| Principal | Mary Refalo |
|---|---|
| Year levels | 7 to 12 |
| Enrolment numbers | 1027 |
| Boarding or day | day |
| Website | http://www.mcauley.nsw.edu.au |
| Phone | (02) 9849 9100 |
| Fax | (02) 9849 9199 |
| Postal address |
2 Darcy Rd, Westmead NSW 2145, Westmead, 2145 |
| Address | 2 Darcy Rd, Westmead NSW 2145 |
Catherine McAuley Westmead is a Catholic secondary girls’ school in the Mercy tradition. In embracing our Mercy heritage, we aspire to a God-centred way of life and commit to excellence in girls’ education, empowering young women to be actively involved in social justice. We celebrate our diversity and inclusiveness and affirm the dignity of each person. As a Mercy school we value justice, excellence, integrity, courage, mercy and hospitality. The school aims to support students to become independent, life-long, autonomous learners. It does this by encouraging students to have some control over the learning process, through active participation and problem-solving, and to take some responsibility for planning and organising their learning. The learning environment includes both traditional classrooms and flexible spaces. Many of our learning areas are connected and some have moveable walls to allow for a variety of different size learning. The furniture in the learning spaces also caters for a variety of learning pedagogies. The spaces can be adapted for structured and social learning. These spaces cater for student-owned learning, collaboration and project work as well as more teacher directed learning experiences when needed. The social learning opportunities especially cater for the education of our girls. Staff are encouraged and supported in developing their teaching strategies, including their use of information communication technology. The whole school is wireless networked and students have access to wireless laptops for use in lessons and for individual study. Catherine McAuley has 1-1 student access to computers. Staff are also supported in providing a stimulating learning environment, through the use of group work, information and communication technology, learning and teaching strategies to foster student motivation. A broad range of programs has been used to develop students’ understanding of respect for each other and responsibilities for their own actions. Pastoral care lies at the core of our responsibility to provide a safe and caring environment for students. We offer extracurricular activities including performing arts, sporting activities, public speaking, music lessons, leadership and social justice forums. More information can be obtained from the school website.