Principal's Report

HSC Trials

Congratulations to our Year 12 students for the manner in which they have conducted themselves during the HSC Trials. With so much external excuse to ‘give up’ or lose focus, our Year 12s have approached these important assessments with enthusiasm, application and good humour. This year we have employed external exam supervisors to give our year 12 staff no responsibilities to supervise exams with consequently more time to mark and return the results much more quickly to the students. That detailed knowledge for students of their Trial results and subsequent overall rank will then facilitate a tighter focus on the preparations and targets required for the full HSC examinations. I commend the dedication of our Year 12 teachers to get our students to this point.The Trials conclude on 28 August.

Year 12 Rites of Passage

The latest changes to the COVID-19 restrictions for schools have severely impacted the ‘rites of passage’ for Year 12. At the time of writing, McCarthy and every secondary college across NSW, are wrestling with the COVID-19 restrictions and trying to work out acceptable ways to ensure that our Year 12s experience farewell ceremonies of equivalent value to previous iterations such as the Retreat, Graduation Mass, Graduation Assembly and Graduation Ball. Be assured that we are working and advocating in every available space with the government and Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW) to plan events that are both COVID-19 safe and suitable community events for the Year 12 students. Year 12 families will be kept informed via COMPASS notifications as soon as we have verified the planned events are compliant.

Year 11 Leadership Days

I commend the spirit and enthusiasm of our Year 11 students during the recent Leadership and Retreat Days. With no real possibility of me sharing any detail, the students were led through a reflective and active spiritual experience that intentionally provided an opportunity for students to know themselves better and to bond the group more closely with each other as they all move as a collective into leadership roles in 2021. I laud the enthusiastic efforts of Mrs Melissa Lees in coordinating, planning and leading the 2 days. In tandem with the Mentor Group teachers, Mrs Lees understands and values the capacity of this talented and positive group of young people who we look forward to working with at McCarthy next year.

Timetable - the reforming of Year 11 lines for Year 12

Each year the patterns of study for many Year 11 students change as they progress through from Preliminary Year to the HSC year. Consequently, as numbers diminish in some subjects and increase in others, current class allocations of teachers can change quite radically. The main message is always one of consistency of focus on the course work. While students can sometimes find a stronger learning relationship with one teacher over another, the teachers themselves know the course work and have experience to teach that course work to every and any student. Long story short, Year 11s can expect some teacher changes as we move from Year 11 work into Year 12 work in Term 4. Please don’t allow that change to deter or distract from the simple focus of academic engagement in the learning partnership with teachers.

MCC Olympics

In an attempt to engage in some form of community-building event this year, we are planning an ‘Olympics-type’ Fun Day in Week 9. Under strict COVID-19 restrictions we are still hoping to have a day of year-level activities such as Basketball, Futsal, Oz-tag, Handball, Chess, Theatre Sports, etc. that culminates with a ‘Colour-Run’ for the Year 12s. Let us all continue to pray that the restrictions do not tighten even further so that we can at least one ‘community-building’ day in 2020!

Staffing News

I extend a warm welcome to Ms Megan Dunn, Mrs Samantha Cox who commenced recently as Education Assistants and Ms Melanie Lamb as one of our Aboriginal Education Assistants. These new staff bring a wealth of experience in education support. We are privileged to have them join our community.

Happy Father’s Day

Happy Father’s day to all Dads in the McCarthy community! I trust that your special day is spent with your daughters and sons in the bosom of the family unit and that your great kids, who are also our wonderful kids, appreciate your love and sacrifice. Have a wonderful day!

Mr Geoff McManus - Principal