Newsletter - T1,W6 - 10/3/23

From the Principal

After a very busy few weeks of the term, the College has been buzzing with energy, hard work, and achievement. There is certainly a wonderful feeling around the school and within the classrooms as I wander through the buildings and observe the learning and teaching going on around me.

Our students in Years 7 and 9 will be sitting the annual NAPLAN tests next week. While NAPLAN has its critics, and let's face it, no-one wants to do more testing,  it does provide valuable information back to the school to help us determine where the needs are in terms of the literacy and numeracy skills of our students. It is a snapshot, but one which will inform our future direction in these areas. It is not a pass or fail type of test - it is one that will simply show where your child is on that particular day for that particular test. I wish our students in Years 7 and 9 the very best for these tests in Week 7.

Coming up over the next week are two significant Feast Days in the life of the Church: St Patrick (March 17) and St Joseph (March 19). St Joseph’s, St Patrick’s and St Mary’s would account for the patronage of the majority of Catholic schools in Australia, such was their legacy. I leave you with the following reflection (albeit one written for the Northern Hemisphere):

St. Patrick's Day brings to mind everything from wearing green to shamrocks to good luck to party times in pubs and street parades. Tradition has it that St. Patrick, the fifth century Christian who is now the patron saint of Ireland, died on this day. It's been celebrated as a religious holiday in Ireland for 1000 years. 

The Prayer of St Patrick:
Christ with me
Christ before me
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

Tracy Robinson
Principal

Upcoming Dates

Week 7
Wednesday 15/3/23 - NAPLAN Commences for Year 7 and Year 9
Friday 17/3/23 - Bullying "No Way" Day

Week 8
Friday 24/3/23 - College Photo 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 Saturday Mass

Reconciliation
Saturday 8.30am - 9.00am

From the Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

SMCC Integrity Awards
The first round of the new SMCC Integrity Awards was released onto Compass this week and can now be accessed by parents and students.
The SMCC Integrity Awards look at the student’s ability to uphold the College’s 3 main expectations - Respect, Responsibility and Readiness.
Each aspect is given a mark out of 4 with the College expectation being that students should be achieving at an 80% rate in order to gain an Integrity certificate. The reports can be found in your Compass app or the website once you log in. Go to reports and you should be able to view the award there and download it as a PDF.
The award is written up in 2 ways - as a table and as a graph. This is to assist in seeing, both numerically and visually, where your child sits in relation to the College expectations. The SMCC Integrity award will be sent home 5 times a year - twice in terms 1 and 3 and once in term 2.

A student who has maintained over an 80% award rate throughout the year will be eligible for the St Francis of Assisi medal at the College’s end of year celebration night.

Sport - Uniform and Sport Detention
This is a reminder to parents that if a student wears the incorrect uniform on a Thursday, they need a note to explain why. This is particularly important if students are wearing the wrong shoes. Parents and students should be aware that while a note for being out of uniform is expected, a student in the incorrect uniform will not be allowed to participate in sport - even if they have a note.
Students at sport need to not only represent the College to the community, but they also need to uphold WHS conditions at some venues. 
Therefore please be aware that a note excuses a uniform detention, but students out of uniform will still be placed in sport detention.

NAPLAN
A reminder for parents and students in years 7 and 9 that NAPLAN begins next week.
Students have been asked to bring CORDED HEADPHONES.
The school only has a limited number of corded headphones to offer students if they forget. Once those headphones are gone, students without the proper equipment will be unable to sit the NAPLAN test.

Nadine Connolly
Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

From the Assistant Principal - Mission

As we journey further into Lent, I am reminded of the need to evolve our understanding of ‘fasting’. Pope Francis calls us to fast from hurting words, anger and sadness. By fasting from negative interactions we are reminded of the need to focus on the positive in every situation. We ask our young people to find the good in every interaction and every day. Sometimes it is difficult to do so, but ultimately, this contributes significantly to our overall wellbeing. 

Clare Axman
Assistant Principal - Mission

From the College Business Manager

College School Fees
Thank you to those families that have been able to make payments for school fees.  There have been a few changes to the way fees are billed across the Diocese. 

Timing of School Fees
-Tuition fees will be billed over four terms for students in Year 7-11 and students in Year 12 will be billed over three terms.
- Levies and Electives will all be billed in Term 1
-At the end of each month the Catholic Schools Office will email a School Fee Statement to fee payers.  The February statement should have already been received and should include, Tuition Fees, Sibling Discounts, General Levy and the Text & Tech Levy.  The March School Fee Statement will detail Text Book Bond credits and Elective Fees.  These fees can all be viewed in Compass.
-Camps will be billed in advance and will have separate due dates to fees.

Please click here for a full Schedule of School Fees for 2023 which includes due dates and methods of payment. Bpay is our preferred method of payment as it is the most cost effective for the College.  The Bpay biller code and your unique reference number is on the bottom of the School Fee Statement.

If you have not received your School Fee Statement via email or need to update your email address please contact the College Office.  If you are experiencing difficulties accessing or paying school fees please contact me at the College Office.

Leanne Cummins
College Business Manager

From the Leader of Curriculum

Year 10 - 12 Terminology
A belated welcome to 2023. I thought I would take this opportunity to explain some basic but essential important terminology for all Year 10 - 12 students and their parents to help with their journey towards their Higher School Certificate (HSC).

NESA - NSW Education Standards Authority 
They are responsible for providing ROSAs (see below) & the HSC. From Year 10 onwards, all students (10 -12) are enrolled with NESA and every school in NSW must follow the rules for assessment tasks, etc. set by that authority.

ROSA - Record of Student Achievement
This can be applied for by any student that has completed Year 10 but has not completed the HSC. Please note that it is NESA who provide ROSAa, not the schools themselves. All Year 10 - 12 students have been walked through how to access their StudentsOnline account and how to download their eRecord or ROSA certificate.

N-Award - Non-Completion Letter/Award
An N-Award Letter (Zero Letter) has to be issued by schools in NSW to any Year 10 - 12 student that has either failed to submit a task or handed in a non-serious effort. Two of these letters for the same subject can lead to an N-Determination, meaning that a student will not be deemed to have completed that course and hence jeopardise their ROSA/HSC.

NESA Number
This is the student number assigned by NESA to each Year 10 -12 student. It is viewable via the NESA Numbers spreadsheet that every Year 11 - 12 student has been emailed about and therefore has access to.

Confirmation of Entry form
Once a student has been enrolled with NESA and all the subjects they are studying during an academic year have been entered, I provide every Year 10 - 12 student with a hard copy of their Confirmation of Entry form so they can check its correctness and then sign it.

StudentsOnline - This is the NESA site where Year 10 - 12 students can check the following:

• HSC Exam Timetable
• eRecord until a ROSA becomes available. The former is only available at the conclusion of Year 10.
• ROSA
• Personal details such address, email address & phone number (optional)

• NB It is critical that a student, who is leaving St. Mary’s Catholic College, changes their school email address to their personal one on this site BEFORE unenrolling from the college. The reason being that that email account is deleted by the Catholic Schools Office (CSO) after a student has left.

All Year 10 - 12 will be signing off on their Confirmation of Entry form in the next week.

For Year 10s this will be the first time as this is the first time they will have been officially enrolled with NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority).

Michael Woerner
Leader of Curriculum

From the Leader of Pedagogy

On Friday, 24 February the College Staff invested their time in collaborative learning to improve student outcomes.  As a staff, we took a deep dive into the social and physical learning environments that are referred to as ‘The Third Teacher’ to establish and foster a collaborative culture of learning in our classrooms.  This work is embedded in our collaborative work with Lyn Sharratt (and the Catholic Schools Office Lismore) and her work on the 14 Parameters for system and school improvement.  Through purposeful and intentional planning and scaffolding each of our classrooms become a safe place to learn and as a staff, we invested time in what this looks like, feels like and sounds like.  

We also continued to build our capacity in teaching writing in our classrooms effectively with a focus on using punctuation effectively.  And we finished the day reviewing assessment tools to support our students in their learning.

We appreciate that these days are not easy to accommodate from a parent's perspective, but this opportunity to learn and plan together is important to student outcomes, so thank you.

Kelly Winters
Leader of Pedagogy

From the Leader of Pastoral Care

Upcoming Vaccinations & Online Consent
If your child is in Year 7 or Year 10 this year, you can now provide online consent for their routine school vaccinations.

In Year 7, students are offered free vaccines for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (dTpa) and human papillomavirus (HPV).

In Year 10, students are offered the meningococcal ACWY vaccine.

Vaccination will only be provided at school if consent has been received. 

How to provide consent:
1 - To complete online consent for your child’s school vaccinations, visit:
https://nswhealth.service-now.com/school

2 - Click the login with ‘Service NSW Account’ button and log in using your Service NSW details. This is the same account you may already use to renew your driver’s licence. If you don’t have a Service NSW account, refer to Service NSW to create one.

3 - Update or confirm your personal details in Service NSW as required. 

4 - Complete the School Vaccination Consent Form for your child/ren. You will need to:  
a) Enter your child’s personal details 
b) Provide the Medicare card details for you and your child  
c) Read the linked Parent Information Sheet and privacy statement 
d) Provide consent  

If you or your child do not have a Medicare card, consent can still be provided by requesting a paper-based consent form directly from our College office.

To read a step-by-step guide on how to provide consent online or for more information on routine school vaccinations, please visit www.health.nsw.gov.au/schoolvaccination.

Please note our visits scheduled for 2023 are as follows:
Term 1
Wednesday, 29 March - Year 7 HPV & Boostrix
Term 2
Wednesday,  7 June - Year 10 Meningococcal ACWY
Term 4
Wednesday, 18 October - Catch up vaccines for either year 7 or 10.

Michele McCaffery
Leader of Pastoral Care

From the Literacy Coach and The Leader of Learning - Numeracy

NAPLAN will be running on the following days in either periods 1 & 2 or periods 3 & 4 (depending on your child’s year group):

Wednesday,15 March 2023
Friday, 17 March 2023
Monday, 20 March 2023
Tuesday, 21 March 2023

It is important that students bring with them a pen/pencil and most importantly, a set of headphones that plug in as the Locked Down Browser that is used to secure the NAPLAN tests does not allow bluetooth headphones. Headphones (that plug in) are an essential item needed to complete the Conventions of Language test in particular, but are very useful for all tests. Lastly, students will need a positive attitude to do their best. 

Parents please note, for students with diagnosed disabilities, the NAPLAN 2023 'Parent/carer consent for disability adjustments' form has been sent home with your child. Please discuss with them their needs during the NAPLAN tests, with regards to the below adjustments. 

The disability adjustments available:
Extra time
Rest Break
Naplan Support person

Please note, if your child chooses to access their adjustments for their test, they will be in a separate small group space.

Please return the forms by 4pm Monday, 13 March as testing commences Wednesday, 15 March.

If you have any questions regarding an exemption or withdrawal, please contact the College on      (02) 6662 2255.

Emma Northam and Mark Chivers
Literacy Coach & Leader of Learning - Numeracy

From the Sports Coordinator

Diocesan Swimming Carnival
On Thursday, 2 March, SMCC had 17 students represent the college at the diocesan swimming carnival in Kempsey. Our students swam their hearts out in what was a very successful day individually for our students and for our school as a whole. A number of students placed first, second and third throughout the day. 

Other than the 50m Freestyle where the top two progress, only the fastest student per event could make it through to the CCC state carnival in Sydney later this month. 

Congratulations to the following students for progressing:

• Emma Green
• Hayden Griffin
• Elle Hannigan
• Ellie Bower
• Lillian Grant
• Belle Wall
• Clayton Wilkinson

Our success on the day didn't stop there as Emma Green and Clayton Wilkinson were named runner up age champions for the 12 years girls and 17+ years boys respectively. Overall our school placed 4th in our diocese in the total pointscore, which is a massive achievement for such a small school. 

Of course days like this could not be done without the amazing support from our families, so I would like to sincerely thank all the families involved, driving students down, helping out at the carnival and cheering our students on. I would also like to thank Mr Jacob Ludwig for his mammoth effort driving the college bus to and from Kempsey in one day.

A reminder to parents with students that were successful in progressing to the state carnival, to please register via the Catholic Schools NSW sport portal asap.

SMCC Swimming Carnival
Following on from our college swimming carnival, I would like to acknowledge the following students who were names age champions and were presented with a medal at this weeks assembly:

12 years girls - Emma Green 
13 years girls - Ella Rose & Harper Myers
14 years girls - Sarah Green
15 years girls - Belle Wall
16 years girls - Elle Hannigan
17+ years girls - Libby Walker

12 years boys - Jed Handford
13 years boys - Connor Winters
14 years boys - Hayden Griffin
15 years boys - Riley Grant
16 years boys - Billy McGrath
17+ years boys - Clayton Wilkinson

What is a swimming carnival without records being broken? Congratulations to Ella Rose, Kayla Patch, Indigo Creighton, Hayden Griffin for breaking records as well as an extra special mention to Clayton Wilkinson for breaking an astonishing 11 school records. What an achievement by all our record breakers.

Diocesan Winter Sports Trials
On Tuesday, 7 March, a number of students were selected to represent SMCC at the diocesan rugby league and football (soccer) trials, as individuals, to trial for their respective team. 

Although we were unsuccessful in having any SMCC students make the open boys or girls football (soccer) teams, our rugby league players were very successful. I would like to publicly congratulate the following students for making the diocesan team to travel to South West Rocks on Tuesday, 28 and Wednesday, 29 March for the Northern Selections trials:

Under 15 boys rugby league:

• Rory McInnes
• Isaiah Roberts

Open Boys rugby league:

• Jack Hannigan

Under 16 girls rugby league:

• Elle Hannigan
• Grace Rapmund

Open girls rugby league:

• Kali Ainsworth
• Ava George
• Kharis Birney
• Charlotte Day
• Samara Leven

A reminder to parents with students that were successful in progressing to the Northern Selections, to please register via the Catholic Schools NSW sport portal as soon as possible.

Upcoming Sport
The upcoming sporting opportunities to represent the college are the Bill Turner Cup and Trophy (under 15’s soccer), opens boys and girls soccer, girls league tag (14’s, 16’s and opens), Len Diett Shield rugby union (boys 13’s, 16’s and opens) and open basketball.

If you are interested in trialling for one of the college teams in the aforementioned sports, please put your name down on the lists on the sports noticeboard.

The college community also wishes Connor Turner, Ben George, Jayden De La Cruz and Miller Scully the best of luck in their upcoming Diocesan open tennis tournament.

Weekly School Sport
Students in years 7-10 will be given the opportunity to select their preference for term 2 weekly sport, via a google form, during homeroom on Tuesday, 14 March.

Sport selections will be confirmed by week 8 this term and students have until the end of the term to request any changes to the sport they have been placed in. No student will be allowed to change sport once the new term has begun.

Students and families are reminded that the correct school uniform is required to participate in weekly sport. This means black socks and canvas shoes such as converse are prohibited. Students not adhering to the college sport uniform policy will be placed on a sport detention. Students that acquire three consecutive sport detentions for either uniform or behaviour infringements, will be required to attend an after school detention.

The college wishes to impress the importance of physical activity for maintaining a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

Andrew Fitness
Sports Coordinator

From the Leader of School Evangelisation

House Mass
Last Saturday evening we gathered together to celebrate our dePaul House, joining together on Saturday evening at our Parish Mass. It was so lovely to be able to share a meal with staff, students, families and parishoners. A massive thank you to our wonderful musicians who performed beautifully. We are looking forward to celebrating out Champagnat house mass next term. 

LEAD Conference
21 students and 2 staff members joined with other students in the Diocese to gather for the LEAD Conference on Thursday, 9 and Friday, 10 March. It is amazing to have so many students attending this discipleship event and I can’t wait to see the skills and ideas they bring back to share with the wider community.

Mahaila Day
Leader of School Evangelisation

Preliminary Agriculture Excursion

Dairy Farm Case Study
SMCC would like to acknowledge the Toohey family who welcomed our Preliminary Agriculture students for a recent case study visit. As part of the Agriculture course students prepare a report detailing the everyday operations of a local farming enterprise. Terry and Annabelle Toohey have always welcomed SMCC students and provided valuable insight and relevant information to our students. For this we thank you both.

Aaron Kennedy
Teacher

Forming Futures Living Lab Excursion

Tuesday, 21 February, witnessed the Forming Futures class make contact with the Living Lab, in Woodlark St Lismore. The Living Lab was established by Southern Cross University (SCU), University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRCC) to consider ways in which Lismore and surrounds can be efficiently reconstructed in the face of the flooding event a year ago.

The students explored parts of the Lismore CBD to tally the status of businesses in three streets (Molesworth, Woodlark and Keen), as well as briefly conducting a questionnaire of shop owners about their thoughts on recovery efforts post-flood. This data, along with information gathered from the Lab, and potential interviews and further research is being used by the students to write a research paper covering an element of the recovery process.

Christopher Robinson
Leader of Learning - HSIE

Stage 6 SLR Fitness Excursion

On Thursday, 2 March 2023, the Stage 6 SLR class attended a Pilates session at F-Fitness in Lismore. The class was run by myself, their SLR teacher and who is also a qualified Pilates instructor. The students experienced a Reformer class which involved learning the repertoire designed by Joseph Pilates. This was a valuable experience for these students and a great opportunity to try something a little different and improve their strength, flexibility and learn new skills. The students all agreed they had fun and enjoyed the afternoon. Students involved include Charlie, Carlee, Kharis, Kali, Ellie-May, Savannah and Daisy.

Keely Maguire
Teacher

College Photo Day

College Photographs will be taken on Friday, 24 March.

Full, formal uniform must be worn on this day, which includes long trousers and ties for our Years 11 & 12 boys.

For students who will need to purchase long trousers and ties, the Uniform Shop Opening Hours are as follows:
Tuesdays: 3.15pm - 5.00pm
Thursdays: 2.00pm - 5.00pm

Vaping: Information & Awareness - Part 1

Vaping is on the rise in Australia and has become popular amongst teenagers and young adults. Alarmingly, a recent study has also shown that there is an increase in the number of primary school-aged children who are experimenting with vapes. There are many misconceptions about vapes being fairly harmless and that vapes in Australia do not contain nicotine.

Our school is committed to the health and wellbeing of our students and will be including a series of informative resources for our parent community over the next 3 editions of our newsletter.

We hope parents and carers use these helpful resources to:
● learn the facts about e-cigarettes and vaping,
● recognise what a vape looks like,
● understand why vaping is attractive to young people and
● engage in positive conversations at home.

By working in partnership we hope to support our young people to make healthy choices. Please watch this informative 2 minute video which provides some key information about vaping and e cigarettes. Key Information:
● Vaping is the act of smoking e-cigarettes or ‘vapes’ that can look like metallic pens, USBs and other hand-held systems.
● Vapes use cartridges filled with liquids, which typically contain nicotine, artificial flavouring, and various chemicals. These can be harmful to the developing body.
● Research shows that 1 in 5 young people have vaped and nearly 80% of young people say it is easy to get a vape illegally at a shop or online.
● Nicotine is especially addictive for young brains. It can cause long-lasting negative effects on brain development and can include impaired attention, learning, memory and changes in mood.
● You can find out more about vaping from NSW Health.

Conversation Starters at Home:
Start conversations about vaping with your child early. You could consider the following questions or conversation starters:
1. Are a lot of kids vaping at your school? Are your friends vaping?
Be sure you don’t react, just listen.
2. What do you think about vaping?
You may hear your child say that vaping is harmless. It’s important to share some good information with your child about the impacts of vaping.
3. Do you know what is in vapes?
Share with them that they’ve tested vapes and they do not contain only water vapor and flavouring. Vapes can contain very high levels of nicotine and other toxic chemicals that damage lungs.

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

The new Uniform Shop is open and ready for business. Thank you to Mathew Short, Cheryl McDonald and Shari Faulkner for all their planning and organisation that went into fitting out, stocking and creating this beautiful shop for our school community. The Uniform Shop operating hours and services will continue as normal however there will be a couple of changes as outlined below.
 All parents and visitors will be required to sign in at the front office prior to proceeding to the uniform shop. This is a child protection requirement.
 The Uniform Shop service is now a cashless service. The only method of payment is EFTPOS or online ordering via Flexischools.

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

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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