Student Achievements

Sporting Awards 2017

Daniel Murrell received The Matthew Miller Award
Daniel Murrell received The Matthew Miller Award

Congratulations to Daniel Murrell who received The Matthew Miller Award which was presented by Natalie Miller. Daniel was hugely successful at The All Schools Cross Country Championships.

O'Connor boys shine at the Pacific School Games

Mitch Hayden qualified for 4 events for Pacific School Games.

The NSW A team 4x50 medley relay swimming the butterfly leg! The boys brought home gold in this event and were .25 of a second off breaking the current PSG record!

 

In the 15-16, 50m butterfly, Mitch was 2nd fastest qualifier in the final and came out with a silver medal and a new PB of 25.86 which is now .24 of a second off Commonwealth trials qualifying time.

 

The 100 butterfly being his pet event, Mitch qualified fastest in the heats that morning and came home with a silver medal in the final, being  beaten by one, one hundredth of a second, a nail biting race to watch! Mitch also swam this in a new time of 57.52, which is also .86 off Commonwealth trials qualifying times .

 

Mitch dead heated for the final place in the 50 backstroke final but chose to let his competitor have a chance at it in the final that evening!

 

 

Nathan Czinner competed in the Pacific School Games in Hockey in Adelaide in December. The NSW team were very competitive and finished on top of the ladder after the round games. NSW played QLD in the final and went down in a good battle against QLD 0-2. 

 

At the end of the competition an All Schools Australian U16 team was announced. Nathan was named in the team and will tour South Africa in June next year.

Congratulation boys on your success. 

Mitch Hayden & Nathan Czinner
Mitch Hayden & Nathan Czinner

The ADF Award

Maria Alkouri received the ADF Award for;

 

Maria has participated in many groups at the college and has taken on leadership roles within the groups. These include being an SRC representative for 2017, organising breakfast club, the Walk A Thon and selling Legacy badges. She is also an active member of the Z Club and volunteers her time to assist the O’Connor Choir and Orchestra. Maria has been part of a number of youth councils as part of the SRC and also a member of the student committee. 

Forget me Not

Brydie & Ellen Hawthorne in Nepal with the ‘Forget Me Not ‘ Foundation   Ellen & Brydie with their mother Kate enjoying a beautiful sunrise in Nepal In July 2016.
Brydie & Ellen Hawthorne in Nepal with the ‘Forget Me Not ‘ Foundation   Ellen & Brydie with their mother Kate enjoying a beautiful sunrise in Nepal In July 2016.

Brydie & Ellen Hawthorne were selected to be a part of Forget Me Not's 'Change Agents' Foundation Program.

The main goal of the foundation is to fight against child trafficking internationally with the help and guidance of the organisation’s leaders. Forget Me Not was started in 2006 and now supports over 100 children across Nepal, Uganda and India. On December 7th this year, almost 18 months after their selection, Brydie & Ellen flew out on a 10 day, self-funded, immersion trip to personally witness the work that ‘Forget Me Not’ is doing in Nepal.

Pope Francis recently commented on child trafficking stating that work must be done to bring this global issue to an end through the support of the Christian community. In his statement, Pope Francis called for the eradication of child trafficking on an international scale. He quotes the United Nation’s goal 8.7 saying, "Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour”. (https://www.unodc.org) The girls were both personally inspired by Pope Francis’ words and felt that through the Forget Me Not Foundation they had the opportunity to act.

The next hurdle for them was to raise awareness of the issue and to work on some fundraising strategies. This is when the concept of the ‘Kiosk 4 Kids’ was conceived. The idea  was to raise funds by operating a small kiosk at the afternoon bus lines. After 18 months they raised approximately $7500 all of which went directly to the foundations work overseas. Brydie & Ellen, accompanied by their mother Kate, are presently in Nepal working with the ‘Forget Me Not’ team as well as immersing themselves in the Nepalese culture and seeing the sights of this beautiful country. Brydie and Ellen would like to thank all the students and staff who supported ‘Kiosk 4 Kids’ and they would also like emphasise that the work they have witnessed in Nepal by organisations such as ‘Forget Me Not’ is vital in the ongoing fight against slavery and child trafficking in developing countries.  

Brydie & Ellen with the Forget Me Not Team in Nepal.
Brydie & Ellen with the Forget Me Not Team in Nepal.

Brydie & Ellen both received The Armidale Dumaresq Council Citizen Award.

Cameron Roan - UNE Award for Academic Excellence .

Sophie Warner - St Vincent de Paul Award for Contribution to Social Justice.

Grace Toakley- Armidale Central Rotary Club Award for Citizenship.

ADIG Award - Taryn Ramage

Joseph Stephen Memorial Agricultural Award - Thomas Smith

Contribution to Music- Phoebe Biddle

Black Dot Contribution to Music - Isabelle Stoessel

The Zonta Award for a Year 10 female student excelling in Mathematics & Science - Meg Lye

STANSW Young Scientist of the Year Awards

Students submitted their own scientific experimental task and two students were very successful.

Chemistry

3rd    Isaac Selvey     $150

Rowe Scientific Award

1st    Harry Lye    $400

2nd    Isaac Selvey    $200

Rural Young Scientist Awards 

These awards recognise rural students for their research experimental tasks. The students below won prizes in the ‘Rural Young Scientist’ awards, which started this year. O'Connor won 7 of the  21 individual awards. Congratulations to the students and their teacher, Dan Fittler.

Harry Lye - Silver ($250) (also won $400)

Isaac Selvey -  Silver ($250) (also won $350)

Georgia Mackson - Bronze ($100)

Erin Smith - Bronze ($100)

Tom Frazier - Bronze (100)

Cameron Roan Bronze ($100)

Tayler Lisle Bronze ($100)

Armidale Regional Sports Awards

Congratulations to Year 9 netballer Olivia Joyce who was awarded the FM100.3 New England Trophies Best Junior Local Achievement 2017 at the The 2017 New England Sports Awards!!!

Also, to the O'Connor students who were members of the Hockey New England under 15 boys, Division 2. They were awarded the Overall Winner of the 2017 Armidale Regional Sports Council Junior Team Award!!!

Olivia Joyce
Olivia Joyce