School Council

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Governance Structure

Macarthur Anglican School is governed by an independent School Council comprising ten members who volunteer their time and skills. The School Council is constituted in accordance with an ordinance of the Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia, Sydney Diocese. The Macarthur Anglican School Ordinance (1982) provides the structure in which governance takes place.

Macarthur Anglican School is a truly independent school with no other overarching organisational structure and is not part of any system of schools.  The School is a member of the Association of Independent Schools NSW (AIS) and the Headmaster is a member of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australian (AHISA) and the Heads of Independent Co-educational Schools (HICES).  While the ultimate owner of the School is the Sydney Anglican Diocese, the Macarthur Anglican School Council operates it in trust.  As such, the School does not fit within any bureaucratic framework and relates directly with the Diocesan organisation, governments; Local, State and Federal; and their relevant agencies.

The School Council is a policy setting and monitoring body and is not involved in the management of the School. The Headmaster is the School Council's Chief Executive Officer and is fully responsible for the day-to-day and strategic management of the School. The School Council therefore sets broad policy direction for the School and monitors its operations within the various legislative and regulatory frameworks.

The Archbishop of Sydney is the President of the School Council and may attend and Chair meetings from time to time. Ordinarily the School Council elects a Chair from its members to oversee the operation of the Council. The Council also elects an Honorary Secretary and has three standing committees; the Finance, Property and Marketing Monitoring Committee; the Governance and Policy Monitoring Committee; and the Capital Development and Endowment Committee.

Members of School Council are elected by the Synod for a three year term (six members in total, two elected each year), appointed by the Archbishop (two members, one an Anglican Clergy and one a lay member), or appointed by the School Council itself for a three year term (two members).

Members of the School Council

President of the School Council

The Most Reverend Kanishka Raffel
Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of Province NSW
*The Archbishop is President of the School Council and is entitled to attend any and all meetings of the School Council and the School Council’s various standing committees. When the President is in attendance he Chairs the meeting.

Chairman of School Council
The Reverend D Barrie
BSc, BD(Hons)
Elected by the Synod
A member of the School Council since 28 February 2017. Reverend Barrie worked as a Laser and Optics Engineer in the optical fibre industry before entering the Ministry. He was an Associate Minister prior to being appointed as the Rector of the local Parish. Reverend Barrie is a parent of the School. He also has considerable governance experience, serving on the executive of several not for profit organisations including a child care centre and scripture boards.

Honorary Secretary
Mrs C Rich 
Chair of the Governance and Policy Monitoring Committee
Elected by the Synod
A member of the School Council since August 2009 and Chair of the Corporate Governance and Policy Monitoring Committee since February 2011.  Mrs Rich is the Deputy Registrar of the Diocese of Sydney responsible for the administration of the Parishes and staff across the Dioceses.

Members of Council
Mr S Bywater
Cert IV (Workplace Training and Ass), Dip.Mar, BMin
Appointed by the Council
A member of the School Council since 28 February 2017. Mr Bywater is a parent of the School who owns and operates a consultancy firm and people development business - specifically focussed on leadership and coaching as well as sales strategy development. Mr Bywater is also a regular keynote speaker in the fields of coaching and mentoring programs. Additionally, he consults, designs and deploys learning programs for organisations. These organisations include both large corporate and not for profit organisations. Mr Bywater is also an ordained Minister and Pastor at a Baptist Church in Moorebank.

Mr G Hoffman
Diploma of Aviation
Elected by Synod
A member of the School Council since 22 June 2020. Mr Hoffman is a parent of the School and works as a commercial pilot. For the last 13 years he has been employed by Qantas, the first five years as a long haul international pilot and the last eight years as a short haul First Officer. For the last 18 months he has held an instructional position as a Type Rated Instructor on the Boeing 737-800 responsible for training and checking pilots who are new to operating the B737 type and assessing and developing the skills of our existing B737 pilots in technical and non-technical proficiencies.

Mrs A Johnston
LLB (Hons), Acc.Spec.(Business Law), B.SocSci
Elected by the Synod
A member of the School Council since 27 August 2019. Mrs Johnstone is a parent of the School and works as General Counsel in the retail industry. In the course of her career, Mrs Johnstone has worked in a wide variety of legal roles including as an academic in tertiary education teaching commercial law, for Government including in major projects and as a Partner in a local Macarthur based law firm. Mrs Johnstone holds tertiary qualifications in Law and Social Science.

Mr M Judge
BBus(Dist), MBusAdmin, FFSIA, MAICD
Elected by the Synod
A member of the School Council since 27 February 2018. Mr Judge retired in 2014 from the position of Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Banking Solutions at the Commonwealth Bank. Prior to that, Mr Judge held a range of general management roles at the bank. Mr Judge’s governance experience includes chair and other director roles in banking, educational and mission organisations. He also serves on the council of an inner city Anglican independent school, and as a founding panel member of a national governance accreditation program for Christian organisations.

The Reverend C Moroney
BA, DipEd, ThL(Hons), DipA(Hons), BD(Hons), ThScol
Appointed by the Archbishop
A member of the School Council since 28 April 2015. Mr Moroney trained as a teacher prior to entering the Ministry and has been the Rector of several Parishes in Sydney. He also spent some time as the Senior Assistant Minster at St Andrew's Cathedral.

Ms A Watson OAM 
Chair of the Capital Development and Endowment Committee
DipPhysio, FFIA, CFRM, MEdPlus, CFRE
Appointed by the Archbishop
A member of the School Council since 1 March 2008 and Chair of the Capital Development and Endowment Committee since 12 February 2010. Ms Watson is the owner and Managing Director of a consultancy firm. The company provides consultancy services in the areas of fundraising, public relations, volunteer management and development of governing bodies

In attendance

Headmaster Dr D P Nockles
BA, DipEd, MEd(Hons), EdD, MACE, MACEL, AFAIM


A Message from Rev. David Barrie – Chairman of Council – 2019 Speech Night Address

To quote a famous philosopher of my generation, Life moves pretty fast.  If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. (Ferris Bueller). It’s a time to recognize the dedication and skill of the Macarthur staff, who go over and above, to ensure each student receives the care and support they need to flourish.

I am continually amazed, by the individual attention that each student gets at Macarthur.  No one is just a cog in the wheel, and no student is defined by their marks.  Each one is viewed as a wholistic person with many different qualities to be developed and cultivated.

The caring environment of Macarthur provides a safe space for students to take a risk, to step outside their comfort zone and to try something new.  And the vast array of extra-curricular activities on offer provide a steady stream of opportunities for students to stretch themselves.

The standout extra-curricular activity for me this year was the school musical – Les Misérables was an ambitious undertaking.  But Mrs James and her team pulled it off with exceptional hard work and consummate professionalism.  It was a deeply moving performance, highlighting the power of grace to transform a life. Although, I must say, it did lead to some awkward conversations in the lead up to the show.

Whether it is a musical performance, or a Duke of Edinburgh hike, or representing the school in a sporting team, or sharing their faith on a mission trip, one thing is certain.  No student graduates from Macarthur without a breadth of life-skills and experiences that will serve them well throughout their adult years.

I am confident that those who graduated at the end of 2019 can look back on their schooling experience and be thankful for the variety of ways that Macarthur has shaped them into the young adults they are now, thoroughly equipped for the journey ahead.

I would also like to thank the members of School Council for their hard work and diligence throughout the year. They are a very capable group of people which makes my work a delight.

In particular, I’d like to acknowledge the substantial contribution of Mr. Peter Evans who stepped down from the Council earlier in the year, and to welcome Mrs. Alexandra Johnstone who joined us in August.  Every member of the Council gives generously of their time to ensure our school is governed well.

Our job as a Council is made much easier due to the exceptional nature of the Executive Staff team. During Spring Term, our Headmaster took Long Service Leave and Mr Kokic very ably filled the role of Acting Headmaster.  Mr Kokic has been at the school for twenty-two years, with the last ten as Deputy Headmaster. This depth of experience and intimate knowledge of how the school works, was invaluable over Spring Term.

And finally, tonight, on behalf of everyone here I would like to thank our Headmaster, Dr Nockles. 

As a school we are very blessed to have a man of such Christian maturity and professional capacity as our Headmaster.  Dr Nockles’ educational insight, his genuine pastoral concern for staff and students, his operational proficiency and his godly example are all evident.  The wonderful culture that we enjoy at Macarthur hasn’t come about by chance.  Over his eleven years as Headmaster, Dr Nockles has cast a vision of what the school could be and put systems and structures in place allowing students and staff to rise to that high standard. He has spent countless hours educating the educators and working with his executive team to improve every aspect of school life.

I thank God for the capacity and resilience he has given our Headmaster, Executive staff, teaching and support staff.  Challenges that would overwhelm most of us are taken in their stride by all of these people, with enthusiasm, grace, innovation and vision, while serving the Lord Jesus joyfully in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Above all, I thank God for his mercies to Macarthur and as we reflect on 2019 while perusing this Yearbook, we thank him for the opportunities to be challenged, to grow, and to achieve.

The Reverend David Barrie
Chair of Council