College Newsletter
Term 1 Week 2 Friday 6 February 2015
A Message from the Principal
Welcome back to the 2015 school year. Cerdon College especially welcomes our new students and families to the Cerdon Marist Community.
As the new academic year commences, Cerdon College welcomes the following staff to the College:
Miss Jessica Farrugia - TAS
Mr Thomas Kershaw - Science
We also welcome back Ms Kirsten MacKinnon, Mrs Jasmina Drageljevic, Mrs Nicole Steele, Mrs Melissah Barbaro and Ms Vivienne Rodda who return after leave in 2014.
As we begin the new academic year, the words of Martin Luther King pose a challenge for each of us. He said -
“I understand that there are many Christians in America who give their ultimate allegiance to man-made Systems and customs. They are afraid to be different. Their great concern is to be accepted socially.
They live by some such principle as this: ‘Everyone is doing it, so it must be right.’
For so many of you morality merely reflects group consensus …
You have unconsciously come to believe that what is right is determined by Gallop polls.
You must be willing to challenge unjust mores,
to champion unpopular causes, and to buck the status quo.
You are called to be the salt of the earth
You are to be the light of the world.”
As a Marist community, each of us is challenged to commit ourselves to achieving personal excellence while being committed to making a positive difference in our community.
God Bless
Mrs Patricia Baker
2014 HSC Results
Cerdon College continued its fine record in the HSC with another year of excellent results and congratulates its 2014 HSC students. Many fine individual results were achieved.
¨ Two students were acknowledged as HSC All Rounders (10 Units of Band 6 results).
¨ 141 Cerdon College Band 6 achievers were acknowledged in the HSC Honour Roll.
¨ 55% of all results were Band 5 or Band 6 results.
¨ 82% of all results were above Band 4.
¨ Student placed 1st in State in 2 Unit Business Services
¨ Student placed 10th in State in 2 Unit Business Services.
¨ 84% of Year 12, 2014 offered University places.
¨ 25% of Year 12, 2014 achieved an ATAR of 90+Raising Issues With Staff
From time to time, students or parents will have concerns or issues they wish to raise with staff at Cerdon College.
These concerns may be about issues such as your daughter’s progress in class, how she is relating to her classmates or even disagreement with Cerdon College’s policies or procedures.
It is important that if you have any concerns about your daughter you ensure that Cerdon College is contacted immediately.
If the issue is about your daughter’s progress at school, please contact the office on 8724 7300 and arrange an immediate time for an interview with your daughter’s Guidance Co-ordinator.
2015 Guidance Co-ordinators
Year 7 Mrs Famularo
Year 8 Mrs Drageljevic
Year 9 Mr O'Halloran
Year 10 Ms Rimac
Year 11 Mr Bridges
Year 12 Mrs Simpson
2015 Assistant Co-ordinators
Year 7 Mr Lovadina
Year 8 Miss Nimac
Year 9 Mrs Manning and Mrs Palucci
Year 10 Miss Soo
Year 11 Miss Parker
Year 12 Mrs Schinella
For other general curriculum concerns, please contact Mr F Caristo - Assistant Principal. He is also available to address any concerns about Years 10, 11 and 12 Assessment issues relating to school reports, or students courses of study.
For concerns relating to student welfare and social development please contact Mrs L Parker - Assistant Principal.
If you have any other issues or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly to discuss the issue or make an appointment to address your concern.
A formal complaints procedure is located on the College’s Website at dev.cerdon.nsw.edu.au.
Cerdon College works hard to ensure that students can improve their learning outcomes in a safe, supportive environment and your support of the College is important to continue to build the Cerdon Marist community.
At all times the P & F Meetings held on Monday Week 3 in Term 1 and Monday Week 3 in Terms 2, 3 and 4 at 7:00 pm in the Staffroom are an important venue to raise concerns or reaffirm Cerdon College in the way it is meeting the needs of its students.
Enrichment@Cerdon
Welcome to a new year of enriching opportunities!
A special welcome is extended to the new families in our community. This column aims to inform you of the many enriching extra curricula activities available to the girls at our College. For many, these activities provide an opportunity for students to explore new interests, pursue a passion and perhaps even win some fantastic prizes along the way.. while participating in an enriching experience.
Over the holidays, many of our students participated in some fantastic programs, and over the coming weeks we will learn about their amazing experiences. This week Esther Duruchukwu from Year 12, will share her reflections on the 2015 National Science Youth Forum. Also in this edition, read about a number of competitions and programs which have recently been released…a fantastic opportunity to start an enriching year!
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 or see Mrs Agius
The Liam and Frankie Davidson Award
The Royal Australian and NZ College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 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.
Australian Brain Bee Challenge
The Australian and New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge (ABBC & NZBBC) is a competition for high school students in Year 10 (Australia) and Year 11 (New Zealand) to learn about the brain and its functions, learn about neuroscience research, find out about careers in neuroscience and to dispel misconceptions about neurological and mental illnesses. The competition comprises of four rounds and is geared for students who are able and interested in science. For further information please visit http://www.abbc.edu.au/ Expression of interest to Mrs Agius close February 13th, 2015.
The 2015 Kids Lit Quiz
The Kids' Lit Quiz is an international literature competition for children aged 10 to 14. Only in its fourth year in Australia, this competition puts young readers onto the stage and lets them compete for fantastic prizes in the sport of reading. This year, the Sydney heat for the competition will be held at Cerdon College. Participants must be aged 14 years and under as of July 1, 2015. If you love reading, and would like further information on this competition, please see Mrs Agius.
National Science Youth Forum 2015
My name is Esther Duruchukwu and I am one of the 200 students from across Australia that was selected to attend the National Youth Science Forum 2015 which ran from 5 – 17 Jan at the Australian National University.
NYSF was a life-changing experience, which now that it is over, seems like it lasted only a few days, but is all the while responsible for the creation of memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. I went to the NYSF expecting science, what I ended up receiving, surpassed my expectations on many levels.
Amongst other things, the program comprised of lab visits, seminars, forums, social activities and lots of FUN!
The lab visits seemed specifically catered to our interests which was fantastic, and all of them enabled us to experience new things.
My favourite visit was to the Australian Institute of Sport, where we were given some hands on time in the Visitor’s Centre before we went on an exclusive tour where we saw athletes training, had a browse through the Recovery Centre and saw the Biomechanics Facility.
The seminars were a great opportunity for us to find out some of the current research of Australia’s leading scientists and organisations such as CSIRO. The forums in particular were chances for us to pick the brains of the scientists, not only about their amazing research but also about their journey to where they are now. As young students, we are all in such a pivotal stage of life and are about to make decisions that will shape our future, and their information was invaluable.
The unique thing about the NYSF is that the students are basically given a preview of university life. We live, eat and sleep on campus. We go to lectures and do work in the lab. It is a simulation of the lives we could be leading in one year’s time as science students.
By far the best part of the entire program was the people. Likeminded teenagers from across the country, with whom we were able to bond over more than just science, came together at NYSF. Many friendships and memories were made in those 12 days… and many young people were inspired to become future scientists
PDHPE and Sport Report
Cerdon College provides an extensive sporting program for all students. There are a number of extra-curricular sporting activities for your daughter to participate in including: AFL, Athletics, Basketball, Cricket, Cross Country, Dance, Diving, Futsal, Golf, Gymnastics, Hockey, Netball, Soccer, Softball, Sports Aerobics, Swimming, Touch Football, Tennis and Triathlon. Some of these sports require students to trial for a position on the team; whilst others are ‘open’ invitation to students of any sporting ability. Cerdon College is part of the Parramatta Diocesan Secondary Schools Sports Council (PDSSSC) which is our direct pathway to NSW Combined Catholic Colleges (NSWCCC). Cerdon College also participates in other sporting events throughout the year. In 2013, students represented the school at PDSSSC, NSWCCC, NSW All Schools and Nationals Level in both a team and individual categories in various sports.
Trials for Sporting Teams
Trials for sporting teams are advertised in the daily notices each morning during homeroom. Information is posted at the Sport Noticeboard on the canteen. Students must attend trials on the scheduled day and are expected to attend training sessions prior to the sporting event.
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.
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 Mr Zammit. 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 such as Triathlon (Individual), Netball, Diving, Cricket and many others at NSWCCC level. More information can be found at www.csss.nsw.edu.au
PDSSSC Softball
Congratulations to Alicia Allan (Year 11) who has been selected on the PDSSSC Opens Softball team. Alicia and her team will be competing at the NSWCCC Selection Trials on the 17th February. We wish Alicia the best of luck at this competition.
Cerdon Swimming Carnival
What a fantastic way to begin the school year. The 2015 Cerdon Swimming Carnival was once again held at Homebush. I would firstly like to say congratulations to all students who participated in events in the main pool or novelties. Three houses were winning the carnival at different stages. This shows the importance of all student’s participation on the day.
The 2015 carnival was an extremely fast one. There were ten records broken on the day which was outstanding.
Emerson Walshaw (Year 8) broke the 13 years 50m Freestyle record with a time of 30:01; Bianca Buttigieg (Year 10) broke the 15 years 50m Backstroke record with a time of 33:89; and Katarina Planinic (Year 10) broke three records. She won the 15 years 50m Freestyle in a time of 29:09; she broke the Intermediate 200m Individual Medley by almost 7 seconds with a new time of 2:39:05; and she also bettered by 3 seconds the 15 Years 100m freestyle record with a new time of 1:03:34. Emily Green (Year 11) also had a fantastic meet; breaking three records. Emily broke the 17 years Freestyle record, with a new time of 29:33; she broke the 17 years Backstroke with a new time of 35:56 and she also broke the 17 years Butterfly record with a time of 34:28. There were also two records in team events which were both won by Colin. The Open Medley team shaved more than 5 seconds off the record; and the Inter 4x50m Freestyle relay set a new record which was 2 seconds faster. Congratulations to all students involved.
The following swimmers will be recognised for their consistent outstanding achievement at the carnival:
12 Years Age Champion Sophia Vicic
12 Years Runner Up Isabella Saad
13 Years Age Champion Emerson Walshaw
13 Years Runner Up Alexzandria Smith
14 Years Age Champion Trina Castelino
14 Years Runner Up Anthea Kazanzidis
15 Years Age Champion Katarina Planinic
15 Years Runner Up Bianca Buttigieg
16 Years Age Champion Gabrielle Barbara
16 Years Runner Up Alexia Kazanzidis
17 Years Age Champion Emily Green
17 Years Runner Up Tayla Belcher
18 Years Age Champion Carina Uremovic
18 Years Runner Up Riannah Toufan
So, who was the winning house?????
1st Marcellin 1168
2nd Colin 1083
3rd McOscar 1018
4th Perroton 544
Thanks to all staff who assisted on the day. Special thanks also to the three Year 9 PASS classes who volunteered their time to help make the carnival a great success.
Ms K MacKinnon
PDHPE/Sport Co-ordinator
School Fee Statements
2015 School Fees Statements will be issued to families by the Catholic Education Office in the next week. Term 1 school fees are due for payment by Friday 6 March 2015. Included with your statement are the various payment options available to you. Should you decide to take one of these options please promptly complete and return the paperwork in the envelope provided.
Please contact the College if you have not received your statement by Monday 16 February or if you require any further information. Thank you.
Finance Department
Cerdon College
School Calendars
Assessment Booklets
Students can access the 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.
The 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.
School Zone Offences - (As of February 2015)
Parents need to take note that the area surrounding Cerdon College is designated as a School Zone. Police and Council Rangers constantly patrol the area. They will have no hesitation in prosecuting drivers for the following offences -
Not stop at stop line red light $519 - 4 Demerit Points
Not stop before traffic lights at yellow light $519 - 4 Demerit Points
Not give way at lights to pedestrian on road $415 - 4 Demerit Points
Approach children’s crossing too quickly to stop $519 - 4 Demerit Points
Not give way to pedestrian on crossing $519 - 4 Demerit Points
Disobey hand-held stop sign at crossing $519 - 4 Demerit Points
Make U-turn at intersection with traffic lights $311 - 3 Demerit Points
Drive on path $415 - 4 Demerit Points
Drive on traffic island $415 - 4 Demerit Points
Drive using mobile phone when not permitted $415 - 4 Demerit Points
Disobey no stopping sign $311 - 2 Demerit Points
Disobey no parking sign $311 - 2 Demerit Points
Exceed speed 10 km/ph and under $182 - 2 Demerit Points
Exceed speed over 10 km/ph $327 - 4 Demerit Points
Insurance - Important information about accident protection for students.
At all times and for all activities undertaken at Cerdon College, great care is taken to ensure student safety, but from time to time students are injured or have accidents.
At this time of year, it is important for parents to be given information about insurance policies relating to Cerdon College.
All students are covered for ambulance expenses incurred during school hours or on school organised events.
Unfortunately, accidents involving students happen. To assist parents with costs associated with those accidents, we have SchoolCare insurance provided by Catholic Church Insurance Limited (CCI). SchoolCare is a student accident insurance policy providing protection to all students attending our school.
Our school is covered by a School Activities Only policy. It includes worldwide accidental injury cover for school camps, school sports (including sports out of school hours as long as they are organised by the school), work experience and travelling to and from school or school activities. It also includes activities organised or authorised by the school. This includes before and after-school care if organised by the school.
Our policy covers three important areas of care and any one accident may be claimable under one or more of these areas.
Cover includes:
1. Up to $7,500 inclusive per accident for medical costs (excluding any Medicare expenses or the Medicare Gap) from the following registered medical practitioners:
· Dentist
· Chiropractor
· Osteopath
· Physiotherapist
· Remedial massage
· Podiatry
· Acupuncture
· Costs from a chemist, and
Hospital accommodation and facility fees.
Please note: Federal health legislation in Australia prohibits CCI from covering the cost associated with:
¨ any medical service for which a Medicare benefit is payable,
¨ the Medicare Gap, or
¨ any hospital treatment or other benefit unless the cost arises from an injury while taking part in certain activities, such as:
· attending school
· engaging in a sporting activity
· a secondary student undertaking a work experience program
· voluntary services to a religious, charitable, educational or benevolent organisation
· youth activities organised by a voluntary association such as guides or scouts or
· travelling to or from the above activities.
1. Fixed amounts for defined events. For example, when a student accidentally receives a fracture of the hand, the policy will pay a fixed amount of $250.
For information regarding all defined events covered under the policy and the fixed amount payable, please call the SchoolCare Helpline: 1300 138 498
2. Other benefits related to the injury sustained, including:
· Emergency transport resulting from an accidental injury
· Home tuition
· Hospital inconvenience allowance
· Nursing allowance
· Professional counselling fees and
· Assistance with payment of school fees in the event of the accidental death of a parent or guardian.
These are all limited to specific amounts per accident. These amounts are detailed in the table of benefits contained in the policy, and are subject to the policy wording, terms, conditions and exclusions.
If you have any queries regarding this cover, please contact the CCI SchoolCare Helpline: 1300 138 498 or visit the dedicated website, www.ccinsurance.org.au/schoolcare
* This information is of a general nature and is provided as a summary only. You should consider obtaining independent professional advice to ensure that individual circumstances are properly considered. See the policy document for full terms, conditions and exclusions.
Catholic Church Insurance Limited ABN 76 000 005 210, AFSL No. 235415
Advertising
Year 7 Parents Numeracy Evening
Tuesday, Feb 10, 2015, 07:00 PM
Cerdon College Bus Bay Kenyons Rd, Merrylands West, New South Wales, Australia
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Opening School Mass
Wednesday, Feb 11, 2015, 10:30 AM
Our Lady of Victories Horsley Park, The Horsley Drive, Horsley Park, New South Wales, Australia
Year 12 Information Evening
Monday, Feb 16, 2015, 07:00 PM
Cerdon College Bus Bay Kenyons Rd, Merrylands West, New South Wales, Australia
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