Principal's Report 

Awards Night/Day

The annual McCarthy Catholic College Awards Night will take a different approach this year due to COVID restrictions. Firstly and unfortunately, parents are still unable to attend in large groups onsite. Consequently the academic, sporting and cultural presentations will be live-streamed and recorded for distribution to parents on Monday 14 December. The students will be gathering as year level cohorts throughout the day, beginning with Year 7 in Period 1, Year 8 in Period 2, Year 9 in Period 3, Year 10 in Period 4, and concluding with the Year 11 and 12 presentations from 1:30pm to 3:00pm. All will be held in the Our Lady of the Rosary Cultural Centre. Thank you in anticipation for your understanding and I trust that the live-stream and/or the recording does suitable justice to showcasing the high quality achievement of our top performers at McCarthy.

Note also, that due to the heavy impact of the COVID restrictions on the College and Diocesan sporting programs for 2020 there will not be a separate Sports Assembly this year. Major House and Sporting awards will be included in the Academic Awards Day program.

Staffing

As we draw to a close for 2020, it is with some sadness that we farewell a staff member who has made a long and valued commitment to McCarthy Catholic College. On behalf of the students, staff and long-term families I offer great affirmation and appreciation to Mrs Donna Forrest for over 25 years of dedicated and valued service. Mrs Forrest’s work, mostly in the Finance sphere as well as Facilities, Maintenance, and Administration, has been reflective of a staff member who believed in effective stewardship of our valuable physical and financial resources. Her personal care for those resources is reflected in the strong current financial position of the college, as well as the high quality presentation of our grounds and buildings. We wish her well in the next phase of her career.

Similarly, I offer public commendation and thanks to Mrs Lisa Sutherland, the College Finance and Administration Officer for the past 3 years. I particularly identify her sensitive and highly efficient work with the collection of school fees in these recently challenging times of drought, bushfire and COVID. Her compassionate and commonsense approach has been highly valued by many families in need. We wish her all the best as she transitions into another role in a local accounting business.

Condolences

I offer sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family of ex-staff member Mrs Pat Kilborn on her sad passing earlier this week. Pat was a long term staff member of the college with significant gifts in the teaching of Economics and Ancient History to such an extent that a number of her Year 12 students achieve a ranking of First in the State. In recent times she has voluntarily filled the role of College Archivist, ensuring that the history and memorabilia of McCarthy Catholic Senior High School, Our Lady of the Rosary College and McCarthy Catholic College were accurately recorded and preserved. We are indebted to Pat; and her legacy lives on with the recent addition of our memorabilia and archive presentation in the Rosary Centre. May she rest in the peace of the Lord.

Vaping

In recent weeks, across NSW the incidences of young people ‘vaping’ in schools has increased exponentially. Here at McCarthy we treat such unhealthy behaviour very seriously. A few McCarthy students have been sent home on suspension for ‘vaping’ at school and in one case the police were called to interview a student who was allegedly distributing vaping apparatus amongst the student body. I encourage all families to have the same conversation that we are having with the students; that according to the law, vaping sits under the same category as smoking cigarettes and purchase of such items by children under 18 is against the law. We will continue to deal very seriously with incidences as they arise at the College and will seek both parental and police intervention if needed.

Car Park Etiquette

Student and staff safety is of the highest priority. In recent times the high volume of traffic in the car park in both morning and afternoon peak periods has produced some dangerous actions born of frustration. I call for all drivers to remain calm and maintain a speed limit of no more than 10 km/h at all times. The more dangerous behaviour exhibited recently involves impatient adult drivers overtaking, beeping horns loudly and speeding through the car park. Please, I implore you to act safely at all times while driving for the sake of children and staff.

Student ID Cards

Each year the College automatically supplies a compulsory student identification card for all Year 7 and new students to the College; the cost of which is included in the school fees. On request, the college can order replacement cards for students who have misplaced theirs. Replacement cards attract a cost of $10.00, payable to the College Office. As each student identification card has a two year expiration date the cards that were issued in 2020 will be decommissioned and then re-issued at the beginning of 2022 with all renewal costs covered by the school fees.  

Orientation Day

On the 30 November we will welcome close to 165 Year 6s who will be bursting at the seams to begin their transition to secondary school. We are fortunate to be able to run a full onsite experience for our new 2021 students due to the relaxing of COVID restrictions. Parents are unfortunately still restricted from the college site. Nonetheless, we are excited to welcome our new students and, with the assistance of our Year 11 SLC members, being able to orient the new students to the campus and daily routine to support a calm and seamless transition to secondary school.

New Year 7 2021 parents please note that all ‘Nuts & Bolts’ information regarding daily routines and the ‘Bring Your Own Designated Device (BYODD) program and associated costs will be sent out as we usually do each year on the actual Orientation Day Monday 30 November. Unfortunately, rather than conducting an Orientation Evening for parents, I will be sending out a video recording along with the parent booklet. Please contact the College Office on Tuesday 1 December if you do not receive the detailed booklet and recording via email.

Fees 2021

Early in the new year, all families will receive a one-off invoice that summarises the tuition fee commitment for the full academic year. Families can then choose to pay these fees in a variety of modes -

1. Pay in full by Qkr!, cheque, credit card, cash or direct deposit to the college bank account.
2. Pay in instalments as listed according to the three dates set out on the invoice by Qkr!, cheque, credit card, cash or direct deposit to the college bank account.
3. Pay by Direct Debit using ADIG either weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
4. Pay by direct deposit to the college bank account.

We trust that this early notification in 2021 will allow for families to plan their financial commitments more readily and reduce any potential confusion about the amount owing resulting from frequent invoices being sent.

Baby News 

Congratulations to Dane and Kerrie Kelly on the birth of Quinn Adeline Kelly born at 10:16am, 12 November 2020. Mum and the beautiful girl are doing well.

Welcome

We welcome the following students to the McCarthy community: Ava Clay (Year 7) Brooke Krsulja and Blake Patterson (Year 8) and Landan Price (Year 11).  As a community, we hope that their transition has been smooth and that they are enjoying the McCarthy community.

Mr Geoff McManus - Principal