Dear Colleagues,

Feast of the Assumption

On Friday, 15 August, we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of our Lady. For us, Mary is the link between Jesus’ humanity and divinity. As our heavenly mother and a model, I ask that we pray and trust in God’s plan.

“Heavenly mother, filled with God's grace, pray for us today and all days,

that we may strive to trusting, patient, and faithful, as you were,

so that we may one day join you and all saints in heaven.

 In Jesus' name, we pray. Immaculate Mary, assumed into heaven,

 teach us to trust in God's plan the way you did. Amen”

Knights V Panthers Indigenous Round

Last Friday night, students from Saint Francis Xavier's, Hamilton, and Catherine McAuley Catholic College, Medowie, represented our Diocese by dancing at the Knights vs Panthers game during the Indigenous round. This opportunity was provided to the students through the NRL School to Work program, which supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in transitioning from Year 12 to the workforce or tertiary studies.

It was an incredible experience for the Year 12 NRL School to Work students, and they greatly appreciated the chance to strengthen their cultural ties and share their culture with a broad audience. The schools are proud of their strong partnership with the NRL School to Work program, which allows them to offer such meaningful opportunities for students.

Thanks also go to the staff who facilitate the program.

NSWPSSA Rugby

NSWPSSA Rugby was held at Gateshead last week. Polding had three outstanding group games, defeating South Coast, MacKillop, and Sydney Southwest to reach the semi-finals, where they faced a tough Sydney West team, narrowly losing to finish third overall.

A special mention to Parker Herrmann, who was named in the NSWPSSA team — one of six students from our Diocese to make the Polding team. Having this many players from the Diocese in the team highlights the strength of rugby in our region, which is a credit to our sporting pathways and our partnership with Rugby NSW, who support our schools.

ECT Programming and Assessment Professional Learning Day

Over 70 Early Career Teachers attended the Programming and Assessment Days at the Catholic Schools Office on 14 and 15 August 2025.

This professional learning focused on developing the knowledge and skills of Early Career Teachers in programming and assessment, catering for EALD learners in the classroom and creating awareness and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures.

The essential components of programming, organising content using syllabuses as a basis for programming, and understanding quality assessment and compliance were unpacked.

Thanks to Liz Stokes, Julie Mulhearn, Bec Zammit, Louise Robinson, Danielle Barry, Craig Duncan and Maree Adams, who facilitated on the day.

Special mention to Narelle Cross and Jane Scahill, who organised the days as part of the Early Career Teachers Professional Learning.

Liz Stokes (System Lead Secondary Curriculum and Pedagogy)

Julie Mulhearn (System Lead Primary Curriculum and Pedagogy)

Invitation to Provide Feedback on SchoolTV

Dear Principals,

As part of CSMN’s ongoing commitment to enhancing quality and effectiveness, we invite you to complete a brief survey regarding SchoolTV.

SchoolTV is an online platform currently available to all 57 diocesan school communities and offers a wide range of wellbeing resources to support families.

Complete the Survey Here

Your feedback will help CSMN better understand the platform’s perceived value and its effectiveness in supporting school staff as they partner with parents and carers to promote student wellbeing.

The survey should take no more than 5 minutes to complete. Please submit your responses by Tuesday, 26 August.

Thank you for your time and valuable insights.

The 2025 theme is “Book an Adventure!”

This year's theme celebrates the joy of reading and the adventures found within books. The featured artist for the year, Jess McGeachin, has brilliantly captured this adventurous spirit in his artwork, which features a whimsical map filled with imaginary characters. Jess’s illustration invites young readers to embark on fantastical journeys, inspiring them to explore the worlds that books open.!

This is a fantastic chance to spark imagination and celebrate the delight of reading.

I can't wait to see all the incredible Book Week costumes from our students and staff next week across our schools!

It's always such a pleasure to witness the creativity and excitement from everyone involved.

Annual School Visits 

Catherine McAuley College, Medowie

I sincerely thank Bernard Burgess and his staff for their dedication to our students and the Medowie school community.

The college shared its targeted approach to enhancing student learning through implementing the Collaborative Inquiry model—Insight and Ignite. This model is being effectively integrated to support the development and consistent application of high-impact literacy and numeracy strategies across the school.

The college's commitment to basing its practices on research and data is particularly commendable. By developing localised strategies, we learned how staff are promoting consistency in active reading techniques and establishing a shared language and methodology in mathematics across faculties. This deliberate and collaborative effort is helping to foster a culture of continuous improvement and shared professional growth.

The school has made substantial progress in embedding its Mercy values into daily practice through its Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) framework. By aligning expected behaviours with these core values, the school has created a clear and consistent foundation for its learning environment. It was encouraging to hear about the focused approach to targeted praise, and we look forward to observing the ongoing PB4L journey strengthen and evolve. 

With my best wishes,

Jacqui