Blessing and Official Opening of our Cattle Yards

Yesterday we celebrated the expansion of our agriculture precinct with the official blessing and opening of our cattle yards. This facility will be an amazing addition and allows our school to offer more programs and courses to our students passionate about agriculture. 2025 saw the introduction of the VET Primary Industries course being delivered in Year 11 as a part of students' HSC pattern of study. Agriculture remains a popular elective offering in Years 9 - 10 and with 2 unit Agriculture already well established in the suite of HSC courses offered at St Matthews - the expansion of the ‘Ag space’ delivers many more opportunities such as the ‘Hoof to Hook’ competition, and participation in local shows, and in the future the Sydney Royal Easter Show. The possibilities are endless as Fr Owen pointed out during the blessing with visions of chooks, goats and yabbies in the dam! Thank you to the CEDB for funding and supporting our VET programs, the acquisition of the cattle yards and tractor; to Tim & Peyton Cheetham and Sarah and Mitch from Moondoogundi Charolais for supporting the program with cattle; to Fr Owen for a beautiful blessing ceremony; to invited guests - including our inaugural Primary Industries class for their attendance and to Matt from Feather & Birch for the beautiful photos. A special mention to Mr Barry Neaverson- Smith our TAS Leader of Learning and to our passionate staff Kimberly White and Judith Rohr and Ag Assistant Katie Doherty and Annette White. Without their vision, passion and hard work this would not be possible for our students.

2026 Year 7 Enrolment Timeline

On Wednesday night we hosted our 2026 Year 7 Enrolment Information Session. We had a great number of current Year 6 St Matthews families and new families attend to explore what a St Matthews Catholic School education can offer. If you know a family considering their options for 2026 please invite them to contact our school office for enrollment details - the attached flyer is a timeline of key enrollment dates. Please note current St Matthews Year 6 students do not need to complete the enrolment forms - they are only required to complete the 2026 Intention form sent to all families in Term 1 Week One.

Anzac Day March

We were blessed to have so many of our leaders and students from K - 12 participate in the ANZAC Day March and wreath laying ceremony. This is an extremely important day on the calendar, to stop and reflect on the sacrifices our service men and women have made for us both in the past, but also now - so we can enjoy the freedoms we do today. Lest we Forget.

Blaney McCarthy-English | Head of Campus - Secondary