College News
Presentation Assembly
This afternoon saw dignitaries, students and staff gather at the edge of the oval under the shade of the trees and gazebos to celebrate our Presentation Assembly of 2020.
We have learnt to be adaptable this year and our arrangements to allow for COVID rules as well as participation of parents led us to hold the assembly outside.
Congratulations to those who won awards, your hard work has not gone unnoticed this year.
Mr Dave Lush was recognised for his 30 year contribution to Catholic Education. He has taught at O'Connor over this period and Ms Menz gave some insights into Mr Lush's knowledge and teaching over the years.
Ms Menz' speech can be read in the Principal's Report page of the newsletter.
PHOTO: College Captains Lara Moloney and Hamish Biddle addressed the Assembly.
PHOTO: Principal Ms Regina Menz addresses the students, teachers and parents.
GALLERY: Photos from today's Presentation Assembly.
Special Awards
The Joseph Stephen Memorial Prize for Excellence in Agriculture by a Junior Student: Matilda Brown, Hain van Eyk
Contribution to Art: Phoebe Jones
Black Dot Contribution to Music Award: Jock Sweeney
The Oorala Centre All Round Achievement Award: Paicey Noakes, Rowena Willis, Jack Danieli
The Zonta Award for a Year 10 Girl in Maths & Science: Tahlia LIttle
The ADIG Shield Award to a Year 10 Student for contribution to the Academic Life of the College: Angus Scrivener
The UNE Shield of Academic Excellence in Year 11 (Town and Country Real Estate Sponsored): Emelia Rice
St Vincent de Paul Award for Contribution to Social Justice, exhibiting empathy and practical support to those they meet in their daily lives: Bridie Giles
The Pathfinders Resilience Award: Alexandra Shepheard
The Armidale Regional Council Citizenship Award: Tahlia Little Jenna Seach
The Ethical Leadership Award sponsored by David Re. Eiliza Boland
The Armidale Central Rotary Club Citizen Award: Ehan Boshoff
ADF Long Tan Award - Year 10: Emma Gray
ADF Future Innovators Award - Year 10: Fletcher Schultz
CSO Diocesan Academic Award: Ruth Toakley
CSO Diocesan Cultural Award: Georgia MacMahon
The Christian Leadership Award - Year 7: Rowie Wilis
The Christian Leadership Award - Year 8: Lily Croft
The Christian Leadership Award - Year 9: Imogen Hislop
The Christian Leadership Award - Year 10: Oluoma Malu
The Christian Leadership Award - Year 11: Sophie Troon
The Contribution to the Spiritual Life of the College: Josephine Ryan, Sophie Troon
The UNE Sprit of Sport Award: Erin Porter
The Sportswoman of the Year: Lara Moloney
The Sportsman of the Year: Tyler McCann
The College Outstanding Sporting Achievement Award: Tyler McCann, Emma Gray
Opening the Time Capsule
It was an exciting day today at the College as the 1994 time capsule that was buried in the foyer of the old gym was opened. Sister Mary Talty, and College Captains Veronica Schmude (Bible) and Sam Jenkins were in attendance, Veronica in person and Sister Mary and Sam via zoom.
PHOTO: Hamish Biddle after he figured out what the plastic thing inside it's box was.
There were some amazing items that were found inside including a VHS tape. The VHS has a recording of 'life at O'Connor in 1994'. Each item was handed to our 2021 Captains Lara Moloney and Hamish Biddle and they were quite puzzed by the 'tape'. A music cassette also was a source of amusement. We are looking forward to converting the VHS to digital and showing it to the students.
Sister Mary Talty who was principal in 1994 spoke of her impressions of 1994 and of course the fire that eventually led to the construction of the gym and therefore the burying of the time capsule.
Veronica and Sam spoke about their impressions of O'Connor in that era and Veronica's speech is below.
The occasion was live streamed to classrooms so that all students could participate. We thank those involved in the technical side of the event and to Sister Mary, Veronica and Sam who shared their experiences and the occasion with us as a College all those years later.
Good Morning
Ms Menz, Sr Mary, Staff & Students,
Thank you for having us at the unveiling of this time capsule buried back in 1994.
Thank you Sr Mary Talty for joining us its great we can share this with you too. The class of 1994 were lucky enough to start our O’Connor Journey with you as the new principal in 1989.
Time is a very interesting concept and is the same for everybody. A clock which tells the time we can stop, but we can’t stop time.
I was the Girl School Captain back then and Sam Jenkins who is here via Zoom was the Boy School Captain.
We can’t believe it has been 26 years since the Class of 1994 buried this time capsule at O’Connor Catholic High School as it was known back then. It is lovely we are able to dig it up earlier than we may have anticipated because of the progress of the school and it is exciting that we can look back at what we wrote:
Our dreams for us as individuals
Our dreams for our peers and our teachers and:
Advice we had for future students
One of my memorable moments of O’Connor was our annual Madi Gras – This was our annual fund raiser and was one of the most exciting events of the year it had all the usual fete type stalls but it had a unique event called the “O’Connor Gift” and this was a handicap 5km running event where each runner was Auctioned off.
Sam and I opened the Gym in May 1994 and you wouldn’t believe it but I still have the programme.
The Gym was blessed by Bishop Kevin Manning. Sr Mary was our principal who invited Senator Stephen Loosely - a senator in the NSW Parliament to open the Gym so it was a big deal in the O’Connor and Armidale Community.
The School was so excited to have this facility it was NEW it was FRESH and it was OURS. Sam and I and the class of 1994 loved our sport so it was fantastic we could have a chance to enjoy this new facility in our final year.
Not only did we do our structured sport competitions and our PE Lessons etc in the Gym but we also sat our HSC exams there too.
Our year 12 present to the school was the sports captain board that was in the front foyer which has been added to every year since. I have been told on good authority that the current 2020 year 12 students were the last to fit on this, and now have gifted a new one for the future leaders to be added.
It is great that you have some new exciting premises being built and you can all build memories as you go through your years at O’Connor as we did. Maybe another time capsule could be buried in 2021 for future generations.???
From the words of Dr Seuss
Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
Be the Difference
PHOTO: Ms Menz speaks with the Year 9 and 10 girls who are participating in the 'Be the Difference' program.
A group of Year 9 and 10 O’Connor girls have been participating in “Be The Difference”, a program that empowers Australian high school girls to examine and voice their perspectives on challenges they face as women in leadership. The girls have been working with TED Talk coaches and professionals to think critically about their world and plan and present a 5 minute TED talk, which will be heard alongside inspiring stories on International Women’s Day 2021.
Q&A with Ms Menz sharing challenges that she has faced as a woman in leadership and some hopes and dreams for the next generation of female leaders.
Here are some reflections of some of the participants so far…
Isabelle Kelly, Year 9
So far the “Be the Difference” program has been a great experience. The other girls and myself have learnt so much about the challenges that women face and how we can overcome them. We have attended two Zoom meetings, and interviewed Ms Menz. We have learnt all about public speaking, critical thinking, and how to make our presentations. We will each need to create a TED talk about one of the challenges that women face.
Jules Hamilton, Year 10
In this new program that has been introduced to O’Connor “Be the Difference 2020” we have learned about some of the challenges facing women in leadership; including their roles, what they have faced, and what they wish to see happen for the better for females in leading workplaces, as well as Women in Stem. The research, facts, and statistics that we collect throughout the next few months will contribute to a TED Talk we create, which puts our message and our point of view about women and the challenges they face to society. I am focusing my talk around women in defence since it is something that I plan on being a part of in the future. We also wish to continue this program in O’Connor and to lead more groups of young females in a way in which they can gain knowledge about females in leadership and in society.
Oluoma Malu, Year 10
So far in the “Be the Difference” program we’ve learned so much about women in the different areas of life. We learned about the challenges women in different roles face and how similar they can be. We have attended two Zoom meetings with different schools and interviewed Ms. Menz. We learned so much about the things we don’t think about when women present themselves, for example, the way you dress. It’s not something that’s on your mind full time when you are a woman in a leading role, but it’s something you can easily get judged about, so in the back of our heads we know to dress respectfully. We have learned all about public speaking, critical thinking, and how to make our presentations. An upcoming challenge is that we will each need to create a TED talk about one of the challenges that women face.
Debating
Congratulations to the Year 7 O’Connor debating team who were victorious against McCarthy Catholic College last week. They strongly debated the affirmative...that mobile phones in schools should be banned. A special thank you to our Prac student Miss Rodrigues who helped prepare the team.
Our senior team were also victorious against McCarthy Catholic College on Tuesday this week. They strongly debated the affirmative...that digital tracking of children is good parenting. Mrs Roff reports that their debating skills and techniques have improved so much this year with the experience they have had.
Z-Club News
This week, the College Z-Club (Zonta International) have been putting together birthing kits. These kits ensure that births in developing countries have as hygienic births as possible.
PHOTO: Birthing kits are complete!
GALLERY: Many hands make light work - Z-Club contributing to the health of expectant mothers in developing countries.
SRC Update
This Term the SRC has been investigating the role and effectiveness of the restorative justice system at OCC. Students from Year 7-11 had the opportunity to complete a survey to voice their opinions as to what they are seeing in our community, and make suggestions about how it could be improved. This information will be shared with the teachers at the end of the year.
The SRC would like to thank students, staff and parents for their support through a very challenging year. OCC has demonstrated great resilience, and there have been a number of successes that our students have celebrated:
- Students and staff opening up the discussion about the restorative justice system
- Teachers have worked hard to continue prioritising the key learnings in each subject after remote learning, particularly in Year 11 and 12
Fundraising - we will be focusing on a number of fundraising ventures over the coming year.
Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday from the 2021 SRC.
UNE Meat Science Experience Day
PHOTO: Meat Experience Day at UNE
ATSI students enjoyed a great day recently, attending the Meat Science Experience Day at UNE. They were specially invited By Lynda Lynch from the Oorala Centre UNE. The students learnt what it would be like to have a career in the meat industry.
