| Religion | Catholic |
|---|---|
| Head Teacher | Mrs Brown |
| Location | Cantley Lane Doncaster South Yorkshire DN3 3QF England |
| Local authority | Doncaster |
| DfE URN | 106810 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1,744 (in 2006) |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Website | www.mcauley.doncaster.sch.uk |
The McAuley Catholic High School is a coeducational Catholic Day School in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The School takes its name from Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, the order which ran the School until the late 1980s.
As a school for the children of Roman Catholics, it was originally a girls private school until the move in the 1970s, when the School became coeducational. The school has a long-standing tradition of academic excellence, music & drama, pastoral and religious life.
The Convent Collegiate School can trace back its original foundation to 1887, but the current school was founded in 1981 by the amalgamation of the Catherine McAuley Grammar School (founded 1970 - now the Upper School) and St Peter’s School (founded 1956 - now the Lower School).
In 2003 the school recognised its long-standing tradition of music and drama by becoming a Specialist School for Performing Arts.[1]
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The school is named after the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, Catherine McAuley. Her legacy lives on in centres of education and work with the poor worldwide which are associated with the Sisters of Mercy, the Catholic religious order that she founded.
Born at a time of anti-Catholic bigotry in Ireland, Catherine McAuley was deeply touched by the faith of her father who welcomed the poor of Dublin to his door, cared for them and taught them the Catholic faith. James McAuley died when Catherine was a child, and her mother some years later, yet despite the anti-Catholic feelings of the relatives who took Catherine and her brother and sister into their care, Catherine held on to the faith of her father.
When he was 40 she inherited a fortune from a childless couple she had befriended. With the inheritance she bought a property in a smart area of Dublin, where she was determined to bring the needs of the poor to the attention of her wealthy neighbours. With a few like-minded women Catherine engaged in the practical work of housing poor women and children and educating them through academic schooling and training in practical skills.
Eventually Catherine and the other women who had joined in her work became a formal religious order taking the name Sisters of Mercy. They were among the first nuns to go out from their convent to visit and care for the poor. Soon other houses of mercy were founded throughout Ireland, and Catherine then founded the first convents to be built in England since the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century.
The work of the Sisterhood of Mercy spread rapidly throughout the world after Catherine's death, and her passion for education as a means of improving quality of life was always at the centre of the Sisters’ activities, so that schools as far apart as Australia and North America bear the name of Catherine McAuley.
The new Head Teacher (from September 2009) is Mr. Paul Gray.
In Doncaster, a convent of the Sisters of Mercy was established in 1887, and the original catholic school was founded. After decades of work in the area, The Convent Collegiate School on Rutland street closed (Now Hill House St Mary's Preparatory School)and the sisters had a vision for Catholic education in Doncaster which led to their sacrificial investment in the land and buildings that now house the Upper School and the Convent of Mercy on Warning Tongue Lane. It was only natural that Catherine McAuley’s name should honour the new school that was built in 1970.
The school's original motto was Nisi Dominus Frustra - 'Unless the Lord is with us, our labour is vain. (Psalm cxxvii, 1. Vulgate)' in recent years the motto has changed to "I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10)[2]
The school had four houses, representing the patron Saints of the United Kingdom: St. George's, St. Patrick's, St. David's and St. Andrew's.
As of recently, the school has no houses.
The School has an annual residential trip to Anglesey[3] allowing around a hundred children of all ages to take part in a variety of Outdoor Activities, including Coasteering, Sailing, Climbing, Canoeing, Kayaking, Canyoneering, Cycling and even Sea Fishing. The trip is almost unique in still being run directly by the school, drawing on a number of staff, governors and alumni who have outdoor activities qualifications along with several volunteers. The Children are organised into groups which aim to give a mix of ages and genders, whilst not separating small groups of friends, each group contains a Yr 11 pupil as a Deputy Leader and Sixth Form pupil as a Leader, who provide an extra level of both logistical and pastoral support to the children beyond that offered by the normal staff. As of 2010 the trip is in its 27th year and continues to be run by Martin Taylor (also a math teacher, when not organising the trip) who conceived the idea during discussion with several older pupils whilst running the school's canoe club.
Building on the skillsets used in running the Anglesey trip, there is a successful school canoe club which has expertise in both sea kayak expedition paddling (including a yearly expedition to the Shetland Islands) and whitewater kayaking (a number of trips to develop skills and enjoy whitewater paddling are run during the winter months, dependent on the weather). Uniquely, the club offers UKCC level 1 and 2 coach training to older and more experienced pupils, meaning that pupils actively help to continue the club.
Whilst existent from the early 1970's, for a number of years the club had been dormant following the sale of the school minibus due to cost concerns, but since a reconsideration of transport solutions in 2008 it has been completely revitalised, and has acquired a fleet of 20 sea kayaks, along with a range of whitewater and general purpose kayaks, and a range of wetsuits and equipment for all sizes.
Almighty God,
Help us treat each person in our school community with respect and to work together in an atmosphere of peace and justice.
Teach us to recognize unique and God-given gifts in every person, and to work to ensure that everybody becomes the best person they can be in all they do.
We ask this in the name of Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Recently The McAuley Catholic High School has added the Newman Prayer to the list of prayers the school now say the prayer of Cardinal Newman.
May He support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest and peace at the last. Amen