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Newsletter 11 2012 - 24 August

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY29 Aug HSC Showcase: 5.30pm displays in PLC 6.30pm performance in SGN

30 Aug Year 8 disco 6pm at ERC

31 Aug Father’s Day breakfast 7.30am

17 Sept Year 12 Academic Assembly 9am in SGN

18 Sept Year12GraduationMass 10.30am at WEC

21 Sept Year 12 Dinner Dance Last day Term 3

For student enquiries and notifications, please ring Student Office on 4226 3969

Dear parents,

Ihopethatthisbeautifulweatherfindsyou well. The days are lengthening and we are just beginning to see the emergence of some spring days in between the wind andthecoldofwinter.Wearealittleoverhalf way through Term 3 and as always lifeisverybusyatthecollege.OurYear12girlshavebeguntheseriousbusinessof studying for their HSC exams, with our Dance, Drama, Language and Industrial Technology students already commencing theexamprocess.AtthesametimeourYear 10 students are making choices about theirdirectioninseniorschoolwhilebecomingveryexcitedattheprospectofbeing able to wear the senior uniform from the commencement of Term 4. We are also beginningtoorganisetheOrientationDayfor our 2013 Year 7 students, while planning ourTryYear7foraDayopportunitiesforstudentscontemplatingenrollingatStMary’sin2014.Needlesstosay,thestaffandstudentsareworkingveryhardatthisbusytimeoftheyear.

The college celebrated “Good Sams” Day lastFriday,commencingwithMassandthepresentationofourinauguralGoodSam awards. This was followed by a day of greatactivityasweheldacollegetalentcontest,ourhousechoirsdidbattleandwehad a day of partying, with rides, food, a “silent” disco and all manner of stalls and displays. This was a great day and one that again highlighted the wonderful sense of communityatStMary’s.ThiswasalsothefinalopportunityforourYear12studentstojusthavefunbeforetheycommencethemoreformalaspectsofleavingschool.Itwas a wonderful day where we prayed and celebratedasacommunityandwegave

thanks for the many blessings that we enjoy in this excellent school.

TheGoodSamawardshaveproventobeahuge success, with nine students and three staffmembersrecognisedatMassasbeingGoodSamaritans.Thestudentsandstaffwereveryproudtohavebeennominatedandreceivetheseawardsanditwasagreatprivilegetocongratulateour“GoodSams”andwatchthemreceivetheirawardsfromSrChristineManning,thecollege’sChairofMembers,andSrCatherineMcCahillwhowasrepresentingSrClareCondon,theCongregationalLeaderoftheGoodSamaritan Sisters. The award winners are members of our community who model the valuesoftheGoodSamaritanintheirwordsandactions.ThepeoplenominatedseeknopraiseorrecognitionandcontinuallysupportothersthroughtheirthoughtfulnessandsenseofChristiancharity.TheGoodSamaritan Award winners were:

Staff-SrRitaFitt,MrBobCooper,MrsNoeleneMahoney

Students-BrigitteBradley,Amber-RoseBubb,NicolaDowning,CassandraGreen,JessicaGrozdanov,TaylaHoward,GabriellaMerkuloff,LucyPacker,GracePifferi.

I congratulate our 2012 Good Sams andthankthemfortheirservicetoourcommunity.

The college has a number of important eventscomingupthatyoumightliketoincludeinyourcalendar.ThefirstistheHSCShowcase which will be held on Wednesday 29 August, commencing at 5.30pm in the PLCwithaviewingoftheBodyofWorksandprojects.Thiswillbefollowedbyliveperformances from our music, dance and drama students. This will be an excellent eveningandonenottobemissed.

ThenexteventforyourcalendaristheFather’sDayBreakfastwhichwillbeheldonFriday 31 August, commencing at 7.30am. Iinviteourdad’stocomealongandletusspoil you with a special breakfast before work.

We are holding our decades reunion for former students on Saturday 1 September, commencing at 10am in the PLC. If you are anex-studentandyouarecelebratingadecadeordecadessinceleavingStMary’s,please come along and join us for morning tea and the opportunity to catch up with classmates.

I thank parents for your ongoing support. FrankPitt,Principal

Our students had fun on Good Sams Day

COME AND ENJOY THE ARTISTIC TALENTS OF OUR HSC STUDENTS

NextWednesdayeveningthecollegewillbeshowcasingthefantastictalentsofourYear12studentsinDance,Drama,Music,DesignandTechnology,Multimedia,Visual Art and English Extension II.

Theeveningstartsat5.30pmwithtimefor parents, students and friends to wander through the PLC and enjoy the varietyofmajorworks.Lightrefreshmentswillbeserved.

At 6.30pm our performance showcase begins in the SGN Hall with a wonderful selectionofindividualandgrouppiecesfromthisyear’spracticalHSCexaminations.

Welookforwardtosharingthiseveningwith you. KerriHarrigan,CreativeArtsCoordinator

GOOD SAMS DAY

Congratulationstoallwhocontributedtoadayfullofcommunityspiritandenthusiasm.Theclubspreparedandorganisedfantasticstallsthatraisedawarenessandcombinedtocreateapositiveandenjoyableexperienceforall.TheSocialJusticeCornerwaswellattendedwithactivitiessuchasknitting,hairbraidingandfacepainting.

ThankyoutoallwhocontributedtothecollectionforaGoodSamaritancause.Thetotalwas$1,300whichisafantasticeffortfortheonecollection.Whatagreatcommunitywehave-alwaysstrivingtobuildabetterone.KerrieGuillaume

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2013

To encourage local female high school students to take on the challenge of extensionMathematics,BlueScopeSteelareofferingMathstutoringscholarshipswhichare open to female Year 10 and 11 students who will be undertaking Extension 1 or 2 MathsinYear11and12.

Winnerswillbeawardedanobligation-freepayment of $2,000 for Year 10 and $1,000 forYear11tocoverthecostofaMathstutor, paid in $500 instalments at the start of Terms 1 and 3.

Applicationsarenowopenforthe2013scholarships.Toapply,pleasesubmitalettercoveringthefollowinginformation:

• Subject results for year 10• Listofsubjectsyouhaveenrolledinfor

Year 11 and 12• Coverletteroutliningwhyyoufeelyou

wouldbenefitfromascholarshipfortutoring

• WhyyouareinterestedinMathsandpursuing a career in engineering.

EmailapplicationstoAndyStirlingby30September-Andrew.Stirling@bluescopesteel.com.

Formoreinformationvisit:www.bluescopesteel.com/cadets or phone 4275 3326. Pauline Judd

CIRCUS MONOXIDE: This September holidays CircusMonoxidewillholdfive-hour“ADayattheCircus”workshops.Forinfoandbookingsvisitwww.circusmonoxide.com.au or call 4285 0066.

Our “Good Samaritans” with Sr Christine, Sr Catherine and Mr Pitt

UNIFORM SHOP: closed during September school holidays Last trading day Thursday 20 September - resuming Tuesday 9 October.

ST MARY’S SCIENCE FAIR

Last week the Science Department conducted its annual Science Fair and the quality of this year’s Science projects was veryhigh.45projectswereenteredfromover90students.Therewasexcitementinthe air as students explained their research projects to the judges and it was a close competitionforprizes.Agroupofstudentswill now be selected to present their projects at the Regional Science Fair, to be conductedattheUniversityofWollongonginTerm4.MajorScienceFairprizeswentto:

YEARS 7 AND 8 SECTION - 1st place Hannah Shipp and Kiara Zentrich; Runner-upBrittanyPolsson, Grace Agnew and Lauren Turton. Highly Commended: Rebecca Jones, Rachel Gandy, Kiarna Rosandic, Simone Carmody, SarahSkeates,JosefinBauch,PaigePenroseandEvelynDillon.

YEARS 9, 10 AND 11 SECTION - 1st place MarissaCouldridge;Runner-upMelissaMarin,BrookeCarmodyandJessicaKnight.Highly Commended:AliceO’Keefe,EmiliaDobbins,AlexiaClementi,BronteMandaric,MegCummins,MarissaCouldridge,LucindaBeck,SallyO’Donoghue,AnneliseBussoletti,KatelinKoprivec,AlexiaMihalopoulos,VivienneConnor,VictoriaSomerville,NatashaKarabolovski,KateJohns,CassieGrant and Emeline Cacciaguidi-Fahy. AdrianBell

VISIT FROM DEAN OF LAW

Wereceivedanillustriousguest,ProfessorLukeMcNamara,DeanofLawattheUniversityofWollongong,onMonday20August.HediscussedtheadvantagesandflexibilityofstudyingaBachelorofLawsatUOWwithourLegalStudiesstudents.

ProfMcNamarawasaccompaniedbyex-studentKatelinIsabella,whogavestudentsanideaofuniversitylifeandherdoubledegree of Economics/Law.

It was a great insight for the students to hear how a law degree could be integrated into their future studies and the girls enjoyed the friendly, relaxed and informalmannerinwhichtheinformationwas presented. I would like to thank our guestsandMrsJuddandMrsColemanfororganisingthevisit.LisaKendell

MAX POTENTIAL

Forthepast22weeks,fiveYear11girlshavetakenpartintheDaptoLeagues“MaxPotential”leadershipprogram,designedtodeveloptheirleadershipabilitiesunderthementoring of a personal coach.

The students conducted a project that wouldusetheirleadershipskillstogiveback to the community. These community projects helped them to learn that they havethepowertomakeadifference.

On14Augustashowcaseofallstudentprojects was held at Dapto Leagues Club. Hereallparticipantshadtheirownboothsto demonstrate what they had done with their project. The booths were all decorated with balloons, neon lights, the occasional spotlightandTVscreen,freefoodandevenaninteractiveWiigame.Asaresultoftheexperiencethegirlshavedevelopedtheirorganisationalandleadershipskills,aswellas gaining a new understanding of their owncapabilities.Eachofthegirlsenjoyedtheir experience and highly recommend the opportunitytootherstudents.MichaelBee

Erin Cranney, Rebekah Zamroz, Kara Agostinho, Jessica Wotherspoon

and Alexia Clementi

FROM THE DEAN OF PASTORAL CARE: SOME GREAT APPS TO EXPLORE!

Followingonfrommyarticlesinearliernewsletters,Iencourageyouandyourdaughterstoexploretheseappsalittlefurther.AllareavailablefromtheAppleAppStore.

Live Happy-agreatpositivepsychology approach

Body Beautiful - super for encouragingpositiveselfimage

MnF Mindfulness - opportunity for mindfulnessandmeditation

Headspace - another opportunity for directed mindfulness and meditationRe-Mindful - An app to remind us to smile and breathe!

Take A Chill-somefantasticstrategiestofindasenseofcalm

Without Power Struggles - a parentingversionofTakeAChill

Take a Stand-anappthatprovidestipsandadvicetodifferentbullyingsituations

Prof McNamara and Mrs Kendell with Legal Studies students

TOURNAMENT OF THE MINDS

RecentlyStMary’shostedtheRegionalDrama Workshop, “Thinking Skills”, for the nationalTournamentoftheMinds.

Teamsshowedtheircreativitybycompetinginpracticechallenges,andweregivencreativeideasonhowtoproblemsolve.

WethankMrsCarollO’DonnellwhoistheInternationalDirectorofTournamentoftheMinds.Shespentthedayhelpingtheteamstobecreative.ThankyoualsotoMrsBoylefororganisingtheevent.

Thisyear’steamrepresentingthecollegeonSunday26AugustatStJohntheEvangelistHigh School in Nowra are: Year 7 Chiara Sirianni,CourtneyBuchanan,GraceParker;Year 8 Kiara Zentrich, Caitlin Lasek, Hannah Shipp; Year 10MirandaClark Chiara Sirianni, Year 7

Students participating in Thinking Skills workshop

16 Harbour Street Wollongong - Locked Bag 42 Wollongong NSW 2500Phone (02) 4228 6011 Fax (02) 4229 8555 www.stmarys.nsw.edu.au

KIDS AND BULLYING: Tohelpparentsbetterunderstand a range of issues associated with bullying CatholicCare is running workshops on 13 and 20 September, 10am-12.30pm. CatholicCare is located at 25-27 Auburn Street, Wollongong. Forbookingsorinformationcall42271122.

TRIP TO CANBERRA

Recentlyfivestudents,MrsWorrallandMsLettmantravelledtoCanberraforthreedays.TheyvisitedQuestacon-thefavouriteinteractivedisplaywasthe“EarthquakeHouse” where we had the experience of being in an earthquake. We stayed at the CanberraMotorVillageincabins.Intheeveningsweplayedgamesandwatchedamovie.

OntheseconddaywewenttoCanberraZoo.Therewerelotsofdifferentanimalsand we were able to pat the dingoes.

Onthelastdaywewoketoaheavyfrost.We went to Cockington Green, a model village,andwefollowedaworksheetwhichshowed us what the miniature houses represented.

ThedrivebackwasfineuntilwenearedWollongongwherewenoticedtheverystrong winds and it felt colder than Canberra.

StephaniePozzar,JessicaHarb,Melissa Pennimpede,SherryPotter,NicolePanetta

FENCING AT ST MARYS

For the last four weeks, any student walking pasttheMarianHallonaWednesdayafternoonwouldhaveheardthecall“onguard”, and the sounds of “foil against foil” asstudentspractisetheirboutsinthesportoffencing.Studentshavebeenlearningthisancientart,andtherulesandregulationswhichgovernthesport,inthehopeofonedaycompetingforStMarys.It’sloadsoffun,helpswithyourfitnessandcoordination- and yes, you do need to get fully “suited up”! If you are interested, just contact me. Jodi Harris

Fencing at St Mary’s

GLS WORKSHOP FOR SUPERVISING DRIVERS AND ACCOMPANIED LEARNER DRIVERS: WollongongCityCouncilishostingafree“Graduated Licensing Scheme” workshop, to helpyouwithpracticaladviceaboutsupervisinglearnerdrivers,completingtheirLogBookandhowtostructuredrivingpractice.Theworkshopisforsupervisingdrivers-learnerdriversarealsowelcometoattendwiththeirsupervisingdrivers.The two-hour workshop will commence at 6pm onThursday13SeptemberonLevel9at41BurelliStreet,Wollongong.Bookingsareessential-please call Jack Harrison on 4227 7261.

WINTER HARVEST

LastweekMrEveratt’sYear8Geographyclassworkedhardharvestingbroccoli,spinach,lettuce,springonionandbeetrootfrom our community garden. It has been a tough couple of months as the rainfall was down compared to past years. Without the carefromourstudents,theveggieswouldhavediedagesago,butthepersistentwateringhasproducedaterrificharvest.

For our keen gardeners August is the perfecttimetoplantpotatoes.Ifyouhaveshallotsand/orchivesit’sagoodideatodivideclumps,andgiveyourcitrustreesagoodfeedofcompletefertilizer.Ifpeasfindalovelyhomeinyourgardennow, you will be rewarded with a yummy treatinaboutsixweeks!Sixvegiestoplant now: beetroot, broccoli, carrot, silverbeet,turnipandzucchini.Pleasesendquestionsorcommentsaboutthegardentocommunitygarden@stmarys.nsw.edu.au. AdamEveratt

Students tending the community garden

CADETSHIPS, TRAINEESHIPS AND APPRENTICESHIPS

Year12studentsshouldvisitthefollowingwebsitesforinformationaboutcadetships,traineeshipsandapprenticeshipsthataretocommence in 2013. Pauline Judd

Wollongong Council cadetships: jobs@wollongong.nsw.gov.au.

Wollongong Council traineeships and apprenticeships: www.illawarragt.com.au.

Wollongong Uni Management Cadetship Program: www.uow.edu.au/about/scholarships/ug/cadet/index.html.

Blue Scope Steel cadetships: www.cadets.bluescopesteel.com/home/australian-cadetships/brighter-future/brighter-future.

2012 HSC TEXTBOOK RETURNS

A message from the PLC: Dear HSC studentsandparents,thefinaldateforHSC students to return their textbooks to the PLC is FRIDAY 9 NOVEMBER.

PLCstaffwillfacilitatereturnsbyprovidingbaskets for the books near HSC exam areas, or students can return books directly to the PLC.

Textbookdepositsareissued(viapost)oncealltextbookshavebeenreturned.

Ifyouhaveanyqueriesregardingtextbookreturns, please call the PLC on 4253 5207. RachaelBaez

CONSOLING MASS

FrRonPetersinvitespeoplewhohavelost family members or friends in tragic circumstancestoattendthisspecialMassat12noononFriday14SeptemberatMaterDolorsaChurch,47BalmoralRoad,Balgownie.

DISCOVER ENGINEERING DAY

On8AugustsixstudentsattendedtheDiscoverEngineeringDay,heldbyEngineering Australia. They had the opportunitytotalktovariousemployersregardingengineeringcareers,participatedin experiments and inspected a hotrod which was designed by mechanical engineeringstudents.PresentationsweremadebycadetsfromBluescopeSteelandstudentsfromtheUniversitiesofWollongongandSydney,aswellasretiredengineers from all facets of the engineering industry.Thegirlsleftthedaywithagoodunderstanding of a day in the life of an engineer. Pauline Judd