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Dear parents, friends, staff and students,
The Gospel from this weekend (Mark 12: 38 – 44) reflects on the widow who donated two small coins whilst she prayed in the synagogue. This was compared to the rich man who contributed substantially more, but Jesus explained that her gift was far more valuable. The two small coins were all that she owned and therefore it was a greater sacrifice than the ‘leftover’ money that the wealthy were giving. Of course, their gift was still welcome but when we give something that requires us to sacrifice or surrender what is important, it means much more. We can use this philosophy in many parts of our lives. When we pray, attend school, complete paid or unpaid work or interact with our family and friends, we are often called to sacrifice something in order to improve. Sometimes the sacrifice may bring specific rewards, for example payment for a job, and sometimes the rewards are far less tangible or quantifiable. Either way, the notion that we have sacrificed something is important within a caring society. Our students have now been back at school for two weeks following remote learning and have only another 5 ½ until their Christmas holidays. This can be a time where their own sacrifice of time to catch up or progress in their schoolwork will reap rewards. It may be an opportunity to sacrifice in a more social and spiritual way to ensure those around them who may be struggling are cared for. As a Catholic community, we recognise that the value of the gift is really about the sacrifice associated with it and the impact on others.
In keeping the idea above in our minds, we have now reached the moment where we need to ensure we return to routine. I have walked through the yard on a number of occasions and again I am energised by the smiles and the welcome that I receive from many of our students. For most, the return has been a welcome return ‘home’. Some students however, have found it hard to return to our high standards and community expectations when they have been in a different situation for four months. For these students, I remind you that there are limits around unacceptable behaviour and consequences for these. We will certainly look to support where we can, but we will not lower the expectations we have around respectable interactions with those around us. If parents are noticing any behaviours or approaches to schoolwork that concern you, please make contact with your child’s teachers or Year Coordinator.
Earlier this week we had the pleasure of working with our student representative council. Following this we made decisions to appoint students to various portfolios and main leadership positions. These specific positions were announced to the students and we have the pleasure in announcing them further on in this newsletter. I look forward to working with the SRC, congratulate them on their appointment and thank them for accepting these positions of responsibility.
Last week I explained that our Year 12s were unable to have their normal graduation ceremony and had received their portfolios via our front office. During this week, we received the latest COVID safety directives. I have sent a joint letter to all parents explaining what we are now permitted to do and wrote a specific letter to Year 12 and their parents regarding their formal. Once again, I can assure all parents that we place the health and safety of all students at the forefront of our thinking and decisions and whilst some of these may be disappointing (for us as well), we will always aim to follow the directives and err on the side of caution in order to protect your children and our staff. Please always feel free to contact the College should you have any concerns or issues.
Next Tuesday, November 9, we will be holding our next Parents and Friend’s meeting for 2021. This meeting will be the final one for the year and will once again be held via zoom. I encourage parents to join into this meeting. It will begin at 7pm and can be accessed by:
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android:
https://dowcatholic.zoom.us/j/62597895255?pwd=Y283OHRjRmtMcE9yUXo5UFZSYUF1dz09
Password: s8DY7NO9
As always, a very big thank you to the staff, students and parents for your flexibility and ongoing support during remote learning.
Ite in VeritateMr Steve Lo Cascio
Principal
As we reach the official halfway point of a rather disjointed term, we have seen a great deal of progress in our transition back to routine over the past week. I particularly commend the students for the way that the overwhelming majority have adjusted to our current directives and extend this thanks to our parents for all that you are doing in support of our new processes.
Earlier this year, the College circulated a Compass alert that invited parents to give pre-approval for their child/ren to be dismissed from the College to make their own way home prior to our normal finishing time should we be informed of a positive case. If this were to occur, students who have been given this pre-approval would be invited to leave the College grounds at the earliest possible opportunity. For those without pre-approval, parents would still be able to collect them in person, or of course they would be permitted to remain supervised on site until consent was received or until the scheduled conclusion of the school day. With Covid still circulating within the community, I once again extend the offer for parents to grant this consent. Once given, the consent will be valid until the last day of the school year unless withdrawn in writing. For parents who are yet to give their pre-approval and would like to, please visit your Compass Events page to give your consent.
You may be aware that Mr Lo Cascio and the CEDoW Director of Schools Mr Peter Hill released a co-signed letter yesterday that announced a range of COVID-19 directive updates. We will continue to prioritise updating you on these as they are brought to our attention, however, you can read the latest update here.
Finally, I once again take the opportunity to remind families to please continue following our COVID recording procedures that have been in place for most of the pandemic, which include:
- Informing the school immediately if your child is self-isolating or undergoing testing, and informing us of the result as soon as possible.
- Following sickness with flu-like symptoms, ensuring your child is free of symptoms and can present a negative COVID-19 test, before attending the College site for any reason.
With thanks for your continued support,
David Cloran
Assistant Principal
The Widow’s Mite
This is the most commonly misunderstood passage in the Gospels. It is usually read in a ‘pat on the back’ tone of voice, commending the widow for her generosity. But it should be read with the tone of white hot anger which Jesus had displayed against the money dealers whom he expelled from the temple only days earlier.
This vulnerable widow was exploited and brainwashed by the scribes and temple authorities so that she gave ‘all she had to live on’. She was left destitute, unable to afford the necessities of life.
On the contrary, Jesus wanted to create a band of followers who would look after widows and orphans. Look at Acts 4:32-37 to see that in operation. In fact, deacons were created in the early Church precisely to care for non-Jewish widows.
The message for the Church from this Gospel story is that it must never exploit the religious fervour of the poor to build up its own resources. Pope Francis is emphasising that the flow must be the other way if we are to be authentic Christians.
We could pause a moment to pray that, imitating the earliest Christian communities, our parish practises true concern for the marginalised and vulnerable, ensuring that they have all the necessities of life in all its dimensions.
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Saints and Important Days 10th St Leo the Great |
November is about remembering.
This week we celebrated All Saints and All Souls days. It is that special time of the year when we think about those special people who we look up to and who have been a part of our lives.
Mrs Christine Meharg
REC Coordinator
The College community wishes Year 12 all best as they make their final preparations to begin the HSC Written Exams on Tuesday 9 November. Students are reminded to check their HSC timetable and know the location of their exams, have all of the required equipment for each exam and to follow the NESA Covid Safe Exam Protocol especially in regards to wearing a face mask both inside and outside of the exam room, social distancing and hand sanitisation.
Year 11 is heading into a period of assessment across the last few weeks of Term 4. Students are reminded that these are the first assessment tasks that contribute to their HSC school based assessment, so should be approached with focus, preparation and determination. Students are reminded to familiarise themselves with the College Assessment Policies and Procedures.
Year 10 are finalising their assessments and requirements for their ROSA. Students are encouraged to focus on working with their class teachers to ensure that they are continuing the development of their skills that will be carried into Stage 6.
Year 7-9 students are also maximising the development of their learning skills by focusing on the essential literacy, numeracy and subject specific skills in each of their classes.
NESA COVID Advice and HSC Exam Timetable updates
The advice from NESA is frequently updated on their website: https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/covid-19/coronavirus-advice
Ms Chardy Miller
Acting Curriculum Coordinator
Good afternoon everyone,
Week two of our return to face to face learning has allowed us to return to some regularity of learning and provided opportunities for our Pastoral teams to engage in some activities that would be reflective of this “normality”. This week there was a focus on Careers and Goal Setting for Years 7 to 10 and an opportunity for Year 11 to plan for their first battery of HSC Assessment tasks. An outline of each of the respective year group activities is outlined below.
- Year 7: Letter writing activity to future self and goal setting.
- Year 8: Careers Activity and Entrepreneurship.
- Year 9: Careers and Resume Building Activities.
- Year 10: Affirmations and Career Pathway Activities.
- Year 11: Study and preparation for upcoming HSC Tasks.
Thanks to PA’s, Year Coordinators, Assistant Year Coordinators and Ms James for their work during Pastoral this morning.
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Elevate Education The webinars run live online from 7pm – 8pm where the presenter will share Elevate’s key research and skills, and will conduct a live Q&A so you can ask them questions directly. The remaining two sessions scheduled for this term are outlined below.
Should you have questions or would like to contact Elevate directly, their details are listed below. Phone: 1300 667 945 Email: auscoaching@elevateeducation.com |
Regards
Mr Simon Huntly
Pastoral Care and Wellbeing Coordinator
With a return to face-to-face teaching and learning, teachers have been discussing ways to immerse our students more fully in reading material that will encourage a building of capacity in engagement, vocabulary enhancement and understanding. Every subject is looking for opportunities to expose students to sustained and challenging texts which in turn will assist them to become close, determined and resilient readers.
Knowledge of the world, interpretation of language conventions in context, and a rich vocabulary are an important part of the reading process.
Reading involves:
- decoding words and understanding the alphabetic code
- understanding vocabulary
- linking background knowledge and analysing information as it is being read and then rechecking after it has been read
- prediction/looking forward and retrospection/looking back
- categorizing, building, changing, redefining and sharing knowledge
- gaining meaning from, responding to and making inferences from words and images in a variety of contexts
- transferring knowledge to new contexts and subjects
- understanding the author’s point of view, purpose and intended audience
- critically analysing information in a variety of language modes for a variety of purposes
Understanding and gaining meaning from texts, involves an interrelationship between reading, writing, listening, and viewing. As students attain skills in seeing patterns in words, it is essential that they continue to develop their ability to engage in, react to, understand, and comprehend both the explicit and implicit messages within the texts they read.
Specific skills in how to approach the written word are explicitly taught and contextually practised to facilitate a higher degree of understanding, and to develop close links between the meanings readers gain and the author’s intentions.
Language knowledge is taught in conjunction with other knowledge and skills in balanced programs in all subject areas at:
- word and sentence level, which specifically deals with grammar, spelling and punctuation
- whole text level, which focuses on text function, purpose, structure, ideas, and textual grammar.
There are many reasons and purposes for reading, and many ways to read and gain meaning from texts. The purposes, reasons and types of texts vary, and this affects the way readers seek and obtain information. Readers may use one or combine different ways of reading as they read to seek and gain meaning from texts. These include:
- skim – get the overall idea by looking for a number of cues to deduce meaning
- scan – look for special or specific information in a large amount of text
- visualise – convert words to images to understand events, settings and characters
- focus – read every word accurately as every word has equal importance
- interact – return and refer back to the text frequently
Reading comprehension involves three levels of engagement. The literal level is when a reader understands information that is stated in the text or is ‘right there’. Here the reader is reading on the lines. The interpretive level requires students to reflect on literal information, make links between information, identify relationships, or draw inferences from information given in texts. The reader here is reading between the lines. The inferential level requires readers to apply and evaluate knowledge from multiple texts, within different areas of one text, or use their background knowledge about topics. Readers are required here to read beyond the lines.
Reading beyond the surface level is a challenge for many students. Reading comprehension is affected by the following:
- prior knowledge of the topic
- text structure
- language conventions
- knowledge of thinking strategies
- reasoning ability
- motivation
- a rich vocabulary
- level of engagement
Reading is a vital part of the literacy picture. Over the next few weeks, English teachers will be recommending books for Christmas holiday reading – for Year 7 through to Year 12. Reading suggestions will also be provided for parents and teachers. Perhaps a gift for our young people, as well as ourselves this Christmas, could be a book!
This is a kind reminder to all the families leaving Mount Carmel Catholic College at the end of 2021. Please ensure any outstanding school fees are finalised by 12 November 2021.
If you are experiencing difficulty finalising your account balance please contact the Finance Team immediately via mccc-finance@dow.catholic.edu.
2022 FEES OPTION OF PAYING BY INSTALMENT
Our finance new system provides the opportunity to generate regular instalments with due dates, rather than having an annual bill which is due for payment, in full, 30 days after invoicing. If you would like to pay school fees by instalments in 2022, please complete a Request to Pay by Instalment Form which is available here. On completion of the request please email it to instalments@dow.catholic.edu.
IMPORTANT: Please note that if you currently have a child or children at another school in the Diocese and you are paying by instalments at this location, you will not need to complete another Request to Pay by Instalment. The instalment request carries over from school to school.
Tuesday Recreational Sport
This week students returned to College sport. After many months of not having the opportunity for students to participate in College sport it was wonderful to see students and staff alike enjoying themselves through sport. A similar format will take place next week. Students are to refer to the Sport Schedule posted on Compass for instructions.
2022 Sport
2022 sport planning is well underway. In the coming weeks, students will be able to nominate their selected sport pattern for next year. Permission notes will also be distributed to the whole school and will need to be returned to each student's pastoral advisor.
Sporting Success
Congratulations to Brody and Jerome Taateo who were selected into the West Tigers Development Squad earlier this year. They attended a few training sessions for this commitment however COVID-19 interrupted this program.
Due to restrictions being lifted they have now announced a West Tigers Summer Squad that they have also been named in on Monday. Training starts in January for 4 weeks which will be in addition to their regular rugby league training. Congratulations to these students.
TERM 4 SPORT CANCELLATIONS
Due to the impact of COVID-19 across New South Wales, the School Sport Unit and CSNSW Sport has regrettably made the decision to cancel all NSWCCC, MacKillop, Polding, NSWPSSA, and NSW All Schools events on the revised term four calendar:
CANCELLED
NSWCPS Golf 18 Hole & 9 Hole Tournaments @ Blackheath
POSTPONED
NSWCCC Girls Cricket 2022 Selections Wednesday 24 November @ Riverwood
Diocesan Sport - Postponed and Cancelled Events
All cancellations and postponements are announcements on the following site https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/sport/diocesan-sport-news/
NSWCCC Sport - Postponed and Cancelled Events
All cancellations and postponements are announcements on the following site https://csnsw.sport/covid-19/21-sport-cancellations-update
Due to the extended lockdown and the ever changing COVID-19 situation further events will continue to be monitored and updates will be provided via the College Newsletter.
NSWCCC Sport Registrations
A reminder that students and their parents are responsible for monitoring the closing dates of NSWCCC Sport Registrations. Information regarding upcoming events can be accessed via https://csnsw.sport/events
NSWCCC is a pathway suitable for students playing a representative level of their sport outside of school. For instructions on how to register go to - https://csnsw.sport/help/help-guide-for-parents
NSWCCC Sport Registrations 2021:
- Individual Registrations for the following sports to attend a NSWCCC Selection - AFL, Baseball, Basketball, Cricket, Diving, Golf, Hockey, Netball, Rugby, Softball, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Water Polo
- Registrations for the following sports is through a Diocesan/Association Selection - Athletics, Cross Country, Football, Swimming, Touch, Rugby League
Representative Pathways
- MISA Website https://www.misaonline.org.au/
- Diocesan Sport News - Updates and news on Wollongong Diocese sport events and trials can be viewed at https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/sport/diocesan-sport-news/?ref=quicklinks
- NSWCCC/CSNSW Sport News - Higher level MacKillop and CCC trials and events status can be monitored at https://csnsw.sport/news
- SCHOOL SPORT AUSTRALIA SPORT NEWS
Ms Sarah Bowen
Acting Sports Coordinator
bowens01@dow.catholic.edu.au
Our season was cut short in June when we all went into lockdown and cancelled in August when the lockdown was extended. As more than half of the season had been played, Campbelltown District Netball Association declared Premiers and Runners Up. CONGRATULATIONS to our Division 8 team who were named Premiers and our Division 6 and 14B teams who were both Runners Up!