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Dear parents, friends, staff and students,
This weekend’s Gospel (Luke 6: 27-38) contains one phrase that gives us a simple guide to how we might live a good life. In this passage, Jesus says: “Treat others as you would like them to treat you”. Much of what we talk about in the Catholic tradition is based in developing deep and meaningful relationships with those around us. As we would probably recognise, this directive doesn’t refer only to those who we like or with whom we are friends. The gospel goes on to specifically refer to treating those we may not like with the utmost care and compassion. The ‘others’ that are spoken of in this gospel, are those people that we have difficulty in treating well and may even be someone we do not know. Our decision to treat others well involves a deliberate thought and a conscious act. If we focus ourselves on those around us, we can always be conscious of how we treat them.
Today we held the first of our two College Opening Masses. This year, we are observing COVID safe practices by splitting the student body in half and running two Opening Masses. The first was with Years 8, 9 and 11 and was a way to begin our year with the most important ceremony in the Catholic community. This Eucharistic celebration is fundamental to what we do in making Mount Carmel a Christ-centred community. I reminded the students that this joining together and becoming one in the Body of Christ can be taken with us throughout the year. The second Opening Mass will be held in two weeks and will include the badging of our Year 10 and 12 Leaders.
On Thursday this week, we were finally able to invite some of our parents from last year back onsite to celebrate and congratulate the HSC high achievers from 2021. This was quite momentous since we have been blocked from having parents onsite in any major way for around 12 months. Whilst it would have been special to invite all the students back, health requirements are not quite there. This was a lovely reminder of the resilience and ability of these students to overcome adversity. As I spoke to the students, I asked them and our Year 11 and 12, audience to consider a quote I had read some 40+ years ago. The quote was on the dressing shed of a grand final winning team and in part it said: “If you think you are defeated, you already are”. This statement was a reflection of the attitudes and efforts of these high achievers. No matter what they encountered last year, they were not prepared to think like they were defeated. I congratulated them on behalf of the College and encouraged them to continue their resilient approach into the future.
Our P&F Annual General Meeting was scheduled for week 5, however we needed to move it as a result of changes to the Catholic Education Office calendars which resulted in clashes. Please be advised that the P&F AGM will now be held on Tuesday March 8 (week 6). This meeting will thank the outgoing P&F executive and elect the executive for 2022 and will then be followed by the first general meeting for 2022. I encourage parents to attend this meeting and to become involved in the Parents and Friends Association. The meeting will be onsite and begin at 7pm in Room I3 (the front of the College at the top of the turning circle).
We are currently still planning for our Year 7, 2023 information evening on February 28. At this stage, we plan to hold this in the College Hall and provide a formal presentation and displays. Enrolment packages will also be distributed on this evening. As we become aware of the restrictions or requirements closer to this date, we will notify the community of exact details.
Ite in Veritate
Mr Steve Lo Cascio
Principal
As you may be aware, on Thursday of this past week we held our High Achievers Assembly which recognised the outstanding success that was attained by members of our HSC graduating class of 2021. In a year that was characterised by challenges, these students overcame significant adversity to produce outstanding results that have set each of them off on their intended career path. While this would have been a whole school celebration in a normal year, COVID restrictions required us to limit the ‘in person’ attendance to just our Year 11 and 12 students, whilst we streamed the event live into other classrooms in the hope of inspiring our younger students.
The first event of the day was the formal awards ceremony, and this was followed by a chance for our current Year 12s to engage in a Q&A session with our High Achievers, again in the hope that the study routines, determination and resilience that these students demonstrated throughout 2021, would motivate our current cohort to do likewise. I sincerely thank our High Achievers and their very proud parents who joined us at the College on Thursday for their attendance and wish them well as their respective university courses commence over the coming weeks.
You may be aware that media reports in recent days have flagged a number of relaxations in terms of COVID directives in the broader society, and a few that relate to schools specifically. Please note that at this point in time, there has yet to be any formal changes to school directives so precautions such as mask wearing, cohorting and staggered class and departure times will continue. As we’ve tried to do throughout the pandemic, we will let our families know as soon as any of these directives change.
Finally, as has been stated previously, I request that families inform the College immediately should any student test positive to COVID-19 and again stress that should this occur, the student must isolate for a minimum of 7 days, along with any sibling from the same household. Finally, I would also ask that students who are displaying any type of flu-like symptoms stay at home until such symptoms have ceased.
Kind regards,
David Cloran
Assistant Principal
Readings for Mass
First Reading 1 Sm 26:2. 7-9. 12-13. 22-23 David spares Saul.
Second Reading 1 Cor 15:45-49 Jesus is the new Adam.
Gospel Lk 6:27-38 Love your enemy.
Did you know?
The Catholic Church has precepts - these are commandments, a bare minimum of undertakings that a Catholic must do each year.
These are: You should go to mass each Sunday, and keep the day holy by not working; you should confess your sins once a year, you should receive the Eucharist in the Easter season, you should observe the days of fasting and abstinence, and provide for the material needs of the Church.
Mrs Christine Meharg
REC Coordinator
Given the current context, a number of students have been absent from school. If your child is absent, please log into Compass and complete an absence note via the portal. Instructions on how to complete this process are below:
- Select the option to Add Attendance Note below your child’s name.
2. Complete the fields using the instructions below, then select Save.
If you are unable to log into Compass, please contact the College via a phone call or email domingor01@dow.catholic.edu.au for assistance.
Due Dates of Upcoming Formal Assessment Tasks
Week 5
02/03/2022: Year 12 IT: Timber Task
Week 6
08/03/2022: Year 12 English Ext. 1 Task
08/03/2022: Year 12 Maths Ext. 2 Task
09/03/2022: Year 11 SLR (2 Unit) Task
09/03/2022: Year 9 Maths 5.2 and 5.3 Task
10/03/2022: Year 11 Investigating Science Task
Week 7
15/03/2022: Year 11 Biology Task
15/03/2022: Year 11 English Extension Task
15/03/2022: Year 12 Maths Advanced Task
15/03/2022: Year 12 Maths Standard 1 Task
15/03/2022: Year 12 Maths Standard 2 Task
16/03/2022: Year 11 Work Studies (2 Unit) Task
16/03/2022: Year 12 Food Technology Task
17/03/2022: Year 10 PASS Task
17/03/2022: Year 12 English Advanced Task
17/03/2022: Year 12 English Standard Task
17/03/2022: Year 12 Music 1 Task
17/03/2022: Year 12 SLR Task
18/03/2022: Year 12 Work Studies Task
Mrs Alison Kripal
Leader of Learning - Curriculum Administration
It is a tradition at Mount Carmel to formally acknowledge our High Achieving HSC students from the previous year. High Achievers are defined as the students that have achieved an ATAR over 90. We believe they offer inspiration to us all and tell us much about what hard work, commitment and dedication can bring, so it is important that we recognise the outcome of their endeavours. At the High Achievers Assembly we congratulated the 16 students from the 2021 HSC cohort who attained an ATAR over 90. These students have achieved outstanding results which have contributed to them attaining an ATAR that has allowed them entry into their choice of university degree. The 2021 Dux of the College was also awarded. The Dux of the College is the student who has achieved the highest ATAR in the cohort. The Dux of the College for 2021 is Charmaine Marquinez. Congratulations to all of the 2021 High Achievers.
The High Achievers were also invited to a Q&A session with the 2022 HSC cohort to share their insights and experiences from the HSC year. Topics such as study habits, motivation, future planning and resilience were discussed. The High Achievers were able to provide individual perspectives that reiterated that each Year 12 student’s HSC journey is their own but that they did need each other, their teachers, friends and family to support them in achieving their goals.
|
2021 HSC Student |
ATAR |
University |
|
Charmaine Marquinez |
98.35 DUX |
Wollongong Uni, Bachelor of Pre-Medicine, Science & Health |
|
Ritika Dosanjh |
97.2 |
Macquarie Uni, Bachelor of Law/Bachelor of Business Administration |
|
Weesayo Fajardo |
96.95 |
UNSW, Bachelor of Vision Science |
|
Jamie Pandopoulos |
96.65 |
University of Sydney, Bachelor of Commerce |
|
Joshua Drumond |
94.9 |
ACU, Bachelor of Secondary Education/Bachelor of Arts (Humanities) |
|
Maria Samaha |
94.6 |
WSU, Bachelor of Advance Medical Science |
|
Alisa Thephavong |
94.4 |
UNSW, Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical)/Masters of Biomedical Engineering |
|
Dilnaz Saini |
94.3 |
WSU, Bachelor of Advanced Medical Science |
|
Amabelle Woolley |
93.8 |
WSU, Bachelor of Business |
|
Elisha Sailago |
93.5 |
University of Sydney, Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Advanced Studies |
|
Paris Davies |
93.3 |
WSU, Bachelor of Occupational Therapy |
|
Kate Puckeridge |
92.8 |
WSU, Bachelor of Speech Pathology |
|
Anna Lima Bartosek |
92.3 |
UTS, Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) |
|
Nikita Bulgak |
91.6 |
Griffith University, Bachelor of Biomedical Science |
|
Jasmin Williams |
91.1 |
UTS, Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) |
|
Abby Luyten |
90.8 |
UTS, Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication |
Ms Chardy Miller
Leader of Learning - Curriculum Pedagogy
Good afternoon everyone,
This week’s Pastoral lessons conducted earlier today included the following :
Year 7 - Year Assembly: Technology use, Respectful Behaviour, Organisation and Assessments.
Year 10 - Pastoral Class activities centred around Goal Setting
Year 12 - Pastoral Class discussion following up from Thursday’s High Achievers Assembly and Question and Answer session, and time for private study.
Years 8, 9 and 11 attended the first of our 2 Opening Masses for the year.
Year 10 Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) Program
Due to last year’s COVID intervention, we were unable to conduct our scheduled YAM program for Year 9 students. We have been fortunate to secure dates for it to be presented to this year’s Year 10 cohort during March as a means of “catching up” for what they missed in 2021. All year 10 students will be able to participate in the program. The dates for the presentations will be Tuesday March 8, 15 and 22.
The program is run by CEO staff and is a program from the Black Dog Institute. Year 9 will be participating in the program over 3 consecutive weeks and they will be learning about a range of topics including mental health, stress, crisis, self-help and suicidal thoughts/ behaviour and support. For more information, please click on the following link YAM: Youth Aware of Mental Health. More information will be forwarded to parents and carers over the coming weeks.
Elevate Education
As explained previously, parents of Mount Carmel Catholic College have exclusive access to Elevate Education’s Parent Webinar Series for Term 1, 2022. Elevate works with our students, delivering high impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series you will learn how to better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school.
The webinars take place across Term 1, with the next webinar happening on Wednesday 23 February at 7pm. Registration is essential and is free for parents of Mount Carmel Catholic College. The topic for this next seminar is Motivation, and addresses questions such as:
You can register by clicking here.
The presenter will share Elevate’s key research and skills, and will conduct a live Q&A so you can ask them questions directly.
Should you have questions or would like to contact Elevate directly, their details are listed below.
Thanks for your ongoing support.
Mr Simon Huntly
Pastoral Care and Wellbeing Coordinator
All formal education – and indeed daily living – involves the act of reading: the ability to decode, interpret, respond to, and make meaning from a range of texts. Whilst success at school is heavily dependent on a student’s proficiency with language across the modes of reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing, reading and writing continue to be particularly important in the curriculum and assessment processes of many subjects.
Years of research have shaped our understanding of the very crucial act of reading. We have come to understand that reading is an active process of making meaning from signs and systems of signs. Words act upon and shape the reader and the reader acts upon and shapes the meaning of the words. We know also that different kinds of reading make different kinds of demands on the reader, and that one thing young readers need to learn is to adjust their reading to the demands of the text. When reading a novel, for instance, we enter into a dialogue with the author where we undertake a long, sustained conversation. Yet, Science reports and History essays will make different demands, as will the wording of a question in an examination.
Reading is therefore significantly more than a mechanical process involving the decoding of words on a page. It is a thinking process where we establish understanding from the cues in the text made up of letter-sound combinations, word order systems and the meaning of language. Reading is about making sense out of the words on a page, not just sounding the words out.
As readers, what we bring to the text is very important. Firstly, we bring our experience and knowledge of language and how it works; and secondly, we bring our experience and knowledge of the world, which allows us to connect new ideas, incorporate these and make meaning. Prediction is a central feature of the reading process. We predict and then have these predictions confirmed or denied by the text as we read on. A reader’s capacity to predict is very strongly connected to their knowledge of the world. This predictive ability can range from merely anticipating what might happen next, to a continual questioning of the text at each reading moment.
The challenges educators face today in engaging young people in purposeful and deep reading experiences are considerable. The social and private worlds of many adolescents are increasingly negotiated through language that is immediate, often fragmented, and typically conveyed as direct speech transferred through a digital platform. Exposing students to a variety of ‘continuous’ sustained texts, as distinct from ‘non-continuous’ texts or pieces of texts, is critical in the light of this situation. As well as immersing students in sustained texts, teachers in all subjects can promote deep and close reading by enriching students’ vocabulary, expanding their worldview, and broadening their knowledge of language and how it works.
Clare Murphy
English Coordinator and Literacy Instructional Coach
CEO have had reports of families not receiving school fee statements when they have a Hotmail address.
Extensive testing has provided the answer that there isn’t a problem with transition and that the statements are more than likely going to parents’ ‘junk’ folder due to settings in Hotmail.
If you haven't already received your school fees statement , please check the ‘junk’ folder.
Please note that the P & F AGM Meeting is on Tuesday, 8 March
at 7pm in I3.
|
What |
When |
|
Swimming Carnival (competitors only) |
Term 1, Week 4 - Friday |
|
Cross Country Carnival |
Term 1, Week 10 - Friday |
|
Athletics Carnival |
Term 2, Week 4 - Friday |
2022 College Swimming Carnival
Last chance to register as a competitor for this event. Nomination due by Monday 21 February. See Compass for details and google nomination form.
Term 1 MISA
Round 1 - 15 February RESULTS
|
Sport |
Division |
Gender |
Versus |
Score |
Win/Loss |
|
Indoor Cricket |
Years 7-9 |
Female |
St Pat’s |
97-58 |
Win |
|
Softball |
Years 7-9 |
Male |
St Benedict's |
7-1 |
Win |
|
Volleyball |
Years 7-9 |
Female |
John Therry |
0-2 |
Loss |
|
Hockey |
Years 7-9 |
Female |
BYE |
- |
- |
|
Basketball |
Years 10-12 |
Female |
BYE |
- |
- |
|
Oz Tag |
Years 10-12 |
Female |
John Therry |
2-7 |
Loss |
Round 2 - 22 February DRAW
|
Sport |
Division |
Gender |
Versus |
Location |
|
Indoor Cricket |
Years 7-9 |
Female |
Magdalene |
All Sports |
|
Softball |
Years 7-9 |
Male |
Magdalene |
Cowpasture |
|
Volleyball |
Years 7-9 |
Female |
St Pat’s |
MCCC - |
|
Hockey |
Years 7-9 |
Female |
Wollondilly |
Narellan |
|
Basketball |
Years 10-12 |
Female |
St Pat’s |
Minto |
|
Oz Tag |
Years 10-12 |
Female |
Magdalene |
Victoria |
Diocesan Sport
Tennis
Our first Diocesan event of 2022 was held on Monday 14th February down at Beaton Park. Mount Carmel sent a Male and Female team down to this event. The teams consisted of:
- Girls: Rose Benjocki (Year 11), Esha Jadhav (Year 10), Maja Mukherjee (Year 8) & Delilah Thomas (Year 7).
- Boys: Dominik Raffoul (Year 11), Jorge Patino Jimenez (Year 10), Jeremy Spackman (Year 9) & Brayden Croke (Year 7).
The girls had some tough matches to start the day. There were some fantastic rallies and hard fought points in both the singles and doubles but the more experienced Corpus Christi team came out on top. In the consolation round, the girls continued their consistent play to win against St Josephs, winning both doubles matches 6-1, 6-1. In the final, our top seed Rose sustained an elbow injury but after getting some treatment, she played on to help the team win the girls consolation final against Holy Spirit.
The boys drew a very strong Holy Spirit Bellambi team in the first round. Brayden Croke won his set 6-2; a fantastic result for our newest team member. They won one set out of the six so they were knocked out. The boys lifted to defeat St John's Nowra 4-2 in the consolation round. They then lost to Corpus Christi in the finals in straight sets.
Both teams played competitive tennis and showed tremendous team spirit throughout the day. They are to be commended for efforts in representing Mount Carmel Catholic College in this year’s Diocesan Tennis Carnival.
Coaches: Candice Hills and Greg Mackney
Communication regarding sport
Students are reminded to continue checking the Compass dashboard for key information relating to sport during 2022. Key information will also be communicated to parents via the College Newsletter and notes sent home. Information will also be provided to staff who will communicate key messages with students during Pastoral Care in the morning.
Sporting Success
We had a number of students compete at Little As regionals last weekend with some very impressive results. Special mention to Ethan Littlewood (Year 8) who brought home Gold medals in 400m, 800m and 1500m, along with another Gold medal for Kaylee Attard (Year 8). We wish both of these students along with all our other Mount Carmel students, the best of luck at State Titles.
If your child or someone as part of our school community (past or present) experiences any sporting success. We would love to know about it. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any Sporting Success so we can recognise those achievements of our community.
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 Nominations for Term 1 Diocesan sports now open via google form on Compass.
- NSWCCC/CSNSW Sport News Higher level CCC trials and events status can be monitored at https://csnsw.sport/news/events-suspended Information on NSWCCC events for 2022 available via Compass. See Mrs Jones for nomination procedure.
- SCHOOL SPORT AUSTRALIA SPORT NEWS More School Sport Australia information can be found at http://www.schoolsportaustralia.edu.au/
Sports Coordinator
Due to recent Covid-19 directions, please note that our College Canteen can ONLY operate for Lunch orders (CASH ONLY).
Lunch Orders are starting from Monday 7 February 2022 until further notice.
Attached is the price list for your reference.
Due to the recent Covid-19 directions, kindly note that the second-hand uniform shop is closed until further notice.