Pastoral Academic Care

Pastoral Academic Care (PAC) Focus

 MINDFULNESS MOMENTS

Wellbeing Element: EXERCISE AND VITALITY

Character Strength: SPIRITUALITY

Parent Wellbeing: To notice the changing feelings in your face and the messages your face is sending to others, look into a mirror and move different facial muscles, eyebrows, cheeks, mouth, jaw.

Focus - MINDFULNESS MOMENTS

As Gandhi so wisely once said, “There is more to life than increasing speed.” Yet, the opposite is precisely the expectation people in the 21st century seem to have for themselves; the human race is what many have become, instead of human being. It is often good to just be.

Many feel that they have to go twice as fast to stay in the same place; called the Red Queen Effect from Alice in Wonderland. They are encouraged to take the fast lane in everything they do, especially with processed and takeaway foods, and as a consequence, their health and quality of life suffers. How often do you taste and savour what you eat, or take time to enjoy time away from the pressures of life? For most, not often enough.

Beneficial strategies to introduce to students that will make their journeys far more satisfying and enjoyable, include taking three or four five-minute timeouts every day to stop, breathe deeply and stretch, use flight mode or turn off their phones for an hour or dream of places they want visit. They could also watch mother nature shine, do neck, hip, ankle, arm and shoulder rotations or do a Mindfulness Activity from the website.

“Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments.” 

Year 7

This is it, the last newsletter and last two weeks of Year 7’s first year of high school! What a year?! Congratulations to all Year 7 students for a year focused on their learning and developing their collaborative and academic skills. Thank you to all parents, carers and friends for supporting Year 7 through their learning journey this year. 

Shout out to the wonderful Year 7 PAC team: Katie Biddle, Kaylene Osborne, Daniel Fittler, Mark Honeysett, Damian Roff, Kate Bloomfield, David Lush, Natalie Mellowship-Brown, Catherine Deshon, Mellissa Bell and Lauren Donnelly. It has been a pleasure working alongside each and every one of you. Thank you for supporting and caring for our students. 

Well done to Year 7 students who have performed musical pieces as their end of year performance. The skills you are all developing are outstanding. We can’t wait to see how you progress with your musical skills throughout your school and future years. 

It has been a positive end to the year with many students receiving commendations, Year Leader’s and Principal awards in the final few weeks of school. Congratulations to those students and to all of Year 7 for their hard work this year. Finally congratulations to those students who received college awards at presentation day.

It has been an absolute pleasure working alongside Year 7 this year. They are truly some amazing people! Happy and safe holidays to all of you and a very Merry Christmas.

Yolanda Kreuzen

Year 8

I can’t believe this is the last Year 8 entry for the year! 2019 has been a year of growth, and I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone. This year would not have been such a success without a lot of key people.

Firstly, to the AMAZING Year 8 PAC team: Camilla Clydsdale, Jessica Armfield, Melita Roache, Anthony Kelly, Bradley Powers, Eli Simpson, Madeleine Davidson and Garry Osborne. Our strength as a team allows us to provide a high level of support to students and I’m grateful for your work and positive attitudes this year.

Secondly, to all the Year 8 teachers in 2019 who have performed an outstanding job in working with students to develop a love for learning through engaging lessons that challenge and enhance student's skills.

I’d also like to acknowledge the Executive and Support Staff at O’Connor. I have seen how many other schools attempt to work towards student pastoral and academic care and can honestly say we are leaders in the way we look after our students.

Last but not least, I want to say a big thank you to all the parents and carers who have supported their student by washing clothes, helping with homework, prepping lunches, doing the morning drop off and afternoon pickup, as well as every other little thing, to ensure your student has the best possible start they can.

Thank you all very much, I could not have done it without you! Have a safe and wonderful holiday period, and I look forward to what 2020 brings us.

Lloyd Honnery.

Year 9

This is my last contribution to the Newsletter for the year. It has been a truly wonderful year of faith and learning. I have so many people to thank for the relatively smooth running of this wonderful group of young people. I regularly tell anyone who will listen that there are 114 students in Year 9 and 100 of them are the most fabulous, beautiful students it has been my privilege to be involved with. Some are still a work in progress and showing definite signs of improvement.

My team would like to thank those parents who send their children to us every school day with a respectful attitude, ready to learn, in the correct uniform and prepared for lessons. It makes such a difference to your child’s ability to learn when they come to school in the right frame of mind.

I especially want to thank my very supportive and helpful PAC team. Ms Bell, Ms Czinner, Ms Champion de Crespigny, Ms Watson, Ms Frazier, Mr May, Mr Patricks, Mr Kirkaldy and  Mr Griffin. They have taken the time to know your child, to listen to them, to support them, to encourage them and to be there for them when needed. Thank you team!

Don’t just take my word for how terrific Year 9 students are. This fortnight there were 65 Commendations Certificates awarded and 13 Year Leaders’ Awards written to highlight the contributions made by your children to the learning focus and faith foundation of this wonderful school. That says it all.

Have a wonderful festive season and I look forward to leading your children into Year 10 next year.

Congratulations to Ethan (second from left) who received a Principal’s Award and Breanna, Alexandra, Fletcher, Riley, Ben, Aaron, Riley, Gus, Georgia, Kaitlyn, Jenna, Nathalie and Judah who received Year Leaders’ Awards this week.

Peter McLeish (on behalf of our PAC team)

Year 10

Year 10 have nearly finished the school year for 2019 and should be proud of their efforts over the course of the year. I have been impressed as the Year 10 PAC leader to see this group of students grow in both their academic, extra-curricular and personal pursuits. I was also so pleased to be able to celebrate these achievements last Friday at their awards assembly. 

This year has been a tough year for Armidale, Uralla, Guyra and Walcha and other close by communities that our students travel from to attend school here at O’Connor. The drought and bushfires have hit us all hard but on reflection our students and their families have continued to show the support and resilence needed for our school community. 2019 will be remembered for being a tough year, however we look forward with anticipation to 2020. 

I hope that our students and families can enjoy a much needed break and return refreshed going into next year. Well done to Year 10 and good luck for your next challenge - Year 11.  Have a safe and enjoyable holiday with your friends and families.

Mark Fulloon

Year 11

As I write this final newsletter for 2019, I would like to thank the wonderful and hard working PAC team for all of their support and care of our students this year, as well as their help to me as Year 11 PAC leader. It has been a massive year and we have come through it, with a few bumps and bruises….. but also lots of growth along the way.

It was fantastic to congratulate all of the prizewinners for 2019. Their hard work and dedication in the many facets of College life has been recognised and rewarded. For those students who continue to work hard and do their best, come to school every day, wear their correct uniform, do what is expected of them, are kind and supportive of their fellow classmates, I commend and congratulate you also.

The retreat (Tuesday - Thursday Week 9) is going to be an amazing time for all who are attending. It will be a time of reflection, friendship, seeing first hand the different faiths studied in RE, gathering as a cohort and hopefully learning something new about someone else in the group. We will post our adventures on Facebook, so watch this space. I want to sincerely thank the staff members who are attending this retreat. They are Mrs Denise Fittler (a fantastic job of organising the event for the students), Mr Jon Hawthorne, Mr Michael Wooster, Mr Peter Trinh, and Eliza, Isaac and  Brydie. As the year draws to a close, everyone is tired and in need of a well deserved break, so stepping up and heading to Sydney for 4 days, away from family commitments and the pressures that occur so close to Christmas is a massive undertaking. Thank you so much.

I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Christmas and holiday period. Students need to have a well deserved rest and enjoy time with family and friends. It is also a time to do some consolidation of course content from Term 4. Making summaries of topics covered so far, and completing some past papers would be a great step in the right direction to move the learning forward. Wow, how fantastic it would be to have some of that preparation and ground work done in readiness for a busy 3 terms ahead. 

Students celebrating birthdays between now and the new year.

Students receiving awards this fortnight. Congratulations and well done.

Vicki Channon  and the Year 11 PAC team.