MacKillop Chronicles 2023 Term 1, Week 2
MacKillop Chronicles 10 February 2023
Last week we were finally able to acknowledged the results of our Primary swimming carnival. Temuka were the winning house this year narrowly beating Penola for the trophy. 33 students have qualified to represent MacKillop at the CCC Carnival on 20 Feb – we wish them luck.
This week our College seniors celebrated our high achievers from the Class of '22. The day started with a special Mass where Father Phillip blessed their badges, followed by some inspiring presentations from our Dux Preston L and special guest, MCC alumni and Motor Sport announcer Brian Van De Wakker. Closing the afternoons events was our former College Principal, Jason Hanrahan.
Next week our secondary students will be representing MCC at the Open Boys / Girls Football Gala Day at Doyalson. Good luck!
Next Thursday 16 – Monday 20 February our College Captains will be attending JJAMM. JJAMM embraces the Josephite Charism, they will meet other student leaders and explore the nature of leadership in a Josephite context.
Mr Cohen looks forward to the first catch up with parents for the year. Principal Coffee n Chat Friday 17th February 9am in the library.
Sunday 19 February is our Welcome Mass for all new students and families from Kinder to Yr 11. Please return RSVP’s asap.
Remember to check Compass for up to date news and information on events and contact us on 4392 9399 for enquiries.
One final fist bump for Mr Hanrahan
Mr Hanrahan returned to MacKillop today to say his final address to staff and students. It is with mixed feelings that we say farewell. Your time with MCC may have seemed short but you shared your faith, knowledge, sense of community and passion for educating with us, and you have done this selflessly. You will always be considered part of the MacKillop family and we wish you and your family the very best.
Primary Matters
Dear Community,
Sunday Gospel Account 6th Sunday Ordinary Time
“I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5: 17-37. This is a tough Gospel passage particularly for many people of today. It takes several goes to really understand what is going on in this passage, which seems at odds with Jesus’ other teaching and parables. A person who is always angry, arrogant, deceitful, jealous and those who slander, gossip, or tempt others are just as sinful as those who have committed grave sins. Only a pure heart and mind can get to heaven. This means not engaging in gossip or spreading rumours. Some people find this difficult, and others seem to rise above such triviality. The message is simple. Be a good person all the time and resist the temptation to do and think in bad ways.
Kiss N Drop Procedures
Until Friday 17 February Kindergarten children and the siblings of Kindergarten children will be collected at 2:30pm. We did this to iron out any teething problems with how we can manage safely the entering of cars of an afternoon quickly and efficiently. After this time all children will be dismissed at the normal time to be collected via this method. Having witnessed what is going on in Kiss N Drop we all need some pointed reminders to ensure the smooth safe flow of traffic during this terribly busy time.
Key Reminders
- Please have your child’s name displayed on big font on A4 paper on the passenger side so the person calling out names to bays can get the children ready. If other relatives or friends collect your child at other times, then they must also have this sign displayed.
- A child who uses a booster seat should do so until his/her shoulders no longer comfortably fit within the booster seat or when their eye-level is higher than the back of the booster seat.
- All children who are loaded into cars, even in booster seats must be taught by parents on how to safely ‘buckle up.’ Please do this on weekends as a matter of priority.
- Parents are never allowed to get out of the car to load bags or children into cars.
- Parents who have a baby seat in the car must put this in the middle or on the driver’s side. If your baby seat is currently on the passenger side, please try and move this so that your school aged child can enter the car via the passenger side.
- Children should never enter the back seat via the driver’s side.
- Up until Friday 17 February parents of children not in the kindergarten pick up at 2:30 should delay their arrival until 2:45pm.
- If it is safe to do so encourage your child/ren to walk or ride home or even get a bus.
- The traffic congestion will not change until the Mataram Road extensions are completed so until then we need to all cooperate and limit congestion as much as possible.
Goal Setting Parent / Teacher / Student Interviews
On Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 February our beginning of year Goal setting meetings are taking place. Please look out via compass in the next few days for the Goal setting information sheet and how to book an interview online. For Kinder – Year 2 these are for parent and teacher only. For Year 3 – Year 6 these are a 3-way conference between student, teacher and parent. At interview time you are to make sure that you have submitted the goal setting sheet to your child’s teacher to work through what is to be achieved in 2023.
Current School Enrolment Situation
We only have a handful of spots left for Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 3. All other grades are full and have waiting lists. We are incredibly grateful and delighted that so many families want to be a part of our school community. The main intake at present are children coming from other local public and independent schools. As the new estates are being developed directly adjacent to the school, the growth is expected to be picked up with the development of the new primary buildings that will begin to be built towards the end of this year. Please spread the word that often many of the children on the waiting lists do get placed. Equally it is always helpful for those wishing to come to the school to let us know if you are leaving MacKillop.
Principal Coffee n Chat Friday 17 February 9am in the library
Each term I always hold a coffee n chat morning to talk to parents about current programs and initiatives. If you can come along, I would love to see you. If you are unable to attend due to work, then you can hook in via zoom. The link will be placed on Compass early next week for those unable to be here for the chat.
Welcome Mass @ 5pm on Sunday 19 February
A welcome mass is extended to all in the College, in particular new families, kinder students, Year 7 students and their families. A special gift is presented to all new students and after the mass a lovely supper is provided. Please come along if you can and meet other families.
Year 6 Student Leaders Commissioned on Friday 17 February
At 1:20pm on Friday 17 February new Year 6 leaders for 2023 will be commissioned at our assembly. The leaders will receive their blessed badges and receive a special commissioning during this time.
Instructional Teaching @ MacKillop in 2023
This year we have introduced a new and improved method of instructional teaching to cater for the needs of all learners. Two expert teachers have been freed up from class loads to act as teacher coaches and instructors to model for and work alongside current class teachers. The teachers of each grade are also released at the same time each week to devise and revise teaching plans to optimise the learning for all students. If you have any direct enquiries related to maths, please contact Mrs Whitmore and for English Mrs Shilling. The school has been ranked as the 4th most improved school on the Central Coast as measured through Year 5 NAPLAN growth from 2019 – 2022. This is largely because of the new model placed in the school over the past few years which we have now refined further.
Second Step (SEL Program)
This Friday all the students from K – 6 will begin learning about the Second Step social and emotional learning program. Please go to secondstep.org to learn more about the program. Also watch out for a parent information session in the coming weeks to listen to our Second Step coordinators talk about this evidenced based program.
EOI from Parents MacKillop College Playgroup
It is our hope to begin a playgroup for our toddlers in the school in the coming weeks. In order to do this we need to hear from parents interested in being a part of the playgroup, but also from those who can take on some leadership roles to get it off the ground and make it a viable part of our school. If this is you simply email the front office expressing how you would like to be involved.
A Thought for the Week…
“Life is a pretty precious and wonderful thing. You can’t sit down and let it lap around you… you have to plunge into it, you have to dive right through it.” Crichton.
God Bless,
Frank Cohen
Primary Principal
Secondary News
Prayer:
Lord give our children a thirst for knowledge, wisdom and understanding. May their hearts be ready to learn this year, at home, at school and in their faith. Open their ears, may they crave knowledge and seek it out. Amen
A Word of Thanks:
We would like to pass on to our parents our thanks on how spectacular our students appeared when they returned to school, and this is so appreciated by staff. The students were also well supplied with their equipment and books for learning and their behaviour and cooperation has also been outstanding. The school year has started so well and we are looking forward to a great year with partnerships with parents to assist all our students to achieve to their personal best.
If any family is having any difficulties with any areas of schooling from uniform, books, grooming, fees etc, please reach out to us for assistance.
Learning:
As you are aware we commenced a new Vertical Pastoral System this year and our teachers and students are slowly working through how their Pastoral time operates. Every student now has 2 hours extra time each week to read or work on assessments or to ask for help with work that they might be struggling with or just to settle if the morning has been hectic or upsetting. All students need to arrive to Pastoral with a charged device, a pencil case with the required pens, scissors, glues etc and a novel to read. These are non-negotiable. We ask that all students are at school by 8.40 to be able to use the 30minutes each morning from 8.45 to 9.15 to organise themselves and to settle into a day of learning.
This year we are concentrating on 3 main areas to improve learning. The first is in literacy where our aim is to improve reading and writing skills with all students achieving one year’s growth for one year of learning. All staff are involved in continuous professional development in this area. The second is a program called Towards Excellence where our Senior students’ learning is being continually analysed so to assist students to improve their learning and results. With both, data is being collected and studied through PAT, NAPLAN, HSC and class results so to understand the challenges each of our students might face and what assistance can be given to each of them.
The third, is our new Vertical Pastoral to enhance community with all the year groups interacting, to enhance learning and creating a more settled environment. We need to ensure all students realise the importance of education and creating as many options as possible for themselves when they leave school by always doing their best in every class.
Goal Setting:
Over this week and next every student during Pastoral will be taught what SMART Goals are and how to make these. Students will then be asked to write their goals in COMPASS. The Pastoral teachers will also be sitting with each student in their pastoral classes to refine their goals. Please ask your children to show you these when they complete their goals.
COVID Tutoring and extra assistance:
For Term 1 we will continue to receive money from the government to provide extra tutoring for students in numeracy and literacy. If you receive a letter offering your child this opportunity it is because we have studied the data and believe your child, with a little more assistance, may improve their results. This may be offered to all levels of achievement.
Also, for the next 6 weeks Mrs McGuinness, Mrs Ferguson and Mrs Campbell will be teaching and revising with all Year 7 and 9 classes once a week studying grammar and sentence structures more closely to assist in improving our students’ understanding of this before sitting their NAPLAN exams in Week 7 and 8.
Launching the YMCC Website:
Students, staff, and families are invited to take some time to look at the new YMCC website. Hopefully, this will be a useful resource for what YMCC is about and all the different things that students can get involved in.
YMCC Website Link
https://sites.google.com/dbb.catholic.edu.au/ymcc
Congratulations Noah!
In 2022 we farewelled Dominic from the Pharus Leadership Team and MacKillop community. The students in Pharus unanimously elected Noah from Year 10 to the team for the first semester of 2023 and wish him well in his new leadership role.
Congratulations:
In the first week of the holidays, I had the pleasure of attending Gosford Stadium to watch the final of the Mariner’s Cup for soccer between our Year 10 boys and the Sports College. What an impressive game where both sides displayed skills beyond their years. In the end our boys were triumphant and are now Central Coast Champions. Well done!
Also, during the school holidays La’Keita Gristwood, Havaiana Munro (Year 7) and Ava Noah (Year 6) from Mackillop played for the NSW Echidnas Indigenous school girls Netball team in Queensland. This tournament involved playing against the other States and Territory’s and was held over 5 days. The girls had an amazing time. La’Keita Gristwood was selected in the Australian 12’s Indigenous netball team to play in Victoria and Ava Noah was selected in the Australian Indigenous Netball team to play at the National School Sport Australia championship in Western Australia.
This is an amazing effort from all 3 girls to represent their Indigenous background.
We also congratulate a number of our talented drama and music students who performed in the musical, ‘High School Musical’, over the holidays.
The students involved were Jarrod Whybrow, Lucinda Ford, Caitlin Weeks, Josie Rogencamp, Leo Baftirovski (costumes), Diana Beech, Trinity Young and Jacob Fox.
Taylah Blackman was the director of this wonderful production and is a former student.
Important Dates for Week 3:
Thursday Feb 16th –1st week of Sport
Thursday 16th – Monday 20th – JJAMM for our College Captains.
Sunday 19th – Welcome Mass for all new students and families from Kinder to Yr 11. 5pm. Please return RSVP’s asap.
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
JUMP Opportunities 2023
If you would like to get in early, please select which options and the dates you'd prefer. I will then schedule you on the calendar and send you confirmation. The schedule will also be placed up on the JUMP notice board.
Attached is a link to a Google Form with a few JUMP opportunities coming up this term.
https://forms.gle/bp1yT7Q7WM7BMuu4A
APC February Newsletter
Dear Mackillop Catholic College,
Welcome to the latest edition of our Schoolzine eNewsletter!
This month we chat about:
- Healthy LunchBox week
- 10 Reasons to join your P&F
- Safer Internet Day
- Youth Advisory Groups
- Schools Upgrade Fund
- Clean Up Australia Day
Visit the link below to view your newsletter:https://austparents.schoolzineplus.com/news?nid=34
Regards,
Jenni Rickard
Chief Executive Officer
USA Performing Arts Tour 2024
There has been a date change to the USA tour due to event timetable changes. New Travel dates are 4-14 February 2024. Application must close today 10 February., 2023. No further offers will be made after this date.
Congratulations to Caitlyn D (Year 12 2023) and Blake E (Year 12 2022) who represented Australia at the Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta USA, January 2023. Caitlyn and Blake were part of the Aussie Allstars team that won the Freddie G Inspiration Award for their performance of Shrek Junior. Caitlyn will be returning to the USA in 2024 to assist with the MacKillop team competing in California at Junior Theatre Festival West.
Women and Girls in Science Day
MacKillop Catholic College and the Pathways and Partnerships Team welcomed Charlotte Farnworth to speak to our Year 9 & 10 female science students for International Woman’s Day. Charlotte inspired us all with her passions, dreams and many experiences not only in Science but her personal journey in the world of art.
Charlotte is in the early stages of a career in Science. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics Engineering mid last year at Newcastle University. Charlotte is now employed with CSIRO and works in developing systems for battery testing in the Transport Electrification team.
Charlotte shared with us her experiences in studying in a field that is male orientated but her determined attitude and passion to want to learn has assisted her in doing what she loves, this radiated from Charlotte and we thank her for inspiring us all to do what we love and be what we want.
My New Gallery
