St Benedict's Catholic College
Benny's Bites Friday 3 July 2020
Enjoy the Holiday Break
DATES TO REMEMBER
Monday 6 July - Friday 17 July - School Holidays
Monday 20 July - Back to School
Friday 24 July - Bennies Bring a Blanket Evening at Home
Thursday 30 July - Academic Assembly ( Students Only)
Friday 31 July - College Photo Day
Big Science Competition
Despite the disruptions to the school earlier in the Term, we were still able to run the Big
Science Competition. The competition is an online test and is held annually in schools
across Australia. The questions are based on real-life scenarios and it tests critical thinking
and problem-solving skills.
The competition was held on 26 May and we had 21 students across years 7 to 10
competing which was not a bad number considering the circumstances. Some of these
students did the competition remotely whilst most others did it during Sport time.
Overall, we obtained some particularly good results as follows:
Cooper Colmenar and Rhiannon Essex, both of year 10, received Credit awards.
Joseph Christl from year 8 and Benjamin Acuna of year 9 both obtained High Distinctions
which is an outstanding result.
Congratulations to all these budding scientists.
Next year I would love to see even more students getting involved!
Year 12 Titrations
The Year 12 Chemistry class did their assessment task during the week which involved
determining the concentration of ammonia in a bottle of commercial household cleaning
agent. They used the technique of volumetric analysis (titration) which they have been
practicing all term. Part of the assessment involved comparing their experimental result to
the concentration information on the bottle of household cleaner. They discovered that as
the bottle ages, the concentration of the ammonia decreases quite significantly.
Unfortunately, the Titration Competition run by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute had
to be cancelled this year, so this assessment task was the next best thing!
Ms de Lima
Science Coordinator
COLLEGE SPORT WEEK
College Sport Week 10 MVP
School Sport
7 Dharawal: Amelia C
7 Ingham: Aaron J, Lucinda G
7 Norcia: Saige T, Santiago A
7 Polding: Lawson M, Grayson M
8.2: Giana F, Prince A
8.5: Eliot H, Mateusz L
8.6: Chloe Y, Bailey H
9.4: Breah H, Sebastian R
9.5: Miona M, Ryan W
10.5: Eden B, Jessica R
Yours in Sport
Miss Julia Liska (Sport Coordinator)
Diocesean Sport Update Term 3
Please find an update on the following Diocesan Sports for Term 3:
Secondary Athletics - Monday 27 July, 2020 CANCELLED
Secondary Netball - Wednesday 29 July, 2020 CANCELLED
These decisions have been made in consultation with CEO leadership and have taken into account a number of factors. As important as it is to restart sport it must be done with the safety of students, school staff, officials and spectators as a priority.
The following NSWCCC Term 3 Events are still Pending:
● CCC Netball Championships - Tuesday 18 August 2020
● CCC Boys Hockey Championships - Wednesday 19 - Thursday 20 August
● CCC Girls Hockey Championships - Wednesday 26 - Thursday 27 August 2020
● CCC Athletics - Friday 18 September
● CCC Rugby League Cup - Still no dates or format for this
● CCC Tennis Teams - Still not confirmed if this will run, no dates or format for this.
If you have any further questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact Miss Liska at the College.
Yours in Sport,
Miss Julia Liska
Sport Coordinator
LITERACY FOR LEARNING
Literacy for Learning (Australian Edition) teacher course at SBCC
During Term 3, 8 teachers from our College participated in literacy training through the Literacy for Learning teacher course. This is in addition to 12 staff members who participated in Term 4, 2019.
This 6-week, 36-hour course, which ran after school on Tuesday afternoons, allowed teachers to gain a deeper insight into the literacy demands of their subject and the methods by which literacy skills can be explicitly taught.
The 6 modules focused on the following literacy elements:
· Language and literacy in teaching and learning
· Talking our way into literacy
· Reading and viewing: Making sense of texts
· Writing texts that work
· Language for increasing abstraction and technicality
· Programming and assessing: Setting up successful frameworks
Here are some comments from the participants:
“The course focused on strategies to actively plan and teach skills to our students which would be helpful in assessments. Although some of the aspects of the course were being used before, the process was haphazard. The course gave structure as well as techniques for improving students’ literacy.”
- Science and mathematics teacher
“Literacy for Learning has been extremely helpful. Embedding literacy strategies into my lessons has made me a better teacher, developing the students’ literacy abilities and understanding of the course as a whole.”
- CAPA teacher
“Literacy for Learning was thought provoking and has essentially upskilled me in effectively embedding literacy into my KLA. It allowed for professional conversation to occur with colleagues, comprising the overall goal of improving our school-based approach of ameliorating literacy for our students. You unlock the possibilities for students in terms of how they view, see and produce literary texts by examining and workshopping classroom activities which have the ability for students to make meaning of the text. I highly recommend this course for educators and see it as essential for schools to allow the promotion of a whole school approach towards literacy development.”
- PDHPE teacher
"I participated in the LfL course as a part of the literacy requirement for the Science Department. I found it was well run, highly structured and I have come away with concrete examples of how to support our students to write and communicate to better improve their educational outcomes. Jo, Steve and Lexis Education are able to concisely explain the literacy needs of our students and we participated in research-based exercises that can move the learner along the literacy continuum. It has improved my literacy repertoire as a teacher, and I hope to make the most impact in helping my students write in more formal and technical language for their scientific reports.”
- Science teacher
“The LFL leaders were very informative and well-prepared. Content was presented clearly which significantly facilitated in the learning of key literacy concepts. Activities proved to be highly effective in further developing and understanding literacy skills, with the aim to integrate into pedagogy.”
- RE teacher
We look forward to distributing certificates to graduates of the course early next term. The course will run again in Term Four 2020, with another 8 staff members anticipated to attend. This is just one of many strategies we are implementing at the College to increase our literacy-development capacity and best support our students’ literacy growth.
Jo Baker
SBCC Literacy Instructional Coach
FIRST AID NOTICE
Given the presence of COVID-19 coupled with the commencement of the influenza (flu) season, our school has an important responsibility to provide a safe environment for students and staff. Your child should not attend school if they are showing any flu like symptoms.
If a student is sent to the office with flu like symptoms we will place them in isolation and call their parents to organise for them to be collected as soon as possible.
It is important that there are up to date contact details for all students.
Your support in keeping our school healthy and safe is appreciated.
CatholicCare now offers the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) in the Macarthur region, helping seniors to access entry-level support services to live independently and safely at home.
If your grandparents, parent(s) or anyone you know requires aged care assistance at home, please ask them to call 4628 0044 and ask for Melissa or Colleen.
UPDATE FROM RANIER SCHOOL UNIFORM SHOP
Ranier Shop guidelines – Covid-19
- No more than 1 family in the store at a time (or allowing 1.5m gap)
- Staff to remain behind the counter when customers are present
- Any customer displaying any illness will be requested to leave the store and purchase online or by phone
- Counter will be disinfected with spray and paper towel (or disposable wipe) throughout the day
- Tap and go payments are encouraged
- Hand sanitiser is available at all times for customers.
- Any returned stock (including fitting room returns) is to be placed on the counter by the customer.
P & F CLOTHING POOL
Please contact the P&F via pandf@sbccdow.catholic.edu.au with a list of your requirements and a contact telephone number and Tracey will contact you with availability.