College Newsletter
Term 4 Week 2 Friday 16 October 2015
A Message from the Principal
Dear Parents, Staff and Students
Welcome back to students for Term 4. College life has very quickly returned to its very busy pace.
Last week the College welcomed its Year 7 2016 students for an orientation day, where students completed some diagnostic testing, were taken on a school tour and participated in classes in a variety of subjects.
Students in Year 11 completed their Work Placement for 2 Unit VET Entertainment, 2 Unit Hospitality- Commercial Cookery, 2 Unit Hospitality - Food and Beverage and 2 Unit VET Business Services. Non VET students have undertaken Australian Business Week activities.
This week Year 12 students commenced their HSC examinations.
As the term begins all parents are reminded that students should be in attendance at school every day unless they are seriously unwell. Medical appointments should be made outside of school hours and family holidays should only be taken during school holiday periods. Any absence from school will have a negative impact on student achievement.
As a community we pray -
God our Father,
open our eyes
to whatever may not be just and right
in our own surroundings
and in our society.
Enable us to be of good influence
and work in a non-violent way
to promote understanding
and better relationships
that will lead to just and peace.
Amen
God Bless
Mrs Patricia Baker
Remembrance Ceremony and Tree Planting
A Remembrance Service will be held on
Friday 30th October from 10:50 am to 11:15 am
to commemorate the passing of loved family members and friends in 2015.
You are invited to attend a brief ceremony in the
Marist Ministry Room (next to the College Uniform Shop)
followed by a tree planting in the Memorial Garden.
Refreshments will be available at the end of the ceremony.
RSVP by Monday 26 October 2015
Friday, Oct 30, 2015, 10:45 AM
Cerdon College, Sherwood Road, Merrylands West, New South Wales, Australia
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
College Uniform Shop
Monday 23rd November 8:00 am—7:30 pm
Monday 7th December 8:00 am—7:30 pm
Regular Trading Hours
Monday and Wednesday 8:00 am—2:00 pm (Terms 1 and 4)
Mondays only 8:00 am—2:00 pm (from Week 5 Term 2 and all Term 3)
Cerdon College Uniform Shop Management
Telephone: 8724 7329 (During trading hours only)
Important Notice for Parents and Students
Partial Student Absence
All students are expected to be punctual to school and remain at school until the conclusion of the school day unless there are exceptional circumstances. Parents must have notified the school prior, so that students know that they must leave class early. These circumstances do not include leaving early to collect students from other schools, attending appointments that can be scheduled out of school hours, part-time work or catching a connecting bus or train. It is impossible to expect Cerdon College staff to collect students from class for parents who wish to pick them up early without notification.Entering and Exiting School Grounds
Parents are reminded that students ARE NOT to be dropped off or picked up from the College's Sherwood Road car park. A few parents continue to compromise the safety of students and staff entering and leaving the College grounds.
The gates are clearly signposted and parents are asked to respect these instructions which are in place to protect the safety of students.
Study Skills for all Students
To access the handbook, go to www.studyskillshandbook.com.au and login as a subscriber. Your daughter has received via email the College username and password you can use to access this resource.
(Please note: the user name and password is for the use of the secondary school parents and students of CERDON COLLEGE ONLY. Please do not pass our school's details onto students or parents from other schools or other individuals or organisations as this is a prosecutable breach of copyright and also will result in frequent password changes for our school. Please also ensure you read through the terms of use the first time you access the handbook).
Here is a sample of some of the topics currently covered by the handbook:
- Working Better At Home Units - organisation and filing; time management skills; dealing with distractions; overcoming procrastination; managing stress.
- Working Better At School Units - will we ever use this?; using classtime; asking for help; dealing with conflict; groupwork skills.
- Improving Your Skills Units - reading skills, writing skills, mathematical skills; science skills; foreign language skills; assignments skills; research skills, presentation skills.
- Improving How You Study Units - summarising; active studying; preparing for exam blocks; test-taking techniques; after tests and exams.
- Extra General Mini-Units - starting secondary school; becoming a senior student; bullying: issues and strategies; managing part-time jobs; your brain and memory; live your best life; living across 2 houses; university - a new adventure.
For a full list of topics and further information please visit www.studyskillshandbook.com.au
We encourage all parents and students to take advantage of this opportunity to further develop their students' study skills abilities through this online resource.
Ten tips from LifeHack that might help your daughter to better prepare herself for study. To review the article click here.
Mrs N Sylaprany
Librarian
Religious Education Faculty News
ACRATH and Forced Marriage Pilot Project
On Wednesday 14th October, a class of Year 10 students participated in a pilot project run by ACRATH (Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans) targeted at Forced Marriage. Cerdon students along side students from Holroyd High participated in learning activities designed to keep young women safe and at the same time learn how to look after the safety of friends. The students not only enjoyed the activities on the day, but also enjoyed engaging with the students from Holroyd High.
Missions Without Borders
As a follow up to the Year 10 Social Justice Day that occurred in Term 3, Year 10 students knitted and crocheted squares to assist Mission Without Borders in their endeavours to help the homeless of Eastern Europe. Through the efforts of the Cerdon students, we were able to supply TWO boxes of squares that will now be shipped off to Europe in time for the Northern Hemisphere winter. Thanks to the Year 10 students for their work. As a token of thanks, Mission Without Borders presented Cerdon with a Certificate of Appreciation.
Mr Mulheron
Religious Education Co-ordinator
Visual Arts News
Portia Geach (1873-1959) was a prominent Australian artist and a champion of women's rights. Portia Geach campaigned for the promotion of the rights for equal pay among men and women, the rights of education for women, and the right for women to hold public office. As a woman of independent wealth, she was also a seasoned traveller and spent time overseas on artist residencies and at art school. After she died her estate was left to her sister, who then established the Portia Geach Memorial Award. The award was to be given to the best portrait by a female artist of any man or woman from the Arts, Letters, or Sciences.
In the spirit of Portia Geach's legacy the S.H. Ervin Gallery invited all aspiring young artists to create a portrait of someone who they admire, or someone they knew personally. Materials were open but the size was restricted to A4.
Olivia Townsend, Mia Aquilina, Ama Berkoh and Christine Skaf of Year 11 had their work selected for inclusion in this exhibition of young artists work.
We congratulate them on their inclusion and wish them luck as they wait to hear who the winners are. The Finalists will have their work displayed in the National Trust Café from 19 October 2015.
Olivia Townsend, Mia Aquilina, Ama Berkoh & Christine Skaf.
Selected artists for the ‘Young Portia Competition’ at S.H. Ervin Gallery, Observatory Hill, Sydney.
Year 7 Ceramic Installation at Cerdon
Two classes in Year 7 have displayed their clay work in the garden at the rear of the library. Their work is the culmination of a unit that explored the importance of signs and symbols in Aboriginal art and the importance of Aboriginal culture to the broader understanding of our Australian identity.
Co-ordinators Awards
Georgia Ashkar 8G23
Carolina Ballone 7E5
Tamsyn Balogh-Caristo 8G25
Arielle Bergmann 7E5
Fiona Cordova 7E8
Chandelle Culas 8G23
Yi-Jun Mojie Ding 10FD1
Hasna Doueihi 8G23
Mary El-Helo 8G25
Angelina Elias 8G23
Celina Elsusu 10FD1
Ma Espinosa 8G27
Zyra-Jane Falcon 7E8
Gabriela Gonzalez 10F21
Amelia Liang 8G25
Julia Ljubicic 7E7
Elise Noble 8G27
Angela Pham 10F19
Charbella Rizk 8G23
Maria Sahyoun 7E6
Mai-Le Tang 7E6
Georgia-Lee Vakauta 7E6
Sarah Vella 7E5
Tiana Venditti 7E6
Nicole Wang 7E7
Numeracy at Cerdon
Problems, Patterns, Pictures, Puzzles: Problem Solving Workshop
On Wednesday 7th October, all of Year 8 participated in a Problem Solving incursion facilitated by Inquisitive Minds.
Throughout 2015, Year 8 has been focusing on Problem Solving with students tackling problems or Open Tasks. The aim has been to assist students to improve their ability and confidence in what is usually a challenging component of Mathematics.
The work done in the classroom was reinforced by the incursion in a fun yet challenging way. Students learnt new strategies and then worked in pairs to answer hard problems.
The day was extremely positive with students tackling and successfully answering many of the problems. In addition, the girls’ confidence in Problem Solving has increased. A lot of fun was had and chocolates were won by many!
Grace Muscat
(Leader of Learning: Numeracy)
Enrichment @ Cerdon
Doodle 4 Google Success!!
Over the holidays we received word that Thy Mai from Year 10 was announced as one of the ten NSW finalists for the 9 & 10 year group in the Doodle 4 Google competition. The competition invited students to create a doodle for Google on the theme ‘If I could travel back in time I would…’ . Thy’s entry was titled ‘Back in the 19th Century’ and reflected on the amazing achievements of this period in time. This year the competition attracted over 18 000 entries across Australia, and although Thy’s entry was not selected as a state’s winner, her achievement is to be commended. Congratulations Thy!
There are still a number of opportunities available for students this term…
The Somerset Celebration of Literature Novella Writing Competition and National Poetry Prize
The Somerset National Writing and Poetry Competitions is open to all secondary students. The purpose of the competition is to encourage the love of writing amongst our youth, and to stimulate excellence in writing. If you enjoy writing this is a fantastic opportunity to have your work reviewed by a publisher with the possibility of winning some fantastic prizes including a first prize of $2500 for the Novella Writing Competition.
For conditions of entry and further information please visit http://www.somerset.qld.edu.au/celebration-of-literature/competitions/
The Conoco Phillips Science Experience
This very popular program has sparked a science interest in many of our past student. The three day program runs at a number of universities across Australia and is supported by Rotary. Participating students are involved in a number of exciting activities across a number of scientific fields. Students in Years 9 & 10 have the opportunity to explore new science interests and meet like-minded students from across Australia.
The most popular experiences for our students have been at the UNSW program which will run on the 28-30 September 2015 and the University of Sydney program which will be on the 13-15 January 2016. For other dates and further information visit www.scienceexperience.com.au
GERRIC : The Scientia Challenge 2016
The Scientia Challenge Program is designed for gifted and talented high school students in Years 7-10. The program features a range of workshops taught over three days. The courses are developed and presented by academics at the University of New South Wales. The level of difficulty in the courses is aimed at two years higher than the students' grade level, providing a rigorous and challenging program. The program also provides the opportunity for gifted students to meet like-minded peers of similar interests.
The next Scientia Challenge Program will be held January 19-21, 2016. In this program you can learn about the brain and its anatomy, you can make an animated, interactive movie, you can learn more about personality types or find out more about composing sound and music for films. For further information and application details please visit education.arts.unsw.edu.au/about-us/gerric/for-gifted-students/scientia-challenge-yr-7-to-10 or see Mrs Agius.
Learn to Code like a Ninja! NCSS Summer School
The National Computer Science School (NCSS) is a ten day summer school for students going into Years 11 and 12. NCSS brings together talented young people from around Australia for an intensive course of computer programming and website development in the School of IT at the University of Sydney.
NCSS 2016 will run from Sunday 3rd to Tuesday 12th January, 2016 (inclusive).
Students who will complete Year 11 in 2015 and exceptionally gifted Year 10 students are eligible to apply. Selection of students will be based on academic performance, particularly in the subjects of mathematics and science, and demonstrated interest in computing. Personal qualities, such as community service, and social and teamwork skills will also be taken into consideration.
No prior knowledge of computing is assumed. Students who are not taking computing units of study at school are eligible to apply.
NCSS is organised by academic staff, alumni and students of the School of Information Technologies. The school is completely residential, with all students staying with NCSS staff in full-board accommodation provided by The Women's College, within the main Camperdown campus of The University of Sydney. The cost of the entire program (including accommodation) is $440.
For further information please visit ncss.edu.au or see Mrs Agius.
Mrs S Agius
Enrichment Co-ordinator
Repubblica Dance
On Friday August 14th Cerdon College Italian students from Year 9-12 were invited to attend the ‘Repubblica Dance’ in Five Dock. The dance was held for various schools in the Sydney district studying the Italian language. The night commenced at 7pm and was filled with lots of fun and dance; students danced the night away to the latest Italian hits while making many new friends along the way. The night was a great way for the students to socialise and share their linguistic skills.
Gloria Tomic Year 10
School Excursions and Incursions
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. There are no exceptions or extensions to the due date for payment.
A copy of each notification and permission note is also available from the College Website.
Change of Contact Details
Thank you
School Calendars
Advertising
Introduction to Arabic Calligraphy
Saturday 17 October, 1-4pm
Fairfield City Museum & Gallery
Learn the ancient art of Arabic Calligraphy with Shaia Kaia. Participants will learn the basics of this fine typographic practice. It’s easy,
enjoyable and therapeutic.
Cost: $15 per person (all materials included)
About the tutor:
Shaia Kaia was born in Iraq and completed honours degree diploma in Arabic calligraphy from Baghdad College of the Arts in 1975. Completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts, followed by Masters degree in visual art from the Academia Dell’Arte, Florence, Italy. He has exhibited in Florence and is a member of the Iraqi Calligraphers Forum and contributed to a number of exhibitions in Iraq.
Shaia migrated to Canada in 1983 then Australia in 1986. He has facilitated numerous Arabic calligraphy workshops in Italy, Canada and Australia. He continues to run Arabic calligraphy workshops in Auburn for 9 years. Shaia exhibited his works in Mori Gallery, Peacock Gallery and Lismore Gallery. He is currently running calligraphy workshops in Arabic, English and Assyrian.
For Bookings
T: 9609 3993 or E: museumgallery@fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au
Fairfield City Museum & Gallery, Corner of The Horsley Drive & Oxford Street, Smithfield 2164
Image: Shaia Kaia, Translation: ‘Arabic Calligraphy in Fairfield Museum”
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