Dear McAuley Families

Autumn has finally arrived!  With that, please be sure your sons and daughters are in correct uniform as they begin to ‘rug up’ on the cooler mornings.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been speaking with staff and students about our behavioural expectations for our boys and girls.  These are our ‘non-negotiable’ expectations which apply to all our students on both Primary and Secondary campuses.

We have agreed entry and exit routines for every classroom.

Students line up quietly and wait for the teacher to enter. At the end of the lesson students stand behind their chairs and wait to be dismissed.

Secondary classrooms are to have seating plans for each class.

Teachers will direct students where they are to sit in each class.

Phones are to be placed in classroom pockets or bags and not used when not needed.

Our phone policy is that phones are not to be used in class or break times during the school day.

If a student is asked to leave class or needs to be removed, then an email should go home to that family about disruptive behavior.

Teachers will contact families if student behaviour is disrupting the learning of others and wasting valuable time.

Consistency - consistency - consistency...

We know that consistency in expectation is the best way for the College to operate.

The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) wrote in 2023 “…Explicitly teaching and modelling the expected behaviours of routines helps to free up students’ working memory to focus on learning.

To support students, a teacher should establish routines for specific tasks or times of the school day, such as entering the classroom, answering questions or transitioning between activities.

Students who have learned the behaviours and routines expected of them and had sufficient opportunities to practise to the point they become automatic, won’t have to think about these things while focused on learning…” (Chaffee et al., 2017; Simonsen et al., 2008).

We are also about to launch our “McAuley Way” campaign.  These agreed actions are at the core of what our students commit to each day in their learning.  It is our goal that these words are well known and well publicised in our classrooms and homes and become our ‘core’ actions and habits.

At McAuley, as students we LEARN:

Listen
Engage
Attitude
Reflect
Nurture

I also reminded Secondary students about correct and safe uniform.  Since the implementation of our improved uniform, uptake has been excellent. Our students are comfortable, able to move and play and feel proud to wear their uniform. 

Please note that earrings, bangles and neck chains can be unsafe in certain situations and therefore are not appropriate wear for lesson time. Please assist us at home by enforcing the expectations of the College as you send your sons and daughters to school each day.

Thanks to those families who took advantage of our open evening on the Secondary Campus and those who attended the Year 11 and 12 interviews.  It was terrific to see so many proud students showing their families our growing and improved facilities and spaces in the senior section of the college.  We all are excited to see the Primary build as it is moving positively towards completion.

Mary our mother, look after us.

Eamonn Moore

Principal

It is thanks to the continued support of College families and organisations such as Visy Tumut who donate all their eligible containers collected at the manufacturing site on an ongoing basis to the fund. Our school is located in a town that is home to Australia's largest recycling company and largest paper machine.  Visy continually supports community initiatives like the R&E program, that are aligned with its circular economy philosophy which will instil values and awareness on sustainability in our new generation.

The Community Council had a stall on the Secondary Campus on Tuesday during the Meet & Greet event. They had lots of constructive discussions with parents, teachers and a few students about how we can grow the school container deposit scheme (CDS) recycling program.  They handed out flyers that described the process of setting up the R&E phone app and using the barcode to donate the funds to the school.  Visy Corporate in Melbourne donated about 650 Visy Exchange bags that are ideal to collect your CDS containers at home or when camping.  It can hold up to 100 containers,  that relates to about $10 for the school if returned through the R&E fund.  Anyone in NSW that would like to support the school can collect a free Visy bag.  These can be collected at the McAuley Secondary office or at the Tumut Resource Recovery depot at Gilmore, but you have to be quick as bags are limited. 

Recycling through the R&E program is not only good for the environment but for our community too.  We encourage families to support the school by donating their containers through this R&E program, to allow the Community Council to fill the needs of students on campus.  Later in the year the school will do monthly recycling drives where containers can be brought to the school, so please keep an eye on the newsletters for notification of the start date.

 

-    FAITH IN ACTION   -

Tony Butler, local parishioner, is involved in this year’s Tumut Takes 2 musical fundraising event.

Tony is excited to support KidsXpress as his charity.

KidsXpress provide children access to expressive therapies which enhance their emotional well-being, improve learning at school and enrich their home environment.

Tony’s fundraising actions are to obtain any donations big or small which will go directly to support the delivery of therapeutic mental health of our most vulnerable children and their caregiving networks in the Snowy Valleys.

One of the biggest challenges our communities are facing is the mental health and wellbeing of children.

Early intervention in life, the better the outcome for children to grow into happier, healthier adults.

We need to ensure this vital program is always accessible for our rural children.

So please assist Tony in his financial goal in supporting KidsXpress.