Principal's Report
HSC
Well done to all of our 2018 Year 12 students on their HSC achievements. I attach the list of Distinguished Achievers below and they are to be highly commended not only for such an achievement but their work ethic and dedication. I especially identify the academic leadership of two of our Year 12s - Isobelle Sullivan, our 2018 Dux of the College who earned 2 Band 6s on her HSC and an ATAR of 94, and College Captain - Eleanor George who also earned 2 band 6s and an ATAR of 93.7 which qualified her for the prestigious Tuckwell Scholarship from ANU (see below).
It is this high quality of academic performance that teaching staff intentionally nurture and target each year and in commending Isobelle and Ellie I also commend the dedication and unrelenting efforts of teachers and support staff. While we did not get as many Band 6s in 2018 as we targeted, the story in Band 5s shows that we are well on track for developing stronger academic rigour in all courses. Many students received HSC scores in the high 80s, within 2 or 3 marks of getting a Band 6. This fact suggests that the hard work teachers are putting into improving Literacy and Numeracy throughout Stage 4 and 5 is working. Our mantra that every teacher owns our Year 12 performance means that the daily effort of our Year 7 Mathematics teacher has an impact to be built upon for Isobelle’s Mathematics Extension 1 result. It gives me great pleasure to publicly acclaim the work of our teaching and support staff and well done to the Year 12 students on their hard work and achievement.
Jessica Clarke - Food Technology
Atharva Dighe - Mathematics
Maggie Fulwood - Personal Development, Health and Physical Education, Textiles and Design
Madeleine Gale - Business Studies
Eleanor George - English Extension 1, French Continuers
Laura Jeffery - Community and Family Studies
Sophie Littlejohns - Community and Family Studies
Kate Pianta - Business Studies
Isobelle Sullivan - Business Studies, Visual Arts
Ella Wilkinson - Food Technology.
Tuckwell Scholarship
The Tuckwell Scholarship Program at the ANU is the most transformational undergraduate scholarship program in Australia. Now in its fifth year, the program currently supports 110 Tuckwell Scholars at various stages of their undergraduate degrees. The Scholarships, founded in 2013 by philanthropists Graham and Louise Tuckwell, allow and encourage students to take full advantage of their time at university, including the many academic, social, cultural sporting and leadership opportunities that come with life on campus at ANU. Every year, 25 Tuckwell Scholarships are awarded to highly talented and motivated school leavers planning to study at ANU, to help them fulfil their potential and reinvest their knowledge, skills and experience in ways that positively benefit others. The program has a focus on giving back to Australia and is the only one of its kind that nurtures scholars to fulfil their broader community ambitions over and above the pursuit of an undergraduate degree. The Scholarship offers financial support (up to $23,000 per year), mentoring, health and wellbeing support, leadership opportunities and much more. We are extremely proud of McCarthy Catholic College Captain - Eleanor George, who is a full scholarship recipient this year due to her excellent efforts in her HSC year. The application, interview and selection process is rigorous to say the least and for Eleanor to receive such a prestigious and lucrative scholarship speaks volumes for her ability and character. Well done Ellie!
Award Night
Congratulations to all the award winners from last night’s annual Award Night. In choosing a theme of legacy in my Principal’s Address, I chose to highlight the untiring effort that is put in by so many members of the McCarthy family to grow and nurture the legacy that our students build into the future. Thank you to all teaching and support staff for their untiring effort and support of students. I similarly acknowledge the support of our parents and carers who operate in partnership with us to provide a high quality educational opportunity for our students. Special thanks to all of the Administration staff who collated results, printed certificates, wrapped prizes, organised trophies for engraving and setup on the night. Their work almost always goes on behind the scenes with little public acknowledgement. Their work is always high quality and I thank them for their ongoing support of the great work going on at the College.
Staff News
I deeply thank and acknowledge the dedication and hard work put into the respective roles by Mr Marcus Chittick and Mrs Kerry Ackhurst. As we move into new leadership structures in 2019, we lose our Student Management Officer and KLA Coordinator - Religious Education roles. Both Kerry and Marcus have fulfilled our expectations of these roles to the full and deserve high praise for their 110% commitment.
A special mention also to Mrs Jenny Ayres who has filled in for two significant periods of time in the Canteen this year. As the students would attest the food produced by the Canteen staff is top quality and there is lots of it! No mean feat when there are close to 900 students at McCarthy. Thank you Jenny for your dedication and generous support of our students.
Please note that I will introduce all of our new staff in the first edition of the 2019 Newsletter.
Happy Retirement
We wish Mrs Margaret Banson and Mr Brian Kells all the best in their well-earned retirement. Similarly, we trust that the future for the following staff is bright and brings them and their families great happiness and success - Mr Marcus Chittick, Mr Frank Patricks, Mrs Jo McHugh, Mr Daniel Glasson, Mrs Jane Ashcroft, Ms Kathryn O’Sullivan, and (finally...maybe?) Mrs Kate Woolaston.
Baby News
Congratulations to Beano Radebe and her husband on the safe arrival of their second son, Retumile Ruhama.
Creative Arts Showcase
Congratulations to the Creative Arts faculty and the talented students for their wonderful showcase of artistic, dramatic and musical performance in Week 8. The lament we have once again is how do we get more members of our community to witness the incredible talent that we have at the college? For only about 200 guests to see such a quality show is a shame. We will continue to investigate alternatives to showcase our gifted kids. Well done to all involved!
Clothing Pool
Please note the Clothing Pool will be open on Friday 25 January 2019 from 9:00am - 11:00am.
Holidays
May the peace of Christ be with all McCarthy families these holidays. If you are travelling, be safe and enjoy the love and fellowship that comes with relaxing and sharing a meal together with family and friends. Take care and may God go with you.
Commencement Dates for 2019
Staff commence Tuesday 29 January 2019
Years 7, 11 and new students commence Thursday 31 January 2019
Years 8, 9, 10 and 12 students commence Friday 1 February 2019.
Mr Geoff McManus - Principal