MacKillop Chronicles 2023 Term 3, Week 1

Thursday 20 July 2023

First Holy Communion

Parents and Teachers Got Talent

Primary Matters

Dear Community,

16^th Sunday Gospel Account

"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn." Matthew 13: 24 – 43.

This parable at first seems innocent enough but the message from Jesus is very real. The kingdom of heaven is there for all but only reserved for those who follow his ways. People who know about the word and refuse to follow it or reject the word and do evil will be like the weeds at harvest time. From every parable, there is a moral code to follow. If we can really understand and know what Easter is all about, then the world would be a much calmer and more peaceful place.

20^th Anniversary Feast of St Mary of the Cross Feast Day – 8^th August.

Detailed information will be compassed in the coming days about our 20th-anniversary celebrations as a school. Please be aware of the date.

3 Grevillia Share Their Week 1 Work

3 Grevillea has started learning using the 8 Ways Indigenous Learning framework.  This week we recounted our holidays using the Story Sharing pedagogy. It has long been observed that Elders teach using stories and drawings from narratives. This week we used this method to explain what we did in our holidays to our classmates.

NAPLAN 2023 Parent Letters

For the parents of Year 3 and 5 students, we are waiting for the delivery of the student results letters to distribute to you. As soon as they arrive these will be sent out. Again the school has achieved some wonderful results across all measures of literacy and numeracy for both grade levels.

Awards Assembly tomorrow @ 1:20 pm

Just a reminder to all parents that our awards assembly will be held in the hall at 1:20 on Friday 21 July. Parents are always invited to attend to celebrate the great work children are doing.

World Youth Day and Mary MacKillop Youth Mass

We have many pilgrims from our church including staff travelling to Lisbon this Friday. We wish them all the very best on their adventure. A reminder that the parish will be hosting a special youth mass this Sunday at 5 pm. I particularly extend an invitation to stage 3 students to attend. 

EALD (English as an additional language or dialect teacher)

We welcome Mrs Michelle Kelly who will be working for two days a week for the rest of the year. A big thank you to the families who completed the language survey. As a result, we have been able to get funding to pay for a teacher who will work directly with our students where English is not the first language spoken at home.

Enrolments at Capacity

At present, we have waiting lists for most grades and our kindergarten for 2024 is full. Please let us know if you are thinking of leaving MacKillop so we can place those on our waiting lists.

Happy Healthy Harold @ School

The HHH van is now at school and the children from all grades are visiting the van to learn about developing life skills relating to their health and wellbeing. They will also be helped to understand how to make healthy choices and gain knowledge about health and their bodies. It is hoped that the children also develop self-esteem and a positive understanding of themselves.

A Thought for the Week…

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them!” H. Thoreau

God Bless,

Frank Cohen

Primary Principal

Monthly Youth Group and Mass

Secondary News

Prayer: For World Youth Day (WYD)

This Friday our 13 students and 4 staff who are attending WYD depart for Italy and then on to Portugal for the WYD celebrations. The official prayer for World Youth Day Lisbon 2023 was presented on Saturday, 21st of November, at the Memorial of the Presentation of Mary.

Our Lady of the Visitation,
you who left in haste towards the mountain to meet Elizabeth, lead us also to meet all those who await us to deliver them the living Gospel: Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord!

We will go in a hurry, with no distraction or delay, but with readiness and joy. 
We will go peacefully, because those who take Christ take peace, and welldoing is the best wellbeing. 

Our Lady of the Visitation, with your inspiration, this World Youth Day will be the mutual celebration of the Christ we take, as You once did. 

Make it a time of testimony and sharing, fraternization, and giving thanks, each of us looking for the others who always wait. 

With you, we will continue on this path of gathering, so that our world will gather as well, in fraternity, justice and peace. 

Help us, Our Lady of the Visitation, to bring Christ to everyone, obeying the Father, in the love of the Spirit!

AMEN

Learning:

Year 12 Frozen Week and CSSA Trial Exams:

Next week, Week 2, is the Year 12 Frozen Week prior to the commencement of the CSSA Trial Exams. A Frozen Week is a time where learning is considered paramount with all students and teachers expected to attend every lesson to prepare for the students’ exams.

Year 8 and 10 Subject Market and Information Sessions:

Next Monday afternoon, 24 July, the College is hosting a Subject Market for our present Yr 8 and Year 10 from 4 to 6 pm where all parents and students may speak with our teachers about their possible subject selections for 2024.

Each faculty will be in either the Hall or the Ryan Centre and will be available to answer any enquiries or questions you might have.

For Japanese, Mrs Beech will not be available till 5 pm as our Japanese Sister School arrives the same afternoon. If you are earlier than 5 pm there will be a QR code on her information desk which you can access for information.

There will be 2 identical Year 9, 2024 Information Sessions in the Theatre at 4.30 pm and again at 5.30 pm. We encourage all Year 8 parents to attend one of these sessions.

There will be a more detailed Year 11, 2024 Information Night at 6 p.m. We encourage all parents to attend this as there are some significant changes being made by NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) for the students entering Year 11 next year.

Japanese Sister School:

On Monday next week, 24 July, our sister school, Nihon Daiichi Junior High School, from Tokyo, will finally return to visit us. The last time we saw the students was in 2019. They will arrive at approximately 2.30 pm and we are so looking forward to welcoming them back as we have had a very long association with this school, their staff and students with so many wonderful memories.

We thank in advance all the families who have volunteered to be host families for the two weeks they will be staying with us.

Academic Excellence Awards Semester 1:

In Week 3, Friday 4 August are the Academic Awards for Years 7-11 for Semester 1. This acknowledges all students who came 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd in each subject in each Year group. All parents are also invited to attend.

Maths Pathways Information Night:

We have had a number of requests for an information night about the Maths Pathways program in Years 7 and 8 as well as a demonstration on how parents can see what their children are working on each week and their results.

The Information Night will be held on Tuesday 1 August at 6.30 pm.

The venue on the night will depend on how many parents plan to attend so please use the link below to RSVP so we can ensure we have the best venue for the night.

We strongly suggest you bring your child with you on the night and that they bring their iPads with them.

The link to RSVP is: https://forms.office.com/r/zAgWpMnahr

We hope to see you on the night.

World Youth Day:

World Youth Day (WYD) is a worldwide encounter with the Pope celebrated about every three years in a different country. The most recent WYD was celebrated in Panama City, Panamá from January 22-27, 2019. This year World Youth Day will be held in Lisbon, Portugal in July 2023.

WYD is open to all young people who want to take part in a festive encounter centred on Jesus Christ together with their peers. This event is an opportunity to personally experience the universality of the Catholic Church and to share with the whole world the hope of many young people who are committing their lives to Christ and His Church. World Youth Day is a unique way to deepen faith and grow closer to Christ, through prayer and the sacraments, together with hundreds of thousands of other young people who share these interests and ambitions.

On Friday 14 July, the World Youth Day (WYD) pilgrims gathered at the cathedral in Waitara for the Commissioning Mass before their departure. Thank you to Mrs McGuinness and Mrs Price for attending the Mass to support our students. The Broken Bay Diocese will be represented by 169 pilgrims, including Bishop Anthony Randazzo. Thirteen students and six staff will represent MacKillop Catholic College. The three-week pilgrimage comprises of time in various places in Italy such as Padua, Venice, Assisi and The Vatican. The week of WYD will be in Lisbon, Portugal where young Catholics from all over the world will converge to celebrate and deepen their faith with Pope Francis. The pilgrimage will conclude with a retreat in Fatima where there will be time to reflect on their experience.

Yesterday, the MacKillop World Youth Day pilgrims engaged in their last formation session before their departure. All the 13 pilgrims and the 4 teachers from our school who are attending WYD depart this Friday 21 July. Congratulations and good luck to Olivia W, Noah J, Leo B, Kate B, Jypsirayine B, Lucinda F, Prabhleen I, Ashleigh J, Josie R, Aaliyah T, Katarina T, Melissa V and Caitlin W. Also, to our teachers Mrs Tenev, Mr Tomsett, Mr Legge and Ms Goodwin.

At our assembly on Friday, the Secondary students will pray for all these pilgrims. Please pray for all who will be travelling and participating in World Youth Day 2023.

Whilst Mr Tomsett is away Mrs Abel will be the Leader of PDHPE and Mrs Beeson will be the Year 8 Pastoral Leader.

Commissioning of the New Student Parliament

All the newly elected Student Leaders will be commissioned on this Friday, 17 July, at 11.30 am in the College Hall. We invite all parents to attend this, especially the parents of the children being commissioned. Following the commissioning and the Sports Awards that follow, there will be a light morning tea in the Café.

Sports Assembly:

This Friday, following the Commissioning, will be our Sports assembly recognising all the achievements of Semester 1. This will see the presentation of all our Age Champions for the Sports Carnival and also recognise other sporting events.

Farewell to Mrs Marilyn Fraser:

It is with great sorrow that we said farewell to our Aboriginal Education Worker, Mrs Marillyn Fraser, at the end of last term. Marilyn has been at MacKillop for many years working tirelessly to ensure every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child had every opportunity academically and culturally during her time at our College. She is personally responsible for so many young men and women receiving scholarships and entry into universities and varied employment. She ensured every child had the opportunity to be proud of their heritage and to engage in programs that were available.

Mrs Fraser and Mr Todd made a great team introducing into the college many name changes and a deeper understanding of Aboriginal history and heritage. Our Houses reflect this as does our Year 7 RE program.

Mrs Fraser will be deeply missed especially by the students and families that she had worked with and with whom she had formed strong ties.

We thank her for all she achieved at MCC and we wish her success and much happiness in her future.

We are pleased to welcome Mr Spek to MCC, who is joining Mrs Noah and Ms Cheney as the Aboriginal teacher team K-12.

Teachers and Parents Got Talent:

The Performing Arts Faculty are presenting a ‘Teachers (and Parents) Got Talent’ night next Friday night and they are looking for performers! So, if you have a party trick or a genuine talent, we'd love to hear from you. If not, why not come along and be part of the audience and cheer on your favourite act?

Date: Friday 28 July
Time: 6.00 pm
Venue: Theatre
Tickets are available on Qkr! at $5 per head.

Refreshments are lovingly supplied by the USA Trip parents (and all proceeds from the sales to the USA Performing Arts Trip).

Hope to see you all there.

Important Dates for T3 Week 1:

• Mon- Fri - WYD away / Year 12 Frozen Week
• Mon - Japanese Sister School arrives / Year 8 and 10 Subject Market 4-6 and Year 11, 2024 Info Night at 6 pm
• Tues – P2 Welcome the Japanese Sister School in the Theatre
• Fri - Year 11 Marine excursion / Teachers and Parents Got Talent 6-8 pm

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, please contact the College.

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

God bless.

Debra Ferguson
Secondary Principal

Changes to School Fee Payments

Sister School Students are Nearly Here

Getting to know Ms Bridie Cartwright

Go4Fun - FREE 10 week healthy wellbeing program

COMPASS Sign-in Update

Down Load the app so you are always up to date with school events.