Mary MacKillop Catholic College | Mary MacKillop Catholic College

What a year it has been! A year of firsts! A year full of - dare I say "unprecedented" challenges!

We could focus on covid, but the challenges we have faced, as a College community have posed us with the pivotal question of whether we face up to the challenges or dwell on the imperfections that are part of the new normal.

2020 commenced with the excitement and anticipation of a full calendar of events, and although the unthinkable hit us and the world around us, we have so much to look back on and be proud of. Recently, we compiled a four page list of amazing achievements successfully completed across all pillars of our P-12 College this year, and I would like to share with you, just a few of those.
This year we have very succesfully implemented ATAR and external exams and celebrated our Foundation cohort of Year 12 Graduates with a host of events to commemorate the historic occassion. In the most trying of times, we pivoted to online learning from Prep to Year 12, transformed many of our events into engaging virtual events, inspired by the need to feel a sense of community when we couldn't physically come together. The literacy levels in the junior school are at an all time high as the focus on teaching and positive learning behaviours continues to thrive! In our senior school, we are thrilled to have successfully introduced a host of new elective subjects and a variety of senior pathway opportunities have been embraced by our Year 10 and 11 students.

The construction of our new outdoor chapel by students and for students is one of my personal favourites, and in addition to that, growth in our senior school has enabled the continued development of our master plan! We look forward to showcasing the extension on our senior science block early in the new year.

Today we also say farewell and best wishes to Brett Lunney, Rebecca Vichie, Tonya Girle, Charmaine Tancred, Kathryn Groom, Julia Ryan, Steve Warren, Eve Pola, Sarah Daniel and Juanita Stubbings. We wish you all the best on your new journeys. We also wish Naomi Goddard, Shannon Quinlan and Rebecca Lynch all the best as they take a period of leave in the new year.

On behalf of Mr Gabbett, myself, the Leadership team and entire College staff, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our parents and students for your support.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas, stay safe and we will see you all in 2021.

Charmaine Cridland
Deputy Principal

What a lovely way to end our year with the Year 6 Rite of Passage at the End of Year Mass with our College community. The Year 6 students were involved in various ways throughout the service – reading, welcoming, Acknowledgment of Country, singing, acting out the Gospel story of feeding the 5000 and reading the prayers of the faithful. All Year 6 students were congratulated individually as they received their Rite of Passage certificate from their class teacher and Prep buddy, before moving to have a cohort photo. The College community then clapped and cheered as these students walked through a guard of honour created by the Junior School students.

This ritual signifies the end of their junior school journey as they continue into the senior school next year. Two representatives of the Senior College leaders, Jaymee Suliman and Anabel Austin, welcomed the Year 6 students to the Senior School as they continued their walk through another guard of honour by the senior students. Junior leaders, Quinn Dungey and Adele Adams then cut a cake before letters from parents to their child and letters from the child to their parent were shared. Thank you to all parents for your contribution to this significant milestone in your child’s educational journey. We are all grateful for this opportunity to share as a community after such a challenging year of restrictions.

Enjoy the photos that were captured this morning, have a lovely break and stay safe.

God Bless