Newsletter - T4,W10 - 16/12/22

From the Acting Principal

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

For our young people, there is great peace knowing God is in full control. God never changes. Though seasons come and go, God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. There is no hidden shadow to God’s character. God is love and law simultaneously. God is the author and source of all good within the world for all mankind.

Sometimes life brings tough trials and we may question whether God is good. Yet what we think and what truly is are different. We cannot measure goodness solely on our emotion and experience. Rather, we must accept that our God bestows good and perfect gifts that are immeasurable for us to comprehend. And in truth, the most perfect gifts are those that do not come so easily but are more appreciated because of the trials we endure.

2022 has been a year like no other. We are stronger because of our ability to stand up for ourselves and those around us. I hope and pray that Christmas will be all you want it to be for your families. It is difficult in this day and age to keep sight of the Christian message of Christmas. Like Joseph and Mary searching for a room in Bethlehem, we need to make room in our lives for Christ. If Christmas is not about accepting Jesus into our lives, then we have missed the meaning.

Our 2022 Higher School Certificate results have shown the dedication of our students and their teachers. Congratulations to every student who completed HSC subjects in 2022. Mrs Connolly has included some highlights in her report in the newsletter.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank every member of our College community for their contributions throughout 2022. I thank the students for their cooperation and friendliness, the staff for their commitment and hard work, and finally, the parents: thank you all for your outstanding support. I also take this opportunity to wish everyone a holy, safe and relaxing Christmas. We look forward to seeing you in 2023!

Clare Axman
Acting Principal

Upcoming Dates

Week 1
Monday 30/1/22 - First Day for students in Year 7, 11 & 12
Tuesday 31/1/22 - First Day for students in Year 8, 9 & 10
Wednesday 1/2/22 - High Achievers Assembly
Friday 3/2/22 - Year 7 Unity Day

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 9.00am Mass

Reconciliation
Saturday 8.30am - 9.00am

Country Mass
Christmas Eve - Mallanganee 5.00pm

CHRISTMAS IS COMING
Reconciliation
Thursday 22/12/22 Community Rite 6.00pm
Friday 23/12/22 - 4.00pm to 5.00pm

Christmas Masses
Saturday 24/12/22 - Mallanganee 5.00pm
Saturday 24/12/22 - Casino 6.00pm
Sunday 25/12/22 - Casino 8.00am

From the Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

2022 HSC Results
The 2022 HSC results came out on Thursday, 15 November.

This year’s Stage 6 students did amazingly well and the College would like to commend all of the HSC students for their efforts throughout the year.

The following students were placed on the Distinguished Achievers list (the students on this list achieved a Band 6 - over 90 in a particular subject):

Nicholas Carey - Ancient History and Maths Advanced
Michael Chivers - Maths Advanced and Maths Extension 1
Elliana Cox - Maths Standard 2
Oscar Day - Maths Standard 2
Jayna Hayward - Maths Standard 2
Abby Martin - Ancient History
Tom Wyatt - Maths Standard 2

The College would also like to congratulate Elliana Cox and Damien Rae for being nominated for the Visual Arts HSC exhibition - Art Express. 

Other notable successes from this years HSC include:
Above state average results in

• Ancient History
• Construction
• English Standard
• English Studies
• Primary Industries
• Visual Arts
• 33% of students in Maths Standard 2 scored a Band 5 or higher
• 40% of students in Ancient History scored a band 6
• 45% of students in Maths Advanced scored a band 5 or higher
• 35% of students in PDHPE scored a band 5 or higher
• 40% of students in Physics scored a band 5 or higher
• 50% of students in Visual Arts scored a band 5 or higher

The year 12 students will be invited back to the College for our academic achievement assembly at the beginning of next year so that our student body can publicly congratulate them.

2023 Uniform and Grooming
While holidays are a great time for teenagers to experiment with hair and jewellery, please remember that the College uniform and grooming policy goes back into effect from Monday 30th January and all students are expected to present to school in their full school uniform and in a neat and tidy fashion. Mullets are not permitted at the College, so we ask that haircuts reflect this at the beginning of the year.

Please click here to see the letter to all parents and students, reminding families of our expectations.

As my final newsletter entry for 2022 comes to an end, I would like to wish every family a happy and safe holiday. I pray that the Christmas period is one of rest and relaxation, and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2023.

Nadine Connolly
Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

From the Leader of Pastoral Care

Pulse is Coming
In 2023, St Mary’s Catholic College will be introducing a new Student Wellbeing Online Weekly Check in. This app has been developed by Educator Impact and is used by several schools across the Diocese.

It is a tool for measuring the week to week wellbeing and engagement of students so that the college can respond to students who express a need. Once a week, students will be prompted by email to complete the ‘Check-In’ via their computers. This takes less than 5 minutes. The college goals for introducing this app are:

• To use a student wellbeing tool that promotes proactive initiatives in the college community
• To make it easier for staff to identify student difficulties, early and in a targeted fashion
• To triage reach out requests to alleviate the workload of counselors
• To activate student voice and gather data efficiently from students who express a need.

Click on the link below for more information about this new initiative.

Student Pulse FAQs for Parents and Guardians

Resilience in Our Teens - Anxiety Screening & Parent Webinar
Parent Workshop is running a ‘Resilience in Our Teens – Parent’ webinar over the holidays 11 – 25 January 2023. Please see the below flier attached for details.

Safe On Social
Andrea Turner, a Specialist Facilitator on CYBER SAFETY with Safe On Social has sent through an interesting article entitled ‘Why My New High Schooler Won't Be Having a Phone’. Here is the link for your information.

Michele McCaffery
Leader of Pastoral Care

From the Leader of Learning - Inclusion & Diversity

We are pleased to announce that the 2023 Application form for families to apply for the Marist Father Grant is now available. All Applications need to be submitted prior to midnight on Friday 17 February 2023. The CSO has advised that late applications will not be accepted. Please click here to begin the application process.  If you have any questions please contact the College.

Do you know a young person looking for something to do these holidays?

Health RESET is an innovative program for young people, aimed at increasing their overall health and wellbeing.

The Health RESET program is a 3-day course that gives high school aged NDIS participants the opportunity to understand their physical and mental health. It focuses on a holistic approach to improve education about health within school and daily life. Each group session will be a fun and educational mix of physical and mental health learning, with the goal of improving resilience and flexibility when at school and within the community.

For more information please see the following flyer:

As the school year comes to an end, may this Christmas season find us all among those we love, and give us the space to reflect on what is important.

Kelly Scurr
Leader of Learning - Inclusion & Diversity

From the Literacy Coach and The Leader of Learning - Numeracy

Literacy Coach & Numeracy Coordinator

During this Term all students in years 7 to 10 engaged in PAT testing. The Progressive Achievement Test (PAT) assist teachers to identify student needs and is used to target teaching and monitor learning growth over time.  Usually, PAT is conducted in the first four weeks of Term 4 each year.  Due to weather events this year the College’s PAT timetable was moved to Week 6-Week 8.  

We would like to acknowledge the following students for achieving the greatest growth over the past 12 months in each of the following tests:

We congratulate these students on their growth.

We would also like to congratulate the following students for achieving results in the top 25 percentile in Australia for each of the following tests:

Another exciting achievement that needs to be noted is the exceptional growth that the students who engaged in the Levelled Literacy Intervention have achieved across the year.  We congratulate the following students for their dedication and exceptional growth:

Our last congratulations go to our Year 10 students who have all met their Minimum Standards for Reading and Writing.  With the exception of two students (due to special circumstances) all Year 10 students have met their Numeracy Minimum Standards also, well done a fantastic effort from you all.

It has been a very eventful year and as we can see our students have taken up many opportunities to continue to grow in their learning.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Mark Chivers for his support this year as our first Numeracy Coordinator in quite some time, it has been wonderful working with and learning from you.  I would also like to introduce Ms Emma Northam to the role of Literacy Coach for 2023, as I move into the Acting Leader of Pedagogy, welcome Emma!

Finally, Mark and I would like to wish our community a very happy, holy and safe Christmas and Happy New.

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

From the Sports Coordinator

Weekly school sport for 2023 will remain using the same structure as sport in 2022. Thursday sport will consist of stage 4 students having sport in the morning during periods 1 and 2, whilst stage 5 students will have sport in the afternoons during periods 5 and 6.
2023 Year 7 students will rotate through a range of scheduled activities as they transition into sport at high school. This will include Cricket, Lawn bowls ($2), Oztag and Ultimate Frisbee.

SMCC Swimwear Policy
With the swimming carnival scheduled for early term 1, the College would like to remind the SMCC community of the swimwear policy here at school. 

For all water, swimming and aquatic activities the following swimwear policy has been adopted by St Mary’s Catholic College. Hopefully this will make it clear what attire is safe and appropriate at College events and activities. The policy will now apply to students currently participating in water activities for Sport and for upcoming excursions and carnivals involving swimming. 
We want all students to be able to participate in aquatic activities safely and modestly. We are concerned about students’ physical and emotional wellbeing.
Prohibited apparel includes: non-swimming shirts, running shorts, compression tights, athletic shorts, undergarments, swimmers not covering buttock cheeks, thongs and Brazilian cut swimwear. These garments are either considered unsafe for water and aquatic activities or inappropriate due to their revealing nature. The aim is for everyone to have fun, participate and enjoy aquatic games and activities.

I would like to congratulate all the students that have represented St Mary's at all levels of sport throughout 2022. They have shown great sportsmanship and worn their uniform with pride. To the endless hours of behind the scenes administration, I would like to thank all the ladies in the office for their unwavering support to help get these events going. I would also like to thank Mr Mike Ryan for everything he has done for sport at St Mary's over his time as Sports Coordinator and I look forward to trying to fill his shoes for 2023 and beyond.I wish all members of our school community a safe and Merry Christmas. I am excited to see our school further excel in sport in 2023.

Andrew Fitness
Sports Coordinator - Internal

From the Leader of School Evangelisation

Senior Retreat 
Our Senior Retreat Days were held on Thursday, 8 and Friday, 9 December. These days were highly rewarding for both staff and students who attended. The theme of the day was Together in Christ and we were reminded of the importance of community, and celebrating our Mercy Charism. Our students developed the skills needed to become servant leaders within our community and to share the gospel message with other students. 

Year 12’s were challenged to build cohesiveness within their year group and participated in a range of team building and spiritual activities. Students walked away from this day feeling renewed in their faith and ready to tackle the year ahead. We were reminded of the importance of community on Thursday evening where we gathered for prayer and trivia. This was a fun night with Connor Turner, Ava George, Jack Hannigan, Tom Wyatt, and Nicholas Carey being victorious. 

Year 11 and year 12 had the opportunity to continue to build community on Friday, 9 December at Windara. Students were in house groups and participated in a rotation between a jigsaw activity, laser tag, a scavenger hunt and games. We concluded the day with a game of slip and slide softball and a house water fight. Despite every effort to beat Champagnat they came away as champions.

Christmas Celebrations
During week 10 students ran fundraising activities to raise money for our Vinnies Christmas Appeal. We held a Candy Cane guessing competition, photos with Santa, and face painting. The final tally is still to be counted but it is estimated that our school community has raised over $500. This is such a worthy cause and will relieve the financial stress at Christmas for many families. Thank you for your ongoing support and generosity.  

I would like to wish all of our families a safe and Holy Christmas. I hope it is a time of peace, joy and happiness. 

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 - January 2023
Monday, 23 January          7.30am – 1.30pm
Tuesday, 24 January         9.30am – 1.30pm

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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