FATHER WHITTY

It was very sad news to hear of the passing of Pastor Emeritus Father John Whitty. Former Parish Priest of Camden (over an extended period of years) Father Whitty was a well-known and respected figure in the Camden and Macarthur areas. Apart from a broad range of involvement across many aspects of the local community, Father Whitty was an important person in the history of Magdalene, playing an integral role in the choice of location for our College and in the naming of our House Patrons. Furthermore, Father Whitty was very generous with his time, saying mass each Friday at the College over many years.

It was very fitting that close to 40 Magdalene students volunteered their time today to attend his funeral and be part of the Guard of Honour.

Vale Father Whitty. Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord. May perpetual light shine upon his soul and may he rest in peace. Amen

ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

It is very exciting to see so many events being able to happen, after such a start and stop time over recent years.

Today House Captains met with Houses from Years 7-12 to discuss the upcoming Athletics Carnival. The Carnival will be held next week on Wednesday 18th May. The venue will be Campbelltown Athletics Stadium. We look forward to an exciting day!

NAPLAN

Well done to our Year 7s and 9s who sat their NAPLAN tests this week. It has been a disjointed couple of years but our students remained calm and various teething issues with the online platform were quickly overcome. For your information, this will be the last time that the tests will be sat in May. In future years the new adaptive online tests will be held in March in any given year.

TELL THEM FROM ME (TTFM) SURVEY

As a part of our College’s focus on improving student learning and effectiveness, we will be participating in an online survey for students, staff and parents/carers. The survey, “Tell Them From Me” (TTFM), will provide our College with valuable feedback on key aspects of College life. 

During Week 4, 16 - 20 May, students in Years 7-12 will be given the opportunity and time to participate in this survey during regular school hours. Students will be given a random username and password to access and complete the survey online. Students’ names cannot be linked to their responses - thereby allowing them to be completely anonymous. Results will show all student scores combined together – it is not possible to single out individual students in the results.

Similarly, parents/carers will have an opportunity to access this anonymous survey –  click on this link http://tellthemfromme.com/kzfwz

The survey takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. The survey measures include such topics as emotional and social well-being, physical health, and behaviours and attitudes linked to student success. The survey also allows students and parents/carers to give their thoughts and feedback in open-ended question responses.

I thank you in advance for your assistance in helping us reflect on what we are doing well, what we can do more of, what we can improve on and what we might do less of. If you have any queries about this survey, please contact me through the College Office.

PRAYER:

In this week’s newsletter I share a prayer which Pope Francis put forward last week. It is a beautiful prayer aimed at young people listening and valuing family.

“Speaking about the family, I would like to begin by addressing the young people first.

When I think of a model with whom young people can identify with, our Mother, Mary, always comes to mind: her courage, the way she knew how to listen, and her dedication to service.

She was courageous and determined to say “yes” to the Lord.

You young people, who want to build something new, a better world, follow her example, take risks!

Don’t forget that in order to follow Mary you need to discern and discover what Jesus wants from you, not what you might think you can do.

And in this discernment, it’s a great help to listen to the words of grandparents.

In those words of grandparents, you will find a wisdom that will take you beyond the issues of the moment.

They will provide an overview of your concerns.

Let us pray, brothers and sisters, so that all young people, called to live life to the fullest, may discover in Mary’s life the way to listen, the depth of discernment, the courage of faith, and dedication to service.”

The video can be watched here: https://youtu.be/U4dKr1BaZYM