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Catherine McAuley, Westmead
Catherine McAuley is a Catholic systemic school offering a comprehensive education for girls from Years 7 to 12. Located at Westmead, in close proximity to the central business district of Parramatta, the school began in 1966 as a regional Catholic secondary school for girls in Years 7 to 10 on the present site. Years 11 and 12 were introduced in the mid- 1980’s.
Founded by the Mercy sisters, the school has a strong Mercy charism. The school is located opposite a large hospital/medical research complex which has grown in both size and status since the school was founded. This has created demand for student places and provided opportunities for the school and students to participate in and learn from the work of these institutions. The associated development of transport links and other types of infrastructure have impacted on the school. The Westmead campus is large, with some facilities (the Morley Centre and Swimming Pool) owned and used jointly with Parramatta Marist High.
There are currently 1030 students enrolled in the school, with over 300 of these in Years 11 and 12. Students attend from the local area including the feeder parishes of Winston Hills, Girraween, North Parramatta, Westmead, Wentworthville, Harris Park and Parramatta. A significant proportion of students attend from a wider geographic area, and Year 7 students in 2005 came from over 50 different primary schools. Approximately 60% of students are from a Non-English Speaking Background, however, the vast majority of students were born in Australia.
Catherine McAuley currently has a teaching staff of 79. Specialist non-teaching staff roles include a Business Manager, School Counsellor, Careers Adviser (0.6FTE), three part-time Learning Support teachers, a Teacher-Librarian and a Communications Coordinator. The ancillary staff provides secretarial, financial and maintenance support, along with assistants for Science, Technological and Applied Studies (TAS), Information Communication Technology (ICT), the Information Resource Centre and Learning Support.
A campus master planning process was carried out in 2000 with the school communities of Catherine McAuley and Parramatta Marist High. The capital building project in 2001 that resulted from this master planning process saw the upgrade of the Science facilities, refurbishment of the Visual Arts facilities and the building of new TAS & ICT facilities. Other improvements to facilities that have been made since 1996 include refurbishment of the Administration and staff areas, development of Mercy Square, the McAuley Forum, the school canteen, refurbishment of the Drama space and the Information Resource Centre.
The school offers a broad curriculum, with flexible choices that cater for the wide range of student abilities. The excellent co-curricular program enables students to experience involvement and success in a wide variety of areas. Programs have been implemented in Year 7 that develop metacognition skills and enable students to analyse their own learning styles to assist them in their development as autonomous, life-long learners.
School Review 2003
A whole School Review was conducted in 2003.
The following is an extract from the School Review Report
“The report affirmed that the school is at the leading edge of innovative learning and teaching practice. The review panel strongly affirmed the dynamic learning community that has been established at Catherine McAuley and acknowledged the visionary leadership of the principal in sustaining this concept. There is a genuine sense of team within the Catherine McAuley learning community, based on a culture of collaboration and consultation. There is also a sense of excitement and pride in the pacesetting nature of this work, especially the focus on providing an appropriate learning environment for the education of girls.
The Catherine McAuley community is commended for the significant achievements in the area of curriculum, learning and teaching. Taking on the challenge of developing students as independent and autonomous learners, has been and will continue to be, a boldly innovative and challenging venture. The key to the success achieved thus far is not based on any one project or pedagogical style. Rather, the school has developed an appreciation of the concept that new ways of learning must come about from new ways of thinking and new ways of knowing. The school has also moved some considerable distance in making the necessary paradigm shift amongst staff, students and parents to support this initiative.
The panel commends the whole school approach to the integration of Information Communication Technology skills. It was clear to the panel that a number of staff members have made a significant commitment to researching best practice models within educational settings and employing creative ways of using the technology to enhance student learning.
This review report makes frequent reference to the visionary and directional nature of the leadership team. Within the school’s well defined strategic planning processes, the formal leadership structure is an effective and motivating force that drives the school’s agenda in learning, teaching and pastoral care. Through a shared understanding of decision-making processes, effective channels of communication and the empowerment of a group of committed and competent middle managers, the school has successfully transformed a philosophy about leadership into a lived reality.”
