Principal's Report
On behalf of the dedicated staff of McCarthy Catholic College I offer an enthusiastic welcome to all members of the McCarthy family to the new academic year. I particularly welcome all new students and families to the College. In setting the tone for learning at the inaugural College Assembly last Friday morning, I reminisced about the strong Catholic heritage that has led to this point. We have proudly grown from the previous iterations of Catholic education in Tamworth, namely St Dominic’s primary and girls' high school in 1876; Christian Brothers boys' school in 1925; McCarthy Catholic Senior High School from 1972; and Our Lady of the Rosary College from 1981, to where we are today.
The school that we stand in today is our predecessors' gift to all of us. With that comes a responsibility to make the most of the opportunities we are given. Consequently, and the main point of my address, was that we have a personal and collective responsibility to build on this quality tradition to ‘Be Better Everyday’ by being a better learner, a better friend, a better person. The text of the poster presented below provides a daily touchstone for all members of the community to frame and contextualise their learning. Each week at whole college assemblies on a Monday morning we will be reminding students and staff of the mutually agreed expectations and responsibilities in learning spaces, the school grounds, in the community - indeed, at all times.
I commend the extensive consultative work conducted by the pastoral team led by Mr Larkin in working with both students and staff during 2019 to arrive at this quality graphic representation of our expectations as a learning community. A copy of the document can be found in every learning space in the college as a constant reminder for students and staff that we work in partnership to be better everyday!
In referring to the matrix document on Monday I highlighted the value of ‘mistakes’ as ‘learning opportunities’ and showcased a number of ultimately highly successful people like Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and Walt Disney who had taken the message from their failures that a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you! Probably the one that resonates most with me is J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, who described the period in her life when she hit rock bottom — as a single, unemployed divorcee living on the verge of poverty. Like Oprah and the others, it was a bleak hour that ultimately freed her to pursue her heart’s desire.
“Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential,” she said. “I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged.”
Our targeted efforts as educators, in partnership with families is that the young adults at McCarthy have the opportunity and courage to openly make mistakes and learn from them to open up new and creative pathways now and into the future.
Annual Improvement Plan
This aspirational work has a tight framework that is enshrined in the College Annual Improvement Plan (AIP). The plan provides focus for our strategic work in improving students faith and learning outcomes under three domains - Faith Focus; Pastoral and Well-Being Focus; and Teaching and Learning Focus. A copy of the AIP is presented below for your perusal and information. Practical application of the implementation strategies will be presented at appropriate times across the year.
Newsletter Communication Schedule 2020
As presented in the final newsletter of 2019 we are modifying the publication schedule for our College Newsletter from 2020. Newsletters will be sent out via email, COMPASS and Facebook in Weeks 2, 6 and 10 of each Term. Such a change to the newsletter will allow for a more detailed report of academic and community achievement, while also utilising other online platforms such as COMPASS, Facebook and Twitter to communicate shorter reminders and to celebrate achievement both in and out of the classroom. We will seek your feedback regarding the potential efficiencies during 2020.
HSC 2019
The College community congratulates the Class of 2019 on their outstanding HSC results. Our hard working students achieved 13 Band 6s. The Dux, Sebastian Diss, is the recipient of the Sr Patricia Rowe Award for Dux 2019 with an ATAR of 97.65. Sebastian will receive his award in front of the College community on Monday 10 February. We all look forward to hearing an address to the students that sets an aspirational tone for our dedicated students.
Donation from Holy Cross Primary School, Kincumber
During the Walkathon period last year the Year 11s and 12s suggested that we contact ‘city’ schools and seek their financial support for our drought appeal in partnership with St Vincent de Paul. While we did not get too much response we were exceptionally pleased to receive a significant donation of $317.35 from Holy Cross Catholic Primary School in the Broken Bay Diocese very late in December 2019. For a school of around 320 primary age students to generously donate to such a worthwhile cause is both heartening and humbling. The College Captains and Vice-Captains have decided to send a personal letter of thanks as a small token of appreciation. I offer this note as a public display of our appreciation.
Staffing
I welcome new staff to the College for 2020:
Mrs Angell Harris (HSIE), Mrs Carrie Madden (English), Mrs Katie Buckman (Maths), Mr Brad Welsh (Grounds) and Mr Connor Betts (ICT Assistant).
We also welcome the following staff on various contracts - Mrs Wendy Bowden, Mrs Libby Laird and Mrs Josie Cox.
It is with some conflicting emotions that I announce the promotion of Ms Amelia (Millie) Woolaston to a significant leadership role at the CSO as the Education Officer - Performance and Development. While Ms Woolaston has only been with us for a short period of time, the high calibre of her teaching and commitment to community will be sorely missed. The role is a secondment position for 3 years so we may be fortunate enough for her to return to McCarthy in future years. Good luck Millie!
Finally, could I ask that you continue to pray for the future health and well-being of Mrs Sommerlad who is finally recuperating well after extensive complications from surgery during 2019. If her current recovery continues we would hope to welcome her back to the teaching faculty later in the year.
McCarthy Leadership Team for 2020
Principal - Mr Geoff McManus
Assistant Principal - Curriculum: Mrs Sally Sparke
Assistant Principal - Pastoral Care: Mr Mick Larkin
Leader of Mission, Spiritual Formation and Religious Education - Mrs Cate Allen
Leader of Teaching and Learning - Mrs Raelene Maxworthy
Leader of Student Wellbeing - Mrs Sharon Stuart
Leader of Pedagogy - Mrs Briony Martin
Leaders of Student Care
Year 7 - Mr Damian Kenniff dkenniff@arm.catholic.edu.au
Year 8 - Mrs Melissa Bearup mbearup@arm.catholic.edu.au
Year 9 - Mr Bernie Williams bwilliams1@arm.catholic.edu.au
Year 10 -