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This past Tuesday, we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption where we mark the Virgin Mary being assumed into heaven at the end of her earthly life. Unlike when Jesus ascended into Heaven by His own divine power, the Church teaches that Mary was assumed into Heaven by God as she was not able to do it on her own. According to the Catholic tradition, Mary is the only person with the distinction of rising into heaven, both body and soul. This was in response to the vital role she played in the redemption of mankind through her cooperation with God’s plan of salvation as the mother of Christ.
As this newsletter is circulated, we are placing the finishing touches on this evening’s 25th Anniversary Student Showcase event here at the College. A great deal of work has gone into finding a fitting way to acknowledge the growth of Magdalene over the past 25 years and I am grateful to the many family and friends of the College who will be joining us this evening to help celebrate the occasion, and the talented students whose works will be showcased throughout the evening. I particularly acknowledge and thank Mrs Ivana Forner, our College Assistant Principal who has worked so tirelessly in coordinating this significant event.
Towards the end of last week, I had the great pleasure of joining Mr Bubb and two of our Year 11 students, Laura and Aleks, at a breakfast with the NSW Premier, Chris Minns. Among a range of topics that were discussed, the Premier touched on many areas that were pertinent specifically to the lives of young people, including future housing affordability, HECS debts and future employment challenges and opportunities. As always, our students represented us with pride and I thank Laura and Aleks for their contribution to this event.
Over the course of the year, we have been evaluating structures and processes within the College that promote and support quality teaching and learning practices. One of the challenges that is consistently identified, is associated with having 4 periods in a timetabled day, each lasting for 75 minutes. Staff, and an ever increasing number of students, are regularly identifying that sustaining student engagement in a single subject for this long can often prove challenging. For this reason, we are currently investigating moving towards a school day consisting of 5 periods of 1 hour in duration from the start of 2024. Such a move will not impact the start or finish time of each school day, but will likely support further engagement and the overall effectiveness of each lesson.
Finally this week, I take the opportunity to congratulate our Year 12 cohort who completed their Trial HSC Examinations on Monday of this week. Over the next week or two, they will be receiving their results and important feedback on how they can further prepare for the HSC Examinations in October. I congratulate each of our students on how they prepared for, and completed these tasks. I especially thank our HSC Presiding Officer, Mrs Michelle Cornett, and our Curriculum Coordinator, Mr Chris Ferry, for the countless hours of work that were invested into supporting our students over this period. Wishing you all the very best for the week ahead.
David Cloran
Acting Principal
Last call out to be part of this lasting commemoration of time at our College.
As part of our 25th Anniversary celebrations, Year 12 2023 will be selling commemorative pavers that will be placed in a new garden area near the hall.
Each family/child is invited to participate in this lasting commemoration of their time at our school.
The pavers will cost $50 each and will be engraved with the name/names and year(s) of attendance.
If you would like to be included in this commemoration garden, please complete the Opt-in Event on your parent Compass Portal.
Money raised through this fundraising will go to improvement of the chapel (Year 12's project for 2023) and paying for the landscaping of the new garden.
We thank you for your support.
August 15 - the Assumption of Mary
August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, celebrating the belief that Mary was taken up into Heaven body and soul, after she died. Mary was preserved from sin by the power of God and then became the earthly mother of Jesus. In a sense, she is the spiritual mother of us all. She said “Yes” when the angel Gabriel asked her to bear a child. She raised Jesus from a baby to a young man. Mary took Jesus to the Temple, as was the custom for Jewish people. Mary and Joseph must have missed a few heartbeats when Jesus got lost at the Temple, three days walk from their hometown of Nazareth. Mary’s heart must have danced with joy when Jesus turned water into wine at the Wedding Feast at Cana. Mary would have felt the cold dark cloud of grief as she saw her son dying on the cross. There is no record of this in the Gospels but I’m sure that Mary would have been overwhelmed with happiness when she met Jesus again after the resurrection.
Even Mary, the mother of Jesus, had a life of great happiness and incredible sadness, but was able to serve God with joy for her entire life.
Prayer:
Lord, may we, like Mary the mother of Jesus become faithful disciples and witnesses to the life-giving power of your death and resurrection.
Amen
MACFEST PLANNING DAY
On Monday 7 August 2023, Youth Ministry Coordinators and Youth Ministry Leaders gathered for a planning day for MacFest, a Macarthur Ministry project designed by the students at Magdalene under the coordination of Mr Peter Collins our Youth Ministry Coordinator. The festival to be held in Term 4, will connect senior students from the Macarthur at Magdalene Catholic College.
The day was held in Studio5 at the Emmaus Centre, Campbelltown. Mr Collins briefed the students on the importance of student leadership and voice, affirming the need to lead students by strengthening the connection of students to their faith life, modelling prayer and leading pastoral care and advocacy through their actions.
The quality of the student led planning session was outstanding. Youth Ministry students set their workshop purpose, activities and content for the day and were able to report back to each of the schools on their progress. The day demonstrated, once again, the quality of student leadership in the Diocese of Wollongong.
Fr Duane Fernandez joined the student presentations in the afternoon. Fr Duane is engaging with secondary schools in the Macarthur region to strengthen opportunities for ministry after Year 12.
Congratulations to our youth ministry team on the spirit and quality of work completed as a team. We look forward to keeping our communities updated on the progress of the festival. Students in Year 10 and Year 11 wll be invited to participate in MACFEST on 8th December 2023.
WINTER SLEEP OUT - SAVE THE DATE
CATHOLIC MISSION - STAFF v STUDENT EVENT
