Virtually from the outset, the provision of education has been inextricably linked with the Australian Catholic Church’s mission and pastoral strategy. While both political and practical factors influenced the scope of its provision through the decades, quality schooling has nevertheless been an enduring hallmark of the Catholic Church’s profile in this country.
Schools exist for the sake of students. Catholic schools have demonstrable positive outcomes for their students, underpinned with the conviction that the network of the school community is impelled by the Gospel mandate to love and to serve. In MacKillop Catholic College the Gospel is proclaimed explicitly through the curriculum and in the articulation of the school’s mission and ethos, but also implicitly through the quality of relationships and the manner in which the school’s activities are undertaken.
The school’s nature as a faith community ought not to be seen as an added extra, but rather as the ‘yeast’ which gives rise to all that occurs here and the manner in which it happens. Relationships within and beyond the school community are essentially pastoral in nature; they are at the service of the well-being and common good of all and should be pointers to God’s presence among us.
Notwithstanding the primacy of the Catholic cultural context, it is vital that student learning and development and students’ individual needs remain a constant and central focus of the College’s endeavours. This focus, coupled by attentiveness to the emerging learning about learning (meta-learning) – including our understanding of the capacities of the growing young brain – guides and drives strategic innovations in learning and teaching. This is greatly enhanced by the judicious use of meaningful data to inform decision making around curriculum structure and pedagogic methodologies, as well as evaluation of ongoing progress of groups and individuals. We are committed to ensuring that our educational program authentically reflects the social context and the individual requirements of our learners.
Families who seek to enrol their children in Catholic schools do so out of motivation to seek the very best for them. We honour that. The College’s commitment to overall excellence, which fosters the development of its students and staff, is an integral part of our mission. However, participation in the life of the school is an experience – not merely the reception of a service offered. From this perspective, we invite and welcome the contribution and involvement of parents and supporters who form an integral part of our College community.