What an extraordinary year we have just experienced!

Thank you for your support and your trust in the College and I thank you for your efforts, in our communal manner, to challenge, extend and grow our young people so that they can be the very best that they can be.

I would like to thank our dedicated staff – both teaching and support staff. They have experienced no year like this previously and have had many new challenges and obstacles to overcome, AND, yet they have done brilliantly.

It is unfortunate but each year there are always staff who leave us to take on opportunities elsewhere or to make life decisions and make a physical move.

The following staff are all high-quality educators with generosity of both spirit and action. I thank them all for their efforts and their generosity in working with our students.

We thank:

• Mr Macdonald – who will be moving to a local school in the Macarthur
• Ms Herborn – who will end her contract but will stay on our casual roster
• Ms Dyer – who will end her contract, but we may see her back doing casual in the near future
• Mr Burden – who will also end his contract and, given he has left and returned previously, it is likely we will see him back doing casual
• Mr Yeo – who will be moving to a school closer to his home
• Ms Curtis – who will be moving closer to her family on the NSW Mid North Coast
• Mr Doepel – who has taken up a Science position in Northern NSW and will be building up there
• Ms Flocco – who will be moving to a promotional position at a prestigious Sydney school (and will be closer to her home)

I thank them all and trust their time at Magdalene will stay in their hearts for a long time.

ADVENT

Advent reminds us to be grateful. It is not only a time of joy but also gratitude. As such, I reminded our students today of the need to show  gratitude. Of course, this doesn’t need to be by way of gift – but a simple card, or word of thanks is always appreciated by staff.

I am thankful as well for the generosity which our students have shown during the St. Vincent de Paul Appeal. Any final donations can be brought in on Monday.

MASS SERVICES

I also encouraged students to try and attend at least one religious service over Christmas. I acknowledge the additional challenges that COVID-19 has brought, however, good news - if you are unable to attend Christmas Mass, the Christmas Vigil at St Paul’s Camden will be placed on YouTube for your viewing. You can find further details from the Parish website.

FINAL WORD

I wish you all a safe, happy and holy Christmas. I can’t wait to move towards greater normalcy in 2021 and I know we have a great deal planned to make the year very special for son and/or daughter. Take care and God Bless.

PRAYER FOR THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

While there are still events planned for next week, at the end of this school year, the following prayer is most appropriate.

We give thanks to God:

For all the teaching and learning that has taken place, both in and out of the classroom, 

For the talents and gifts that have been shared and the challenges that have been faced – especially in this COVID-19 year;

For the burdens that have been lifted and the hurts that have been healed;

For the respect and care that has been given, we give thanks.

We give thanks to God:

For the friendships that have just begun and for those that have grown.

For the faith that has been lived in our daily struggles,

For the hope that has lifted our hearts on the dark days

And for the love that has kept us going, e give thanks

May Your Spirit inspire the entire Magdalene community over the upcoming Christmas vacation.

May You bless our students, families and staff members with confidence and calmness.

Bless our families as we take our holidays, may family time together leave memories to cherish. 

Pour out Your love on us O Lord that we may return renewed and refreshed to continue our journey together. 

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. 

• Amen

Very well done to:

Are We There Yet? 

It’s been a big year and it’s almost Christmas!

As we move through the season of Advent we are reminded in scripture to set ourselves right with God and prepare for the birth of Jesus in our hearts. Next Sunday’s reading reminds us of the incredible answer that Mary gave to the Angel Gabriel.

We need to ask ourselves, what does this mean for our lives?

Luke 1:26-38

"The Angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.'

It is also worth remembering the role of Joseph in all of this - the following song lyrics and Youtube Link present a beautiful song about Joseph by Michael Card.

May all the families of Magdalene have a blessed Christmas,

Kind regards,

Mr Steve O’Neill

Religious Education  Coordinator

For the first time, Magdalene is running the Year 12 Science Extension course. 

The Science Extension Stage 6 Syllabus focuses on the nature, development and processes of science. The course requires students to engage with complex concepts and theories and to critically evaluate new ideas, discoveries and contemporary scientific research. Students are challenged to examine a scientific research question influenced by their study of one or more of the scientific disciplines. In doing this, students extend their knowledge of a discipline, conduct further analysis and authentic scientific investigations, and uniquely for this course, produce a detailed scientific research report that reflects the standards generally required for publication in a scientific journal.

Two students, Christina David and Monica Ware are undertaking the course.  Good Luck girls!

A Year 7 science class (7SCI1) explored that all matter is made up of particles. To demonstrate their understanding of what they had learnt the class produced a short story about particles.  Please enjoy the fruits of their hard work.

See attachment.

The_amazing_adventures_of_Penny_the_Particle.pdf

The_amazing_adventures_of_Penny_the_Particle _pdf 1.28 MB

In Science Year 10 looked at natural disasters.  To assist in their investigation of these natural calamities they created models for a mini science fair.

At the Year 7 2021 Orientation Day, students were excited to have a science lesson at the dam with Mr Whicker. The topic was "The Magdalene College dam - a living, breathing science experiement". The students studied the use of indicators and the presence of plants and certain bugs in the aquatic enviroment.

Year 9 Photography students Callun Rowan, Grace Cossins, Jessica Hellyer and Olivia Searle are all to be commended for their independent Christmas fundraising project. These four photography students conceptualised a way to constructively utilise their new Photoshop artmaking skills, as acquired in our recent Digital Dreams unit of work. During their free time they created contemporary Santa Christmas photographs for all year groups. Working tirelessly during countless lunchtimes they promoted the event and then offered students of Magdalene the opportunity to have their photo taken in front of a green screen in COVID-19 safe friendship groups. With all proceeds going to the Children's Hospital in Westmead, these photoshopped images used an array of beautiful Christmas backdrops, helping our peers enjoy the Festive season and offering a way to remember the 2020 Christmas Cheer. Over $100 was raised through this initiative and this money will be used to directly help those in need during this festive season. Once again congratulations; Callun, Grace, Jessica and Olivia, as it is fantastic to see your amazing skills and abilities applied to real-life situations. We can’t wait to see what is installed for 2021… perhaps an Easter Bunny appearance!

Year 9 Design & Technology are working hard as Christmas nears with the final touches being applied to their Sustainable Soaps and Stereo-dock unit. The students have used a number of skillsets such as Computer-Aided Design, 3D printing, vacuum forming, and soldering to bring their creative ideas to life!

On Friday last week, Year 12 Construction Pathways II completed their first of two concreting practicals. The class completed mixing and laying a slab behind the TAS block. A big thank you to Mr Andrew Cornett for organising the materials and running the practical and all the students who participated. 

MISA Sport

The MISA East Zone Grand Finals were held in Week 8 of this term. Congratulations to all teams for their efforts in the finals and also throughout the term for MISA. Results are listed below:

MISA East - Grand Finals 1st December

Final results for MISA Term 4 are listed below:

Further information about the current MISA season can be found at the MISA website https://www.misaonline.org.au/. 

Sport Assembly - Tuesday 8th December

The final week of sport for 2020 was held on Tuesday 8th December with a sports assembly and year group competition consisting of sports such as touch football, basketball, netball, OzTag, Ultimate Frisbee and newcombe ball being played.

At the Sports Assembly, students were recognised for their participation and achievement in sporting events that were conducted throughout the year. Two guest speakers, Kieran Govers (retired Australian Hockey Field Player) and Jacob Poscoliero (Australian Football player and Macarthur Bulls Development Officer) provided important messages about participation in sport and the importance of sustained effort and resilience in every activity. It was great to hear the advice and information provided from these athletes and their attendance at the assembly was greatly appreciated.

Sportsmanship Awards 2020

Every year an overall sports boy and girl of the year is announced for each year group at the annual presentation day. With the changes this year and the cancellation of many sporting events at all levels, the focus has been on acknowledging sportsmanship and contribution to sport. The following students were acknowledged at the sports assembly for their effort and improvement throughout the year. Congratulations to the following students:

Year 7

Isabella James Joel Parish Elissabeth McGuire Darcy Pulling Sienna Toweel Jasmine Groucutt Angelina Fakher

George Maatouk Thomas Bertie Isabella Bartuccio Laura Rixon Matthew Ballantyne Jamie Holder

Year 9

Maddison Wright Sophia Wolf Teagan Lewis Jimmy Macri Bailey Ferns Chloe Wright Koby King Charli Lawrence

Year 10

Kyle Ritchie Blake Teuma Charlotte Craven Abby Crane Skye Petersen Rocky Pelle Jack Wade Vanessa-Grace Djurovic

Year 11

Ethan Berrell Mali Dillon

Congratulations to all students for their efforts in sport throughout the year and we look forward to a complete year of events in 2021.

NSW All Schools Athletics Championships - 3rd December to 6th December

Congratulations to the following students for their efforts at the recent NSW All Schools Athletics Championships held at Homebush. These students were acknowledged at the Sports Assembly on Tuesday for their outstanding results. Well done!

• Jessica Kourembers - 7th in the 17 years girls 400m event.
• Luke Small - 2nd in the 100m and 200m events, 3rd in the 800m event.
• Zoe Daniels - 4th in the 15 years girls discus.

 Sport 2021

The first Tuesday sport for Term 1 2021 will be Tuesday 2nd February. Permission notes will be sent out via compass to parents and carers of students in Years 8, 9, 10 and 11 for 2021 at the end of Week 10.

Upcoming Sporting Events 2021

Diocesan Sport 

The first Diocesan Sporting Events will commence in February 2021 with trials to be held at school in the first weeks of Term 1. The events have been listed below and further information will be given through compass announcements.

• February 15 - Touch Boys Championships
• February 18 - Tennis Boys and Girls Teams Qualifying Event
• March 1 - Touch Girls Championships
• March 12 - Swimming Championships
• March 17 - Rugby League 15’s & Opens

NSWCCC Sport

 2021 Sport registrations for NSWCCC will open 1 February 2021. HELP functions to assist in the registration process are available on the CSNSW homepage (https://csnsw.sport/) for parents or please contact Mrs Andruschko for details.

Please contact Mrs Andruschko via the College Office if there are any questions about sport at the College and information to be provided on sporting achievements.

On Wednesday the 1st December Year 8 students made their way to the Camden War Memorial Pool where they participated in their Aquatics day. The day was made up of three sessions that targeted an array of aquatic skills, from stroke correction, learning some lifesaving skills including contact and non-contact tows and lastly survival skills such as treading water for two minutes. All of these skills are lifelong skills that will be of benefit for these students, beyond the gates of Magdalene. A huge congratulations to all the students who participated in the day, it was a great day and loads of fun was had by all. A big thanks to the PDHPE team who went above and beyond to ensure the day was a wonderful experience for the Year 8 students.  

Kieran Wakeling 

Leader of Learning PDHPE

On Monday 14 December, the canteen will be serving limited items, there will be NO HOT FOOD AVAILABLE. Students are encouraged to bring their lumch with them.

Please note that the canteen will be closed on Activity Day, Tuesday 15 December.