Head of College

It has been wonderful to welcome students back on campus. There is a hive of activity around the school, and it is fantastic to see students beginning their learning journey for 2024. In such a short time this year there has already been so much happening around the school including:

Three days of professional learning for staff, including a day at Guula Ngurra National Park learning about and from our Gundungurra elders.
Welcoming new students to the College (including our Pre-K students)
Hosting our first Cricket game of the season, with our First XI taking on Oxley Alumni.
Having our first assemblies for the year including an Academic Excellence assembly acknowledging a number of Year 12 students from 2023 and hearing an inspiring speech from Dux of 2019, Skye Holmwood.
New electives for Year 8, Year 9 and Year 11.
Parent information sessions across the school, highlighting the things to come in 2024.
Year 7 Camp, an opportunity for this cohort to begin to develop bonds as a group.

I highly encourage you to also put the Thursday 15 February into your diary for Parent Welcome Drinks for 2024. I look forward to seeing you on this night where we share with you some of our priorities for the year. We will also be hosting some tours of the new developments that have been undertaken. We do ask that you RSVP so we can cater appropriately.

RSVP WELCOME DRINKS HERE

Pin Oak and the College Newsletter

As we continue to refine and improve how we communicate with families we have made a decision to alter how we do the Pin Oak Magazine. When Pin Oak was started many years ago, it was established as a student led publication, however over the years it has evolved into a College newsletter with the student voice included.

From the beginning of this year Pin Oak will revert to being a wholly student voice publication and published twice a term (approximately week 4 and 8). We will also introduce The Oxley College Newsletter with information about happenings in the College and messages from a range of people. This publication will be published up to 3 times a term (usually Week 2, 6 and 10 or 11). We will also continue to use the Oxley app for timely announcements as required. We are hopeful this will continue to ensure you are well informed of the happening in the College and ensure student-voice remains a focus.

Traffic

I would like to particularly thank our school community with your assistance regarding traffic. Anytime change occurs there will be teething problems, and I am particularly grateful that our community has assisted making this as smooth as possible. Not only is the new system safer at managing the departure of students, but there has been the added benefit of improved traffic around the school. I am also particularly pleased to see the numbers of students catching a bus seems to be increasing, this is not only a good thing for traffic, but great for the environment too. Thank you.

Staff arrivals and departures

There have been considerable changes in staffing across the campus, mainly to roles in the school as the number of staff departures was incredibly low at the end of 2024. And while most of these positions have been announced I thought it might be helpful to provide them below for your convenience (staff marked with an * are existing staff in new roles).

After we broke up at the end of last year, I received the resignation of Mr Simon Baird (Mathematics). Mr Baird accepted a position closer to his home in Wollongong and we do wish him all the best in his new role. We are thankful for his service to the school.

After a short campaign over the summer, we will welcome Mr Miguel Nunes to the Mathematics Faculty from the beginning of next week. I am sure you will make him feel welcome.

New Staff and Executive and Senior Leadership Team

Mr Mark Case* – Deputy Head of College
Mr Tristan Bevan* – Head of Senior School
Mr Christophe Gauchat* – Head of Co-curricular P-12
Ms Dene Patterson* – Head of Academic Operations P-12
Ms Lee McGuinness – Director of Curriculum 7-12
Mrs Alison Rasheed* – Director of Curriculum P-6

Advancement Team

Ms Lucy Welsh – Registrar
Mrs Amberley Guilly* – Community and Marketing
Ms Amelia Morgan-Hunn – Development and Foundation

Middle Leaders

Dr Jeremy Hall – Head of Philosophy and Ethics and The Oxley Centre for Ethics
Mrs Jo McVean* – Head of Humanities
Mrs Katrine Pascoe* – Head of Drama P-12
Mrs Renee Zink* – Head of Music P-12
Mr Joshua Hurkett* – Head of Senior School Sport
Ms Fran Dorczak* – Head of Junior School Sport
Mrs Emily Madden* – Diverse Learning Coordinator
Mrs Mel Sievert* – Acting Head of Dobell House, while Mr Staples is on leave
Mr Justin Verco* – Head of Durack House
Mrs Jodie Wolstencroft* – Head of Mawson House

College Services

Mrs Kathryn Allen – School Accountant
Mrs Alina Fischer* – Senior Administrator
Mrs Liane Bull* – Student Futures Advisor
Mrs Brooke Devlin – Gym and Coaching Coordinator

Teaching Staff

Mrs Gill Case – Junior School Teacher (Year 4)
Ms Georgie Ridehalgh – Junior School Teacher (Kindergarten)
Mr Adam Rothwell – Junior School Teacher (Year 5)
Mrs Juliet Burnham – Junior School Teacher (Year 6)
Mrs Claire Browne – Junior School Teacher (Year 3)
Ms Gina Umoren – Junior School Teacher (Year 1)
Ms Dani Noonan* – Junior School Teacher and G & T Teacher
Mrs Kirsty Cargill – Senior School Teacher (Science)
Mrs Cath Taylor – Senior School Teacher (English)
Mrs Melissa Lamrock-George* – Senior School Teacher (Music) and G & T Teacher
Ms Meaghan Stanton* – Talented Athlete program coordinator
Mr Miguel Nunes – Senior School Teacher (Mathematics)

Please reach out to the College if you have any questions or concerns office@oxley.nsw.edu.au

Mr Scott Bedingfield
Head of College