Principal's Report

NAPLAN Online Readiness Test

This week students from Years 7 and 9 completed the trial of the NAPLAN online readiness test. The purpose of this trial is not to obtain results for students but to assess the readiness of schools, networks and technology across NSW to be able to deliver NAPLAN through an online platform. Students in Years 7 and 9 have been involved and I thank them for their cooperation and participation to assess our readiness at the College. I also publicly thank Mrs Briony Martin, Mrs Raelene Maxworthy and Mrs Sally Sparke for their hard work and administrative expertise in delivering the trial with little external release and funding to support their work.

Walkathon

At the time of writing, we are gearing up for the annual College Walkathon on Friday 8 September. We are hoping to raise some well-needed funds in partnership with Australian Catholic Mission to support St Luke’s Medical Centre in Uganda. As our main service learning activity for the year, we are intending to raise over $20,000 to support such a worthwhile cause. Thank you to those businesses and families that have already donated prizes or sponsored our students. I also acknowledge and thank Mrs Fiona O’Neill and the McCarthy Environmental Council for their hard work in preparing for McCarthy’s Got Talent which will run after lunch on the day. There will be many photos and a report to follow in the 2017 Year Book.

Year 12

Year 12 students are now in the final weeks of classes prior to beginning their HSC examinations after ‘Stuvac’ at the end of this term. I commend their work and thank the Year 12 teachers for going above and beyond with their support of the students' learning. As we have been telling Year 12 students for many months now, it is not too late to rectify and improve previously poor results through focussed study and analysis of their strengths and weaknesses.

Similarly, as they approach the end of their time at the College, we celebrate their connection to our faith as well as the unrelenting support of their families through both a spiritual Twilight Retreat next Monday (11 September) and the Thanksgiving Mass next Wednesday (13 September), as well as the Final Graduation Assembly (20 September) in Week 10 of this term. Please keep Year 12 students (and their deserved success) in your weekly prayers.

Staffing

As Mr Bernie Williams takes some well-earned long service leave, we congratulate Mrs Ashleigh Jones (ajones1@mccarthy.nsw.edu.au) for taking on the role of Year 9 Coordinator until the end of Week 2 Term 4. Thank you Mrs Jones!

Congratulations

Congratulations to Mrs Tamara Shoemark and her husband Brendan on the safe arrival of their second son, Louis Ray Shoemark.

New Bus

We are fortunate to have recently purchased a new 25-seat Mitsubishi Rosa mini-bus to support the external learning activities at McCarthy. I offer a big thanks to Mr Wayne Northey, who liaised with both local and regional companies to procure a great price and a wonderful new resource for the College. We also hope to get some targeted advertising on the exterior of the bus to promote the myriad of learning activities and wonderful students at McCarthy.

May God go with you.

Mr Geoff McManus

Principal