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Dear parents, friends, staff and students,
This week’s Gospel from Luke (19: 1-10) tells the story where a tax collector, Zacchaeus, climbed a tree to witness Jesus passing by. When Jesus saw him, He called him down and told him that He would share a meal at Zacchaeus’ house that day. Many of the people watching were upset that Jesus had decided to spend time with a sinner and an outcast. In response to this, Zacchaeus decided to give away half of his property to the poor and give four times what he had stolen back to anyone who he had cheated. Jesus used this to explain that it is not too late for people to repent and reach salvation. This salvation is freely given to anyone who genuinely repents and looks to make amends. Genuine sorrow is essential for this process to be fulfilled and whilst this repentance may only ever be known by God, the actions of a sorrowful person may help to ease the burden of others on earth. Zacchaeus realised Jesus had a full and meaningful love for him even though he had done wrong but was wise enough to know that he had the responsibility to mend the relationship since Jesus’ love was unconditional.
Earlier this week, our Key Learning Area (KLA) Coordinators spent a day reviewing and discussing our School Improvement Plan for the next four years. This plan will be built on several data sources that we have used over the past few years to reflect on what we do well as a community and what we might focus on for improvement. We have used information from our Cyclic Review report from earlier this year as well as data from the Tell Them From Me survey and a number of Pivot surveys conducted with students. As well as these, we use the HSC data analysis and NAPLAN feedback as well as anecdotal feedback from parents and staff. This is reviewed using the National School Improvement Tool which was developed by the Queensland Department of Education and the Australian Council for Educational Research. All this information helps us to build a context for improvement and this formed the basis of our College Leadership Planning Day held late last term.
The result of this review is that we will be broadly focussing on three main areas over the next four years. Whilst we are performing well in many areas, our focus for improvement will specifically be; building relationships to enhance a sense of belonging, building teacher capacity and improving student learning growth. The process over the next few months will be to build specific strategies and indicators to help us determine our success in these areas. As I have said in previous newsletters, our aim will be to keep the community informed as we develop strategies and reflect on our progress.
Our next P&F meeting will be on Tuesday Nov 8 (week 5). Prior to the meeting starting, parents will have the opportunity to attend a Parent Literacy Evening run by Mrs Murphy, our Literacy Instructional Coach. Mrs Murphy has run a number of these evenings this year and the parents who have attended have found them valuable and interesting. Those choosing to stay can then attend the P&F if you would like. The P&F have generously offered to provide some pizza for those attending the meeting. I encourage parents to attend our last meeting for the year where we will outline the building project.
Ite in Veritate
Mr Steve Lo Cascio
I take the opportunity this week to remind parents and students of our upcoming Pupil Free Day which will take place on Friday 11th November. The focus for staff will be on our preparations for 2023, with a particular emphasis on the provision of engaging lessons that will accommodate our restructured five-period days. As always, I thank the parents and carers who are required to arrange alternate supervision on this day so that these valuable opportunities for staff can take place.
An additional reminder to parents of students in Year 7 that vaccinations for Gardasil (Dose 2) and a single dose of Boostrix are being administered this coming Friday (4th November). Students are asked to wear their sports uniform on this day in order to assist with the injections. They are also encouraged to have a suitable breakfast on Friday morning. Parents who submitted consent forms earlier in the year needn’t complete any additional forms for this dose, however, if you would like to withdraw this consent, please advise the front office in writing.
Earlier this week, we received another supply of RAT tests for students and staff. Please note that these will be distributed over the coming week during homeroom. As has been the case for some time now, students who are unwell are encouraged to use these tests, however, there is no requirement to submit photos/evidence of positive or negative results.
Finally, a reminder of the COVID-19 directives that are in place for the remainder of Term 4:
- If a student or staff member is unwell and has any COVID-19 symptoms, even the mildest of symptoms, they should stay home and test, and only return once their symptoms are gone.
- If your child tests positive for COVID-19, please continue to notify the school and remain at home until symptoms have gone.
Wishing you all the best for the week ahead.
Mr David Cloran
Jericho, Jordan.
This is the tree that Zacchaeus climbed.
THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C
First Reading Wis 11:22 – 12:2 The Lord loves all creation.
Second Reading 2 Thes 1:11 – 2:2 The day of the Lord is not yet here.
Gospel Lk 19:1-10 Jesus enters the house of Zacchaeus.
November - The Season of Remembering
The Church refers to all people who have lived holy lives and worked for the good of all as the communion of saints. We seek the intercession of these people who have walked before us in faith, asking that their prayers bring us forgiveness and love. In recognising the communion of saints, we accept in love the responsibility to pray, too, for all the people of God - those living and those who have gone before us. “Always and everywhere,” says Pope Francis, “you can become a saint, by being receptive to the grace that is working in you”.
Mrs Christine Meharg
HSC Minimum Standards Tests
Students in Yr 10 and 11 who have not yet attained the minimum standard in the reading, writing or numeracy tests will be provided with another opportunity to attempt in the next fortnight. Students should check their emails for information from Mrs Kripal or Ms Miller regarding when these tests will be scheduled.
Year 11 Academic Reports
Year 11 Academic Reports have been released today. Students should be looking for feedback in these reports that will assist them in establishing good routines and subject specific strategies to continue their learning improvement journey in their HSC courses.
Covid Intensive Tutoring Program - Year 8 Reading Workshops
HSC Exams Continue
Next week’s exams are:
| Monday | 31 Oct 2022 |
9:25am |
12:30pm |
Chemistry |
Champagnat Centre |
| Tuesday | 1 Nov 2022 |
1:55pm |
3:30pm |
Visual Arts |
Champagnat Centre |
| Wednesday | 2 Nov 2022 |
9:25am |
12.30pm |
PDHPE |
Champagnat Centre |
|
Thursday | 3 Nov 2022 |
9:25am |
12:30pm |
Physics |
Champagnat Centre |
| Friday | 4 Nov 2022 |
9:25am 1:55pm |
12:30pm 3:30pm |
Food Technology Design & Technology |
Champagnat Centre |
Students are reminded that they are expected to be at the College 30 mins prior to the commencement time of each examination. As this is the last week of exams, students should also be ensuring that they have returned any items that have been borrowed from the College.
The College wishes Yr 12 students all the best in their HSC exams.
Week 4
Date TBC: Year 10 IT: Timber Task
Date TBC: Year 9 IT: Timber Task
Date TBC: Year 9 Science Task
Date TBC: Year 9 Visual Arts Task
Week 5
Date TBC: Year 10 Visual Arts Task
Date TBC: Year 10 Music Task
Date TBC: Year 9 Music Task
Date TBC: Year 8 Visual Arts Task
Date TBC: Year 8 Technology Mandatory Task
Date TBC: Year 7 Technology Mandatory Task
Date TBC: Year 7 Music Task
Date TBC: Year 7 HSIE Task
Week 6
15/11/2022: Year 12 Investigating Science Task
16/11/2022: Year 12 SORII Task
Date TBC: Year 10 IST (100hr) Task
Date TBC: Year 9 Maths Task
Date TBC: Year 9 Catholic Studies Task
Week 7
21/11/2022: Year 12 SLR Task
22/11/2022: Year 12 Biology Task
23/11/2022: Year 12 IT: Timber Task
Date TBC: Year 9 IST Task
Ms Chardy Miller & Mrs Alison Kripal
Leader of Learning - Curriculum Pedagogy & Leader of Learning - Curriculum Administration
One of my favourite philosophers is a French woman by the name of Simone Weil. Born in 1909 to a Jewish family in Paris, Weil became a great thinker and a political activist who influenced many writers including Albert Camus, Iris Murdoch, and Flannery O’Connor. She died in 1943 at the age of 34. One powerful statement of Weil’s which is so pertinent to our very distracted world today is: ‘Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.’
Mr Greg Lozelle – the librarian at Mount Carmel – gave me a recently published book to read a few weeks ago, entitled Stolen Focus. Written by the award-winning British journalist and playwright, Johann Hari, Stolen Focus is a fascinating exploration of the breakdown of our ability to pay attention. Stephen Fry commented after reading this book ‘I can’t remember reading a book which made me shout out “Yes! That’s it!” quite so many times.’ I have to admit that I had exactly the same response.
For some of us, reading a book is the deepest form of focus we experience. We can get lost in books for long stretches of time and these encounters allow us to travel, to dream, to challenge, to imagine, to remember, and to speculate. Hari reflects on a time when he travelled further in a deckchair by the sea, reading books, than he had in the previous five years of shuttling frantically around the world: ‘I went from fighting on the battlefields of the Napoleonic wars, to being an enslaved person in the Deep South, to being an Israeli mother trying to avoid hearing the news that her son has been killed.’ This experience is now in jeopardy today.
Hari asserts that the way we are reading seems to be changing due to the impact of technology. Reading from screens trains us to read in a different way – a manic skip and jump from one thing to another. He quotes Professor Anne Mangen, who states: ‘We’re more likely to scan and skim when we read on screens. We run our eyes rapidly over the information to extract what we need.’ This undoubtedly creates a different relationship to texts. Hari claims reading stops being a pleasurable immersion in another world and becomes more like ‘dashing around a busy supermarket to grab what you need and then get out again.’
An unfortunate consequence of this change in reading is that we are losing both our capacity to read long texts and our ‘cognitive patience … the stamina and the ability to deal with cognitively-challenging texts.’ What happens to a world where this form of deep focus shrinks so far and so fast? What happens when the deepest layer of thinking becomes available to fewer and fewer people? George Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty-Four captures this phenomenon by depicting a powerful Inner Party – making up less than 2 percent of the population – who control all aspects of society. Similarly, Aldous Huxley’s message in his novel Brave New World warns of a population fed on ‘bread and circuses’ becoming disempowered and devoid of humanity. What are the ‘bread and circuses’ we are so readily consuming today? And what are the ‘bread and circuses’ we are feeding our young people?
Ms Clare Murphy
English Coordinator & Literacy Instructional Coach
This morning’s pastoral activities encompassed a broad range of learning and wellbeing initiatives.
Avila House conducted their House Liturgy, which involved students from Years Seven through to Eleven. The remaining students remained in Year Group cohorts and participated in the following activities:
- Year 7 - Cultivating positivity (conducted in pastoral classes)
- Year 8 - A choice of indoor and outdoor games, study, drawing, reading and other mindfulness activities
- Year 9 - 2023 House Captaincy interviews and individual time for assessment tasks
- Year 10 - A choice of indoor and outdoor games or preparation for upcoming assessment tasks
- Year 11 - Follow-up activities from last week’s Elevate presentation, Lifestyle survey and private study time.
Avila House also conducted a Sausage Sizzle at lunchtime to raise money for charity. A huge thanks to all Year Coordinators, Assistant Coordinators and associated staff who assisted with the organisation and presentation of these important learning, wellbeing, spiritual and community building initiatives.
Mr Simon Huntly
Diocesan Basketball Report
Senior Girls Diocesan Report
The Senior Girls Basketball team attended the Diocesan Basketball competition held at Beaton Park, Wollongong. It was an early start and the girls were very excited, nervous and pumped for their first game. The girls lost their first game against Holy Spirit. With the nerves out of the way they were victorious in their next games against St Joseph’s, St John’s and John Terry. In the finals we played St Patrick’s College which has been our MISA rival team for the past few years. It was a close game but our girls were the better team on the day. Although tired, they communicated, backed one another, and never gave up to come away with the win and third place overall in the competition. Congratulations to all the girls and the student helpers who learnt the art of scoring on the job. We had a wonderful day and the sleep on the way back home was well deserved.
MsNataleeeAbraa
Senior Boys Diocesan Basketball
The Wollongong Diocesan Basketball Championship was held on Monday October 17 at Minto Indoor Sports Centre. The first game was against Edmund Rice resulting in a 45-10 point win. The second game was matched against Magdalene College resulting in a second win of 44-15 placing the team in a face off against St Joseph's. This resulted in the largest victory of the day 57-15. In the Semi-finals we were the better team with a 36-11 win over Corpus Christi. The final game of the day, saw us competing for 1st place of the whole competition was against John Therry. With a narrow 32-29 victory, our overall standing as winners of the entire diocese in Basketball. Thank you to Mr Harpley who coached and trained the team, and MrsTurnbull who organised the event.
MISA Week 3 Results
Most Sports Washed out
| Sport | Division |
Gender |
Teacher |
Opposition |
Result |
| Indoor Cricket | Years 7-9 | Male | Miss Heath | Vs WAC | Loss |
| Softball | Years 7-9 | Female | Mrs Tyra | Washed out | |
| AFL | Years 7-9 |
Male Female |
Mr Harpley Mrs Abra |
Washed out | |
| OzTag | Years 7-9 |
Male Female |
Mr Duvall Miss Jeffreys |
Washed out | |
| Ultimate Frisbee | Years 10/11 | Mixed | Mr O'Connell | Washed out | |
| Volleyball | Years 10/11 |
Male Female |
Mrs Valastro Mrs Asuit |
Vs MAC Vs STPP |
Loss Win |
NRL Skills Program conducted during sport with 7 Murray and after sport 2.30pm-3.30pm.
Communication regarding sport
Students are reminded to continue checking the Compass dashboard for key information relating to sport during the year. 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.
We would love to hear if your child or someone part of our school community, past or present, experiences any sporting success. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any sporting success so we can recognise those achievements in our community.
Representative Pathways
MISA Website https:/wwwwmisaonlineeorgg.au/
Diocesan Sport News
Updates and news on Wollongong Diocese sport events and trials can be viewed here Nominations for Term 1 Diocesan sports are now open viagooglee form on Compass.
NSW CCC/CSNSW Sport News
Higher level CCC trials and events status can be monitored here. Information on NSWCCC events for 2022 available via Compass. See MrsTurnbull for nomination procedure.
SCHOOL SPORT AUSTRALIA SPORT NEWS
More School Sport Australia information can be found here
Ms Sue Turnbull
Acting Sports Co-ordinator
Earlier in the year the Mount Carmel Catholic College community came together to show their support to the people of Tonga that were severely affected by the natural volcanic disaster that occured in January 2022. This week, all the donations made by our college were gratefully received by the families and people of the affected communities.
They have passed on their gratitude to all parents, guardians, staff and students for their generosity and kindness in what has been a very difficult and challenging year for the people of Tonga.
Thank you
Mr O'Connell
Monday: 8.00am - 12.00pm
Wednesday: 12.30pm - 4.30pm
For online purchases, please visit shop.ranier.com.au or call 0493 122 101. Alternatively you can email @ mtcarmel@ranier.com.au
Mount Carmel P&F Clothing Pool 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 7 November 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 4 2022
Monday 7 November
Monday 5 December
Cash only - no EFTPOS facilities
Thank you to the wonderful volunteers who have offered their time to assist our Canteen staff. The College is now able to open the canteen two days per week. Commencing Monday 1 August, please see the following changes:
| Week Days | Operation | Payment Facilities |
| Mon/Tues/Wed | Lunch Orders ONLY | Cash ONLY |
| Thurs/Fri | Recess & Lunch | Cash & EFTPOS |
| 12 Oct | HSC Exams (12 Oct - 5 Nov) |
| 28 Oct | Live #3 Faith Formation (4-6pm) |
| 4 Nov | Year 7 Immunisations (Visit 2) |
| 8 Nov | P&F Meeting (7pm) |
| 9 Nov | Year 9 Gender Agenda Day |
| 11 Nov | Pupil Free Day |
| 16 Nov | Year 7 2023 Parent Information Evening (7pm) |
| 18 Nov |
Year 7 2023 Orientation Day Year 12 Formal |