Parent & Student Matters 

What's happening in the College? 

• CSDA Debating Competition - Quarterfinals
• Home Library
• Workshop for supervisors of Learner Drivers
• Sacrament of Confirmation at St Mark's Drummoyne

CSDA Debating Competition - Quarterfinals

To date the advice from the CSDA has not changed.  Our Year 9, Year 11 and Year 12 teams will still compete in the Quarterfinals and the form that this competition takes will be decided once there is clarity regarding the conclusion of this current COVID-19 lockdown.

Mrs Michele Waterson - Debating and Public Speaking Convenor

Home Library

Students may be at home but they are not alone with an elibrary of high-quality resources to support their learning as well as their recreational reading. Resources are at their ‘click and call’ on the Senior Library’s Portal page, for example:

• Britannica Encyclopedia School edition
• ClickviewOnline – educational videos, documentaries and ‘books to movies’
• DramaOnline
• Ebooks and Audiobooks
• JSTOR
• Science in Context
• World in Context
• the Library website with curated subject, research and reading guides

Students can extend their home elibrary to include their local elibrary. Our guide, Accessing other Library collections outlines what’s on offer.

As well, students can Ask a Teacher Librarian for help with reading, Turnitin, Bibliography or research-related help, for example.

Chatswood Library has extended an exciting opportunity to our budding digital artists to rework photographs from the Picture Willoughby Archive. Students have their permission to legally photo-edit selected photographs in the Picture Willoughby Photo Editing Competition 2021. You certainly can draw plenty of inspiration from last year's amazing finalists. First prize pictured, by Gilberto Ribeiro Olimpio’s Ghosts of Willoughby re-works a 1920s photo.

The ebook & audiobook collection has new books added every month and offers plenty choice. The value of this collection which is accessible anywhere and anytime is highlighted in the current lockdown. However, irrespective of the lockdown, our ebook collection has grown steadily in popularity and is preferred by many readers. In fact, for May and June there was a 100% increase in ebook borrowing compared to 2019. OureBooks and audiobooks webpage has 2 minute videos to help students use this collection.

As all of us are currently restricted to our LGAs, the value of reading is clear, as the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri says,

That's the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.

Mrs Karen Keighery - Teacher Librarian, SRC

Helping Learners Become Safe Drivers Workshop

Willoughby City Council is hosting a workshop for supervisors of learner drivers to help them become safe drivers. This is a free event.

It is targeted toward parents and supervisors of young learner drivers.

They have engaged the services of an experienced facilitator to run the workshop. It is designed to increase participants knowledge and confidence as the supervisor of a learner driver, and covers:

• what is involved in being a supervising driver

• the issues facing young drivers

• how the NSW graduated licensing scheme works

• the importance of learner driver experience

• lesson planning and dealing with stress tips for safe solo driving.

This is an online workshop held via Zoom on 18 August, from 6.00pm to 7.15 pm. Registrations can only be made online at https://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/gls.

The Sacrament of Confirmation at St Mark’s, Drummoyne

(Application Forms available from Friday 16 July to 6 August 2021)

Parents who reside in the parish of St Mark’s, Drummoyne are welcome to enrol their children who are in Years 6, 7 and above for the Sacrament of Confirmation. The Application Forms can be collected from the front porch of the Parish office or downloaded from Parish website Sacrament of Confirmation – St Mark’s Catholic Parish, Drummoyne (www.stmarksdrummoyne.org.au) and returned to the Parish mailbox. For further details contact the Parish Office on 9181 1795 or email: yc@stmarksdrummoyne.org.au