ACTING PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
It has been pleasing this week to see all of the activities that are currently happening and the experiences that are being offered to our students. Our Year 10 class are currently in Tasmania, exploring many of the sites as well as learning plenty about the history of the Apple Isle. Throughout this week, we have had our Year 12 Primary Industries students completing their mandatory work placements. These are valuable experiences, where the students learn important skills about the workplace. On Wednesday, our Year 8 students travelled to Yarrangobilly Caves as part of their Science unit. We currently have a group of Year 5 & 6 boys in Sydney competing at the NSW Basketball Championships. This coming Friday we welcome the Year 7 students for 2025 to the Secondary Campus for their Year 7 Orientation Day. Next week, our Year 9 students will travel to Tathra on the South Coast to participate in a range of activities from surf safety and learning how to surf to important team building activities. In week 9, our Year 5 & 6 students will get to enjoy the activities on offer at the Jindabyne Sport & Recreation camp. I would like to thank our teaching and administration staff for their organisation and coordination of these events. Thank you to our students also for representing our school with such great conduct at these events.
Social Media Ban for Under 16s.
There has been a lot of talk recently regarding the ban on social media for children under the age of 16. As our Government has indicated, there does need to be some reforms around the use of social media, especially with young people. The Federal Parliament has recently passed legislation to ban people under 16 from having an account with some social media platforms. It will be interesting to see how that is enforced going forward. As we have communicated to families in the past, active supervision by parents and family members is paramount to ensure safety in online environments. A reminder that any negative activity should be reported to the eSafety Commissioner.
Building Projects
Our building projects are progressing well. The Primary Campus renovations are nearing the stage where frames will be installed. We have been told that once this occurs, we will be able to see tangible progress as the buildings take shape.
Next week on Thursday 5 December at 5:00 pm, we have a function at the Star hotel to recognise the contribution of staff who are leaving McAuley at the end of 2024. The Community Council is sending out an invite to families if they wish to come along and say thanks.
Semester school reports will be made available for students K-10 on Thursday 12 December via the Compass Parent Portal. I encourage you to read these with your children, as it can be an affirming and positive experience for your children to discuss their academic success.
Classroom/KLA Teachers 2025
We are in the process of finalising both Primary and Secondary classroom teachers for 2025. As some of you may have seen, we have been busy recruiting teachers to our College and we hope to be able to communicate our 2025 teaching staff to families soon.
Transition Day for Primary Classes
Our Primary class transition day is scheduled for Tuesday 10 December. Primary Students will have the opportunity to meet their new teacher for 2025. There will be more details communicated closer to the day so that parents understand the process involved with the transition time.
Mary our Mother, Look after us.
David Turnbull,
Acting Principal