In this last Newsletter of the term, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the students and staff for their support and contributions during this very busy first term. I also acknowledge and commend Year 7 students for the mature way they have approached high school life and to encourage them to continue to strive to develop a Love of Learning, Love of Neighbour and Love of God as they continue their education at St Benedict’s.

The standard of personal appearance and expectations of school uniform are very clearly stated for our school community. Students are well informed of the expectations regarding uniform. Most of the student body follow these expectations and are to be commended for this. However, I would ask that parents take the Easter break as an opportunity to review the appearance and repair of their child’s uniform, particularly in regards to the length of the girls’ skirts for Year 10, 11 and 12, which is to be worn on the knee. Students will return to school in the winter uniform, this includes wearing the school blazer to and from school each day. I would ask that parents and carers take time to review the winter uniform expectations with your child and to ensure that your child is aware of, and following, these expectations.

As a school, we are always trying to find ways to do better by our student, parent and carers

community. Our school uniform supplier is working with us to find better ways to support our school community. With this in mind, we would appreciate your honest feedback about our school uniform supplier, Ranier Schoolwear by answering questions in this

survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/C3DZPCB.

Your feedback is confidential, and you will not be identified to anyone.

The Way of the Cross is a traditional devotion in honour of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Known also as Stations of the Cross, Via Crucis, and Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross had its origins in the Holy Land, but it did not become popular around the world until the 17th Century. In a sense, the Way of the Cross is a mini-pilgrimage through the events that covered the final hours of Jesus’ life on earth. In most Catholic churches there are painted or carved images depicting the Way of the Cross.

Students and staff participated in HOUSE BASED mini-pilgrimages on Thursday during STRIVE. A most wonderful and reverent way to listen, understand and respond to the key events of Jesus’ life on earth.

On Friday 24 March, the College celebrated Flourish Day. A huge thank you to our amazing teachers for their support and involvement on the day.

Our Year 10 students focused on Respectful Relationships. Our students had the opportunity to listen to and work with David and Katie Kobler from Yourchoicez.

Year 8’s reflection day was facilitated by the Lasallian Mission Team. The theme of the day was ‘Flourish Olympics’. During the Flourish Olympics Year 8 explored the notion of flourishing and that we, just like Olympians, have character, strengths and virtues. However, we aren’t just born with it, we need to train them individually, as a collective and ultimately we have God who is on our team who has both given us these gifts and is willing to be on our team to help them grow.

The Olympics is a worldwide phenomenon that seeks to celebrate the diversity of the human race, through sports. It is one example of our shared common humanity that is flourishing. Olympians, like our Catholic saints and patrons of our St Benedicts houses, display particular character, strengths and virtues that have taken time to cultivate. When we see the news, or watch the Olympics on television, we are seeing the end result of years of dedication, discipline and training. This small snapshot is only the tip of the iceberg that each person has put in to develop their character, strengths and virtues. Throughout his metaphor, the “Flourish Olympics'' retreat experience will delved into the following:

Session 1 had a dual focus, the first was to provide a common definition of what it means to flourish and secondly that to truly flourish requires a team of people, each taking ownership and contributing.

Session 2 provided experiential opportunities for students, individually and as part of a team, to flourish and reveal that it takes training (sacrifice, time and effort) to flourish. It also delved into the notion of success, failure and that failure, mistakes and bumps on the road are a normal part of the process.

Session 3 involved a reflective experience that delved into Jesus’ “team mates”, their experience of failure, strengths, character and virtues.

(Week beginning Monday 3rd April)

As we enter Holy Week, we continue to reflect on the lives of people vulnerable to extreme poverty and injustice and how we can respond through supporting Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion appeal.

Your generosity is the pebble that allows Caritas Australia to create the ripples that will improve the livelihoods of vulnerable communities, supporting them to flourish and create opportunities for future generations to live to their full potential.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Bulfon and the Norcia house for your participation in fundraising for Project Compassion. The Norcia house ran numerous successful initiatives to help our school community to raise much needed funds for Caritas Australia. Along with the Social Justice team, Norcia and the wider school community raised a total of $465.15. A final figure of funds raised will be in advised at the start of next term as we are still collating all the donations.

A huge thank you to Grace C in Year 11 and our team president for her Easter Egg raffle. Again this year we had many Bennies families donate to this cause where we created 18 prizes. Congratulations to all winners of the raffle below. A special mention to Grace C, Claire S, Mrs Wardley and Mrs Tesoriero for finalising all hampers.

1. Mr Massa

2. Aiveen T.

3. Leo F.

4. Jessica E.

5. Julian C. (Strive 8.6)

6. Aiveen T.

7. Jakob A.

8. Chloe A.

9. Alyssa S.

10. Leo F.

11. Alessandra G.

12. Jakob A.

13. Leo F.

14. Georgia B.

15. Georgia B.

16. Julian C. (Strive 8.6)

17. Bianca K.

18. Mrs Smith

Next term Dharawal (Week 1-5) and Hildegard (Week 6-10) will take over from Norcia in supporting the Social Justice team. They have many exciting initiatives planned to support our Winter Appeal where we support St Vincent de Paul and We Are Community. Please keep a close eye on Compass notices, the Newsletter and Social Media for further information.

Thank you to all our staff, students and families for your support throughout this term. The Social Justice team wishes you a safe and holy Easter.

Mrs Sara-Jane Castelli

Social Justice Coordinator

The College provided an opportunity for students to complete the White Card Course which is recognised under the VET Quality Framework, ASQA, and is recognised by Safework NSW.

This unit of competency specifies the outcomes required to undertake Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) induction training within the Construction Industry. In order to work on a construction site in Australia, you must complete the White Card training course. This course covers Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) legislation, basic principles of risk management and prevention of injury & illness in the Construction Industry.

Congratulations to the following Year 10 and Year 12 students for completing the White Card course successfully on that day:

Taylor A, Nikolina A, Isaac A, Natalie B, Caitlin B, Caden B, Gabrielle B, Jordan C, Nicholas C, Jayden C, Alyssa C, Nicholas C, Ethan C, Cooper C, Blessing D, Jackson D, Amelia E, Nicholas G, Andrew G, Patrick G, Rueben J, Lincoln J, Dylan K, Jai M, Olivia M, Nicole P, Christian R, Jaylen R, Cooper R, Marcus S, Daniel S, Marcus S, Alexandro S, Jett T, Elexis V, Zachariah V, Jorden W, Tori W, Alexia Wilson and Jaylen X.

For more information please visit White cards | SafeWork NSW

We have finished off this term’s unit Food Product Development with some egg-citing practicals - including students designing their own Oreo easter egg chocolate truffles and hot cross bun flavours. For the hot cross buns, students were provided with a base recipe and a variety of ingredients where they could challenge themselves with different flavour and ingredient combinations.

To finish this unit of work, Year 10 will be completing their first Assessment Task early next term. They have been following the design process to identify a target market and design and test a new, exciting ice-cream flavour. We look forward to sharing their creations early next term!

Mrs Reavell

Year 8 students are continuing to develop their confidence and skills in the kitchen. Recently students enjoyed preparing Lemon Myrtle White choc-chip cookies - with a focus on using a bush food in a simple contemporary recipe and oven safety.

This week students prepared Chicken bites - focussing on the importance of preventing cross contamination when using a high-risk food (chicken) and learning the necessary safety skills to use the electric fry-pan. Well done Year 8! We look forward to Term 2 beginning with Beef burgers and Vegetarian Nachos to continue to refine their safety skills as well as efficiency in the kitchen!!

Mrs Reavell

On Tuesday 28 March a number of our MISA teams were involved in Grand Finals for their respective competitions. St Benedict’s were fortunate enough to come away with two trophies in Term 1. Congratulations to the Year 10 - 12 Boys Basketball team coached by Mr Agoo who went through the season undefeated and to the Year 7 - 9 Girls Hockey team coached by Ms Loudoun who defeated the Minor Premiers in the Grand Final 3-1.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the following staff members who gave up their time during the season to train and coach our MISA teams in Term 1. Ms Loudoun, Ms Hawkins, Ms Miller, Mr Agoo, Mr Bulfon, Mr Wisbey, Mr Ripepi and Mr Limbrey.

Year 9 Visual Arts have been busy this term completing their A2 sized charcoal drawing inspired by the art making practice of Reg Mombassa. Students referenced their own photograph taken of our school environment, focusing on developing interesting composition and tonal values. Mrs Lane is incredibly proud of the student work ethic and commitment to improving their drawing skills and techniques.