House Leaders have been decorating the trees in Mercy Square for Christmas.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Catherine McAuley students are embracing the Christmas spirit with students donating to both the JRS Christmas Appeal and the Vinnies Christmas Appeal, whilst also decorating the trees in Mercy Square in Christmas House colours.
Years 7, 8 and 9 students are asked to donate food and essential items to the JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service) Christmas Appeal. The full list of items has been included on the Compass noticeboard but can include cooking oil, canned items such as tomatoes, chickpeas and lentils, biscuits and snacks, laundry detergent and long life full cream milk. The appeal is also accepting $20, $30 and $50 gift vouchers to Coles/Myer and/or Woolworths.
Years 10 and 11 students have been asked to support the Vinnies Christmas Appeal by donating $20, $30 and $50 gift vouchers to Coles/Myer and/or Woolworths with a Christmas cake or pudding.
All donations are being collected in Homeroom.
Mercy Square is looking very festive with House Leaders and Assistant Leaders decorating the trees in their House colours.
Jacqui Hamilton | School Development Officer
Catherine McAuley Westmead
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END OF TERM 2 😀 Best wishes for an enjoyable break. The school office will be closed from 3pm today and will re-open at 9am on Monday 14th July for phone enquiries only. The school office will be completely open on Monday 21st July. School resumes for students on Wednesday, 23rd July.
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The Catherine McAuley Weekly Review for Thursday, 3rd July 2025 is now available:
03 Jul 2025
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PARRAMATTA WOMEN’S SHELTER 💜 Thank you to all members of the Catherine McAuley school community who have donated items to The Big Give for donation to the Parramatta Women’s Shelter. The photo doesn’t truly capture the large amount of items which have been received but there are approximately $2000 worth of groceries!!
03 Jul 2025
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Thank you to the guest judges for yesterday’s Lip Sync Final 🎤 Julia Fleming and Dannielle Miller from the Parramatta Women’s Shelter and the Walk the Talk Program. As a school, we have contributed a donation to Parramatta Women’s Shelter of $7000, an additional $3300 in vouchers, approximately $2000 of groceries and a number of crochet blankets prepared by the Charity Crochet Group.!! 🙌 🙌 Thank you to all students, families and staff for helping the school support this worthy cause! 😍😍 @parrawomensshelter @womenscommunitysheltersau
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Congratulations to the Year 12 winning performance ('The Ed Heads') at the Lip Sync Final yesterday. Highlight clip!
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LIP SYNC FINALS 🤩 Yesterday the Lip Sync Finals was held, the school’s last fundraising event this term for the Parramatta Women’s Shelter. Well done to all the student acts who were selected to perform and to the teachers who performed a final surprise act! 1st Place - Year 12 ‘The Ed Heads’ Runners Up - Year 11 ‘16 Teen Doing 16’ Additional acts were from Year 7, Year 9 and Year 12.
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YEAR 10 CAREER DEVELOPMENT DAY 👩💼👩🔬👩⚕️ Year 10 students recently participated in a valuable Career Development Day, designed to support them as they begin to consider their subjects for Years 11 and 12. The day began with an informative session from Ms McGlenchy, VET Leader, who explained how VET and EVET courses differ from traditional HSC subjects. She also introduced students to School of Now and Cluster classes as additional learning options for courses not offered through the school. Student Ambassadors from the University of Sydney spoke about course applications and a consultant from Turning Point Consulting helped students explore their strengths and personal characteristics, and how these can guide subject choices in line with individual goals and interests. To conclude the day, former students Lucienne, Halie and Andrea shared their experiences with subject selection, study strategies and senior school life, answering questions and offering encouragement from a peer perspective. Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many walking away with a clearer understanding of their options and a sense of relief that there is no single path to success. Key takeaways included: “Choose the subjects you enjoy and are good at, not just what others suggest.” “The HSC isn't the end of the world, there are many pathways to university and careers.” “Be open-minded. It’s okay not to know your exact career yet.” “Subject selection is about what suits you, not what scales better.” “Your ATAR doesn’t define your future, passion and persistence matters.”
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From Facebook
SPECIAL CELEBRATION! 🤩 The Catherine McAuley school community gathered together this morning for the blessing of the statue of Our Lady of Mercy and the new Mercy Chapel windows. Students and teachers watched a livestream of the service from their Homerooms whilst Sisters of Mercy Sr Margaret, Sr Barbara, Sr Margaret and Sr Patricia; stained glass window artists Gillian Brown and Karen Elengikal, from Stained Glass Overlay Penrith; students and teachers who were involved in the creation of the stained glass windows; and staff and student leaders, gathered in the Mercy Chapel. Father Walter Fogarty, Coordinating Pastor, Westmead Catholic Community, celebrated the service and gave the blessing. School Principal Mary Refalo thanked all those who contributed to the creation of both of the new beautiful works of art to be contained in the chapel. “I invite everyone in our school to take ownership of them and to look at them as evidence of our Mercy charism and a way of life that expresses mercy, hospitality, justice, courage, integrity and excellence,” Ms Refalo said. Stained Glass Overlay Penrith
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From Facebook
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From Facebook
AROUND THE CLASSROOMS ➡ Year 8 PDHPE classes participated this week in an information session with a facilitator from Kids Helpline. The students said they enjoyed learning about what services this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, phone counselling service offers. Some quotes from the students are below: “This session was a great way to understand what people our age can be going through and how talking to someone can make a big difference in somebody's life.” “Grace, the Kids Helpline Facilitator, was really helpful because she told us that if we have an issue, either in school or outside of school, she can talk to us at any time, whether it’s morning or afternoon. She told us most calls are in the afternoon after kids come back from school.” Kids Helpline Official “I really enjoyed the interactive call with the Kids Helpline Facilitator and found everything we were told about the calls interesting. For example, we were advised what we would be told when we call them, how long calls can go for, how they help people who have aged out of the service (they help people who are 5 - 25 years old so if anyone turns 26 then Kids Helpline will help them find another service) and more. After the call, if I wanted to call the Kids Helpline I would feel very comfortable to do so.”
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