Newsletter - T4W2 - 24/10/22

From the Principal

Welcome back to Term Four. We are certainly at the ‘business end’ of the year and I will outline some of the important dates and arrangements that you need to be aware of as we work towards our move to the 2023 timetable from Monday, 14 November. In particular, we wish our Senior students the very best of luck in their HSC Examinations which commenced in Week 1 this term.

I remind all parents and students of the importance of making the most of the many opportunities which are presented to them at St Mary’s, especially those related to learning and teaching, including their attendance at the Homework Centre which runs in the Library four afternoons per week from 3.15pm to 5.00pm. It would be great to see more students taking full advantage of this facility which, when utilised appropriately, can only help to enhance their results.

With the 2023 timetable starting in Week 6, the timetable for the term is as follows:

• Normal classes for Weeks 1- 4;
• Years 7-10 Exams completed in Week 4;
• Transition Week 5  - 
• Monday 7/11, and Tuesday 8/11 are Student Free Days for all students
• Wednesday 9/11 - Friday 11/11
• Years 10-11 - Senior Retreat
• Years 7-9 - Modified Program
• New 2023 Timetable will commence in Week 6 - Monday, 14 November
• Last day of formal classes will be Friday, 16 December at 3.10pm
• Parent/Teacher Interviews will be conducted on the morning of Monday, 19 December from 9.00am - 12.00pm

On Friday, 28 October, we observe ‘World Teachers’ Day’ – an international celebration of the contribution which teachers make to the world around them. Having now been teaching for many years, I think that I can say with some authority that working with young people in fostering a love of learning, is a most rewarding and worthwhile vocation. This is particularly so at St Mary’s where we witness the selfless dedication of our teachers on a daily basis. We can indeed be very proud of the work our teachers do here at St Mary’s and on behalf of Fr Slack and all members of our community, I thank them most sincerely.

Tracy Robinson
Principal

Upcoming Dates

Week 3
Monday, 24 October to Friday, 28 October - HSC exams 
Wednesday, 26 October - Year 10 Nic Newling Mental Health Workshop
Friday, 28 October - Fuse Cup - Lindisfarne

Week 4
Monday, 31 October to Friday, 4 November - HSC exams
Monday, 31 October to Friday, 4 November - Year 7 - 10 exams

Parish Mass Times

Weekend Mass
6.00pm (Sat) & 8.00am (Sun)

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

Adoration
Follows 9 am Mass

Reconciliation
Saturday 8.30am - 9.00am

From the Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

PAT Testing and Exams
All students in Years 7-10 will be undergoing PAT testing and yearly exams in the coming weeks.

PAT testing is a standardised test given to students across NSW. Students sit a PAT test for English, Maths and Science. These tests measure a student’s knowledge, skills and understanding in a particular subject and helps pinpoint where they are in their learning journey – and what they need to progress. The results from these tests help us better understand the pedagogy needed for each student to improve their learning growth.

These tests take 40 minutes each and will be held over the course of next week in whole year cohorts in the Relihan Centre. 

In week 4, students will complete their end of year exams. These exams are the culmination of their learning for 2022. Exams over this period will again be held in the Relihan Centre in whole year groups.

Both of these events are a great way for students to show their learning growth throughout the year. But they are also a great way for the College to see where students have improved, and where we need to focus our efforts on in the future.

It is important that students are ready for these tests and exams - they need to make sure they bring a pen and a fully charged device for the PAT tests and they need a pen for their exams as well. The PAT and exam timetables will be emailed to parents and students, so that everyone can be aware of dates and expectations.

Nadine Connolly
Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

From the Assistant Principal - Mission

In this week’s Gospel, we hear from Luke about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. There are times when we feel, like the Pharisee, that we deserve a certain level of recognition and respect. However, we also need to challenge the assumption of the Tax Collector in ourselves that because of our failings, because we do not measure up to the standards of the Pharisee in ourselves, we are in some way secretly beyond help.

Each of us is worthy of respect by the very nature of our human dignity. 

This is a theme we often explore with our students at the College. In Religious Education classes we examine the nature of human dignity and this is frequently presented to students at assemblies. We strive to let our students celebrate each other's innate dignity through respectful relationships in a variety of ways. 

McDonalds before school
We are having a number of students arriving late to school because they are in McDonalds. It is important that our young people are arriving to school on time and ready to start their day. If you are dropping your child off at McDonalds for breakfast, please do so in a way that allows the students to have finished their breakfast and be on the College grounds before the 8.45am bell.

Vaping
We have seen an increase in the number of students with e-cigarettes at the College in the last few months. We would like to remind all families that these are illegal substances for people under 18. In addition to this, they are prohibited substances on the College grounds. We ask parents to have a conversation with their families about the dangers and risks of smoking and vaping and encourage parents to check the belongings of their young people to ensure they are not coming into the College grounds. 

Disrespectful Language
The use of vulgar language is once again becoming an issue at the College. Students have been reminded again of the need to speak respectfully to their peers and the staff at the College. If a student uses vulgar language the consequences can lead to suspension. 

Haircuts
We have noticed a number of students who require haircuts at this point in time. Staff will be speaking with students about this over the coming week. If it is not corrected, parents will be contacted by phone by their Leader of House next week. If you are unsure, if the hair touches the bottom of the collar at the neckline, it must be up at all times while in uniform. If the hairstyle is deemed to be extreme (mullets, bleaching, etc) it will need to be corrected by a haircut or dying the hair to the natural colour. 

Clare Axman
Assistant Principal - Mission

From the Leader of Library and Resources

Books in focus; The Parent Collection
The Making of Men; Raising boys to be happy healthy and successful, by Dr Arne Rubinstein is a practical well-written for book with commonsense examples, aimed at supporting parents in raising their sons to be motivated and inspired young men. 

The author has worked with boys and men in various roles for 30 years and therefore the focus of this book is about solutions and ways to bring the best out in ‘our kids’. Topics in the book include; happiness and success, transitioning from boy to man, why boys misbehave, how to parent young boys to get them ready for the real world, giving our boys what they need, father/son relationships, mother/son relationships, key life skills and rites of passage.

Using real life examples, Dr Arne Rubenstein clearly explains the risks teenagers face today and then explores what can be done to support boys in making sensible and safe choices.

The Making of Men may be borrowed from the front office.

Bev Champion
Leader of Library and Resources

From the Literacy Coach and The Leader of Learning - Numeracy

Due to the current weather events, PAT testing has been postponed with the date to be confirmed.  All students from Years 7 to 10 will participate in Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT). Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 will sit tests for reading, mathematics and science, while students in Year 10 will sit tests for reading and mathematics only. PAT tests are designed to assess each student’s current capability against the appropriate standard for their age. Unlike NAPLAN, the PAT assessments do not have a student/parent report. However, student data is available to our College and is a valuable source of information on each student’s development.  

Teachers use the results to track each student’s development from year to year. This information is a useful tool for identifying students requiring extra support or extension in their studies. The PAT testing process should be familiar to all students and should not be seen as a stressful 'pass or fail' assessment.  However, it is important that students try their best in these tests, as the information gained helps to inform our teaching, in much the same way that a fitness test would help a personal trainer design the right program for success.  

Students can prepare for these tests by making sure they have a fully charged device and a pen with them each day.

Please do not hesitate to contact the College if you have any concerns about the PAT testing process.

Kelly Winters & Mark Chivers
Literacy Coach & Leader of Learning - Numeracy

Inclusion & Diversity

Catholic Schools NSW Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Conference 2022 
'Transforming with the Spirit'

During Week 1 of this term, Ms Scurr and I attended the State Aboriginal Education Conference for Catholic Schools. It was hosted by the Diocese of Parramatta in the beautiful Blue Mountains of the Gundagurra and Durag people.

https://fb.watch/ggd9ySaWMS/

Keynote speakers included: 

Isaiah Dawe, Founder and CEO of ID. Know Yourself, an Aboriginal led Not for Profit mentoring organisation focused on improving the outcomes for their kids in culture, education, life skills and employment.

Hon Linda Burney MP, Minister for Indigenous Australians. As a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation, Linda was the first Aboriginal person to be elected to the NSW Parliament and the first Aboriginal woman to serve in the House of Representatives. Her current role is focusing on the Uluru statement from the heart to deliver the Aboriginal voice in parliament. 

Aunty Miriam Rose Ungunmerr Baumann. Miriam Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, 2021 Senior Australian of the year, is a renowned Aboriginal Artist and Educator who is dedicated to creating bright and fulfilling futures for Aboriginal children and youth. She was the first fully qualified Aboriginal teacher in the Northern Territory and is the founder of the Miriam Rose Foundation. 

Over the three days, the conference was magical, moving and inspiring. It started with a warm Smoking Ceremony and Welcome to Country. There were inspiring sessions with keynote speakers and a wonderful variety of lectures, liturgies, activities, weaving workshops, yarning circles and so much more. A special part of the conference included ‘On Country’ experiences, such as; Night lit walks, Aboriginal Astronomy, Sunrise walks and many more. The IEWs in our Lismore Diocese got to create our own canvas painting for our schools within the Diocese, and kindly the group donated it to the IDknowyourself foundation for an upcoming auction to raise funds for his mentoring program for indigenous youth in and out of foster care. 

I got the absolute best experience teaming up with some of the other IEWs from the Lismore Diocese and built a friendship with them. We will continue to work with each other and share the ideas and knowledge we gained from the conference and work with our students.

Shenane Reuben Kawane
Indigenous Education Worker

From the Sports Coordinator - Internal

Gus Summers (Year 7) competed at the National School Futsal Championships as part of the U14’s FNNSW Team where they came up against some strong competition, placing 5th of the 9 teams in their division. Gus (12yrs) had a fantastic time, scored some goals and was selected to tour the UK in 2023 as part of the Australian Futsal Association 14’s team. Gus has also been invited to play in the Solomon Islands, in December, with his local Futsal Academy- Just Futsal NSW which is based in Goonellabah.

Congratulations Gus. SMCC wishes you all the best.

Andrew Fitness
Sports Coordinator - Internal

Diocesan Volleyball

On Friday, 14 October SMCC competed in the annual Lismore Diocesan Volleyball Competition at Coffs Harbour. The last time the carnival was held, St Mary’s came second in the overall trophy as the competitions best school. This year that goal was impossible to achieve as SMCC did not field an Open Boys team. The three teams – 15yrs boys and girls and open girl’s teams were all confident of doing their best. Due to COVID causing the carnival to go into recess for three years, there were only two students who had travelled to Coffs to experience this carnival and they were winners that day against MacKillop College, Port Macquarie.

The last time the 15yrs girls’ team travelled to Coffs they came home winners. With 12 teams in their division, the draw was in two pools - after winning all their pool matches: 40-14 (Mackillop), 28-25 (St Joseph’s Port), 30-26 (Xavier) and 39-19 ( St Joseph’s Banora). In the semi-final they played St Joseph’s Regional, Port Macquarie. They were a bit nervous but were able to overcome this, to eventually win 36 – 22. Onto the final and St John Paul College, Coffs Harbour. Again they were a bit nervous and a 'bit slow out of the blocks', but once they found their rhythm the points came easily to finally win 32 – 22. An absolute great effort from a young team, with four of the seven able to play again next year. Congratulations to Angel Codrington, Elle Hannigan, Lascelle Hayward, Zubaida Soliman, Izabel Baker (all Yr 9), Belle Wall and Siena Thomas (both Yr 8).

The Open Girls team also was a very young team, with five members from Yr 10 and three from Yr 11. These girls started off very nervous and results did not actually go the way they wished. There were 14 teams in this division, therefore there were three pools and the top three from each pool went through to the quarter finals. After only winning one of their three pool matches, the girls had to wait anxiously on the results of the other pool games to determine if their for and against was good enough for them to finish third – a ‘little’ cheer from the girls was the indication that they were through to the finals. With their confidence up they played with much more precision and teamwork beating St Joseph’s Regional, Port Macquarie 30-24 to move into the semi-final. Behind a few points a very little time left, they won the last few points to beat John Paul, Coffs Harbour 27-26 – a very happy group of girls. Onto the final against Mackillop, Port Macquarie. Leading by four points with 5 minutes to go, they were unable to hold the lead finally losing 23-29. Congratulations to Carlee Thomas, Carrie Dawson and Kristhine Salceda from Yr 11, Ella Andrews, Samara Leven, Erica Richards, Tatiana Simpson and Libby Walker– all from Yr 10.

The 15yrs Boys team had ten teams in their division, therefore two pools, they were in a very strong pool and knew that they had to finish first or second to progress. Winning their first game 36-19 (St Paul’s, Kempsey) and their second against Trinity 36-19. Their third game was against MacKillop, Port Macquarie. They knew that this team was good and they went down 32-25 – they now knew what they had to do to win the final. Knowing they had to win their final pool game (as did the opposition) against Xavier, this was a ‘David V’s Goliath, they were a VERY tall team – a very tight game but St Mary’s were able to win a few points at the end to win 19-15. Onto the final, and guess who... MacKillop. Their best was not good enough, going down 26-15. Disappointed – yes. Leant a lot on how to play competitive volleyball – YES. Congratulations to Jayden De La Cruz, Brody Hoare, Angus Lawler, Ashton James Marquez, Billy McGrath and Hayden Sivewright.

The players voted on their Players Player – Samara Leven won the Open Girls and the 15yr Girls was shared between Zubaida Soliman and Siena Thomas. The 15yrs boys was unanimously won by Billy McGrath.

 All students should be extremely proud of their efforts. Congratulations to all – winners on 'the paddock' and also how you represented St Mary’s both on and off 'the paddock'.

Andrew Bartlett
Leader of Learning - PDHPE

From the Leader of School Evangelisation

Ignite 
Late last term, ten students and three staff journeyed to Brisbane to participate in the annual Ignite Conference. Every year, Ignite Youth hosts one of Australia’s most powerful Catholic youth conferences, this was held at St Laurence’s College.

 Ignite Conference draws together a network of high schoolers, young adults, ministry leaders, families, teachers, priests, and religious from around the country, sending them out with a passion for authentic faith in Jesus. Our staff and students experienced true formation and are now inspired to continue to share this passion with others. The students that attended formed new friendships and were able to deepen their faith in such a unique way. 

We are looking forward to taking another group of staff and students to Ignite in 2023. The theme for the conference will be ‘wonder’ and it will no doubt be another awesome experience of encounter for everyone. 

Year 8 Catch the Wave
The Year 8 Catch the Wave retreat day was held on Thursday, 20 October. The day was facilitated by the Diocesan worship team ‘Wildfire’.  The theme song for the day was ‘more’ which guided students into relationship with God. If you would like to have a listen the song can be found Here. The day consisted of three sessions where students were able to play games, pray and be surrounded by God’s love. We are grateful for the YMOs for other schools who travelled to assist with the facilitation of the day, these days would not have been as successful without their enthusiasm and energy. 

The day concluded with an invitation to nominate to be a part of the youth ministry class for next year. The ministry class is run alongside the Religious Education curriculum and provides students with additional faith formation and opportunities to develop their skills in ministry and leadership. The class is open for students to self nominate or be nominated by staff. 

If you would like any further information about the youth ministry class please feel free to contact me: mahaila.day@lism.catholic.edu.au

Mahaila Day
Leader of School Evangelisation

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 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.

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