Headstart

Students have now moved into the Headstart program that sees them going into their next year level and beginning their new work. There is always a strong sense of renewed goals and enthusiasm as they rise to meet the challenges of a new academic year. One of the concerns, however, is where students seek to change classes or subjects without giving things a genuine try. A lot of time is spent counselling and assisting students in choosing subjects that are relevant to their career goals or what they are interested in or what they are good at. The timetable and staffing are then constructed based on these choices. Consequently, significant change is not possible and students and parents should be aware of this restriction. The other issue is when students claim that they have no friends in their new class or that they are unhappy with their new teacher. It is important that we build resilience in our students and that they learn to problem solve and cope with people (teachers and students) whom they might not naturally choose. This is a life skill that we intend to teach our students and so our policy is not to change classes other than for the most serious pastoral reasons.

Another highlight of Headstart is the enrolment of new students and we are pleased to welcome 13 to various year levels from 8 to 12. This indicates that we are a preferred school of choice for many parents in the local community. In interviews, parents and prospective parents typically mention the positive feedback that current members of our school community give, the holistic nature of our pastoral care and the strong academic support for students who have a wide choice of subjects.

Year 10 Peer Support

132 Year 10 students gathered on Monday morning with Miss Fiona McKenna, Pastoral Care Leader and Mr David Bardi, Marian House Leader to run the Peer Support Training. This is important leadership training that all the Year 10 students do in preparation for running the Peer Support program for Year 7 students in 2020. Not all Year 10 students will necessarily lead the program, however, all should benefit from this leadership training. Some current Year 11 students who were Peer Support Leaders this year did a great job in helping train the students included Gurvisha Singh, Aishwarya Jaganathan, Sofia Santos, David Lee and Hayley Burd.

"Helping out with the peer support training on Monday allowed me to share my experiences with the year 10’s of what worked and what didn’t work when I did peer support."

- Sofia Santos

During Monday's Peer Support Training session all of the year 10's, were actively involved and showed a lot of interest in the idea of Student Leadership. To be asked to Help with such an enjoyable day, was really a privilege as I loved being a Peer Support Leader in 2019."

- Hayley Burd

Careers Seminar

Year 10 students also participated in an afternoon of careers training. This involved some preparation for work experience in June next year. Although this may seem a long way off, it is important that students start actively seeking and securing some useful work that will assist in preparing them for the workforce. Some external trainers were also present to practise employment interviews. Students reported this experience as very worthwhile.

Avila Mixed Basketball Competition

The Mixed Basketball Competition run by Avila House began this week. Congratulations to Mackillop who won against Kolbe, 32-6. Avila defeated Marian with the scores ending at 28-22. Assisi beat Glowrey, 24-10. Augustine were too strong for Romero with 26 points to 6 (and a special mention to Tietdong Chuol for his efforts). A special thanks to the Avila forum and Learning Advisors and especially Mr Justin De Goldi for help with scoring, timing and organisation as well as being a referee.

The semi-finals will be held next week on Monday leading to a Grand Final on Thursday, 5 December. The semi-final matches will be:

Avila v MacKillop

Assisi v Augustine

Final School Week

I would like parents to be aware of a number of activities in the final school week for the calendar year. The Environment Team is reminding students to recycle any of their stationery and books that they would otherwise throw out. These can be donated to disadvantaged schools in the Diocese of Kimbe in Papua & New Guinea. The Social Justice Group is encouraging our students to bring in any non-perishable food for donation to the Society of St Vincent de Paul. Vinnies puts together hampers that are then distributed to local people in need this Christmas.

Advent Mass

On Thursday morning, 5 December 2019, we will have our Advent Mass in the Multi-Purpose Hall at 11.30am. All parents are invited to join with our students in celebrating a year of hard work, growth and achievement. It will of course also be a liturgy in which we prepare ourselves for the coming Christmas season. It will be a chance to reflect on the miracle that is God dwelling amongst us, as one of us.

Senior social

On Thursday evening, our Year 11 & 12 students will be celebrating their Senior Social at Amberlee Reception. This event will run form 7.00pm until 11.00pm. When collecting your child, parents are reminded to park at the rear of the reception centre and come to the front entrance to collect their child. If a parent is collecting a student other than their own child, then they will need to produce a written note signed by the student’s parent granting them permission to do so. Please ensure this occurs, as it can become inconvenient for staff, parents and students when we insist on enforcing these rules for the protection of your child and our staff from a legal perspective.

For catering and organisational purposes it is important that we have a definite idea of numbers no later than Friday, 29 November 2019. After this date, students will be unable to purchase a ticket. Students will collect tickets from their House Leaders on this last day of classes, Thursday, 5 December 2019, straight after the Tug of War. It is important for students to be there to collect their ticket.

Activity Day

Activity Day is happening on Friday, 6 December 2019. This day is an opportunity for students to further build relationships with staff and students in their house through a series of enjoyable events. The day is not compulsory and the cost is $25. Payment can be made by credit card or by cash to the Office no later than Friday, 29 November 2019.

David Hansen

Deputy Principal - Head of Cranbourne Campus

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, 3 December

Wednesday, 4 December

Thursday, 5 December

Friday, 6 December

Link to Events Page