Marian Catholic College

185 WAKADEN STREET, GRIFFITH NSW 2680

TELEPHONE: (02) 69692400

WEBSITE: www.mccww.catholic.edu.au Timetable Week 3– 9 October 2015

No 31

Christ has no body but yours

No hands, no feet on earth but yours

Yours are the eyes through which He sees

Yours are the hands through which He does good.

St Therese of Avila (1515-1582)

Dear Parents, Friends and Students

Welcome Back

The final term has arrived for 2015. During the holiday the maintenance staff have once again been very busy with improvements and the gardens are looking lovely. Our building program at the back of the College has “popped up” and nearing completion. Work will slow down over the HSC period so as not to disrupt exams but we are confident all will be open at the commencement of the 2016 school year. Our new pavers in front of the St Mary McKillop Language Centre were “opened” with the cutting of the ribbon on Wednesday morning. This was the major fundraiser of our Year 12 students. They look fantastic and my congratulations to the student organising committee on their initiative in seeing this project through to completion.

Tuesday 6th October saw staff have a most rewarding Professional Development Day. Joining with teachers of St Francis de Sales, Leeton, we spent time looking at various paradigms we as educators bring to education We considered student learning and challenged the industrialised model of education and whether that model best “fits” the reality of what society asks of learners today. We discussed classroom structures and space and considered what a student’s learning experience will be like in five years time. You can read about what we did and about our presenter, Steve Collis, on his website http://www.happysteve.com/

Year 12 begin their HSC Exams next Monday 12th October and I ask that all in the Marian community keep our Year 12 students in your prayers. Mass is being said for the HSC students at Sacred Heart Parish at 6pm next Sunday and a special liturgy for Year 12 will take place in our chapel next Monday morning at 8am. You are invited to join students and staff at both or either .

At today’s assembly, our last until the end of the HSC Exams, the 2016 Student Leadership Team was inducted. Their leadership pledge was made in front of staff, students and parents. It is now their opportunity to show public leadership. I wish them every success in their endeavours. We pray that they continue to be blessed by God in the important roles they undertake.

Staff Changes Term Four The College welcomes back Mr Chris Brown, returning from sick leave until the end of the year.

Leadership Team 2016

College Captains - Emma Zanotto and Lachlan Guertin College Vice Captains - Elena Turunen and Karl Panarello House Captains and Vice Captains Brendan (Yellow) Selina Gatto and and Jamie Bertolin Marcellin (Red) - Josephine Montagner and Zachary Fattore McCauley (Blue) - Helaina Beltrame and Daniel Dunne Patrick (Green) - Grace Ryan and Daniel Febo

Year 12 Prefects 2016

Chantelle Bertoldo, Kate Catanzariti, Laura Cavanagh, Benjamin Favero, Patricia Maugeri, Brooke Myott, Arini Navaneethan, Samantha Ncube, Jeremiah Rizzeri, Andrew Seton, Daniela Vico and Sophie Woodbridge

Peace and Best Wishes

Principal

Learning and Teaching News

HSC starts next week

The HSC exams commence next week. We would all like to wish Year 12 the best of luck with their exams. Students should feel proud of the way they have worked and should feel confident that their hard work will be rewarded. Parents, please remind your students not to fear the exams. The tests are a fair test of a student’s knowledge and efforts and there should not be any surprises.

It is very important that parents and Year 12 students contact the school if there is anything happening that may affect a students ability to achieve their best in the exam. By keeping the school “in the loop” we can take all necessary steps to ensure that an illness or misadventure is not jeopardising a student’s results. In the case of any event (illness/misadventure—please see the HSC Rules and Procedures guide) please contact the school to speak to Alan Le Brocque, Damien Herb or myself. It is important to remember that it is always preferable for a student to sit their exam if possible and to apply for special consideration on the day.

Tips for parents to help their child during the HSC period

The HSC exams commence next Monday on the 12th October 2015 and run for several weeks concluding on Wednesday 4th November 2015. It is likely that many students will experience a range of emotions during this period. The following tips are some ideas on how parents can assist their child during this time:-

Create a calm and quiet home environment and ensure the student’s study area is free from interruptions and distractions

Ensure your child is eating a balanced, healthy diet

Encourage your child to get a normal night’s sleep

Encourage your child to maintain a regular study schedule throughout the entire exam period and be lenient about household chores

Be supportive and talk to your child about their exam fears and concerns

Build your child’s confidence by reminding them about their strengths and past successes to help alleviate anxiety

If parents have any concerns about their child during this exam period, please contact myself of Mr Herb.

Year 11 to Year 12 in Term 4

Year 11 students are making the transition into Year 12 in Term 4. They have been receiving back their Final Preliminary Exams and this feedback should help to inform the students of any changes they need to make to their study routines in order to succeed in their HSC Year.

Some students may be disappointed. This may be an indication of the need for more organisation with their study and better time management through the use of a regular study schedule.

Other students may be affirmed through their results and learn that they need to continue their diligent approach in order to maintain their success.

Some students may be considering dropping a subject. It is important that both students and parents understand the benefits of completing 12 units in the HSC year. It is compulsory to have 10 units in the HSC year and all of these contribute to the student’s ATAR. Having 12 units means that the best 10 units contribute to the ATAR score. The extra 2 units can serve as a buffer to minimise any damage, should the student face an issue with one exam and not do as well in one subject as they hoped for. Students should think very carefully and seek advice before making any decisions in relation to subject changes.

Christie Scoble Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

Prayers Please

We keep in our prayers the family of Mrs Cauduro, grandmother of Helaina Beltrame, Mr Piccinin grandfather of Cesare and Ashley Piccinin and Makayla Agresta

We also keep in our prayers the family of Reid Burley with the passing of his grandmother and Mr Marcus grandfather of Lara and Mitch Salvestro who also passed away.

We pray for any families in our community who have lost loved ones or are suffering illnesses.

CALENDAR—2015

Setting up the Orange Sculptures @7am Sunday 11th October

HSC Exams Commence Monday 12th October

Year 7 Girls & Boys 3rd HPV dose Wednesday 14th October

Year 7.4 & 7.5 Science Excursion to Altina Wildlife Park Thursday 15th October

Year 7.1, 7.2 & 7.3 Science Excursion—Altina Wildlife Park Friday 16 October

Year 11 Long Table Dinner Function Catering Sunday 17th October

Class of 1975 School Reunion 1.30 - 5.30pm Sunday 17th October

CANTEEN NEWS

Monday 12 October T Savage, K De Martin, T Feltracco, J Salvestro

Tuesday 13 October A Mazzarolo, D Marcon

Wednesday 14 October J Murray, L Gullotta

Thursday 15 October M Portolesi, K Yardley

Friday 16 October E Menegon, L Rovere

Yr. 7 - Girls and Boys - 3rd dose HPV.

VACCINATIONS

Wednesday 14th October

Yr 7 - Girls and Boys - 3rd dose HPV

MASS TO BE OFFERED FOR STUDENTS SITTING 2015 HSC

Sunday 11 October 2015 at 6pm followed by light supper in the Majellan Room. All welcome especially families with students in Year 12.

Welcome back to term IV. I hope that everyone had a relaxing break spent with family

and friends and are now feeling recharged and ready to face the busy term IV.

The “Community Action Team” will meet early next week to finalise plans for the

upcoming year 10 “Vinnie’s Sleep-out”. This activity will allow all year 10 students who

would like to participate to experience 1st hand the discomfort of sleeping rough and not

having access to many of the divides that are a part of our everyday life ie television

and mobile phones; in particular access to social media. The year 10 C.A.T members

have spent a lot of time organising activities, guest speakers and will present their

entries which were submitted as part of the “Mercy Foundation Youth Awards” focusing

on demystifying the myths regarding homelessness and reducing the stigma associated

with this issue.

Students attending will also be asked to make a donation

($5 and/or a pair of socks or a toothbrush) which will be

donated to our local St Vincent de Paul.

October is Mental Health Month in NSW and is part of a

national mental health promotion campaign held each

year. This year’s theme is “VALUE YOUR MIND”

The main message of this campaign is to encourage all

individuals to think about how mental health exists in their

daily life & promote the need for all individuals to make

mental health a priority in their daily lives. When we make

our mental health a

priority, we are

practicing self- care

which is an important

part of our daily living to

ensure the

maintenance of

positively balanced

wellbeing.

Have a great week and

best of luck to students

who commence their

exams next Monday.

Sue Hone (Pastoral Care

Worker This message is particularly impo

COLLEGE TUITION FEES

We take this opportunity to remind families your College Tuition Fee account for Term 3 should have been received by 15

th September 2015.

College policy requires fees to be paid in a timely manner to enable us to operate on a sound financial basis whilst continuing to serve all students.

It is an expectation of enrolment that accounts are kept in order and each terms’

fees are to be paid by term end.

We shall be contacting arrears account holders to discuss the position of their account. Should you experience difficulty managing your account, there are a number of flexible payment options available to suit families’ budgets which we are happy to discuss with you. Feel free to contact me at the office to make arrangements.

Thank you to all families who conduct their account efficiently.

Joanne Smith

Business Manager.

Griffith AFL 9’s is back again for another short

and sharp season.

Spread the word, get a team together and

REGISTER today!!

To register online head across

to www.afl9s.com.au

Two of our MCC students (Sara and Noah

Negus) are in Sydney competing in the NSW All

Schools Athletics meet. Let's get together and

cheer them on!

Congratulations Sara and Noah - you do

yourselves, family, school and community proud

In this Sunday's readings we hear the story of a rich young man who claims that he does everything God asks of him. When Jesus points out to him that it is in fact money that is taking priority in his life, and not God, the rich

young man is told to give away his wealth in order to inherit Heaven.

Many of us make God secondary in our lives, too. And, although God doesn't necessarily want us to give away

all of our money, He does expect us to put God first in our lives.

It is good and healthy for us to step back occasionally and ask ourselves 'Am I putting God first in my life?' Let us enjoy our hobbies and interests, but never should they take first place in our lives; that place is reserved for God who loves us beyond any human love.

Captiv8 Catholic Youth for the month of October:

Tuesday 20th of October - Sacred Heart Parish Hall at 7pm

Please contact Father Rafter for more details: 6962 1533

2015 AUSTRALIAN MATHEMATICS COMPETITION

Marian Catholic College entered 125 students in this year’s Australian Mathematics Competition, sponsored by the Commonwealth Bank, last Thursday, July 30.

The Competition started in Australia in 1978, and is now one of the largest of its kind in the world. More than 40 countries participate in the AMC each year and is recognised as an international benchmark for mathematics performance. Consequently, this Competition will give the Mathematics teachers some indication of the students’ possible strengths and weaknesses in the identified categories for each of the school years.

The topic categories have been redefined to more closely match the Australian Curriculum. Topic Classifications include the following :

1. Number: Basic and Fractions. Basic includes the four basic operations, decimal representation and place value. Fractions includes routine questions involving either fractions or ratios. 2. Algebra: includes questions involving pre-algebra concepts. 3. Geometry: has been divided into 2-Dimiensional and 3-Dimensional questions. Some geometry questions involve measurement, but are classified as geometry where the main focus of the question is geometrical understanding. 4. Measurement: includes measurement of time and space, where understanding and working with units is the main focus. 5. Statistics and Probability: have been grouped together as the number of questions in this category is fairly small. 6. Problem-Solving: has been divided into three categories, Routine, Non-routine and Enumeration. Routine problems may require some mathematical formulation, but usually only require one or two steps. Non-routine problems either require higher-order thinking or involve more than one category of mathematics. Enumeration problems involve counting the number of possibilities in a variety of circumstances.

The Competition consisted of 30 questions, 25 of which were multiple choice questions, and 5 questions required number answers. Duration of the test was 75 minutes.

Congratulations to the following students who got Credits:

Year 7 Piriyarathan Karunapalan, Priscilla Williams, Nayani Navaneethan

Year 8

Samuel Scarfone, Thomas Royal, Chelsea Colpo, Pasquale Catanzariti

Year 9 Morgan Twigg, Angus Kennedy, Jessie Lewis

Year 10 Matthew Cercone, Laura Miles, Daniel Parise

Year 11 Arini Navaneethan, Emma Zanotto

On Wednesday Year 12 2015 class unveiled their "Walk of Fame" major paver fundraiser for 2015 which was completed over the September/October holidays. The walkway is paved with engraved pavers of new and old students/staff and families linked with the College. Year 12 captains and vice captains cut the ribbon to the Walk and were joined by their Year 12 cohort and homeroom teachers to be the first to walk the Walk of Fame. Special thanks to Peter Piroso for the donation of the marble centre and Bertollo Bricklaying for the laying of the pavers.

INVITATION

You are all Invited!! This Sunday 7am bottom block main street

It's that time of year again, Marian is putting up our famous school house orange sculpture. Sunday 11th October. All volunteers welcome, please bring closed in shoes and a bucket, if you have one.

See you there!

2015 COLLEGE MAGAZINE We are currently taking orders for the 2015 Marian Catholic College Magazine (available early 2016). Magazines are available to families for $27.50 each & must be pre-ordered & paid for by 27/11/2015. Magazines will not be available unless pre-ordered. Please complete your order below & promptly return to the College office. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Student Name………………………………………………… Year…………………. No. of Magazines req’d………………….@ $27.50ea = $.......................... Payment type herewith: Cash or Cheque payable to Marian Catholic College or Please debit my Visa / Mastercard No. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Exp. _ _ / _ _ Signed…………………………………………..