13 April 2017

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Dear Parents and All in the St James Catholic College Community,

As the term nears its conclusion, I would like to thank you all for your support of the college, for your acknowledgement of the great work the staff do and for the way you have engaged with us in the education of your children.

Term One is always a time - for students - of settling in, of coming to understand procedures and expectations, and also for us - as staff - of getting to know our students and their individual needs and, in turn, responding accordingly. This is always a work in progress, as indeed are the young people we work with, who daily grapple with the challenges of relating to others appropriately, living up to the expectations of teachers and making positive decisions about behaviours, classroom engagement and playground interaction.

Education on the Catholic tradition is all about engagement in an inclusive community that acknowledges and works with the needs of all; it is all about seeking an education that brings hope and a sense of forward vision to one's life. This is not something that is selfish nor is it mutually exclusive of others. Education happens within a learning environment where young people learn from each other, where they learn to engage with teachers who provide a framework for learning.

The learning framework must be underpinned by solid and supportive home-school relationships. In other words, it is not a matter of expecting the school can achieve all they need to on their own, home-school relationships are about working together, and there are so many opportunities for this to happen in any one year. So, parents, you are encouraged to engage with us: sending your child everyday ready to learn, Parent teacher interviews to plan their learning, sports carnivals to encourage, and the upcoming May Ball to celebrate and socialise.

Thank you for all you already do for our school. We look forward to an exciting Term Two.

God Bless and have a Happy and Safe Easter Break,

Allan Clark,
Principal

Easter Mass times:

Easter & Holy Week Mass times:

• Palm Sunday: normal mass times (9:30am St Mary of the Cross, Ranelagh).
• Holy Thursday: 7pm (St Mary of the Cross, Ranelagh).

Good Friday:

• Stations of the Cross: 11am (St James Catholic Church, Cygnet);
• Passion service: 3pm (St Mary of the Cross, Ranelagh).

Holy Saturday/Easter Sunday:

• Easter Vigil: 7pm (St Mary of the Cross, Ranelagh).
• Easter Sunday: 9.30am (St James Catholic Church, Cygnet).

Easter & Holy Week Reconciliation:

• St James Catholic Church - Good Friday after Stations of the Cross.
• St Mary of the Cross - Good Friday after the Passion of the Lord service.
• St Mary of the Cross - before Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday evening.

Important Safety Recalls – EpiPens

May Ball 2017

When: 12 May 2017, 6.30pm-9.30pm
Where: MacKillop Performance Centre (Gym)
Who: All Kinder to Year 10 students and their families

During the month of May Catholics around the world traditionally honour Our Blessed Mother Mary with special devotional services. The May Crowning of Mary has been practised around the world for hundreds of years and has been honoured here at St James Catholic College for over 70 years. In honouring Mary, we also honour all other mothers and women in our community. With this in mind, all proceeds from this year’s May Ball celebration will be donated to the McGrath Foundation which aims to make life that little bit easier for individuals and families experiencing breast cancer.

May Ball 2017 planning has begun!

Responding to community feedback from last year’s parent, staff and student survey regarding the May Ball, the working group has begun planning for this year’s event. The goal is to continue the fantastic legacy of the last 70 years and to respond to the needs of our current school community.

The current May Ball working group is made up of the following volunteers who are not only staff members, but are also parents of current or former St James Catholic College students. In fact, some were former students of St James themselves. The members are: Sharlene Duggan, Nikki O’Neill, Louise Shaw and Connie Thomas. In addition, we have Year 10 students working with the group, plus Allan Clark (Principal) and Brett Tanner (Deputy Principal).

As reported last year, the May Ball survey of parents, students and staff indicated the significant majority of our St James Catholic College community felt the following:

The Positives

• The Tradition of the Event
• Dressing up
• Socialising and having fun as a community
• Dancing
• The whole College coming together (Not separate Primary/Secondary venues)

The Negatives

• Old music – needs some updating
• The potential costs and perceived pressures of providing suitable dresses/clothing
• No Supper this year! Need to provide an adequate supper in future

Other constructive suggestions that were mentioned in the survey, or arose during the discussion of the working group, were:

• Review seating arrangements in MPC. For example, use some tiered seating in the MPC /plus use stage for additional seating
• More of the dancing to be done together so less sitting around. For example, all primary students together or all secondary students together to keep it flowing
• The Crowning of Mary Liturgy with all the community together in the MacKillop Performance Centre. (This would replicate how it was done in the beginning)
• Mary to be 'centre stage' - a focal point
• Canteen open for tea and coffee for parents
• Photos and supper in the new Kent Learning Centre
• Keep some of the older music; however, try and modernise it
• Look for ways to ease the pressure on families of providing dresses. For example, provide opportunities to pass on, swap, purchase from other families used dresses. Setting clear boundaries/expectations for families to work with-in.

Therefore, in short, this year’s event will be celebrated all together, incorporating many of the suggestions outlined above. The working group will continue to work with the students to plan all the details to ensure that we continue to build on such a unique and well-regarded community celebration. Brett Tanner (On behalf of the May Ball working group).

General Notices:

Congratulations

Congratulations to Year 7 student Mitch Duggan who last weekend won at medal at the Archery Youth Nationals.

Mitch Duggan with his medal at the Archery Youth Nationals

Free Dress for Caritas

College Photo Day

The College Photo Day will be held on Wednesday 17 May 2017. At the College, a pre-pay envelope system is used, parents select a package, fill in their details and pay for the photos, this envelope is then returned to the portrait company. On Tuesday, a hardcopy letter with instructions and an envelope was sent home to each family. Please contact the office if you would like a family photos, to receive an additional envelope.

Sacramental Program

Parents wishing to have their children participate in the 2017 Sacramental Program please contact Mrs Connie Thomas at the College for further information on how to be involved.

SMS Absence Notification

The College now accepts SMS absentee notifications. Please SMS: 0488 863 246 with your child's name, grade and absent reason. Please save this number in your phone for future reference.

Little Lights – Birth to Four Program

Little Lights Playgroup is held every Tuesday (term-time only) from 9.30am -11am. Everyone is welcome to come along and join the fun. During the session, children will have the opportunity to explore, participate in art experiences, ride bikes and having fun with new friends.

Excursions and Activities:

SAKG recipes

Pizza Base

Potato Pizza

Prep Creations

Science News

The end of term means assignment time in science. This term the year 7’s and 9’s is conducting self-directed experiments to test the theory they have learnt in class. The year 7’s is working on separating mixtures, they were given a jar with sand, salt, iron filing and beads that they had to separate out into individual components. The students used the skills they learnt in class to solve this problem and consequently perform the experiment. This week sees them writing up their laboratory report explaining their method and results.

The year 9’s tested the effectiveness of insulators. They were given a shoe box and various insulating materials and had to design a way to test the effectiveness of 3 different materials during summer and winter. This week they need to write up their laboratory report outlining their method, results and discussion.

Years’ 8 and 10 are both conducting research tasks. The 8’s are addressing the history and geology of Mount Wellington and the 10’s are researching the evolution of an endangered Australian animal and what scientists are doing to ensure its survival.

All assessment tasks for all year levels are due to the teacher before the Easter holidays.

Science Term 1

Outdoor Education Camps

Last week the two year 9/10 Outdoor Education classes participated in their first camp. The account below was written by Luke Ashlin:

“It was a long drive from Cygnet to Fortescue Bay. We set up camp nicely with everyone helping each other and then with our freshly cooked meals we tried to get an early night so we had plenty of energy for the next day. It was a hard trek to our second camp with heavy packs, we stopped for lunch but shortly were then on our way again to the camp. Once we made camp, we walked on the rocks next to the water and some of us got our feet wet. We went for a small walk that day and felt so light without our packs, and got some great views of the cliffs. Then after a nice meal we hit the hay early again. We were up and about early the next morning, broke camp and were on our way back to Fortescue Bay, and we made great time and were on our way back to school in no time”.

AFL 9’s

On Friday 31st March, selected Year 9 and 10 students traveled up to Cornelian Bay in Hobart. It was a great day playing football with mates. The girls even had a great time playing, we were lucky because we had nice weather.

McDonald's AFL 9s is the AFL's official social version of the game. It's a fast, fun, free-flowing game that involves 9 players on each team playing on a smaller field. Best of all, it's 'touch football' with no tackling or bumping, making it suitable for everyone.

Year 7 & 8 Mt Wellington excursion

On Thursday 6 April the year 7’s and 8’s spent the day researching different aspects of Mount Wellington.

After having a pleasant morning tea at Fern Tree, the year 8’s got back on the bus to travel to the summit and the year 7’s walked the Pipeline track down to the Water Works. In HaSS this term, Year 7 have been exploring the topic 'Water in the World’. Firstly, the group walked the section of the Pipeline Track from Fern Tree to the Waterworks Reserve, where at the Receiving House we learned about the colourful history behind Hobart's water supply and strategies for continuing to supply our growing population with water. It was a great opportunity to get out of the classroom and take our first step into geography fieldwork- as well as experience the wonderful walking tracks that connect our bush to the city and our mountain streams to the water ways.

At the summit the year 8 students had to find information from the various informative signs about the spiritual connections the local Indigenous people had with the mountain, how the mountain was made and the predominant rock at the summit as well as the economic and environmental impacts of the mountain. This information and any photos taken at the summit are to be used in class to compile a research assignment addressing the history, economic, environmental and political effects the mountain has on Hobart. One of the major questions the students needed to address are the positive and negative aspects of having a cable car to the summit and the impact this would have on Hobart.

Mt Wellington Excursion

Community Notices:

Student Banking

Basketball Holiday Clinics

Cygnet Child Care Vacation Program

Huon Valley Dental Program

Far South Wilderness Camp

Hockey Tasmania Holiday Clinics

Huon Linc Holiday Activities

Netball Holiday Clinics

Twangfest Ukulele Festival