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- PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
- PRIMARY CAMPUS BGA
- STAFF SPIRITUALITY DAY
- NAPLAN
- YEAR 7 HISTORY EXCURSION
- MACKILLOP RUGBY UNION TRIALS
- STORY TIME
- YEAR 12 BRUNCH
- COLONIAL DAY
- YEAR 2 WRITING
- STAGE 3 LIBRARY LITERACY
- NAIDOC WEEK
- HOMEWORK CENTRE
- SECONDARY MATHEMATICS HOMEWORK
- INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC GROUP
- SAVE THE DATE
- LIBRARY BORROWING
- PRIMARY AWARDS WEEK 1
- SNOWY HYDRO COMPETITION
- CENSUS COLLECTION
- PARENTING RIVERINA
- CAREERS BULLETINS
Dear McAuley Families
Welcome back to Term 3. You will have all witnessed the works beginning as we installed temporary spaces for the Primary BGA project. We anticipate moving into the transportables during Week 2 for the demolition of the primary admin and toilet blocks sometime after Week 3 (05 August).
The contractors for the project are Monarch Building Solutions and have quite some experience with school projects. Of course, they are required to follow safe practices in line with required legislation and WHS requirements.
Early works will require the safe removal of some hazardous materials found in the existing buildings. Air monitoring and exclusion zones will be in place to ensure the safety and comfort of our students and staff. The asbestos removal contractor selected will be expected to undertake the asbestos removal works in accordance with the following applicable New South Wales legislation:
- New South Wales Work Health and Safety Act 2011
- New South Wales Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017
- Code of Practice: How to Safely Remove Asbestos [SafeWork NSW 2022}
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have questions or concerns about this part of the project.
This newsletter will contain the finalised building and renovation plans for the works to take place over the coming weeks and months. You will see that we will end up with a total of 10 classrooms, library space, new canteen, and undercover areas. This is an exciting opportunity for our Primary Campus to boast fresh, modern, and safe areas to learn and teach. I am grateful already for the flexibility of our staff and students as they begin the process of relocation and “making do” in the areas we are providing in the interim. Thank you all for your continued support and commitment to making the College an outstanding place for our boys and girls to learn and our staff to work.
Over the next few weeks our Class of XXIV will begin the process of trials, exams, and assessments to complete their Higher School Certificate (HSC). I am continually reassuring our boys and girls that our entire community are united in prayerful support for them as they begin this process.
Andrew Fuller (a well-known child psychologist) always has really practical ideas for us as teachers and parents. See his Blog at www.andrewfuller.com.au/blog. His article on supporting students in the senior years recommends:
- Develop a system. Work together to plan an ideal week – 8 hours sleep a night, time to relax, best breakfast foods, best study times, best times for part-time work, how to handle parties and events at exam time. I like his notion of “study sprints”. That is 20-50 minutes study with a 10-minute break. Also negotiate some time away each day from social mediA.
- Steer students back to the system. Prepare for coping with ‘meltdowns’ by offering food, rest, exercise, or some social time.
- Deal with catastrophic thinking. You will probably say the ‘wrong thing’ but… get back to basics. Don’t engage in long rambling ‘what if?’ talks. Feed them, rest them, hydrate them. Slowly rebuild confidence.
- Know what to do when the system breaks down. August is the time for students to lose motivation and become disheartened. This is also the time that the best study and learning takes place. Help with organisation, note taking, charts & summaries.
- Keep in touch with teachers. Work together with the experts at school.
- Deal with the ‘build up’. Keep things calm, fill the cupboards with good food, lots of water and allow for social time. Consider a break from part time work for your student – allow them time for study and revision. Think about delaying big family events until after exam time.
- It’s not the end of the world… Remind your boys and girls that the result is not their future. Many of us built wonderful lives and careers after year 12.
Remain positive, upbeat, and calm. Believe that your son or daughter is equipped to do their best. “Adding an anxious parent to a panicking teenager is always a recipe for disaster…”
I look forward to our first cohort of Year 12 making us deeply proud of their achievements reflecting the excellent education they will have experienced at the College.
Mary our mother look after us.
Eamonn Moore
Principal
- Exploring the Life of Catherine McAuley: Understanding the foundations of the Sisters of Mercy and the history of McAuley College.
- Reflecting on Values and Traditions: Embracing the charism of the Sisters of Mercy in our daily interactions and professional lives.
- Providing Opportunities for Formation: Engaging in prayerfulness and reflection to deepen our spiritual growth.
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Fostering a Communal Catholic Identity: Strengthening the sense of community and shared faith within our College.
Students can use NAPLAN results to identify skills they have proficient understanding and application in as well as identify aspects where further effort and understanding is required for additional progress.
Teachers can use NAPLAN results to identify and challenge higher-performing students, to confirm who are making steady progress as well as to support those who are experiencing difficulty in achieving proficiency.
For school systems and governments NAPLAN provides helpful data to support school improvement plans, funding of projects and informing good teaching/learning strategies.
During the last week of Term 2, our Year 7 students travelled to Canberra to attend the “Life and Death in Ancient Egypt” exhibition at the National Museum. The exhibition had more than 220 fascinating objects on loan from the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities to allow students to discover the everyday practices and religious beliefs of ancient Egyptian people. Students were able to investigate Egyptian artefacts including household pottery, objects for worship, and an ancient board game, before spending time in the exhibition’s discovery space for hands-on activities.
Alfie Carney and Henry Piper travelled to Forbes during the last week of Term 2 for the MacKillop Rugby Union Trials. Although they played very well and showed themselves to be terrific sportsmen, they were not selected on the day.
On the last day of Term 2, Year 1 and Year 2 joined classes to share their Information Reports. Year 1 wrote about emus and Year 2 wrote about possums. Both classes enjoyed reading and sharing their stories of these Australian animals to each other.
On their last day of Term 2, our Year 12 students enjoyed a pastoral brunch outing to Two Tarts, Tumut. It was a wonderful opportunity for them to relax, spend time with their cohort, and celebrate their achievements as they look toward to their final term of formal classes.
Students read the author bios or listened to podcast interviews. Students also learnt about the author's current "Notable" books in the competition. Author winners will be announced Friday 16 August.
Surveys conducted revealed the most preferred title from four authors is "Scar Town" by Tristan Bancks.
Some new authors and their great new titles have been discovered to read and enjoy.
Kindergarten have spent time this week discussing the importance of NAIDOC week and learning the history of this event. We have displayed the poster proudly in our classroom Wiradjuri display area and have added some of our own colouring in that represents the theme 'Keep the Fire Burning, 'Blak, Loud and Proud'.
The Homework Centre is currently running every Wednesday straight after school for an hour (finishes at 4:10pm). All Secondary students are welcome. Mathematics teacher, Ms Julie Piper supervises and highly recommends students attend.
The College subscribes to a homework program for our students called Hotmaths. Students from Year 7 to 10 are expected to complete 15 to 20 minutes of Mathematics homework at least three nights per week.
The tasks on Hotmaths correspond with the work covered in class and are useful to reinforce the concepts covered and as extension work.
Years 4, 5 and 6 also have access to Hotmaths. All students have a login and password for this program.
We are looking at forming an instrumental music group and would be grateful for the donation of any instruments you have that you no longer want or need. Donations can be given to the office on either campus. Thank you for your support!
A reminder for K-6 students to bring library bags next week please as library borrowing for them is every even week.
Take a deep dive into what a renewable energy future can look like!
Snowy Hydro is excited to invite students aged 8-18 to help prepare for a renewable future!
Students will be asked to hypothetically work for Snowy Hydro as a Snowy Hydro Futurist. Their job is to explore ideas or inventions to help reduce emissions.
Can you use the heat of the toaster to help power the fridge? What about a robot that helps to remind us to turn the lights off? Or a display showing how much money you save by lowering the heating or cooling?
The inventions can be real, or creative and fanciful. The only limit is the student's imagination
