PAC (Pastoral Academic Care)

PAC FOCUS

Pastoral Academic Care (PAC) Focus

SENSE OF PURPOSE

Wellbeing Element:  MEANING & PURPOSE

Character Strength:  LOVE

Parent Wellbeing: The shadow side of a strength is when you underuse, misuse or overuse it. For example, if prudence is one of your strengths, the shadow side could see you afraid to try something new. For three of your strengths describe a time you used them on the shadow side. The state of adolescent mental health is at an all time low, with one in four young people experiencing significant mental issues. There are many school counsellors and outside agencies providing admirable support for students who are suffering from these emotional issues, but what are we doing to prevent these issues from occurring in the first place? Recent research has indicated that many young people in this situation lack a sense of purpose in their lives, have only one peer group, don’t feel a sense of connectedness to school or home, and feel that they lack autonomy and the competence to achieve what they want to achieve. A side effect of not having a sense of purpose is living on autopilot. Many of our young people lack a reason to get out of bed every morning. There are proactive approaches we can adopt to assist them to find a purpose, including: 

• Asking them to write down what they are looking forward to most each day.
• Every night sharing things they were grateful for today.
• Encouraging students to create several peer groups in other areas, such as sport, charity and community groups.
• Providing opportunities to set goals for different areas of their lives.
• Giving of themselves to be kind to others.
• Deliberately practising to develop their capabilities.

Acknowledgement: Frankl, Ryan & Deci

Year 7

Mrs Natalie Mellowship-Brown

Year 7 have really settled into life at O’Connor and in the past four weeks, they’ve had so many opportunities to become increasingly involved in College life by attending events such as the Swimming Carnival, Year 7 Parent Information Evening and the Activities Fair. It’s been great seeing so many of our students involving themselves in the wider and extracurricular activities that O’Connor Catholic College has to offer. 

As a cohort, the Year 7 students were able to demonstrate their faith and service by attending our Ash Wednesday Mass at the College Chapel. They were extremely reverent and participated in the Mass well.

During morning Pastoral, we have been continuing to focus on our Living Well, Learning Well Rules for Living; ‘I AM SAFE’, ‘I AM RESPECTED, VALUED AND CARED FOR’ and ‘I AM A LEARNER’. It’s fundamental that our students continue to refer to these rules throughout the remainder of the term as it’s important to form good habits surrounding our identity as O’Connor students.

Our PAC team is super excited about our Year 7 camp to Lake Keepit. Just over one week to go! Please don’t forget to complete any required administration and payment for the camp which can be accessed on Compass. If you have any concerns or queries, please don’t hesitate to contact the College office.

Mrs  Natalie Mellowship-Brown 

Year 8

Mrs Kathryn Czinner

As time flies by so quickly, Year 8 students are working hard to settle into their new classes, the routines and class expectations.

Students were asked to nominate for the Student Representative Council. It was fantastic to see so many nominations. It involves some positive risk to put your name forward. Thoughts around ‘Will I be successful or not?  ‘What can I do to contribute? ‘Is this a popularity vote?’ 

The SRC will give the students the opportunity to have a student voice. Announcements will occur next week. The staff is looking forward to hearing suggestions from the student body.

O’Connor has always prided ourself on valuing  respect  and care for self and others. This will be a continual focus. The manner in which we communicate and present to others is important. This can be displayed in how we speak, act and present. On a whole we as a Year group are doing this well. In some cases improvements need to be made. 

Parents/carers please check that your child is fully equipped for the school day and is wearing the uniform correctly. 

I invite you to attend the Year 8 Parent Evening on March 15th. It will be a great opportunity to meet the team of Pastoral Academic Care teachers.

Feel free to contact myself or any of the team if you have any questions or concerns.

Mrs Kathryn Czinner

Year 9

Mr James Russell

HAVING A BALL AT CAMP: Year 9 have enjoyed a fantastic 3 days at Lake Keepit this week.

Mr James Russell

Year 10

Term 1 is speeding along and most of our year 10 students have settled back into their learning at the start of 2021 seamlessly; it has been so wonderful to see how many students are engaged in their learning, involving themselves in extra-curricular activities and utilising opportunities to grow their leadership skills within their classrooms and PAC classes.

As a PAC team, we are looking forward to meeting some of our parent and carer community  at the Parent Information Night on Monday 22nd of February.

This event will be held in the Quad, starting at 6pm and due to current Covid restrictions this will be a ticket event; limited to 1 parent per family and unfortunately students will not be able to attend. To RSVP for this event, please click on the following link: https://compasstix.com/e/jntvm0tp4j

In the event of inclement weather we will conduct this via Zoom - this will be communicated on the day.

It will be a fantastic opportunity to meet and greet your students Pastoral Academic Care teachers and find out some more about the exciting opportunities that year 10 presents. 

Ms Amanda Bell / Mr Frank Patricks

Year 11

Mrs Vicki Channon

Most of our cohort have settled in well to their life as senior students. They are working hard in their classes and engaging with the learning. Some are struggling a little bit with the responsibility of what a senior student looks like, but hopefully, we can support them in their understanding of this. There is a little bit of movement between classes as the students find their best pattern of study. There are many options when it comes to gaining an HSC, hence the variety of subjects and VET/TAFE/SBAT that are offered up to the students at our College. It is really important if students are doing these subjects that they make sure they touch base with all of their teachers when they are absent, and that goes for every student. If you know you are going to be absent, be proactive and talk to your teacher about missed work or work coming up. Let’s work together to develop strong teacher/student relationships:)

The information evening for Year 11 via Zoom was well represented by parents/carers, students and teachers. The reason for the meeting was to inform everyone mainly about assessment procedures outlined by NESA and the ramifications here at O’Connor. We as a group of teachers and support staff are here to support the students with their learning. Some will be anxious about the word ‘assessment’, but they need not panic. Seek help if struggling. Teachers will give plenty of assistance and guidance leading into the first lot of assessment tasks. There are quite a few due this term, so it is important that the students have them on a calendar and visible, so that they do not miss due dates. 

We have been working on learning goals in morning PAC time. It is important to form good habits in setting goals, no matter how small. A win is a win and it is great for well being. Ask your young person about their learning as it is great to be involved as much as possible.

We, as a group, represented the College at the Ash Wednesday Mass at the St Mary’s and St Joseph’s Cathedral in Armidale. Most students conducted themselves in a very respectful manner, and we were proud to have been asked to attend.

Mrs Vicki Channon (on behalf of the entire Year 11 PAC team)

Year 12

Mr Mark Fulloon

Year 12 have had another few busy weeks here at O’Connor, with their involvement at the Twilight Swimming carnival and a HSC study day that they attended to help them with their study habits. 

With this carnival being their last swimming carnival of their schooling it was great to see the seniors work as a team and demonstrate their enthusiasm and leadership of the junior students, well done to the student leadership team and all of Year 12 for their organisation to assist in the carnival. 

Students who attended their Year 12 study day have also been exposed to a range of skills to help them with their study habits and worked on developing new techniques to ensure every success with their academic pursuits. A range of workshops including writing, short answer responses, meditation and stress relief help students understand the importance of being prepared and how to cope with the rigours of the HSC and what to expect and where to go for help. 

The students will soon have access to a range of teachers that students have chosen as their senior mentors to assist them with all things HSC. This program has been developed to give all students the opportunity to work with expert teachers and teachers that are able to assist students in their subjects and content.

Lastly, well done to all Year 12 to a very positive start to their school year and the good work that is already happening, keep up the good work. And thankyou to all students who attended the Ash Wednesday mass setting a great example to the entire school community.

Mr Mark Fulloon (on behalf of the entire Year 12 PAC team)