Bernard Burgess

 Dear Catherine McAuley Catholic College families,

What a week it has been weather wise! Thank you to all our families for their support and understanding throughout a trying week of road closures, bus cancellations, heavy rain and some traffic chaos. These events are challenging for any school, but flexibility and resilience were shown in the CMCC community during this week, and we hope and pray that the worst of this weather event is now behind us.

This week I was fortunate to attend part of the Association of Catholic Schools Principals (ACSP) Conference in the Hunter Valley. Amongst the keynote speakers and workshop providers were Dr Yong Zhao (University of Kansas and former director of the Confucious Institute) speaking on “Educational Transformation in the Age of AI”, Derek Wenmoth, a leader in New Zealand’s future focussed education model speaking on “Fostering Hope Through Systems Thinking and Future – Focussed Education” and  Austen Ivereigh on “The Pope as Storm - Pilot : Horizons of Hope in a Time of Turbulence”.

Each of the speakers challenged principals in their thinking about the way our young people are educated spiritually, academically and wellbeing wise in an ever-changing world. And furthermore, to plan for ensuring our students are not just prepared for the future, but that they in fact are equipped to be “future makers”.

At CMCC we are blessed with a staff who are dedicated to the growth and development of the whole person and who are innovators in their provision of learning experiences for their student learners. As a college we will always endeavour to ensure our graduates are not only positive contributors to society in future, but that they will also help to shape the future.

The CMCC Mother’s Day Breakfast on Friday 16th May was a wonderful occasion for the college with over four hundred attendees throughout the morning. It was a delight to see so many of our students share some quality time with their mums, grandmothers, aunts and mother figures. It was equally delightful to see our Hospitality students and Musicians share their gifts ad talents to ensure this occasion was special in so many ways. Thank you to all who attended and shared this special CMCC community occasion.

We look forward to a more settled week ahead and as always thank our families for working in partnership with the college.

United in Mercy

Bernard Burgess

College Principal