The McAuley School

Infobox UK school
name = The McAuley School
street = Cantley Lane
city = Doncaster
postcode = DN3 3QF
country = England
head mistress= Rt. Reverend Gaye
LEA = Doncaster
ofsted = 106810
denomination = Catholic
gender = Co-educational
enrollment = 1744 (in 2006)
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
website = http://www.mcauley.org.uk/
website_name = www.mcauley.org.uk

The McAuley School is a coeducational Catholic Day School in Doncaster, 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. [ [http://www.doncaster.gov.uk/Leisure_in_Doncaster/The_Arts/Music_dance_drama/Performing_Arts_McAuley_Catholic_High_School.asp Doncaster Council site] ]

isters of Mercy & Mother McAuley

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 Mercian Convent, Doncaster

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.

Motto

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) [http://www.mcauley.org.uk]

Houses

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.

chool Colours

School colours are Grey, Red and Blue, the Blazer and Tie clearly reflect this. School dress is a fundamental part of being a McAulian and worn by all.

chool Prayer

Almighty God,

Help us treat each person in our school community with respectand to work together in an atmosphere of peace and justice.

Teach us to recognise 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.

Notable alumni

*Kevin Keegan - International footballer / coach. Born in Armthorpe near Doncaster.

References

External links

* [http://www.mcauley.org.uk/prospectus.htm The McAuley School site]
* [http://www.hallam-diocese.com Hallam Diocese]
* [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/portal/site/Internet/menuitem.7c7b38b14d870c7bb1890a01637046a0/?urn=106810&providerCategoryID=8192 OFSTED page for McAuley]