SWIMMING CARNIVAL:

Well done Magdalene!

What a great day our 2020 annual swimming carnival was.

There were numerous challenges including light rain, wet assembly areas and the constant threat of heavy rain, but our students, staff and parent/carer community in attendance, stayed resilient and positive throughout the day and generally had great fun.

Given there was torrential rain in the days prior, and ominous forecasts for the day, it was great to students turning out in large numbers (over 700) and celebrating and/or competing extremely well. Our Year 12s got into the spirit of the day in their fancy dress and our House Captains did well to organise students in Pastoral Houses.

A number of records were broken in various age divisions (more details in the next newsletter) and the majority of students had broad smiles and were largely engaged throughout.

I particularly thank our new Sports Coordinator, Mrs Jodie Andruschko for her hard work and organisation, our dedicated PE staff and all other staff who assisted across the day.

PARENTS & FRIENDS ASSOCIATION:

Thank you to the parents/carers who attended Tuesday’s AGM and the first P & F meeting of 2020.

I thank our outgoing President Mr Steve Grabowski for his work across 2019. I also congratulate the following office bearers who have been successfully elected for this year:

Mr David Cornett returns as President (having previously held this position in previous years)

Mr Pablo Medina has been re-elected as the P & F Treasurer

Mrs Angela Young has been re-elected as the P & F Secretary

Please note that the P & F will be looking for volunteers to help run the P & F BBQ on our upcoming Open Afternoon and Evening (9 March).

YEAR 11 HSC ASSESSMENT EVENING:

Thank you to the majority of our Year 11s and parents/carers who attended on Tuesday night. Assessment booklets were distributed, and our families were able to meet with the Year 11 Coordinator and the Year 11 Pastoral Care Team. As always, if parents have any particular questions, they are to direct them to the relevant staff:

 Pastoral Care Coordinator: Mrs Ivana Forner

Year 11 Coordinator: Ms Meaghan Tolhurst

Leader of Teaching and Learning: Miss Stephanie Phillips

Curriculum Coordinator: Mr Shaun Houghton

COMPASS:

Have you downloaded the Compass app yet?

The new Compass app (for our new Learning Management System – replacing Sentral) has first-rate functionality and will provide excellent means of communication. Some of these functions include but are not limited to: signing excursion notes, providing reasons for absences, booking parent/teacher/student interviews and accessing Student Reports.

Mr Matthew McMahon

Principal

The following prayer was recited at the most recent P & F meeting. It is a fine prayer for early in the year to guide our intentions:

A Parent / Carer’s Prayer

Loving God,
You are the giver of all we possess,
the source of all of our blessings.
We thank and praise You.

Thank you for the gift of our children.

Help us to set boundaries for them,
and yet encourage them to explore.
Give us the strength and courage to treat
each day as a fresh start.

May our children come to know You, the one true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

May Your Holy Spirit help them to grow
in faith, hope, and love,
so they may know peace, truth, and goodness.

May their ears hear Your voice.
May their eyes see Your presence in all things.
May their lips proclaim Your word.
May their hearts be Your dwelling place.
May their hands do works of charity.
May their feet walk in the way of Jesus Christ,
Your Son and our Lord.

Amen.

As parents/carers should know, the College is relatively conservative and has high standards when it comes to uniform.

Students who are challenged to shave, remove makeup and/or remove piercings and have haircuts are expected to comply with teacher requests to do so. Preferably, students should come to school meeting the expectations of the school uniform policy so that the first conversations of the day they have with their teachers is about their learning and not about their uniform.  

The main issues which students seem to be  challenged on at the moment include:

• Boys, especially our seniors, need to be clean-shaven
• Wearing the correct Magdalene sports socks with the Sports uniform – and wearing them above the ankle
• Wearing the correct runners with the Sports uniform (skate shoes – e.g. vans, converse etc… are NOT permitted)
• Plastic piercings are not allowed. Girls are allowed only one set of sleeper earrings in the lower lobe – cartilage earrings or nose piercings are not allowed. If students get a new piercing, they will not be allowed to wear a Band-Aid over the piercing or be given a grace period to allow the piercing to ‘take’.
• Boys’ hair must not be touching the collar. To avoid constant reminders to have haircuts – students are strongly encouraged to have haircuts which are at least a few centimetres above the collar
• Mullets, undercuts and/or haircuts that are not blended (i.e. hair on the side of the head is too short or different from the hair on the other side of the head) are not allowed.

Students wearing the wrong uniform will be placed on Lunch Detention, or, for more extreme cases, may be sent home to fix the issue in question.

The first day of high school can be daunting, exciting and overwhelming. On Thursday 30th January 2020, 210 students took on these new challenges with enthusiasm. Students met new teachers, toured the College, were allocated a locker and received a timetable. I am proud to say each of them accepted this new adventure bravely and have made a successful transition into high school.  

Feedback from their classroom teachers, staff and Pastoral Team was glowing and supported the positive start that each of them have had. 

The theme for the grade is ‘The little things.. there’s nothing bigger.’ Students are challenged to ensure the ‘little things’ are completed to the best of their ability. The little things include kindness, attentiveness, punctuality, personal best, as well as resilience. The development of these qualities will ensure they are set up for success.

The Year 7 cohort will be supported by the following Pastoral Care team:

Stage 4 Assistant – Miss Gavin

7 Bruchhauser - Miss Sarah Manzin

7 Chisholm - Mr Jason Miszczyszyn

7 Dunne - Mr Doriano Benedetti

7 Hogan - Mrs Sarah Bennett

7 Moore - Mrs Alison Shortridge

7 Patrician - Mrs Leonie Ryan

7 Sedgwick - Mr Chris Ferry

Learning Support - Mrs Shareen Borg and Mrs Rebecca Esber

I am so grateful to be a part of the Year 7 team and we are all looking forward to going on the high school journey with each of them. 

Mr Tim Manns

Year 7 Coordinator

Running successfully since 2004, Griffin Ambassadors is an annual access-all-areas program for year 10 to 12 students. The year-long program is stocked with a hearty menu of workshops, performances and access to industry professionals, all geared to support the next generation of theatre-goers and theatre-makers.

Ambassadors are united by a common curiosity about contemporary Australian stories, a love of theatre and the motivation to know more!

Ambassadors might be curious techies, budding playwrights, outgoing performers, or maybe just love going to see theatre!

Our Ambassadors get to:

• Attend an induction day at the start of the year to learn about Griffin’s season, the workings of the company and its artistic direction.
• Participate in exclusive Ambassador workshops (in directing, acting, or writing) taught by leading theatre practitioners.
• Attend a Saturday matinee performance of each Griffin Main Season production and participate in post-show forums with casts and creatives.
• Be able to share their experience of Griffin’s work with a special $20 ticket price available to Ambassador’s family and friends.

Congratulations to the following students who were successful in being chosen for the 2020 Griffin Ambassadors program:

Year 12: Helena Burke, Shannon Phillips-Green, Dimmiti Robins 

Year 10: Jasmine Phillips-Green

Mrs Lisa Stevens

Drama Teacher

Term 1 Week 3

Welcome to another year of sport at Magdalene Catholic College. Throughout this term, there will be some changes with Mr Kennedy leaving and students are encouraged to read the announcements on Compass to keep updated. Information will be communicated to the school community about the various opportunities our students are provided with including Tuesday school sport, MISA sports, Diocesan Sports and CCC Events.

MISA Sport

This week, all our teams played St Benedict’s Catholic College, with an excellent start to the season. Congratulations to all teams for the results shown below.

Results - Round 1 11/2/20 against St Benedict’s Catholic College

Diocesan Sport

Term 1 is always a busy term with many trials being held to select school teams to participate in Diocesan Carnivals. These have been outlined below:

Key dates for sign-ups and lunchtime trials will be posted on compass and students will need to wear their sports uniform to and from school on the day they have a sporting trial.

CCC Events

Please contact Mrs Andruschko to find out further details on the NSWCCC Trials for the sports listed below. This needs to be completed at least one week prior to the closing date (with the exception of the first four sports).

Swimming Carnival

On Thursday 13 February, the school swimming carnival was held with many students participating in a range of events. Individual performances and results from the carnival will be included in the next newsletter.

If there are any questions about sport, please contact Mrs Andruschko.