St Benedict's Catholic College
Newsletter - Friday 31 August 2018
PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
Dear Parents and Carers
Over the last week we saw “St Benedict’s at its best”. This was particularly the case with the student-run Jersey Day fundraiser for the drought on Friday. “At our Best” is a phrase that staff and parents will be hearing more of as we begin our College’s journey in 2019 as a “Positive Education” school. At both our Staff Development Day last Friday and at the Parents & Friends Meeting last Tuesday I outlined some of the initiatives that will be happening at a staff, student and parent level over the next 18 months. We are taking a whole of school approach to building our resilience skills and removing over-anxiousness in the community of parents and their children. At the next P&F Meeting in Term 4 I will be presenting some of the results of the recent ACER Social & Emotional Wellbeing survey which we conducted across the school and explaining what we mean when we talk about becoming a “Flourishing” school. It isn’t enough to move our students to “OK” and “Functioning” in their Wellbeing – we need to be able to get them to use their character strengths to “Flourish”, a term coined by Professor Martin Seligman, from the University of Pennsylvania. The focus will be heavily on strengths based learning and teaching and, in working with the school, understanding strengths based parenting. Every piece of available research confirms the connection between positive wellbeing and improvements in learning. We look forward to sharing this journey with you.
As mentioned, the Jersey Day organised by Gold Diploma candidates Claude Abdallah, Skye Slattery, Carol Halim and Hannah Elborough was held on Friday and raised over $1300 that will be donated to the St Vincent De Paul Drought Appeal. A number of parents were very keen to see us assist the drought-affected farmers and our Leadership Diploma candidates at short notice took up this idea. Types of assistance already being offered to farmers and their families in drought affected regions through Vinnies include, but are not limited to: food assistance; household bills; education expenses; household water; fuel; health and wellbeing requirements including counselling; vehicle repairs and expenses; transport costs (not covered by Government subsidies).
Year 12 students returned to classes this week and have received back their Trial HSC Exams. We wish our “Foundation Oran Park” class well in these last few weeks as their years at St Benedict’s come to an end and they prepare for their HSC.
Our Evening with Prue Salter for parents was held last week. A small but enthusiastic group of parents and their children attended the workshop, which was enthusiastically received. Parents engaged with their children around planning, organisation, homework and assignment completion and minimising digital distractions. I thank the parents who attended and Mr Turner who organised the evening. Ms Salter’s presentation and her workshop booklets are freely available to parents on our ELES links which all students have.
This week we met with our Year 8 families at the new format “Stage 5 Evening”. In addition to the usual focus on elective choices, information around The Leadership Diploma, the Outdoor Education Programme and its links to positive mental health and wellbeing were presented and our partners at Somerset Outdoor Centre were also present to answer questions. Engagement with the total life of the school is vital to promote strong networks of relationships and is of great interest to employers and later, university registrars who are showing less and less interest in ATARS and more in well-rounded committed students. Over 500 people were in attendance and I thank the parents who took a strong interest in the next stage of their child’s educational journey at Bennies.
Michael Hanratty
Principal
FROM THE ACTING DIRECTOR OF MISSION AND VISION
“Lord who shall we go to? You have the words of everlasting life.” (Jn 6:60-69)
In recent weeks our Gospel readings have been showing us Jesus as the bread of life, but in this week, we are faced with the reaction of the people to this concept. In a divided response, many of the hearers, including even a number of disciples, describe it as ‘intolerable’ and choose at this point to leave Him and go elsewhere. But what is it that turns some of these followers away? Some scholars point to the understanding and belief of our Eucharist - God being the bread and life of the Church. At this point many wanted to understand this more specifically, have a list of rules and actions to follow that were clear and tangible. Simon Peter in this reading however, stands true in his belief and faith in Jesus and states ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’
Today we too need to remember in our day to day lives the importance of seeing God in what we do. A simple way, a rule and action that we can follow, is to see the face of Christ, to know that we too can live out the meaning of the Gospels. We can do this through the value of hospitality. St Benedict wrote in his rule “Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ.” St Benedict is renowned for his hospitality and it is a virtue that we as a school community do really well. But we need to be prepared to turn our hospitality outward - because as individuals it is easy to be so busy and preoccupied in our daily lives, caught up with worry and our own concerns, caring only for the people we know - that we forget to care of others. Benedict does not mean that we need to be best friends with everyone in the world, but we do need to remember that the face of Christ is in everyone. When we choose to really see and welcome others into our world, we put ourselves in the way of Christ. Then, we too can show our own faith in the Lord and trust, like Simon Peter did.
UPCOMING EVENTS
LIVE Festival
This Friday 31 August a number of students will be attending the LIVE Festival in Wollongong. This Youth Ministry initiative is being run by the Catholic Education Office in Wollongong and is a day filled with prayer, immersion, food and singing! The day is expected to attract around 600 school students from Years 9 -12 and from all systemic and congregational Catholic Secondary Schools in our Diocese. All participants at the festival will only be able to enter the festival through a security checkpoint and will be issued a wristband pass. Security personnel and St John’s First Aid will be present throughout the entire festival.
Students are free to wear appropriate casual attire but must wear closed-in shoes and a hat. Sunscreen stations will be available for all festival participants.
Students are requested to bring the following:
Lunch
A water bottle (There will be multiple water stations available on the day for refills)
Personal money to purchase their own dinner. (A variety of food vendors will be available for students to purchase meals)
Personal money to purchase CYMW merchandise if they wish (shirts, beanies, bandanas and hoodies will be available). Eftpos facilities will be available.
Year 8 Retreat Day
Year 8 will be attending their Retreat Day on Friday 7 September at Mt Schoenstatt Retreat Center in Mulgoa. The theme of this day is ‘The Value in me and the Value in Others’. Students will be provided with recess on the day, however will need to bring their lunch and water. As students will be spending time outdoors (weather permitting), they will need to bring their hat. Sport uniform is to be worn on this day.
God Bless;
Mrs Tarnya Grana
Director of Mission and Vision
DATES TO REMEMBER
Year 8 Music Incursion - Monday 3 September
Year 8 Reflection Day - Friday 7 September
Year 9 Camp - Thursday 20 - Friday 21 September
Year 11 Preliminary Exams - Thursday 20 - Friday 28 September
Year 12 Final Farewell Assembly - Tuesday 25 September
Year 12 Report Distribution - Wednesday 26 September
Year 12 Graduation Mass - Wednesday 26 September
End of Year Dates for Year 12
As a school community, we aim to work together in order to create an environment, where we are able to understand, build awareness and empathise with other individuals, who may be experiencing hardships. In recent months, Australian Farmers have been suffering from drought, where they have struggled providing needs for both their families, and their animals.
We created and held an initiative, as a part of our Gold Leadership Diploma, where we would raise money and awareness on the drought issue occurring within many parts of Australia. As Year 11 students, we have seen the need, and have acted upon it, by hosting a fun-filled day, where students were able to wear a sporting jersey of their choice, in order to show support for the Australian Farmers.
Throughout the week, each one of us held small activities, based around the drought and different sporting teams. To end the week, on Friday the 24 August, a Soccer and Football match was held on the field, where all students had an opportunity to join.
The day was highly enjoyed by many students and teachers, with great competition and rivalry between the most supported teams.
Claude Abdallah
Skye Slattery
Carol Halim
Hannah Elborough
Science Week Celebrations 2018
The Science Faculty held a successful celebration of National Science Week at the College during Week 4. National Science Week is celebrated across Australia with the goal of raising awareness of the importance of Science in our everyday lives.
This year, the theme for Science Week was “Game Changers and Change Makers”. It was a focus on significant discoveries, inventions and scientists throughout history.
We had a number of activities taking place around the College. Every morning during home-room we held a trivia quiz. It was great to see all of Years 7 to 11 participate (Year 12’s were doing their Trial Exams) and it was even better to see that there are so many students who know about so many scientists and their achievements. The winners were Homerooms 8.5 and 9.6. There are obviously some budding scientists in these two classes!
A number of lunch-time activities saw many of the Year 7 and 8 students getting quite competitive. They were required to build the tallest tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows. Some of the constructions were pretty innovative and demonstrated the engineering talents of many of the students. The winning group with the tallest tower consisted of Carlie Bond, Kiara Noble and Katelynne Tripodi (Year 7), and the winner of the sturdiest construction was Elijah R. (Year 8).
We had two winners of the paper plane challenge: both Simon McCarthy (Year 7) and Elijah R. (Year 8) managed to fly their planes almost 20 m which was very close to the qualifying distance for the State Championships. It was a most impressive effort.
These students all received some exciting ‘sciencey’ prizes at the school assembly on Tuesday.
Meantime in the library at lunch, the movie “Back to the Future” was played. It attracted a large group of students who enjoyed the adventures of Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and mad scientist, Doc Brown, in their time-travelling DeLorean car.
And finally, the Education Perfect South-West Sydney Championships got underway last week. We had many students and classes vying for the top spot. Jeromy Schonell in 10 Orange, managed to obtain over 5000 points and has won his science class a pizza lunch for which they will be very grateful, I’m sure. Jeromy has also won an Emerald certificate for his efforts. Other award winners were Elijah R. (Silver), Sara Solomon (Credit) and Cameron McFerran (Credit).
Overall, it was an enjoyable Science Week and hopefully it made more of our students aware of the significant and amazing contributions scientists have made to our lives.
Maria de Lima
Science Coordinator
Photos:
Paper Plane Challenge
Pasta and Marshmallow Towers
Watching “Back to the Future” in the library.
CAPA Showcase
Last Tuesday evening, The CAPA department held the first showcase evening of the year. This evening was presented to allow the Year 8 students have a taste of the types of activities that they can be involved in if they select any of the Creative Arts subjects for their electives.
The evening was a huge success with performances from students in all of the elective Music and Drama classes from Year 9 to Year 12 and a number of artworks from both our elective and core classes from Year 7 to Year 11 on display.
Many of the parents who attended the evening were impressed with the quality of the artworks and performances that the students provided on the night.
If any students are interested in finding out more about the courses available for electives in CAPA, please don’t hesitate to speak to any of the Creative Arts teachers.
South Coast Public Speaking Competition
On Tuesday 21 August, three representatives from the St Benedict's Catholic College attended the 28th Annual South Coast Public Speaking Competition held at Holy Spirit College in Bellambi. The competition is run over one evening where students are required to present a prepared speech based on a topic issued in advance.
This was the second year that St Benedict’s had entered this competition, where our students; Grace Creman (year 9), Becca Issac (Year 9), and Allirah Hill (year 11), each represented the College in their divisions by showcasing some perceptive and insightful ideas among a high calibre of speeches. This challenging and rewarding experience saw our senior student, Allirah Hill receive third place in her division as she delivered a perspicacious and passionate speech.
Congratulations to our dedicated team of students who each represented our school with passion and maturity, and are to be commended on their exceptional effort.
Mrs Grace Settineri
J.A. Thompson History Debating Competition
This year, Year 10 students have had the opportunity to participate on the J.A. Thompson History Debating Competition. The competition is an independently run, supported by the History Teachers Association of NSW. The topics centre around the Australian History Curriculum and encourages students to draw on historical evidence to formulate their arguments.
St Benedict’s started with a team of 6 students comprising of Darcey Christl, Olivia Dowling, Morgan White, Rhianna Irons, Lili Power and Julian DiGiovanni.
The first round of competition saw us up against the Good Samaritan Gold Team. The topic was that "That the Kevin Rudd apology was an effective response to the Stolen Generation". Our team was the affirmative team and built a really strong case as to why the Apology that took place in 2008 was an effective response by the Rudd government and were the successful victors.
The second debate, against Good Samaritan Green Team was on the topic of "That Australia’s fear of communism in the 50s and 60s was justified". Despite St Benedict’s best efforts they were unsuccessful in this debate.
After the pool rounds of the competition, St Benedicts and Good Samaritan Green were tied. This led to a debate off, hosted at St Benedict’s. The topic for this debate was “That Australia should be a Republic.” St Benedict’s was the affirmative team and successfully argued that Australia should have a republican form of government.
The team now move into the quarterfinals of the competition, coming up against Sydney Technical Boys High School in Week 9. We wish the team good luck and hope to see them progress into the finals.
Miss Tabitha Brown
Literacy in Religion
As a HSC marker, Year 12 students often ask how can I achieve a Band 5 or Band 6 (40+ /50) in the Studies of Religion I Unit Course? The answer usually lies in doing well in the extended response (Section III) and achieving a mark above 16/20. Teachers of SOR have been encouraging students to think about the way they respond to an extended response. We ask them to think about these questions.
Have I explicitly answered the question?
Have I consistently integrated the reference terms of the question throughout my response?
Have I incorporated any 'quotes' that may be in the question, throughout my response?
Have I written a well-structured response? Do my paragraphs follow a logical pattern to answer the question?
Do my sentences (in the paragraphs) make sense and make a coherent point (syntax)?
Is my grammar and spelling correct within my sentences (or as close as possible under exam conditions)?
Have I used 'biblical quotes' and other 'source quotes' to support my response?
Have I touched on different Christian denominations in my response?
Have I written enough detail to show the marker I have a depth and breadth of knowledge on the depth study and syllabus?
If students can honestly answer yes to all of the above, then they have left the marker with no choice, except to give them an A!
This conscience writing process begins in Year 7 with PEEL.
What is the Point that you are making?
Expand on this idea with further detail.
Provide an Example to support your response.
Do I have a Linking statement back to the question?
Students are encouraged to add an extra E and to Explain the Example before Linking back to the question.
The more Stage 4 and 5 students can practice this writing skill, the more likely they will become confident, competent and skilled writers when their HSC journey begins in Year 11.
The new Literacy Outcome on Junior Reports allows teachers of Religion to look at how students respond to verb understanding, vocabulary, punctuation and grammar and response writing structure; all critical aspects for writing fluently and articulately in the senior years.
TAS - Industrial Technology Timber Products and Furniture Technologies
Last Thursday, 16 August, saw the completion of the Industrial Technology Major Projects for 2018. The major project accounts for 60% of students overall HSC examination mark.
Students worked tirelessly on completing these projects along with an 80 page portfolio to document the research and processes undertaken. All were challenged in many aspects to develop a project which would display their true potential in this subject.
The final products are testament to the success and hard working nature of this class who worked as a team to achieve the best possible results for all students involved. Congratulations to:
Madeline Bell - Queen Anne Desk (Meranti)
Mason Emmett - Coffee Table (Tasmanian Oak)
Caitlin Kitson - Vanity Table (New Zealand Beech)
Charles Makufa - TV Unit (Tasmanian Oak)
Lachlan Meredith - TV Unit (Tasmanian Oak)
Isaac Smith - Blanket Box (Victorian Ash & Tasmanian Blackwood )
Mr Andruschko
VET Coordinator / TAS Teacher
VET Report
Term 2 and 3 saw the commencement of work placement for our Year 11 VET students studying Construction and Hospitality - Kitchen Operations. This was a successful time where all students gained valuable insight into their respective industries and what it was like to work in a real world situation with a host employer. The work placement associated with VET courses are a valuable opportunity as the students are able to put into practice the skills that they have been developing throughout Semester 1 and 2. This program is organised through Macarthur Workplace Learning Program and is supported by local businesses that are willing to host the students for a week. Without the following businesses we would not be able to run these courses for our students as the work placement is a mandatory component.
Construction:
32 Degrees Building
Beckton Joinery
Brownlow Hill Building Services Pty Ltd
INZ Kitchens P/L
Offshore Carpentry Services Pty Ltd
Prestige Landscapes & Construction
Hospitality:
Campbelltown Golf Club
Carrington Care
Country Club Camden Valley
Dahlias Cafe
Panarottis Macarthur
Pied Piper Kindergarten - Raby
Rydges Campbelltown
Sizzler Campbelltown
The Village Narellan
Wests Leagues Club
Campbelltown Catholic Club
Event Cinemas Campbelltown
Grill’d Macarthur Square
Macarthur Grange Country Club
From these placements the following students were commended on their commitment and effort from their respective employers.
Student - Employer:
Joel Shields - Offshore Carpentry Services Pty Ltd
Tyler Lewis - Prestige Landscapes & Construction
Lyllie Molles-Conwell - The Village Narellan
Corey Bigwood - Sizzler Campbelltown
Con Zarikos - Event Cinemas Campbelltown
Samantha David - Dahlias Cafe
Joshua Palmowski - Campbelltown Catholic Club
Jessica Alessi - Campbelltown Catholic Club
Emily Bernoth - Wests Leagues Club
Erin Whiley - Country Club Camden Valley
It is great to see that all VET students conducted themselves professionally and represented the college in a positive way. Thank you to Mr Shelton, Mrs Brown, Mrs Reavell and Mrs Pollicina for supporting their respective VET classes during this time.
Matt Andruschko
VET Coordinator
COLLEGE SPORTING WEEK
Diocesan Hockey Carnival
On Wednesday 29 August, St Benedict’s competed in the Diocesan Hockey Competition at Narellan Hockey Field. The girls team consisted of 16 students from Years 7 to 12. The girls started their day with a massive win of 6-0 against Corpus Christi. Throughout this game the girls displayed excellent communication skills and outstanding attack and defence.
Our second game saw more competition as we came up against St Joseph’s. The girls were successful victors winning 4-0. The girls continued their winning streak in the remainder of the Pool games beating John Therry 8-0 and Mt Carmel 3-0.
The girls continued into the semis against St Mary’s. St Mary’s fought hard, however our girls defence proved to be too strong and we won ourselves a place in the Grand Final against St Pat’s.
The St Pat’s team have been the strongest competitors of the competition for the past 3 years only narrowly beating St Benedict’s. The St Benedict’s girls came out really strong scoring a goal in the first two minutes of the game. As the game progressed the girls showcased great talent and skills and finished as CHAMPIONS with an excellent score line of 5 to Nil.
The girls are to be commended on their excellent teamwork and amazing hockey skills. We have some excellent Hockey players amongst our school community. The team is very proud of their defensive effort of only letting in one goal for the whole day as well as their fantastic attack, scoring 29 goals over a 6 game period, the most goals scored by any team on the day.
Yours in Sport,
Miss Liska
DIO Athletics
The annual Diocesan Athletics Carnival was held on Thursday 16 August at Campbelltown Stadium. It was another great start to the day with the sun up and the wind little. As the day went on the sun continued to shine and it gave the 55 students the ability to get up and go.
The students on the day competed with great sportsmanship, skill, ability and talent. It was great to see the students encouraging one another in the various events that they competed in. We had some great achievements on the day with students coming first, second, third and fourth in their respective events:
Pauline Anoyske (Year 7): 4th in Discus
Madeline Birkbeck (Year 7): 3rd Shot Put
Anthony Ellul (Year 8): 4th in Long Jump and Opens Triple Jump
Charlotte Manny (Year 8): 4th in Discus
Aiden Wood (Year 10): 2nd in 400m
Dylan Mifsud (Year 10): 3rd in 400m
Lachlan Parker (Year 11): 1st in 100m, 200m and Shot Put
Joshua Sharkawy (Year 11): 4th in Discus
Jared Madsen (Year 12): 2nd in 1500m
Special congratulations to the following students who also did a fantastic job on the day and will now progress to CCC Athletics representing the Wollongong Diocese in September:
Ashton Judge (Year 7): 1st in the 100m, 200m and Long Jump, 3rd in High Jump
Isaac Orton (Year 7): 2nd in the 200m, 3rd in 100m
Nakeisha Brimble (Year 8): 1st in Long Jump, High Jump and Opens Triple Jump,
4th in 100m
Cooper Judge (Year 10): 1st in Discus and also achieved a Personal Best on the day.
Lastly, thank you to Mrs Isbister who assisted me on the day.
Congratulations to all students who represented the College.
Yours in Sport,
Miss Liska
Congratulations to the following students who were nominated as MVPs for Week 6
Soccer:
Guilia Ferraro, Montana Chetcuti
NRL:
Jeremy Potts, Courtney Groot
UFC:
Darcy Christal, Ellie Dosen
Cricket:
Charlotte Ciappara, Tyler Balderson, Christian Knott, Angela Hunt, Manuel H.
Netball:
Isaac Mutu, Charlotte Manny
Indoor:
Mason Connell
Barefoot Bowls:
Gabriel Saliba, Felix Muzirwa
Golf:
Kory Kadir, Anhana Singh
Gym:
Darcey Christl
Tennis:
Lukkas Marrapodi
Beach Sports:
Imogen Mullins, Nicholas Carroll
Bootcamp:
Kai Straub, Joesph P.
MISA Sport
Our MISA teams had their fourth week of competition against Oran Park Anglican College
Year 7-8 Girls Soccer Win
MVP: Sofia Lopez
Year 9-12 Girls Soccer No Game
Year 10-12 Boys Basketball Win
MVP: Connor Hempenstall
Year 10-12 Girls Basketball Win
MVP: Lyndsay Robinson
Year 10-12 Mixed Frisbee No Game
Year 7 Girls Netball Win
MVP: Jessica Hunter
Year 8 Girls Netball Win
MVP: Lucia Pisciuneri, Jessica Rocchetto
Year 7-9 Girls AFL Win
MVP: Jayden Shields
Year 7-9 Boys AFL Win
MVP: Tarryn Troy
Yours in Sport
Miss Liska
School Uniforms
Please be advised that online payment has been activated for online shop and parents can order and pay online now.
Should you have any queries or require any further information, please feel free to contact the school uniform shop on 4647 8942.
Ranier Pty Ltd
Clothing Pool
Clothing pool is run by appointment only. You can contact Mel on 0410 486 083. Please try and keep calls, texts and messages between the hours of 9-5 Monday to Friday.
If you make an appointment please be on time and, if unable to keep an appointment, please let Mel know.
She dislikes snakes but loves good manners!