MARIST CATHOLIC COLLEGE PENSHURST

Friday 9 March - Number 3

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

FROM THE PRINCIPALInaugural MassLast Friday we gathered as a Catholic College Community for our Inaugural Mass to celebrate the Eucharist as it is the ‘source and summit’ of our Catholic life.

Congratulations to the students, parents and staff for making this a most reverent and moving celebration, thank you to Father Chris Ryan for being our celebrant and to Brother Tony Butler for assisting with our presentations. Congratulations to each young person who accepted the ministry of leadership and special congratulations to Nicholas Condylios, our College Vice Captain and Zachary Pitkethley, our College Captain.

2018 Leadership Team

Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 118-1 Noella Hage 9-1 Georgia Mitropoulos 10-1 Zale Briscoe-Hough 11-1 Ross Green8-2 Emma Dimeo 9-2 Nicolette Tsiknis 10-2 Connor McSweeney 11-2 Aaron Borg8-3 Andrew Tsiknis 9-3 Mia Szczepanik 10-3 Sabina De Leon 11-3 Travis Giannarakis8-4 Charlotte McGhee 9-4 Rissa Mae De Robles 10-4 Damian Scalone 11-4 Edward El-Jalkh8-5 Deion Sarkis 9-5 Stephanie Midis 10-5 Jacinta Gunawan8-6 Madeline Gigis 9-6 Connor Da Lapa-SoaresYear 12 LeadersHouse CaptainsMore Leopold Salvius DunstanJames Tzortzatos Noah Assaly Samuel Lombardo Jack RigbyLiturgy Liturgy Social Justice Social JusticAndrew Tang Marko Budanovic George Shimess Frankie Trimboli

College Vice Captain - Nicholas CondyliosCollege Captain - Zachary Pitkethley

Target SettingMrs Connie Frino, our Assistant Principal, has sent home a letter today. This is an excerpt from the letter:

‘High quality teaching and learning is of the utmost importance to us at Marist Catholic College Penshurst. Educational research has consistently demonstrated that high performing students set explicit, challenging and achievable learning goals.

Marist Catholic College Penshurst has decided to further refine the target setting programme to give students more autonomy and leadership of their learning goals and directions for 2018.

The College has decided in light of the adjustment in our procedures that the target setting afternoon due to be held on Monday 19 March is no longer required. Monday 19 March will now become a normal school day for students.’

The complete version of the letter can be found on the back page of this newsletter.

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Open DayThank you to all members of our College community for your great work in preparation and support with Open Day 2018. It was a wonderful afternoon and evening of showcasing all the amazing learning experiences and facilities on offer for our students. The student guides, performers and helpers were - as always - outstanding ambassadors for our College. Our numerous visitors were very impressed with the highly engaging displays across all Key Learning Areas and commented very favourably on the professionalism of all staff. This day reinforced for all in the local community that Marist Catholic College Penshurst is a wonderful place to inspire student learning guided by a caring, highly qualified and committed staff.

FROM THE PRINCIPAL Continued

Mr Ray Martin - College Principal

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FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPALCARING FOR STUDENTS - HOME/SCHOOL COMMUNICATION

Strong parent-teacher relationships are one of the hallmarks of all great schools and a major contributor to student success. The College diary provides an excellent platform for communication between the home and school, and ensuring that it is signed each week will assist you to keep up with what has been happening for your child at school. There are however times when you may want to contact the school to discuss pastoral or academic concerns relating to your child. Our home-school communication process is outlined in the diagram to the right.

For all enquiries or concerns relating to student learning in the classroom please contact the subject teacher in the first instance. If the matter is still not resolved, then we encourage you to make contact with the relevant KLA Coordinator. For matters relating to student wellbeing, or concerns that extend beyond a single subject, please contact the pastoral care teacher or your child’s Leader of Wellbeing. Where the matter is particularly complex, serious or has the potential to have a significant impact on your child’s academic progress or wellbeing, the Director of Curriculum, Director of Wellbeing and/or Assistant Principal may become involved.

Parents and carers who have sons or daughters with special learning needs or who are on personalised learning plans, are encouraged to contact their child’s Diverse Learning Teacher where there are concerns regarding supports or adjustments.

We aim to resolve concerns and deal with matters in an expeditious and respectful manner and I would ask that parents afford teachers the same basic courtesy. Our mutual interest is of course, your sons and daughters.

ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL

Recently I came across the image shown to the right and I felt it worth sharing with you. It summarises the potential impacts of what might seem like just an odd day of absence here and there. While it is very important to keep your son / daughter at home if they are unwell please consider the interruption that holidays and appointments can make on your child’s learning. Where possible families are encouraged to holiday or travel during school vacations and to schedule appointments outside of school hours.

When it comes to learning every day and hour counts.

Mrs Connie FrinoAssistant Principal

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWSInaugural MassLast Friday we gathered together to celebrate the beginning of a new school year at Marist Catholic College Penshurst. Our Inaugural Mass was held at Our Lady of Fatima Church Kingsgrove and our celebrant Fr Chris Ryan supported our faith community as we asked for God’s blessing on the year ahead. Our Mass was based around the Marist theme of Hope and a Future.

Our new Year 7 students and staff were warmly welcomed into the Marist family. Br Tony led the community in our traditional welcome to the College by placing the names of all new staff and students in our Marist Heart. We believe by doing this, we are placing our community in the care of St Marcellin Champagnat.

Our College leaders were presented with their badges by Mr Martin and their parents and made their pledge to serve the community by following in the footsteps of St Marcellin Champagnat and living out the Marist Charism in the way of Mary in their daily actions.

Thank you to Fr Chris, the special guests, Br Tony and our parent representatives for your presence and support during our Mass.

Thank you I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Martin, the College Leadership Team, staff, students and parents for your ongoing support during my pregnancy. I am very excited about entering the world of motherhood but will most certainly miss the Marist family here at MCCP whilst I am on leave. I wish each and everyone of you a hope filled year!

Mrs Melissa Vassallo - Religious Education Coordinator

UPCOMING DATES

Wed 14 Mar P & F Meeting 6pm La Valla

Wed 14 Mar Vaccinations Visit 1

Fri 30 Mar Good Friday

Tues 3 Apr Normal School Day

Fri 13 Apr Last Day Term 1

Tues 1 May Students Return Full Winter Uniform

2020 Enrolments Now OpenApplications for enroling students for Year 7 2020 are now open. All enrolment information and application forms are available from our College Website - http://www.maristpenshurst.catholic.edu.au/enrolment/how-to-apply/

FROM THE COLLEGE BURSARAll College fees are now overdue for payment. Please finalise these asap. Payments can be made via BPay, EFT, Cash or Cheque.

Mrs Joy O’Sullivan - College Bursar

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On Tuesday 27th February Year 9 participated in an intensive writing day to enhance and develop their critical and creative writing skills in preparation for the NAPLAN early in Term 2. Our theme of the day “Growing Up My Critical and Creative Journey” was strategically chosen to link with the current area of study in English ‘Growing Up.” During the plenary session students participated in a master class where they were exposed to narrative writing scaffolds, modelling of orientation through film, the extrapolation of critical concepts from text and using personal experience to form the basis of a narrative.

Writing challenges were set with teachers encouraging students to develop their writing pace through ‘lightning writing’ activities juxtaposed with ‘slow writing’ where students needed to include a variety of language techniques in just one sentence. Students then worked in small workshops developing vivid settings, animated characters and engaging plots. Finally during period 5, students completed a practice NAPLAN writing test which will be marked using the ACARA NAPLAN marking criteria, this data will be then used to provide individual feedback to students on their performance giving them explicit areas to improve.

It was a wonderful opportunity to polish writing skills and our Year 9 English teachers were brilliant in fostering a deep love of writing engagement.

Ms Rebecca Nolan - Head of Diverse Learning

The Catholic Schools Debating Association’s (CSDA) annual Public Speaking Competition kicked off last Friday night. Students from all over Sydney compete in the prestigious knockout competition, delivering witting, thought-provoking and inspiring speeches based on a chosen topic. This year our College entered eight students from Years 7-10, speaking on a range of topics from ‘A little bit of history repeating itself’ to ‘select, don’t settle.’ The following students proudly represented the College, with five of the eight making the Zone Finals to be held at Aquinas College, Menai on Friday night: Sophie Bulmer (Year 7), Annamaria Psaltis (Year 7), Maya Reynolds (Year 8), Rohan Reynolds (Year 8), Charlotte Bulmer (Year 9), Adam Burridge (Year 9), Chloe Jones (Year 9) and Connor McSweeney (Year 10). I would like to thank Ms Eljed, Miss Emmerick and Mr Skoflic for mentoring and assisting the students in their preparation. We look forward to a successful night on Friday night.

PUBLIC SPEAKING NEWS

Miss Lisa Farrelly - Assistant English Coordinator

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SPORT

SCC

VOLLEYBALL RND OPPOSITION WIN / LOSS SCORE COACH

JUNIOR 4 Casimir College Win 25-13, 25-21 Ms Analise Emmerick5 Mt St Joseph’s College Win 22-25, 25-22, 15-11

INTERMEDIATE 4 Holy Spirit College Loss 22-25, 5-25 Mrs Sandra Neilson5 Mt St Joseph’s College Loss 16-25, 25-19, 13-15

AFL RND OPPOSITION WIN/LOSS SCORE COACH

YEAR 7-9 4 Bye Mr George Karpouzos5 All Saints College Win 24 - 8

TOUCHFOOTBALL RND OPPOSITION WIN/

LOSS SCORE COACH

SENIOR 4 Win 9 - 1 Mr Michael Falzon5 Mt St Joseph’s College Loss 2 - 6

SCC SPORT RESULTS

CBSA

BASKETBALL RND OPPOSITION WIN/LOSS SCORE COACH

JUNIOR 4 Bye Ms Anna Le5 St Charbels College Win 36 - 16

INTERMEDIATE 4 Bye Mr Sunal Varma5 St Charbels College Win 49 - 44

SENIOR 4 Bye Ms Rachel Thompson5 St Charbels College Win 51 - 45

CRICKET RND OPPOSITION WIN/LOSS SCORE COACH

JUNIOR 4 Rosebank College Loss Five Dock 1/108MCCP 6/107 Mr Mark Barnes

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INTERMEDIATE 4 Rosebank College WinFive Dock 8/94MCCP 5/151Joseph Sartor 100 n.o

Mr Matthew Smith

5 Casimir College Win Casimir 6/43MCCP 1/45

SENIOR 4 Rosebank College Win Five Dock 8/123MCCP 3/124 Mr Michael Young

5 Casimir College Win Casimir 10/79MCCP 5/135

CBSA SPORT RESULTS

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PDHPE

All students are welcome to attend the Fitness Fuel Club. It involves an exercise session followed by a nutritious bowl of cereal, muesli and fruit. It will be held

each Thursday morning from 7:15-8 am. You must register with Mrs Katrib on the

8th of March at recess in CV8

Fitness & Fuel Club

START YOUR DAY THE RIGHT WAY

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Agnoscere Et Diligere - To Know and To Love

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16 MARCH 2018

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Thursday 8 March 2018 Dear Parents/Carers, High quality teaching and learning is of the utmost importance to us at Marist Catholic College Penshurst. Educational research has consistently demonstrated that high performing students set explicit, challenging and achievable learning goals. Furthermore, students who set their own learning goals show more confidence to take on challenging tasks in order to grow in their performance. Setting goals, taking personal responsibility for learning, and self-evaluation leads to the development of autonomous learners with a positive sense of themselves. Marist Catholic College Penshurst has decided to further refine the target setting programme to give students more autonomy and leadership of their learning goals and directions for 2018. Over the next few weeks your son/daughter will work with their Leader of Wellbeing and Pastoral Care Class Teacher to learn about target setting and then set explicit, challenging and achievable learning goals. Later this term, your child will share their 2018 Target Setting document with you. Please take the time to discuss with your son/daughter the goals selected for the year ahead. Throughout the year, all students will review and assess their progress towards achieving their goals. The College has decided in light of the adjustment in our procedures that the target setting afternoon due to be held on Monday 19 March is no longer required. Monday 19 March will now become a normal school day for students. Should you have any concerns about your child’s academic progress or their wellbeing we would encourage you to make contact with your son or daughter’s subject teachers or Leader of Wellbeing. Thank you for your ongoing partnership and support of the College. Regards,

Mrs Connie Frino Assistant Principal