Sport & Co-Curricula programs: Mr Nathan Smith

If you have more complex Curriculum issues regarding Teaching & Learning, Assessment, Reporting, HSC policy procedures, change of subject, the Leader of Learning or Leader of Intervention should be contacted:

  • Ms Lynne Slater (Leader of Learning )
  • Mr Darrin Munro (Leader of Intervention)

If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact us here at the College and please follow us on Facebook and St Aloysius College Instagram page, or through the publication of our College newsletter, as we constantly try to provide you with many of the events/happenings of the College.

 

Stephen Mahoney

Principal