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 two standing committees; the Finance, Property and Marketing Committee and the Governance and Risk 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

Over the last three years, the disruption to school events is just one of the many challenges COVID has thrust upon us. We may not have been in lockdown of late, but the effects of the pandemic were still very much with us. 

The need for teachers and students to self-isolate and a widespread teacher shortage made staffing a constant challenge. Many schools struggled even to provide adequate supervision for their students, let alone an effective learning environment. 

I was amazed at how well and how quickly our school managed this challenge: Funds were swiftly deployed to secure casual staff early on; existing teachers willingly took on additional responsibilities to cover for those who were sick; and those managing the logistics of staffing and timetabling worked their spreadsheet magic to make sure our students didn’t miss out!

This year's second huge post-pandemic challenge was the need to re-establish the school's culture. So much of what makes Macarthur exceptional are the strong Christian Values on which the school is built. These values are expressed in The Macarthur Way – There are nine of them: respect, integrity, honesty, excellence, learning, self-discipline, responsibility, humility and generosity.  

We aim to embody these values in the school's culture at every level. A positive school culture is something that is highly prized by parents, teachers, and students alike, yet it does not easily come by.

Over many years, the Headmaster and his team have intentionally established programs, learning experiences, pastoral-care structures, school traditions, and many other strategic initiatives to allow culture to grow organically. 

And not only to grow but to be passed on from one cohort to the next. Anyone who has worked with young people will tell you culture is something that is caught rather than taught. It is passed on from student to student, from staff member to staff member. From staff to students, especially senior students to those in the grades below. 

The last few years of intermittent lockdowns have resulted in postponed camps and limited extra-curricular activities. In normal times, these activities facilitate the organic growth and transmission of culture. 

So, by necessity, the last 18 months has been a year of rebuilding, or more accurately, regrowing, the culture of the school. I want to commend the staff for the relational work they have done in this area, with each other and with the students, and I also want to commend our current cohort of senior students, led by our 2022 School Captain, Ayva Gibbs. You have played a critical role over these last 18 months in helping the younger students catch the vision to which we aspire as a school community. 

I want to remind you that the school's culture is what we make it. This community can be an incredible force for good in our lives, but each one of us has a part to play in making that a reality. 

It was emotionally draining to be isolated from each other during those periods of lockdown. All of our regular patterns of social interaction were disrupted. And it takes a lot more energy to establish a new routine than to carry on with an existing one.

Some of us felt the impact of this in 2020 or 2021, but I think 2022 was the year when the pandemic fatigue finally caught up – I know that was true for me personally.

I want to commend Dr Nockles and his team for spotting this danger early. Back in mid-2021, the Headmaster came to School Council with a plan for further expanding the pastoral care capacity of the school.

He helped us see that the mental health challenges of the pandemic were far from over and that an additional investment in student wellbeing and mental health was a priority. The School Council was happy to approve that extra spending, and we have seen the benefit of this new initiative in so many ways this year.

These challenges I have mentioned were common to all schools in the State. Everyone faced the teacher shortage, everyone faced the need to reestablish culture, and every school faced the mental health challenge. However, Macarthur has distinguished itself in responding to these needs. I have never been so proud of our school and thankful that my children are enrolled here.

I think our school’s response to the pandemic is a big part of why enrolments are so strong. The broader community has seen what is on offer at Macarthur and wants that for their children.

Of course, this has created a fourth challenge – that of space – where do we put all of these new students?! Actually, we have truckloads of space – what we needed was more buildings….

2022 saw the official opening of the largest building program the school has ever undertaken. The Warren Integrated Studies HUB, a $16 million building project, is now complete! What a magnificent teaching and learning space it is!

But there has been no time to stop and bask in the glory of it. In 2023 the next building project is underway with a significant $6 million extension and refurbishment of the Junior School buildings. And God willing, there will be more to come after that.

All this building activity is reflective of the health of the school. This is not an “if we build it, they will come” strategy. These new facilities reflect current demand and the School Council’s desire to provide our students with the highest quality learning environment.

II would like to thank the members of the School Council for their hard work and diligence throughout the year. They are a very capable group of people, making chairing the meetings both a joy and a challenge.

Our job as a School Council is made much easier due to the exceptional nature of the executive staff team. As you may recall, our Headmaster undertook study leave during the first term this year. Mr. Kokic very ably filled the role of acting Headmaster with the support of the rest of the executive team.

Mr Kokic, did a tremendous job steering the school through yet another trying period. His 25 years at the school, including 13 as Deputy, have given him a depth of experience and intimate knowledge of how the School works. He is an invaluable leader and 2IC to the Headmaster.

When the flooding did hit in the first term, Mr Kokic took it in his stride, despite having Covid himself. He made the hard decisions and got the job done with professionalism and minimal fuss. Mr Kokic, thank you for leading the school with such wisdom, skill and love this year. We are all grateful for the godly leader that you are. 

As a school, we are blessed to have a Headmaster of such Christian maturity and professional capacity. Dr Nockles’ educational insight, genuine pastoral concern for staff and students, operational proficiency, and godly example are evident every week. 

The wonderful culture that we enjoy at Macarthur hasn’t come about by chance. Over his 14 years as Headmaster, Dr Nockles has cast a vision of what the school could be, and he has put systems and structures in place which have allowed 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.

It is hard to grasp the sheer scope of the Headmaster’s role until you get close. The responsibilities are vast, the pressures are constant, the problems that need to be solved are complex, and the critics are many and often misinformed. 

I thank God for the capacity and resilience he has given our Headmaster. Challenges that would overwhelm most of us, Dr Nockles rises to meet repeatedly; he keeps leading with enthusiasm, relating graciously, innovating with fresh vision and serving the Lord Jesus joyfully.

The Reverend David Barrie
Chair of Council