MacKillop Catholic College Warnervale eNewsletter

Thursday 16 November, 2023

Please read Primary Matters and Secondary Matters for detailed information about events that have happened and are happening at the College.

Last Friday, our Koori Choir went to rehearse with other choirs at Kanwal Public School. The Hall was abuzz with all the new faces, and our students sang beautifully.

Our Year 5 and 6 students also had a big day at the Touch Football Gala Day. Perfect weather to catch some tags and through the ball around.

Last week was Wellbeing Week, so 3B and Mr Bondfield created a Friday Fun Day for Years 1, 2, and Kindergarten to enjoy; it was great to get out in the sunshine and enjoy the fun games 3B organised together.

Our staff also enjoyed some Wellbeing Week activities taking time to connect over some coffee, shared lunches, morning teas and fun games.

Vinnie Christmas Appeal 2023, The Mini Vinnies have been creating some Christmas joy in their workshop. From next week, they will be selling some very stylish handmade earrings; 1 pair for $3 or 2 for $5. They have also been busy making some Lighthouse Tree Ornaments on sale for $5. Cash and Eftpos are available and will be sold during break times and at the Youth Mass on Sunday, 26 November.

COMPASS is our main community calendar; it is also how you give permissions, view reports and make payments. Please make sure you download the app and keep up to date.

Primary Matters

Dear Community,

Sunday Gospel Account

“For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'" Matthew 25: 14-30.

The Parable of the Talents is about people being entrusted with talents, resources and opportunities to work towards God’s purpose in the world. God wants us to use our talents for the common good and not to waste what has been given to us. Sometimes it is a matter of one step after the other. Be bold and use your God-given gifts.

Mrs Kerry Power – Acting Primary Principal

It was wonderful to welcome back Mrs Power as she met with the 2024 Kindergarten students and their parents. Kerry is no stranger to MacKillop and will take up the Acting Primary Principal role for 2024. During the visit, all school strategic plans and information about programs were shared, along with an explanation of the new Collaborative Coaching model now embedded into the school.

New Staff for 2024

Miss Jessica Hordern will join the staff next year alongside Mrs Peeta Gainsford, who is returning to MacKillop after a year at St Brendan’s Lake Munmorah, both as classroom teachers. Mrs Sarah Shorter will be taking on the role of EALD (English as an Additional Language Dialect) Teacher, which is a new funding allocation for our school. This has come as a result of our changing school population.

Principal Morning Tea

As we are getting towards the end of the year, it is pleasing to witness more and more students receiving their principal awards for a year of hard work. They will enjoy a yummy morning tea this Friday @ 10:30 am.

Year 7 Orientation Day and Information Night

The current Year 6 students will join other Year 6 students from around the area and participate in an orientation day this Friday, 16 November. Parents of Year 6 students are invited to a Year 7 parent information night on Tuesday, 21 November.

Andrew Chinn Christmas Concert in the Hall

On Monday, 4 December, students across K – 6 will participate in a day of workshops, learning songs and movements for the early evening concert. Parents are invited to come along at 5 pm and see the children perform what they have learned in the day. Andrew is a wonderful performer, and this should be a great experience for all involved.

Step Up Day Tuesday 5 December.

Students will move into their new classes for 2024 in the morning for a short period of time. At this time, they will learn who their classmates are and who their teacher will be for 2024. Teachers are working on formulating the lists with input from the students, who will be doing a sociogram based on work and friendship groups. As stated earlier, it is important for parents not to send in requests, and leave it to the teachers to get the class listings sorted.

Year 2 – 5 Swimming Carnival @ Mingara Pool

The swimming carnival is being held at Mingara on Tuesday, 28 November. As our school has continued to grow, it was determined that Mingara is a better fit to cater for the students with undercover amenities. Parents are always invited to be there on the day.

MacKillop Portrait Prize Finalists

This year for the portrait prize, theme was "Farewell Mrs Ferguson". Our College worked very hard creating portraits of Mrs Ferguson - The Secondary Principal. Mrs Ferguson leaving our MCC after 20 years. There were many entries this year, including some entries from an entire class. Well done to everyone who took the time to create a piece of artwork. This made it a very difficult job to choose the finalists for Primary. After much deliberation with a team of teachers across the school, the following students are the finalists for Primary in 2023.

Maali E, Maahi M, Toby F, Julian G, Mila F, Daizy O’K, Isla L, Eliora D, Sophie B, Brie McC, Sienna P, Isabella L, Emilia D, Mia D, Liam McC, Lucas E, Caoimhe T, Bridgette C, Samirah A, Jett F.

The voting for the People's Choice Award can be found at 2023 MacKillop Portrait Prize (google.com)

Year 5 Leadership Talks

On Monday, the Year 5 students were given the opportunity to listen to leaders within our school community. Mr Cohen spoke to the children about what he believes are great leadership qualities and about his leadership expectations. Ashleigh and Manuel - our College Captains also spoke to the students explaining a little about their leadership journeys and also traits they believe a good leader should have. Mr Snelling talked about the history of the school and the significance of the Year 6 shirt and then it was time for our current Year 6 leaders to talk and answer questions from the Year 5 students about their roles they have been doing this year. The Year 5 students listened and engaged well with the presentations and we look forward to receiving back many Leadership Application forms from the current cohort. These are due to their teachers by Monday 20th November.

Waiting Lists and Leaving MacKillop

2024 enrolments in our primary school are full. If you are thinking of leaving MacKillop at year’s end, then please advise the office as soon as possible so that students on the wait list can be placed.

A Thought for the Week…

“It is an orderly universe, and the suffering that comes to us has a purpose in our lives – it is trying to teach us something. We should look for its lesson.” Pilgrim

God Bless,

Frank Cohen

Primary Principal

MacKillop Portrait Prize

People's Choice Awards

MacKillop Portrait Prize 2023 - Peoples Choice Voting Is Now Open. Our annual MCC portrait competition, similar to the Archibald Prize, gives our entire student body K - 12 the opportunity to enter by drawing or painting a portrait on a given theme. This year's Portrait Prize theme is " Farewell Mrs Ferguson". The People's Choice Award is voted by the broader community, including family and friends of MacKillop; remember to share the link! You have 2 votes - select one artwork from the Junior finalist, then continue to scroll down to vote on the Senior finalists.

So let's get voting!: https://bit.ly/MCCPortraitPrize2023

Little Lighthouse Playgroup - See you Friday!

Our Playgroup runs every Friday during term time from 9.30 am to 11 am. You don't have to be a current MCC family to attend; our playgroup is a friendly community where everyone with children aged between 0-6 are welcome.

For more information, please contact our Parent Engagement Coordinator, Lucy Marien

Join our Facebook group MCC Little Lighthouse Playgroup

Secondary News

From the Secondary Principal

Prayer:

This week we had the sad passing of one of our dads very suddenly. We pray for the family and hope they find peace with the help of all around them.

Lord,

Give us a deep, abiding sense of Your peace in the midst of our sadness, for we believe that has gone before us and that we will be reunited with her one day.

Until that time, give us strength, hope, and joy at knowing that You are with us to strengthen and console us.

Amen.

Learning:

Stage 5 PASS Classes:

This year, our fantastic Year 10, 200-hours PASS class has been actively assisting our Primary school during sporting events and coaching Stage 4 classes. The students had the opportunity to provide support in the execution of various carnivals, including the Swimming and Athletics carnivals for primary students, and they proved to be a credit to our school. The course has once again been successful, providing students with hands-on experience in event management and exposure to coaching specific sports. This has allowed students the chance to reflect on their practice. Year 10 PASS has, once again, been very successful.

Battle of the Builders:

The 2023 CSBB Battle of the Builders was held on Tuesday at MacKillop Catholic College. The event provided an opportunity for Construction students to demonstrate a range of skills, including WHS, surveying, and carpentry. Participants demonstrated their proficiency in interpreting plans, utilising tools, and adhering to safety protocols, mirroring the stringent industry standards. The competition emphasised the importance of teamwork, problem-solving, communication and aligned to the requirements of the construction industry.

Congratulations to the students and schools who have been awarded places in the competition:

First Place was awarded to St Leo’s Catholic College students
Second Place was awarded to MacKillop Catholic College students Connor H and Mitchell S
Third Place was awarded to MacKillop Catholic College students Oren S and Giancarlo T

We also thank the teachers at MacKillop that assisted in preparing these students.

College Captains and Year 5

On Monday this week, our 2 College Captains spent some time talking with our Year 5 at their Leadership Day. The following was what was written about them by one of the Primary teachers who was present.

“Good evening, Ashleigh and Manuel,

I wanted to say a very huge thank you for today and for the amazing way you spoke to our Year 5 Students. The students enjoyed hearing from you, as did the teachers who were present. The engaging and heartfelt way you conveyed your love of being a leader at our school and also the journey you have undertaken was truly inspirational, and the students and teachers/staff of MacKillop Catholic College are so very blessed to have you as our leaders.

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules, and I wish you all the success for next year and in the years to come.”

Our Christmas Appeal:

Secondary Vinnies Christmas Appeal is being held during Weeks 6 - 8. The last day for donations is Friday, 1 December.

All students from 7-10 are asked to please bring in an item allocated by their Pastoral teacher. Our senior students are kindly requested to donate an unwrapped toy suitable for a girl or boy aged 1 - 15.

We will also be having a Christmas-themed mufti day on Friday, 24 November, for a gold coin donation and during weeks 7 and 8, the Mini Vinnies will be selling Christmas earrings and ornaments, too!

All money raised will go towards purchasing vouchers to go towards our hampers to purchase fresh food, veggies and meat.

There will also be HOUSE POINTS given to the most enthusiastic house!!

Here are some suggestions for what might go into the hampers. You could also add Christmas tablecloths, bonbons, etc, for a festive table.

Item: 250g Pkt Of Chips, 100g Pkt Of Rice Crackers - Chicken Or Bbq, 360g (6pk) Fruit Mince Pies, 100g English Breakfast 50pkt Teabags, Lime Flavour 85g Jelly Chrystals, 825g Tin Fruit Salad In Juice, 425g Sliced Beetroot Tin, 700g Plum Pudding, 2 Litre Kanga Koolers Lime Cordial, 500g Jar Pasta Sauce - Bolognese, 450g Tin Deli Style Leg Ham, 500g Strawberry Conserve Jam, 400g Choc Hazelnut Spread, 375g Maple Flavoured Syrup, 375g Pancake Shake Mix, 100g Gold Coffee Jar.

JUMP Students with Primary:

Year 8, 9 and 10 Jump Art students were buddies in a Christmas decoration lesson last Thursday. This challenged our Year 10 students at first, but then they but then responded so well. They enjoyed teaching the Primary students, and both secondary and Kinder students asked if they could have another lesson. They will be visiting the other Kinder classes next week.

Diocesan World Youth Day (WYD) Reunion

Last Friday night, the WYD pilgrims travelled to Sydney after school for the Diocesan WYD reunion. Pilgrims from the four bus groups were welcomed with dinner before heading into the hall for some prayer and reflection. The group took some time to pray about the ‘mountain top experience’ and how to keep the spirit of WYD going in our own community.

Connecting Catholic Coasties (CCC) - A Very CCC Christmas Party!

2023 has been a great year for CCC, and this year, MacKillop is hosting the Connecting Catholic Coasties (CCC) - A Very CCC Christmas Party! Students from St Brigid’s, St Peter’s and St Joseph’s have also been invited. The YMCC team are well underway in preparing for the CCC Christmas Party on Friday, 24 November. There will be music, food, singing and dancing, games, and lots of festive fun! All students are invited to attend and need to RSVP by Friday, 17 November (the link is on Compass). Please see Mrs Tenev for more details or if you have any questions.

School Counselling:

The following is from our Secondary Counsellors. They are 2 wonderful psychologists who assist our students every day. This is written by Abbey Smith. This information may assist parents with finding the help their children may require.

“Both Maryanne Baker and I are fully booked now for the remainder of the term and are closing off to new referrals to ensure we are able to see the current students. Should any students feel they would benefit from counselling, we ask that they be referred to external agencies and support services until we recommence next year.

Some options for accessing external counselling support face-to-face include:

Accessing a psychologist in a private practice via a Medicare Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP). This will require an appointment with a GP in the first instance to access the Medicare rebate, and there are fees involved in these services. https://www.psychology.org.au/for-the-public/Medicare-rebates-psychological-services/Medicare-FAQs-for-the-public
Headspace (locations at Lake Haven, Wyong or Gosford). Headspace offers a bulk-billed (free) service.
Lake Haven https://headspace.org.au/headspace-centres/lake-haven/
Wyong https://headspace.org.au/headspace-centres/wyong/
Gosford https://headspace.org.au/headspace-centres/headspace-gosford/
Youth Health Counsellors who operate out of Community Health Centres and are a free service. They have locations in Wyong, Lake Haven, Long Jetty, Woy Woy, and Kincumber. http://www.cclhd.health.nsw.gov.au/services/youth-services/youth-health/counsellors/

The following are some excellent options for telephone, online, or webchat options to speak with a counsellor. These websites also all have some really helpful information relating to mental health difficulties that is freely accessible without requiring you speak to someone:

A 24-hour crisis support service. Access either by phoning 13 11 14 or via their website for online webchat https://www.lifeline.org.au/get-help/
Kids Helpline. A 24-hour crisis support service for ages 5 through to 25 years. Access either by phoning 1800 55 1800 or via their website for online webchat https://kidshelpline.com.au/get-help/webchat-counselling/
Beyond Blue. A 24-hour crisis support service. Access either by phoning 1300 22 4636 or via their website for online webchat https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/talk-to-a-counsellor

Thank you for your support, and should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact myself or Maryanne."

Other Items:

Attendance:

It is so important that all students attend school every day to enhance their learning. Please strive for the 92% attendance that NESA suggests at least and please encourage and assist your children to be resilient. Of course, they should stay home if they are ill, but they need to be in a good routine to be able to be successful and committed to their education.

It is also important that they are at school every day, including the very last day on Tuesday 12 December.

Important Dates for T4 Week 7:

Mon onwards – Christmas Appeal
Tues – Year 7, 2024 Parent Information Night/ Person of Eminence Presentation/ Spelling Bee Final in Pastoral P1 and maybe P2.
Wed- Camp Breakaway mini-Olympics / Yr 8 TIMMS exams for 2 Yr 8 classes
Thurs - Year 9 Spirituality Day
Fri - Gold awards Raging Waters Day / Dress as a Christmas person, ornament and Gold coin Day / Year 10 Pass assisting with a Primary Gala Day /Connecting Catholic Coasties afternoon and night

A Heads Up:

COMPASS Notification:

From this term, parents are not able to download and print a hardcopy consent form from COMPASS. Instead, all parents need 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 that instructs you on how to complete these forms digitally.

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

Getting to know: Helen Beech

My name is Helen Beech

My role: Leader of Learning and Teaching -Japanese

My Responsibilities: Everything related to Japanese in the school. Every student in Year 8 is lucky to learn Japanese, and every year it’s exciting to see students engage in the language and culture of Japan. We have students who then choose to continue on with Japanese all the way through to Year 12. I am also responsible for our K-12 Sister School friendship and visits from our Sister School, Nihon Daiichi Junior High School in Tokyo, Japan. Every year (except for Covid years), they visit Mackillop for two weeks and are hosted by our amazing students and their families. This is a wonderful opportunity for all our students in the College and something that makes me very proud.

My hobbies and interests: I like to read, catch up with friends, and travel.

Hopes for the future: That all students that leave MacKillop leave as global citizens and know that there is a big wide world for them to explore.

Looking forward to MCC in 2023/24: Like everyone else, I am sad to say goodbye to Mrs Ferguson at the end of the year; she has been an amazing Principal, mentor, and friend to the Japanese faculty. I wish her all the best in her retirement.

In 2024 I am looking forward to taking the Japan Cultural trip with 20 students to Japan, our first one post-COVID, to visit our sister School in Tokyo, Japan.

Monthly Youth Group, Mass and BBQ

Uniform Fittings - Book Now

Don't miss your chance; the school uniform shop online booking calendar is now open for Term 4 fittings. It is important to book for your fittings as space is limited to 1 booking per child. Please visit www.alintaapparel.com.au to register and book.

MCC Uniform Requirements

Year 7 2024 Information

Year 7 (2024) - Important Dates and Information for Parents and Carers. Please find attached information regarding the Orientation Day, Parent Information Evening, Uniform fittings and iPad requirements. Please also note the important dates for the commencement of next year.

Important Dates

Friday 17 November - Orientation Day 8.45 am -2.45 pm
Tuesday 21 November - Parent Information Evening 6.30-8 pm
Wednesday 31 January 2024 - iPad Connections - 9 am-2 pm Library (MCC students are required to attend for 30 minutes to connect iPads to the College server)
Thursday 1 February 2024 – First Day for Year 7 students (iPad required)

We are very excited about meeting all the students next week at the Orientation Day.

SMCCW_Minimum_Specification_Requirements_.pdf

Orientation_Day_Information_Note_Year_7_2024_.pdf

Important_dates_Year_7_2024.pdf

MCC_uniform_Booking_Information.pdf

Mary's Faithful Wardrobe and Mary's Formal Closet

Our amazing PEC (Parent Engagement Coordinator), Lucy Marien, in collaboration with our Parish, have developed a community wardrobe for families to borrow special outfits for their child's sacrament celebrations.

Mrs Marien is also starting a Formal version for our Secondary students looking for a special graduation dress or suit.

We are currently looking for donations to get the clothing library started. We are asking the community to go through their wardrobes and consider giving your forgotten good-quality items a new purpose.

For full details, please see the flyers below.

One Talk at a Time

Conversations have the power to end child sexual abuse.

One Talk at a Time is a National Office for Child Safety initiative that "aims to help prevent child sexual abuse by encouraging adults to learn about the issue and have ongoing, proactive, preventative conversations with children, young people and other adults. The campaign is aimed at adults with children and young people in their lives".
This 60 second clip helps us to see how we can make the best of the daily opportunities presented to us when connecting with our children:https://youtu.be/FXLT045_b7Q

CHIME After-School Art Workshops!

CHIME After-School Art Workshops are arts-based workshops for families with children 0-12 years impacted by parental mental illness. Held over 4 weeks at Wyong School Community Centre, these FREE workshops will bring families together with fun and relaxed activities that relate to topics of mental health and wellbeing.

All art materials will be provided. Registrations are essential! You can register online, email ccfss@ccfss.com.au, or call 4340 1585

NSW and ACT Pathways to Post School Life

Term 4 Dates

Term 4 - Secondary - Tuesday 10 October – Tuesday 12 December

Term 4 -Primary - Tuesday 10 October –Thursday 14 December

Monday 9 October Staff Spirituality Day/Pupil Free Day
Friday 15 December Staff Mass and Luncheon/Pupil Free Day
Monday 18 December and Tuesday 19 Pupil Free Days

COMPASS Sign-in Update

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

Remember to check Compass for up-to-date news and information on events
and contact us on 7256 2116 for enquiries.

MacKillop Chronicles 2023 Term 4, Week 6