St Benedict's Catholic College
Newsletter - Friday 23 November
PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
Dear Parents and Caregivers
There has been much to celebrate over the last few weeks. Last week the Diocesan Celebration of Student Excellence Awards were held and on that evening Mikayla Gauci from Year 12 was presented to the gathering as one of the most outstanding Year 12 students in the Diocese. Mikayala’s award focussed not only on her academic pursuits but the fact that she best embodied the Benedictine values of our College and Catholic Education more broadly. Proudly surrounded by her parents and extended family, Mikayla and seven other students from across the Diocese were presented with their award by Director of Schools, Mr Peter Turner. Mikayala is the only person to have won our prestigious Love Of God Award twice as well as completing her Gold Leadership Diploma and being recognised as a Prefect in her final year. Congratulations to Mikayala.
Tonight (Friday), five St Benedict’s students are receiving awards as sports stars of the year at the CDF Diocesan Sports Awards ceremony held in Wollongong. No longer a small school, Bennies students are now competing strongly in all areas of sporting endeavour and we will congratulate them by name in the next newsletter. At this event last year Courtney Schonell not only won the female athlete of the year, but went on to win the overall Catholic Schools State female athlete of the year. Courtney returned recently from South America just in time to complete her HSC Exams and has been selected in the Australian Women’s Under 21s to compete in South Africa. Her story was featured this week in the Camden Advertiser.
During the week we also received notice that no less than 4 of our Design and Technology students and 2 of our Industrial Technology-Wood students have been shortlisted for InTech, the HSC Showcase of Major Works in Technology and applied Studies. A wonderful result and a testament to the teamwork of the students with our teachers, Mr Andruschko (Wood) and Ms Williams (Design &Technology). This is two out of three years that our Woodwork students works have been selected as outstanding pieces. Bravo.
I thank the parents who attended the P&F Meeting last week. One of the issues raised last week was the lack of engagement parents have with secondary schools in this type of forum. This year in particular, numbers sometimes have not reached a quorum despite the fact that we have a dynamic and interested group of parents leading the team. We have some wonderful speakers and educators lined up for next year and we hope to see more parents actively engaged. We will publicise those dates early in 2019 when the calendar is finalised.
We are one step closer to opening our new Performing Arts Centre this week with the dismantling of our demountable buildings in preparation for their removal. The very patient CAPA Staff are looking forward to moving in over the next few weeks.
Finally, thank you to all the parents who spent some time completing the survey for my cyclic Appraisal and to those who gave up their time to speak with the panel. The process is a comprehensive 360 degree evaluation and is in equal measure affirming and professionally rewarding.
Michael Hanratty
Principal
ST BENEDICT'S REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE
The assembly was chaired by Justin Waights and prefect Skye Slattery (standing in for Marie Bull).
MISSION and VISION
You say that I am a King (Jn 18:12-37)
This weekend we celebrate a special Feast Day in our church calendar, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, often referred to as "Christ the King." This Feast Day was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 due to the rise in secularism, where many people were not including God or religion in their daily life. The feast is intended to proclaim Christ's royalty over individuals, families, society, governments, and nations. It is an opportunity to proclaim Jesus’ official titles and position. From this we commonly use terms such as Christ is God, the Creator of the universe who has supreme power over all things. Also, Christ is our Redeemer, or Christ is Head of the Church.
This feast day also describes for us the special qualities of Christ's kingdom. This kingdom is universal, extending to all people and spiritual. So how can we participate in this special day? In many churches a procession for Christ the King may occur. The Blessed Sacrament will be carried and the procession would end with a prayer of consecration to Christ the King and Benediction. But at home, we can all take some time to remember the importance Jesus our Christ, our King, our Saviour has in our own lives.
Social Justice Day 2018
Last Thursday four students represented our College at the Diocesan Social Justice Day at John Therry. The aim of this day was to raise awareness of Social Justice issues within our world today, whilst engaging in creative activities with fellow, socially aware students from schools across the Wollongong Diocese.
The theme of the day was ‘A Place to call home’ based upon exploring the 2018/2019 Social Justice statement. Students explored issues such as refugees, the challenges facing the homeless, the poor and basic human rights. Activities included workshops on music and song writing, creative writing through art and even drama!
The students report they had a lot of fun on the day, whilst becoming more socially aware. Inspired by the words of Nelson Mandela “Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that generation” - the students of St Benedicts are encouraged to accept this call and be the generation who make the difference. We thank the representative students for their participation on this day.
Finally, we can be inspired by the words of Pope Francis for his prayer intentions for this month:
We all want peace. It is desired above all by those who suffer its absence.
We can speak with splendid words, but if there is no peace in our heart, there will be no peace in the world.
With zero violence and 100 percent tenderness, let us build the evangelical peace that excludes no one.
Let us pray together that the language of love and dialogue may always prevail over the language of conflict.
God Bless you all,
Mrs Tarnya Grana
Acting Director of Mission and Vision
DATES TO REMEMBER
Year 10 PASS excursion - Monday 26 November
Year 9 English Excursion - Monday 26 November
Orientation Information Evening for Year 7, 2019 - Wednesday 28 November
Year 8 Science Centre and Planetarium - Friday 30 November
LIVE Twilight Retreat - Friday 30 November
Orientation Day for Year 7, 2019 - Friday 30 November
HSC Celebration Breakfast - Friday 14 December at 10:30am
Beach Day - Tuesday 18 December
Volunteers Needed
LIVE - Twilight Retreat
Beach Day to Austinmer Beach - Tuesday 18 December
The Beach Day is provided at no cost to the students this year.
Please find note below.
LITERACY: Graphic organisers and writing your own questions
“Revising effectively is the key to achieving a sense of control over your work and a clear, calm head; in short it's the key to maximising your exam potential. Planning and preparation is where effective revision begins…”
Stage 5 students have recently completed their Yearly Examinations. We realise this has been a stressful time for many of our students, but this is also an opportunity for students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding.
Lessons over the last few weeks have comprised finishing up lots of important content and dedicating time to revising concepts to best prepare our students. Some of the strategies that have been used in classrooms include completing practice tests, writing their own mini exams, organisation of content and knowing your learning style.
Students have been using graphic organisers to summarise their information. Students were limited with the space provided to ensure what they wrote was succinct and they were able to recall key ideas.
Students in Year 9 have been challenged to write their own mini exam paper, in which they write the questions, allocate marks for each question and pass the exam onto a friend to complete. After their peer completes the questions, the student marks their paper. For students to do this activity, they need to be able to use key terminology and sentence structure to write the initial question, be able to mark accordingly and also give constructive feedback. This encourages students to think on a very different level to help reinforce key concepts. Some students have committed to the challenge and experienced the benefits of this strategy.
L’Orèal Girls in Science Forum, UNSW
Last week, I was privileged to accompany nine girls from the Year 11 Chemistry class to the L’Orèal Girls in Science Forum held at the University of NSW. The morning started with short presentations from four internationally renowned female scientists, followed by a Q&A session hosted by Monika Radulovic (Miss Universe 2015 and Science graduate). It was so interesting to hear about these women’s lives: how they came to have a passion for Science, their career highlights, and the challenges they faced working in male dominated fields. Our students were certainly impressed and inspired by their stories.
Students were then given the opportunity to take part in science workshops. The workshop held at the Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences Faculty included hands-on activities and a tour of the glass houses. Following a supplied lunch on the Physics Lawn, we attended a talk and tour of the Materials Engineering Faculty.
Overall, it was a great day as the girls were able to see that there is so much more to a career in Science. The girls were able to talk to post-graduate students and get a taste for University life. It was an eye-opener for most of them as they were able to see that a career in Science is not just about people in lab-coats. It can provide you with so many opportunities for travel plus the ability to have a positive and significant impact on society.
Dr. Maria de Lima
Science Coordinator
From Marie Bull (Year 11)
The L’Oréal Girls in Science Forum was an enlightening experience. Nothing else has ever made me more determined to become involved in Science as a lifetime career. The accomplished women who we met at the Science Forum not only inspired us, but they also provided us an insight on the method of solving our world’s issues with science.
Whether it may be researching skin disease in Indigenous children, programming and coordinating hordes of drones to benefit farms, cultivating bacteria which can save our country’s desert ecosystems, discovering and/or inventing new materials from recycled waste, or observing and studying the crust and interior of Mars. Science encompasses many fields, and we have learned there is a field of Science that suits every individual. I learnt that with enough determination, anyone has the ability to personally change the world through Science.
Marie Bull
Year 11
THE BEARS ENVIRONMENT CLUB
I am so proud to share this video with all of you. The students worked so hard on this, particularly Rhiannon Essex, Amy Crisante and Sophia Laurantus, as well as a whole group of other students involved in filming, editing, and starring in this masterpiece. Enjoy!
Ms Madelaine Joyce
Teacher in charge
YEAR 12 FORMAL
All formal photos are ready to view, the link has been emailed to students.
HSC CELEBRATION BREAKFAST is on Friday 14 December at 10:30am.
COLLEGE SPORTING WEEK
MISA Volleyball Team
Congratulations to the following students who were nominated as MVPs for Week
AFL:
Jessica Hunter, Isaac Orton
Cricket:
Daniel Grech, Caitlin Binskin
Martial Arts:
Jessica Lane, Sebastian White
Netball:
Ella Fielding, Madelyne Waters
NRL:
Olivia Duck, Cooper Colmenar
UFC:
Zoe Surace, Jarrod Buttigieg
Barefoot Bowls:
Nathan Rofe, Alysha Curtale
Golf:
Oliver Byrnes
Crossfit:
Justin Waights
Gym:
Mason Connell, Mariana Rueda
Kickboxing:
Harrison Gomes
Skating:
Bray Aquino
Tennis:
Logan Hammond
Beach Sports:
Brandon Chetcuti
Bowling A:
Julian Di Giovanni, Rufaro Mumera
Powerwalking:
Reannon Borg, Chelsea Grana, Charlotte Stanley
MISA Sport
Our MISA teams had their first week of competition against Wollondilly Anglican College
Year 7 Boys Cricket Win
MVP: Cameron Thistelon
Year 7-9 Boys Oztag Loss
Year 7-9 Girls Oztag Win
MVP: Lauren Carr
Year 7 Boys Basketball Win
MVP: Malcolm Breen, Ashton Comer
Year 7 Girls Basketball Loss
MVP: Kiesha D’Costa, Madeline Birkbeck, Jade Chambers
Year 10-11 Boys Volleyball Loss
MVP: Jack Smart
Year 10-11 Girls Volleyball. Loss
Year 10-11 Boys AFL Loss
MVP: Aiden Fornari
Opens Tennis Loss
Yours in Sport
Miss Liska
Sport Coordinator
The carpark areas outside the College are common property, shared by us, St. Justin's and the Parish. Recently our student environment group, The Bears, conducted a cleanup of the carpark gardens and were astonished to find a large amount of rubbish in the gardens directly opposite St. Benedict's, including coffee cups, fast food packaging, cigarette butts and even a dirty disposable nappy!
The vast majority of our parents/caregivers clearly are mindful and respectful of our environment, but this is a timely reminder to do the right thing.