Today our College is greatly saddened by the passing of Mrs Peta Willard.

Involved in Catholic education in the Macarthur for well over a decade, she was a much-loved figure. It is hardly surprising that this morning St Paul’s Catholic Church, Camden was not only filled to capacity for her funeral, but bursting to the seams with so many community members (including both current and past students and staff) seated outside; all there in the hope of giving Peta due respect and a meaningful farewell.

As Father Joe reminded the congregation during his homily, there are many people in life who can be afraid to exist, or lament life’s woes, but Peta chose to live life. As such, we should cherish her passion and live out the gifts which life and the Lord gives us. Indeed, Peta reminds us that it is our responsibility to make a difference and to hopefully do so with courage, humility and humour.

HALL
I am very pleased to announce that an application for funding for a College Hall has gone into NSW Catholic Schools for a Commonwealth Block Grant. Fingers crossed this can be approved and building commences in the next couple of years.

CLASSROOMS
A builder has now been appointed. The building of 14 new purpose-built classrooms will commence later this term.

NAPLAN
This week Years 7 and 9 participated in NAPLAN tests online. 

Congratulations go to all of these students as they showed flexibility, problem solving and perseverance whilst undertaking these literacy and numeracy tests. Also a thank you to both parents/carers and teachers (especially Ms Stephanie Phillips and Mr Danny Avalos) who supported and guided our students through the challenges that new technologies can sometimes involve. Indeed, we are all the better for these moments in life that shake us up and force us to look at problems in a new light.

Mr Matthew McMahon

Principal

Today I include a prayer of surrender to our Lord. It is in times of doubts, sorrows and anxieties that such a prayer is of most worth:

Jesus to the soul: Why are you upset and agitated? Leave your cares to Me and all will be fine. I tell you honestly, every act of true and blind reliance on Me results in what you desire and will resolve all your difficulties. Abandonment in Me does not mean being frustrated, becoming anxious and desperate, offering Me your anxious prayer, that I may follow you and have your anxiety be a prayer. Abandonment means to shut the eyes of your soul in peace, moving your thoughts away from your troubles, and instead of thinking about your worries and pain, let Me take over your troubles. Simply say: Jesus, You take over. To be worried, restless, and to think of the consequences of an event is the opposite of reliance, it is really contrary to it. It is like a child, who wants his mum to take care of his needs, but in the way he wants: and with his whims and childish ideas he hampers her work. Shut your eyes and go with the flow of My grace. Do not ponder over your present moment and put away thoughts of your future as a temptation; rest in Me, believe in My goodness and I swear on My Love, that if you think like this: Jesus, You take over, I indeed will do it for you, I will comfort you, free you, and guide you.

Amen

Year 11 Food Technology have had a studious two weeks of food experimentation in preparation for their upcoming assessment task on Food Quality. The students have been investigating the functional properties of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. They are working towards understanding the factors that affect the functional properties of foods and have been conducting a number of experiments such as emulsification, caramelisation and aeration.

Miss Alana Di-Filippo

TAS Teacher

8-10 Boys Diocesan Soccer

On the 2/5/2019 the boys below represented the college at the 8-10 Boys Diocesan Soccer Gala Day.

Beau Severin (Captain), Rhett Coe, Patrick Baragry, Joshua Chetcuti, Benjamin Georgievski, Baden Miller, Reece Smit, Joel Tyler, Jye Versteeg, Joseph Bampton, Emilio Gonzalez, Jack Johnson, Troy Seniuk, Albert Wojcik and Claudio Zimmatore.

The boys started off the day with a dominant performance over St Francis. We had several great opportunities to score but struggled to find the back of the net. Fortunately, our immense pressure paid off with a late goal to Emilio Gonzalez. Our second pool game was against Holy Spirit. This game would be a major deciding factor in the ladder of our pool. Again the boys played well through the middle of the park with some excellent distribution to our wingers. Jye Versteeg found himself on the end of an excellent through ball in which he finished spectacularly to take the lead. The game finished in a draw.

Game 3 was a decisive win 3-1 in which Benjamin Georgevski and Baden Miller controlled the game well and our defensive line lead by Beau Severin and Joel Tyler were very strong in limited chances. Unfortunately, we suffered a few injuries which hindered the rest of the day. The boys needed to shuffle to cover each other and worked really well to get a draw with Mt Carmel in Game 4. This was highlighted by the efforts of Reece Smit and Rhett Coe. We ended up placing second in our pool and progress to the semi-final versus Edmund Rice.

This game started well with Emilio finishing very confidently a through ball. We then conceded a soft goal just on the stroke of full-time. This took the game to penalty shoot outs. Unfortunately, the boys did not take their chances and we lost the shootout. Although we lost the game, I believe we were the form team of the day and deserved a positive result.

Well done to all the boys in fishing 3rd overall for the day. I was privileged to coach the team and witness a high level of skill on display.

Kind regards,

Mr Matthew Bubb

Congratulations Brianna

Brianna was awarded the Gloria Pinnington trophy (Girl cricketer of the year for Camden Cricket Club) on Saturday night. Brianna is the youngest recipient of the award and she was up against 32 other girls. The trophy is awarded for a combination of on-field performance and off-field contributions made to the Club, in Brianna’s case she was heavily involved at fundraising events, mentoring younger female players and helping out at Club events.

COLLEGE FEES

In accordance with the Diocesan School Fee Management Policy, College fee accounts are now issued as an annual invoice which is due 30 days from the Invoice date. If you do not have a School Fee Agreement in place with Magdalene Catholic College your fees are now Overdue.

To access payment flexibility, that is, to pay your School Fees in instalments, families must complete a School Fee Agreement Form and return it to the College Office. School Fee Agreements need to be renewed yearly and they show the school a frequency of payment plan for your School Fees. You may pay by Bpay, Credit Card, Cash and Direct Debit.

School Fees with a School Fee Agreement in place must be finalised by Friday, 6 December 2019.

Please note the School Fee Agreement Form is not a Direct Debit Form.

The Diocesan School Fee Management Policy and all Finance Forms in relation to Fees are available on the College Website, under the Enrolment Tab. https://tinyurl.com/y2qwph65. The School Fee Calculator on the website can also assist with the calculation of the payment required to meet your commitment by the due date.

YEAR 12 SCHOOL FEES

Families of Year 12 students are required to have all the Year 12 Fees finalised by Friday, 27 September 2019.

If you are experiencing financial hardship and are having difficulty paying your school fees, we ask that you do not ignore your fee statement and please contact the Finance Office to discuss options that are available to you.

FINANCE OFFICE HOURS:             Monday to Friday            7.30am to 2.45pm

Please be aware that supervision of students commences at 7.50am in the Top Quad. After school - students should be collected no later than 3.30pm from the student pick up area (with the exception of extra-curricular activities the student may be attending). Students should not be on the College grounds outside of these times.