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Year 8 Reflection Day
On Friday, 14 June, 180 students gathered for the Year 8 Reflection Day. The theme was Knowing Jesus â A Journey of the Heart. The day was led by a number of staff from the Youth Mission Team, facilitated by Meg Harrison, the Ministry Coordinator. Throughout the day students completed three sessions centred around the themes: To value ourselves is to honour the creator, Seeing Jesus in others, and Jesus: an intimate friend.
In completing the three sessions, Year 8 learnt that one way of honouring and loving God is to love and accept ourselves, as well as, God invites us to love and accept others without prejudice. This was achieved through many ways including games, drama performances, interactive activities, personal sharing, small group sessions and the opportunity for reflection. It was a lovely day of community with Year 8 coming together to share their stories and experiences.
Year 8 Geography – Interconnections
This term in Geography, students have been learning about the geographical concept of interconnections – that no object of geographical study can be viewed in isolation. As a focus of our studies 8G have been looking at the interconnections in the chocolate industry, including the biophysical requirements to grow cocoa, the impacts of climate change and deforestation, processing the coca beans, transport and shipping around the world and the issues of inequalities between the producers of cocoa and the consumers in the developed world.
As part of their study, students developed a chocolate tour of Sydney or the local region using their mapping and research skills and wrote an article about fair trade.
Please see the download section for an article by Dania Jaber. The article is an example of her understanding of the importance of Fairtrade.
Wollongong Eisteddfod
On a cold and rainy night in the middle of May, more than 60 St Mary's girls braved the weather to perform at the Wollongong Eisteddfod. Whilst the rain poured down, so did the talent from our girls in the College Choir, Junior and Senior Ensembles.
For the first time in over 12 years the Wollongong Eisteddfod held a competition for choirs and the calibre of entrants was extremely high quality. The
overwhelming amount of talent in the Illawarra region was evident in the nine entrants for this one section.
Performing at the Wollongong Eisteddfod was not only a great experience for our st Mary's girls, it was also wonderful to watch and appreciate the other groups and their talents. The healthy competition helped provide our girls with a fun, feel good atmosphere and was an all round good time.
A special mention to one of our own, Alicia Mason from Year 9, for her tremendous commitment to not only the St Maryâs choir but to the multiple Southern
Lights choirs she was involved in. Alicia jumped from choir to choir and successfully performed in four group items throughout the one section. Well
done, Alicia!
A big thank you to the Mums, Dads and family members who have helped support the College throughout the numerous performances this year. We look forward
to performing for you again in the future.
Another huge thank you to the teachers who made this all possible: Mrs Harvey, Mrs Lockett, Ms Phillips and Ms Sullivan for your dedication to the vocal
ensembles in the school. We really appreciate your hard work!
What's Happening in the PLC this week...
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VET News
VET Hospitality, Cookery and Events – Kenvale College “High Flyer” Scholarship Program
Are you a Year 12 student who has a real passion for Hospitality, Cookery or Event Management?
Kenvale College offers a scholarship program designed to give 26 selected students a real head start in their career. The finalists will be divided into two teams of 13, participating in the Hospitality and Events team or the Cookery team.
Applications are now open for the High Flyer Scholarship Program. If you are interested or have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Louise Markwell. Louise.markwell@stmarys.nsw.edu.au (VET Coordinator)
More details can be found here: https://kenvale.edu.au/apply/scholarships/high-flyer-program/
Trial a Trade: Cookery, Patisserie and Hospitality - William Angliss School Holiday Workshops
William Angliss Institute Sydney will again be holding a Trial-a-Trade Day these July school holidays.
Run by highly experienced trainers, these interactive workshops offer a taste of what studying at William Angliss Institute entails – and you get to eat
what you make!
The registration fee is $10, allowing you access to the entire program of workshops. After registration you will be sent a link to confirm which workshops you would like to attend.
When: Tuesday, 9 July 10am - 2pm
Click on the following link to register for tickets:
Uniform Shop Notice
The last trading day for Term 2 is Thursday, 27 June
The Uniform Shop will be closed during the holiday break
Regular trading days resume on Tuesday, 23 July
Please see the download section for further details
Touring Europe - Playing Hockey
Year 11 student, Lucinda Preeo has recently returned to Australia sporting a bronze medal as part of the School Sport Australia Under 16 girls hockey team following their recent International tour to Europe. The Australian girls played teams from the Netherlands, France, Germany and Ireland.
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The tour also encompassed a strong educational focus with visits to Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, WWI battlefields and memorials in Belgium and France - Tyne Cot Cemetry, Polygon Wood and Villers-Brettoneux. Students also had a somber journey through a former Nazi labour/concentration camp at Natzwiler-Struthof as well as taking part in the Last Post and wreath laying ceremony at Menin Gate in Ypres Belgium.
The tour to Europe was an exciting and humbling experience for all the girls who are all incredibly grateful for the opportunity they were given.
The Potted Plant Parent
As we move towards the holidays I thought I would share with you an interesting spin on a parenting approach. As some of you are aware I recently spent some of my study leave with Dr Lisa Damour, psychologist and author of Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions Into Adulthood and more recently Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls.
Dr Damour works from a strong research base and aligns this with a wealth of her own experience. I find her insights often spot on when it comes to supporting adolescent girls. Lisa also writes regularly for the New York Times and these articles provide engaging avenues to supporting our teens, often in brief easy reads for time poor adults! Over the coming months I hope to share more of her ideas and insights with you.
This week’s article considers an interesting angle on parenting adolescents. Dr Damour highlights Australian research that emphasizes the benefits of being physically present for adolescents. Whilst acknowledging that teenagers may not always indicate with open arms they want their parents around, the safety and consistency a present parent provides is a secure base for them to explore their autonomy and develop their independence. As a potted plant parent, one might find success in being present and available to connect even if it is by way of blending into the background. An interesting concept that is worth a read via the following link. https://nyti.ms/2hLJjFI
RSPCA Million Paws Walk
Last month the RSPCA Million Paws Walk was held in the Illawarra region. We traveled to the foreshores of Lake Illawarra to join in the walk to help raise awareness and funds for Animal Welfare.
On arrival we were greeted with a variety of different stalls each supporting the RSPCA with dog washes, treats, toys and many more interesting items.
Hundreds of people and their dogs gathered at the start line and prepared themselves to walk a few kilometres. I walked with my dad and dog, Harold - a tiny chihuahua. We were almost lost in a sea of people and their four legged companions.
During the walk I caught up with Mrs Thomas and fellow student, Grace Curbison, her mother and her beautiful labrador, Leo.
When the walk finished an auction was held to raise funds for the local shelter. We were bidding for dog items such as free vaccinations and toys. The prices rose quickly and even if the item wasnât worth that amount everyone knew it was for a good cause.
The RSPCA Million Paws Walk was an amazing and exciting way to interact with others and their dogs, whilst raising money and awareness for a great cause. I would definitely take part in the walk again.
Personal Projects Exhibition
Our Theatresports Team's Success
Our Year 9 Drama intermediate Theatresports team: Samara Poidevin, Meah Spralja, Serena Lucato and Maddison Nicholls recently powered through the Wollongong heats to progress to the Sydney semi-finals. Theatresports involves imaginative improvisation, performance skills and collaborative energy and our quartet had it in spades. They took on the best of Sydneyâs North Shore schools at Roseville College in the semiâs and although producing some memorable scenes and characters, were one of seven schools out of the nine schools competing that missed out on the finals.
Congratulations are due, however, for a successful impro season. Our Year 7 and 8 teams will take to the Theatesports stage in October. We wish them well.
Original Play chosen for Theatre Season
“ANVIL”, a new musical play written by our Creative Arts teachers Stephen Goldrick and Lisa Locket, will shortly premiere at Gwynneville’s Wollongong Workshop Theatre. Every year this community theatre company chooses one original play to go alongside their regular season of exciting plays such as “A Few Good Men” and “Picasso at the Lapin Agile”. Stephen and Lisa are thrilled to be able to bring their show to life with a talented cast of 12 experienced actors and singers, including ex-St Mary’s students Sophie Hanley and Emily Cassar.
ANVIL is a wild Irish widow who runs a blacksmith’s forge in Bathurst in 1829. She takes on the Establishment, she fights for a convict’s love and she fights for respect in a world of unjust laws and social pretension. It’s a romantic epic with melodrama, whippings, executions, revenge, rebellion and a rollicking good time!
The “World Premiere” of ANVIL is on Friday, 12 July. The play is suitable for Year 9 and up. The season goes for three weekends in July. To learn more,
go to https://www.eventbrite.com/
Light Painting Workshop
On the evening of Monday, 17 June, Year 11 and 12 Photomedia students along with Year 10 Dance students participated in a workshop with the award-winning photographer, Peter Solness. Peter specialises in a photographic method called Light Painting which involves mounting the camera on a tripod, working in the dark and using light to create images. For many of us, it was the first experience with this type of photography. With his expertise and guidance, we crafted images we would never have been able to do on our own and it was extremely beneficial for both the Photomedia and Dance students involved.
Year 10 Dance students collaborated with the Photomedia classes and acted as their models during this experience. As dancers, modelling for photos was a new skill to learn and it was interesting for both groups to experiment with varied levels and complementing/contrasting shapes in groups and in individual photos. After experimenting with smaller portraits in the Marian Hall, we moved into the SGN to create light photos on a larger scale. This activity required the dancers to improvise with movement patterns and think about how the light could complement the movement being performed. The photos that were taken will be used as a creative stimulus for dance students next dance task and will then inspire them to develop movement for their composition. Each photo taken was interpreted differently by each dancer and photographer and they are looking forward to developing further exciting and creative ideas.
This experience would not have been possible without the generosity of the P&F, who financially supported us to invite Peter to come down from Sydney
to hold the workshop.
We would also like to thank Dr Holdsworth, Mr Vucic and Ms Visaggio for their organisation of this event. This was truly an experience we will remember.
From the Principal
Dear Parents
We have reached the end of a very busy term with our production of Strictly Ballroom dominating much of the early part of the term and assessments, the MYP Personal Project and various excursions and sporting events keeping us very busy throughout the second half of the term. We have also experienced winter for the first time this year and this has resulted in an increase in student and staff absences and a willingness by the girls to wear all items of the winter school uniform, as much by necessity as choice. We can add further to the list of achievements by including the appointment of a new Principal of St Mary’s who will commence at the College in 2020. By any measure it has been a busy and very successful term.
The College held the Year 10 Personal Project Exhibition on Wednesday, 26 June. This was a fantastic night with girls presenting excellent projects and adding videos, various props, samples of cooking, completed products and great knowledge gained through the process. The Personal Project is the culmination of the MYP and it brings together much of the work that the girls have done throughout the time they have been studying and working in this way. Each student had to decide what they wanted to learn about, identify what they already knew and discover what they needed to know to complete the project.
The results were outstanding and were cause of much celebration and pride. The Exhibition was opened by Elizabeth Espinosa, the President of the NSW Law
Society and a former St Mary’s girl. Elizabeth spoke beautifully and provided an excellent introduction to the work our Year 10 girls had produced.
Students had a staff mentor and the pride shown by the mentors was wonderful as they celebrated the achievement of each girl and recognised the energy
and effort that they had put into their projects. I believe the girls were really quite proud of themselves and the College community is extremely
proud of them.
As you are aware, Mr Tony Fitzgerald has been appointed the next Principal of St Mary’s College and he will commence in January 2020. Tony brings extensive
experience as a school administrator and as a Good Samaritan Principal, having led the community of Mater Dei School in Camden for the past 10 years.
On behalf of the St Mary’s community I have contacted Tony and welcomed him. I also told him that he was coming into a wonderful community. We are
in the process of organising a transition process to introduce Tony to the community and to make his transition into St Mary’s a smooth one.
I pray that you and your daughters can enjoy some time for rest and renewal during the holiday period and that you are able to step away from some of the
routines that make life both busy and stressful. I look forward to seeing your daughters back well rested and ready for another busy term commencing
22 July.
CCC Cross Country Report
Congratulations to our runners who represented the Wollongong Diocese at CCC Cross Country held at Eastern Creek Raceway on Friday, 11 June. The following
runners gained selection in the NSW CCC team to compete at the NSW All Schools event:
Montana Doubell finished 2nd in the 13 Yrs
Jasmine Locke finished 10th in the 17 Yrs
Charlotte Bridger finished 10th in the 18 Yrs
We wish them all the best at the next level of competition.
Anxious Kids Seminar
Save the Date – 6 August, 7pm – Hornsby RSL Club
As part of our continuing membership with Parenting Ideas. We’re pleased to tell you about the Anxious Kids seminar tour that Michael Grose will be conducting right across Australia and New Zealand with wellbeing expert Dr Jodi Richardson. Together, they are the co-authors
of the highly acclaimed book Anxious Kids
Childhood anxiety is a growing concern within our community. Currently, one in 14 kids have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. This however, is the tip of the iceberg as many children’s anxiety symptoms go unrecognised.
Disturbingly, it takes 8.2 years on average between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis of an anxiety disorder. For a child experiencing anxiety, that can mean many years of learning difficulties, unhappiness and lost opportunities. This is a really challenging statistic and an area of concern that requires community response, you can learn more by attending the seminar.
See the downloads section for more details.
2020 Student Leadership Team
The 2020 Student Leadership team was announced to the Year 11 students this week. This was the culmination of a process of discernment that began in Week 1 with the launch of Class of 2020. During the term, the Year 11 Horizontal Pastoral Care Program has focused on Leadership skills and qualities to guide and support the students in this process.
We are very pleased to announce the 2020 Student Leadership Team:
2020 COLLEGE CAPTAIN - Mila Lancaster
2020 HOUSE CAPTAINS
Bashir | Tenaya Hegarty |
Foley | Chandra Singh |
Gibbons | Aimee Potter |
Hayes | Ella Dickson |
Kelly | Charlotte Mettam |
Lyons | Madison Mackay |
Sullivan | Luisa Kaihea |
UB | Hayley Reeves |
PORTFOLIO CAPTAINS
Cultural: Ivy Sucur and Tani Phillips
Litergy: Monica Kusters and Olivia De Battista
Social Justice: Georgia Dwyer and Taylor Mackay
Sport: Sian Bourke and Chloe Bourke
Stewardship: Kiara Bazaz and Darcy Cullen
SRC: Francesca Borromeo and Tabitha Murray
Congratulations to all the new Captains!
2019 YLead Student Leadership Day
On Tuesday, 4 June, the Year 9 Middle Leadership Team along with Miss Iannella attended the 2019 YLead Student Leadership Day in Sydney. We met early at the train station and traveled to Chatswood. It was a wet and cold morning but we were all very excited for the day ahead.
Once we arrived, we were introduced to the YLead Team and played a few warm up games with the other students from the various schools. Part of the experience
was practicing our networking skills. We had to branch off and introduce ourselves to other students, at first this was daunting but after a few introductions
it became much easier.
There were three wonderful guest speakers who shared with us their inspiring stories throughout the day. The first speaker was Lauren Shuttleworth who
spoke about how she started a foundation called ‘Words with Heart'. ‘Words with Heart' works to raise money for the education of young girls. Lauren
shared with us her approaches to starting and owning a business. This included sharing your story, focusing on your passion and believing in yourself.
She inspired us to stand up for what we believe in and to aim high.
The second speaker was Ben Pettingill who is 98% blind. He shared with us how he lives his life using ‘Limitless Vision.’ Limitless Vision includes three
steps: Aspire, Acquire and Take Action. Ben spoke about how we will all have experiences that we cannot control and we have the choice and power to
take ownership of the experiences and to use them to help others. He taught us that challenges are actually opportunities to better ourselves, to become
stronger and to also encourage others to challenge themselves.
The final speaker on the day was a bubbly woman named Rowie McEvoy. She spoke to us about fitness, health and what leadership really is. In her eyes, LEAD
stands for Live what you say, Excellence, Attitude and Discipline. Rowie's speech was inspiring, she grew from being someone who people made fun of
at school to become someone who is healthy and happy. She told us that we always need to be positive and to never give up.
This leadership day allowed us to interact with other students our age, learn more about our roles as leaders and to think about ways to inspire change.
We all took different ideas and thoughts away from the day and loved spending time as a team.
We truly had a fantastic time and are so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend. Thank you to Miss Iannella for arranging this day for us.
Bill Turner Trophy Report
On Thursday, 13 June, our U15's Soccer team played in the Regional semi-final of the statewide Bill Turner Trophy competition against Vincentia High School. They had the opportunity to play at the “new” Ian McLennan Park (synthetic field) at Kembla Grange which ensured an exciting, fast-paced game. Throughout the game St Mary's dominated in all facets except on the scoreboard. A frustrating day for the team, with a 0-1 loss which puts them out of the competition this year.
We farewell five players from the squad who in 2020 move up to the Open's Division: Arwen Oudekerk, Paris Bamford, Zarah Andraos, Briana Carboni and Tahlia Krsteski.
I wish them well and thank them for their contribution in the U15’s.