From the Principal
RUOK
PROMISE YOURSELF
Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
- Christian D Larson -
Congratulations to our Year 10 and 12 Student Empowerment Teams, who under the guidance of their Student Empowerment Facilitators, Ms Kugananthan, Ms Allington, Ms Foord and Mr McBrearty ran a hugely successful RUOK Day last Friday raising awareness of Mental Health as a priority in our community.
Ms Bates Senior Choir Assembly renditions of a “Queen” medley of songs, culminating in “We are the Champions”, got the day off to a great start. Wear your favourite Jersey was a great initiative led by the Student Empowerment Team and Staff Teams, and Brainstorm productions presented some topical dramatic performances on issues around cybersafety, overcoming adversity and developing resilience for our Year 5 – 10 Cohorts. The Student Empowerment Teams led mental health panels, forums and activities for each cohort, including Mindfulness exercises for our Year 11 and 12 students as they positively approach their Preliminary and HSC Exams respectively.
The gratitude Merit cards written by students and staff alike were a winner, with Ms Kugananthan’s high energy initiative contributing to a great atmosphere of positivity. This was further supported by the distribution of small gifts to each student and member of staff to recognise their contribution to the well-being of the school community. Thank you to Mrs Waterson who recognised the support staff of the College, and to our Year Coordinators in Mr Batchelor, Mr Masters, Mr Pawlak, Mr Yue, Mr Ticli and Mr Stollery who lead our Homeroom teacher teams to make the pastoral well-being of our students a priority throughout the school year.
The Year 12 MindMatters Student Empowerment Team included Mitchell Tutill, Matt Kennedy, Liam Houlihan, Ned McDermott Healy, Jaques Fletcher Gauchi, Clay Henry, Stewart Ross, Ryan Attard, Christian Whale among many other well being activists and advocates supported by Ms Kugananthan and Mr S Brannan as their facilitator. We wish them well as they hand over to their Year 11, 10 and 9 counterparts.
2016 Winter Colours
Last Thursday 8 September, the College held its 2016 Winter Colours and there were many champions presented. Please find in this edition of Woodchatta the names of the recipients. Attached also is my brief speech. In it I congratulated all our College representatives and the Winter Colour Award recipients. In particular I acknowledged the Year 12 Award recipients and all Year 12 College representatives at any level.
The College thanks and acknowledges the House Captains for 2016:
- Rice - Jordan Smith
- Purton - Max McGee
- Treacy - Tom Graziotto
- Barron - Luke Humphrey
We sincerely thank Mr Stearn, the College Sportsmaster, and all the coaches, managers, music tutors and teachers, debating and chess staff and all our many supporters.
REQUESTS FOR EARLY LEAVE
Once again, I stress that parents are not to take their son on an early holiday from school. BOSTES have very clear rules in place regarding attendance and schools and parents need to follow these. The College has very generous term breaks and I ask families to keep within these.
There is a process available for any Applications for Special leave and this information is on the College website.
DOES YOUR SON HAVE BUTTONS ON HIS BLAZER ?
Volunteers required.
A number of boys are missing buttons on their blazer. These are available at the College Uniform shop for $2 per button.
We would like to hold a button sewing morning for students on Tuesday next week and I am seeking some parent volunteers to help with this. Please contact Ann Brady (9414 4312) if you can help and hopefully with a team of helpers we can address this on Tuesday.
EDMUND RICE EDUCATION BEYOND BORDERS (EREBB) CONGRESS
During the next holidays I will be attending the Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders (EREBB) Congress. This will bring together Principals and Educational Leaders in Christian Brothers’ schools and institutions from across the globe. This commences on 26 September and I will begin with an Immersion experience for delegates who have been given a variety of Immersion destinations to choose from in groups of about 15. I have chosen to visit Shilong which is geographically located in the area north of Bangladesh and south of Bhutane. In the Shilong Immersion we will be hosted at St. Edmund’s School which is from K-10. The school is a boys’ school. We will also be in the Providence School. Providence School is meant for BPL (Below Poverty Line) students. It is a blend of ‘trade/skill school’ plus academic subjects and it is co-educational. We will also visit the Higher Secondary – for Years 11-12 with 1,000 students and it is also co-educational. There is a University College catering for about 3500 boys and girls studying for their degree.
Following this Immersion, all delegates will gather in Kolkata for a Congress on Edmund Rice Mission and Identity and building a global network. We will also be visiting Catholic schools in Kolkata and the missionary work of Saint Teresa of Kolkata who has recently been canonised.
After the Congress which concludes on October 7, I have agreed to attend the Indian Catholic Principals’ Conference in Kolkata. I will also be presenting on leadership of an Edmund Rice school in Australia. This concludes on 11 October. Once this Conference concludes I will travel via Varanasi and the Ganges before returning through Delhi. I will return to school on 17 October at the beginning of Term 4 Week 2.
Mr Mark Casey will be Acting Principal during the holidays and in Week 1 of Term 4.
Mr John Couani - Principal