Pastoral Academic Care (PAC)
Junior: RIGHT LIFE CHOICES
Senior: ETHICAL AND RESPECTFUL
Wellbeing Element: MEANING + PURPOSE
Character Strength: Love
Parent Wellbeing: being able to think flexibly, means that you can adapt your thinking to best suit the situations that you find yourself in. In your son/daughters’ planner, look at the index to locate Habits of Mind. There are 16 different ways people change their thinking when confronted with circumstances where they need to think clearly and sensibly. How do you change how you think for different situations?
Year 7
Year 7 Camp - Great Aussie Bush Camp, Tea Gardens
Year 7’s have had a busy start to term 2, with much of our focus in the first 2 weeks on preparing ourselves for the Year 7 camp.
92 of our 107 Year 7 students attended camp. It seemed like all students had lots of fun on camp. It was wonderful to see our students stepping outside of their comfort zones in order to take on some of the challenging activities offered by the Great Aussie Bush Camps. For our 4 activity groups, students were grouped in their respective houses.
It was also a pleasure to see students working with and getting to know those peers who they hadn’t yet had the opportunity to work closely with in the school setting. New friendships were evidently formed. Students have increased their sense of belonging to their house group and developed further camaraderie within these house groups.
Thanks very much to our Year 7 camp team of Mrs. Susanne Hughes, Mrs. Tracey Mackay, Ms. Bridie Giles, Mr. Hawthorne and Mr. Andrew May. I really appreciate their willingness to give up time with their own families and come on camp. Thank you for your enthusiasm, care and sense of fun displayed throughout camp.
Mr Shane McCann
Leader of Learning, Year 7
Year 8
Welcome back to term 2!
Ahh the first cold term of the year, it is a great time to pull out that winter uniform and rug up for a cold but fun term! Please remember to make sure you are wearing your tie with your winter uniform and the school has just received another order of the new jackets so now is a great time to invest for the next 4 and a bit years.
We have already hit the ground running here at OCC! Students are in class learning and smashing goals in and out of the classroom. So fair this term we have had Dio Cross-Country which saw 14 students compete against the Catholic high schools in the region to advance to the CCC Cross Country in Sydney in June. While I don’t have a list of names for who advanced I am extremely proud of the students who ran their hardest. Our soccer students are working hard progressing through the Bill Turner Competition defeating ASC in a nail biting finish that will go down in the history books. Dio Soccer will be on in Moree (6th June) students are to talk to Mrs Smith, Mr Healy or Mr McCann to find out more information and to sign up. As they will be taking the school bus the cost will be $50. Today will be the OCC Athletics Carnival which is always a fun (however COLD) event. Many PE classes have been learning and fine tuning their high jump and triple jump skills ready for a fierce competition. Benilde will definitely win the day (not biassed at all) but everyone will have fun in the process.
However sport isn’t the only fun we have at O’Connor, many students will be competing in the eisteddfod this term with Mrs Hughes, Miss Sampson, Mr Myers and myself. The eisteddfod includes mostly anything CAPA - dance, singing, instruments, speech and drama. Teachers will reach out to students via events and email to give you all the information needed. Good luck to all involved.
With everything happening outside the school we are busy within the classroom as well. Many students submitted their Term 1 Learning Task and will be receiving fast feedback for these tasks. If you have any questions around these please reach out to classroom teachers for clarification to assist in your understanding of how your student can move their learning forward before our semester one reports are released at the end of this term.
Students should always be asking How is my learning going?
How do I know?
Am I asking questions?
How do I move my learning forward?
Remember that the expectation is that students are in class learning through engagement and working as a team that is consistently achieving classroom expectations. Teachers have spent the last two weeks reminding classes of the expectations within the classroom.
These include: following teacher instruction, having equipment ready to learn, coming to school with a charged device everyday, trying their best and letting others around them learn. When students achieve this they are able to get the most out of every class and feel a sense of pride in their work.
As always, remember to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
Miss Elizabeth Plane
Leader of Learning, Year 8
Year 9
Year 9 continues to build bonds and form a very cohesive year group. We have had several extracurricular activities lately and Year 9 are active in their involvement. Our school cross country so many of our keen athletes run hard and have now represented our college in the Dio Cross Country event. The Da Vinci Decathlon saw our students shine bright by being inspired, imaginative and clever. The junior boys soccer team continues to excel in the Bill Turner Cup knockout competition. A tight match between OCC and ASC went into extra time with a goal to finalise the game to OCC. The camaraderie and determination seen was tremendous.
On Wednesday morning Yr 9 and 10 celebrated Mass together along with other community members. I was proud to see so many students participating in the mass. The music was presented by our own talented class. It was great to hear a student comment “ It was actually really nice”.
Friday we participate in the Athletics carnival, I encourage all students to have a real go at the events and cheer on our peers. A lot of school spirit and individual success is seen on these days. Pull on the house colours and share the spirit. As chief timekeeper on the day, I look forward to seeing all the action.
I challenge all students to reflect on their current efforts in class. Are we doing our best? Are we able to extend ourselves? Are we completing all tasks? Are we supporting a positive learning environment? Are we asking for help?.... I am pleased to see that so many students are consistently meeting expectations. If not, please reconsider your output and challenge yourself to improve.
Our students look great in the winter uniform. The formal attire sets us apart from other schools as we unite as one. Students are encouraged to take pride in their appearance. Thank you to all students who consistently wear our uniform correctly. This positive image declines when incorrect uniform is worn. The sports uniform looks great when worn correctly. It does not include Canterbury shorts or tracksuit pants. I am aware of proposed changes to our uniform to make improvements in this area. It is affirming that student and parent voice has been heard and the college is looking into other options.
Mrs Kathryn Czinner
Leader of Learning, Year 9
Year 10
Welcome back to Term 2 Year 10 Students, Parents and Guardians!
Term 2 is a big term for events; Athletics carnival, semester one reports, the Year 10 Spiritual Retreat, sporting competitions, clubs at school as well as additional cultural and learning opportunities.
I want to challenge our Year 10 students to engage with these learning experiences deeply and authentically, to broaden their horizons and consider what they are wanting their world to look like moving forward.
I would also like to remind all our students, parents and carers that as we are now in Term 2, students are expected to wear their winter uniform everyday. Days where “oval” is displayed on Compass during a PDHPE lesson, students are expected to be in their sports uniform. Considering the rapid dipping in temperatures, students are encouraged to dress warmly and consider bringing umbrellas to avoid the rain that seems to be following us through Autumn (or at least week 1!). .
Late in Term 1, Year 10 were given the opportunity to engage with the Elevate Study Team. They spoke with our students about the need to set learning goals, establish study habits and routines and how to begin to study in a more effective way.
I encourage all of our Year 10 students to look back on their booklets and consider what goals they are wanting to achieve this term. These goals may be more short term (such as ensuring they have completed all of their classwork or actively developing their focus and concentration in the classroom for longer periods of time) for or they could be longer and more complex goals (such as what they may want to study at University or what apprenticeship they may wish to pursue upon graduation).
Students are encouraged to write these goals down and have them visible (visibility helps create accountability!) as well as breaking down the goal into steps so they can feel achievement throughout the course of the goal (not just at completion).
Well done to all of the Year 10 students who were present on the last day of Term 1 for the Cross Country! A big congratulations to those of you who were competitively racing and an enthusiastic well done to those who did the course via a more social approach! Your engagement, enthusiasm and leadership was fantastic to witness.
Congratulations to a number of our students who have successfully and enthusiastically engaged with work experience opportunities throughout Term 1! I am beyond proud of the number of positive and excited students who have come back from these experiences with a clear goal in mind (or for those who learnt that the particular industry they spent time in wasn’t for them!). Please remember that if this is an experience your student is interested in, they must complete the modules on the Careers Google Classroom, speak with Miss Rachael Galvin to collect paperwork and actively speak with employers, seeking permission and appropriate times to work with them.
Our Year 10’s were given the opportunity to engage with the PPEP Talk (periods, pain, endometriosis program), developing their knowledge of their own bodies and the bodies of their peers. This focused learning session delved into the science and cultural/social understanding of bodies with female reproductive organs and the impact that pain, periods and endometriosis can have upon them. It allowed all students strategies on how they can support their friends, peers and family members whilst also giving them the opportunity to a trained professional specialising in this area questions.
Miss Jessica Armfield
Leader of Learning, Year 10
Year 11
Year 11 is coming up to the halfway point of their year and working hard on their assessment tasks. If you’d like to reach out for help, don’t be shy and come and have a chat. As we head into year 12, year 11 students will need to start trying on a Year 12 jersey for size.
Keep an ear out for announcements about when this will start happening.
Mr Bruce Myers
Leader of Learning, Year 11
Year 12
Term 2 is under way and there are many things taking place this term, from Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences, University Open Days to assessments.
It was great to see so many students and parents attend the Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences on Monday May 13 to discuss the progress of students and how to best support them in their studies. It is so important to have the support of parents and carers in this journey!
Around school I have been speaking with some students who tell me they used the holiday time to take a break and re-energise, ready for another busy term and others who have used the time to work on assessments and are feeling more confident about being “ahead of the game”.
Study and Exam Preparation
I regularly speak to students about maintaining a balance between schoolwork, social life, work and sports and how this balance will need to shift as we approach the end of our studies and prepare for the HSC exams. I encourage students to take the time to ensure they are looking through past exam papers, as one form of revision, along with checking their understanding of content against the syllabus content descriptors. I have recently added the HSC Written Exam timetable to the Year 12 Google Classroom (also available here) for students to begin planning an exam study timetable.
UNE Open Day
On Friday May 3, students attended the University of New England’s Open Day. It was a fantastic opportunity for students to learn more about the opportunities on offer at UNE, gather information regarding degrees and courses that they may even choose to study at a different university, or as was the case for most, get a bunch of free stuff such as pens, bluetooth speakers, selfie light ring and even a hoodie!
Open Days for other Universities are coming up and Mrs Galvin is posting details of these on the Year 12 Google Classroom. Mrs Galvin has also posted a lot of information regarding Early Entry Schemes offered by various Universities and how to’s for UAC and QTAC. I encourage all students to check it out and ask for help where needed.
Tamworth Careers Expo
Students travelled to Tamworth on Wednesday May 15 to attend the North West Regional Careers Expo. There were a huge variety of businesses, organisations and industries with exhibits showcasing what they can offer. Many students commented on how interesting it was to see some of the businesses they didn’t even know about and the exciting career opportunities on offer in our region.
As always, keep Believing, Achieving, Nurturing and Growing!
Mr Luke Andrews
Leader of Learning, Year 12