MacKillop Chronicles 2023 Term 2, Week 7

Thursday 8 June 2023

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Primary Matters

Dear Community,

Feast of Corpus Christi Gospel Reading

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” John 6: 51 – 58. This Sunday is the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. This event indicates approximately 60 days after Easter. It was instituted in the church as a special day where we acknowledge that the Holy Eucharist represents Jesus’ body and blood. It is to be revered and savoured for those who believe in the Easter message. In many European countries, this day is a public holiday and there are marches where the faithful hold aloft a monstrance containing the Holy Eucharist. Every time we go to Mass, we have the opportunity to receive Jesus at communion time, which is a special gift given to us from God.

K – 2 Reading

One of the great parts of the role is to get into classrooms and witness the learning in action. Over the past few weeks, I have had the honour of listening to every child read from K – 2 and will soon venture into the upper grades for similar experiences. It is obvious the application of sound and letter knowledge the children are applying to make sense of the print on a page. A strong aspect of reading in K – 2 is the use of Decodable readers which focus on the use of phonics and phonemic awareness to decode the words. The progress being made by all students is really something to be admired. Well done children, parents and teachers!

NAPLAN 2023

Earlier this week parents in Year 3 and Year 5 were sent communication on key dates and changes to the results for NAPLAN 2023. The school will learn of the results in the next few weeks with individual student result letters sent home in Term 3 Week 1. The substantial change that all parents need to be aware of is that the students no longer are measured against number bands. There are now four levels of proficiency. These are:

Exceeding: The student’s result exceeds expectations at the time of testing.

Strong: The student’s result demonstrates proficiency by meeting challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing.

Developing: The student’s result indicates that they are working towards expectations at the time of testing and are approaching proficiency.

Needs Additional Support: The student’s result indicates that they are not achieving the learning outcomes expected at the time of testing. They are likely to need additional support to progress satisfactorily.

Social Media – Why We All Need to Do Better!

It is so easy in today’s world to make comments on anything and anyone and it would seem without any consideration given to the consequences of what is written. It must be terrible for a sports star who has had a bad game to read the comments about his / her performance. Equally, it is reaching catastrophic proportions the number of young girls and boys who are having body and self-image issues because of the rubbish that gets written by peers in chat rooms. Only recently I witnessed firsthand what happens to a young person destroyed by social media when I was a guest at North Side Clinic in North Sydney. The heartache and despair of distraught parents trying to help their child manage, quite often a peer-induced disease, because of not looking right or having the accepted image.

As a school principal, you develop a very thick skin because what gets written about oneself and the school, at times is simply unbelievable. Quite often posts come from parents who have been told to remove a child from the school or because a decision did not go their way. Always remember that in life there are three sides to a story. One version, the other version and somewhere in the middle the truth will be revealed. As adults, it is incumbent upon everyone to step up and call out bad behaviour. Bad behaviour from children who have no monitoring of their social media pages and also immature behaviour from adults who should know better than to post inflammatory posts about others.

If you or your child is experiencing wellbeing issues as a result of misuse of social media then please go to eSafety resource bank for parents and carers.  

The downloadable information sheets may be particularly helpful for families needing guidance on specific issues.

Topics covered include:

• Managing devices and apps – helping parents and carers to understand the different parental controls available.
• Digital technologies and mental health – how to support a young person’s well-being when using social media.
• Cyberbullying and online drama – support for young people to have safe and respectful online relationships.
• Sexual harassment and image-based abuse – supporting young people with issues like pressure to send nudes or online sexual harassment.
• Basics for managing safety.
• Parent guide to online gaming

Student Representative Council @ Work

 
What makes a good leader, do they need to be popular, should you be kind, does it mean people just follow them? Last week our MCC Primary SRC leaders met with Mrs Denneman and Miss Owen to discuss leadership and what makes someone a good leader. They analysed the skills and qualities needed with great insight. We are so proud of all our budding leaders.

SRC leaders are on now duty too, looking for the most amazing lines. These leaders are awarding points based on which class is lining up the best each recess and lunch and giving bonus points to one person in each class for being an amazing line person. Are you the next winner of bonus lines points from the SRC?

Semester 1 Reports and Interviews

Earlier this week all parents should have received an online booking notification for the midyear school report interviews. Please do not delay and book a time to meet with your child’s teacher ASAP. The Semester 1 reports will be sent home via Compass on Friday 16 June and the following week is interview week.

Some Kinder Writing Samples

Mrs Hanson is so proud of the amazing writing work KW are doing in class. Well done KW

Staff Development Pupil Free Day Friday 30 June.

Please be advised that the last day of school for this term is on Thursday 29 June. All Broken Bay Catholic Schools are having a combined staff development day on Friday 30 June.

A Thought for the Week…

“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” Seneca

God Bless,

Frank Cohen

Primary Principal

Secondary News

Prayer:

Our students are all presently considering leadership for the 2023/24 year.

Father, we pray that our students will become committed servant leaders. Plant in their hearts a sense of gratitude for the many blessings they have been given. Grant them the joy that comes through serving others. Help us to inspire them through the way we live our lives in service to others.

AMEN

Learning:

Teacher Professional Learning

On Monday 29 May, seven of our teachers had the privilege of attending the Quality Teaching Academy Conference hosted by the University of Newcastle. At the conference's core was learning about quality teaching rounds and Quality teaching assessment practices. This research is the work of Laureate Professor Jennifer Gore and it is now in its 20th year. The Quality teaching model now has a significant body of research data that sits behind it evidencing its success for teaching and learning. This framework is one avenue that may be suitable to support a Collaborative Coaching model whereby teachers learn the three dimensions and 18 elements of quality teaching for optimal learning.

On Wednesday 31 May, four staff also attended the masterclass hosted by internationally renowned Educational researcher, Dylan Wiliam. This was focused on formative assessment. It looked at what it is, what works, what could work and what does not work in engaging student learning. There was a particular focus on pedagogies of engagement and response, where questions should always cause students to think. Teachers should use learner responses as a means of understanding what the students have learned in that time frame, and what the next step is for those students.

Teaching is a call-and-response activity that works both ways between teacher and students. Students learn most when their voices are heard and the teacher is the listener- probing into the student’s ability to manipulate their knowledge, and understanding and retrieve information for later use and mastery.

We look forward to the sharing of this learning experience with the rest of the Secondary staff. 

Parent-Teacher Meetings:

Just a heads up that Semester 1 Reports will be sent home soon and then Parent-Teacher Meetings will be held on Thursday 22 June from 1.30 pm to 8 pm and all-day Friday 23 June from 8.45 am to 3.30 pm. COMPASS is now open to make interview times for all students. Directions on how to make the interviews are on COMPASS.

Japanese Speaking Rehearsal Day:

On Friday we had over 30 senior students who study Japanese on the Central Coast from the Broken Bay Diocesan schools attend our incursion day run by Beech Sensei and Kilham Sensei.

Students participated in the day entirely in Japanese. From icebreakers with a get-to-know-me bingo, tongue twisters and vocabulary using Japanese paddles so that students could hear the sound changes in Japanese. They also participated in speaking practice with one-on-one practice with a teacher.

For lunch, the students were taught by Reiko Kilham how to make Okonomiyaki which is a savoury pancake. They learnt all the ingredients and verbs associated with cooking and then they made their own okonomiyaki for lunch.

It was great to see students with the same interest in studying Japanese enjoying the day together.

The Students enjoyed the day below are a few of the students comments:  
‘Miss I’m buzzing still - it felt like a big Japanese lesson’.
‘I loved having to speak as much Japanese as possible all day, and I learnt new verbs and vocabulary’.
‘It felt easier to talk in Japanese as the day went on’.
'I loved the activity where we used the paddles to sound out the syllables with the long and short sounds etc’
‘I would do it again in a heartbeat don’t know why I was so nervous.’

Saturday JTAN Speaking Day:

On Saturday the 8 Japanese continuers students and Mrs Beech went to SCEGGS in Darlinghurst to attend a Japanese Speaking Day run by the Japanese Teachers Association Network. This day was attended by over 200 students studying Japanese continuers in NSW.

The students had the opportunity to practice their speaking with 4 Japanese teachers for 10 minutes each time. 7 minutes of speaking and 3 minutes of feedback, a little bit like speed dating. The students got a great deal of feedback and advice about their speaking. This is to assist the students in getting prepared for their actual HSC oral examination which is on Saturday  12 August.

Year 11 Visual Arts

Year 11 Visual Arts students had the opportunity to work with artist Timm O'Regan in an HSC Body of Work practical workshop. The workshop was aimed at helping students come up with ideas for their own Body of Work and how to develop their own artistic practices using clay. On the day, they were informed about the HSC requirements for practical works, shown examples of past ArtExpress works by Timm’s former students and how to curate their work for submission next year. In the practical component of the workshop, students were shown techniques in clay to create texture, how to photo collage images onto clay and create a small mechanical sculpture. Currently, these works are being fired and will go on display in the art gallery of the school.  

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Year 9 Archibald Prize Excursion

The Archibald Prize, currently on exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW is a well-known painting competition that often has the sub-tag, ‘The Face that Stops a Nation’. This exhibition, in its 101 years, has inspired debate across Australia about what makes a portrait, So of course, an excursion for art students to attend is a must! Year 9 Visual Art students were treated to not only see this year’s finalist works, (and the Young Archies works, a student exhibition) but also participate in an hour-long case study session with gallery educator Alex who talk about the current works on display, and some fun facts and figures! We are hopeful that the students have been inspired by the works viewed and are now thinking of their own works, for the upcoming MacKillop Portrait prize.

Year 8 Debating

On Wednesday morning, six wonderful students joined Mr Webster and Ms Hoppe, to attend the Josie Mitchell debating competition. We had two cars full of very eager yet nervous students, and two very hopeful teachers. Six schools were competing for the trophy including St Edward’s, St Joseph’s, St Peter’s, St Brigid’s, MacKillop, and Green Point.

We began the day by competing against Green Point, arguing that social media should be taught as a subject in schools. We were successful and took the round. We then competed against St Peter’s, arguing that all students should not be required to work part-time jobs. We were again victorious and elated; we had made it straight through to the final round. Going into the finals, we were to verse St Joseph’s who were also undefeated for the day.

The assigned topic was that time is not on our side. The students were provided with around an hour to prepare their 12 minutes of speeches. Although St Joseph’s took the trophy and were the overall winners of the day, retaining their 3-year winning streak, we could not be prouder of the MacKillop debating team and how they performed. Congratulations to them on their phenomenal efforts, their ability to conquer their nerves, and the outstanding way they represented our school.

The College also thank Ms Hoppe and Mr Webster for all the time they spent preparing the students for the day and for accompanying and encouraging them on the day.

Year 10 Retreat at the Collaroy Centre

After a very early start on Thursday 1 June, Year 10 headed off to Collaroy for their Retreat. The students were very anxious and excited as they weren’t quite sure what to expect. The theme of the Retreat was Positive Relationships, the students were able to reflect on the many people in their lives who are positive role models. The theme was integrated throughout the group sessions, outdoor activities and, of course, the beautiful Mass which was designed especially for Year 10. We celebrated the Eucharist, and then the students had opportunities to participate in a variety of prayer stations, enabling them to be honest and show appreciation for others. It allowed some fractured relationships to be mended and others to be strengthened. The outdoor group activities required elements of teamwork as well as overcoming some personal challenges. The Collaroy staff were once again impressed by the way the MacKillop students conducted themselves in a public forum. Well Done Year 10.

World Youth Day preparations:

Last Tuesday, we welcomed the World Youth Day pilgrims from St. Peters, Tuggerah and St. Brigid’s, Lake Munmorah. The aim of this formation session was to complete a number of catechesis sessions to prepare the students for the pilgrimage to Italy and Portugal at the beginning of Term Three. The two topics focused on The Holy Spirit, mercy and forgiveness. It was a great opportunity for the students to reflect on their faith journey in preparation, for what will be, an intensive three-week pilgrimage in Europe.

TheatreSports:

The Intermediate Theatresports team made up of Year 9 students competed in a semi-final at St Brigid's on Thursday 1 June and came a very respectable 4th place. All three students from the elective Drama class impressed the judges and the audience with their acting skills and dry sense of humour. They were very entertaining in each of the four rounds. The team played the games 'I Love You', 'Expert Double Figures", "Open Scene' and 'Typewriter'. Congratulations on a fine effort to Alyssa, Phoebe and Chadrick.

Student Leadership:

Tomorrow at 12 noon our Year 11 who are nominating for Leadership for 2023/24 will each be addressing the Secondary Assembly. They only speak for 1-2 minutes each just introducing themselves, stating why they wish to be a leader and what they would hope to achieve. Parents are invited to attend and hear these very brave and impressive young men and women.

All Year 7-10 students are now being asked to nominate themselves for Student Parliament to their Pastoral Teachers. In P6 on Tuesday in Week 10, the nominees will speak just to the students in their House and voting will then occur.

Well-being Week for Students:

The Year 12 students are organising a well-being week for the students next week, in Week 8. They will be raising money for various charities concerned with mental health and homelessness. Some of the events include:

• Trash and Treasure each day
• Pyjama and Oodie Day on Friday - gold coin donation
• The Winter Sleepout for all students in Years 7-12. Years 7-9 stay till 9.30 pm and Years 10 - 12 sleepout rough for the night. $5 a head.

Important Dates for Term 2 Week 8:

Tues - Fri – Mrs Ferguson at the AJASS Conference at Penola. / Wellbeing Week run by Yr 12 Leaders and Mini Vinnies / Trash and Treasure Week / Bring in Winter Appeal items for St Vinnies

Wed – Year 12 Biology and Chemistry Excursion

Fri – Pyjama and Oodie Day and a gold coin donation. / Sleepout overnight /Year 7-10 reports released / Year 8 Reflection Day

Heads Up for Events this term

Our Winter Appeal:

Every year we support the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal and we make the collection of items as part of the Mini Vinnies and Mini Macs program.

Please keep an eye out for the products and foods that are being asked for by our local charities. Primary and Secondary will be asked for different products and each House in Secondary will be asked to supply specific foods etc.

 Secondary will be asked to donate their items in Pastoral up until Friday Week 7, 9 June.

Last Day of Term

The last day for this term is Thursday, 29 June. On June 30 our staff along with every other diocesan school, 44 in total, will be attending a Professional Learning Day.

New Phone System:

 Our new number is 7256 2116. We do expect issues and problems may arise for the next few weeks so please be patient whilst we work through any hiccups with the new system.

Final Word

If you have any questions or concerns always, please contact the College.

Remember to check COMPASS, our website and, our Facebook pages for information.

God bless.

Debra Ferguson

Secondary Principal

Counselling and Wellbeing Services Survey

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Healthy Eating and Active Living

CatholicCare Vacation Care

Vacation Care program for July is now available

CatholicCare’s Vacation Care service offers a wide range of activities catering to children of differing ages and interests. We also head out and about on various fun local excursions each holiday. We provide a stimulating and enjoyable environment and activities that harness the children’s interests and strengths while respecting their leisure needs. The July programs are available here www.catholiccaredbb.org.au/vacation-care. We hope to see you there!

How to look after your mental well-being on social media

P & F Follow-Up Meeting - June 26

COMPASS Sign-in Update

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