Community Engagement

Goals & Intended Outcomes

To build a sense of community among students, staff, parents/carers and other stakeholders.

Achievements

Parents and students participated in Year level Welcome and Information meetings at the start of the year. Progress meetings were consistently well attended and parents continued to enjoy being able to book their appointments online. Parents communicated freely and regularly with school leaders and teachers.

To further strengthen our relationship with parents, we have established feedback mechanisms that allow us to gather their input and involve them in decision-making processes. The establishment of Friends of Mater Association (FOMA) has also been instrumental in fostering closer ties with the wider community, with an inaugural event held in November raising funds to assist the local CFA. Additionally, we are building relationships and providing support to local Catholic Primary School principals to ensure that we are working collaboratively to meet the needs of our students.

We have successfully hosted College tours and Taster Days to promote the benefits of an allgirls Catholic Education. These have been very well attended and far-reaching.

The Catholic Action classes and Social Justice group were active in their support of Caritas through initiatives such as the Good Samaritan Foundation and St Vincent de Paul’s ‘Tinnies for Vinnies’ as well as fundraising via Mater Day as well as several free dress days in support of Ukrainian refugees and other appeals.

The College enjoyed an ongoing partnership through its families and shared goals with St Joseph’s College in Ferntree Gully, with students from both Colleges participating in the production "The Sound of Music" which was incredibly well done and a sell out. The friendships forged through months of rehearsal were a highlight for many students, topped off by four days of shows.

The College continued to work as a member of the large network of local schools through the Mullum Schools Cluster, which ensured maximum access for students to a diverse range of vocational study programs. Students and teachers enjoyed opportunities in STEM education through Yarra Ranges Technical School.

Ongoing and supportive relationships were maintained with local authorities especially the Police, Country Fire Authority and Metro Trains.

We continue to enjoy good relationships with Yarra Ranges Technical School, Yarra Ranges Council, Puffing Billy, Belgrave Traders and Burrinja Community Arts Centre.

We continue to work to develop our network throughout the Hills community.

Value Added

Opportunities for community engagement occurred through numerous events; celebrating achievements, gathering information, demonstrating new skills, exploring futures, or participating in activities such as:

• Year 7 Welcome morning

• College Masses

• International Women's Day Breakfast

• Sports Awards

• Award Presentation Assemblies'

• DISCOVER Information Evening

• National Schools Champion in Cheer

• MYP Information events

• Tertiary and Subject Expo

• Valedictory Dinner

Parent Satisfaction

Several methods were again used during 2022 to gauge parent/stakeholder satisfaction including but not limited to the MACSSIS survey.

We have continued with once-per-term surveys to parents so as to always be aware of issues that may arise in the community.

In addition, the end of each email has a "contact us" feedback forms.

The following are some comments from parent feedback:

"I’m very grateful for the extra support my daughter receives. I am also very glad that feedback is listened to and actioned appropriately"

"My daughter has thoroughly enjoyed her first year at Mater. Everything about our experience for our first year was so amazing. Thank you so much"

"Coordinators handled all issues quickly & thoroughly. Extra activities opportunities how been fabulous. Cafe Bene is now too expensive with very limited options. I do note that they allowed girls to heat their food. Scoring out of 8 is very confusing. Communication from the school has been great via sms & emails. I look forward to the new SIMON system. Feedback from individual teachers could improve. Girls completing their homework at home was not rewarded as other students could just complete it in class."

Further opportunities for feedback are provided via the Friends of Mater Association which meets once per month during term time.