Newsletter - T4, W8 - 01/12/23
From the Principal
Last week the College hosted Year 6 students, who will be the future of the College. These young people had a great day, as did the staff who ran a tailored program for them. Based on the calibre of these students the future of the College looks bright.
On Tuesday, 12 December 2023 from 6.30pm the College will hold the annual Celebration evening where we formally recognise those students who attained academic success. It is also a great opportunity to acknowledge the numerous students who have left the College for fulltime employment who are now productive members of the community. These former students will always remain students of St Mary’s Catholic College.
The final week of school will be as follows.
Monday, 11 December - Normal classes
Tuesday, 12 December - Normal classes / Celebration Evening (commencing 6.30pm)
Wednesday, 13 December - Normal classes/Liturgy-Mass/House meetings/clean up
Thursday, 14 December - Last day of normal classes, those students who attained 3.2 or greater for their integrity awards will enjoy the morning at Casino Pool.
Friday, 15 December - A Leadership program day for our College Leaders. The College will be
open for all students.
Have a great weekend!
Michael Campbell
Principal
Upcoming Dates
Week 9
Tuesday 05/12/23 - 10 Pass Water Polo, Casino
Thursday 07/12/23 - Legal Studies Excursion, Ballina
Friday 08/12/23 - Barista Training
Week 10
Monday 11/12/23 -Pool Excursion for PASS
Tuesday 12/12/23 - Celebration Evening
Thursday 14/12/23 -HSC and ATAR breakfast - 2023 Year 11 and 12
Friday 15/12/23 - Last Day of Term 4 for Students
Parish Mass Times
Weekend Mass
Saturday 6.00pm
Sunday 8.00am
Weekdays
Monday 9.00am
Tuesday 8.00am
Wednesday 8.00am
Thursday 9.00 am
Friday 9.00 am
Saturday 9.00am
Adoration
Following 9.00 am Mass Saturday
Reconciliation
Saturday 8.30am - 9.00am
Country Mass
Bonalbo - 10.30am Sunday 10/12/2023
An Invitation to Adoration in our Catholic Church
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Every Wednesday between 5 pm and 6 pm.
Could you spend 5 or 10 minutes before the blessed sacrament in silence
Peace within our world
Peace within our community
Peace within your family
Peace within your heart.
Mission Team
Mission
Advent is a season in the Church calendar dedicated to the hopeful anticipation for the arrival of Jesus of Nazareth. During the four-week period leading up to Christmas, many Christians emphasise hope, peace, love, and joy. Christians from many backgrounds celebrate this time, and while their practices may look different, all focus on the hope-filled arrival of Jesus.
Clare Axman
Assistant Principal - Mission
Evangelisation
As a school community we can help to provide relief to those in need and to make Christmas a special time of year for all by participating in the Vinnies Christmas Appeal. Students are asked to bring in items which will be added to hampers and delivered to those in need in our local area. A list of suggested items is included in this newsletter. Any donations students can make are greatly appreciated.
I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, Mrs Kate Rowlands, as the new Leader of School Evangelisation. I would like to thank Ms Mahaila Day for the work she has done in this position and look forward to continuing to help students on their faith journey.
Kate Rowlands
Leader of School Evangelisation
Learning & Teaching Team
7-10 Report
The Semester 2 Year 7-10 reports are now available to view on Compass. If you have any questions or issues with any information on the report, please contact the classroom teacher directly. You can request an end of year Parent/Teacher/Student meeting if you wish to go over anything in particular about the Semester.
SMCC Integrity Awards - Celebration Day
In 2023 the College reinstituted its non-academic reporting system in the form of the SMCC Integrity Awards. These reports are awarded to students on the basis of the College 3 R's - Respect, Readiness and Responsibility. As part of these awards, students who have maintained a 3.2 or above average throughout the year will be invited to a celebration day on Thursday, 14 December. This day will see students going to the Casino pool (with waterslide use) in the morning and then returning to school for a movie afternoon with drinks and popcorn. All students have worked hard throughout the year to uphold the expectations that the College has of them and we want to be able to congratulate those who have upheld our expectations. Letters for this celebration day will be sent home via Compass next week.
Celebration Evening
The College 2023 Celebration Evening will be held on Tuesday, 12 December 2023. This evening recognises the efforts of students in all aspects of College life. Those receiving awards will be notified next week The night begins at 6:30pm. The student-led College coffee shop, L'Avenir Cafe will be open from 6:00pm for refreshments before the celebration.
Nadine Connolly
Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching
Sports News
Introduction - New Sports Coordinator
My name is Craig Beare and I am the new Sports Coordinator at St Mary’s Catholic College, taking over from Mr Fitness. I introduced myself to the student body last week at assembly and want to take this opportunity to introduce myself to the wider parent/carer community. My teaching experience is wide and varied having taught in my home state of QLD, overseas in the UK for a decade and here on the Far North Coast of NSW in the Catholic and Public system. I have always had an appetite for sport from a young age, having played a wide variety of sports competitively from AFL, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Squash to more leisurely pursuits such as Surfing, Running and Fitness. My passion for Sport will ensure I advertise and pass on all sporting opportunities that are made available to me and communicate them to yourselves and your children through this newsletter, assemblies, emails, etc. This will help ensure we have maximum participation and therefore healthier generations firstly entering and then leaving the school as the very best versions of themselves, which I believe sport and recreation helps mould.
Below is a link to the Catholic Schools NSW website where your child who is representing at an ideally representative level can register for upcoming Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) sporting trials.
Link to Catholic Sport NSW Sport Search (½ way down page) → Step 1 (click on CCC) → Step 2 (select sport). Registration and the calendar can also be viewed there.
In the final newsletter of the year in week 10, I will outline what sports and activities are coming up at the start of Term 1, 2024.
Craig Beare
Sports Coordinator
Diocesan Water Polo - Alstonville Pool
Thursday, 9 November 2023, 8 enthusiastic junior water polo players took to Alstonville pool for the day. We won our first game with confidence against Mt St Pats, however, our speed was not enough to defeat St Joseph's and Woodlawn. We missed out on making the semi finals. Overall, the girls swam extremely well and everyone played with smiles on their faces. Ellie Bower and myself (Belle Wall) were the highest goal scorers of the day. Thank you to Ms Hughes for taking us.
On Thursday, 16 November 2023 8 girls took on senior teams at Alstonville pool. After ⅔ of the senior girls pulled out the day before, 5 enthusiastic junior girls stepped up to the challenge to go up against senior girls. From some training the week before at the junior competition the girls played with a lot more determination and aggression. We won the first game against Mt St Pats 4-0, then went on to beat St Joseph 3-2, we went down to Woodlawn in the last game. We then went on to make the semi finals with the youngest team of the competition. Unfortunately we lost to Coffs Harbour 1-5 in the semis. Belle Wall was our highest point scorer of the day and also had the highest fouls against her. Miss Hughes had praises from the other schools staff about how well our team held our own in the pool against year 11 and 12 students.
Belle Wall (Junior Water Polo), Elle Hannigan (Senior Water Polo)
Students
Diocesan Golf - South West Rocks
Monday, 13 November 2023 Blair Campbell and myself (Colby Leeson) travelled down to South West Rocks to participate in the Lismore Diocesan golf tournament. On the day we woke up to 20 km/h winds and weren’t looking forward to playing but we got ready and headed to the course. We arrived at the course, warmed up and were given our tee time and groups. When we finished we handed in our score cards and waited for the presentation. I ended up placing second for the event and Blair just missed out by a few points finishing in the top 2.
I would like to thank the College for their support - we know golf is a smaller sport within the College and not many of us participate - but we do appreciate having the support of the community.
Colby Leeson
Student
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 3.00pm to 4.15pm
Thursdays 1.30pm to 4.15pm
The Uniform Shop service is a cashless service. Methods of payment are by EFTPOS or online ordering via Flexischools. No fees are charged to families for using the Flexischools service.
Please note the following information for orders made via this service:
Tuesday Orders
- Cut off time is 12 noon on Monday
- Pick up available from the College office on Tuesday afternoon from 3.30pm - 4.15.00pm
Thursday Orders
- Cut off time is 12 noon on Wednesday
- Pick up available from the College office on Thursday afternoon from 3.30pm - 4.15pm.
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.
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.