College Events
Year 7 Stitches
Social justice in action. Year 7RE3 stitching bags ready to fill with goodies for Vinnies. Well done team.
Senior Showcase
A wonderful evening of entertainment was provided at the 2017 O'Connor Catholic College Senior Showcase, which was was held at NECOM on Thursday 3 August. This was an opportunity for our Year 11 and 12 dance, music, drama, visual arts and textiles students to showcase their creative and performing arts talents to the wider community.
A huge variety of performances and creations were presented both live on stage, as well as in film on the screen. Intermingled throughout the showcase were snippets of film highlighting the HSC visual art major works of Allison Gaddes, Nathan Streicher, Rianna Feenstra and Jono Moore, which have been ably facilitated by Mrs Jenny Frazier.
The Year 12 musicians have been mentored throughout their studies by Miss Melita Roache. Tom Frazier, Cassidie Smith, Sophie Wicks and Rianna Feenstra performed a variety of fabulous items selected from their HSC repertoires. Tom plays double bass, Cassisdie is a vocalist, Sophie plays flute and Rianna is a pianist.
HSC dancer Eliza Clark produce a stunning dance on film as part of her major work for the course, whilst Asia Kleindeinst performed Hypoglycaemia”, a dance choreographed by Eliza. Asia attends PLC but studies dance at O’Connor under the tutelage of Mrs Melissa Killen.
Year 11 students Nick Troon, Fitz Hadley, Grace Toakley, Maddie King, Sophie Warner and Sam Frazier, from the O'Connor drama club, performed the highly entertaining play "Strange Street", and Year 11 dancers Micah Scholes-Robertson and Phoebe Biddle choreographed and performed “The Shrew”, based on the Shakespearian play "Taming of the Shrew".
Preliminary Music 1 and Music 2 students Ella Thomas, Liam Skinner, Grace Toakley, Chris Ramazani, Nick Troon and Sam Frazier arranged and performed a lovely piece for their A Capella group titled “No Diggity”.
The evening concluded with the much anticipated Year 12 Textiles Fashion Parade. Mrs Vicki Channon facilitated the incredible creations from Georgia Cullen, Grace Murray, Tess Brown and Lauren Czinner. A number of senior students assisted with the modelling and displaying of the creations in the parade...thanks to Harry Lye, Drew Thomas, Sarah Edmonds, Phoebe Biddle and Alex King.
The CAPA Leader of Learning Mrs Jenny Roff was justifiably proud of the amazing creative and performing arts talents of the O'Connor students which were displayed at the 2017 Senior Showcase.
OCCC 2018 Musical?
It's coming...the 2018 OCCC 'High School The Musical'
This was announced at assembly FRIDAY, and here's a promo to get you REALLY excited .
Blood Donating
Congratulations to our first group of Year 11 students who gave blood - James Wood, James Durham and Laura Hooper. We have had over 40 students volunteer to give blood over the next semester.
An amazing way to give back to our community!
Cybersafety & Communication in the 21st Century
This week in PAC time we have been looking at the responsible use of technology and the impact it has on our relationships. This also includes a focus on the inappropriate use of technology in the classroom and the playground.
The PAC Diary Focus this week dovetails perfectly with this. The focus is ‘Presence & Purpose’. At the student briefing on Monday morning, the following was presented by the Yr 11 LYL (La Sallian Youth Leaders).
“Our generation was born into a digital world and communicating electronically is what comes natural to us. The 21st century has seen the advent of more and more mediums of communication, which have reduced our opportunities for purposeful face-to-face conversations with real people in real time. There is no doubt that communication via mobiles, texting, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Kik and Instagram will continue.
But what we need to ask ourselves is;
Are we as a society lacking the presence and purpose to enjoy the positive emotions of human interaction in person?
Are we hiding behind the invisible impersonal wall of electronic communication?
How is communicating digitally affecting relationships?
Nearly everything that we will achieve in life will be through people, with people and by people. Healthy relationships are the cornerstones to a well functioning society and we need to develop our skills to communicate effectively such as using and reading positive body language messages; recognising inference, bias and emphasis in conversations; developing relationships through face-to-face conversations; learning to listen with their eyes, their ears and their hearts; valuing and considering other peoples’ opinions and points of view because they matter and being present and mindful in each and every moment.”
I also presented a short presentation to Year 7 Parents about the challenges of managing devices both at school and at home. Most internet providers will provide a range of different parental controls that can filter the internet at home. These can be set at high, medium or low settings depending on the age of children at home and they can also be tailored to specific needs. Telstra for example will even allow parents to customise parental controls during homework time. More information for Telstra customers can be found at https://www.telstra.com.au/support/category/broadband/security/how-to-use-parental-controls-and-homework-time.
Attached is a poster from the Office of the e-safety Commissioner outlining the 7 ways parents can manage web connected devices at home. More information on any issues relating to cybersafety can usually be found the e-safety.gov.au site.
Jon Hawthorne
Pastoral Academic Care Coordinator
Variety Scholarships
Variety provides scholarships to children (aged between 6 to 18 years) with an existing talent living with disabilities, chronic illness, geographic isolation and/or financial hardship, to achieve their full potential and to follow their dreams. Scholarships are awarded in areas of Education, Sports and the Arts.
Scholarships can be used for fees, training, competition entry, equipment, uniforms, travel (air fares, bus fares, train fares) and accommodation to attend competitions.
Please check eligibility and criteria which includes a household income limit, submissions close 27 August 2017.
https://variety.smartygrants.com.au/varietyheartscholarship2017round1
Margot Zaska
Sport Development Group
6B Figtree Drive, Sydney Olympic Park NSW 2127 | Locked Bag 1422, Silverwater 2128
sport.nsw.gov.au www.facebook.com/OOSNSW
Information supplied by Ms Clydsdale
OCCC Sports Coordinator
