De La Salle Catholic College Caringbah’s expansion to include Year 11 and 12 officially commences in 2024 and is an exciting milestone that is set to open new opportunities and career pathways for its students.
As the school grows to cater to senior secondary education, it is essential that new teachers are brought in that are experienced, knowledgeable, and passionate about guiding students through these critical years.
Part of the transition has been ensuring that De La Salle has the right teachers in place to support its students, with a comprehensive recruitment initiative implemented.
The school has been actively building its team for more than six years and hired 20 staff during this time, with the majority being experts in boy’s education.
Long-term staff share their expertise and mentor new colleagues, while new teachers bring fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to the table.
This places the school, the only all-boys education precinct in Sutherland Shire, in an outstanding position to deliver the very best HSC results possible with an academic focus on high expectations, supported by extensive levels of personalised support and mentoring.
Peter Buxton, Principal at De La Salle, said his team is extremely confident that the right people are in place to lead the future generation of men at his school.
“Experience in boy’s education is critical for our teachers and whilst delivering Band Sixes is impressive, and something many of our teachers have extensive success delivering, we’re more focused on growth which is essential to learning here,” Mr Buxton said.
“Boys learn differently to girls and when taught collaboration, they flourish and have the confidence to provide each other feedback. Our teaching staff will be there to foster these connections, encourage our boys to check-in and build their trust whilst delivering enjoyable lessons that they actively want to engage with.”
“I also want our teachers to know each student personally. We encourage our team to write something down that they know about each student, it could be a boy who plays cricket, comes from a big family, or loves camping,” Mr Buxton said.
De La Salle’s teaching staff closely identify with the school’s vision and culture, and community demand to be involved with the school is at an all-time high.
Mr Buxton explains that the upcoming transition has been a long time coming and updating the schools’ model is the talk of the town.
“From the students to parents and the wider Shire community, we’ve received a multitude of positive feedback and everyone is excited. It gives local families an exciting new option they previously were not provided.
“We’re the only single-sex schooling option in terms of the local market and we offer a niche and boutique opportunity with smaller class sizes. Larger boys’ schools are bursting at the seams so we’re offering a fantastic opportunity to Catholic families and beyond,” Mr Buxton said.
Collaborative planning and regular professional development sessions ensure that all teachers are staying up to date with the latest educational practices, curriculum changes, and assessment requirements specific to Year 11 and 12.
Katie Hellyer, Leader of Learning: Integrated Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment at De La Salle, has more than 20 years of experience as an educator and feels privileged to be building a thriving Catholic community at the school for students and teachers alike.
“Success will look like our boys being given the opportunities to academically, socially, and emotionally be the best possible versions of themselves when they leave us for future endeavours.
“Our aim is to continue implementing excellent teaching strategies and pedagogy that students benefit from. As students journey through to their senior years, we will see they have more autonomy, agency and a greater sense of voice as a direct result,” Ms Hellyer said.
De La Salle Caringbah is currently accepting Year 11 enrolments for 2024. Fill out our Expression of Interest form here for more information.