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Dear Parents, Friends, Staff and Students of Mount Carmel,
Last Sunday was the Feast of Christ the King and marked the start of the new liturgical year. At this Mass, we are reminded of the death of Jesus with the story of the two thieves who were crucified beside Him. On one side was the thief who mocked and jeered at Jesus and told Him to save Himself. On the other, was the thief who believed Jesus was something special and asked to be remembered by Him when He entered heaven. It may appear somewhat unusual that we read a story of Christ’s death so close to the celebration of His birth at Christmas but this message is reminding us of His position as Christ the King. As we are also reminded in His interrogation prior to His crucifixion, His kingdom is not of this world and we should be considering how we contribute to His kingdom being supported and promoted by our actions. If Jesus is truly the path to the Father and our way of gaining salvation, we should be asking which of the two thieves we imitate. Do we mock the message of Jesus, or support Him and help to bring about the Kingdom here and now?
Over the first few days of this week, our College Captains and Vice Captains attended the annual Marist Student Leaders’ Retreat at Mittagong. This affords our four main leaders the opportunity to meet with students from other Marist schools and discuss their approach to student leadership and develop contacts with like-minded students in schools with the same charism. It was noted on a number of occasions, that this was a rare event where all Marist Brother and Sister schools in NSW were in attendance (21 in total). Our students represented Mount Carmel with pride and distinction. I attended the final Mass and dinner with the students and was particularly impressed by Jaden Legaspi who was a co-Master of Ceremonies at this dinner. Congratulations to Jaden, Emma, Beyonce and Jordan on their involvement and participation at this retreat.
On Tuesday evening, a number of our students and staff attended a training session at the St Vincent De Paul’s Nagle Centre. This training is in preparation to go onto a roster to assist in distributing meals for people who require assistance. These staff and students have volunteered their time and talents to assist in this area and I thank them on behalf of our community. For our senior students who would like to become involved in this important form of service, please see Ms Toogood to register your interest.
On Friday, we held our Year 7, 2020 Orientation Day. On this day our 214 newest members of our community come together to meet each other and to be welcomed into the Mount Carmel Catholic College community. This day is an important introduction to who we are and what we do. It starts with the Marist characteristic of Family and builds from there. I warmly welcome all these new students and any new families into Mount Carmel and look forward to working with them over the next few years.
Finally, in our newsletter a few weeks ago, I announced that a number of our students had been named for possible inclusion in HSC major work exhibitions. We have now been informed that Abigail Chiwawaya has been successful in her nomination for Art Express for her major work, “Girls Like Us”. We congratulate Abigail and her teacher Mrs Pearce for her achievement and recognition for her major work.
Ite in VeritateMr Steve Lo Cascio
Principal
The staff and students of the Visual Arts Department extend a warm invitation to their Annual Art Exhibition. This will be held during week 8 from Tuesday 3 December until 11am Wednesday 5 December in the Champagnat Centre. The exhibition will showcase the creativity of our Visual Arts and Photography students from Year 8 to Year 12.Opening night will be from 6.30pm on the Monday. There will be a gold coin donation per person as an entry fee. Awards and prizes will be presented for the winner of each category.
We look forward to you joining us.
Mrs Lillis
On 4 November, 10 daring students decided to embark on a journey that would assist in strengthening our faith and relationship with God. Not knowing what we were getting ourselves into, we at first stayed to ourselves but in the end, we became a close family which we never expected. Being a two day retreat, it was filled with exhilarating activities and talks that would guide us as we take part of being the new Youth Ministry Leaders. We had many musical worship sessions and continued to converse with other students from our Diocese.
Upon entering the venue, we were presented with our unique name tags and this is when we realised we are truly the new leaders that would spiritually help our school. It then came an interesting turn when we were forced to meet new people in a group discussion environment. It wasn’t that difficult when you begin to realise that everyone is like you and wants to know about the merciful God. In addition to that, we had a worship session in the evening and this opened our eyes to the new possibilities that we can uptake as leaders. It is also essential to know that no matter what obstacles we are forced to face, God will be our side guiding us to the right direction towards him and that is the most significant aspect we got from the retreat. The retreat had provided us with an experience that has grown and matured our faith and provided us with the ability to be efficient and successful leaders.
To conclude, the 2020 YML retreat was a life-changing experience that all students from all schools will cherish forever.
I would like to express my appreciation to each and every one of you for your flexibility and cooperation over the past 3 weeks of sport. The weather has most certainly tested us, but with excellent cooperation and professional judgment by staff / students we have got through with minimal impact. The safety of our students and staff is paramount and a lot of thorough consideration goes into ensuring that conditions (heat, air quality, electrical storm activity) are suitable for sport to continue. These past few weeks they simply haven’t been and I thank you again for your flexibility and understanding of our decisions. Fingers crossed we can get our last week of sport in with no 'hiccups'.
Below are some general policies that the College enforces in regards to sport.
Student sport groups on Compass: Students are asked to check their Compass for their sport group allocation. This is now ‘locked in’ and unfortunately can not be changed as selections and changes are now closed. It is important that students attend the correct sport group to ensure that they are accounted for and supervised for the afternoon of sport. If they attend the incorrect group they will be marked as ‘absent’ from the group where they are supposed to be and this will affect their attendance record. Please make sure you are attending the correct group each week.
Also as mentioned at previous assemblies and meetings please ignore the large sport description on your compass page (according to this every student is in Fit HQ and this is an error) . Refer to the code below this description for your sport allocation. If you have any questions please see Mrs Pontin at the sports office.
Leave from venue notes: A reminder that if students wish to leave a venue they need to supply the Sport Coordinator. Notes can be signed at the sports
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Date To Whom it May Concern, I (parent / guardian name) give permission for my son / daughter (child’s name) to not return to the College at the conclusion of sport this afternoon. Kind Regards,
(Parent / Guardian signature) (Contact Number) |
Any other notes on Tuesdays: If you are sick, injured or can’t participate in sport on a Tuesday you must have a signed note from your parent/guardian detailing the reason for non-participation. You must bring this note to Mrs Pontin (Sport Coordinator) during recess on Tuesday so an alternate plan can be arranged for you during sport time.
Mrs Tara Pontin (College Sport Coordinator)
After thorough discussion and as a result of the extreme weather conditions, missed games and incomplete competitions, there will only be MISA Interzone finals for the Volleyball and Indoor Cricket competitions. Please see below an outline of all MISA games for week 8:
MISA Boys Volleyball - Interzone Finals (all day event - notes will be distributed to students asap)
MISA Girls Volleyball - No game
MISA Indoor Cricket - No game
MISA Girls Softball - Replay round 5 vs St Patrick's
MISA Girls Oztag - Replay round 5 vs St Patrick's
MISA Girls AFL 12's - Replay round 5 vs St Patrick's
MISA Mixed Frisbee - Replay round 5 vs St Patrick's
MISA Boys Oztag - Grand final match against John Therry
MISA Boys AFL 12's - Play off match against Magdalene
We thank you for your understanding of these decisions as it was very difficult to continue with our usual finals series without having played many of the round games.
Good luck to our MISA Boys Volleyball team who will be playing in the MISA Interzone Finals against Broughton and Good Samaritan. Good luck also to our MISA Boys Oztag team who will be playing in their grand final match against John Therry.
Any questions please see Mrs Pontin at the sports office on Monday.
TUESDAY RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY NOTICES
If students do not participate in the MISA sport program they are involved in the College’s Tuesday Recreational Sport program. This program offers students the opportunity to be active in a variety of different sports / activities either at school or in the local community. Students in Year 7 rotate with their house group through 4 different activities (a different activity each term). All other grades have the opportunity to elect what sport program they would like to participate in each term. This choice gives students the responsibility to be active according to their own interests, likes and strengths.
All Tuesday Recreational Sport groups have now been finalised and added to the timetable and NO CHANGES CAN BE MADE - unfortunately students who did not take the time to complete their sport choices last year (Years 8-11) have been placed into an appropriate sport group for each term. Please check the relevant sports noticeboard and compass for your sport group in preparation for week 2. As outlined in earlier editions of the newsletter there is a technical issue with compass and for some unknown reason all students sport is described as Sport: Fit HQ (or something else). Please ignore this description and refer to the code below this or check the sports noticeboards. If you have any questions please see Mrs Pontin or your Pastoral Advisor for clarification.
ANNUAL MCCC SPORTS AWARDS - Tuesday 10 December 2019 (Week 9)
The end of the College year is fast approaching and I want to take this opportunity to advertise the Annual MCCC Sports Awards that will be taking place on Tuesday 10 December 2019. These awards will allow the College community to celebrate the sporting success of our students across a variety of contexts; MISA teams and Most Valued Players, Recreational Sport participants, CCC teams, Diocesan medallion winners and College carnival Age Champions. There will be special sporting guests joining us for the afternoon as well as presentations to relive the ups and downs of the college carnivals and sport at MCCC this year.
Parents / guardians are welcome to join us for the afternoon. Students receiving major awards (Age Champions and CCC recognition) will be notified via mail in the coming weeks. All other award winners will be notified at school and asked to inform parents. We hope to see you there to celebrate the 2019 sporting successes.
** Please note that the 2019 Sportsperson of the Year for each year level will be presented on the day of our major awards ceremony in week 10.
Mrs Tara Pontin (College Sport Coordinator)
Mount Carmel is a part of the Diocese of Wollongong so we compete in Diocesan Sporting events throughout the college year. At these events / carnivals, schools from the Diocese of Wollongong come together to compete for points towards the Vince Villa Trophy that is awarded to the Champion School at the end of the College year. Mount Carmel historically performs well at these Diocesan events and last year finished a close 3rd place overall in the Vince Villa Trophy.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS NSW SPORT (formerly known as Catholic Schools Sport Services) UPDATES
NOMINATIONS – APPLICATION PROCESS
WATCH THIS SPACE - A NEW AND IMPROVED PORTAL IS COMING LIVE IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS. THIS WILL CHANGE THE PROCESS FOR REGISTERING FOR CCC INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM TRIALS. MORE INFORMATION TO FOLLOW IN THE COMING WEEKS.
Any student who require assistance nominating for the following sports please see Mrs Pontin ASAP.
Opens Boys and Girls Softball - closing date 7 February 2020
Triathlon (Team and Individual) - closing date 19 February 2020
Any student who require assistance nominating for the following sports please see Mrs Pontin ASAP.
Further info can be found at for only a short while longer before the change www.csss.nsw.edu.au/nswccc-home.aspx
MCCC College Sporting Stars - WATCH THIS SPACE!
Summer Safety Tip
With the summer holidays fast approaching, there will be the inclusion of a ‘Summer Safety Tip’ in the newsletter each week. These tips will act as a reminder for our students and the wider community to look after themselves and their friends / family in the summer months.
Tip #3 - Keep Hydrated
During summer, your body heats up quicker than it does during the colder months, it is important to listen to your body when it is hot and hydrate appropriately. When you feel yourself start to sweat, replenish the liquid lost by drinking water as excessive sweating can lead to dehydration. The combination of both hot temperatures and dehydration can lead to serious heat-related illnesses.
Before you become dehydrated, you will feel thirsty and your mouth will become dry and sticky. Do not ignore these early signs, as even a little dehydration can become a big problem.
Health authorities recommend drinking 2 litres of water a day.
https://www.fireandsafetyaustralia.com.au/6-summer-safety-tips/
