Thank you to the following students from Year 12:

NORCIA - Gwen and Lachlan

INGHAM - Luke and Mary-Rose

MACKILLOP - Jared and Courtney

POLDING - Connor and Ava

DHARAWAL - Lucia and Darcy

HILDEGARD - Kate and Joseph

College Tours departing from the Library

Wednesday, 9 March 2022

Tours at 3.30pm, 4.30pm, & 5.30pm.

Registrations essential at https://www.trybooking.com/BXNUH

Information Evening in the College Hall

Wednesday, 16 March 2022

6.30pm

During weeks 4 and 6 in Design and Technology, Year 9 were introduced to Adobe Illustrator and Silhouette Studio where they had to manipulate a logo of their favourite Australian music artist or band to cut on heat transfer vinyl.

The brief was for Ausmusic Day T-shirt day and the students were very pleased with their professional looking T-shirts!

After cutting the vinyl using the Silhouette vinyl cutter, the teacher then pressed the T-shirts on our industry standard Galaxy heat press machine.

In the coming weeks students will be taking part in more involved design challenges such as, Wool For School Competition, Taronga Zoo - STEM Enrichment Project - Design your own animal enrichment object and many more.

Students seem to be enjoying these fun design challenges at the moment, testing their problem solving and collaboration skills.

Ms Lorena Ghignone

Year 9 Design & Technology teacher

Congratulations to all members of our DIO Tennis Team it was an excellent day of Tennis.

We also had a massive improvement on last year’s result with both the girl’s and boy’s teams achieving their best performance in the tournament so far.

Our St Benedict’s Team consisted of the following players:

Girls Squad: Ellira R, Emily Mc, Fenet T, Alyssa D and Claudia M.

Boys Squad: Jorden G, Harry M, Joseph C and Patrick M along with James D and Lucas A.

The Benedictine Spirit was on full display for all to see. It was an outstanding day for our girls’ team, who firstly had to win an initial play-off game against St Josephs, to make it into the main draw. Then, once our girls made into the first round they had to face last year’s DIO and NSWCCC Champions Holy Spirit College.

Wow, Wow, WOW our girls won. With Ellira R leading our team with pure grit, determination and class, dominating all opponents in her singles matches throughout the day. Then Emily Mc continued to show her passion and Benedictine spirit as she followed on with more success. Our other girls, Fenet, Alyssa and Claudia also took turns in different matches to achieve hard fought wins to help our team to the finals against St Marys. However, the girls were unable to win this match but displayed great courage and perseverance after having to back up after three previous tough matches which had left them exhausted at the end of the days play.

Our Boys team also achieved their first victory in the main draw against St John’s, with each of our players dominating across all courts. They then faced one of the two powerhouse schools of tennis, Holy Spirit College. Unfortunately, the result did not go our way but with the lessons learned from this match hopefully next year we can go one better like our girls’ team and make it into the finals as well.

Finally, I would also like to give Mr Flannery a huge thank you for driving the bus, delivering the team safely to and from the Wollongong DIO Tennis Tournament. I am especially proud of each of these students sportsmanship, who represented St Benedict’s with distinction, whilst playing with pride and passion. Everyone gave their best, producing an excellent day of exciting tennis.

Congratulations again and well done.

Mr Rowles

St Benedicts Tennis Team Manager

The College Swimming Carnival was held on Tuesday 1 March at Camden War Memorial Pool. Unfortunately, the wet weather stood in the way of our Year 7 and Year 12 spectators being able to attend, which resulted in a competitors only carnival this year. Although the rain was about during the day, this didn’t dampen our spirits. We saw some outstanding results in the pool throughout the day with a number of records being broken.

A big thank you to the PDHPE staff, Mrs Lal and the Office staff for ensuring the day ran smoothly, without their efforts the carnival would not be possible.

House Champion

Congratulations to Ingham who has been named House Champion for our Swimming Carnival for 2022. It was a tight competition with our 2nd place Mackillop behind by only 19 points. Followed by Polding in 3rd, Dharawal in 4th, Hildegard in 5th and Norcia in 6th.

A number of our students have been selected to represent the College at the Diocesan Secondary Swimming Championships, which will be held in Corrimal on Friday 11 March. We wish them all the best and cannot wait to hear their fantastic achievements.

ONLINE ENROLMENTS FOR 1st RECONCILIATION/1st HOLY COMMUNION AT ST MARY MACKILLOP PARISH OPEN THIS MONDAY

Those families who wish to present their children for the Sacraments of 1st Reconciliation/1st Holy Communion in 2022 at St Mary MacKillop Parish, Oran Park are asked to complete the online enrolment form that will be available from this Monday 28 February through the 'Youth Sacraments' page on the St Mary MacKillop parish website:

https://marymackillopparish.org.au/index.php/sacraments/youth-sacraments

- Online enrolments will close on Monday 14 March. (Those children who are baptised Catholic and are in Yr3 and above are able to enrol)

One key change to the 2022 parish preparation for 1st Reconciliation and 1st Holy Communion at St Mary MacKillop Parish will now be a combined program of 6 weeks. So rather than families committing to one program for 1st Reconciliation and then another program for 1st Holy Communion, candidates will prepare for both Sacraments at the same time. The focus of this combined program is “From Mass to Mission” that draws upon the purpose statement of St Mary MacKillop parish “to form disciples who joyfully live out the mission of Jesus Christ”. (If a child has already made their 1st Reconciliation, and was just wanting to receive their 1st Holy Communion, they are still required to complete the 6-week program)

Applications for the 2022 Premier’s Anzac Memorial Scholarship are now open!

The scholarship gives NSW high school history students the opportunity to travel on a study tour to develop their knowledge and understanding of the history of Australians at war. Accompanied by a military historian, the tour includes visits to significant historical sites to learn about and commemorate the service of Australian men and women.

The tour supports the NSW curriculum and students who are studying Modern History will gain the most benefit from attending the tour.

If you’re a Year 10 or Year 11 student studying history, this scholarship is a unique opportunity for hands-on learning of the history of Australians at war.

For further information and to apply, visit http://bit.ly/pams2022.

The front office lost property basket is overflowing. If you have misplaced an item, or recognise any items in the images below please visit the front office for collection. If items are not collected by next Friday 11/3/22 they will be sent to the clothing pool.

We have just been informed that COVID-smart measures in schools will change from Monday 28 February 2022, with many existing restrictions significantly eased.

Summary of the changes to COVID-smart measures

Core COVID-smart measures will remain in place, including enhanced cleaning and maximising natural and mechanical ventilation in line with health advice.

From Monday 28 February:

• An end to cohorting: schools can reduce or remove cohorting.
• Visitors on school sites: schools can invite visitors to school sites regardless of their vaccination status. Anyone working on a school site (including volunteers) is still covered by the PHO and must meet double vaccination requirements.
• Masks no longer mandatory in high schools: masks will no longer be mandatory for staff or students in high schools.

Staff and students will continue to be supported to wear a mask should they choose to do so. In line with community settings, workers who support our students with disability in specialist centres, support units and some mainstream classrooms will be required to wear masks while working with students.

Data supporting the easing of restrictions

Research conducted by the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) showed that in Term 4, 2021, three to four per cent of people exposed to a positive case in school settings contracted COVID-19 compared to around 70 per cent in residential settings.

No NSW school has closed since school returned for Term 1, 2022, despite the levels of community transmission.