Catherine McAuley Westmead is a Catholic secondary girls' school in the Mercy tradition. In embracing our Mercy heritage, we aspire to a God-centred way of life and commit to excellence in girls' education, empowering young women to be actively involved in social justice. We celebrate our diversity and inclusiveness and affirm the dignity of each person. As a Mercy school we value justice, excellence, integrity, courage, mercy and hospitality. In the 2009 School Certificate students achieved the state mean in all the examinations. This was supported in the allocation of grades, with over 38% of the 29 subjects having more A grades than the state average. There were no students in the lowest band in English Literacy or Mathematics which showed a learning gain when compared with the National Assessment Plan - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results for the same cohort. In Computing Skills 70% of the students achieved in the highly competent band and the remaining students were in the competent band. In the 2009 Higher School Certificate students (including students from Year 11 who had been accelerated in Advanced English) sat the exam at Catherine McAuley in 37 subjects. These included university distinction courses, extension 2 and Vocational Education and Training (VET) subjects. Some outstanding individual achievements were a Premier's All-Rounder Award, two High Distinctions and two Distinctions in the Cosmology and Philosophy University Distinction course, and sixth place in Music 1. Approximately 15% of Catherine McAuley students were in the top 10% of the state, achieving an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) of 90 or above. Catherine McAuley appeared 85 times in the 'Honour Roll' for students achieving over 90% in a subject. An overall summary of the results from the 2009 HSC shows that: 88% of subjects achieved a mean above the state average, 21% of subjects had means more than 5% above the state average, 85% of subjects had a greater percentage of students in the top band of the state than the..