Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

In life, we sometimes experience events that are so positive and moving that we are overcome with excitement and emotion. The memory of this event will last with us for a long time, but because the event was so powerful, the positive energy can evaporate and what remains can appear depressing or fearful. In this Sunday’s gospel, we see such an event. This week we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. This is the time where Jesus took Himself to heaven under His own power and authority. The apostles witnessed this and “then went back to Jerusalem full of joy” (Luke 24: 53). The Ascension is an important reminder that Jesus had the power over death and that this leads to an eternal joy. What the apostles were not prepared for was the sense of loss that would come over the next few days. As teachers, we often see sadness and struggles within our community and our families. Whilst we often travel the road beside people in these times, as a people of Christ, we are encouraged to know that Jesus is also with us and that joy will come if we continue to believe in Him.

As always there are many things occurring throughout the College that are contributing to our community and opportunities for the students. On Monday we had our Stage 6 electives for 2023 launch where students in Year 10 were given some initial information to begin the process of choosing subjects. On Tuesday we held our regular Parents and Friends’ meeting, on Wednesday we hosted the Yr 11 Parent/Teacher/Student meetings and tomorrow we will be holding our Staff Spirituality Day. Again, each of these things are used to develop a college where Christ is at the centre and students are provided with varied opportunities to gain excellence. Thank you to all parents and students for your support of these events.

At the P&F meeting, a new treasurer was elected for the remainder of the year. Congratulations to Mrs Patricia Wicks for taking on this important role. The position of president is still available. During the meeting, I outlined the suggestions that we have been investigating around a number of possible changes for next year. We discussed the possibility of changing our lesson length and number of periods within a day and the implications that this may have around slight adjustments to the start and finish times of the day. We also looked at the idea that we may restructure our pastoral system to include our Year 10 students in the role of seniors and what would need to be done to make this possible. Finally, we also discussed possible changes to the junior and senior girls’ uniforms to enable long pants to be introduced as an option for the juniors. There was some positive discussion in these areas, and I thank those present for giving their opinion and raising things to consider. As we get closer to making decisions, I will communicate this with parents as appropriate.

I would also like to thank the P&F for approving a number of requests for funds to be spent on our hall stage lighting and extra Catholic Care counselling days. They have also agreed to other funding around the purchase of a ground’s vehicle which will improve safety around the College. These will go a long way to making the students’ experience and environment more positive.

Tomorrow we are holding our scheduled Staff Development Day which is focussed on staff spirituality. As a Catholic school, this form of professional development is essential in assisting staff to explore their own faith formation which in turn enables them to assist students in theirs. As you would be aware from my letter earlier this week and subsequent emails, this day also coincides with a protected action day called by the Independent Education Union. Please be aware as previously advised, that this has always been scheduled as a pupil free day and there will be no supervision at the College tomorrow.

Ite in Veritate

Mr Steve Lo Cascio

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to gather with each of the Assistant Principals in Marist schools from all around the country. This annual gathering took place at the spiritual home of the Marists in Australia, The Hermitage in Mittagong. This opportunity gave my colleague Assistant Principals and I the chance to reflect on the contribution to Catholic Education that the Marist Brothers have made in this, their sesquicentenary anniversary in Australia (that’s 150 years). 

As a College, we will be acknowledging this milestone on June 10 at our Champagnat Day celebrations. Our day will include the opportunity for all students to celebrate the Eucharist which will be led by Fr Feleki. This will be followed by the distribution of our annual Champagnat Day Awards and fundraising stalls which support our Marist charities. While there has been a real absence in community events in recent years for obvious reasons, we look forward to an enjoyable day and favourable weather as we celebrate this special occasion. 

Finally this week, I remind everyone of our COVID-safe guidelines for Term 2 which stipulate that whilst household close contacts who have no symptoms may continue to attend school, they must adhere to the following requirements:

• The school is notified that they are intending to return as a close household contact
• They must must wear a mask indoors except when eating or exercising
• Once they have completed their 7-day isolation period, they should wear a mask for an additional 3 days (for days 8 to 10)

Please note that students who test positive for COVID-19, or who are unwell or showing COVID-19 symptoms, must continue to isolate at home.

All the best for the week ahead,

Mr David Cloran

THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD C

 First Reading Acts 1:1-11 Jesus is taken up into heaven.

 Second Reading Eph 1:17-23 Christ will appear again to bring salvation.

 Gospel Lk 24:46-53 Jesus commissions the eleven, and ascends to heaven

The following statement by contemporary writer Stephen King is worth revisiting: ‘If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others, read a lot and write a lot.’ American poet Charles Bernstein echoes King’s claim when he states, ‘To create good writers you need to create good readers. There is no shortcut.’ Both writers affirm the importance of reading and writing and their interrelated nature. Often cited as two separate activities, reading and writing are strongly connected. In fact, deep reading is known to enable writing and writing undoubtedly has the capacity to facilitate deep reading.

This critical relationship between the two essential elements of reading and writing is demonstrated regularly in English classrooms as students interact with existing texts in productive ways. The merging of acts of reading and writing in the copying out of sections of quality text is a perfect example of this interaction. Copying another writer’s words without making any alterations, seems absurd. Yet, students’ responses to this exercise invariably suggest that it is a powerful and enjoyable reading and writing experience. In slowing down and reading a small section of writing with intense focus, the text’s stylistic features are often noted in ways that enrich students’ understanding of the way language works. This reading-via-writing activity engages students in both active reading and purposeful writing. Whether it be Year 7 writing out a section from Morris Gleitzman’s novel Once or Year 12 copying a paragraph from Albert Camus’ The Stranger, the resonances and rhythms deep within words, the sense of syntax or word order, and the connectivity with language and meaning becomes more clearly apparent.

Year 12 are currently studying poetry as part of their HSC English course. The Advanced students are exploring the wonderful poetry of the twentieth century poet T.S. Eliot. In today’s lesson, I will be asking the class to copy out a section from Eliot’s poem ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’. Students will then be invited to highlight key words and phrases and to use these to create their own composition. The intention here is to keep ideas moving, looking at the text from new angles and actively engaging with it, so that every reading becomes a remaking, and every engagement creative. Many of our finest writers imitate the writing of others. They frame and recycle words and phrases to enable creativity to flourish. This writing-via-reading activity is an excellent strategy to promote writing confidence and competence.

Mrs Clare Murphy

English Coordinator & Literacy Instructional Coach

Good afternoon everyone,

As we enter the second part of the term, it represents another period of time where the demands of assessments, changing weather, sporting commitments and a range of other pressures often place our bodies under more stress than usual. It is important that we can identify when we are beginning to show signs of fatigue or stress and implement strategies which will allow us to manage the day to day demands in our lives. The College Diary includes a section on page 33 of both the senior and junior diaries which provides some basic tips for assisting with stress management.

Elevate Education

How to Improve Your Child's Memory

Here's what we'll be covering for parents:

• How they can set up their child’s study space to maximise attention;
• The best techniques for improving memory;
• The 7 most common mistakes which actually reduce memory retention.

The presenter will share Elevate's key research and skills, and will conduct a live Q&A so you can ask them questions directly.

You can regiser by clicking here

Next Parent Webinar

Wednesday 1st June @ 7pm (AEDT)

• Year 7 & 8 Brainstorm Productions Cyberbullying drama presentation (June 3)
• Year 10 & 12 MACE Excursion (9th June)
• Champagnat Day (10th June)
• Queen’s Birthday (13th June)
• College Photo Day (23rd June)
• Year 10 Immunisation Day (30th June)
• 7-10 PTS Interviews (27th & 30th June, 1st July)

As usual, thank you for your ongoing support.

Mr Simon Huntly

Mount Carmel Second Hand Uniform Shop sells pre-owned College uniforms at less than half the cost of new uniforms. 

You can bring your child's uniforms to the shop when they no longer fit or you no longer need them (Uniforms must be clean and in good condition. Blazers must be dry cleaned). The Second-hand Uniform shop will sell the uniforms on your behalf, and after they sell the P & F Committee will transfer the money to your nominated bank account.  The P & F will keep 10% of all sales.  You are also able to donate the uniforms and then the P & F will benefit from 100% of the sales.  

The uniform shop is open from 2.30 - 4pm on the days listed below, usually the first Monday of each month.  The shop will next be open on Monday 6 June 2022. The shop is run by parent volunteers to raise money for the P & F Committee and to help families of the school with low-cost uniforms. 

If any parent wishes to volunteer in the Second-hand Uniform Shop please contact the school office.

Term 2 2022

Monday 6 June

Term 3 2022

Monday 1 August

Monday 5 September

Term 4 2022

Monday 7 November

Monday 5 December

Cash only - no EFTPOS facilities

Results for 21/5/2022

15’s defeated by Gregory Hills 15 - 40

Grad C’s defeated Bluejays 67 - 2

Division 6 forfeited game

Division 5 defeated Glenquarie 34 - 29