MacKillop Chronicles 2023 Term 3, Week 8

Thursday 7 September, 2023

First Holy Communion

Little Lighthouse Playgroup

Child Safety Handbook Winter Edition

Primary Matters

Dear Community,

This Sunday, the Gospel of Matthew gives us advice, if we choose, in relation to conflict resolution.  Jesus advises His disciples that conflict should be resolved in private between the parties involved.

He goes on to suggest that through the power of prayer, we too, can overcome differences within our lives. Is that possible? It makes us think as to whether we consult in private or do we share with the world?  How do we as adults, model to our children the best possible conflict resolution strategies? Jesus suggests we have a quiet chat and attempt agreement. If agreement does not come easily, He suggests that Church can counsel during this time. Although we cannot always take our challenges and conflicts to our 'Church', we can pray. We can take our conflicts and challenges into prayer with us.  We can seek counsel, peace and refuge from conversation with Jesus.  As Jesus mentions on more than one occasion, "When two or more are gathered, so too am I..." In the times ahead, we hope and pray that conflicts are minimal, and when they are not, may we find peace in the knowledge that Jesus is always the third wheel in times of trouble.

Charity Day - Tuesday 19 September

On Tuesday, 19 September, our Year 12 students will be celebrating the end of 13 years of school with their Charity Day. Charity Day is when Year 12 dress up in funny clothes, park their cars across more than one car space, spray water pistols and collect spare change for a charity of their choice.  Please be aware on the morning of this celebration; you may be stopped to drop your change in a bucket or encouraged to donate rather than getting squirted.  Please rest assured that they are very well supervised by Secondary and Primary staff and are also well-versed in showing consideration and manners to our Primary students.  I truly believe we can count our blessings as it is a far cry from the old-school "Muck-Up Days"!

K-2 Swimming Program

K-2 Swimming Program begins next week for Week 9 and Week 10. 

Please remember to label all items of clothing and pack your child an extra snack, as the children are always extra hungry! 

Week 9 Assembly

Due to our K-2 Swimming Program in Week 9 and Week 10 and an increase in student awards, we will be hosting a K-2 Awards Ceremony and a 3-6 Awards Ceremony. The K-2 Awards Ceremony will take place on Friday, 15 September, at 9 am under the Shade Sail. Our Year 3 - 6 Awards Ceremony will happen at the usual time of 1:20 pm in the Hall on the same day, Friday, 15 September.  During both of these ceremonies, the Public Speaking Medal, Assistant Principal Awards, and Principal Awards will be presented.

Public Speaking

This week we held our MacKillop Catholic College Public Speaking Stage Finals. 

Over the past 4 weeks, all students across Primary have been working in class and at home on their speeches, with students presenting to their classmates and teachers to gain a place in their Stage Final.

Our judges, Mrs Kenney, Mr Snelling and Mrs Shilling, were very impressed with the high calibre of the speeches presented in the Finals, not only in terms of the content of the speeches but also the strong delivery skills displayed. Determining place-getters was not an easy task!

Our thanks go to our Primary Learning Leaders, Samantha G and Charlotte K, for acting as MCs at each of the Finals.

Our 2023 Public Speaking Finalists were all presented with their certificates this week, and the following students will be presented with their medals for gaining a place at assembly in Week 9:

Early Stage One:

First Place: Kai R

Second Place: Imogen B

Stage One:

First Place: Alana M

Second Place: Adam A

Third Place: Samara C

Stage Two:

First Place: Amelia S

Second Place: Amelia P

Third Place: Sophia M

Stage Three:

First Place: Dean W

Second Place: Ava F

Third Place: Samantha G

Religious Education in Kindergarten and Year 1

Kindergarten and Year 1 have implemented the new Religious Education Curriculum into their classrooms. As part of this curriculum, students listen to scripture stories and use Godly Play as a way to interact with the stories to gain a deeper understanding of the 12 works from the foundation of “Educating in Christ.” Children learn about grace and courtesy procedures during practical life activities and their reflective response stations.

Students in Kindergarten and Year 1 are enjoying the hands-on experiences, watching and using the Godly Play stories.

God Bless

Sherylyn Kenney
Acting Primary Principal

Vacation Care

School TV

Secondary News

From the Secondary Principal

Prayer: Child Protection Week:

Child Protection Week is 3 - 9 September this year. This year National Child Protection Week will continue to champion the message ‘Every child in every community needs a fair go’. This message captures the essence of National Child Protection Week, which aims to promote a safe and supported life for every child, now and into the future.

Dear Lord,

We pray for the day when all children may know safety, freedom and protection from violence and abuse, safe from any harm, where they can flourish to be all that they can be.

We thank you for the dedication and the gifts of all who work in childcare, child safety and child protection. Guide and direct them all in their efforts.

We ask you to strengthen our Church to be a place of safety, free of abuse, to be communities where all people can flourish in your love, trusting you as their Heavenly Father.

Amen

Father’s Day Mass and Breakfast

It was so lovely to share Mass and breakfast with so many of our dads and grandfathers last Friday for Father’s Day. We catered for 1000, and except for some bread rolls and a few eggs we served all our bacon and egg rolls.

The conversations were rich and a great way to share with the entire K-12 community, and we thank our Primary for catering the breakfast and the Secondary Religion faculty for the Mass.

We hope all our dads and significant males in children’s lives had a wonderful Father’s Day last Sunday.

World Youth Day

At the beginning of Term 3, thirteen students and four teachers began their World Youth Day Pilgrimage. They flew from Australia to Italy and, over three weeks, spent time touring around Italy and participating in World Youth Day events in Lisbon, Portugal, before ending the trip with a retreat in Fatima. Sr Jiji and Ms Gorman also attended World Youth Day but were part of the direct pilgrimage, and there was a happy MacKillop reunion in Portugal. 

The students and staff who attended were:

Year 10 - Olivia W and Noah J.

Year 11 - Leo B, Katarina T, Ashleigh J, Caitlin W, Aaliyah T, Jypsi B, Melissa V, Prabhleen I, Josie R, Lucinda F and Kate B. 

Staff: Sr Jiji, Ms Gorman, Mr Tomsett, Ms Goodwin, Mr Legge, Br Shayne and Mrs Tenev.

Here are some reflections from students on their time abroad.

Leo B

On Friday, 21 July myself, 12 of my peers and 4 members of our staff travelled across the globe with over half a million other young people from around the world to attend World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal. We said farewell to our parents at Sydney International Airport with absolutely no tears from any of us or our parents and boarded our first plane, beginning the first leg of our pilgrimage. Before we arrived in Portugal, we spent just over a week in Italy; we began our pilgrimage in Padua, moving through Venice, Ravenna, Bologna, Florence, Siena, Assisi, Cascia, and then Rome. Along the way, we explored many historical and religious sights. We visited the Basilicas of saints, such as Saint Anthony in Padua, Saint Mark in Venice, Saint Clare in Assisi, and the Basilica of Saint Peter, located in the Vatican, just to name a few. We had to adapt quickly to the Italian culture and weather, most days being above 40 degrees. We were, however, more than happy to very, very quickly adapt to the food. Even in more difficult situations, we reminded ourselves that we are pilgrims, not tourists and that we are incredibly lucky to have travelled through this ancient country and learned all about the rich and complex history of the Catholic Church. Eventually, our journey through Italy came to an end, and we waved goodbye from the shaky cabin of our RyanAir transportation as we made our way to Portugal.

Katarina T 

After a lovely start to the pilgrimage in Italy, we journeyed to Lisbon, Portugal, to begin the World Youth Day week. During this week, we attended a series of events, including the opening mass, the welcome ceremony for the Pope and the Saturday night vigil. Each day we also had the opportunity to participate in catechesis as well as being able to run it for many other English-speaking pilgrims from America, Canada, Ireland and other parts of Australia. There was also an ongoing Youth Festival happening in various parts of Lisbon, which included the City of Joy. This was a park with different stalls and activities for people to participate in. All these events encouraged us to be involved and reach out of our comfort zones. We were able to meet so many other young people from all around the world who share the same faith as us. Each day as we walked through the streets, it was amazing to see all the people from across the globe come to World Youth Day to express their faith together as one. Personally, my favourite event was at the Saturday Night Vigil. Imagine 1.5 million people together for a big sleepout under the stars. We were silent during adoration; this gave us all an opportunity to stop for a second and breathe and actually look around and absorb all the joy around us. This was a life-changing experience in which we all had the ability to strengthen our faith and relationships with God.

Olivia W  

After many days in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, we found ourselves in Fatima for a retreat. In this retreat, we had the opportunity to participate in activities such as reconciliation, prayer groups, and journaling and had the opportunity to get any items blessed by the Bishop. Throughout the retreat, we got to write positive affirmations to anyone from Broken Bay; this included the schools, those in religious orders, teachers and those who helped with organising World Youth Day. As our days were drawing to a close, we were all preparing ourselves to return home, but while doing so, we all got given a personal letter from our families. The retreat was a very emotional time for all of us, but it’s safe to say that we all had an amazing time overseas on this Pilgrimage and are also glad to be back with our family and friends.

We are so blessed and grateful to our families, friends, staff, and Broken Bay community for supporting our pilgrims and know that this has been a life-changing experience for all of them.

Learning

Book Week

Book Week 2023 was full of fun and excitement. This year’s theme, READ, GROW, INSPIRE, is definitely one of my favourites. Book Week is always a fantastic event in our school calendar. It promotes reading, an appreciation of books and the joy of stories. It encourages students to read widely, grow their minds and be inspired to explore the world around them. This year students were given the opportunity to test their book smarts in a fun pastoral Kahoot quiz; listen to our guest author, Paul Macdonald, share his wealth of knowledge about teen literature; get creative with various writing competitions; dress as a favourite book character; and take time to be alone and just read.

One of our favourite Book Week traditions is our Special Readers’ visits to the Primary classes. Special Readers are Secondary staff, including learning support staff, admin staff, Year 7-12 teachers, and Executive staff, who volunteer to share their love of books by reading one of their favourites to our eager K-6 students. 

Another important tradition during Book Week is the Reading Hour, a time when all K-12 staff and students drop everything and read for 20 minutes. This year classes were encouraged to find a quiet space to read alone either in their classrooms or outdoors. 

The highlight of Book Week was our annual Book Character parade. MCC staff, pre-school, Kinder Yana and K-12 students came together to dance and sing and show off costumes that were creative and fabulous. Things 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, the Wiggles and Dorothy the Dinosaur, an abundance of Wallys and superheroes, an assortment of Mr Men and Barbie and Ken and the gang all showed up! It was a joyous community celebration.

Year 11 Preliminary Exams:

Year 11 commence their Preliminary Final exams this week and next. Keep them in your prayers, and we wish them well. They then commence their HSC year in Term 4.

Year 10 Subject Selections:

Thank you to all the Year 10 parents who attended the parent night last week to discuss and sign off on your child’s pattern of study for 2024/25. Also, thank you to the parents who contacted the college if they could not come on that night to make alternative meeting times.

We are very impressed with the maturity our Year 10 are displaying in selecting their subjects.

Just a reminder that until these meetings occur, the students are not enrolled for Year 11. Students cannot be accepted into Year 11 without these discussions and agreements. Therefore, if you have not contacted the school as yet, can you please make this a priority.

Attendance:

NESA, our NSW education board whose policies and procedures must be followed by every school, recommend that all students attend a minimum of 92% of school days in a school year. This means that all students should aim to not miss more than 4 school days in a term.

Prior to COVID, many students made this percentage, and we gave awards at the end of the year to students who had a 100% attendance record for the year.

Why is attendance so important?

The government explains it this way – “Daily school attendance is important for all children and young people to succeed in education and to ensure they don't fall behind both socially and developmentally. Children and young people who regularly attend school and complete Year 12 or an equivalent qualification have better health outcomes, better employment outcomes, and higher incomes across their lives. It is important that children develop habits of regular attendance at an early age.

School participation is important as it maximises life opportunities for children and young people by providing them with education and support networks. School helps people to develop important skills, knowledge and values which set them up for further learning and participation in their community.

Conversely, limited school participation is associated with a greater chance of dropping out of school, disruptive and delinquent behaviour and may lead to a cycle of rebellion against authority. These outcomes have later implications for employment, a range of health risk behaviours, homelessness, poverty, welfare dependence, and involvement in the justice system.”

What we are observing at MacKillop:

The Leaders of Wellbeing review reports on the attendance of every student regularly. They are aware that some students have prolonged injuries and/or illnesses and understand why these percentages of absenteeism will be higher for these students. However, we are seeing many students only attending school between 60-70% of the time. Students not attending school every day will most certainly fall behind and cannot receive all the benefits of being in class with a teacher.

Letters are being posted to parents whose children are in true danger of being reported to Catholic Schools Broken Bay for their absenteeism due to the concern we have for these students’ education.

We ask all parents to assist their children by insisting that they attend school every day, except when truly sick or there is a family emergency. Good habits need to be formed, and the more often students are away, the more problems arise for the student and make it even harder for them to attend each day.

A good work ethic, positive attitude and confidence all come from being in every lesson and having both parents and teachers assisting students to develop what they need to be successful in life.

Let’s all aim for the 92%.

Big Walk for Little Kids:

In 2021, during lockdown, MacKillop completed the Big Walk for Little Kids. We had almost 100 walkers sign up to walk either 25, 50, 100 or 200km throughout the month of September. During that time, members of the MacKillop community raised $15,500. The Big Walk for Little Kids is a fundraiser that runs to support Camp Quality raising funds for cancer education resources, hospital programs, counselling, camps and family fun days for families affected by cancer.

This September at MacKillop, we are promoting some friendly House competitions and encouraging our students to be active. The House that has the most walkers sign up will receive big House points, along with the House, teacher and student who walks the most through the month of September. In 2021, we had some students walk over 300km throughout the month!

Currently, we have almost 250 walkers signed up, with a third of them coming from Fitzroy!

To walk alongside us, sign up to your house using the QR codes, or search for our houses on the Big Walk for Little Kids website.

Important Dates for T3 Week 9:

• Mon – Fri – Year 11 Exams / Child Protection Week
• Tues- Year 8 CPR
• Wed – Seminarian visit and soccer game with Year 12
• Thurs- Year 12 D&T Marking
• Fri – Assembly / PraiseFest / Trivia Night - form a table and come along for some fun!

A Heads Up:

From the beginning of Term 4, parents will not be able to download and print a hardcopy consent form from COMPASS. Instead, all parents will have to use COMPASS to both give digital permission and make any payment(s). Please refer to the Notice on COMPASS that has this information and an attachment which instructs you on how to complete these forms digitally.

New Phone System:

Our new number is 72562116. Please update your phone contacts accordingly.

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

Free Parenting Program

Disney Magic Trivia Night

Getting to know: Mr Russell Jones

Empowering Futures: Apprenticeships & Traineeships

PARENT WEBINARS - ONLINE SAFETY

Position Vacancy - Clery Care Coordinator

Indigenous Literacy Foundation 2nd hand Book Sale

COMPASS Sign-in Update

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