Newsletter - T2W6 - 3/6/22

From the Principal

Another Beef Week has come and gone and I would like to mention what a great day it was. The weather was beautiful (compared to what we had been experiencing), attendance was excellent and the kids were really well behaved and thankful that they were able to spend the day doing beefy things. One of the great things about Beef Week is the way it brings the community together. I know that all our kids had a great day, as did the staff. I would like to publicly thank Mr Paul McCaffery and all the staff who made the day happen. 

The Casino community, as we know, has been greatly affected by the tragic event that took place last Sunday afternoon at KFC. There has been a lot of support provided at the College for those students who have been impacted in various ways - both by the incident itself, as well as by the fallout from the tragedy. As the ripples from Sunday continue to be felt, there is very disturbing information that there are photo’s and video of the incident being shared on various social media platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram. Students are justifiably finding these images disturbing, and I encourage you to have a conversation with your child/children regarding this type of content. If your child has been exposed to any inappropriate online content, then I encourage you to report to the eSafety Commissioner at  https://www.esafety.gov.au/ . I have also included the links to a Fact Sheet from the eSafety Commissioner on Inappropriate Content and how to deal with it. Please do not hesitate to contact the College if you are at all concerned for your child. We all need to work together to support our children through this dreadful time.

Upcoming Events
Vinnie’s Winter Sleepout - Thursday, 9 June
Pupil Free Day - Friday, 10 June
June Long Weekend - Monday, 13 June

College Social - For the first time since 2019, the College will be having a Social. Keep Wednesday, 15 June on your calendar. The night will begin at 6.00pm and finish at 9.00pm and will be held in the Relihan Centre. Our SRC put a great deal of work into these Socials to provide an opportunity for our students to come together in a safe, fully supervised environment. Notes will be going home shortly with further information.

Finally, I offer the Prayer of St Francis of Assisi for our community:

Lord, make us instruments of your peace:
where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, 
grant that we may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive, 
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
St Francis of Assisi 

Tracy Robinson
Principal

Upcoming Dates

Week 7
Monday, 6 June - Bill Turner Trophy (U15 Girls Soccer) Rd 2
Tuesday, 7 June - Bill Turner Cup (U15 Boys Soccer) Rd 2
Wednesday, 8 June - Year 10 vaccinations (Year 7 & 8 catch up vaccinations)
Thursday, 9 June - Dio Junior Football Championships (7-10 Boys/7-9 Girls)
Thursday, 9 June - Vinnies Winter Sleepout
Friday, 10 June - Student Free Day/Staff Reflection Day

Week 8
Monday, 13 June - Public Holiday
Tuesday, 14 June - Stage 6 Subject Selection Information Sessions 
Wednesday, 15 June - Len Diett Shield (Open Boys Rugby Union) Rd 2
Wedneday, 15 June - College Social
Friday, 17 June - Fuse Cup - Mario Cart

Parish Mass Times

Weekend Mass
5.00pm (Sat) & 8.00am (Sun)

Mass ONLINE

Weekdays
Monday 9.00am
Tuesday 8.00am
Wednesday 8.00am
Thursday 9.00am
Friday 9.00am
Saturday 9.00am

Reconciliation
Saturday 8.30am - 9.00am

Country Mass
10.30am - 12 June - Mallanganee

Masks are recommended in the Church

From the Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

New Options for Year 11, 2023
The Year 10 Subject Selection Talks will be held on Tuesday, 14 June. The College will hold 2 information sessions - one during the day for students and one at night for parents.

All parents are invited to this information night. The College believes these nights are invaluable for parents to get first hand information about the choices available to your child.

At this night, parents will get their first information about a brand new program the College is beginning in 2023 for Year 11 and 12 students. This program is called Forming Futures and aims to provide a more proactive and practical pathway to the HSC for those who are not seeking an ATAR.

This program takes the place of 8 units towards a HSC (English Studies, Maths Standard 1, SLR, Catholic Faith in Action and Work Studies) and provides students with an opportunity to work in groups, to work towards real life problems, to learn new and work ready skills. Students are given the opportunity to work around school based apprenticeships and TAFE. 

Attached to this Newsletter is an information flyer that will be given to all Year 10 students next week. I invite all parents to the information session on the 14 June to hear more about this exciting opportunity. Teachers of this program will be on hand and we will have more information about the opportunities available to students and the scope of the course over the next 2 years.

Nadine Connolly
Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

From the Assistant Principal - Mission

This weekend we celebrate the feast of Pentecost. This, as St Paul reminds us, is an opportunity to remind us of our “spiritual gifts” (1 Cor 12:4). We are blessed with many gifts, and together we build on each other’s strengths to build a College community that nurtures and supports each other. In the last fortnight, we have had a huge range of success in a vast range of ventures. These varied attributes of our College community show just how diverse we really are. 

Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week
Last week we gathered together as a community to celebrate Sorry Day, and this week is Reconciliation Week. We have been exploring this in our Year 9 Religious Education classes over the fortnight and our students are gaining knowledge and understanding of our Indigenous heritage and the steps towards true Reconciliation.  

Year 7 Mass
Our Year 7 Students joined with our Parish community today for a celebration of Mass with Fr Peter. It is always lovely for our students to gather in the Church and receive the Sacraments as part of a community. 

Winter Sleepout
Next week is our Vinnies Winter Sleepout. At this event, students from all across the College spend time in solidarity with the disadvantaged members of our community. All students are invited to attend. We sleep in sleeping bags (and sometimes swags) in the Large COLA and share a simple meal together. This is a great event that gets bigger each year. Notes are available at the front office and the donations go directly to our local St Vincent dePaul conference. 

Staff Spirituality Day
Just as all our students participate in a Reflection Day or Retreat during the year, so too do our staff. This day is an opportunity to join with St Mary’s Primary School staff and Parish staff to reflect on the gifts of Grace we experience every day. 

Clare Axman
Assistant Principal - Mission

From the Leader of Curriculum

Subject Selections - Year 10 into Year 11 2023
The St. Mary’s Stage 6 Subjects (or bit.ly/stage6subjects) site has been updated for 2022 & it is imperative that ALL Year 10 students access the site & begin the process of informing themselves what subjects are available & which ones would be of interest to them.

An email has been sent out with the link to the above site. Please make sure the student accesses the site (parents/guardians will have access as well) AND bookmark/favourite it as the link will not be provided again.

On Tuesday, 14 June, during Period 2, I will be giving my subject selection talk during which I will explain all the necessary NESA requirements for the HSC as well as the Compressed Curriculum model we use here at St Mary’s.

An information session for parents and guardians will be held that evening but we will be joined by the Leaders of Learning where the former can get some initial advice on what subjects to choose and to what level e.g. Mathematics Advanced or Mathematics Standard 2 or 1.

Please keep in mind that whilst the College is providing all the required information for a student to make an informed decision, it is critical that every student engages with this information AND asks the relevant teachers questions about the subject they are thinking of taking in the HSC.

Students Online for Year 10, 11 & 12 Students

I am starting to get requests from students about their NESA numbers so that they can access StudentsOnline. I would like to point out that this, as well as other related and important material, was shared at various sessions for the different year levels as well as via an email. I walked the students through how to bookmark/favourite/priority the relevant files so as to avoid them having to spend time requesting this information again. 

If a student was present at any of those sessions, then they should click on the Priority section in their Google Drive (see screenshot below) OR if they were absent, they should do a search for an email from me entitled “Important Files for Year 11 & 12 (NESA)”.

I would also like to remind students that the SchoolOnline site is run by NESA and I am not able to help with forgotten PINs or other issues. Issues like these will require contacting NESA directly.

Finally any Year 10, 11 & 12 student who has not yet activated their Students Online account, needs to do so promptly. This is particularly crucial for Year 11 and 12 students as their personalised HSC timetable for 2022 is published there.

Last but not least with regards to the above, any student that is intending to leave the College must change their email on the SchoolsOnline site from their school one to their personal email address. Once a student is no longer enrolled at the College, their “@lism.catholic.edu.au” account is deleted & any requests for resetting PINs or accessing ROSAs will fail. To be safe, all students, Year 10 - 12 should change their email address on SchoolsOnline to their personal email address.

Michael Woerner
Leader of Curriculum

From the Leader of Pastoral Care

Teaching and Guiding the Smartphone Generation
Dr. Jean Twenge, the author of iGen and Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, presented an interesting webinar two weeks ago. 

For those of you who were able to join this webinar you understand that Dr Twenge’s study revealed some interesting facts about what she calls the iGeneration. Although the study was based mostly on USA statistics, we can also appreciate the correlation between her study and what we are finding with our iGeneration here in Australia.

Her study focused on mental health and happiness in the iGeneration. Dr Twenge noticed big changes about 10 years ago around 2011-2012. Her findings revealed: 

• More teens started to say they: felt left out, felt lonely, couldn't do anything right, that their life wasn't useful and that they didn't enjoy life.
• A US Govt screening study recorded major depressive episodes increased around 2011/2012. They more than doubled for 12-17 yr olds.
• Self harm in girls increased by double for 15-19 year olds and quadrupled for 10-14 year olds.

These increases were recorded BEFORE the pandemic. Dr Twenge wanted to know the reason behind these concerning trends in mental health for young people. What did she discover? 

2012 was the first time the majority of Americans owned a SMARTPHONE.

iGen spends more time on screens than on non-screen activities. This means less time interacting face to face resulting in record levels of depression, unhappiness, loneliness and self harm. Smartphones and social media replaced social interaction. There has been a dramatic drop in teens reading books, magazines and newspapers. For teens the average time texting, online and social media = 6 - 8 hours per day.

Dr Jean Twenge goes on to say that many causes of unhappiness and depression are out of our control. BUT you can control how you use your leisure time, and that we need to encourage real time social interaction amongst our teenagers.

I would like to share with our parents some of her tips and suggestions for helping our teens find the balance with the use of their smartphones.

1. Delay giving your child a smartphone. Use alternatives if needed for communication. e.g flip phone
2. Parental Control: NO social media until 13yrs of age, even better 16 years of age

Worst social media platform is Instagram: responsible for body image issues amongst teens

1. Limit time on screens. This means being a good role model yourself.
2. Break the addiction: The Smartphone is a tool you use - not a tool that uses you
   

Game Aware Presentation For Students
St Mary’s Catholic College will be offering a Game Aware presentation by Andrew Kinch for our students. Parents may remember Andrew’s Parent Game Aware Webinar organised by the Catholic Schools Parent Assembly in 2020 and the student zoom presentation held here at the College in the same year focusing on healthy and unhealthy gaming habits.

We have reached out to Andrew again and will be offering an opportunity for our students to participate in a zoom presentation this term focusing on Esports and problem gaming. 

We are asking for expressions of interest for this presentation so if you feel your child would benefit from this presentation please indicate by completing the google form link.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16UzjPcfC9h_WR3BwFEhAXvtqrxJezXazg5gwcCVn0k8/edit 

For more information on GameAware click on the link: https://www.gameaware.com.au/about-us/

Michele McCaffery
Leader of Pastoral Care

From the Leader of Library and Resources

As students in Stage 6 move closer to their term 3 trials, I would like to highlight, some of the resources we have in the Library to support study.

Students may borrow any of the Study Guides that relate to their specific subjects. These study guides are comprehensive and provide a condensed and detailed summary of syllabus content. 

Also, now that winter is finally upon us, it may be a great opportunity to explore some of the excellent fiction we have available on both Sora and in our Library.

Books in the Parent Collection
Being 14 by Madonna King is another of our fabulous books in the Parent Collection available for loan from the front office.

Madonna King provides an insight into some of the struggles a 14-year-old girl may experience. Madonna King, a successful journalist in her own right and mother of two teenage girls, has been motivated by her own parenting experiences. King interviewed over 200 14-year-old’s, parents, Principals, Psychologists and Neuroscientists to bring some insight into the physical and psychological world of 14-year-old girls.

The book is filled with scenarios, insights and strategies on topics that include; social media, managing good sleep, parent-teen relationships, anxiety, appearance and money matters.

Happy Reading.

Bev Champion
Leader of Library and Resources

Sports News

Upcoming Dates
Term 2 Week 7
Monday, 6 June - Bill Turner Trophy - Rd 2: Home vs Summerland Christian College
Tuesday, 7 June - Bill Turner Cup - Rd 2: Home vs Richmond River High
Thursday, 9 June - Dio Junior Football Championships

Term 2 Week 8
Wednesday, 15 June - Len Diett Shield Rd 2 v Xavier

Dio Cross Country 
On Friday, 20 May, 17 students travelled to Grafton to represent our College at the Dio Cross Country Championships. Due to the consistent rainfall leading up to the event, they were unable to run the traditional gruelling track at McAuley Catholic College and instead had to run a modified course at the Grafton Racetrack.

We were unable to have any St Mary’s students qualify for CCC this year, but we look forward to going back to McAuley next year to test their efforts on the normal course. Our best result for the day was Ella Rose who placed 7th in the U12 girls event, missing out on CCC by only one place as the top 6 runners progress.

Thank you to all students for being admirable representatives of the College and to Ms Barnsley for being our on-course official / cheerleader.

Student Achievement
Oliver Shields - Australian U16 Boys Softball Squad
On behalf of the entire SMCC community, I would like to congratulate Oliver on being selected in the Australian U16 Boys Softball Squad. The squad will be halved in the lead up to the 2023 Softball World Championships in Canada. We wish him all the best and are looking forward to following his progress.

Mike Ryan
Sports Coordinator - External

NSW Netball Schools Cup
On the 25 May, three teams travelled to Grafton to compete in the Netball NSW Schools Cup. Unsure of the weather, the teams continued to prepare leading up to the day and were fortunate to have some sunshine to play before the rain came back in around lunchtime. All three teams played extremely well and represented the College with pride. Miss Parker’s Year 7/8 girls team came away with two wins and two losses, placing 3rd overall. In the other grades, outstanding performances during the carnival from Miss Toohey’s Year 9/10 girls team left them undefeated throughout the day with four wins and one draw, placing them first overall. The unknown coming into the carnival was our first ever boys netball team, the Year 9/10 boys, coached by Mr Fitness. Thanks to Miss Toohey’s dedication to training, the boys, like the 9/10 girls, went through the day undefeated with six wins from six games, placing them first overall.

As a result of finishing in the top two teams of their respective divisions, our two first placed teams, 9/10 Girls and 9/10 Boys, will progress to the Far North Coast Regional Finals day in Lismore on the 9 August.

After the day, the students voted their peers for MVP (most valuable player) and the results were as follows: 

7/8 Girls team  Bella Roberts
9/10 Girls team Abbie Simeoni
9/10 Boys team Oliver Shields

Congratulations to all involved.

Hannah Toohey
Teacher

From the Sports Coordinator - Internal

Students have been given the opportunity to elect which sporting activity they would like to participate in for the duration of term 3. 

A google form has been shared with students on Thursday, 2 June and will be open until Thursday, 9 June. Students are to select their top four preferences from the options below. Students may not receive their first preference, but will definitely receive one of their top four preferences, so it is imperative that they select the sport in order of preference.

Please see the details below regarding the sports available for selection in term 3, for each year group:

Year 7 & 8
Archery
Where: Queen Elizabeth Park
Cost: $4 per week

Lawn Bowls
Where: RSM
Cost: $2 per week

Tennis
Where: Casino Tennis Courts
Cost: $4 per week

Golf
Where: Casino Golf Club
Cost: $5 per week

AFL
Where: Colley Park
Cost: Nil

Netball
Where: SMCC 
Cost: Nil

Touch Football
Where: Colley Park
Cost: Nil 

European Handball
Where: SMCC 
Cost: Nil

Year 9 & 10
Gym
Where: Casino Health Clubs
Cost: $5 per week

Tennis
Where: Casino Tennis Courts
Cost: $4 per week

Golf
Where: Casino Golf Club
Cost: $5 per week

Basketball
Where: SMCC 
Cost: Nil

European Handball
Where: SMCC
Cost: Nil 

AFL
Where: Colley Park 
Cost: Nil

Touch Footy
Where: Colley Park 
Cost: Nil

Just Dance
Where: SMCC 
Cost: Nil

If you have any questions, please speak to Mr Fitness.

Andrew Fitness
Sports Coordinator - Internal

From the Leader of School Evangelisation

LEAD
The annual LEAD conference was held on the 19 and 20 May this year at McAuley College, Grafton. We had 15 students attend the conference this year and gathered with over 200 other senior students in the Diocese. It was a valuable experience where we were able to engage in festival activities, workshops, keynote speakers and begin to form our school based ministry teams.

Sorry Day 
Thursday, 26 May was National Sorry Day. We were fortunate enough to have special guests from the Richmond Valley Council and the broader Casino Community join us on Sorry Day to share with us their culture and provide education about our shared histories. At its heart, reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians. The Richmond Valley Council put together a montage of the liturgy on their facebook page which can be viewed via the following link Sorry Day. Following the liturgy students participated in a range of cultural activities including a yarning circle, facepainting and bracelet making. It was a beautiful way to gather together as a community to acknowledge Sorry Day. 

IGNITE

A reminder that Ignite registration is due this Friday, 3 June. We will be taking a group of students to the Ignite Conference will be held in Brisbane at St Laurence's College from Thursday, 22 September to Sunday, 25 September. 

To secure your registration for Ignite, students will need to collect a form from Ms Day and return it by Friday, 3 June. Please include $245.00 (non-refundable) payment with permission note and return to the school office. Registration online using the coupon code provided on the permission note is required as part of the application.

Mahaila Day
Leader of School Evangelisation

Beef Week Steer Show

During “Beef Week 2022” the College participated in the annual steer show. The College was very successful taking out a number of prizes for both the “hoof and hook” categories. They included: 

- Chelsea Campbell received 3rd place in the paraders. Lascelle Hayward also participated in the paraders doing an excellent job.

- Angel Codrington received 2nd place in the Junior lightweight competition.

- Samara Leven received 3rd place in the schools competition.

- Tahlia Richards received 3rd place in class 2 (350-400kg).

The school steer then went on to sell for $11.60 per kg which was led by Faith Wilson during the auction. 

The College also did very well in the carcass competition receiving 3rd place (300-400kg) and second place for the Junior lightweight category. 

Overall we received second place in the “school steer” competition. The College was presented with a trophy for our efforts. I want to take this opportunity to also thank the Casino Food Co-op for donating the school steer and Riverina stockfeeds for donating grain for the competition.

Aaron Kennedy
Teacher

From Fr Peter Slack

Year 10 Vaccinations

The Year 10 Vaccinations will be held at the College next Wednesday, 8 June. The consent forms were sent home this week. Please complete the form and return it to College office by Tuesday morning if you would like your child to be vaccinated.

Year 7 and 8 catch up vaccinations will also be held on this day for those students who have returned their consent form but were away on the day that vaccinations took place.

Canteen

Volunteers
We are looking for volunteers to assist in the Canteen. Please contact the Canteen via the College office if you are available at any time to help.

Flexischools
Flexischools is a well-established organisation allowing you to easily place all your canteen orders online at any time.

Download the Flexischools app from the App store or Google Play. Click here for details on how to set up your account. 

Once registered, you can start placing orders immediately.

Please note that sushi orders will need to be placed before Tuesday afternoon at 1pm as Sushi will only be available for Wednesday orders.

There is a charge of $0.29 per order for using this service.

If you have any questions, please contact the Flexischools Customer Service Team via their website contact page.

The normal process of ordering from the canteen (cash, eftpos, morning lunch orders) is still available.

Uniform Shop

Uniform Shop Opening Hours
Tuesdays         3.15pm to 5.00pm
Thursdays        2.00pm to 5.00pm

Payments of cash, cheque or EFTPOS are welcome.

Orders can also be placed via the Flexischools service. No fees are charged to families for using this service.

Please note the following information for orders made via this service:

Tuesday Orders
- Cut off time is 12noon on Monday
- Pick up available from the College office on Tuesday afternoon from 3.30pm - 5.00pm

Thursday Orders
- Cut off time is 12noon on Wednesday 
- Pick up available from the College office on Thursday afternoon from 3.30pm - 5.00pm.

Orders not collected will be given to the student the following day to take home.

Whilst all care will be taken to ensure that stock availability is correct at the time of ordering, there may be some items that are not in stock at the time of packing the online orders. In this case, you will be contacted to advise of an estimated time of arrival for new stock of that item or given the option of a refund processed through Flexischools.

All uniform shop order enquiries can be emailed to: cash-uniform@lism.catholic.edu.au

Second Hand Uniforms

Sustainable School Shop is an online shop dedicated to buying and selling of second hand uniforms. For more information ring 1300683337 or visit www.sustainableschoolshop.com.au.

 Please note that this facility is available for use with the new College uniforms only.

Advertisements