What does it mean to be a school in the 2020s?

“The overwhelming evidence depicting thousands of years of occupation of the Worimi is still clearly visible,” said Worimi Elder, Uncle Neville Lilley, during his eloquent Welcome to Country at the Catherine McAuley Catholic College Launch Evening. “We, the Worimi, continue to walk on this land today … On behalf of my people, I welcome you all to our God-given country.”

 

With attendance exceeding our expectations, a large number of families packed the Green House at Pacific Dunes, Medowie. While college chaplain Father James Odoh prayed and blessed our community, across the road North Construction was busy making progress on Stage 1 of the building works, which are on track for completion at the end of this year.

Peter Antcliff, foundation assistant principal, joined me in passionately communicating the college moral imperative (vision), mission and McAuley learner profile, featured in the prospectus.  These were proudly distributed to families, along with information packs containing a variety of material about the college, including upcoming events and key dates for 2021.

A new school provides many opportunities. This includes the chance to reimagine education so that it prepares our young people for a world that is very different from what most of today’s parents experienced when growing up. We believe our moral imperative, to “empower a mercy-inspired community of confident, agile, reflective learners”, will be just as relevant in 100 years as it is now.

The evening provided us with the exciting opportunity of unveiling the college uniform. Ranier Design Group took great pleasure in outlining items for boys and girls, which generated great excitement among families. The uniform, with the Mercy cross at the crest’s centre, provides choice and comfort for our students. Importantly, it also reflects our visual identity, which seeks to create a connection among the diverse groups that are coming together to form one, cohesive college community.

What we are most excited about is our unique college house structure. Unlike most secondary schools where houses are usually aligned to sport and carnivals, the college has developed a distinctive model that supports learning at a stage level for students. Houses will be the foundation of learning and wellbeing, a place of belonging and a “school within a school”, a student's home.  We look forward to sharing these details, including house names that honour our indigenous heritage.

Interest in the college has been very strong since officially opening enrolments at our launch event. Next term, we will have the opportunity of connecting with all prospective families who have submitted enrolment applications. As momentum builds, we edge closer to officially opening the gates in 2021 and living our college mission to “co-create learning environments where faith, purpose, fulfilment and joy are experienced by all”.

To find out more about Catherine McAuley Catholic College or to register your interest, click here.

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