College Newsletter
Term 1 Week 2 - Friday 9 February 2018
A Message from the Principal
A very warm welcome back to all parents and students as we commence our academic year.
The year has already commenced at a very busy pace with the College Swimming Carnival being held at Homebush Aquatic Centre.
Enrolments
Enrolments for Year 7 and 11 2019 are now being taken.
Open Night
The College Open Night is on Tuesday 6th March 2018 between 4 and 7 pm. All are welcome to come along to view our new facilities and upgraded classroom spaces.
P & F Meeting
All parents are welcome to attend the P & F Meeting on Monday 12 February at 7:00 pm. Parking is only available in the Sherwood Road Carpark due to current construction works. This meeting will be held in the Staff Lunchroom and a staff member will be available to direct parents to the venue.
Year 7 Numeracy Evening
All Year 7 Parents are invited to attend our Numeracy Evening on Monday 19 February at 7:00 pm. At this evening, parents will be introduced to a variety of strategies that can be used at home to help support their daughter's developing skills in using number. Improvement in this important skill will assist students as they study a variety of subject areas.
Parking and Picking Up and Dropping Off Students
All parents are reminded that students are not to be dropped off or picked up from the Sherwood Road or Kenyons Road staff carparks at any time.
Parents are reminded that at the beginning and end of the school day, the area is congested and you are advised to get your daughter to walk to your car if you are picking her up from school. Parents should not be entering the school grounds at the beginning or end of the school day.
Parents are also reminded that Police and Council Parking Rangers are very active in this area and they will not hesitate to fine you for inappropriate parking or driving within the designated school zone. At NO time should any student be dropped off in the TWay Bus Lane on Sherwood Road or at the BP Service Station. All students and parents should be crossing Sherwood Road and Kenyons Road at Pedestrian crossings or traffic lights only.
Parents are asked to be considerate of neighbours, by not parking in or across driveways and at no time driving into private dwellings. Picking up students will be much quicker for all parents if we encourage all students to walk a little further to meet parents in safe places on Kenyons Road, Duffy Street and Bristol Street.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING OPAL CARDS
Transport for NSW have advised schools that all students using the Opal Card on school buses MUST tap on and tap off.
As from Monday 12th February, any student who does not tap on and tap off their Opal Card will receive a fine.
Cerdon College Merrylands has again performed with distinction in the Higher School Certificate. Cerdon College students recorded 140 Band 6 results (13.8% of all results), 414 Band 5 results (40.9% of all results) and 302 Band 4 results (29.8% of all results) meaning 84.5% of all results were a Band 4, 5 or 6 result. 130 Band 3 results (12.8% of all results) meaning only 28 Band 1 or 2 results (2.7% of all results) were recorded.
All-Round Achievers
Congratulations to Celina Elsusu, Annmaree Kenny and Thy Mai who were named in the All-Round Achievers List scoring 90 or above (Band 6 results) in 10 or more units. Another six students were only one mark away from this achievement.
Places in State
Catherine Raftopoulos - second in state for PDHPE
Wenjing Qiao - third in state for Legal Studies
Aida Mesanovic - third in state for Croatian
Durcy Carolina Dominguez Demichelli - fourth in state for Italian Extension
Gloria Tomic - fourth in state for Croatian
HSC High Achievers will be formally acknowledged in the College Opening Mass on Friday 16th February at 10:30 am at Our Lady of Victories, Horsley Park.
These excellent results are a testament to the strong collaboration between students and staff.
Cerdon College can be very proud of its Year 12 student achievements. Preliminary advice from students shows 91% of 2017 Year 12 students have been offered places in universities in 2018.
New Staff
Cerdon College welcomes the following new staff for 2018:
Mrs D Catusanu - Maths
Miss S Hanna - HSIE
Miss J Hasbany - HSIE
Ms E Kitchin - PDHPE
Mr A Manning - Science
Mr M Setefano - Maths
Maintenance/Building Works
Over the holiday period, new lights have been installed in the Hall, new guttering has been placed on the Hall and Administration/Library building. External painting has been done in the Hall, Administration/Library, E Block, G Block, J Block and K Block. This important maintenance work will ensure that Cerdon College continues to improve facilities for students. Into 2018 and beyond, individual classroom spaces will systematically be refurbished.
The new buiding is now only weeks away from being finished as the accompanying photographs show.
I take this opportunity to thank all in the College community for their co-operation during the current building program. The College staff and students look forward to being able to use these new and refurbished facilities.
Homework
Homework is regularly set in all subjects.
Homestudy is a very important part of the learning process. It is expected that the students’ learning will be further developed as well as promoting initiative, personal responsibility and accountability.
Homestudy aims:
· To enrich learning.
· To encourage students to be responsible for their own learning which extends beyond the classroom.
· To reinforce and extend what has been taught in the classroom.
· To assist in the formation of positive learning habits.
Homestudy has two components, these are:
· homework - any activity which has been set by the teacher to be completed by a set date. This includes formal and informal assessment. It is important that this work is carefully completed.
· homestudy - any activity other than homework, which reinforces work done at school. It should include regular reading of novels and texts, and practice of example or sample questions.
Homestudy Timetable
The following are recommended amount of homestudy required:
Years 7 – 8 1-1½ hours (minimum 4 days per week)
Years 9 – 10 1½ -2 hours (minimum 4 days per week)
Years 11 – 12 2½ - 3 hours (minimum 5 days per week)
* Students in Years 7-12 are required to complete homework tasks and homestudy over weekends.
Attendance and Lateness
Parents are reminded that all students from 6 to 17 years of age must attend school EVERY day. No student should be absent from school except in the case of illness. Parents MUST provide a note to a student's Homeroom Teacher explaining any absence on the first day they return to school. Any absence for more than one (1) school day should be advised by phone (8724 7300) to the College Office together with a note on the first day they return to school.
The College gates are locked every day at 8:50 am and any student who is late is required to enter the College by reporting to the College Office. Entrance to the College is only available via the Sherwood Road entrance during school hours,
Parents should NOT be arranging family holidays during term time.
Any student absence from school for any reason sill have a negative effect on student's results. The impact of any absence for a student is highlighted in the infographic above.
NAPLAN
It is a Commonwealth Government requirement that all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 complete NAPLAN in Literacy, Numeracy and Writing. Funding of schools is dependent on all students completing NAPLAN.
In 2018 NAPLAN will be conducted from Tuesday 15th May to Thursday 17th May with Friday 18th May being a catch up day for any student who may miss a date through illness only. No student in Years 7 and 9 can be granted any type of leave during these NAPLAN dates.
Students in Year 9 will use this NAPLAN to pre-qualify for the award of a Higher School Certificate. The individual requirements are listed below.
If you have any questions for NAPLAN for Years 7 and 9, do not hesitate to contact Mr Caristo, Assistant Principal Curriculum.
As a Marist community, each of us is challenged to commit ourselves to achieving personal excellence while being committed to making a positive difference in our community.
Cerdon College Marist Prayer
Mary, you are our Mother and our model.
May we, like you, make Jesus
the centre of our lives
so that we become a living Gospel
for all those we meet.
We acknowledge we are especially
called to serve, in an unobtrusive way,
the most downtrodden,
abandoned and persecuted in our society.
Enable us, through compassion,
love and humility
to bring these and all people
together in a union of love
and care so that Christ will come
to life in our world today.
Through the deepening of our own prayer life
to draw closer to you, our Mother,
so that we may live
the Gospel as you did and be true disciples
of your Son.
May you and your beloved Son,
bless us and stay with us
as we strive to live in today’s world,
as true Marists
God Bless
Mrs Patricia Baker
Principal
Changes to Calendar Dates
School Athletics Carnival was Thursday 5th July and is now on Monday 23rd July - Day 1 Term 3.
The HSC begins on 18th October and concludes no later than 9th November. All HSC candidates will receive an individualised exam timetable from NESA in the near future.
The Year 12 Formal was Friday 23rd November and will now be held on Friday 16th November.
Raising Issues With Staff
From time to time, students or parents will have concerns or issues they wish to raise with staff at Cerdon College.
These concerns may be about issues such as your daughter’s progress in class, how she is relating to her classmates or even disagreement with Cerdon College’s policies or procedures.
It is important that if you have any concerns about your daughter you ensure that Cerdon College is contacted immediately.
If the issue is about your daughter’s progress at school, please contact the office on 8724 7300 and arrange an immediate time for an interview with your daughter’s Guidance Co-ordinator.
2018 Guidance Co-ordinators
Year 7 Miss Parker
Year 8 Miss Hanson
Year 9 Mrs Drageljevic
Year 10 Mr Lovadina
Year 11 Ms Rimac
Year 12 Mr O'Halloran
2018 Assistant Co-ordinators
Year 7 Miss Bailey and Sr Kate McPhee
Year 8 Mrs Manning
Year 9 Miss Nimac
Year 10 Mrs Yumul
Year 11 Ms Kitchin
Year 12 Mrs Schinella
For other general curriculum concerns, please contact Mr F Caristo - Assistant Principal. He is also available to address any concerns about Years 10, 11 and 12, assessment advice and information and issues relating to school reports, or students courses of study.
For concerns relating to student welfare and social development please contact Mrs L Parker - Assistant Principal.
If you have any other issues or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly to discuss the issue or make an appointment to address your concern.
A formal complaints procedure is located on the College’s Website at cerdonmerrylands.catholic.edu.au.
Cerdon College works hard to ensure that students can improve their learning outcomes in a safe, supportive environment and your support of the College is important to continue to build the Cerdon Marist community.
At all times the P & F Meetings held on Monday Week 3 in Term 1, 2, 3 and 4 at 7:00 pm in the Staffroom and are an important venue to raise concerns or reaffirm Cerdon College in the way it is meeting the needs of its students.
School Accident Insurance
All students are covered by an insurance policy that the school takes out. It is expected that in the first instance parents use their Medicare entitlements to cover costs. The policy does not cover the gap between the actual cost and the Medicare rebate.
If you have any questions about entitlements under this scheme, please do not hesitate to ask the Finance Manager, Ms Posavec on 8724 7309 or enquire at the College Office.
Change of Contact Details
Please notify the College Office if you have changed any of your contact details ie. address, telephone number, email address, etc so that we are able to update our records accordingly.
Thank you
2018 School Fees
2018 School Fee Statements will be issued to families by the Catholic Education Office by Monday 26 February. If you have not received your School Fee Statement by the end of February, please contact the Finance Manager at the College, Mrs A Baliva on 8724 7308.
Term 1 school fees are due for payment by Wednesday 21 March 2018. Included with your statement are the various payment options available to you. Should you decide to take one of these options please complete and return the paperwork promptly in the envelope provided.
If you require assistance re fee payment options, please contact Mrs A Baliva.
School Excursions and Incursions
As you are aware, you have provided the school with permission for your daughter to participate in excursions and incursions and sports activities. For those activities covered by the general permission note, you will receive a notification where it is appropriate to do so (eg for an excursion).
For other excursions not covered by the general permission note, you may receive a permission note which will need to be completed and forwarded to school by the due date. Some of these excursions may incur a cost which will also need to be paid by the due date as excursions need to be paid for prior to the excursion date. There are no exceptions or extensions to the due date for payment.
A copy of each notification and permission note will be distributed via the Skoolbag App and also via the student's email account.
College Uniform Shop Trading Hours
Regular Trading Hours
Mondays 8:00 am—2:00 pm (All year during school terms)
Thursdays 1:00 pm—6:00 pm (Terms 2 and 3)
Cerdon College Uniform Shop Management
Telephone: 8724 7329 (During trading hours only)
School Calendars
About us
Email: cerdon@parra.catholic.edu.au
Website: http://dev.cerdon.nsw.edu.au
Location: Sherwood Rd, Merrylands West, New South Wales, Australia
Phone: 8724 7300
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CerdonCollege
Twitter: @CerdonCollege