Filter Content
Dear parents, friends, staff and students,
Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption. This is the day where we recognise that Mary was taken to heaven, body and soul by Jesus. Mary is extremely important in the Catholic faith as she was completely human but gives us an example of a strong and committed person. I have explained in the past that Mary is often referred to as ‘Theotokos’; bearer of God, and that we should strive to also be bearers of God to those with who we come into contact. Mary is important to our community as she is our patron under the name of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. For the Marists (Little brothers of Mary), there was one prayer that is central to their charism. It is the prayer of the Memorare and is a request to Mary to be with us in times of need and to intercede for us with God. On this special feast, I offer the Memorare below:
|
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. |
On Sunday, our College Captains and I attended the annual Campbelltown Catholic Club Mass held at Mary Immaculate parish, Eagle Vale. The Catholic Club Mass was celebrated by Bishop Brian and had attendees from 18 local catholic schools. Thank you to Gloria and Jacob for giving up part of their Sunday to represent the College.
Last Monday I attended a diocesan focus day working on the Continuous Catholic School Improvement (CCSI) framework. I was joined by two of our College Leadership Team (CLT) and principals and school leaders from across the diocese. These days are aimed at ensuring there is a common and collective drive toward improvement. On Thursday, we followed this up with our own Framework Planning Day with our whole CLT. Both of these days ensured alignment with our improvement plan and enabled us to evaluate how we are currently tracking in these. One of the affirmations was the fact that both our framework and that of the diocese align perfectly. Our two improvement goals; enhancing our sense of belonging, and our drive for improvement in learning, are still central to our work. We have identified areas where we are clearly improving (eg facilities and Pastoral Care) and some where we will need to place more energy before the end of the year (eg clarity in role descriptions and expectations). Thank you to those community members who have previously provided feedback through various surveys and interviews. These have been invaluable in helping us to evaluate our progress. We will continue to do this through the remainder of the year.
Next Tuesday, Aug 20, we will be holding our Term 3 Parents & Friends meeting. As always, all parents are invited to attend this meeting. I will give a building update and explanation of our next phase of growth. The meeting, as always, will start in I3 at 7pm.
Ite in Veritate
Mr Steve Lo Cascio
The past week has again witnessed a range of extracurricular activities that enhance the day to day work of the classroom that addresses the academic, spiritual and wellbeing needs of our students. The Trial HSC has completed its second week, Year 7 had their compulsory Vaccinations and Year 8 were involved in a Science Incursion to complement their units of work covered throughout the year and on Wednesday Years 9 & 10 Elective Visual Arts attended an Excursion to the Art Gallery of NSW yesterday. Thanks to all staff who organised and supervised these activities and to the students who participated and cooperated with them.
Next week will see the culmination of the HSC Trial exams on Monday and Year 12 will then take part in a Retreat Reconnect program on Tuesday. On Wednesday Year 9 will be taking part in the annual YourChoicez presentation on Relationships and Year 10 will be attending the BStreetsmart Road Safety day at Homebush. Wednesday night is the Stage 5 2025 Elective Subject Information evening and Thursday will see our Year 9 PASS classes participate in Wheelchair Sports. Please note that with Friday being scheduled for a pupil free day for Staff Professional Learning, that Wednesday and Fridays timetables will be swapped. Thanks in anticipation to all staff and students for their preparation and participation in these events.
Earlier this week a message was sent out via Compass Insight requesting parents and carers to provide online consent for the use of student images. This request has been ongoing and there were still a significant number of outstanding consents required. We are currently finalising College photos for the year and student images cannot be included in class and year group photos without consent. This also applies to our Yearbook. Could parents and carers please ensure that consent has been provided, or declined, through the Compass App as a matter of urgency.
As always, should you have any questions or suggestions about how we can continue to support your son or daughter with their learning or wellbeing, please contact their Pastoral Advisor, Year Coordinator or the Front Office staff.
Mr Simon Huntly
TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B
First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6
Wisdom teaches understanding.
Second Reading: Ephesians 5:15-20
Sing praise to God, avoid that which is evil.
Gospel: John 6:51-58
Whoever eats and drinks of the body and blood of Christ has eternal life.
Mrs Christine Meharg
Year 12 Trial Examinations conclude this week
The Trial HSC Examinations will conclude on Monday 19 August. Year 12 will resume regular lessons on Wednesday 21 August, following their Retreat Reconnector Day on Tuesday 20 August.
Students are reminded to arrive 30 minutes prior to the start time of their exams. If students have morning and afternoon examinations they are not permitted to leave the College between examinations. Students are welcome to stay after an examination to study in the Library or arrive earlier in the day to study before an afternoon examination. In these instances students will be required to sign in at the Library and remain in this space to study. On days students do not have a scheduled examination they are also welcome to attend the Library to study. A reminder that they can only sign in and out of the Library once during the school day.
If, for any reason, students are ill or cannot attend the examination because of an accident or misadventure, you must contact the College to inform Mrs Harpley, Mr Lozelle, Ms Miller and Mr Teuma as soon as possible. The general rule is that the student is to attend the examination if possible, unless there is significant medical advice not to do so. If a student does miss an examination, they must follow the College Illness/Misadventure process. Mr Teuma or Ms Miller will be in contact with students to make arrangements for missed examinations.
Year 11 2025 Course Selection
Course Selection Interviews
Thank you to the students of Year 10 and parents for their participation in the Yr 11 2025 Course Selection process. Now that selections have been entered, we are now able to begin generating the timetable lines for next year. Students will receive their final confirmation of courses in early Term 4.
Stage 5 2025 Elective Course Selection
21 August 2024: Stage 5 2025 Information Night
From 6:30pm, KLA Coordinators and specialist teachers will be available to answer questions regarding the electives that they have on offer. This will take place in S block.
At 7:00pm, members of the College Leadership Team will present information regarding the process of selecting electives for 2025. This section of the evening will take place in the Champagnat Centre.
For students who are currently in Year 8, attendance at the Information Night is fundamental to ensuring that an informed decision is made when nominating their elective selections for 2025. If students are not able to attend, parents/carers are asked to communicate this to Ms Armour (Year 8 Coordinator).
Students in Year 9 may like to attend between 6:30 - 7:00pm to speak with KLA representatives about courses.
Students are expected to attend the Information Night in their full College winter uniform.
All information regarding elective selection will be communicated to students via the Stage 5 Electives Selections Google Classroom. All students currently in Yr 8 and 9 should ensure that they have joined this Google Classroom. The Elective Selection Handbook has now been shared with students via this google classroom.
TERM 3 |
||
| Week 5 |
Year 12 Monday - Year 12 Trial Exams conclude 20/8/24: 12 Work Studies Year 10 19/8/2024: 10 Drama 21/8/2024: 10 D&T 100hr Year 9 D&T - See assessment notification for specific date Year 7 Catholic Studies - See assessment notification for specific date |
|
| Week 6 |
Year 10 29/08/2024: 10 Food Technology (100hr) 30/08/2024: 10 D&T (200hr) Year 9 Year 9 Food Technology - See assessment notification for specific date |
|
| Week 7 |
Year 12 06/09/2024: 12 Numeracy Year 11 04/09/2024: 11 ITT 06/09/2024: 11 Photography, Video & Digital Imaging (1 Unit) Year 10 05/09/2024: 10 ITT (200hr) 06/09//2024: 10 Food Technology (200hr) Year 8 Year 8 History - See assessment notification for specific date |
|
Leader of Learning - Curriculum Pedagogy & Leader of Learning - Curriculum Administration
Staff Development Day Week 5:
Pastoral Care and Wellbeing Focus
Staff will be undertaking professional development facilitated by Professor Andrew Fuller with a focus on student wellbeing at the College. As a clinical psychologist, Andrew Fuller works with many schools and communities in Australia and internationally, specialising in the wellbeing of young people and their families. Andrew has some exceptional resources available to support parents with their teens, inclusive of his work on tips for motivating teens. Andrew provides insight for Parents in understanding how brains learn and how to increase dopamine and motivation to assist them in motivating their learning and organisational habits. Parents have a vital role in helping students: manage time, manage energy, manage stress, manage to get everything in at the right time and in the right place. Parents are encouraged to review Andrew’s website for links to various articles on assisting your students with resilience and learning.
- Attendance - Late arrival without explanation is an automatic Recess Detention (generated by Compass on arrival)
- Phones and Headphones- Not allowed between 8.40am and 3.15pm (explicit permission to assist with learning within the classroom excepted)
- Uniform - needs to be worn as per Diary guidelines
- Rubbish - to be placed in bins located around the site
- Chewing Gum - not permitted
- Aerosol Cans - not permitted
As always, thank you very much for your ongoing support. Should you require any assistance with your child’s learning or wellbeing, please do not hesitate to contact the College or the appropriate Classroom Teacher, Pastoral Advisor or Year Coordinator.
Mrs Theresa Moore Miss Rebecca Toogood
Acting Pastoral Care & Wellbeing Coordinator
Richard Glover published a wonderful article in the ‘Spectrum’ section of the Sydney Morning Herald last weekend entitled ‘A Novel Idea to Beat Imbecility’. With the subheading, ‘How to halt the decline in empathy and the rise of narcissism’, Glover sees reading a good book as a way to counter the negative effects of today’s social media and the growth of instant gratification, selfish individualism, and social isolation.
Glover’s humour plays a significant role in capturing the magic of a good book and its power to enhance life. His ‘brilliant new idea’ to counter the concerns of our contemporary world consists of ‘an artefact of 200 or 300 pages long’ which contains a story ‘so engrossing that people would find themselves consuming the whole thing’. He talks about an engaging opening sentence that would immediately capture the interest of any human being who happened upon the story and cites the following three famous examples: ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’; ‘It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen’; and ‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’
In acknowledging that books such as A Tale of Two Cities, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Anna Karenina are hardly comparable to a TikTok video with vision and music, and the briefest of them are twelve hundred times longer than the average TikTok text, Glover emphasises their power to have a profound impact on humanity. This profound impact would include an increase in one’s attention span, the building of one’s capacity to understand another’s situation and ‘walk in their shoes’, and the enhancement of one’s imagination and creativity. Since a reader makes images in their own minds, supplies their own props, costumes, and camera angles, they may even ‘grow the size of their brains, or at least the complexity of its wiring.’ After all, unlike TikTok, the story will only come to life if the reader serves as camera man, costume designer, casting agent, and composer. ‘You don’t just sit back, watching a 34-second video jangle before your eyes. You are the influencer!’
Glover’s final sentence captures the power of his message and the magic offered by writers such as Charles Dickens, George Orwell, and Leo Tolstoy: ‘When I think about what fiction has given me, I dream of people coming to it anew – and seeing it, newly created, a light so easily turned on, beaming into the dark valleys in which Big Tech would have us huddle.’ I couldn’t agree more. And given the recent publication of our state and national NAPLAN results, the possibility of our young people ‘coming to it anew’ is sadly under threat.
Clare Murphy
English Coordinator and Literacy Instructional Coach
Around the Grounds
Week four has seen a quiet week of sport around the College with MISA teams playing on Tuesday and recreational sport continuing each week. Upcoming we have some exciting competitions with MISA golf and NSWCCC Netball School Based competition. As we approach the halfway point of this term's MISA season, we keep in mind our year 12 students who will be representing the College for the last few times. Their contribution throughout the years has helped showcase the sporting culture of Mount Carmel by being involved in multiple winning teams throughout their time. As always, keep an eye on compass for future updates and goodluck to our MISA teams chasing trophies in their respective competitions.
MISA
|
Sport |
Result |
MVP | Short Report |
|
Indoor Cricket Years 10-12 Boys OCOB |
vs MAG Loss 111-3 |
Cooper Harrison |
The boys came into the matchup short of the required 8 players but were full of enthusiasm to get the win. Winning the toss, Captain Owen Webb elected to bat first hoping to post a solid total for Magdalene to chase. Unfortunately some stellar bowling saw MCCC only post 3 runs. It would take a Marcellin inspired miracle to get the win with 3 runs and even though there was some excellent bowling from the boys Magdalene were able to post a sound 111 runs and take away the win. Next week will see a bye, which will allow the team to regroup and regather to battle the remainder of the season. |
|
AFL Years 10-12 Boys MARP |
vs JTCC Win 79-20 |
Brody Taateo |
Tough game this week. John Therry had a stacked squad, with some very good players around the park. To compound our problems we were down with a number of players off sick and injured. The boys are to be commended for ignoring the score line and competing for the entire game. Brody and Monty played great as always in the middle, they were simply outnumbered, often contesting the ball against five JT boys. Pelesasa made some great plays in defence, with some big contacts against the John Therry forwards. We will be playing Macarthur Anglican for the second time next week, hopefully trying to improve on our performance from our last visit. |
|
AFL Years 10-12 Girls ABRN |
vs THAC Loss 51-1 |
Gemma Olling & Isabella Ashcroft |
Another tough game with no substitutions. The girls never gave up and keep improving every week. Our defence was stronger than the past weeks and we really made THAC work for their points. Gemma and Bella never stopped running, jumping and chasing the ball down. Having only 2 midfielders was a tough task, but these girls never disappoint. Monte was relentless and Mia never stopped smiling when she made contact with the ball and her opponent. Great tackling from Kendra, Vaasi and Aleena. Via’s competitive nature switched her from offence to defence, where she could really step up and slow down THAC’s forwards. A big thank you to the team for never giving up! |
|
Rugby League U15's Boys HARK |
BYE | ||
|
Netball Years 7-8 Girls PONT |
vs STP Loss 23-11 |
Avah Paea |
A solid effort from the girls all over the court. Once again our defence was a force to be reckoned with with our girls applying pressure to every pass. The conditions were difficult with a wet court but the girls adjusted accordingly and worked well together as a team unit. Avah was strong in each position that she played. Her strong hold and straight arms made it challenging for the opposition to get a clean pass away. Well done. A great game by all. Being on next week. |
|
Netball Years 9-10 Girls BELT |
vs STP Loss 45-10 |
Whole Team |
The girls came up against an incredibly strong opponent in St Pat’s this week, especially whilst still dealing with some injuries and the wet weather conditions. Each and every one who took the court approached the game with grit and determination, shown through every centre pass with all our girls working together to contest the ball. It was too hard to choose an MVP this week, however a special mention to Chelsea S who came back from injury this week and played a stellar game as GA, forming an incredible partnership with Bella H. Miyah, Bella N, Eva and Alexa were incredible on our defensive end, playing in positions that are not their usual and taking some amazing intercepts. Our centre court Alexa, Chelsea B, Zoe and Bella N has rough opponents to work with but worked as a team to try to get the ball down the court. Looking forward to next week! |
|
Softball Years 10-12 Girls HOBR
|
VS STP Loss 4-2 |
Smriti Pathania | In a challenging matchup against St Patrick's, the MISA Senior Girls Softball team showcased their resilience, with confidence steadily growing in the second innings. Unfortunately, the game was reverted to the first innings as St. Patrick's had to leave early, cutting short a promising comeback. Despite the abrupt end, Smriti was named MVP for her outstanding contributions and pivotal plays throughout the game. The team's effort and spirit were commendable, setting a strong foundation for future games. |
|
Football Years 7-9 Girls HEAS |
VS STP Draw 3-3 |
Lillian Jackson | In a challenging game against St Pat's the girls demonstrated a fighting performance in attack to finish the game with a Draw at 3 all. Well done girls! Looking forward to next week. |
|
Football Years 7-8 Boys KING |
Vs SBCC Draw 2-2 |
Izrael Marmont | The boys had a challenging start, conceding two early goals within the first 15 minutes, which wasn't ideal. However, after a crucial halftime team talk and a motivational boost, the boys fought back, levelling the game with goals from Lachlan Scrine and Deric Abraham. Izral Marmont was a standout, showing grit and determination at every opportunity. The team is to be commended on their hard-fought comeback. |
|
Football Years 9-10 Boys BERB |
vs SBCC Win 3-1 |
Brodie Cutajar & Vincent Brancati |
What started out as a disappointing turn-out as almost half the team didn’t bring their gear thinking the game was cancelled, we started the match with only 11 players. Despite this, the boys that played started with tremendous effort and determination to get the job done. Unfortunately we conceded early with a penalty against us from a lazy tackle inside the box. However, we dug deep with Baxter scraping back a great offensive goal against the run of play making it 1-1 at the break. A few tactical changes were made and the second half started strongly. For a brief moment the two teams looked all square with Brodie making some crucial saves to keep us in the match, but eventually with two superb goals, not by talent, but by hunger and desire, Vincent and David capitalised on some defensive errors which meant the game finished at 3-1.Huge credit to those that played and getting a lot of minutes. Hopefully next week we have a stronger turn-out. |
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.
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 |
Transit Systems
Please see letter regarding School Opal Card use and the importance of tapping on and off every time.
Transit Systems school bus route timetable is available via this link. Contact phone number is 8118 7102. This timetable now in includes the Willowdale transit routes.
Enrolments 2024 Onwards
The CEDoW has transitioned to a new online enrolment platform, called Funnel, removing the use of all paper forms. Please take note, particularly for sibling applications. The online application form is accessible from the College website.
Social Media – Facebook & Instagram
 |
 |
Coming soon! Watch this space!