has entered a new era defined by ambitious growth, major structural change, and a deeply intentional vision built around a powerful idea: schools should not simply educate students—they should accompany families. At the heart of that vision is MacKillop’s renewed focus on developing “courageous, compassionate, and future-ready students.” But what distinguishes this approach is the way the school is positioning itself as an ecosystem that begins well before formal schooling starts. For MacKillop, the journey of accompaniment begins at the baptismal stage, creating the first point of engagement with families when children are newborns or toddlers. That early connection is strengthened through opportunities that welcome families onto campus long before a child is old enough to enrol—such as parent and child programs, playgroup experiences, and community involvement designed to build belonging from the very beginning. Looking ahead, MacKillop hopes to deepen this earlylearning pathway further with the development of an on-site preschool, targeted for around 2027. While growth is a clear priority, the school’s intent is not to become larger for size alone. With projections to reach 2,200 students, MacKillop is planning for scale while working to ensure the student experience remains personal, relational, and deeply supported. RESTRUCTURING A LARGE SCHOOL INTO SMALLER SCHOOLS A key leadership challenge at MacKillop is balancing size with intimacy. As enrolment increases, the risk is that students feel anonymous or disconnected in a school environment that becomes too large to navigate socially or emotionally. In response, MacKillop has adopted a “school within a school” model, dividing its structure into four smaller, more relational sub-schools. The planned preschool will operate as its own entity. Beyond that, a junior school model will support students from Kindergarten to Year 4, while a middle school approach—less common in Australian contexts, but widely used internationally—will span Year 5 through Year 8. A senior school will then run from Year 9 through to Year 12 and beyond, extending into what MacKillop describes as post-school learning, recognizing that some students benefit from staying in a supportive school environment longer than the traditional graduation age. This approach acknowledges an often-overlooked truth: not all learners progress at the same pace, and time can be a critical factor in maturity, confidence, and readiness for work or further study. 67 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 08, ISSUE 01 MACKILLOP COLLEGE
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