College Newsletter
Term 1 Week 4 Friday 20 February 2015
A Message from the Principal
Last week at Cerdon's Opening Mass, students, staff and parents joined to celebrate as a Catholic Marist community to give thanks for the achievements of our students and especially our HSC students in 2014 and to pray that in 2015 -
May we learn
to value and appreciate one another,
bringing out the best in those around us.
May what is not good
die within us,
and may we bring life to all we meet.
Amen
At the end of its Opening Mass, celebrated by Father Peter Strohmayer, Cerdon College installed its 2015 Student Leaders and congratulated its HSC High Achievers from 2014.
Our former HSC students then spoke to our 2015 HSC students about the strategies they employed to achieve academic success.
On Wednesday 19th February, Father Peter again joined our school community for our Ash Wednesday liturgy, heralding the commencement of the Church's Lenten season.
As a community, we were challenged to reflect on these questions:
What can we do differently during this Lenten season?
How will we prepare ourselves for Easter?
When will we make time to help others?
When will we make time for prayer?
God Bless
Mrs Patricia Baker
PAT Assessment
Assessment Booklets
Students can access these document by logging into Classm8. They are to use their school username and password to log in. Once in, they can access the assessment handbook in Google Drive. Click here for instructions on accessing Google docs.
You can access the relevant handbook by clicking on the links below:
These documents are also available to download via the school website. Navigate to the Assessment and Curriculum page and select the relevant handbook(s) to download. Each year group will have its own assessment handbook and assessment schedule.
All formal assessment tasks for Years 10-12 are also entered into the relevant Google calendar.
Change of Contact Details
Thank you
Numeracy at Cerdon
Year 7 Numeracy Evening
On Tuesday 10th February, the parents of over 110 Year 7 students attended the Numeracy Evening. Parents were given a firsthand experience of some of the numeracy activities their daughters are currently taking part in during the first four weeks of their Mathematics lessons when the focus is on numeracy and assisting students to build a more solid foundation for Stage 4 - Years 7 and 8, Mathematics.
Parents were given a bag of resources that they can use at home to work with their daughters as the more experience students have with these activities, the greater their numerical ability will be and, in turn, the more competent they will be in all subjects that involve numeracy such as Mathematics, Science, Geography and Technology. Parents were shown how to make the activities easier or harder so that they can be used with all students regardless of their age or numerical ability.
Numeracy Tip
Can you count by fives?
Most people can count 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 etc with little difficulty but what if you start from 47?
47, 52, 57, 62, 67, 72, 77, 82 etc
What about from 116?
116, 121, 126, 131, 136, 141, 146, 151 etc
What about 243?
243, 248, 253, 258, 263, 268, 273, 278 etc
See the pattern? Every second number is counting by ten because there are two fives in ten!
Have a go and count by 5s starting from 29 or 64 or 118 or 529.
Grace Muscat
(Leader of Learning : Numeracy)
2015 Student Leadership
College Captain: Catherine Le
Vice Captains:
Esther Duruchukwu (Academic), Simone Cheuanghane (Creative and Performing Arts),
Anna Tran (Social Justice and Community Service), Alicia Kotsiopoulos (Sport)
Class Captains:
12FF2 - Elizabeth Serbin
12FF3 - Serah Yi
12FF6 - Eman Sediqi
12FF8 - Riannah Toufan
12GL4 - Michelle Elias
12GL5 - Megan Cuskelly
12HA - Rita El Takchi
YEAR 11
Class Captains
11F11 - Gabriella Siderides
11F12 - Ruby Baker
11F13 - Lillian Awad
11F14 - Shenay Seinor
11F15 - Tiana Lardieri
11F16 - Natalie Nguyen
11F17 - Violet Elkhoury
House Captains
Colin – Armani Barakat
Marcellin – Emma Younan
McOscar – Alexandra Boutoubia
Perroton – Channelle Succar
Prefects:
Kaitlin Allan, Sally Al-Saffar, Mia Aquilina, Erika Arabit, Ama Boatemaa Berkoh, Emily Del Principe, Emily Gittany, Emily Green, Gabrielle Hani, Amanda Kheir, Christina Kheir, Jessie Ly, Amelia Menouhos, Ngoc Nguyen, Leanne Purkis, Charnel Rizk, Lara Sahyoun, Bianca Semaan, Zoya Shah, Ekileti Siaki, Christine Skaf, Susie Anna Sukarieh, Tiana Totaro, Demi Towns, Catalina Valdivia, Julia Validakis
Social Justice Leaders
Jessica Doumit, Angelica Galindo, Amelia Menouhos, Mallory Morrell, Rachel Muscat,Mary Nguyen, Hayley Nolan, Nicole O’Connor, Rose Pender, Charnel Rizk, Olivia Townsend, Catalina Valdivia, Rachael Vella
Library Assistants
Sally Al-Saffar, Christina Kheir, Mary Dan Hoang Nguyen, Ngoc Thuy Nguyen, Ekileti Siaki, Christine Skaf, Jessica Tran, Joanne Zeaiter
YEAR 10
Class Captains
10F18 - Rebecca Dinh
10F19 - Lauren Smith
10F20 - Nicole El Jammal
10F21 - Jane Bui
10F22 - Zaynab El-Hussein
10F24 - Catherine Raftopoulos
10FD1 - Aneesa Eldick
Vice Captains
10F18 - Claire Duffy
10F19 - Kylah Beshara
10F20 - Hayley Fisher
10F21 - April Sweeney
10F22 - Alexia Kazanzidis
10F24 - Monique Oddo
10FD1 - Natalie El-Helou
Mission Promoters
10F18 - Ciara O’Kane
10F19 – Allyson Issa
10F20 - Emily Stoove
10F21 - Julia Achmar
10F22 - Lamya Saba
10F24 - Talia Chalita
10FD1 - Trisha Nguyen
House Vice Captains
Colin – Lauren Smith
Marcellin – Claire Duffy
McOscar – Natasha Milakovic
Perroton – Julia Achmar
Service Leaders
Kylah Beshara, Aneesa Eldick, Hayley Fisher, Emily Jovica, Lucinda Lau, Layla Manson, Tayla Noble, Ciara O'Kane, Emily Stoove, Rachael Summers
Peer Support Leaders
Melissa Aoun, Emma Awad, Simran Borges, Olivia Bourke, Claudia Bussier, Riley Carroll, Talia Chalita, Alycia Chand, Nicole Cinque, Camilla Diab, Yi Jun Mojie Ding, Claire Duffy, Aneesa Eldick, Nicole El Jammal, Marin Fares, Claire Gittany, Karla Herceg, Allyson Issa, Dannesa Law, Jessica Machin, Thy Mai, Aida Mesanovic, Rachel Newman, Theresa Nguyen, Tayla Noble, Ciara O'Kane, Katarina Planinic, Meagan Prodigalidad, Catherine Raftopoulos, Lamya Saba, Kathy-May Sanayeh, Emily Stoove, Rachael Summers, April Sweeney, Gloria Tomic, Deanna Uremovic
YEAR 9
Class Captains
9I31 - Gabriela Badrov
9I32 - Charlotte Chidiac
9I33 - Monique Khattar
9J28 - Isabella Matsias
9J29 - Elise Cribbin
9J30 - Zali Aquilina
9LD2 - Laura Pascale
Vice Captains
9I31 - Claudia Semaan
9I32 - Emily Galea
9I33 - Antonela Pavlovic
9J28 - Mikalya Menouhos
9J29 - Georgia Kalisperis
9J30 - Taylor Mansour
9LD2 - Joy Elbeisari
Mission Promoters
9I31 - Anh Dinh
9I32 - Maria Mathieu
9I33 - Amelia Walsh
9J28 - Madison Reynolds-Pace
9J29 - Maria Razouk
9J30 - Minh McCarthy
9LD2 - Carissa Zajac
YEAR 8
Class Captains
8G23 - Madelin Pederson
8G24 - Jada Chalita
8G25 - Taylah Ibrahim
8G26 - Sophia Hassarati
8G27 - Sehej Sehmbhi
8GL3 - Alysha Biber
Vice Captains
8G23 - Georgia Ashkar
8G24 - Sarah Vella
8G25 - Christina Mifsud
8G26 - Daniella Elakcnouch
8G27 - Elise Noble
8GL3 - Marie Guaricci
Mission Promoters
8G23 - Annie Taniane
8G24 - Olivia Carniel
8G25 - Amelia El-Halabi
8G26 - Celeste Aviet
8G27 - Emma Balogh-Caristo
8GL3 - Nancy Maldigri
YEAR 7
Class Captains
7E5 - Carolina Ballone
7E6 - Antoinette Azzi
7E7 - Leila Kacanic
7E8 - Olivia Achmar
7E9 - Bailey Soo
7E10 - Jazmin Isaac
Vice Captains
7E5 - Sarah Vella
7E6 - Sophia Vicic
7E7 - Nora Doueihi
7E8 - Sophia Turano
7E9 - Kalliope Mentis
7E10 - Flavia Lu
Mission Promoters
7E5 - Jenna Chan
7E6 - Paula Kahwajy
7E7 - Asmi Soodan
7E8 - Chloe Issa
7E9 - Cynthia El-Zreiby
7E10 - Rose Hanratty
Enrichment@Cerdon
It has been a great start to the year with so many students showing interest in a number of activities offered. Year 7 and 8 students have been enthusiastically training for the Kids Lit Quiz which will take place at Cerdon next month. Year 10 and 11 students are preparing applications and working on a variety of challenges, while many girls across the years have taken the opportunity to write or produce work to enter in a variety of competitions.. many of which offer some fantastic prizes! It is encouraging to see many girls take on these exciting opportunities and enrich their learning.
This week’s issue we continue with the reflections from one of our students Pamela Kahwajy (Year 12) who attended an enrichment program for Women in Engineering over the holidays. We learn about her amazing experiences and read about some of the new opportunities on offer.
The Women in Engineering Camp at UNSW
Late last year I was fortunate to be selected to attend the Women in Engineering Camp held at the University of New South Wales from the 12th to the 16th of January, 2015. This camp is designed to encourage female high school students to choose an engineering path at university, as the current ratio of female to male engineers is very disproportionate.
Before attending the camp, I was simply hoping to gain a wider and more educated understanding of engineers and the work they do in the community. To me, engineering was mainly defined as a profession where people plan and construct buildings and bridges. However, upon attending the camp, I discovered that engineering is truly a diverse profession that can allow an individual to work in a field they desire.
The camp enriched my understanding of engineering, through many fun, social and informative activities.
We learned about the development of the bionic eye and were able to try on glasses that hypothesised the sight gained by a bionic eye transplant.
After this, we were introduced to the weeklong group project, where we aimed to create a device to support a broken knee or ankle.
We toured the ABC studios, and went behind the scenes to see how the channel (both radio and television) functioned, and we were then able to get in front of the camera and see the newsroom studios. A visit to Qantas, further allowed us to explore aerospace and aeronautical engineering.
The program also included formal and social activities. Here we were able to meet and speak to professional engineers, who gave us an insight on the type of work that they do, as well as providing us with advice on how to succeed as an engineer. Amongst the highlights, was a talk given by Group Captain Jenny Fantini of the Royal Australian Air Force, who was the first ever Australian RAAF female engineering graduate. Finally, another highlight was the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb! It was not only an exciting end to the five-day trip, but also an enlightening realisation of the brilliance of successful engineering!
Pamela Kahwajy (Year 12)
These competitions are now open...
2015 What matters? Writing Competition
The Whitlam Institute invites students from years 5-12 to write a 400-600 word opinion piece on what matters to them and why. Your work needs to be original and focus on a matter of significance. It needs to be readable and engaging.
If you enjoy writing and are a passionate about an issue, this is your chance to express your ideas. There are a number of prizes, including $350 first prize per category. Entries close May 6, 2015
Further information is available on www.whitlam.org/whatmatter
Write4Fun 2015
Entry is now open in the 2015 Schools Writing Competition! Students all over Australia are invited to enter their poems or short stories, and battle it out for the great cash prizes on offer.
There is no theme!! Entrants are encouraged to let their imaginations run wild and get their creative juices flowing to write on any topic and in any style. Students from all grades are welcome to enter - Kindergarten to Grade 12.
Entry is free and all entries must be in by Sunday 29th March 2015.
Further information is available on http://www.write4fun.net
Future Leaders Awards:
Writing Prize
The Future Leaders Writing Prize is designed to recognise and reward talented young writers. Students in years 11 and 12 are invited to submit a piece of writing (800-1000 words) on any topic or theme. It can be fiction or non-fiction. The winners of the award will have their work published and will receive a prize of $1000.
Photography Prize
The Future Leaders Photography Prize is designed to recognise and reward talented young photographers. Students in year 12 are invited to submit one photograph on any theme. Winners of the award will receive $1000.
Further information is available on www.futureleaders.com.au
Epic- Short Story Competition
The Footpath Library is an organisation which works to enrich the quality of life of homeless people, by encouraging literacy and connection through books. In 2015, The Footpath Library is thrilled to announce that it will run the EPIC! Short Story Competition for primary and high school students. The theme for the story is ‘Home is …’ Students are invited to submit short stories (300 words or less) that relate what home means to them. There are some fantastic prizes on offer including laptops, digital cameras and book packs. The competition closes on April 2nd, 2015. For further information visit footpathlibrary.org
The Liam and Frankie Davidson Award
The Royal Australian and NZ college of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is please to advise that applications are now open for the 2015 Liam and Frankie Davidson Award, for outstanding achievement in literary writing on an issue in women’s health. Students from years 10, 11 and 12 are invited to submit both fictional and non-fictional pieces on a broad range of women’s health issues. The original literary piece must not exceed 2000 words. First prize is $1000. Applications close April 30, 2015. For further information visit ranzcog.edu.au and select Women’s Health Options, or see Mrs Agius.
For further information on these or other enrichment programs please see Mrs Agius. All entries for enrichment programs or competitions are processed at school as they incur house points and awards.
Mrs S Agius
Enrichment Co-ordinator
PDHPE and Sport Report
PDSSSC Softball
On Tuesday 17th February, Alicia Allan (Year 11) represented the Parramatta Diocese at the Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) Softball trials. Alicia played well on the day and her team actually won the competition. Congratulations to Alicia and her team. Special thanks also to Mrs Deegan who attended the competition as a Selector for the NSWCCC team for the next level.
Athletics News
On the 8th February, Natasha Milakovic (Year 10), Louise O’Neill (Year 9), Abyssinia Abaddi (Year 8) and Daniella Elakcnouch (Year 8) attended the NSW Junior and Youth Athletics Championships. All students performed extremely well, with all qualifying for the Australian Junior Championships. Natasha finished in 3rd place in the 16 years Javelin with a throw of 32.28m; Louise competed in the 3km race; Daniella finished in 3rd place in the 13 Years Javelin. Abyssinia has qualified in the 13 years age group for Triple Jump and possibly 400m. We wish our girls the best of luck at the Championships which will be held on Wednesday 11th March.
Individual Sports
Cerdon encourages students who excel in a chosen sport outside of the school to represent the College at NSWCCC level and beyond. Interested students are encouraged to talk to their PDHPE teacher about their capabilities and collect nomination forms from Ms MacKinnon. Students who represent the college at PDSSSC level are encouraged to access the website www.secondarysportparra.catholic.edu.au for information and the relevant nomination forms. If events are postponed due to wet weather, this information will be made available on the website.
Students can also register for individual representative teams in sports such as Netball, Diving, Cricket and many others at NSWCCC level. More information can be found at www.csss.nsw.edu.au
Sports representation outside of school
The College loves to celebrate the achievements of students who perform exceptionally well in sports outside of school. Students who compete in a competition or the like should let Ms MacKinnon know through Edmodo so that the news can be shared.
Sport@Cerdon Edmodo page
Students should join the Edmodo Sport@Cerdon page for up to date information about all sports. Go to www.edmodo.com. Create a login. Look for groups and then click on join. The code to join is p8v5gg. Parents are also welcome to join the group.
Upcoming Events
27th February All Schools Triathlon
9th March PDSSSC Basketball
Best of luck
Good luck to Julia Achmar (Year 10), Crystal Antonios (Year 10) and Natalie Bainou (Year 9) who are competing with their team “Wests” in the Juniors State Touch Championships this weekend in Port Macquarie. We look forward to hearing of your achievements in this competition.
Ms K MacKinnon
PDHPE/Sport Co-ordinator
School Calendars
Year 7 Welcome Evening
Monday, Feb 23, 2015, 06:30 PM
Cerdon College
College Open Day
Tuesday, Mar 10, 2015, 04:00 PM
Cerdon College
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