Live a Life That Counts

nd Friday, 2 “Never see a need without doing something about it” (St Mary of the Cross MacKillop) “Live a Life That Counts” Dear Parents, Guardians...
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Friday, 2

“Never see a need without doing something about it” (St Mary of the Cross MacKillop)

“Live a Life That Counts” Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends, What an impact our new Pope has had on our Church and world in such a short time! It leaves me wondering what has created this impact and I can’t help feeling that it his desire to live a simple lifestyle, his identification with the poor and his recognition that our Church really does need to have Gospel values at the very heart of its outreach to people. What message is there for us in our own lives as we witness in our Pope a refreshing approach to his Papacy? Congratulations Parents and Guardians So often our Staff come back from excursions and events telling me of the excellent behaviour of our students and the wonderful impression they leave on others. I have come to take it for granted, however, recently have reflected more on the gratitude I have for the goodness of our students and the manner in which they have been brought up by you, our Parents and Guardians. It makes our task so much easier when student upbringing has been based on good manners, the value of respect and thoughtfulness for others. Well done Parents and Guardians – we are indeed very grateful. Apple MacBook Pro Devices At our most recent School Advisory Council meeting a number of Parents were invited to form a Parent Focus Group to discuss the roll out of our new ICT programme. The parents were universally in favour the programme – in the next few weeks you will be receiving more information about how we intend rolling out the Apple MacBook Pro devices to our students. In the meantime you may wish to do some of your own research into these laptops. Transition Day Thanks to Mandy McCallum for the fantastic organization of our second transition day for the year on Tuesday. Thanks also for our Teacher Aides and other staff who were involved with the running of the day. More than 140 students were in attendance, engaged in classes for Maths, English, Welfare, Food Technology, Woodwork and PE. Student feedback was extremely positive. Parent Survey In the past couple of days many of you will have received an envelope containing a Parent Survey which has to be completed either online or in hard copy. Could I please ask you to complete the survey as soon as possible and, if you have completed the hard copy, have your child return it to the school. Surveys are completed by a random choice of Parents, Staff and Students, beginning the next phase of our School Improvement Programme.

August, 2013



Faith Matters



Curriculum News



Pathway/Career



Murray River Culinary Challenge

ABSENCE HOTLINE PH: 0427 781 910

AUG Mon 5 th JJAMM Week House Activities Tue 6 th VET Sport & Rec – Primary Sports Day Tue 6 th Legacy Junior Public Speaking Competition Wed 7 th – 9th Year 11 Ski Trip Wed 7 th LMT Junior Football Thur 8 th St Mary MacKillop Feast Day Mass- 12.10pm Fri 9 th College Formal th

Tue 13 Athletics Carnival Sign up

Silver Jubilee Fundraising Appeal – Building Fund Thank you to all our families and friends who have kindly donated to the St Mary MacKillop College Silver Jubilee Fundraising Appeal to help with costs of refurbishing our Science rooms. The Appeal is still running until the end of the year. Can you please help? Rob Aron Principal

FAITH MATTERS JJAMM Week Celebrating the life and Charism of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop During the week beginning Monday 5th of August we celebrate as a school community JJAMM Week. JJAMM stands for Joseph Julian and Mary MacKillop. On Thursday the 8th of August we celebrate especially the feast of a remarkable woman. Mary MacKillop stands out as an example of great courage and trust in her living out the mission of God. She reached out in love and compassion to those most in need. She responded wholeheartedly to the Gospel imperative to bring Good News to the poor. Mary MacKillop was Canonised on October 17 2010 at St Peter's Basilica, Rome. Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed Mary's sainthood during the Canonisation Mass. Over 8000 pilgrims from Australia and New Zealand attended the ceremony, including students, staff and parents from our own college community. Canonisation is a double statement – about the life of the person and also about the faith of the people who are alive at this moment. They are as much a part of the canonisation as the person who is being recognised. “One of the appeals that ‘saints’ have for people in the world today, is that they are ordinary people who have looked at life and, in the day to day circumstances in which they lived, succeeded in becoming a special person who touches into the deepest yearnings of the heart. Mary MacKillop was no exception. She was an ordinary woman who lived an extraordinary life. She was a woman who dared to love. She knew that God loved her and she responded to this love with confidence and courage. Mary MacKillop’s life speaks eloquently because it was firmly anchored in something every human heart longs for: inner peace, that peace that comes from knowing that one is loved by God and from the desire to respond to God’s love. My hope for the people of the world is that they will embrace Mary MacKillop as a young woman who has gifted the church, Australia and the world with a deep sense of compassion and dignity – a truly great witness to living the Gospel in this Great South Land of the Holy Spirit”. Monica Cavanagh rsj

CELEBRATING JJAMM WEEK 2013 During JJAMM Week we will celebrate with a number of activities, all aimed at building community and celebrating the life of our College. It also gives us the opportunity to honour, reflect upon, appreciate and aspire to the selflessness and kindness of Joseph, Julian Tenison Woods and Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. Any funds collected during the week will be contributed to Josephite organisations that work with the poor and disadvantaged. MONDAY Afternoon activities at the Indoor Stadium – all 7-10 to wear full PE uniform to school, 11-12 students to wear rugby jumpers and dark tracksuit pants. All students are expected to attend the day, it is not a casual day. TUESDAY Lunchtime activities games, movies and art activities. WEDNESDAY Pyjamma Day - students wear their pyjammas to school or their normal uniform. JJAMM doughnuts are being sold at lunchtime. THURSDAY Feast Day Mass at 12.10pm in St Mary’s Church and lunchtime activities. FRIDAY Staff v students netball match in the JC - other lunchtime activities will include movies, Japanese calligraphy, games in the JC, artwork in the library and lots of fun.

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL Language of resilient schools & families Michael Grose “Man up, girls!” This is one of the terms used by teachers in an Australian girls’ school to encourage girls to step up when things get tough. As the school head readily admits, it’s not quite politically correct gender-wise, but this doesn’t deter teachers, nor her, from using it. The term has an impact because the narrative of persistence and striving that it represents is understood by teachers, students and parents. Resilient schools develop their own words and phrases to help students get through the inevitable tough times that they experience. The language of resilience is generally built around the following seven areas: 1. Coping Resilient children use a variety of simple coping strategies such as humour, relaxation, normalisation and acceptance when they experience social or personal hardships. Language of coping: “You’ve got to laugh!” “You will get through this!” “Some things you just can’t change!” “Everyone feels that way sometimes.” 2. Courage Resilient children and young people take learning and social risks, and know that things won’t always go their way. Rejection and failure aren’t taken personally. Language of courage: “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” “Take a smart risk.” “You’ve got to develop the courage to be imperfect.” 3. Persistence The ability to keep persevering in the face of difficulty is a characteristic of resilience that leads to success in the classroom, on the sports field or other fields of endeavour, in the schoolyard and beyond. Language of persistence: “Have another go.” “Hang tough!” “Push through the hard stuff to get the rewards.” 4. Relationships Resilient kids are able to develop and maintain strong relationships with a number of peers over time. They are supportive of others; they can handle common conflict situations and don’t take rejection personally. Language of relationships: “Is that how a good friend acts?” “Who have you spoken to about this?” “It’s not all about you!” 5. Thinking Children may not be able to control a situation, but they can control how they look at, and think about an event. Resilient kids look for the positive side in negative situations, and see negative events as temporary. Reframing, remaining flexible and using realistic language are common resilience traits. Language of resilient thinking: “Look on the bright side.” “Let’s look at this another way?” “It’s not a disaster. It’s just unpleasant!” “Where does this fit on the disaster scale?”

6. Problem-solving Resilient children and young people have feelings of personal competence that come from resolving their problems and challenges. This develops the expectation that they can overcome fresh challenges, just as they have in the past. Language of problem-solving: “How can you work this out?” “What’s the first step?” “Let’s set some goals together.” 7. Learning Resilient children and young people learn from negative situations, and importantly develop greater awareness of their own strengths. Self-knowledge is perhaps the best knowledge of all that we can impart to children. Language or learning: “What have you learned for next time?” “”You’ve learned a lot about yourself.” “You’re more capable than you think.” Find out more about Parenting Ideas from Michael Grose at http://www.parentingideas.com.au/ Michelle Haeusler Deputy Principal

CURRICULUM 2014 Subject Selections The subject selection process for 2014 is now well underway with all students currently in Years 8 – 11 being required to submit their completed subject selection forms by Friday 26th July. Thank you to the parents, guardians and students who took the time to carefully consider their options and also asked for extra advice or guidance. These selections will now help formulate the subjects offered in 2014 and further subject counselling sessions will take place for students in November. Detailed information on subject selection requirements and individual subject descriptions are outlined in the 2014 Curriculum Booklet available online via our website or students can access them directly via the SIMON intranet system. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Teacher Advisor, Pathways Co-ordinators Mrs Crow or Mrs Brenda Brady or myself if you have any further questions.

Term 3 Teacher Advisor Reporting and Parent Teacher Interviews Please see the dates listed below for when your child should bring home their Teacher Advis er Interview and Subject Report this term. These reports aim to provide students and their parents with timely feedback and the interview gives students the opportunity to discuss their progress and set appropriate goals. This is the last Teacher Advisor Report for Year 12 students before they receive their more formal Year 12 Progress Report in Term 3, in time for tertiary or job applications and final exam preparations.

Please do not hesitate to request an interview (via phone or face to face) with a subject teacher or your child’s Teacher Advisor if you have any concerns. Teacher Advisor Interviews & Reports – Term 3 Year Year Year Year Year

11 & 12 – ( 29th July– 2nd August) 10 – (12th – 16th August) 9 –(19th – 23rd August) 8 –(2nd – 6th September) 7 – ( 9th – 13th September)

After all Term 3 Teacher Advisor Interviews have been completed, all reports will also be available online via the Parent Access Module (PAM).

After School Homework and Study Assistance in the Library Monday – Wednesday 3:30 – 4:30pm Monday

Week 4 Week 5 Week 6

Leanne Cook Sally Op’t Hoog Lyndal Vallak

Tuesday

Michelle Haeusler Sally Looney Chelsea Bird

Wednesday

Alison Wright Nella O’Brien Staff Meeting

Sally Looney Director of Curriculum

PATHWAYS / CAREERS NEWS Work Experience - Construction An update to Occupational Health and Safety laws now requires students wishing to undertake Work Experience on a construction site (builder, electrician, plumbing, bricklaying, etc.) to have a Construction Induction (CI) Card. SuniTAFE will be holding a session to allow students to obtain this card on Tuesday, August 13 th. If interested, please contact Jeanette direct on 50302660 to reserve a place in this course by Monday, August 5

Defence Force Presentation A very informative session was presented by Warrant Officer Class 2 Gerry Foran last Tuesday and was well attended by more than a dozen students who wanted to find out more about the Defence Force and possible career opportunities. Information was also provided about sponsorship available for university students, as well as the ‘One Year of Adventure’ which is a 12 month program that provides 12 work options in the Army with no long-term commitments. Information booklets regarding these two initiatives are available from the Careers Office.

Herald Sun Melbourne Career Expo 2013 The Melbourne Career Expo will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from August 16th – August 18th. This is a great opportunity for students to learn about areas of interest and experience a large and comprehensive range of activities, including: Try a trade in the ‘hands on’ Skills Industry Hub  Attend career information seminars  Speak to representatives from over 200 education institutions, businesses and organisations For more information, go to www.careerexpo.com.au

Cultural Care Au Pair Cultural Care Au Pair provides students with a unique opportunity to become part of an American Host Family and help care for their children while experiencing life abroad. The program is a 12 month commitment, and allows you to gain international work experience, travel and study at an American college. If you have ever wanted to live abroad, work and experience a new way of life, this might be the right program for you! Cultural Care Staff will be visiting St Mary MacKillop College on Tuesday August 13th at 1:00pm in the Careers Office so come along to hear more about the program.

Open Days Any students in Year 10 - 12 who are considering further study are strongly encouraged to attend Open Days. Open Day Upsides! Students will be able to  Gain a better understanding about the courses or career areas of interest  Compare facilities and services between institutions  Speak directly to a lecturer or current student in the different faculties  Find out about scholarships  View campus accommodation Please note the following Open Day dates or go to to www.vtac.edu.au/opendays for further

listings of private Institutions. Australian Catholic University Deakin University

LaTrobe University

Melbourne University Monash University Swinburne University RMIT University of Ballarat Victoria University

Melbourne: August 11th Ballarat: August 25th Warrnambool: August 4th Geelong Waterfront and Waurn Ponds: August 11th Melbourne Burwood: August 25th Shepparton: August 9th Mildura: August 14th Bendigo: August18th Melbourne: August 25th Albury-Wodonga: August 30th Parkville Campus, Dookie Agricultural College and Victorian College of the Arts and Music: August 18th Berwick, Gippsland and Peninsula: August 3rd, Caulfield, Clayton and Parkville: August 4th Hawthorn Campus, August 4th City, Brunswick and Bundoora: August 11th August 25th August 25th

Grow your Career Expo All Year 10 students attended the Grow Your Career Expo at Sunraysia TAFE Swan Hill on Monday, 22nd July. The Expo gave students a wonderful opportunity to be involved with interactive workshops, as well as an exhibitors’ marquee representing local, regional and national education and employment industries.

NEW STAFF PROFILE – JENNIFER SALVO Jennifer is a former student of St Mary Mackillop College and has returned to teach here. Whilst completing her undergraduate degree at Deakin University, Jennifer worked part time as a Chiropractic Assistant for 6 months. In 2011, she received her Bachelor of Health Science with Distinction, as well as receiving the Parks Victoria Award for Academic Achievement. In 2012 after receiving her Bachelors Degree she went to La Trobe University to obtain her Graduate Diploma in Education. In 2013 she was the highest achieving postgraduate student and was consequently awarded the Dean’s Medal for Academic Excellence. As Jennifer’s family lives in the Swan Hill District, Jennifer came home to do her student placement at both St Mary Mackillop College and Swan Hill Secondary College. Outside of her discipline, Jennifer enjoys dancing, cooking and a good book. As Jennifer takes on her teaching role in Food Technology and Health we wish her well and trust that she will enjoy her time at St Mary Mackillop College.

MURRAY RIVER CULINARY CHALLENGE St Mary MacKillop College VET Hospitality students competed in the first stage of the Murray River Culinary Challenge on Wednesday 17th July. Twelve students cooked a three course meal within a set time frame. This included Tomato Tart, Crumbed Pork Cutlet with sautéed apple, potato and sage and the dessert was Bread and Butter Pudding with brandied sultanas and Chantilly cream. The students’ cooking skills were judged by prominent local chefs who had to decide several of the winners by a countback due to the competition being so close. The competition winners were Ella Marmottan and Lisa Bartalotta who will make up Team A and Elly Gibson and Ashlee Polinelli who will make up Team B. These students will “cook-off” against the Secondary College in the Regional Challenge on August 13th. Congratulations to all our students for the excellent effort they put in during the Challenge and good luck to the winning teams in the Regional Challenge.

YEAR 7D HUMANITIES Don’t Litter, Bin It Dear Students’ and Staff, Currently our Humanities class is learning the importance of how to save the environment from rubbish. We are endeavouring to change the culture in the school and hopefully with the intention of it having a domino effect. We have formed small groups and adopted a bin; these have been decorated with slogans to assist our class. Each group has been allocated a bin; each lesson in our Humanities class we check to measure the amount of rubbish and also do a general tidy up of the yard. When the week is over our class goes out and checks the bins to see who has the most rubbish in their bin. Whoever has the most rubbish wins a prize. Our group would like the whole school to be involved to make sure that they do not litter around our school. One of our ideas is to stop all plastic bags being used, not just around the school but we are hoping that all of Swan Hill can see the amount of harm plastic bags can do to our environment.

Plastic bags are very dangerous to our waterways and also our wildlife. The plastic bags can get into our waterways and end up in the Murray River. If you want to go fishing or duck shooting surely you would want clean water that has not got rubbish in it. In 2011, 83% of households that disposed of hazardous materials did not use the s afe way of disposing these important yet dangerous materials. You need to dispose of these materials properly or they can damage the environment, animals and waterways. We need to place mesh on drain pipes to stop rubbish and other objects getting through to the rivers and waterways. Things that we can do to stop this are taking batteries/mobile phones to a local battery shop and they will dispose them properly. If you have computer materials you should call your local council to see where to dispose of them properly. We are hoping that people learn that we can reduce, reuse and recycle more than we are doing today. We also hope that people can learn to put their rubbish in the bin more appropriately, and be more aware of what they should be doing. We will all be able to see the difference after you make the change; just remember it all starts with you. Thanking you: Erynne Taylor, Ellie Gillingham and Madeleine Wright. Year 7D Humanities

Why it’s important to bin our rubbish!!!!

ITALIAN EXCHANGE PROGRAM On Saturday, 26th July, our five Italian students, Davide Boero, Giulia Pantini, Nicole Castelli, Martina Barisone and Martina Ruffa left Swan Hill after spending four weeks here attending school and visiting our area. Students were able to go to Echuca, Mildura (on a houseboat), Halls Gap, Albury, Sydney and Canberra to name just a few. Students would like to thank their host families for providing them with many unique experiences and making them feel so welcome. In November, two Year 10 students, Laura Gilbee and Shannon Robinson-Hore will also take part in an Exchange Program to our sister school Blaise Pascal and stay with the students they hosted to continue our relationship with the school. Thank you, Mrs. Salvo

VET AGRICULTURE On 19th July, the VET Agriculture students attended the Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo.

Sarah Palmer viewing Veterinary Officers performing lamb autopsy to determine and explain to students the cause of death.

Ryle Conway, Xavier Elford, Michael Torr, Jayden Haeusler and Ryan Hodgson at the Alpaca exhibit discussing the use of Alpacas in conjunction with sheep production.