MARIST CATHOLIC COLLEGE PENSHURST

Friday 19 May - Number 7

one school • one family • one communityTelephone: 9579 6188 Fax: 9579 6668 www.maristpenshurst.catholic.edu.au

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

10 May 2017

Dear Parents and Carers

As you are aware, Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) has made very public and proactive responses to the Federal Government’s proposed new education funding model.

I want to take this opportunity to reassure all of you that Catholic schools, have always, and will continue to do, everything possible to maintain the lowest possible fees to ensure that all families, regardless of economic circumstances, have access to a quality, comprehensive Catholic education.

Our concern is that the new model announced by the Federal Government, whilst providingacceptable funding for Catholic schools for 2018, does not adequately address our concerns about long-term funding for our sector.

School fees

With respect to the potential increase in school fees, I want to stress they are only at risk of rising if the flaws in the funding model are not addressed before the legislation is passed by Parliament.

In 2018, there will not be an increase in school fees apart from the normal annual increases that reflect the costs of running a school. While the government is yet to reveal the full details, SCS has serious concerns that school fees may have to increase in the longer term tomaintain current funding levels per student. We are advocating that the government “locks in” an adequate annual increase in funding each year to provide funding certainty over the longer term.

We will do everything in our power to minimise the potential increase in school fees in the long-term.

System funding

As a system of schools, Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) is able to function more effectively by working collaboratively. Resources are not allocated on a school-by-school basis. They are spread across all 152 Catholic schools within our system to ensure there is equity and opportunity for all children, regardless of where they live.

This has allowed us to:

• lift educational outcomes for all students• to share resources to deliver specialist intervention programs across all our schools• to meet student needs

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• to keep small schools open; and • to fund major capital works programs.

The proposed move to a ‘school-by-school’ funding model seriously undermines our ability to move resources to best meet needs when required.

Where are we at?

Under the proposed model, Catholic systemic schools will be funded by the system according to a Socio-economic Status (SES) formula for each school which are projections based on the perceived wealth of local government areas. Using SES figures alone only tells one part of the story. As we know, young families with high mortgages are not wealthy and do not have the same ‘capacity to pay’ as other parents in the same SES locality.

Funding Estimator

The School Funding Estimator model shows how much government money each school contributes to the system. We believe this Estimator relies on flawed assumptions and may mislead parents about the impact of the funding levels on school fees and the increasing cost of education. While the dollar amount may seem significant over ten years, the projected amounts basically only cover the annual cost of living increases and normal increases in teacher salaries.

Gonski 2.0

I have always maintained that the guiding principles of any new funding model should be excellence, equity and choice. Catholic education welcomes the Federal Government’s commitment to funding for students with additional learning needs, regardless of the school they attend.

The Catholic sector believes that through discussion with the Federal Government our concerns can be resolved. We invite you to help us in this endeavour. Please contact your local Federal MP and ask them to reopen negotiations with the Catholic sector.

I am very grateful for your continued support in this important matter.

Yours sincerely

Dr Dan WhiteExecutive Director of Sydney Catholic Schools

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

UPCOMING DATES

Fri 9 June Champagnat Day Mass and Walkathon

Tues 13 June Year 10 History Excursion

Fri 16 June Year 9 Reflection Day OLF Church Peakhurst

Fri 23 June Year 11 Career Expo

Fri 30 June End of Term 2

P & F NEWS

Keep up to date watching our facebook page

MCCP PandF Group 2017

Kind RegardsMarie McGraw

P & F Committee

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Parents/Carers,

There has been a great deal of media attention of late around the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. This series depicts the story of a young teen’s suicide and the 13 tapes she leaves behind to be listened to by those she perceives have contributed to her fatal decision. Of particular concern is the graphic depiction of sexual assault, suicide, cyberbullying, alcohol use and effects of depression.

Many healthcare professionals like Dr Michael Carr-Gregg and organisations like Headspace have voiced concerns about the series in that it presents unsafe and mixed messages to our young people. In particular, many experts are of the view that it sensationalises issues like suicide without the context of an informed discussion of mental illness.

While this series does provide some cause for concern, it does provide an opportunity to discuss some serious issues and ‘check in’ with your son or daughter to see how they are feeling. Keeping the lines of communication open is important and having honest, informed and supportive conversations can help young people manage the challenges that confront them. Headspace provides some excellent resources for parents/carers and educators which include ways to talk about suicide with young people.

Finally, should you have Netflix and wish to put in place parental controls to restrict access to such content, the following link will provide instructions on how to do so.

Reminders from the Assistant Principal

- The presentation our students at the College and in the community is highly regarded and frequently commented on as an impressive attribute of belonging to MCCP. Please ensure that your son/daughter maintain this high standard by ensuring the college blazer is the outer garment when travelling to and from school.

- A reminder of the absence procedure. Please ensure that you phone the College to notify of their absence before 8.45am. You can contact the College on Ph: 9579 6188 and select the menu option for Student Absences. You may then leave a message with your child’s name, PC class and a brief description of why they are unable to attend school. Please use this facility or provide a note to report that your child will be late to school.

Mr Chris Morris - Assistant Principal

FROM THE COLLEGE BURSARThank you to all families who have honoured their commitment in paying their school fees. Term 2 fees are now overdue. If you haven’t already done so, could you please settle any outstanding fees on your accounts asap unless prior arrangements have been made with the College.

Thanks for your assistance.

Mrs Joy O’Sullivan - College Bursar

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YEAR 12 RETREATYear 12 Retreat was one of the memorable experiences of our lives, to date. We not only had a load of fun getting to know our teachers better, but we also got to explore our relationships; with friends, family and God. We explored what each person in our life meant and symbolised to us all, as well as what our connection to God was. The experiences we all had on retreat will stay with us forever, they were; fun, transformative, exciting, tiring and overall memorable.

On behalf of Year 12 I would like to thank the teachers who came along to support our Retreat experience. Thank you Ms Elhage, Mr Young, Ms Emmerick, Mr Nader, Mr Barnes, Ms Farrelly, Ms Thompson, Mr Shipley, Mr Skoflic, Mr Vane-Tempest, Mrs Pelosi and Mrs Vassallo. Your generosity will never be forgotten. Special thanks to Brother Tony who added an extra special dimension to our Retreat experience.

Liam Robinson

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On the 12th May the College hosted a Mother’s Day Liturgy to give thanks to all the wonderful women in our community. The liturgy commenced with students from various years leading our mums in prayer and reflection, highlighting exactly how important these special women are. It was a moving and heartfelt liturgy that allowed us to gather as a community. Following the liturgy, a slideshow of photos of our mum’s and their children which was organised by Miss Elhage was played to the sound of ‘Gentle Woman’. All in all I would like to thank all those involved in making the Mother’s Day Liturgy a memorable one, Miss Vassallo for organising the liturgy, Miss Elhage for organising the photos, Ms Collins for organising helpers and catering and all the other staff who helped make it a special day. Finally, I’d like to acknowledge our students from the SRC and others who gave up their time willingly to help make the liturgy such a successful one. Thank you all.

Nikolas Pazanin - College Captain SRC

The Mother’s Day Breakfast event was one of the best Mother’s Day events that I had been involved with over my time at Penshurst. There was a very loving and joyful atmosphere following a great Mother’s Day Liturgy in the Library. The La Valla Centre quickly filled up with students and the important women in their lives, holding the flowers that they had received from their sons and daughters when they first arrived. It was really nice to witness how happy all the mothers and grandmothers were to see the students showing appreciation for and recognising the integral role that these women have played in our lives. The students who helped to serve food and coffees also contributed to a fantastic morning and assisted in showcasing the leadership skills that our school encourages and tries to build in each student. Ultimately, the event was a major success that helped students show their love and appreciation towards the important mother figures in their lives, and I am certain that next year will be just as great.

Cooper Cheney - Vice-Captain SRC

MOTHERS DAY LITURGY

NATIONAL SORRY DAYNational Sorry Day is a day where the nation is brought together to acknowledge the mistreatment of Australia’s Indigenous population and raise awareness of the need to end exclusion. Next week, our community at Marist Catholic College Penshurst will be taking part in and acknowledging National Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week. National Sorry Day is held on the 26th of May and offers people the opportunity to acknowledge and say sorry. As a school, we have organised a large banner of which every student and teacher can sign to make a pledge, signifying their acknowledgement. On

this day, the movie, “Rabbit Proof Fence” will be played during recess and lunch, popcorn will also be available. Reconciliation Week provides an opportunity for everyone to take time and reflect on a vital aspect of Australian history. Reconciliation Week runs from the 27th of May to the 3rd of June. These two dates are significant as they mark two milestones. The 1967 Referendum and the historic Mabo decision. This year, 2017 will mark 50 years since the Referendum and also 25 years since the Mabo decision. As a school, prayers will be said during Pastoral Care classes every day to acknowledge this significant week. In addition, liturgies will be held throughout the week in the Chapel, which is open to all.

Social Justice Leaders - Blayne Cannon and James Curran

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HSIE NEWSOne of Australia’s most respected teacher of History - Ken Webb visited Marist Penshurst recently to share his insights into the Modern History course with Year 12 students. Ken provided detailed information on Germany post World War One and the rise of Nazism and demonstrated to students how their learning in class could be effectively applied across all sections of the Higher School Certificate examination. Our students left the presentation with detailed insights into how to better approach the short answer and extended response questions. The students were excited to listen to Ken, having read many of his publications throughout their learning in History.

Mr Tony Nader - HSIE Coordinator

28TH AUSTRALIAN MARIST BASKETBALL CARNIVALDuring the first week of the holidays, the Senior Basketball team competed in the 28th Australian Marist Basketball Carnival. This year the carnival was hosted by Marist College Ashgrove in Brisbane. The carnival is a yearly gathering of Marist schools from all over Australia and is an elite competition that showcases basketball whilst bringing Australian Marist schools together.

Our team went through some minor changes in the lead up to the competition but in the end, the following students made the trip to Brisbane - Don Qiu, Stephen Deng, Jimmy Huang, Samuel Lombardo, Nicholas Leventis, Jacky Zhang and Richard Liang.

The start to this year’s carnival was tough, with the team playing four games in seven hours on day one, however the students remained competitive in every game. Having only seven players in the team made it that little bit more difficult, but in true Penshurst spirit, the students rose to the challenge, and persevered through each and every match. Their team spirit was strong with each player providing physical and mental support. As always, the students behaviour on and off the court was exemplary, and the boys entered into the Marist spirit of the carnival at every opportunity they had, quickly gaining the respect of both players and coaches in the competition. Whilst we didn’t win many matches, it is always a good feeling leaving the carnival on a high note. This was achieved by the team winning our last two matches. Regardless of our success in the final rankings of the carnival I am certain the students will remember the carnival fondly, especially as they travelled to Brisbane together, giving them the opportunity to really get to know each other and to do a little sight-seeing!

Congratulations to Don for receiving the Marcellin Champagnat Award for our team. This award is for the player who embodies the Marist spirit, of which Don was a deserved recipient.

Finally, I’d like to thank Miss Analise Emmerick for volunteering to come away on the trip. She was instrumental in keeping the students spirits up throughout the week, and provided great support for both myself and the students as Team Manager.

Ms Rachel ThompsonSenior CBSA Basketball Coach

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STUDY SKILLS TIPS - MAYImproving Handwriting Please take the time to read the following study tips with your child. These study tips are provided by Prue Salter who is an expert in assisting students to develop the skills and techniques necessary to successfully organise and maximise their studies.

To improve your handwriting, you need to first assess how healthy you are in the four elements of legible handwriting: letter formation, sizing, alignment on the line and spacing between words. Then use the steps below to start to improve your handwriting:• FIND BEST PEN: Experiment with different pens to see which is the easiest to write with and which one gives you the neatest handwriting. Use the same pen all the time.• GOOD GRIP: Hold the pen/pencil gently and do not grip too tightly or push too hard on the paper.• USE ARM MUSCLES: Always write with your forearm and shoulder NOT with your fingers or wrist. This way your strokes will flow much better. It may take you some time to retrain your arm and hand but be aware of these movements when you practise. The muscles in your forearm and shoulder tire less easily than your fingers.• BEGIN WITH LARGE STROKES: practise initially on a whiteboard (or even tracing letters in the air) using large strokes until you feel comfortable with using your forearm and shoulder muscles. When you feel you have conquered this, it is time to begin practising on paper. Keep using large strokes, gradually reducing them in size as your control of the muscles increases. Once you have accomplished this it is time to begin practising in your exercise book forming normal sized letters.• POSTURE: Ensure you practise your handwriting skills at a desk or table. Sit up straight using a good chair.• RULED LINED BOOK: Buy a ruled exercise book (like a primary cursive pad) for practice use. Always write on lined paper and take note of how you are writing and how your work looks on the page.• COPY STYLE: Look for an example of a handwriting style that you like and can use to copy from. Keep this in front of you at all times to inspire you towards improving your style.• INDIVIDUAL LETTERS: Begin with individual letters and practise writing at least one letter per day concentrating on the four elements of legible handwriting.• WHOLE WORDS: Once you have worked your way through individual letters in the alphabet practise writing whole words. Be aware of the flow from one letter to the next as well as spacing between each word.• TEST SENTENCE: Choose a test sentence for yourself and write it at the top of your first practice page. Each week write this sentence at the top of a new page to check for improvement in your writing.• SPECIAL SENTENCE: Frequently practise writing the sentence ‘the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog’ in small and capital letters. This sentence contains all the letters in the alphabet and gives you good overall practice of each letter.• WRITE SLOWLY: Write slowly when practising.• REALISTIC GOALS: Don’t set impractical goals for improvement. Improvement will take time and is a matter for persistence – it all comes down to practice, practice and then more practice! Once your handwriting style has improved, you can then focus on improving the speed of your handwriting. Every day, practise writing at speed. Choose a particular passage and write it out neatly. Time yourself. The next day, write it out neatly again but try and speed up a bit and time yourself again. The goal is to get to the point where you can write the passage out quickly but still maintain neat handwriting. Doing this for just 5 minutes every day will really help you to improve your handwriting. If your cursive (running) writing is really bad, you may find it easier to learn to print really fast in exams rather than focus on improving your cursive style.

Mr Moe Akkawy - Director of Pedagogy & Administration

HSC Student Optional WorkshopsThis term, Years 11 and 12 are invited to attend our HSC Preparation Workshops. These workshops will run every Wednesday fortnight between 3.15 and 4.15 and are a wonderful opportunity for you son to gain important information, skills and strategies in his preparation for the HSC.

The workshops will be delivered by our talented teachers as well as professionals from Sydney Catholic Schools. Through the workshops, we aim to guide students and provide them with an advantage over others preparing for the HSC. We will work with students to develop their understanding and skills necessary for HSC success through a series of workshops, ranging from information about ATAR calculations to utilising feedback and looking after our personal wellbeing.

We encourage all Year 11 and 12 students to attend and be involved in these workshops. Together, we can utilise this great opportunity for senior students to be best prepared for the HSC. Students wishing to register for future workshops should access their Pastoral Care Google Classroom.

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CBSA/SCC CROSS COUNTRY REPORTOn Friday May 5th, our College Cross Country squad competed in the CBSA/SCC Cross Country Championships at Queens Park, Centennial Parklands. There were some outstanding individual performances on the day.

In the CBSA Competition:Jamie Lawler 1st in the U16’s and CBSA U16 Age Champion.Joseph Sartor 1st in the U15’s and CBSA U15 Age Champion. Brock Myers 3rd, Marcus Timsans 4th and Tyler Hull 5th in the U16’s.Patrick Brown 5th in the U14’s.Joshua Keedle-Ortiz 2nd in the U13’s.Cooper Garcia 2nd and Andrew Tsiknis 3rd in the U12’s.

In the SCC Competition:Leila Szczepanik 4th, Mia Szczepanik 5th and Tara Curry 6th in the U13’s.Zoe Pitkethley 2nd in the U14’s.Alicia Langley 2nd, Katie Schwarzel 3rd and Lyric Parcarey 4th in the U15’s

All these runners have been selected in the CBSA/SCC squads to compete at the NSWCCC Cross Country Championships at Eastern Creek on the 16th June. Congratulations to all of you!

Our overall success in this Cross Country competition is determined by the results of all our runners in each division: Junior; Intermediate; and Senior. It is therefore a team effort. As a result, MCCP ran 2nd in the SCC Junior Aggregate Trophy and 2nd in the Intermediate Aggregate Trophy. Our SCC team also came 2nd in the Overall Aggregate which was a remarkable effort considering we only competed in four of the seven Age Divisions. This resulted in the team winning the Most Improved College Trophy.

Our College also came 2nd in the CBSA Intermediate Aggregate, 4th in the CBSA Junior Aggregate and 4th in the CBSA Senior Aggregate.

Based on the results of this competition, the following are the College’s Cross Country Age Champions:

U12 M Cooper GarciaU12 F Elizabeth WastieU13 M Joshua Keedle-OrtizU13 F Leila SzczepanikU14 M Patrick BrownU14 F Zoe PitkethleyU15 M Joseph SartorU15 F Alicia LangleyU16 M Jamie LawlerU17 M Andrew Tang0PENS M Julian Enriquez

I’d like to thank all of you for your commitment and excellent behaviour on the day. You all did the College proud. Thanks to Mr Urquhart, Mr Lloyd and Mrs Walker for their help and support, and to those parents who came and supported the team on the day.

Mr Paul Burg Director of Sport

CBSA Age Champions - Jamie Lawler & Joseph Sartor

MCCP Cross Country Age Champions

MCCP Cross Country Squad

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CBSARUGBY LEAGUE RND OPPOSITION WIN/

LOSS SCORE COACH

JUNIOR 2 Holy Spirit College Lakemba Loss 10-24 Mr Michael Fisher3 St Mary’s Cathedral College Loss 10-18

INTERMEDIATE 2 Holy Spirit College Lakemba Loss 4-16 Mr John Lloyd3 St Mary’s Cathedral College Win 16-12

SENIOR 2 St Marys Cathedral College Win 12-10 Mr Martin Shipley3 Bye

SOCCER RND OPPOSITION WIN LOSS SCORE COACH

JUNIOR 2 Holy Spirit College Lakemba Win 9-0 Mr Michael Young3 St Mary’s Cathedral College Draw 0-0

INTERMEDIATE 2 Holy Spirit College Lakemba Loss 0-1 Mr John Cullerton3 St Mary’s Cathedral College Win 4-1

SENIOR 2 Holy Spirit College Lakemba Win 10-1 Mr Michael Way3 St Mary’s Cathedral College Draw 0-0

SCC

NETBALL RND OPPOSITION WIN/LOSS SCORE COACH

JUNIOR 2 Holy Spirit College Lakemba Win 28-8 Ms Louise Beard

3 All Saints College Liverpool Win 17-16

INTERMEDIATE 2 Holy Spirit College Lakemba Win 35-10 Ms Analise Emmerick3 All Saints College Liverpool Win 15-12

CBSA/SCC SPORT RESULTS

TOUCH FOOTBALL NEWS

SOCCER NEWS

The following students will be representing the CBSA and SCC at the NSWCCC Touch Football Championships in Dubbo next week:

SCC: Zoe Pitkethley, Alicia Langley, Lainey Grech

CBSA: Jarrod Maloney, Jamie Lawler, John Dufty, Harry Keen, Tom Pitkethley

Congratulations and good luck! Unfortunately Ethan Hoskins was selected but has withdrawn due to a broken leg.

Congratulations to the following students who have been selected in the CBSA Senior Soccer team to compete at the Inter Diocesan Championships and NSWSCC Selection Trials:

Kosta Tsournakakis, Alex Lasovski, Kudzai Mazando

Good Luck boys!

Mr Paul BurgDirector of Sport

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