Dear McAuley Families

I had to drag myself away from the concrete trucks and pumps to write this week’s newsletter.  There is a little boy in all of us who still love to see diggers and trucks, formwork and lovely mud!

The good news is that progress is being made on the Primary Campus building program and all are very happy with the work so far.  I continue to be grateful to our students and staff for their flexibility around the displacement and change they have faced so far. I am excited at the end result which will make our school a much more modern and attractive place.

Semester Reports: Teachers are busy assessing and testing to gather data for reports.  I need to notify Primary Parents that there continues to be no written comments on Primary Reports.

Reporting Semester 1: Our teaching team has begun the process of creating each student’s Semester 1 report.

In Semester 1:

For Kindergarten students:

• Achievement in each subject will be reported using a four-point scale (Well Above Expectations, Above Expectations, Meeting Expectations and Working Towards Expectations).

 For Year 1 to Year 6 students:

• Academic grades for each subject using a five-point scale from A-E will be reported using the NSW Common Grade Scale.

 For all students:

• Strand Achievement will be reported in English, Mathematics, Human Society and its Environment, PDHPE and Creative Arts using a five-point scale (Excellent, High, Sound, Basic, Elementary).
• Engagement with Learning statements, which are taken directly from the Australian Curriculum, will provide specific information about your child’s Critical and Creative Thinking, and Personal and Social Responsibility, using a three-point scale (Beginning, Developing, Consistently). 

• Individual student comments will not be used in the Semester 1 Primary Reports.

Dialogue is an important feature of reporting. The Semester Report in this format encourages parent engagement and conversation about student learning. We want the report to be the entry point for parent-teacher interviews where we can engage in genuine conversation about your child’s strengths, challenges, effort and areas for growth.

You are encouraged to attend Parent Teacher Interviews to speak honestly with your child’s teacher about their progress and to set some goals for the future.  Details will be sent home requesting that you book online for interviews early next term.

The new approach to Academic Reporting is a developing process. Further work will be undertaken in the coming months to determine how progress and achievement is best reported based on what we know to be important information about a student’s learning and progress in consultation with Catholic Education.

NAPLAN: National testing in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 commenced this week.  The early sessions were smooth and the use of technology went well.  This testing provides us with important “point in time” data on a number of areas.  I encourage parents to be sure their children are well fed and well rested over these days so they can participate fully in the tasks allocated to them.

Wellbeing Week:  Keep an eye out for our Wellbeing Week Parent Session “Managing Big Emotions” which will be held in the McAuley Hall Classroom on Wednesday 2 June at 5.30pm.  Please feel free to come along and participate in a practical and interactive session with Rebekah from KidsExpress.

Enrolling Now for 2022:  We are in enrolment period and I know that all our families will be encouraging those seeking a Catholic education grounded in literacy and numeracy skills with a strong values base to consider McAuley for their children.  McAuley is an excellent school with highly skilled and committed staff who work for strong academic and personal outcomes.

We have vacancies in many year levels and especially seek enrolments in Kindergarten and Year 7, 2022. It is a joy to begin Kinder interviews this week and meet such happy and excited pre-schoolers keen to come to McAuley next year.

We will host Information and Orientation Sessions (details below) and welcome any enquiries people may have.

2022 Information/Orientation Sessions: 

Tuesday 15 June:

• Kindergarten 2022: Parent classroom visits from 10.00am
• Year 7, 2022 Parent Information session 5.00pm

Friday 18 June:

• Year 7, 2022 Orientation Day 1 (All current Year 6 students and interested students from other schools) 9.00am – 3.15pm

Uniform: There was good discussion at last week’s Community Council Meeting around uniform.  We continue to work with Swans to rationalise our uniform and bring about one which is comfortable and affordable. Please continue to use Swans as the main supplier.  Any change in uniform will be phased in over a long period of time.  We hope that new uniform will be announced in the next few weeks.

If Swans do not have available stock then items which are similar can be purchased elsewhere or students should wear the current sports uniform (polo shirt, blue shorts/pants/skirt, white socks & black shoes (joggers on Fridays). 

Hoodies are not part of school uniform and can only be worn by Year 10 students who have purchased the McAuley Hoodie. Again we will offer warm alternatives in the new uniform.

I am grateful for your support in upholding the uniform expectations of the school and again apologise for the uncertainty we have faced due to supply and delivery of certain items.

Mary our Mother… Look after us.

Eamonn Moore

Principal