MacKillop Chronicles 2023 Term 3, Week 3

Thursday 3 August 2023

First Holy Communion

Little Lighthouse Playgroup

Primary Matters

Dear Community,

Transfiguration of the Lord Gospel Account

"Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." Matthew 17: 1 – 9. Some of the Disciples were with Jesus at his Transfiguration. The link between the prophets and God’s son is affirmed with the appearances on the mountain. Elijah’s and Moses’ encounters with God were also on a mountain top. With faith in Jesus, we should never be afraid!

MacKillop Feast Day – Tuesday 8 August

By now all families should be aware of the events to celebrate St Mary of the Cross MacKillop feast day. There will be standing room only for parents who wish to join our whole school mass 10 am0am. Following this, many of our parent volunteers will serve a sausage sizzle for children who have ordered these through Qkr. The money raised from the sales will be donated to Mary Macs at Woy Woy who feed the homeless. Parents are welcome to come along and enjoy a picnic lunch with the children and then the primary students will participate in tabloid activities in the afternoon.

Principal Coffee n Chat this Friday in the library9 am9am

For those who can join me on Friday for our Termly coffee n chen please come along. For those who cannot make, it there will be a Zoom link for you to register to be a part of the conversation. At this time I outline what is happening in the term and events coming up. If you are joining us vZoomoom, here is the link  https://dbbcatholic.zoom.us/s/62273638980

Kinder Yana begins 15 and 16 August.

We are gearing up for our biggest cohort of students ever to be enrolled in our school. The school readiness journey will begin soon where children with parents will learn through investigative play and begin to form bonds with others. Our Kindergarten teachers and support staff are looking forward to this vitally important part of school development for our Kinder 2024.

Book Week – Read, Grow and Inspire 28 August – 1 September.

Please be aware of the upcoming Book Week. Our librarians every year do a fabulous job in bringing books to life for our students. There will be a whole lot of activities including a Book Parade on 30^th August, Scholastic Books Display and author visits for the children. Keep an eye on the Compass notifications.

K-6 Public Speaking Competition

Our annual Public Speaking competition will be held during Book Week where students will compete in stages to win medals for placings. As parents, you can help your child prepare his / her speech as part of the learning that will begin next week. Public Speaking is a wonderful skill to have and the more confident one is in front of others is a vital skill for being successful.

Primary Writing Competition NOW OPEN!!!

It is finally Term 3 and that means that once again, the Primary Writing Competition is open!

All budding writers and enthusiasts get your pencils and typing fingers ready. Mums and Dads and other interested brainstorming partners dust off those thinking caps and start sharing ideas because entries are now open. Using the image as your inspiration, you are free to write anything at all! No need to register either, just get your writing in by Friday Week 6.

See details below for further information.

Any questions, contact your classroom teacher or Mrs Brown.  catherine.brown@dbb.catholic.edu.au

Social Emotional Learning and School Representative Council report

During our meeting this week, the Student Representative Council (SRC) discussed playground spaces, focusing on both their strengths and areas for improvement. The SRC leaders contributed valuable ideas, and we are eager to implement these suggestions in the coming months. As part of our efforts, we have acquired a new "FOUND ITEMS" box, which will be overseen by the Year 5 SRC Leaders. With any luck, this new responsibility will not burden them too much, and we anticipate positive results from their management of it.

In Year 3 Grevillea, during this week's Second Step lesson, students had the opportunity to enhance their empathy skills. The focus was on understanding that individuals can experience different and sometimes even contradictory emotions simultaneously. Life often presents us with situations that evoke conflicting feelings, such as feeling both happy and sad, excited and nervous. Through thoughtful discussion, we explored the idea that this complexity is a natural part of life and how vital it is to recognise and comprehend conflicting emotions in order to effectively navigate through them.

Mrs Denneman and Miss Owen

Parent Nominated SEL Programs for Students Years 3 – 6.

In the coming weeks, some students will be able to participate in specific social and emotional learning programs to target specific areas of challenge. Not all children from Years 3 – 6 will be involved this term with some waiting till Term 4 to participate. If you feel your child would benefit from being involved in one of the programs now, then please let your child’s teacher know.

The programs being introduced for 60 minutes a week are:

Year 3 mixed – ‘Rock n Water’ www.rockandwater.com.au

Year 4 / 5 Boys – ‘Revved Up’   https://stride.org.au/revved-up/

Year 4 / 5 Girls – ‘Empower’     https://stride.org.au/mpower-friends/

Year 6 teacher/parent nominated – ‘You Can Do It.’  https://youcandoiteducation.com.au

Catholic Care Visit

Nicole and Sean from Catholic Care came and spoke to the Mini Vinnies and Mini Macs teams to talk about the services they offer to people in our community. This was a wonderful talk about social justice and the need to care for our fellow travellers.

On Leave

I wish to advise the community that from the end of school Week 5 through till the end of the Term I will be on Long Service Leave. I will return to school in Term 4. In my absence Mrs Kenney will be Acting Principal and Mr Snelling will be Acting Assistant Principal.

A Thought for the Week…

“Truth does not change although your perception of it may vary or alter drastically.” St Clair Thomas

God Bless,

Frank Cohen
Primary Principal

Read, Grow Inspire - Book Week 2023

Monthly Youth Group and Mass

PARENT WEBINARS - ONLINE SAFETY

Secondary News

From the Secondary Principal

Prayer: For our 13 students and 6 teachers in Lisbon for World Youth Day

God of all,

We rejoice today on this celebration of World Youth Day for young people everywhere.
May youth everywhere share the love of Christ by their words and actions.

May they hear the call of Pope Francis to live the Beatitudes.
 May they serve those in need and tend to the “poor in spirit.”

AMEN

World Youth Day Pilgrimage:

We are daily receiving beautiful photos from Italy of our WYD pilgrims, and they all appear to be having such a memorable time.

Last week a zoom with the Parents of the Pilgrims was organised.  There were 8 lovely MCC parents on the zoom, all with happy stories of their children enjoying WYD and speaking extremely highly of the teachers with them who are doing an amazing job looking after them.

The General consensus was that the students were a little overwhelmed and missing home but having the best time all in one.

Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day and our 20^th Anniversary:

MacKillop Catholic College was opened 20 years ago in 2023. On 8 August, Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day we will be celebrating both the Feast Day and our 20^th year.

Mass will be at 10 am and all parents are invited to join us for this special day.

After Mass, the students will enjoy a picnic lunch on the oval and then various games and activities will occur throughout the afternoon.

Learning:

Science and Engineering Challenge

On Monday 24 July, a group of 30 Year 9 and 10 students attended the annual Science and Engineering Challenge at St. Edwards, East Gosford, accompanied by Ms Walters and Mr Clair. This event, hosted by Newcastle University and the Gosford Rotary Club aims to challenge State, Catholic and Private school students from across the Central Coast in team-based STEM problem-solving activities. These activities included such challenges as building a moon rover, an earthquake-resistant tower and developing and applying a unique Morse code style communication system. It was noticeable to Ms Walters and Mr Clair how engaged, collaborative, and stimulated they were by all the contents of the day. It was, therefore, only a little bit of a surprise that we managed to place first in the event, not only on the day but across the two days of competing. A great result for our students and teachers as this is our maiden first place in 15 years of competing at this event. Our reward will be to represent the Central Coast in the state challenge at Newcastle University on the 23rd of August. Congratulations and we are so proud of this success and of all the students and staff involved.

Year 12 CSSA Trial Exams:

This week, Week 3, our Year 12 students have commenced their Trial HSC exams. These exams are set externally by CSSA, and most Catholic schools sit these as they test the students further. Keep our Year 12 in your prayers and we are so proud of all their hard work.

Years 8 and 10 Subject Market and Information Sessions:

Thank you to all our students and parents who attended the Subject Market and Information Sessions last Monday afternoon for Years 8 and 10. Students now need to consider carefully all the advice they were given and select their subjects for 2024. All Yr 8 and Yr 10 have been sent an email with the link to their subject selections.

Japanese Sister School:

Our Sister School has now been with us for nearly 2 weeks and their last day with us at school is Friday, 4 August. Every day has been filled with many activities some mentioned below:

Each day Nichidai (Nihon Daiichi) students start the day with their English lesson. Thank you to Mrs Georgina Martin and Mrs Kirsty Liston for teaching English to our visitors.

On the first Tuesday there was our Welcome Ceremony run by Mr Kilham and the Year 11 Japanese students. It was lovely to see all the Japanese elective students and Year 5 from Primary and the primary leaders attend the ceremony.  At the welcome, the Japanese students sang “It’s a small world” and did individual self-introductions. They were presented with MacKillop school badges from Mrs Ferguson, Mrs McGuinness, and Ms Kenny.  Also, Mrs Ferguson and Mr Hatoyama from Nihon Daiichi, exchanged school gifts. The Nichidai students after lunch then headed to Norah Head and Tuggerah.

Last Wednesday - Period 1 they had English lessons with Beech Sensei Year 10- 100 hour Japanese elective class. There was lots of conversation and laughter. 

In periods 2 and 3 the host students and Nichidai students were involved in three activities organised by the Nichidai students. This was very competitive on both sides and fun.

In period 4 they spent the lesson with Mrs Iolanda Caruana and some Year 11 music students learning to sing Waltzing Matilda. Mrs Caruana explained the lyrics and the students taught the melody. This was an awesome lesson.

In period 5 they spent the lesson with Mr Kilham’s Year 9 Japanese elective class. MacKillop students taught them how to play Pictionary and celebrity heads.

last Thursday a day away from the College. The Students went to Toowoon Bay and learnt about the beach and surf life saving skills.

Last Friday the Nichidai students were taught a new dance by Mrs Rochelle Calder and the Yr 11 dance class. The students warmed up to the Hokey Pokey song with lots of laughter. They then learnt the new dance, which relied on using key English words. The students had a great deal of fun and really enjoyed the lesson.

After lunch, the host students both primary and secondary students with their Nichidai students and teachers went to the Australian Reptile Park. We thank Mrs Georgina Martin for accompanying the primary students.

All students had their photos taken with the koalas and fed the kangaroos. There was much laughing and fun had by all. It was a great way to end their first week at MacKillop and for all the students to enjoy seeing the Australian animals.

The you can read about their adventures from this week on our website.

Academic Excellence Awards Semester 1:

This week,  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 this, and all the students have been advised if they are being presented with an award.

Maths Pathways Information Night:

On Tuesday night we had over 100 parents and students attend a Maths Pathways Information Night. The main aim was to inform parents about why we have adopted this program and explain how the program is accessed by the students for their own needs. We were able to answer the many questions from the parents who attended. They also had the opportunity to look at their own child’s profile and progress.

Year 12 Dance

Last Thursday evening, the Year 12 Dance students presented a showcase of their major works, which they have been preparing for most of the year. The students performed their Core and Major Performances and showcased their choreography through having their junior dancers perform their Core Compositions. All the students danced beautifully, and we are very proud of them. We wish these HSC dancers the best of luck for the HSC Practical Examination which takes place on Tuesday 15th August.

Year 9 and 10 Photographic and Digital Media

Students in Year 9 and 10 Photographic and Digital Media had a chance to work with Peter Solness for an evening Master Class and to learn about his career journey. This was a good opportunity to work with a practising artist and to further develop skills in photography.

Peter Solness is a multi-award-winning photographer, artist, educator and writer who specialises in the photographic method of Light Painting. This involves mounting his camera on a tripod and working in darkness to allow long camera exposures and by hand-illuminating his subjects. Using torches he creates artworks with visual effects not generally associated with traditional methods of photography.

Teachers and Parents Got Talent:

Last Friday night 28 July, saw the tables turned somewhat on the traditional Performing Arts Showcase. This time, it was parents and teachers stepping up and showcasing their talents. It was a spectacular night with incredible performances from MacKillop staff and parents. Music teacher Scott Wallis opened the evening with a solo performance of “Believe” by Cher while Primary Music teacher Leanne Schillert showed us her skills with the classic, “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac. Mrs Iolanda Caruana brought out the goosebumps and emotions with a rousing performance of “O Mio Babbino Caro”, an opera by Puccini. Mr Brian Zammit showed his extensive skills on the trumpet with “Amazing Grace”, skilfully accompanied by Rebecca Hale. Mrs Sharon Baird performed a monologue about the difficulty of online dating and Mr Shane LeBreton hosted an entertaining audience participation competition which pitted Mrs Cristina Duran and Mrs Michelle Andrews against each other to the amusement of the audience. Mrs Hale also accompanied parent Olivia Curtis in a musical theatre item from Godspell, entitled “Turn Back, Oh Man”. Mr Greg Ison, also a parent, delivered a hilarious standup comedy routine with some very memorable impersonations included. Judging a winner was no doubt difficult, though the feedback given by the judges Charlotte K, Lachlan B, Jarrod W and Jacob F was on point. 

The winner of the evening though, brought the house down. There were squeals of delight and community singing as Taylor Swift (aka Rebecca Hale) and her schoolmates, Shane LeBreton (sporting long hair and bangs that would’ve made any 90s rocker jealous), and a crew of band members - Leanne Schillert, Iolanda Caruana, Hayden Fisher and Scott Wallis - wearing their uniforms in a manner that caused Mrs McGuinness to issue many infringements, performed “Shake It Off”. The whole evening was hosted by Mrs Rochelle Calder, who also showed off her tap-dancing skills, while student Nicholas Wasley set up all the technical equipment and operated audio, lights and vision for the evening. Parents also supplied delicious slices, cakes, churros and drinks which were able to be purchased prior to the show. 

On behalf of the Performing Arts staff and the students travelling to the USA for the Performing Art Tour. The Performing Arts teachers would like to say thank you to everyone who attended or contributed to the evening in some way. It was amazing!

Congratulations and more Information to come:

Presently we have 2 students representing Australia overseas:

• Jack Moffat is in Europe at the World’s Gymnastic Titles.
• Cohan Szypica is at the World Dwarf Games representing in soccer and basketball.
  

Important Dates for T3 Week 4:

• Mon- Fri - WYD away / Year 12 Trial HSC exams
• Tues – Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day/ Mass at 10 am and all parents welcome.
• Fri – NSW Netball

New Phone System:

 Our new number is 72562116. 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

Changes to School Fee Payments

Getting to know Mr Jason Morrow

Indigenous Literacy Foundation 2nd hand Book Sale

COMPASS Sign-in Update

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