Newsletter - T3W2 - 23/7/21

From the Principal

Welcome back to Term 3. The beginning of Term 3 is always a bit of a wake-up call as it is the last term where the school is together in its entirety before our Year 12’s leave and move onto the next chapter of their lives. They only have 8 weeks to go and I’m sure the countdown is on.

I would like to inform the community of some staffing changes which have occurred due to various reasons. Mr Jacob Ludwig will be the new Agriculture teacher from Term 4 this year. Jacob will be here at the College for the rest of this term, replacing Mr Paul McCaffery who is taking extended sick leave from next week. Mr Ed Curran is also on extended sick leave and will be replaced by Mrs Vanessa Galvin from Week 4. I would like to express my thanks to Mrs Tonia Lickiss for teaching Mr Curran’s classes while we moved through the recruitment process. Finally, Ms Jennavene Way will be job sharing with Mrs Donna Lynch as Mrs Jill Crompton has tendered her resignation to the College. Jill has been with the College for many years and has been instrumental in our Solomon Islands Immersion. She has been in a job-sharing role with Mrs Lynch. We thank Jill for all her hard work, her good humour and her willingness to step up when needed. We wish her all the best for her future.

Alas, COVID-19 has reared its ugly head again in our beautiful country. I have endeavoured to keep all parents informed of the restrictions and the recommendations in place for our College community. Unfortunately, one of the first things that had to be postponed or cancelled was excursions. The Year 9 camp which was organised for August this year has now been postponed until 2022 - Term 1, Week 2. The students will be in Year 10, but will still have the opportunity to participate in this excursion. It is expected that the students in Year 9 in 2022, will still be able to attend in August next year. If you have any questions, please contact the College.

The new Science block seems to be gaining momentum and moving ahead with speed. The slab for the top floor was poured this week. Ms Barnsley took the photograph below of some of our students playing footy, while the huge concrete pour was happening. The students have responded really positively to the changes that have had to be made for this interim time, while construction is happening. I thank them all for their understanding and flexibility at this time. It will all be worth it in the end.

On behalf of the SMCC community, I would like to thank Ms Helen Sjostedt for her work in the Parish community over the last several years. Helen has been a joy to work with in our planning and organising of various College events. She has always been a stalwart supporter of our College and will be missed. Best wishes for your future endeavours Helen.

Finally, on behalf of the entire College community I would like to offer condolences to Leonie Heath on the death of her Grandfather, Hannah Nicole Tiu on the death of her Grandfather, Nicholas and Bradley Griffin and Kaitlin and Libby Walker on the death of their Grandfather. May they all rest in peace.

Tracy Robinson
Principal

Parish Mass Times

WEEKEND MASS

5pm (Sat) & 8am (Sun)

WEEKDAYS

Monday 9.00am,

Tuesday 8.00am

Wednesday 8.00am,

Thursday 9.00am, 

(Feast St Mary Magdalene)

Friday 9.00am

Saturday 9.00am

RECONCILIATION

Saturday 8.30am - 9.00am

COUNTRY MASS

Sunday, 8 August - Mallanganee - 10.30am

MASKS MUST BE WORN

NSW HEALTH ORDER FOR HOUSES OF WORSHIP

* All are required to check in using the Service NSW App for

contact tracing purposes.

* OR please fill in the sheets if you do not have a phone.

* Ensure social distancing is maintained.  

* And masks are to be used as per current legislation.

This information will be sent to NSW Health

From the Assistant Principal - Learning & Teaching

A warm welcome back to term 3 for all students and their families. I hope that everyone had a safe and relaxing holiday. This term is very full, especially for our Stage 6 students. Whilst they are busy with assessments right now, the Trial HSC Examinations are also coming up in Week 6 - something I’m sure their teachers are preparing them for. Once they are done, concentration then turns to their graduation day and then, in term 4, the HSC. It seems like it is still such a long way away, but it will go so fast for these students and I wish them all the best - knowing that their success will be a result of the work they have put in.
Uniform
One of the focuses that we have at St Mary’s is the idea of respect - respect for the school, respect for each other and respect for yourself. One way that we can show respect for our school and ourselves is to wear the correct uniform and to wear it properly.

To wear the proper uniform and wear it correctly students need to remember:

• Sport uniform should only be worn on Thursday
• Students do not layer long sleeve shirts under their uniform
• Girls can wear navy blue tights with their normal uniform during winter
• Hair should be neat and tidy and long hair should be put up
• College jackets/cardigans should be worn if students are cold

The College has ordered long pants for girl's to be able to wear and they have arrived. Please see the ladies in the Uniform Shop if you placed an order for the pants or if you would like to purchase a pair for your daughter as a few extras were ordered in various sizes. The girl's can wear these pants in both summer and winter.

The College also has on order skorts for girls so that those girls who do not like to wear skirts may have another option.

The College has in place a uniform policy for a number of reasons, but the biggest reason is because we are a community and it is important to look like a community. Being part of a community means that we are concerned with issues greater than ourselves. It is important that we look and act like a community, and this includes making sure we are in the right uniform and showing the greater community who we are and what we stand for.

COVID Regulations and the classroom
From the beginning of this term, the State government has requested that all teachers and high School students wear masks when inside - this means in the classroom. Those who have visited the school in the last 2 weeks might have noticed that the office staff and all teachers are wearing masks as often as possible inside in order to set an example for the community about the importance of protecting ourselves and each other.

Students are not required to wear masks in the classroom, although teachers are bringing disposable masks to Period 1 for any student who would like to wear a mask for the day.

Students are required by NSW regulation to wear masks on buses and the school is providing access to disposable masks for any student not wearing a mask in the afternoon.

In line with CSO procedures, the College has an Education Continuity Plan should the school be required to go into lock down and students need to go back to a blended learning environment. The College went over the plan with students on Friday, and if we need to move to a new learning environment, the College is ready and the transition should be relatively seamless. Please rest assured that the College has plans, we have procedures in place, and if we need to move quickly, we can.

Nadine Connolly
Assistant Principal - Learning & Teaching

From the Assistant Principal - Mission

Welcome back to term 3. It was fantastic to see our students return and looking so refreshed after the holidays. We are looking forward to an awesome term as we head towards our warmer months.

Masks
Thanks to all families who have provided reusable masks for their young people to use in the classroom and on school buses. It is important students are wearing masks on public transport to meet the state government requirement. We are happy to provide disposable masks to students who need them, although, for environmental reasons we would prefer students to use reusable masks from home.

Discipleship Events
Due to the COVID restrictions, our events have been postponed. This includes the Shine Conference. However, our school based events are still able to continue. This week we were able to complete the Year 10 Ministry classes ‘Ministry in Leadership’ day as well as the latest Apostoli session. It is wonderful watching our students grow in faith and confidence as they experience these programs.

Wishing all our families continued safety in this time of uncertainty. 

Clare Axman
Assistant Principal - Mission

From the Leader of Curriculum

Subject Selections for Year 10 Going Into Year 11
The final part of this process is coming to an end as I write this. By the end of the week we hope to have interviewed all Year 10 students and have their subject selections locked in.

From next week, the timetabling team will start collating the data and commence work on creating a timetable for the next academic year which starts Week 6 of Term 4.

No more changes can be made after this week as it would make creating a timetable impossible. However, there may be opportunities to make changes in the first two weeks of Year 11 but that is very much dependent on class sizes as well as a valid reason for those changes.

Electives Selections for Year 8 going into Year 9 in 2022
The process for these selections will commence soon but details are still being worked out due to COVID restrictions. In essence though we are planning the following:

• A general talk to all Year 8 about what electives may be available and any conditions that need to be met to enrol in some of them.
• A parent/guardian information session, providing the same information as above. This one is most likely going to be in a Zoom Format or maybe a recording of the above.
• All students & their parents/guardians will have access to a Google Site that has information about all the electives on offer.
• At a yet to be specified date, a Google Form for Electives Selections will open up and students will need to complete that by a set date (also to be specified).
• Whilst students enrol in only two electives, they will need to pick three to help ensure they get most if not necessarily all of their choices.
• Please be mindful that if the numbers are too low, some subjects can not run. The cut-off will depend on a number of considerations.

Year 10 - 12 Absence during Term 
This is a reminder that any year 10 - 12 student who is or will be absent for an assessment task (School or TAFE), must see me and get a Variation of Assessment form. The form in itself does not guarantee that an extension will be granted but without that key step in the process, the College has no alternative but to award a zero mark for tasks that are not submitted or sat for by the date in the School’s Assessment Calendar.

Michael Woerner
Leader of Curriculum

From the Leader of Pedagogy

SMCC Action Learning Team - Staff Professional Learning
The start of Term 3 saw our teaching staff, together with our teacher aides, diving deeper into our work as part of the Diocesan wide ‘Learning Collaborative’ initiative. As a College, our staff identified the need to focus on Lyn Sharratt’s Parameter 3: ‘Quality Assessment Informs Instruction’ in order to increase our students’ growth and achievement in learning and wellbeing. 

As part of our learning around Assessment, Instruction and Assessment Literacy, one of the simple activities the St Mary’s ‘Action Learning Team’ ran through was around Learning Walks and Talks. This process involves visits to the classroom by staff where students are asked a quick five questions that every student, and teacher, should be able to answer about their own learning:

1. What am I learning? Why? 
2. How am I going? 
3. How do I know? 
4. How can I improve? 
5. Where can I go for help?

We encourage our families to ask their children these questions too. Ask about what they are learning, how they are going, and where to next, so we all work together in allowing our kids the fullness of life.

Dana Barnsley
Leader of Pedagogy

SMCC Sport

Student Achievement
Congratulations to Holly Wall (Year 10) on her recent elevation into the Gold Coast Suns Academy program. 

Click the following link to read more: https://aflnorthcoast.com.au/2021/07/14/hollys-star-rises-with-suns-academy-inclusion/

Mike Ryan
Sports Coordinator

QISSN Netball

In the first week of the school holidays, our QISSN Netball team travelled to Brisbane to compete in the QLD Independent Secondary Schools Netball Carnival. The girls played five games before the carnival unfortunately had to be cancelled, due to COVID -19 and Brisbane going into lockdown. St Mary’s won three games and lost two in close scoring games.

The girls displayed resilience and a fighting spirit in these close encounters.  Their teamwork improved with each game and the hard work put in at training began to show. The girls finished equal second in their pool and were placed third on points for and against in their division. They competed against other teams from Mackay, Cairns and Brisbane, and we were extremely proud of the way they conducted themselves both on and off the court. Throughout the carnival, the coach/managers of the opposing teams nominated a MVP (Most Valuable Player) for each game. Our girls were also asked to nominate an MVP. After the two days, Poppy Lynes (Year 11) was voted as our team's MVP. Poppy displayed excellent leadership and passion. Well done Poppy. 

Some of the other highlights of the trip were Libby Walker commentating on a live game. This was a great opportunity that Libby took and did so well at. The girls also got to meet and have a photo with a QLD firebird player, Jemma Mi Mi.  

An excellent achievement ladies. Bring on next year. The QISSN Netball Carnival will be held in sunny Mackay in 2022.

If anyone would like to watch some of the action you can follow the link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3jXdoJJxQs 

Michele McCaffery
Netball Coach

Street Retreat

Towards the end of last term, around forty Year 11 students from across the Diocese of Lismore spent the long weekend in Brisbane working on a range of social justice programs and helping those in need. Four of us were lucky to be part of this from St Mary’s Catholic College; Chelsea Robertson, Jacob Toohey, Nicholas Griffin and Elizabeth Robinson. Our YMO, Dan Pouloudis and Ms Barnsley also accompanied us. 

The philosophy behind the ‘Street Retreat’ program is to educate and help spread the goal of eliminating homelessness and helping those in need. The different activities, promoting social justice, was an eye opening experience, as we got to physically help out and learn how we can do our part in helping others and the community. We took a lot from the experience and would definitely recommend it to those students who have the opportunity in future years.

On the first night, Jacob and I went to Street Level - a centre run by the Salvation Army where people felt safe to drop in, have a meal, have a conversation and participate in activities. We were lucky enough to be there on a night where they held a prayer service and we got to listen to different stories about faith journeys. On the second day we had an early start as we were volunteering for Eddies Food Van - St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace, operates a food van that cooks a BBQ breakfast for the homeless. I think Jacob and I can both say that this was one of the highlights of our retreat. It provided such an insight as to how less fortunate some people are and it was an extremely confronting experience. Our last group activity was the guest speaker Michael Bruyneseyn who volunteers helping with refugees around Brisbane. He spoke to us about refugees and their plight and he brought to light how most of us don’t realise the extent of the issue in an inspiring speech discussing the various refugees he has worked with.

The four of us would really like to thank the College for allowing us the life changing experience that brought to life our College motto of ‘Reach Out’. 

Lizzie Robinson
Year 11 Student

SMCC Ministry Corner

SMCC Ministry Corner
School is back and despite new COVID restrictions, we are pushing on with ministry events and activities in any way possible. This means a few things have been postponed but there is still so much happening. Here is a wrap up of last term's activities and some upcoming events to look forward to. 

Vinines Winter Sleepout
The Vinnies Winter Sleepout was a freezing success. 19 students braved the cold and harsh conditions of our reimaged Sleepout here at St Mary’s on Friday, 18 June. Students took part in an awareness talk about Vinnies from our local Vinnies representative Renee Arringer, ate a delicious meal of rice and soy sauce, and slept out under the COLA. A big thank you to Nick Carey - President and Seb Scholl - Vice President and their committee in assisting to organise the Sleepout. Another thank you to Mr Fitness, Ms Mcdougall, Ms Day and Mrs Axman for attending our annual Sleepout and giving up your time to raise awareness for homelessness. 

Street Retreat
In week 9 of Term 2, four year 11 students, Lizzy Robinson, Jacob Toohey, Nick Griffin and Chelsea Robertson, along with Ms Barnsley and Dan, set off to Brisbane for an experience called ‘Street Retreat’. Streat Retreat spanned over 4 days with students from across the Diocese volunteering their time to help out those less fortunate than us. Some of the activities included; sorting clothes, books and toys at the Vinnies sorting centre, serving food to people living on the street with Rosies, and connecting with people at various drop in centres such as Emmanuel City Mission and Street Level. 

This retreat is different from all other student discipleship events as it purely focuses on the Catholic Social teachings and the ability we have to change someone's life through a kind gesture. All the students and staff that attended had an amazing time and are keen to share their stories and bring back some of the skills and ideas they gained from their experiences. 

The Ministry In Leadership
On Thursday, 22 July our Year 10 Ministry Class participated in a new initiative called The Ministry In Leadership. We decided to implement a leadership ministry skills day for our Year 10 Ministry Class Students. The Ministry in Leadership day develops ministry based leadership skills that are used at student discipleship events such as SHINE, IGNITE, LEAD, College ministry events and Leadership opportunities within the College. We look forward to sharing stories from this day in our next Ministry Corner. 

Apostoli
Our Year 9 and 10 ministry classes will again be attending the Apostoli ministry sessions run by the YMO’s this term. Our first session for the term took place today and was a great opportunity for students to learn a little bit more about the Church, in particular, the importance of the Mass. Thanks to Mrs Axman, Mr Humphreys and Ms Day in assisting on the day. 

IGNITE Conference - Brisbane
At this stage, IGNITE Conference is still going ahead in the term 3 holidays. We are overjoyed to announce that this year we will be sending 20 students, from Year 7-10 and 6 staff, the BIGGEST group we have ever sent. Anyone that is attending and hasn’t yet paid or set up a payment plan is urged to make contact with the College office to arrange this. The CSO will give refunds if the Conference does not go ahead. We look forward to sharing more information as this event gets closer.

SHINE
Unfortunately due to current circumstances with COVID restrictions, the SHINE Conference that was meant to be held in August has been postponed. We will update ministry students if and when new dates are released. 

Blokes Get Real 
Unfortunately due to current circumstances with COVID restrictions, Blokes Get Real has been cancelled for the time being. We look forward to welcoming the boys back when we are allowed to return. 

Dan and Theo
Youth Ministry Officers

Reach Out

Help your child develop coping skills for stress
Teens coping with stress in a healthy way involves building stress reducing strategies. This can mean helping your child to identify what is causing them stress and what actions are within their control to manage it. If you're not sure how to cope with teenage stress, it can help to talk with them about the following things:

What are the things causing them stress?
Is it something they can control, such as feeling unprepared for exams or is it something outside of their control, such as world events?

If the cause of the stress is within their control, assure them that there are things they can put in place to help and that you’ll be there to offer them support.

Encourage them to write down the things that are within their control and discuss together how they will manage them. For example, if your child is stressed about doing badly at school, help them to identify what they need to do to succeed. You can then make a plan together to help them achieve that result.

Encouraging your child to write down the things that are causing them to feel stressed and then working through them in this structured way will help them become aware of what they can do to keep stress under control and will give them confidence that they’ll be able to get through stressful times.

You might also want to suggest that your teen consider adopting some mindfulness techniques, including deep breathing or meditation. If their anxiety seems to go beyond normal feelings of stress, you might consider encouraging them to see a medical professional such as your GP.

Find out more at: https://parents.au.reachout.com/common-concerns/everyday-issues/things-to-try-stress/help-your-child-develop-coping-skills-for-stress

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.

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.

Crossing Supervisor - Farewell

I am sad to announce that I will not be returning to the position of Crossing Supervisor for St Mary's Catholic College and St Mary's Primary School. I am unable to operate the crossing at the required speed due to ongoing injuries.

I would like to thank all of the parents and children, past and present, that I have crossed over all these years from 1998-February 2021. I have not once had any trouble with all of the children which is a credit to the parents. 

I would like to wish you all every success and happiness for your futures.

Jainine Robards-Page

Face Masks - Buses

Masks are mandatory on public transport. This applies to students aged 13 years and over, and staff when travelling to and from school and during school excursions by public transport or by chartered or private transport services. 

The CSO has supplied the school with masks for each person that is recommended to wear one (one mask per day). Masks supplied to students at school should also be worn home for students that use bus transport (masks are mandatory on public transport).

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