William and Mitchell are students of St Aloysius Catholic Primary School at Chisholm, in Years 5 and 2 respectively, while young Christian is 4 years old.
Asked about their choice of school, Alison said, “We decided to enrol our boys at St Aloysius for the opportunity to attend a custom-built school with a 21st century approach to learning. The addition of the new St Bede’s next door is icing on the cake!”
William and Mitchell Jackson will be among the first students to complete their primary schooling at St Aloysius, and soon, Christian will experience his own milestone – he will belong to the first cohort at St Nicholas Early Education, Chisholm, opening early in 2018.
For Alison and Darren, this offers “the opportunity to engage with and make friends with other children who will most likely continue into kindergarten with Christian in 2019. Also the immediate proximity to St Aloysius will allow for a seamless transition from preschool to ‘big school’.”
St Bede’s Catholic College will open in January 2018, so there’s a lot happening on one convenient site at Chisholm.
Meanwhile, William and Mitchell are enjoying being at St Aloysius, and they look forward to Christian setting off with them next year. The Jacksons agree, “We’ve been extremely happy with our experience at St Aloysius so far. As a founding family, we’ve seen the school grow and the community become established.
“Our boys are very happy and settled, and look forward to going to school every day which is all we can ever really ask for!”
Principal of St Aloysius, Suzanne Fern, says her staff are delighted by the fact that soon, families will have ‘one-stop’ education on offer. “Parents and carers will be able to drop off pre-schoolers, primary and secondary students, and older children will be able to keep a friendly eye on the younger ones. Also, the three campuses – St Nick’s, St Aloysius and St Bede’s – very much sit within the wider community and maintain parish connections to Morpeth.”
Alison Jackson reflects, “St Aloysius provides lots of opportunities for extra activities for the boys to engage in, depending on their interests, and I’ve always found the staff approachable and considerate.”
In 2018, parents of children at St Nick’s and St Bede’s will, no doubt, have exactly the same experience.