This coming Sunday marks the fourth Sunday of Lent, and is traditionally known as Laetare, meaning “rejoice” Sunday. This day encourages us to focus on the hope and joy that awaits us at Easter and is often described as a ‘shot in the arm’ amidst our Lenten fasts and penances, as we approach the darkness of Good Friday, followed by the joy that awaits us on Easter Sunday. We use Laetare Sunday as a source of inspiration, knowing that Easter is  within sight, to recommit ourselves to our Lenten commitments of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Unlike other Sundays during Lent, small symbols such as flowers adorning the altar, the greater use of music and, quite often, the wearing of rose-coloured vestments are commonly seen as we mark the halfway point of Lent. 

Last week, the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong launched its new strategic plan, titled Lighting the Way 2023+. This plan has been in development over the past few years following broad consultation with thousands of parents, students, teachers, clergy and community members. The final product articulates a clear and transparent strategy that schools within the diocese will work towards as a means of nurturing the faith, learning and wellbeing of all our students. I would encourage you to view the plan here and remain up to date with how we are working towards these shared goals throughout the Diocese of Wollongong. 

As many families would be aware, we are in the midst of our enrolment process for Year 7 2024. I thank the many parents who have already returned their completed enrolment packages to the front office and booked their interview time for next term. A reminder that applications close on 31 March and that applications received after this date may need to be placed on a waiting list. 

I thank the family and friends of the College who responded to the survey last week, looking at a suitable opportunity to mark the 25th anniversary of the College. As a result of this process, I can confirm that we are now commencing plans for a Magdalene Showcase Event where members of the College community will be invited to join us for a catered evening that showcases outstanding student major works and performances. 

Wishing you all the best for the week ahead, 

David Cloran

Lent

How is our Lenten Observance going? Have you given something up or taken something up?

When we were younger we may have given up chocolate (which is still not a bad idea), although these days it may be even harder to give up alcohol, tea or coffee. Or, we can take something up. Can we read the Bible daily, can we pray a bit longer and include prayers for those in most need in our world?  Can we pray the Rosary? Can we meditate? According to the Gospels, Jesus often got up early and went to a quiet place to pray. 

And what is the point of all of this? Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights and came out of that wilderness experience with new insights into who he was and the mission for his life. He was undoubtedly close to the Father through his prayer and fasting and the way he lived his life. We are called, as disciples, to follow Jesus down a path of obedience to God and love of God and love of Neighbor. Maybe giving something up or taking something up during Lent, as we prepare for the major feast of Easter, helps us to grow in our awareness and gratefulness for the supreme sacrifice that Jesus made by dying on the cross and rising from the dead to bring about our salvation. 

Prayer:

Lord, may we be witnesses to the life giving power of your death and resurrection at Easter, just as Mary Magdalene was at the first Easter Sunday.

Mary Magdalene

Pray for us

Amen

Thank you for the brilliant response we have had to building a strong reading community at Magdalene, it shows just how much we are mindful that reading adds to our knowledge and views about a diverse range of topics in becoming great contributors to the community.

 Important to reading is accessing unfamiliar vocabulary. How do we support our young readers to stay committed to reading challenging, complex texts? As many of you already know, we tackle it. Avoiding difficult words will hang around for longer than desired if we ignore the way to strategically understand unknown words. 

So for the purpose of supporting vocabulary development we are sharing the following strategies:

1. Scan the text or passage for unknown words and write them down.
2. Look up the dictionary definition for the word, record it on a vocabulary frame, such as the Frayer Model or a Vocabulary Map. (By completing the vocabulary frame you will build comprehension of new content which assists in ‘explanation’, ‘discussion’ and ‘analysis’ questions.)
3. After completing a vocabulary frame, read the passage.
4. Notice how understanding those difficult words helps success in learning about new things.
5. Repeat these steps multiple times with new words across a range of topics until the brain does it automatically. And reread as needed.
6. Repeated repetition is key to moving forward to achieve our personal best.

Please find below, vocabulary frames to help support growing vocabulary through investigating. And remember there are various ways to address vocabulary so be open for change and courageous in making it happen.

On the 6th of March, Magdalene's Leadership Team was given the opportunity to attend the National Young Leaders Day hosted at the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour. At the centre, we, along with another 800 students, were presented with a number of hosts including Dr Jordan Nguyen, Anthony 'Harries' Carroll from Bondi Rescue, and Caitlin Bassett, former Captain of the Australian Diamonds Netball team. After hearing from each of the guests inspiring triumphs and challenges, our leadership team was presented with question times, short videos, learning exercises, music and other student interaction. Arguably, the most inspiring story we were presented with came from Dr Jordan Nguyen, a world renowned Vietnamese-Australian biomedical engineer and inventor whose achievements include creating a mind-controlled wheelchair, and whose technological innovations are targeted at improving the lives of those living with physical disabilities. Nguyen's story truly showcased to each of us how we can successfully develop our leadership potential and leave a strong legacy in the positions we have earned. 

Science – Earthquake Resistance Buildings Challenge!

10.1 Science has recently been learning about the devastating effects of earthquakes and the benefits of engineering earthquake-resistant buildings.

The class' task was to engineer a 60cm high model building which could withstand a major earthquake. Materials which were used were raw spaghetti, plasticine and pipe cleaners. There were two winning groups, whose buildings withstood a fair shake of the base. The proud winners with their models can be seen below.

Welcome to the Team!

We had the pleasure of presenting the Year 9 and Year 10 Debating teams with their badges to signify their contributions to the MISA competition. From the Year 10 team, we welcome Ryan Gow who is a new addition to the team in 2023. We also welcome back Oliver Bromley, Maddison McIntyre-Evans and Sophie McMonigal. Year 10 has proven to be formidable opponents in the field of debating and very much look forward to observing their accomplishments in the competition this year! From the Year 9 team, we warmly welcome back Isibeal Abbey, Sienna Beller, Melina Richardson, Heather Nolan, Lachlan Campbell and Ayva Wolleridge. We are very excited to see this team take on the challenges of the competition with enthusiasm and positivity!

Year 11 Debating Mentors

I would like to extend a very big thank you to two of our Year 11 students, Olivia Upfill and Chelsea Clapson for the willingness they have displayed to step into a mentoring role for our junior debating teams as they prepare for the MISA competition in Semester Two. The passionate and caring approach that these students have displayed is commendable and I am certain that our younger teams will learn a great deal from their experience and insight! Below Olivia is working with Year 7 and Chelsea is working with our Year 8 team.

CONGRATULATIONS! Year 10 wins their first debate!

A massive congratulations to our Year 10 MISA Debating team who successfully won their first debate in Round One of the competition. The team, consisting of  Oliver Bromley, Ryan Gow, Maddison McIntyre-Evans and Sophie McMonigal versed John Therry and argued negatively against the following topic: "That underperforming schools should be shut down”. The Magdalene team demonstrated exceptional fortitude and presented an argument that was undoubtedly well researched and supported, they spoke with confidence, reaching the target time limit of 8 minutes per student. Congratulations to Year 10 on a very well deserved win…A team to watch in the coming weeks!

WINNERS! Year 9 and 10 both win in Round Two.

Congratulations to both the Year 9 team and the Year 10 team for coming out on top for Round Two of the MISA debating competition. For this round of the competition, both teams took the affirmative stance on their respective topics and put forth debates that were not only highly engaging, but also informative and very well presented. The Year 10 team presented a very well researched case supporting the topic “That Gen Z Have it Easier”, the adjudicator for this debate particularly commended the team on their capacity to deliver passionate refutations arguing against Broughton Anglican College. Round Two of the competition saw the Year 9 team debating against St Benedict's Catholic College, agreeing with the topic “That high school students should be allowed to create their own curriculum”. Year 9 is to be commended for their well researched arguments and enthusiastic delivery of ideas. Congratulations once again to both teams on their fantastic efforts this far!

Clean-Up Australia Day was a great experience and we were able to collect a decent amount of garbage. I’m really proud of what we did that day, picking up rubbish in the bushes and around the park. There ended up being a little competition with the others to get the most bags full. And it was interesting to see how much rubbish typically builds up in these communal areas. Overall, it was great to be cleaning up the community and I'm looking forward to future events! Great job to all those involved and thank you to those who helped set up the event.

Mikayla W Year 12

Uniform Bookings now open!

We will be open for winter uniform fittings from 16th March to 11th May 2023 (subject to shop hours)

Log on to noone.com.au/magdalene and click on the ‘Book an appointment’ button

Make your booking ASAP.  

A booking is essential for all junior fittings. Please do not attend the store for a fitting without an appointment.

Seniors students are welcome to come to the store anytime we are open to purchase a Blazer.

Our store hours are 

Monday 7.30am-12.30pm

Thursday 10.30-3.30pm

The Noone Team

Nicole and Mindy