Dear McAuley Families

We end the year weary but deeply proud of our achievements this year.  As I write, the ground works are beginning on our two new learning spaces, necessary as we expand into Years 11 and 12 in 2023/24.

Amongst the interruptions and uncertainty caused by another wave of COVID 19, our teaching and support staff have continued to deliver high quality teaching and learning.  We have seen improved results in all areas and were recently ranked #27 in Riverina Schools for our NAPLAN results.  This places us in the top 1/3 of local schools and is an excellent result.

Our recruitment campaign has been very successful and unlike many schools locally & nationally we will begin 2023 fully staffed – God willing!  Enrolments are growing with enquiries across all year levels being very strong.  We will begin next year with 40 + new enrolments to our school.  We will welcome 23 Kinders and 57 Year 7 students plus our 18 Year 11s! 

We recently were joined by our Catholic Education Director, Local Member Kristy McBain and other guests to bless and open our renovations and extensions. We celebrated more than $2 million worth of work across our Primary and Secondary campuses, which directly benefit our students in the provision of light, bright, open and flexible learning spaces. We also look forward to the fruition of our Building Master Plans and the next round of Block Grant applications which call for more large scale demolition and construction in our Primary School. 

I am immensely proud and grateful for the massive workload our teachers have taken on.  Our Stage 6 team have not only been working to finish their 2022 classes and have had quite tight timeframes to plan curriculum and assessment for next year at the same time.  They are working above and beyond to create an engaging and exciting path for our first Graduating Class of 2024. I thank them all most sincerely for their professionalism and massive efforts.

We farewell three extraordinarily long serving members of staff this year. Libby McGruer, Wendy Hill & Julie Greacen have given almost 100 years of combined service to our school in their roles.  Their dedication and care to our students and families is well known and deeply appreciated.  We also say farewell to Cat Dawson & Bethany Bruce and thank them for their care and strong efforts for our Primary students.

To those families who leave our school in the coming days I wish you all well.  I hope that your sons and daughters will take with them a fond memory of McAuley as a place of belonging, of care and hospitality.  I feel certain that Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy would be deeply proud of the progress our community is making in providing a faith based, innovative and progressive education for all of our students.  We are keen to embrace every opportunity into the future – all for the benefit of our students.

We will welcome around 6 new staff to our school as we begin 2023.  We are looking forward to their contributions as we grow and expand.  Our school motto “Believe, Strive, Achieve” is a lived reality for us all as we move into an exciting future. 

I also thank sincerely our Priests, Fr George and Fr Namora for their prayerful support and example to us.  Fr George in particular, has been a massive support to me as a leader and has freely offered his pastoral care and wise counsel to me as your Principal.  I wish them both well as they move to new Parishes in January 2023.

We enjoyed a visit from our new priest Fr Joe on Monday.  It was terrific to be able to show him not only our school, but to travel and briefly meet our cluster schools at Batlow, Adelong and Gundagai.  I know Father is keen to be heavily involved in all of our schools and look forward to his interactions with us next year.

We are blessed to have strong support from our Community Council and I thank the Executive for their support of our school’s mission and projects.  I look forward to next year where we can work without restrictions to embrace fundraising and social activities and re-invigorate our Community Council.  Natalie Bartlett deserves special thanks for her support of me and the school and for her work in the Archdiocesan Consultation group that has worked over the last year reviewing the roles and responsibilities of Boards and Community Councils.

Finally, a letter has been sent to the Catholic Education Commission and Archbishop Christopher Prowse requesting that the school be renamed in 2024 as our first graduates complete Year 12 to “McAuley Catholic College, Tumut”.  This is a recognition of our growth and progress as a K-12 Catholic School and a real choice for our local families to continue a pathway of excellent in faith-based learning for the entire education of their children.

I personally wish all families a peaceful, restful, and hopeful Christmas.  I trust that all can enjoy the company of family and friends and gather with a spirit of gratitude and thanks for the many achievements we have made together as a school community.  I wish you all safe travel, a merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Mary our mother, Look after us.

Eamonn Moore

Principal