O'Connor Catholic College Newsletter

Pastoral Academic Care (PAC) 

This fortnight we hear from Year 8, 10 and 12 PAC Leaders of Learning.  

 

 

Pastoral Academic Care (PAC) Focus - Taking Notes / Cornell Notes Process

Well Being Element - Accomplishment and Optimism 

Character Strength - Forgiveness

 

Parent Wellbeing:  Your son/daughter will benefit considerably when you role model that you are prepared to take measured risks to try new things and experiences, such as, failing well, accepting that mistakes are part of life, forgiving yourself for making them and seeking feedback to learn new approaches to correct them. These are valuable lifelong skills to develop. How well can you do these things?

Acknowledgement: Ericsson & Anderson.

Year 8

Ms Natalie Mellowship

 

Following on with our theme of “I succeed”, over the past few weeks, we have given Year 8s the challenge of achieving 21 commendations to really hone in on those positive behaviours for learning. They absolutely smashed this goal out of the park and achieved 53 commendations as a collective! Well done Year 8s! With so many students achieving teacher commendations, many students have further achieved success and reached a Pastoral Academic Care Leader Award. A huge congratulations to the following students: McLaren Craven, Chelsea Curry, Charlotte Foster, Myles Lagenbaker, Isabella McKay, Anna McClelland, Nicholas Miller, Regan Nugent, Vanessa Riggall, Hunter Scrivener and Lucy Selby. 

Success can come in many forms and means something different to everyone. This can be through spiritual success, happiness success and learning success just to name a few. This week has seen many of our students participate in the Armidale Eisteddfod. A very special mention must go to Year 8 student Lila Killen, who was asked to join a Year 6 team as they were missing a member for Space Jump. As a result of this kind act, the presenter gave Lila an honourable mention for her spirit which is the whole purpose of the Eisteddfod. Congratulations Lila - we’re extremely proud of your actions!

 

Last week, we saw the official school photos take place. It was really great seeing our Year 8s take so much pride in their appearance, a trait we would like to see continue throughout the year. When we have high expectations of uniform and appearance standards with our  students, it allows them to have pride in being a part of a community such as O’Connor Catholic College. 

 

Friday 13th is seen as unlucky for some, but not so much for our Year 8s who had the opportunity to participate in the Retreat day. This day was organised by the Lasallian Youth Ministers and supported by our very own Year 11 Lasallian Youth Leaders (LYLs). The day focussed on the idea of ‘community’. O’Connor Catholic College prides itself on its sense of community and the important role that this plays in the lives of our young people and their families. All staff that attended were extremely proud of the way in which students were motivated and participated in the planned activities and tasks. Well done guys!

In the next few weeks, Year 8 students will be receiving their Semester 1 reports. We really encourage you to have learning conversations with your child regarding their report, and assist them to make realistic but challenging learning goals moving forward. If you have any queries surrounding the reports, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s PAC teacher in the first instance. 

 

Ms Natalie Mellowship (on behalf of the Year 8 PAC team)

 

Year 10

Mr James Russell

 

Last Friday at our school assembly Mrs Healy spoke to us all about success. Success is an interesting concept and it can mean very different things to each and every individual. In fact, each individual can define their own measure of success and their personal bar can be raised as they tick off goals and achievements. Year 10 is a very diverse year group. Our students have many different skills, passions and abilities and we encourage all of them to set goals that are specific and meaningful to them each week. As students work hard to achieve their own unique goals, they feel the pride and satisfaction associated with ‘success’. Our vision for each of our students in Year 10 is that they continue to experience success and achieve personal goals, and experience growth and development in the process - ultimately achieving their true potential as they transition from our College into the world at whatever stage is best for them.

 

Over the past few weeks our Year 10 students have experienced many and varied successes. These have ranged from achievements on the sporting fields, to learning success and some wonderful performances in the creative arts. Just a few of these include:

  • John Harris and Joe Schmude participating in the O’Connor Chess Team to win through to the third round of the Interschool Chess Competition
  • Wonderful success at the Drama Eisteddfod with Yr 10 Students winning in a number of categories. Also, very well done to our own Miss Plane who has worked very hard to prepare the students.
  • Great success from Yr 10 students at the Diocesan Cross Country with John Harris winning his age group and Ava Vaughan coming second in hers (Ava most likely would have won, but stopped during the race to assist another student who was unwell on the course).
  • Congratulations to Josie Ryan and Toby Ryder who both received their Principal’s Award.
  • Very well done to our Year 10 representatives who were part of the O’Connor Davinci Decathlon Team.

 

Year 10’s journey towards senior studies continues next week as they complete the Minimum Standards for HSC Test. This test evaluates each student’s ability in reading, writing and numeracy, considering the minimum levels needed to be able to successfully negotiate the HSC. This is an important step as students progress towards completing their HSC and we encourage all students to complete the tests with their best efforts.

It has been an excellent start to the term with many students actively engaging in learning and extra-curricular opportunities and as result enjoying a strong sense of achievement and success. We look forward to many more students enjoying their own successes as the term progresses.

 

James Russell

On behalf of the Yr 10 PAC team.

Year 12

Mrs Vicki Channon

 

Year 12 students are raising awareness and funds this term for mental health. As a school, we are hoping that everyone will join us in our efforts. 

At our school assembly on Friday, we welcomed back past student and Ambassador for Do it For Dolly, Makaala Dodd. Makaala spoke about the day, and what it means. The emotional and heartfelt speech was well received by the College community. 

Judah Flint and Alexandra Shepheard (Vice-Captains) led a panel consisting of Makaala, Jason Newcombe (our resident psychologist) and Josh Urqhuart (present Sports Captain) who were asked some questions regarding bullying and ways to tackle this. 

In line with this theme, we will be registering our school in the annual push-up challenge. We kicked off this event at the assembly with many of our College Leaders and some brave teachers showing the rest of the school how it is done:) A range of activities and  fun competitions will be organised and house points will be on offer. 

Here is the link for more information. There will be more information in the daily notices, so start getting a team together to have some fun.

https://www.thepushupchallenge.com.au/home

 

Year 12 will also be doing Friday morning Brekky Club down at the BBQs where bacon and egg rolls (and hot chocolates) will be available for sale from 8.15am. Pre-orders will be taken on Thursdays to help with catering and numbers. 

Father Dileap celebrated his first Mass at our College last Wednesday with our Year 12 students. All were very reverent as to be expected. I would encourage greater participation in responses and singing at the Masses as this is very important .

It was gratifying to see parents and carers take advantage of the conferencing held on Tuesday of this week. The purpose of these interviews is to discuss how our young people are going in their academic pursuits, particularly after receiving their semester report last week. How do they move their learning forward after receiving feedback for each subject? It is also a time where other issues of concern, in terms of wellbeing can be discussed.

We are looking forward to a positive day of school and team spirit led by our seniors at the Annual Athletics Carnival this Friday.