HAPPY FEAST DAY!

This morning our College celebrated our Feast Day and Feast Day Mass. Almost per schedule, rain came down mid celebration, and so it was wonderful to finally be able to have the whole College community in an indoor location.

The music was quite lovely, no doubt supported by singing practices for Years 7-11 on the previous day.

Father Michael spoke very glowingly of just how reverent and respectful our students were throughout the Eucharist.

I thank our Special guests for being in attendance: Mrs Marg Foldes (Principal , St Clare’s), Mr Mark Raue (Principal & CEO, Mater Dei), our Camden Mayor - Councillor Theresa Fedele, our local Member of State Parliament - Mr Peter Sidgreaves, Mr David Gearin and Ms Amanda Nascimento from Catholic Education Office, Wollongong.

For your interest, during my address at the end of the Mass I mentioned the following:

* the idea of “the Magdalene mosaic” was raised and how all students are staff are continually adding to the mosaic of who we are and what we stand for

* the unveiling of a beautiful new cross (replete with strong iconography associated with Mary Magdalene) painted by Sister Dorothy Woodward.

* that the community can expect a range of 25th year Magdalene Catholic College anniversary events in 2023

* 15 Year Service Awards for Stacey Rusten, Debbie Gibbs and Nancy Russo

Unfortunately, due to the inclement weather, our rides and festival activities originally planned for Feast Day afternoon had to be postponed. Details of the new date for these will be shared in due course.

INCIDENT ON WEDNESDAY 20 JULY

I would once again like to commend staff, students and parents/carers for their understanding and patience. 

I appreciate the positive feedback we have received and constructive ideas shared. As we do for all Lockdown and Evacuation Drills, our WHS Committee will consider suggestions offered. I would reiterate though that the College did take advice from Emergency Services on the day.

Please refer to my letter on Compass (dated 20/7/22) for more details, if you have not read it yet. 

COMPASS NOTIFICATIONS

Compass remains one of our main tools for College communication. Please ensure you have the Compass App downloaded on your smartphone.

Also remember that notifications can be set up on the App. This can ensure that you receive a notice (in a timely manner) if any information or event is communicated from the College.

If you have any queries about the App, or how to set up notifications , please contact the College Office.

PRAYER:

In keeping with our Feast Day today, and the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, I include here our College prayer:

Jesus, you chose Mary Magdalene to be the first witness to Your resurrection. 

Help us to be filled with the power of your Spirit. 

May we become witnesses to your love and healing, both within and beyond this community.

Saint Mary Magdalene: Pray for us

Good morning Magdalene,

As Year 12 are approaching their Trial HSC Exams, I would like to take a moment to wish them all the very best.

Year 12 will be starting their Trial HSC Examinations on Monday 1st August. Their Trial HSC period will continue for a rigorous 2 week block in which students will be completing an examination for most, if not all their subjects they are undertaking in their HSC. 

This time can bring on a range of emotions for Year 12 students and it is important as the Magdalene community we show support and empathy towards Year 12 to ensure they can stay focused, relaxed and maintain a positive approach to all exams. The College offers a range of support networks for our students and if you think a student requires any additional support please contact the College to discuss this further.

Year 12, I have the utmost faith in you. I am so proud of how you continue to rise to every occasion presented to you. Your dedication and determination in your HSC year has been very admirable. Ensure not only you are prepared through study but also you are physically looking after yourself to ensure you can perform to your personal best. On behalf of the Year 12 Pastoral Team I would like to wish you all the best and we will be thinking and praying for you all during this time.

Magdalene Catholic College has had the opportunity to be a part of NESA’s Numeracy Pilot Program from 2021-2022. The Numeracy Course supports students to develop the functional numeracy skills required to become active and successful participants in society. Students have the opportunity to develop these skills and apply them to situations in personal and community, workplace and employment, and education and training contexts. 

What do the students think about Maths Numeracy….

What do you like about Maths Numeracy?

We have learnt so many new skills and ways of approaching numeracy. We appreciate this subject because of the supportive atmosphere, hands-on approach, staff assistance, and the mathematical abilities we have gained that benefit us in our lives after school. We have a better grasp of how to execute tasks to the best of our ability by learning about relevant numeracy skills needed in life outside of school, such as home payments, car payments, and holiday planning. We have enjoyed the many skills we learn in class as well as the various real-life situations that you don't generally study in school, for when we live independently on our own. 

What activities did you like best?

At the beginning of each lesson we play various maths games to assist our thinking and development of our numeracy skills. As a class we have all improved our basic number skills. 

In Numeracy we all learn differently, but Mrs Hayden works out a way that fits all of us. As a class, we work together in groups and individually, we even go outside to get a full physical representation of our learning, we have developed our perimeter and area skills on the basketball courts, we all contributed to a running race to develop our skills on rates and ratios and sometimes we also sit in the classroom and learn off the board too. 

Skills you have learnt.

Our numeracy teacher, Mrs Hayden knows what we all want to do after school, she bases our lessons off the relevant maths skills we will all need after school. This includes time management skills, distance, area and perimeter, addition and multiplication, how to pay bills, buy a car, book a holiday and alot more skills that we will all need after school. 

Year 12 - Numeracy 2022

Today is Magdalene Feast Day, where we celebrate all the wonderful things about attending Magdalene Catholic College and, especially, we look to the life and example of Mary Magdalene as someone to inspire us on our faith journey with Jesus. 

A Reading from the Gospel of John

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

The Gospel of the Lord - Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

This excerpt includes comments by Pope Francis about Mary Magdalene: 

By calling Mary Magdalene by name after his resurrection, Jesus shows us just how personal his relationship with humanity is, Pope Francis said, adding that after this intimate encounter, Mary then becomes an apostle of hope for the world, announcing the Lord's rising.

"Mary: the revolution of her life, the revolution destined to transform the existence of every man and woman, begins with a name that echoes in the garden of the empty tomb," the Pope said on May 17.

"How beautiful to think that the first appearance of the Risen One took place in such a personal way! That there is someone who knows us, who sees our suffering and delusion, who is moved by us, and who call us by name," the Pope said.

Prayer:

Lord, may we imitate Mary Magdalene in her strong faith, her loyal discipleship, her courage in difficult circumstances and her hope in your mercy and love.

Amen

11EES Investigation: "Is that flushable or not?

Water treatment authorities say that only ‘the three Ps’ should be flushed – pee, poo and paper. Despite this,manufacturers claim a variety of products are flushable. In 2018, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) prosecuted the manufacturer of White King’s ‘flushable’ toilet and bathroom cleaning wipes. The company was fined $700000 for falsely claiming that its products would disintegrate in the sewage system ‘just like toilet paper’. 

In this investigation, Year 11 Earth and Environmental Science students investigated the result of simulated flushing on toilet paper and other wipes including “flushable wipes”, tissue paper and paper towel. Do you know which ones should be flushed down the toilet?

To do this students created a model of “flushing toilets” by cutting squares of the same size of each wipe or paper and placing them in jars of water. The jars of water were vigorously shaken and observations of the structure of the paper made to determine whether it would disintegrate when flushed or whether it remained whole, potentially clogging pipes and sewers. The results were quite alarming. 

Mr Chris Ferry

Earth and Environmental Science Teacher

Holly Lollback’s Thoughts:

The aim of the experiment was to determine whether certain products are able to be broken down through the simulation of flushing. This is an important experiment as it allows us to consider the consequences of our actions and test whether the claims of certain products are accurate. The results revealed toilet paper as the only material capable of truly breaking down into fine particles, while the other materials (tissues, flushable wipes and paper towel) were only partially dissolved, or not at all.

The most interesting thing about the results was that no material other than toilet paper dissolved completely, indicating that we should not be flushing other materials. Additionally, it was interesting to note the chemical residue left behind by the flushable wipes and consider the consequences of this. The experiment is a useful learning experience because it encourages us to consider the further implications of our everyday actions.

Science Extension Wollongong University Showcase

On Thursday 9 June, Year 12 Science Extension student Ryan Gill attended the Diocese of Wollongong Science Extension Conference, partnered with the University of Wollongong. The Science Extension Course gives students the opportunity to extend their scientific thinking and allow them to showcase a key scientific area of research. Students are expected to demonstrate academic level science through their individual HSC Research Projects. This dynamic course is for students who see their future in Science.

Ryan had the opportunity to hear from Dr Katarina Mikac, a researcher at the University of Wollongong who works in the field of applied ecology, with specific focus on the threatened species, spotted tailed quolls and gliding possums, of the NSW South Coast/Illawarra Region. He also had the chance to share his Research Project with students from other schools around the Wollongong Diocese in a conference format, which mimics the professional scientific conferences regularly held at UoW.

Ryan shared his research on the effect of microplastic concentration in soil on the health and growth of native plants, particularly, coastal rosemary (Westringia fruticosa). He spoke with confidence and knowledge about his research, demonstrating the passion and curiosity that we would expect from our future scientists.

“The most interesting part of this showcase was meeting other Extension Science students from around the Wollongong Diocese and hearing about their research projects. During the excursion, I found the feedback from a science professional helped to improve my work.”

Ryan Gill

Year 11 Food Technology have been busy cooking away to create nutritious and colourful Meal Plans, along with Information Packs for differing Lifecycle stages for their Nutrition Assessment Task. 

 A reminder that the next Parents and Friends Meeting will be held at 7pm via Zoom on Tuesday 2nd August. 

Our College canteen cannot function without the valuable help of parent/carer volunteers daily.
It would be greatly appreciated if you could assist in any way - once a week, once a month, once a term or any other time that you specify.
Each day, volunteers are required at the following times, you can do one session or two totally your
choice:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
9.30am to 10.30am
12.30pm to 1.30pm
Tuesday
10.30am to 11.30am
12 noon to 1.00pm
If you are able to assist, please contact the College office on (02) 4631 3300 or email us at
info@mccdow.catholic.edu.au and our Canteen Coordinators will be in touch.