Secondary

Dear Families

These past couple of weeks have marked the halfway point of our Year 12 students’ final year. The return to school this week to receive exam results and feedback will have been one of mixed emotions: for some, pride and joy in their efforts and resulting achievements, but for others, disappointment that they didn’t do as well as they had anticipated or hoped. The next few months are critical for our Year 12s to persevere, stay motivated and enjoy the final stretch of their senior years’ journey, and the following suggestions may assist to keep focus, motivation and a sense of perspective: 

• Set clear goals: review and redefine, if necessary, academic and personal objectives for the remainder of the year. Whether it’s obtaining a specific ATAR score, securing a place at a desired university or pursuing alternative pathways, having clear goals will provide direction and motivation.  
• Visualise Success: Picture the end goal (finishing the final exam, receiving the acceptance letter, travelling next year etc) to help maintain focus and motivation.  
• Stay organised: review and redesign a study schedule that sets up good time management structures. Prioritise subjects that need greater focus and allocate specific time slots for revision, assignments, exercise and downtime.  
• Review Past Work: take advantage of previous assessments and exams and build in time to practice on past papers. Use this to identify areas of confidence and areas that need additional focus.  
• Seek support: Reach out to those who can help – teachers, parents, mentors and friends – for support and guidance. They can offer valuable insights, study resources and emotional encouragement. 
• Prioritise Wellbeing: Build wellbeing practices into daily and weekly routines such as mindfulness, enough sleep (minimum 8 hours), a healthy diet, exercise, hobbies and time to connect with others.  

Year 12 is not just about the final results but about personal growth, resilience, relationships and the invaluable experiences along the way. Celebrate achievements, embrace challenges and enjoy upcoming events (Athletics Carnival and John XXIII Day) to finish this chapter with a sense of pride and accomplishment.  

Year 11 students enjoyed a fantastic Dinner Dance last Friday and a purposeful Id Quod Volo day on Tuesday, thank you to Mr Osnain, House Coordinators and other staff for their support of students at these significant events. Congratulations to staff and students who braved the elements on the Year 10 Outdoor Education Camp this week, no doubt you will enjoy a hot shower and your own bed tonight! Congratulations also to all finalists who competed in last night’s Public Speaking Grand Final with impressive speeches. Wishing all Year 10 students the very best for their exams next week.  

Supporting School Attendance 

School attendance matters not only for academic success but the opportunities to socialise, problem solve and develop a healthy sense of belonging to a broader community. Studies have shown that early intervention is pivotal in supporting young people who struggle with attendance. Parents and families are essential partners in promoting good attendance because they have the bottom-line responsibility to make sure their child gets to school every day.  

To give students the best chance of success, Catholic Education WA recommends 90-100% as ‘regular attendance.’ When attendance falls below this level it indicates a student may be at risk of not reaching their full potential. The chart below gives a breakdown of the amount of time missed in a year, and if maintained, the potential impact regarding academic progress.   

Helpful considerations to support student attendance include:  

• Make sure your child attends school every day. 
• Encourage them to engage in the various co-curricular opportunities on offer to build purpose and meaning at school beyond the classroom experience.  
• Create an open dialogue with your child to support their ability to distinguish between sickness due to a medical condition and feeling unwell as a result of something else (e.g. friendship challenges, worries about assessments etc).  

We acknowledge the challenge of supporting young people who struggle to come to school. Having a challenging conversation can be uncomfortable, however, acting early will reduce the likelihood that habits and/or beliefs are formed to promote longer-term attendance issues. If you have concerns about your child’s attendance, do not hesitate to contact the relevant Assistant Deputy Principal. It is important to begin these conversations as early as possible to develop a collaborative approach of working together to promote and support regular school attendance.  

Term 2 key dates

Shani Andrews

Vice Principal - Head of Secondary

Fare Go Food Truck - Refugee Week

Refugee Week is an opportunity to raise awareness about refugees and celebrate their positive contribution to Australian society. We want to create a welcoming culture and better understanding between different communities to encourage successful integration that enables refugees to live in safety and to continue making a valuable contribution to Australia.

As part of this celebration, we are excited to welcome the Fare Go Food Truck back to the College. The Fare Go Food Truck is a social enterprise staffed by refugees and asylum seekers. 

You can order a Fattoush salad, a special Middle Eastern salad with toasted bread, mixed greens and pickles with hummus and tahini dressing. Served with either Persian Lamb Kotlets (patties) or Falafel. 

Janeen Murphy

Deputy Principal of Faith and Mission

Cash For Containers Collection-Week 9-Supporting Lifelink

As part of our sustainability initiatives and our charitable fundraising this Term for Lifelink, we are asking parents and students to bring their Cash for Containers into the College during Week 9 of this term. 

There will be collection bins placed in the car park off Heritage Lane and the car park near the Exhibition Centre. All money raised from the collection will be donated to LifeLink. 

Containers that may be recycled include:

• Cans
• Stubbies
• Water bottles
• Choc milk cartons
• Juice boxes
• Lipton Ice Tea bottles

Adrian Sims

Sustainability Coordinator 

Year 10 - The Search for Freedom

Our visiting Jesuit, Fr Tony Lusvardi, was welcomed by Year 10 students as they prepare for Semester 1 exams. This term students have been exploring ‘The Search for Freedom’. Fr Tony invited the Year 10s to engage with thinking more deeply about what freedom really means: is it freedom from rules? is it external/internal? Is it relational? Is it dependent on information that is truthful? Is it connected with love? Are we free if we don’t actually make a choice? Most importantly, how does Jesus invite us into freedom?

Students were grateful for the fresh insights from Fr Tony and one student was heard to say, ‘ That was really helpful: I’m going to go home tonight and write up my extended response!’

Lana Turner

Head of Learning Area - Religious Education

CARAD Foodbank Appeal-Refugee Week

In the lead-up to Refugee Week, we will be supporting CARAD with their Foodbank Appeal. 

CARAD provides practical and essential welfare, advocacy, and volunteer support services to asylum seekers, refugees and detainees in WA. They rely on grants and donations from the community to fund their programs and do not receive funds from the Federal Government. The people they help experience financial hardship, do not have the right to work, and are ineligible for government support.

In line with our College values of being ‘people for others’, it is our hope that all students will contribute to the appeal. If you could please drop off items no later than Wednesday 21 June.

CARAD Foodbank most needed items are:

Thank you in advance for your support.

Janeen Murphy

Deputy Principal of Faith and Mission

Year 11 Recess Café - Thursday 15 June

• Spicy sweet potato soup with garlic bread $5
• Shepherd's pie $5
• Brownies $3
• Sticky date muffin $3

SPORTS

Winter NAS Competition

All teams had a training session this week. The weather wasn’t incredible, but it didn’t deter our committed students and coaches from maximising these sessions to prepare for all games against Chisholm College next week.

Important Years 7-10 NAS information

• Years 7/8 play on Tuesday 4:00pm-5:00pm.
• Years 9/10 play on Wednesday 4:00pm-5:00pm.
• Teams playing away have permission to change into their PE uniform at lunchtime.
• Teams playing at home must get changed after school (between 3:10pm-4:00pm).
• Teams travelling to Chisholm College will leave period 6 at 2:50pm for an early bus departure. These teams will return to the College between 5:30pm-6:00pm. 
• All remaining teams will depart the College for away games at 3:15pm and return to the College by 5:30pm.
• Remember, all teams are awarded an MVP later on in the year. MVP's are awarded based on leadership, assistance, and sportsmanship displayed throughout all games and training.

Senior Winter NAS One Day Carnival

Trials and training are well underway for the preparation of the Years 11/12 Winter NAS One Day Carnival scheduled for Monday 26 June.

All our wonderful Senior NAS Coaches are listed below. Any Years 11/12 students that are yet to have committed to a NAS team are encouraged to contact the relevant coach as soon as possible. For those students wishing to be involved in the day in a different way than playing sport, there are opportunities to become a NAS helper on the day. Please contact Miss Kononen at sara.kononen@cewa.edu.au to register any interest.

To be eligible for a NAS Towel at the end of Year 12, students must have been involved in NAS each year they have been at the College, including all Senior One Day Carnivals. 

Athletics Pre-Carnival Events

All Years 7-10 Pre-Carnival Events will take place in Weeks 9 and 10 of this term.

Important Information

• Students will register their name for events during Homeroom.
• A maximum of three can compete in each event from each House.
• All trials will start at 1:00pm sharp.
• Students competing are allowed to change into their PE uniform (with House shirt) at recess and have permission to remain in their PE uniform for the rest of the school day.
• Year 7s will take part in all pre-carnival events on the last day of term.

Pre-Carnival Event Schedule

Athletics Training

Athletics training is set to start in Week 9. Training will take place every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7:00am to 8:00am with our specialist athletics coaches.

A detailed schedule of all sessions will be available in the SEQTA notices next week.  

Eagles Cup AFL

Our team played off-site against Shenton College this week. Congratulations to all team members on another fabulous victory leading Shenton College 4.9.34 to 1.4.10.

Thank you to Mr Bill Quartermaine and Mr Campbell Tirant for all their time and effort in coaching our team. 

Interschool jumpers

All ACC Interschool Cross-country jumpers are to be handed into the PE office for embroidery. Please note, to be eligible for embroidery, students must have attended the ACC Cross-country Carnival. 

ACC Cross-Country photos

Sara Kononen

Head of Sport