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Dear parents, friends, staff and students,
This Sunday begins the season of Advent. This is the opportunity for us to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Christ which is now only 3 ½ weeks away. The Gospel (Mark 13:33-37) makes a number of statements calling us to stay awake because we do not know when the master is coming. In modern times, this is somewhat counter-cultural as much of what we see in the media and in shops has removed the message of Jesus’ coming, from the notion of Christmas. Many shops will intentionally replace the name of Christ with an X. Mark’s gospel, reminds us clearly that we must be intentional and deliberate in remembering and preparing for Jesus all the time but in our particularly busy season in December, it is important to be reminded of this and celebrate fully and with joy and hope.
On Wednesday evening we held our Year 7, 2024 Orientation Evening followed by the student day today. Both of these events are designed to provide a solid foundation for the newest members of our community. The orientation evening enabled the students to see those who would be important in their journey for next year. The day today, assisted them to meet people who may become lifelong friends. Welcome to these new students and congratulations on becoming members of the Mount Carmel Catholic College family. Thank you to the staff who gave of their time and experience to make our HSC class of 2029 feel welcomed and part of the Mount Carmel family.
It has just been announced that Mount Carmel Catholic College has been named as the Champion School in MISA for 2023. This is the second year in a row and follows on from the divisional changes two years ago where schools received greater points for participating in the hardest divisions. We are very proud of the achievements of our students and staff and congratulate the whole community on this success. This is evidence that we continue to provide opportunities for excellence for our students across a range of areas.
Some of you would have visited the uniform shops at the front of the College underneath the administration block. Over the years, this space has been used as a storage space, a school gym and now as shops. The front foyer of this space is now dedicated to some of the history of the College. The intention is for our new students to visit this space as part of their orientation but also to give parents an opportunity to see who we are when you attend to purchase uniforms. Please feel free to visit this space and for ex-students, to see if you can find your own image.
Ite in Veritate
Mr Steve Lo Cascio
As we prepare for the final 2 weeks of the year, the College is well and truly in the midst of maintaining a fine balancing act between concluding a very productive 4 terms of growth and preparing for 2025. Over the past week, we have seen a range of experiences, initiatives and tasks that continue to support our students with their learning and wellbeing. These have included:
- Year 11 - Commenced their first round of HSC assessment tasks.
- Year 10 - Respectful Relationships presentation by Tara Pontin during yesterday’s Assembly.
- Year 9 - Addressed planning and expectations for the upcoming 2 weeks and team building games during today’s assembly.
- Year 8 - looked at Sport preparation and selections for 2024 and a Trivia competition in today’s assembly.
- Year 7 - followup from last week’s presentation by CatholicCare on Resilience during yesterday’s assembly.
Thanks to all staff and students, particularly our Year 9 volunteers (48 of them) who assisted with our Orientation Day for Year 7 2024 that was held today.
Next week will see students engage further in activities to complement the work of the classroom and day to day school based commitments. These include:
- Our SRC Captains and Vice Captains attending the annual Bishop’s retreat at Mittagong.
- Year 7 Surf Education Awareness program at Sandon Point Surf Life Saving Club on Thursday as an integral component of their unit of study on ‘Summer Safety”.
- College Assembly next Friday morning to recognise our Sporting successes and achievements throughout 2023.
- Year 11 ongoing assessments for the HSC of 2024.
Again, thanks to all staff and students for their involvement in the planning, preparation and participation of these upcoming events. A reminder that our last day of school for the year is Friday 15 December, which will involve a Final mass, Year 7-10 Academic, Pastoral and Cultural Awards and House and School based activities. Specific times and details of the final day will be communicated over the next 2 weeks.
Mr Simon Huntly
Year 7-11 Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews
Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews provide an opportunity for parents and students to meet with their class teachers to review academic progress and discuss areas for growth. This conversation provides valuable feedback and enables the opportunity to ask questions to support students as they progress through their secondary education.
Interviews for Years 7-11 2023 are being held on Monday December 18 between 9:00am and 12:30pm via Zoom. Interview sessions can be booked online through the Compass Parent Portal. In some cases, teachers may be unavailable for these Parent/Teacher/Student interviews and in these circumstances, the respective teachers may make contact with you regarding how you can obtain additional feedback about your child’s academic progress.
Further to the upcoming interviews, please note that Semester 2 Academic Reports for students in Years 7-10 will be made available via Compass on Friday December 15 at approximately 3:30pm.
If you have any questions regarding the upcoming interviews, please do not hesitate to contact the College via an email to info@mcccdow.catholic.edu.au or a phone call to (02) 9603 3000.
All My Own Work - Year 10
In week 10, Year 10 have their alternate learning week where they will not have regular lessons but rather participate in a number of learning experiences that will prepare them for the transition into 2024. The completion of the All My Own Work modules is an essential part of this program. NESA requires that students complete All My Own Work to be able to move into Year 11. All My Own Work is a program designed to help HSC students follow the principles and practices of good scholarship. This includes understanding, valuing and using ethical practices when locating and using information as part of their HSC studies. Students will need to have a charged laptop to undertake the modules.
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TERM 4 |
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| Week 9 |
Year 11 (HSC) 2024 04/12/2023: Business Studies 06/12/2023: Modern History 07/12/2023: Visual Arts 08/12/2023: Mathematics Ext 2
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| Week 10 |
Year 11 (HSC) 2024 11/12/2023: CAFS 11/12/2023: Society and Culture 11/12/2023: Mathematics Ext 1 13/12/2023: SORII 13/12/2023: SORI 13/12/2023: Physics 14/12/2023: IPT |
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Ms Chardy Miller & Ms Rebecca Toogood
Leader of Learning - Curriculum Pedagogy & Leader of Learning - Acting Curriculum Administration
Year 7 2024
On Wednesday evening, we were thrilled to welcome our newest members to our Mount Carmel community at the Parent Information Evening for Year 7, 2024. Today, we hosted the orientation day for our incoming students, and the excitement was palpable!
Our Year 9 students stepped up as ambassadors, with 48 enthusiastic volunteers dedicating their school day to ensuring the newcomers felt at home. This exceptional team guided and supported the Year 6 students, showcasing the true spirit of a Mount Carmel student. I thank this group of Year 9 students for their work today and know they will continue to be great support for our newest members in 2024.
House Captains 2024
After a lengthy process and very strong representation of the four Houses, we can announce the House Captains and House Vice Captains for 2024. We wish all House leaders the best for their leadership aspirations. Our new Year 10 leaders for 2024 will have great responsibility for igniting House spirit with a particular emphasis on our Swimming, Athletics and Cross-country carnivals, organising House Liturgies and Masses. Thank you to Year/House Coordinators and Pastoral Advisors who assisted all students in this process.
Congratulations to:
Mrs Theresa Moore
Acting Pastoral Care & Wellbeing Coordinator
Upcoming Parent Webinars
Elevate Education
How You can set Your Child up for Success
Wednesday 6 December @ 6.30pm (AEDT)
Elevate Education 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 you can help better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school.
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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
FOR THE STUDENTS OF YEAR 12 2023
Did Elevate’s study skill seminars help you to ace your HSC this year?
Would you like to help next year’s Year 12 students?
Join the Elevate team as a presenter and pass on your HSC insights, tips and tricks to help students across New South Wales.
What can you expect?
You would join a team of young, engaging presenters who go to high schools around the state to deliver dynamic 60-minute seminars on study skills. These interactive seminars cover topics such as note taking, time management, motivation and exam preparation. Our presenters are enthusiastic, confident and reliable, and are confident managing any group of students. Public speaking experience is preferred.
What are the benefits of the role?
- A flexible work schedule that fits around your university timetable
- Great experience and upskilling in public speaking
- Opportunities to travel around Australia and internationally. Our top presenters in 2023 were sent to Kyoto Japan!
- Become part of a great team who are passionate about helping others learn!
Apply today by clicking this link.
The English faculty began the second of our two recent staff development days by exploring the research on the very important subject of writing in preparation for our own building of programs for the new English syllabus for Years 7-10. In the educational domain, a substantial body of research and scholarship over recent decades has been devoted to understanding how to optimise students’ knowledge and understanding of, and skills and accomplishment in, writing. The predominant pedagogical models of writing have emphasised writing as a process and stressed the development of writing skills as a complex and recursive act, requiring collaboration between an expert teacher and focused, active students.
The academic article explored by the English faculty on the morning of this second staff development day was ‘Teaching Writing in Secondary English: Practical Approaches to Building Confidence, Enjoyment and Achievement’ written by Professor Jackie Manuel and Dr Don Carter. This paper offered a range of practical, research-based approaches for developing students’ appetite for and competence and confidence in writing, within and beyond the school context. In engaging with the article, English teachers revisited the principles of effective writing pedagogy; addressed the challenges of teaching writing in secondary English; and identified some proven strategies that can be adapted for integration into our new teaching and learning programs. Many of the principles advocated by these two academics apply to all subject areas in the secondary school context.
Donald Graves, one of the great international leaders in writing research and teaching, summed up the importance of ‘putting pen to paper’ when he added, ‘Writing is extolled, worried over, cited as a national priority, but seldom practised. The problem with writing is not poor spelling, punctuation, grammar, and handwriting. The problem with writing is no writing.’ Given its crucial role in thinking and making sense of experience, writing has been a particular focus at Mount Carmel over the past eight years. The act of writing regularly in all curriculum areas, is not only advantageous for students’ academic performance, but also of considerable potential benefit to their health and well-being. We know that when we write, we write our way into meaning, discovering ideas and generating insights that would otherwise remain unrealised. We also know that every act of writing is therefore potentially an act of creation. The establishment of a community of teacher-writers and student-writers is an important part of the Mount Carmel literacy landscape.
Clare Murphy
English Coordinator and Literacy Instructional Coach
A challenging week for many of our MISA grand final teams as all three finals Mount Carmel participated in ended in defeat. The games were highly competitive, with only a 2-point margin separating all three matches, including our Girls Volleyball, Boys Oztag team, and Mixed ultimate frisbee team. Despite these setbacks, we still have our Boys Volleyball team in action in week 9 against Oran Park, with a postponed match due to their unavailability in week 8. We extend our best wishes to them and hope to bring home at least one trophy this term.
In week 8, our College hosted trials for next year's Marist Basketball squad, which aims to defend our national title in Gold Coast. The team's announcement is scheduled for next week.
Shifting our focus to another exciting event, our upcoming sports assembly is scheduled for Week 9 on Friday 8 December. This assembly serves as a special occasion to express gratitude and admiration for the exceptional talents exhibited by our athletes at Mount Carmel. It provides an opportunity to recognize and applaud their unwavering dedication and outstanding performances throughout the year.
We eagerly anticipate celebrating the achievements of our MISA teams and athletes during these significant events and wish them continued success in their sporting endeavours.
| Sport Result & MVP |
Short Report & MVP | ||
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Indoor Cricket 7-9 Boys Mr O'Connell VS JTCC 3rd Place Playoff Win 94-75 |
The boys came into this 3rd/4th playoff keen to finish off the season with a convincing win. Electing to bowl first, the boys were on point with their line and length. 95%+ were on the pitch, this was one of the best bowling performances all season. MCCC were able to restrict the MAS total to 75 runs. MCCC had a significant total to chase and our first batting pair performed exceptionally well posting an extravagant 35 runs.  MVP - Chase Fin
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Oz Tag 7-9 Boys Mr King Final VS Mag Loss 7-6 |
A fantastic game for the boys this week who were unlucky to take the silverware on this occasion, going down 7-6 in a nailbiter against Magdalene Catholic College. Despite some contentious referee decisions and facing back-to-back penalties that were challenging to say the least, speaks volumes about the resilience and character of the team that they were able to handle the pressure and defend against repeated sets. The efforts of Kayde Hughes and Paul Mikaele in making outstanding tags and disrupting Magdalene’s momentum on a number of occasions was impressive. Jeremiah Leota-Brown, Joshua Manson and Ashton McMillan were brilliant offensively, breaking the opposition’s line through well-executed set plays. Watching these boys improve in their skills and performance each week was an absolute delight and I couldn’t be more proud of the camaraderie shown throughout the term. A special note of appreciation for Dimitri Sheather’s contributions off the field, from collecting equipment, to setting up the playing field and providing support, underscores the importance of teamwork both on and off the pitch. Congratulations to all boys on a well-fought season and I look forward to coaching you all at some stage again in 2024.  MVP - Kayde Hughes & Jeremiah Leota-Brown |
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Oz Tag 7-9 Girls Ms Heath VS JTCC 3rd Place Playoff Win 10-1 |
A great way to finish a hard season with a big win for third place against John Therry. The girls came out pumped up to help the school in their quest to hold onto the MISA championship trophy with every position earning vital points. The match started slow but got into the swing of things with 4 quick tries to no reply from John Therry. John Therry worked their way into the game and were dominating in the late stages of the first half. A half time talk with a few minor changes saw the girls put away 6 unanswered tires in the second half to secure a podium finish. Well done girls on a great season.  MVP - Lara Underwood
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Ultimate Frisbee 10-11 Mixed Mr Martin VS JTCC Final Loss 11-7 |
Incredible performance from the team. John Therry were out and out favourites, but Mount Carmel’s valiant effort kept them honest. If a couple of moments went our way it could have been a different story, but nonetheless it has been a fantastic experience coaching such a great group of students. Our MVP’s go to Isabella Ashcroft and Isaac Ramos, our two captains. Isabella played out of her skin; she was everywhere! All term Isabella has led the team in her effort, chasing down the disc from end to end, whistle to whistle. Isaac Ramos controlled the play, showing calm on the disc and vision in attack. Another notable performance was Brody Taateo in defence; nothing got past him. I could laud the contributions of many more players, but I have probably gone long enough. Thanks for the term team.  MVP - Isabella Ashcroft & Isaac Ramos |
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AFL 7-9 Boys Mr Kawa
VS THAC 3rd Place Payoff Loss 30-14 |
The boys took on a much-improved side in THAC which dominated field position for the majority of the match, keeping our boys very busy defensively. Some great work from Hayden Jones in defence helped keep the scores very even in the second half however we failed to create many scoring opportunities to challenge our opposition. Congratulations to all the boys involved for giving their best efforts in what was for many of them their first ever AFL experience. Onto next year!  MVP - Isaac Robinson
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Volleyball 10-11 Girls Ms Hobbs VS THAC Final Loss 2-1
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Filled with anticipation, the senior girls' volleyball team eagerly approached the grand finals. The initial triumph in the first game showcased their strength, but facing the formidable Thomas Hassall team proved challenging as they matched our every move. Despite losing the second game, the tie-breaker unfolded as a nail-biting spectacle, with scores at 6-6, 11-11, and 14-14 at various points. Ultimately, our team fought valiantly but fell short, losing 16-14. Despite the outcome, the girls demonstrated exceptional skills and teamwork. Congratulations to the girls on a fantastic term of MISA volleyball - well done!  |
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Again a very busy term for sport with a lot of events occurring throughout the term. As always, students are encouraged to sign up and trial for representative teams. Below you will find registration links for both our DIO and NSWCCC events. If you require any further information please visit the Diocese of Wollongong sports here.
Registrations are Now Open for 2023
Please refer to attached 2023_Registration.pdf
Representative Pathways
| MISA Website | https:/wwwwmisaonlineeorgg.au/ |
| Diocesan Sport News | Updates and news on Wollongong Diocese sport events and trials can be viewed here |
| NSW CCC/CSNSW Sport News | Higher level CCC trials and events status can be monitored here. |
| School Sport Australia Sport News | More School Sport Australia information can be found here |
The College office will close on Monday 18 December 2023 at 11.00am and will reopen on Monday 22 January 2024 at 8.00am.
21st Annual Visual Arts Exhibition
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish
P&F Clothing Pool
The P&F Clothing Pool will be open times for the Year 7 2024 students. Below is the schedule for 2024 opening days and times.
School Student Travel 2024
2024 school travel applications are now open. Please click here for information from Transport for NSW.