St Benedict's Catholic College
Newsletter - 16 February 2018
PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
Dear Parents and Caregivers
It has been a busy start to the Year. We welcomed all our new Year 7 students and many additional students in the older year groups over the course of the last fortnight. Year 7 students have received their laptops, many of our new Year 7 parents and carers have attended our annual “FAQ/Introduction to High School” welcome evening this week and the College has also celebrated its second HSC High Achievers Ceremony. At that event, College Dux Micheal Smsarian, spoke about the Year 12 teamwork approach and challenged the 2018, Year 12 cohort to emulate and better the results of the two cohorts that have gone before them. Michael graciously thanked his parents, the “hidden candidates” for the HSC, his teachers, and spoke about the work ethic required to achieve an ATAR over 90.
Last week St Benedict’s College was honoured to be invited play a significant role in the all-schools Farewell Liturgy for Bishop Peter Ingham. Our students provided a dramatization of the Gospel passage “Salt of the Earth” that was both illustrative and moving. Bishop Peter has been a wonderful steward of the Diocese for more than a decade and will be greatly missed for his compassion, spiritual guidance and his great sense of humour.
This week I was lucky enough to attend the Combined Catholic College’s Sports awards where, for a second year in a row, Australian Junior Hockey Representative and now Year 12 student, Courtney Schonell, was honoured with a blue for Hockey. At the end of the evening Courtney was named the overall NSW Female Sportsperson of the Year (The Vince Villa Award). It is a rare honour and she was in the company of some of the most outstanding athletes across Catholic Schools in NSW, so it was a proud moment for her family, all of whom were present. We can all bask in some reflected glory as St Benedict’s College name was up in lights at the end of the evening. We may have been the first Wollongong CEO school to ever have achieved this feat. We wish Courtney well with the challenges of balancing national honours with the HSC over the coming year!
Finally, this week we celebrated Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season. Our Liturgy began in the Cloister with the Blessing of the Ashes and then moved to student year communities. Our liturgies reinforced the notion that the true Lenten message is the doing not the giving up. An authentic Lenten experience is a great lesson in the Benedictine message of “being the face of Christ”, and especially so at this time of year through Project Compassion.
Warm Regards
Michael Hanratty
Principal.
FROM THE ACTING DIRECTOR OF MISSION AND VISION
The Season of Lent
In our Gospel this week, Mark tells us the story of Jesus healing a leper. This is not a unique story. Our gospels regale us with many examples of Jesus going against society and healing those in need. The importance in this Gospel story is what the man did after this - he went forth and spread the good news of Jesus to all he met. This is what we, as Christians, are called to do. As we begin our Season of Lent, we too have been called by our Bishop-elect Brian Mascord, to take up a challenge to surrender ourselves to God and consider where Jesus sits in our lives. Are we like the leper in Mark’s Gospel who sits outcast and take our opportunity to invite Jesus closer into our hearts? Can we be people who “are called to be the healing face of Jesus?"
In his 2018 Lenten message, Pope Francis tells us that “Lent summons us, and enables us, to come back to the Lord wholeheartedly and in every aspect of our life.” We can overcome temptation and prepare ourselves mind, body and spirit as we prepare for Holy Week and Easter blessings. To do this we can devote more time to prayer, giving ourselves more fully to the Lord. During this time we can participate in alms giving - being charitable to those less fortunate such as donating to the Caritas Lenten appeal. Or we can consider fasting, by giving up some special treats or abstaining from meat on Fridays. These are small ways that we can personally commit to a journey of renewal.
Farewell of Bishop Ingham
Last Friday a group of students, were invited to represent our College at the Farewell Mass for Bishop Ingham. This was a wonderful opportunity to show our appreciation for the support and time that Bishop Ingham has shown our College community. During this Mass, our school had the special privilege of proclaiming the Gospel through a drama performance. Our students, Julian Di Giovanni, Hannah Small, Grace Cremen and Isabelle Brown-Rogers enacted Matthew’s Gospel of Salt and Light by representing the qualities of Bishop Ingham through their performanceThis was a was very moving and a fitting way to show our appreciation to the Bishop. We thank them and Mr Alex Hayden for overseeing this.
Caritas Launch
Last Tuesday, our Year 9 Social Justice Middle Leaders attended the official launch of the 2018 Caritas Lenten Appeal. This occurred at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary School in Bowral, and was a fantastic opportunity for our students to discover more about the importance of the work of Caritas. Our College will be supporting this charity during Lent with students being encouraged to donate into their Academic Care Lenten boxes. This week many students have been purchasing pikelets to raise money for the Caritas Lenten Appeal and their support is greatly appreciated.
Opening School Mass
On Tuesday 20 February, we will be holding our Opening School Mass in the Cola. It will begin at 9 am and will be celebrated by Fr David. We invite all parents to attend and look forward to coming together as a College community.
God Bless,
Mrs Tarnya Grana
Acting Director of Mission and Vision
UPCOMING DATES TO NOTE
- Opening College Mass - Tuesday 20 February AT 9AM
- Swimming Carnival - Wednesday 21 February
- HSC Information evening - Wednesday 21 February at 7PM
- HSC Work Studies Excursion To IKEA - Friday 23 February
- Pupil free day - Friday 2 March
- 2019 Year 7 Information evening - Wednesday 14 March
COLLEGE SPORTING WEEK
Congratulations to the following students who were nominated as MVPs for Week 3
Swimming:
Kyra Goozeff, Riley Murr
NRL/UFC:
Amity Archer
UFC/NRL:
Cooper Majjar, Mya Romeo
AFL:
Jessica Graydon
Marital Arts:
Jak Farley
Netball:
Adrian Burterin
Soccer:
Amelia Azzopardi, Harrison Hinton
MILO Cricket:
Wesley Sicat, Kristina Stipicic
Bowls/Indoor Sports:
Jacqueline Turnbull, Morgan White
Indoor Sport/Bowls:
Emily Azzopardi
Crossfit/Golf:
Justin Waights
Golf/Crossfit:
Emily Cull, Jayme Willingham
Kickboxing/Gym:
Aiden Fornari
Gym/Kickboxing:
Lazar Kljajic
Skating/Dance:
Chelsea Grana
Dance/Skating:
Tylah Krol
Beach Sport/Tennis:
Harrison Whalan, Isabella Todd, Jessy Arnold
Tennis/Beach Sports:
Joshua Sharkawy
Bowling A:
Protia Zuber
Powerwalking:
Caitlin O’Malley
MISA Sport
Our MISA teams had their first week of competition against Wollondilly Anglican College
Year 7-9 Girls Basketball Drew
MVP: Nakeisha Brimble
Year 7-9 Boys Basketball Win
MVP: Damon Siutz
Year 10-12 Boys Oztag Win
MVP: Connor McCabe
Year 10-12 Girls Oztag Win
MVP: Caitlin Orridge
Year 7-9 Girls Volleyball Loss
MVP: Amelia Kubecka
YEAR 7 BENNIES BLOG
Hello and welcome to the first edition of the Year 7 Bennies Blog. This newsletter is designed to provide you with the current activities and news stories from Year 7, hot off the press. It will include first hand accounts, from some of our Year 7s and staff, on a variety of important matters. This week’s hot topics include First Week Jitters, Laptop Bootcamp, Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and a Bitesize guide to Year 7 assessments and homework.
Year 7 Coordinator Update
What an exciting 3 weeks Year 7 have had. From the very first day they were flung into the wonderful world of Bennies, navigating timetables, lockers, bell times, school maps, buses, sport, laptop bootcamp and new friendships. I must say that they have risen to the challenge magnificently in true Bennies style. From all accounts they are proving to be a fine bunch of mature, considerate, respectful, hospitable and positive students. Keep up the great effort Year 7!
The next big challenge will be preparing and organising themselves for their assessments, which will commence over the next few weeks. We thought it only fitting that we share some handy tips for parents with the Bitesize Guide to Year 7 assessments below; a more detailed version would have been provided to you at the P-plate night on Thursday. This guide will hopefully break it down, highlight what to keep in mind, and help reduce some of the stress as they adjust to this tough period of the term. I am confident they will manage this as brilliantly as they have the first three weeks. A lot of this success is due to the great support they are getting from home, so thank you for preparing your child well for their transition; they are an asset to your hard work behind the scenes.
Bitesize Guide to Year 7 assessments
- Stay calm !
- Assessments are a way for teachers to gauge how students are going, and they provide valuable feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the students. Teachers can then use this information to modify their teaching to support each student.
- Encourage them to start preparing or completing the assessment as soon as possible.
- Students are to develop a good after school study plan, which takes into account after school activities. This way the tasks can be managed and stress reduced.
- Prior to the date of the assessment, students will receive an Assessment Notification Sheet. This will let them know what they will be required to do and what they can begin working on. Encourage students to avoid completing the assessment at the last minute.
- Due dates are not flexible. The dates have been chosen as a suitable time to formally test the whole year group, 180 students, at the one time.
- If anything does arise which may prevent submission on the due date, the student needs to notify the teacher well before the day, not on the day if possible.
- If they are sick on the day, students will need to submit hand-in tasks when they return to school. If possible, they should send a digital copy to their teachers. For in-class tasks students will complete the task on their return to school during the subject lesson.
- There are a number of useful strategies you as their parent can do to help your child with assessments:
- Read through the task with them, highlighting key parts of the task.
- Break the task into “bite-sized chunks” with them and encourage them to plan each part.
- Check the task through with them to make sure they have included everything or they have studied everything for a test.
- Avoid writing or heavily planning their response as this may be considered collusion.
- If your child is experiencing difficulty preparing for a task encourage them to see their teachers for extra support. For students with Learning Support, extra scaffolding or an alternative task may be a part of their Personal Plan.
- If your child is absent for an assessment, or sickness seriously impacts on the submission of a task, please write a note to the subject teacher explaining the nature of the illness/misadventure. This should be handed to the teacher as soon as possible. A medical certificate might also be submitted to support the note.
- If a student does not complete their assessment by the due date, or they are absent without presenting a letter, an Academic Warning Letter will be sent home to notify you of the problem. If their assessment was poorly completed, a letter will also be sent home to notify you. Students will also complete a Coordinators Detention at lunch.
- Good luck!!!
Ms Heather Brown
Year 7 Coordinator
STUDENT"S VOICE
Being a Year 7 student at St Benedict’s has been a blast. I have learnt new things and I have learnt how to grow and become more mature, but not only in age, but as a person. There have been things that have been hard to adapt to, like changing classes and meeting a bunch of different teachers that I had to learn the names of. But the hardest thing I have had to adapt to is the new people and the new environment, but along the way I have made a lot of new friends and gotten used to the brand new environment that I will be my second home for the next 6 years.
Overall the first few weeks of being at St Benedict’s Catholic College have been amazing, and I know that we are only just getting started.
Jalissa Larrosa-Jones 7.6
HOUSEKEEPING
Parents and Carers are reminded that the speed limit for driving on College grounds is 10 kph. Please use set down areas as advised. If staying longer please park in a parking bay.
Please telephone the school office to notify daily absences. If a student has a planned absence of more than 2 days please notify the office by email with the dates and explanation of absence. For absences of 10 days or more an Application for Extended Leave must be completed and are available from the College Website. If your child is ill, please keep them at home and notify the school.
Parents are asked to refer to page 6 and 7 of the student diary for our Uniform Policy. Parents are asked to remind students not to wear their jumpers on hot days as this causes overheating and can be dangerous.
Parents are asked to call the office before 2:00pm, if needing to send messages to students. This allows our office helper time to deliver the message before end of school.
Parents are asked to email teachers between 7:40am and 6:00pm if requesting appointments or needing information, please allow teachers 48 hours to reply. The school office is open from 7:30am until 3:30pm. If calling for a teacher please allow them 24 hours to return your call. Parents are asked to remember that teachers are in class during the day and have meetings after school hours.
Fee statements were sent out with students on Wednesday 14 February. If you have not received your statement yet, please contact the school finance office.
Parents are reminded to send in updated Action plans for students with Anaphylaxis or Asthma, these can be supplied by your GP. Any medication for students must be given in to the office with a completed Consent to dispense medicine form. This form is available at the office or can be downloaded from our web site.
UNIFORM TIPS
1. Name everything
All the jumpers, jackets and hats look the same at school. As much as we believe our children will take care and be responsible for uniform pieces removed during the day, it is often not the case. A named article of clothing will make its way to a lost property basket, front office and eventually back home. Unnamed pieces are often lost to other homes, bottomless lost property baskets and rarely come back to the original owner.
Iron on name tags are great these days, but if you want to be extra vigilant take the time to stitch the tag on as well.
2. Allow for growth
This one seems fairly obvious, but allow for growth. If you buy a summer school uniform at the return of school in February allow for the fact that this uniform piece may be put away for winter terms 2 & 3 then ready to come out 6 months later for term 4. We are all used to seeing our children in oversized items at times, it’s okay. A quick turn up of a sleeve or tacked up hem line will assist in prolonging the life of a garment.
3. Change when you get home
Encourage the children to change out of their school uniform as soon as they get home. Less chance of adding more stains, more time for soaking, less wear and tear on clothing. If it is something that does not require laundering after one wear hang it up straight away to keep its shape.
4. Washing and drying
Sort the wash loads by whites and colours, and use the detergent designed for colours to help prevent uniform fading. If hanging dark colours in direct sunlight turn the clothing inside out to prevent fading. Many shirts are wash and wear these days so hang shirts on coat hangers right after the machine finishes to reduce the need for ironing.
5. Ironing
Iron, shorts, trousers and skirts using a damp clean cloth to prevent shine. Or alternatively iron these garments inside out. Pleated shirts can be difficult to iron, but pleats are designed to stay in, so wash and hang right away for best results.
6. Damp sports gear
Don’t leave damp sports gear in a bag for any longer than necessary as mildew can develop and odours can be difficult to remove. Too late, sports kit already in a bit of a state? Depending on the type of fabric and the colours soak in a solution of white vinegar and water for an hour, then wash as per instructions. To help deodorise the wash add a spoon of bicarbonate soda to the machine washing detergent section. Then add some white vinegar to the section where you are supposed to add fabric softener
(no need to add fabric softener) as this will go through in the rinse part of the cycle and give that final clean.
7. Avoid loose buttons
Dab a small amount of clear nail polish over shirt buttons to keep the threads from fraying and getting loose.
8. Remove glue stains
PVA glue is water based, so soak clothing in cold water overnight, then wash as normal.
9. DIY shoe cleaner
Keep leather looking fresh by removing marks with a mixture of cold water and vinegar. Run out of polish, buff with moisturiser or Vaseline to keep the leather subtle.
10. Ink and paint stains
Make-up wipes or baby wipes can take out ink or paint marks out of any fabric.
11. Grass stains
Use white (not gel) toothpaste, rub on the stain gently with a soft toothbrush. Leave to sit overnight, then put through a normal wash cycle.
12. Remove ink stains
Soak ink stained white shirts in milk overnight to loosen the ink before washing. Put through a normal wash as usual.
SKOOL BAG APP
CAREER GUIDANCE
ANTIOCH REUNION
Calling all candidates, oldies, clergy, billet families, musicians, kitchen angels and friends of Antioch. A reunion is set for Saturday 3rd March 2018 including a meet and greet afternoon tea, celebratory mass and dinner. To register your interest and receive an invitation please email antioch.wollongongdiocese@gmail.com
General enquiries to Dianne Hukins 0412840772 or Ann Packham 0423869803.
Musicians wishing to be involved in celebrations please contact Elise (Nicholls) Burns 0407781359.
Pass it on.