This coming Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday, marking the beginning of Holy Week, which culminates in the Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The season of Easter is acknowledged as the most important of all liturgical times, where we celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead, after he was crucified for the sins of the world. His resurrection marks the ultimate triumph of good over evil, sin and death and is the single event that represents the fulfilment of God’s promises to mankind, and the ultimate proof of Christ’s divinity. As we enter into this most sacred time as a Magdalene community, I extend my thoughts, prayers and genuine sense of gratitude for the support and partnerships that have been evident over the past term. I hope that the coming holiday break provides an opportunity to relax and rejuvenate after a busy and challenging, yet hopefully rewarding Term One. 

Last Thursday, the College hosted our annual Careers Day for students in Year 10. Whilst focusing on careers beyond school, the day was part of our broad approach towards both Stage 6 subject selection processes and post-school preparations. Over 20 volunteers from within and beyond our local community gave up the day to support our students with resume preparations, interviewing skills and a mini careers expo. At the conclusion of the day's event, I was approached by one of our presenters, Senior Constable Mandy Weiling who works for the NSW Police Force in the area of recruitment. She explained that she had been working in this field for 35 years and that this particular group of students was the best she has ever worked with. Certainly high praise from a credible member of our community with extensive experience working with young people. I congratulate our Year 10 students for their enthusiastic engagement in the program, and thank Mrs Jones, Mrs Power and Mrs Hayden for all the work that went into such a worthwhile day. 

Over the past few weeks, Mrs Forner and I have been liaising with Picton Buslines and Transport for NSW, advocating for an extra service of an afternoon to cope with the increase in demand from students coming from the Picton area. We are pleased to confirm that this process has been successful and we now have an additional express service from the College to St Anthony’s at Picton each afternoon. 

As parents of our Year 7 students would be aware, our newest cohort attended their first high school camp experience this week at Teen Ranch in Cobbitty. I had the great pleasure of attending the camp on both Tuesday and Thursday this week and on both occasions, I was so impressed that the wet weather did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm and eagerness of every student to make the most of this worthwhile experience. I particularly thank the many teachers who gave up their evenings to ensure that students had this opportunity, and especially to Mrs Cordina and Mrs Catanea for the time and effort that went into the organisation of the camp. Next week, our Year 9 students will be attending their camp at The Tops Retreat Centre in Stanwell Park and we certainly wish them all well. 

Finally this week, a reminder that as per the College calendar, we will be holding a Pupil Free Day on Monday 24th April where the staff will be looking at programs that target student engagement and our Positive Behaviours for Learning framework. Given that the following day is ANZAC Day, all students will officially return for Term 2 on Wednesday 26th April. 

Wishing you all the best for the weekend ahead, 

David Cloran

Acting Principal

On behalf of the Justice & Mercy Leaders and Team We'd like to say a massive THANK YOU for your support of the Bake Sale last week and more generally your support of Caritas Project Compassion. Thanks to the generosity of many students, families and staff who baked and donated sweet treats and to the dedicated Justice & Mercy Team, YMLs and Mrs Dell, we had a very successful bake sale raising nearly $900 for Project Compassion.

In addition, thanks to the efforts of the College SRC, Mrs Taccone and Mr Bubb an additional $450 was raised for Project Compassion through last week's Harmony Day activities.  

As you can see below we have made significant strides towards our college goal to support the building of a Library to support the education of children and young adults in Nepal.

We are so close to reaching our goal! We are confident with a final effort in these last few weeks of Lent, including supporting Year 10 with the Easter Egg Raffle, that we can as a College community reach and even surpass our goal!

Thank you for your continuing support of Project Compassion and working to make our world a little more just!

Mr Collins on behalf of the Justice & Mercy Team

Caitlyn Halse of Year 11 Hogan made her debut for the NSW Waratahs Rugby Union team as the youngest debutant at 16 years old. Students and staff headed down to Allianz Stadium, Moore Park to watch her in action. 

It was a great moment for Caitlyn and her family and boy did she have a brilliant game!!! Caitlyn is such a wonderful young girl who works so hard and truly deserves this opportunity. She played unbelievably well and unselfishly set up 2 tries (she could have easily scored herself!) The team won 41-0 against Western Force. 

Caitlyn is a disciplined young woman who manages her training and the rigour of her Year 11 Studies. She is such a humble student and doesn’t like to make a fuss but this is truly warranted.

Congratulations Caitlyn. The Magdalene community is unbelievably proud of you!

Holy Week

As we approach Holy Week and reflect on the sufferings of Jesus, from the highs of Palm Sunday to the lows of Good Friday and the overwhelming world shaking events of Easter Sunday, hopefully we are filled with hope for our own lives, our families, this world and the future. After all, Good Friday was a pretty awful day for the Apostles and they didn't see it coming. However, it was much more surprising that Jesus rose from the dead three days later. It wasn’t just a Royal Easter Show magic act either - Jesus was risen from the dead in a way that no one ever has been, before or since. He could enter a locked room without opening a door, leave people in the middle of a conversation by simply disappearing, he could eat fish and cook a BBQ on the beach, he could ascend above the clouds as the Apostles watched on. 

Moreover, his death and resurrection is for our salvation. We experience the comfort, joy, peace and love of the Holy Spirit that was poured out at Pentecost and poured into our hearts at Baptism. We experience a hope for this life that we can have a close relationship with Jesus and then join him in the next life in Heaven, where, according to Saint Paul, there is no more crying or suffering or pain. 

Mary Magdalene was there during the ministry of Jesus, she was there at the crucifixion, she was there at the burial, she was there at the resurrection, and she was the first person to pass on that amazing news that Jesus had risen from the dead. Mary Magdalene reminds us of our calling in life, to be  disciples of Jesus and to cultivate a close relationship with Jesus and with those around us.

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

On Wednesday, the 22nd of March, Year 12 Visual Arts students embarked upon an exciting excursion, travelling by train to the Museum of Contemporary Art and Art Gallery of NSW. First visiting the MCA, in the morning at Circular Quay to engage with a variety of contemporary works on display in both a gallery context and in a public arena. 

Our visit to the MCA began with a welcome to country, where we viewed powerful contemporary pieces by artist Daniel Boyd, Brook Andrew and Vincent Namatjira. These works explored concepts of identity, sovereignty, pride, resilience, and connection to country located in the entry of the MCA.

In our workshop Unpacking Unseen Images we viewed and unpacked key pieces in both the MCA collection: Perspective on Place focussing on works relating to land, mapping and environmental change and Eight Artists an exhibit featuring major works by eight Australian artists, including a new commission.

This experience allowed students to gain valuable understanding of both the artists who created the pieces their practice, the artworks themselves, and the conceptual meaning behind the construction of these diverse works.

In the afternoon, we travelled to the AGNSW to view Art Express the HSC showcase of astounding bodies of work produced by the 2022 cohort of high achieving Visual Art HSC student submissions. This exciting exhibition included artworks in 12 expressive forms and a sampling of Visual Arts Process Diaries. Making our way through the gallery, student's viewed a collection of traditional and contemporary spaces, igniting the creativity of all. 

The excursion was highly beneficial to students and many were a buzz throughout the day inspired by new ideas in the development of their bodies of work. This is key when creating an artwork; an artist must have an open mind, and must be willing to adopt new techniques in the pursuit of great work. The excursion was intended to help guide students in their theoretical and practical studies of Visual Arts and was certainly successful in doing so, through the different elements and art that was encountered on the day.

In Term One, Year 7 Visual Arts students have been exploring the elements of art (line, shape, form, colour, value, texture and space) and principles of design to further build upon their knowledge and skills from primary school in order to create their own artistic compositions. Students have been hard at work for a number of weeks experimenting with materials supplied in their art kits and refining their technique to develop works inspired by their study of artists Wassily Kandinsky, Sonia Delauney and Bridget Riley.

Below are some of their wonderful  works. A great effort by Year 7 this term!

Ms Tree