MSPC Newsletter - Term 4 Week 8, 25th November 2021

Principal

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

End of Year (Presentation Day/Last Day/Not Returning)

We are rushing towards the end of the school year. Although students have completed their assessments, we still have meaningful work to complete. I know there is some creative work going on, without the pressure of assessments, to ensure students are engaged. Therefore, there is no need to believe them when they say, “I’m all done” or “nothing is going on at school”.

We will be holding our Presentation Assembly on Friday 10th December and it would be wonderful if all our students were present to receive awards and celebrate other people’s success. Mount St Patrick College seeks to have high expectations and to celebrate the achievement of students.. It can be motivating for students to see others receiving recognition for their efforts and inspire them to aspire to this standard.

The last day of attendance for students is Wednesday 15th December.

We are currently planning classes and staffing for 2022. If you know that the student in your house is not returning to the College in 2022, please notify the College as soon as is possible. This will allow us to ensure our planning is accurate.

Father Anthony

Father Anthony Lemon, our wonderful parish priest and College chaplain, is quite ill and undergoing surgery. Father Anthony is very generous in his support of the three parish schools and we are missing his smiling face around the College. His faith is a great example for us all and he is facing this challenge in his usual positive manner. Father Anthony has been praying the Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, 

the courage to change the things that I can, 

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Please keep Father Anthony in your prayers.

Paul Reidy
Principal

Assistant Principal - Mission

LUCAN HOUSE CELEBRATES

In the Catholic Church’s calendar, the 21st November is celebrated as the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is actually a feast coming from the Eastern rites of Christianity about the dedication of the Church of Our Lady Near the Temple in Jerusalem in 543. It celebrates Mary’s childhood dedication to God when her parents, Ann and Joachim, presented her for a blessing at the Temple.

Nano Nagle decided to make this feast the celebration day of her new order of nuns when they changed their name and crest to ‘Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary’ shortened to ‘PVBM’. At Mt St Pat’s Lucan House celebrates this day because the Presentation Sister’s convent in Lucan, Ireland was where the first sisters came from who accepted the invitation of the Bishop of Lismore to come to Lismore in 1886. A small group of the Lismore sisters then came to Murwillumbah in 1904, when they began Mt St Patrick Primary and, later, Mt St Patrick High School in 1926.

Lucan Leader of Wellbeing, Mr McCormack, student leaders and year group representatives from Lucan House pre-recorded a special prayer and presentation of their icons which was shown today as part of a zoom assembly. It was very informative and was well-received in the homerooms.

REUSABLE MASKS AND GENEROSITY

Currently we all have to wear masks at MSPC (unless a written medical exemption is provided). Obviously it is much better for the environment if we have washable cloth masks which can be re-used rather than running through countless single-use paper masks. 

Mr Reidy emailed parents a few weeks ago to advise that our very large supply of boxes of masks was running out and that students would have to supply their own mask or parents would be contacted to help rectify the situation or the student would have to go home. As a consequence, the re-using of masks has improved dramatically with most students bringing in their own mask and taking responsibility for looking after it during the day. 

The Purnell family, their youngest children currently in Year 12 and 9, decided to help out the College community by sending in a large supply of boxes of re-usable masks. This generosity means that there will be masks available at the office when there are emergencies i.e. one elastic breaks; the dog eats the mask on the way out of the house or the mask drops out of a pocket in the bus or car! Thanks to the Purnell’s for their generosity and thoughtfulness.

CHRISTMAS CARNIVAL, NATIVITY TABLEAU AND PARISH RAFFLE

Many people in the school, parish and local community look forward to this annual harbinger of Christmas. Traditionally the Sacred Heart Parish organizes the Christmas Carnival including the staging of the Nativity Tableau (by St Joseph’s PS South Murwillumbah, MSPP and MSPC students) on the last Saturday in November. It is the Parish's major fundraiser and this will be the second year that it has been cancelled (2021 should have been its 60th year of being staged). 

It is customary for the Parish Office to send all school staff and families of students a book of 10 tickets to sell in the Parish Raffle, via the youngest student in the family at the College, which has three major cash prizes and some supplementary Christmas treats like hams and fruit cakes. Most of these ticket books were handed out in homerooms on Wednesday 24th November. I would encourage students/families to get behind this fundraiser and sell/purchase the 10 tickets. The tickets need to be returned sold (with the money in the envelope) or unsold with the unsold tickets in the envelope by Friday 3rd December via homerooms. Thanking you in advance.

Mary-Anne McShane
Assistant Principal: Mission

MINISTRY

YEAR 10-12 RETREATS 2022

The 2022 Year 12 Retreat will take place from Wednesday 16th February to Friday 18th February (Week 4, Term 1) and the Year 10 Retreat from Monday 16th March to Friday 18th March (Week 8, Term 1) at Camp Bornhoffen. This is an important opportunity for students to reflect upon their lives in a very busy year, especially their relationships with family, friends and God. A letter regarding details (eg cost $220.00) and more specific information will be given in the first week of next year.

The early notification of the retreats is to enable families to plan and budget for these important occasions (they are part of School Fees), as the early part of the new College year is always expensive. As the retreats are seen as integral to the philosophy and ethos of the College, the retreat is compulsory and all students need to make sure that work or other commitments do not prevent them from attending. It is also an essential part of their holistic development. Parents are asked to ring the College if further clarification is needed.

MEALS ON WHEELS (MOW) 2022

Parent drivers are still needed to assist with this very worthwhile endeavour ……. delivering meals to those in our community who are unable to look after themselves. 

All parents, especially Year 10 parents (2022), are invited to become a part of this by volunteering to drive from 11.00am till 12.30pm. Our College does MOW once every 5 weeks, and we need 4 drivers for that week. So, if we have 16 parent drivers, then your commitment would be one day (for 11/2 hours) every 20 weeks. Students would also be involved approximately once every 10 weeks. As per COVID requirements, parents would need to be fully vaccinated and have a volunteers Working with Children Check (no cost).

This is a simple yet effective way of giving visible witness to the message of Jesus: "Whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me" (Matt 25:40-41). 

If any parents are able to help, please ring the College (66722340) and leave your name, phone number and preferred day(s). Thank you in anticipation of your help.

Michael O’Donohue 
Leader of Evangelisation

Welfare

The end of year is quickly approaching. Formal assessment is completed but work is still being covered in classes. It is important that the students remain on task over these last few weeks to avoid the opportunity for misbehaviour and unacceptable issues occurring. 

We are hearing that vaping is happening in the toilets at the College and students are hiding the vapes on their person to avoid being caught if they are asked to empty their pockets. Some students are afraid to use the toilets because of being labelled a “snitch” or simply because they don’t want to be caught up in it. We believe that some students may be selling/distributing the vapes at school. We also feel that vapes are being shared (for a fee) and some students are being pressured into using vapes. None of this behaviour is safe and it is not accepted at MSP. Please speak to your children about this issue and I encourage you to contact the College if you have any information that we can follow up. 

Can I please also ask that you help the College in maintaining our high standards with regards to uniform, nails, piercings and hair styles right through to the end of school. The College won’t relax standards over the last few weeks. Everyone- students, parents and staff- are all getting tired after a difficult year. If we all support the rules it will reduce conflict for all as we approach the holidays.

Thanks again for your ongoing support.

This weeks wellbeing focus is Engagement & Mindfulness. The character strength is Prudence. Below is a resource that as parents, may help us.

  Louise Shields
  Leader of Student Welfare

Assistant Principal - Learning & Teaching

The College is very proud of the resilience and diligence displayed by Year 12 as they have put behind them all the disruption of the 2021 year and attempted the HSC exams with confidence and determination. Only one week to go and the students will be dressing up and celebrating at the Formal. It is so pleasing to hear students say as they leave the exam room that they just gave it their best shot and felt they were prepared as best as they could by our diligent teachers. We are so privileged to have such dedicated teachers who ensure they know their syllabus and give the students the best opportunities available.

A new teacher to the College was once asked why Mt St Pats students perform so well. Her reply was the strong relationships between the staff and the students. Mt St Pats teachers will do anything they can for their students to ensure their success. In return the students do their best for themselves and for their teachers.

The students will receive their ATARs on 20th January 2022 and their HSC results on 24th January. We remind the students and parents that the school is not notified of the ATARs and would appreciate it if the students texted their ATARs to the school so that we can celebrate the students' achievements. A morning tea will be provided for staff and students on 24th January in the Canteen Basement to get together and learn what the next step is for our Paddy’s kids.

The Year 11  Accelerated students took up the challenge this year to complete a HSC Course one year ahead of their cohort. Last Monday 5 students attempted a very difficult Mathematics HSC paper. On Monday 17 students will attempt Chemistry and our last exam, Investigating Science, will be attempted by 19 students. We wish all these students a fair paper and congratulate them all on their courage in taking on the difficult challenge.

I might be biased but I am so proud of the Chemistry class for becoming such a collaborative and caring group of students who have supported each other on this tough journey. The following photo was taken at their last Monday afternoon tutorial. All the best Chem Kids!

Year 7-11 students are currently finishing up courses for the year and looking forward to their reports. Parents may notice a difference in our reports this semester. We are moving away from marks and ranks to grades and descriptions of what the students can do. Our reports are evolving to be a more meaningful representation of what the students have achieved and how they can grow. Congratulations to the students who have done their best and continued to grow in knowledge and skills. I hope students can reflect on their efforts this year and set goals for next year. Good luck!

Narelle Sherrah

Assistant Principal: Learning and Teaching

Curriculum

It is now Week 8 and Year 12 have passed the halfway point in the completion of their HSC exams. It is wonderful to see the relief on the faces of our Year 12 students as they exit the exam hall with their hard work and focused efforts finally realised. While much importance is placed on the HSC, at MSPC we enable all of our students to be prepared for, and engage in, life beyond school. We endeavour to encourage excellence, a love of learning and a passion for life. Our aim is to ensure our seniors can pursue any post-school path with confidence.

The HSC is a 13 month journey and Year 11 is well underway in the study of their first HSC modules. It is important that students are proactive in their learning and seek advice to clarify their understanding of the complex content and concepts studied. Being organised and consolidating understanding in comprehensive note-making is an important element to being successful in Year 12. Having a planned home study routine is equally beneficial. There are many excellent resources available at the College and online to support students navigating their way through this last stage of their learning.

Years 7 to 10 have now completed their assessment block and are working on their last units of study for the year. Teachers have provided feedback to students and are now busily preparing reports.

A reminder that should a Year 10, 11 or 12 student be ill during an assessment or examination, they are required to have a medical practitioner complete the MSPC Assessment Variation Application form. Students can access this on their Assessment Portal page: https://moodle.mursclism.catholic.edu.au/ 

Assessment Term 4 - Weeks 8 and 9:  The following table is an overview of assessments:

  Jo McDonald
  Leader of Curriculum

Faculty News

FROM THE SPORTS DESK

2022 IMPORTANT DATES

For all our forward planners, here is a list of important sporting dates to pencil into your calendar for 2022.

Week 2 

• College Swimming Carnival Friday 4th February

Week 6 

• Diocesan Winter Sport Trials: Rugby League U15’s and Opens and Football Open Boys and Girls, Tuesday 1st March.  (St John’s College Woodlawn)
• Diocesan Tennis,( Arkinstall Park, Tweed) Tuesday 1st March
• Diocesan Individual Touch Football trials (applications open now, visit Lismore Dio sport web page https://sport.lism.catholic.edu.au/ )  Thursday 3rd March. ( Northern Rivers Football Academy, Lismore)

Week 7 

• Diocesan Swimming Tuesday 10th March. Lismore

Week 9 

• Diocesan North Open Soccer Tournament. Tuesday 22nd March. Lismore (Northern Rivers Football Academy)
• Diocesan Open Basketball. Wednesday 23rd & Thursday 24th March, Sportz Central, Coffs Harbour

Week 11

• College Cross Country Event. Monday 4th April. Kingscliff / Fingal tbc
• NRCC Netball Boys and Girls. Wednesday 6th April. Arkinstall Park, Tweed
• NSWCCC Swimming and Diving Wednesday 6th April. Sydney
• NSW All Schools Triathlon. Thursday 7th & Friday 8th April. Penrith

ATHLETICS NEWS

Year 9 student Chloe Martin was selected to be a part of the 2022 Little Athletics Queensland New Zealand Development Tour, which is / was to take place from 7th- 17th of January 2022. Along with 40 other selected U15 and 16 athletes, Chloe was set to travel to New Zealand’s South Island to compete in 3 competitions over the 10-day period, along with several training sessions throughout the trip. The events Chloe was to compete in included the 100, 200, 400, long jump and 80m hurdles. Unfortunately, due to the current Covid restrictions the tour has had to be cancelled due to the uncertain nature of the Trans-Tasman bubble. A 5-day Development Camp for the selected athletes has been scheduled in early January at the Gold Coast Performance Centre to make up for the cancellation. 

NSW ALL SCHOOLS ATHLETICS

Earlier in the year the scheduled NSW ALL Schools event had to be postponed due to COVID threats.The 4 day event has been postponed to Thursday December 9th – Sunday December 12, at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre. Registrations for the event close next  Monday 29th November for any athletes / families interested. For more information go to nswathletics.org.au 

BASKETBALL

Congratulations to Ty Lockwood and Ethan Johnston who have been named in the U16 D League Country Basketball squad. The boys, who are both in Year 8, have been playing with the Byron Beez squad and  recently attended the trials. Both boys impressed the selectors earning them a spot on the roster for 2022. The boys will now attend a 4 day trial in January, which brings the best basketballers from the country and metro squads together to attend a training day. Before then playing a 3 day tournament from which players will be selected to attend state trials in February.  Best of luck boys.

Tim Whitney

Sports Coordinator

College News

NEW COMPUTER PURCHSE SYSTEM FOR YEAR 9 STUDENTS GOING INTO YEAR 10 2022

Most parents of the 2021 Year 9 cohort will now be aware of our new laptop purchasing portal system, which replaces payment of laptops via school fees. This is just a friendly reminder for parents that the portal is now open for purchasing. Ideally payment should be made before December 8th so that the school can have the devices imaged and ready to roll out for the first day of school in 2022. The latest date for up front payment or a payment plan to be enacted is January 26th. The links and instructions for purchase are below. Feel free to contact me on natalie.webster@lism.catholic.edu.au if you have any issues with the portal or questions regarding the new system.

Payment portal parent instructions

ASI Payment Portal Link

Natalie Webster

Leader of Learning Technologies

NEW COLLEGE JACKETS

The new College jackets have arrived and are available from the College Clothing Pool. They are $35 which can be paid at the Front Office. These jackets can be worn as well as the current sloppy joes and are able to be worn with both the day and sport uniform. 

Unfortunately parents are unable to come into the College Clothing Pool at this time due to the current restrictions. However, students are able to visit the Clothing Pool before school or at recess and lunch to try them on for correct sizing. They are available in sizes 14 - XXL.

The new zipped jackets are comfortable, versatile and smart looking and will add a new dimension to the Mt St Patrick College uniform. 

KALEIDOSCOPE UPDATE

The Arts Project, ‘Kaleidoscope’, is drawing to a close and the dedication and outstanding products created by the participants has been an absolute pleasure to observe. Due to Covid regulations, the Showcase planned for 8th  December has been postponed until Term One, 2022. To this point, ‘Kaleidoscope’ has involved seven specialist workshops as well as stimulating dance workshops and music recording sessions coordinated by the talented Miss Molloy, Miss Baker, Mrs Bowe and Mr Rice. The quality of the work is truly inspiring and we can’t wait to share it with you in the near future.

Kaleidoscope Coordinators

HEADING WEST FOR WILCANNIA 2021

The Wilcannia Journey began in 2018/19 when 10 students were selected from the Year 9 CSYMA class to travel to Wilcannia. The students and staff travelled for 2 days before settling in at their accommodation. The MSPC students visited St Theresa’s Community School in Wilcannia and formed an ongoing relationship with students and staff. When our current Indigenous Education Officer, Tayah, heard the severity of Covid-19 in the small remote community, she organised a team which included Brandy (other IEW) , the YMO’s (Bree and Cooper) and students who have been to Wilcannia in the previous 2 trips. With the support of the College Leadership  team we were able to start a donation drive to send to Wilcannia as we wanted to do more for this small remote community. 

Tayah and Brandy, along with their team organised a donation drive of many small goods which included pencils, textas, crayons, pens, exercise books, colouring books, sketch books, hand sanitizers, shampoo and conditioner, body wash and bars of soap, antibacterial wipes, masks, soft toys, small reading books, toothbrushes, toothpaste and much more. Along with these items, Tayah, Brandy, Cooper and Bree had organised 2 fundraisers, which enabled us to purchase more school items for St Theresa’s. 

Tayah was lucky enough to have a connection with the Australian Red Cross Community Resilience Project Officer of the Tweed/Byron Shire. She had many conversations with the Community Resilience Project Officer of the Tweed/Byron and managed to make a plan so that Red Cross could assist MSPC in the shipment of goods to Wilcannia. 

On Friday 5th November the donations were picked up from MSPC and delivered to Australian Red Cross Head Office in Lismore to be transported to Wilcannia. The next leg of the journey for the donations will be a road trip to Dubbo, then delivered to St Theresa’s Community School in Wilcannia. Without the help of Australian Red Cross, Tayah, Brandy, Bree and Cooper this wouldn’t have been possible. Over the next few weeks Tayah will be receiving photos of the handover of donations until they get to Wilcannia. 

Tayah, Brandy, Cooper and Bree would like to thank all the staff, students and families who have donated supplies to the Wilcannia Donation Drive.  

ST VINNIES CHRISTMAS APPEAL

Thank you to everyone who donated coins (and notes) on the Vinnies Christmas Appeal Coin Line.

The total sum raised by MSPC Coin Line was a whopping $377.95 

(that's $152 more than last year).

The winning House for 2021 is....

1st Place - Loretto

2nd Place - Nagle

3rd Place - Lucan 

4th Place - Lisieux

Congratulations Loretto... 

The true winner of course, is actually St Vinnies and all of the families they will assist this Christmas.

Thank you MSPC. Outstanding effort. Very generous of you all... and very much appreciated!

MSPC Vinnies

PS Next Newsletter, we will update our fundraising total for St Vinnies Christmas Appeal (with sales from Candy Cane/Gingerbread Stall) and other generous donations. 

COMPASS AT MSPC IN 2022

This week at MSPC we have been discussing the elements of Compass an electronic administration system we are introducing in 2022; and therefore, what will be available to parents through the Parent Portal. Although Compass provides a wealth of options, we think the most important thing is to make the platform as practical as possible for parents, students and staff at Mt St Patrick College.

Our hope is to make the Parent Portal your one-stop link to everything at MSPC. The portal will allow parents to view calendars, reports and awards; view and pay for excursions and fees; access links to educational websites; notify the College of absences, and communicate efficiently with staff. In addition, many of the programs parents have become familiar with, such as Flexi-Schools, will remain in 2022, but will also now be accessible easily through the Parent Portal.

If you are interested in finding out more about Compass and the Parent Portal, please follow the link:

COMPASS - A Guide for Parents and Families

Ms Michelle Gill

SRT Leader

Puzzle Corner

Can you solve the puzzle below?

On the first day of a sightseeing tour one-seventh of the total journey is completed.

On the second day the bus travels one-third of the remaining distance.

The following day one-quarter of the remaining distance is covered and on the fourth day the bus travels half of the distance left.

There are still 75km of the journey left.

 

How far has the bus gone?

If you think you have the solution, please see/email Mrs Bevan. The first 5 correct answers will receive a prize.

Last week’s solution :  $121  (Aileen $35, Bruce $12, Cheryl $30, Denis $16, Emily $28

Awards

CO-ORDINATOR'S, PRINCIPAL'S AND COLLEGE AWARDS

LISIEUX CO-ORDINATOR'S AWARDS

Year 7: Annie Butt, Keesia Close, Dannielle Kee, Ryan Stuart, Alexander Wellm

Year 8: Neve Trembath, Ulani Uhlmann, Ella Wolfe

Year 9: Filippos Mackney, Raphael Paul, Charles Shepherd, Conan Twomey

Year 10: Charlotte Foster, Olivia Glazebrook, Seth Moore

LISIEUX PRINCIPAL'S AWARDS

Year 7: Keesia Close, Ryan Stuart

Year 10: Olivia Glazebrook

LORETO CO-ORDINATOR'S AWARDS

Year 7: Keira Hair, Elissa Hawkins, Callum Johnston, Rinrada Khamkaew, Maddison Shackell

Year 8: Leon Morgan, Ash Wilcomes

Year 9: Meila Abbott, Daniella Cunial, John Dunbar

Year 10: Jarrah Fitzpatrick

LORETO PRINCIPAL'S AWARDS

Year 7: Elissa Hawkins, Callum Johnston

Year 9: Meila Abbott

LUCAN CO-ORDINATOR'S AWARDS

Year 7: Stephanie Mayne, Kaulana O'Farrell-Carter

Year 8: Samuel Daley

LUCAN PRINCIPAL'S AWARDS

Year 7: Stephanie Mayne

NAGLE CO-ORDINATOR'S AWARDS

Year 8: Skye Waters

Year 9: Jaxon Booth, Hunter East

Year 10: Maya O'Callaghan

Year 11: Charli Miller-Smylie

NAGLE PRINCIPAL'S AWARDS

Year 9: Hunter East

Canteen Roster

The following roster will only come into affect if restrictions remain lifted. If we are in lockdown due to COVID 19 and restrictions are in place then no volunteers will be permitted onsite until further notice. Thank you for you support.

Community News