-
20 Years of being ‘Enlivened by the Spirit’
Anzac Road Menai NSW 2234 Phone 9543 0188 Facsimile 9541 0398
[email protected]
www.aquinasmenai.catholic.edu.au
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
AQUINAS CATHOLIC COLLEGE MENAI
17th December, 2012 Vol.19.No.34
Aquinas seems strangely quiet in a number of playground areas as
our senior students have completed their academic year. Yet, a
number of activities are still engaging our Year 7, 8 and 9
students. As these year groups embark on their end of year picnics
tomorrow I encourage parents to remind their daughters and sons
around sun safety and the need to not only bring water to their
beach activities, but, to also actually drink it throughout the
day! Year 7 – 10 reports will be issued tomorrow afternoon after a
brief Christmas liturgy before the students are dismissed for the
end of the year. Reports will only be issued to students who are at
school at this time unless arrangements have been made directly
with me. Wednesday morning sees an opportunity for parents to seek
any clarifications around reports from staff. If you wish to speak
to a staff member please do so via the Front Office and meetings
will take place in the Fr Denis Foley Resource Centre [library]. I
would like to inform parents that following the recent CEO, Sydney
migration to a new email system, a number of email addresses are
now defunct; including [email protected]. In what
is now a Google based electronic environment, the following
addresses will be of use to the community when seeking to connect
College staff. For general enquiries, please use:
[email protected]
For students requiring ICT support, please use:
[email protected]
As mentioned a number of times in parent forums and in this
publication, the cuts to education announced by the state
government will have major impact on the services provided to our
Catholic schools. You can register your disapproval of this very
poor decision by signing the petition which is on the CEO Sydney
website. Simply go to www.ceosyd.catholic.edu.au, click on the red
‘Stop the Funding Cuts’ icon and follow the link to the petition.
It takes less than a minute to fill in. Education funding should be
one of the highest priorities for any government. Let the
politicians know that these cuts are unfair by signing this
important petition. ‘Sign the Petition’ Day is a day on which all
parents are encouraged to sign an online petition to protest
against state government funding cuts. ‘Sign the Petition’ Day will
happen next Wednesday 19th December. Thanks to those parents who
have already ‘signed’ the petition and to those who haven’t please
consider adding your voice to the cacophony of discontent on the
19th as a way to ensure appropriate government funding to the
entire educational sector. The Executive Director of Catholic
Schools, Dr Dan White, also addresses this issue and the Royal
Commission into child sexual abuse in Australian institutions in a
video that is available on the CEO, Sydney website. The address
is
http://www.ceosyd.catholic.edu.au/News/Pages/video-dr-dan-white.aspx
It with pleasure that I am now able to announce the Year
Coordinators and Year Groups they will be responsible for in 2013
at Aquinas. We are indeed blessed to have a talented group such as
this at the College to take responsibility for the care of our
students.
Year 7 Mr Jon Cullerton Year 10 Mr Stephen Roberts Year 8 Mrs
Marina Vukovic Year 11 Mrs Julie Monk Year 9 Mr Nick Pay Year 12 Mr
Michael Snell
-
20 Years of being ‘Enlivened by the Spirit’ 2
Congratulations to the following students who have achieved
significant success in their chosen fields of endeavour;
Miah-Rose Lake of Year 8 who has secured a role in the current
stage show “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” as one the members of the
‘Lost children’ ensemble and as an understudy for the role of
Susan. Miah-Rose is performing at the Capitol Theatre in the
city.
Mia Pimentel of Year 9 who has also secured a role in the
Miranda Musical Society’s production of “Aladdin”
as a ensemble cast member.
Joshua Kelly-Makovec of Year 11 finished a highly creditable 6th
in the Under 18 Boys’ 2000m Steeplechase at the Australian All
Schools Athletics Championships recently held in Hobart. Well Done
Joshua!
I would also like to thank all those members of the community
who contributed to the recent Asylum Seekers Appeal. This appeal
not only attracted the support of our students but also that of
Melanie Gibbons our local MP, who made a donation of items to
assist those individuals who are often depersonalised in the wider
debate. Thank you all! As this is the final newsletter for the year
I would like to thank the College staff for their efforts
throughout the year in guiding the young people of our community
through the largely unchartered waters of adolescence and to also
wish all those associated with the College a safe, happy and above
all holy Christmas. James Corcoran Principal
-
20 Years of being ‘Enlivened by the Spirit’ 3
FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Key Dates Week 11(A) Term 4
Week 1 (A) Term 1 2013
Have a happy and safe Christmas and holiday break.
Robert Nastasi Assistant Principal
Monday 28th January Australia Day Public Holiday Feast of St
Thomas Aquinas
Tuesday 29th January Term 1, 2013 begins today-Staff Development
Day/Pupil free
Wednesday 30th January Year 7-2013 commence today in summer
uniform with
Year 10 Peer Support Leaders (pupil free day for Year 8-12)
Thursday 31st January Students Year 8-12 return today
Friday 1st February Summer sport trials
Monday 17th December HSC Art work exhibition 3.30pm to
5.30pm
Tuesday 18th December Last day of formal lessons Year 7-9 Picnic
Day; Year 7 & 9 to Austinmer Beach;
Year 8 to Elouera Beach Reports issued at 3pm to Year 7-9 Year
10 to collect reports from office during office hours
Wednesday 19th December Parent/Teacher/Student interviews from
9.00am to 11.00am-come via front office and ask for teacher,
interviews in library
HSC Results released today-Yr 12 morning tea at 11.00am
Thursday 20th December Staff Development /Pupil free day
Friday 21st December Staff Development /Pupil free day-school
closes
-
20 Years of being ‘Enlivened by the Spirit’ 4
Religious Education at Aquinas
God of love, as we approach Christmas day, may we all feel the
true spirit of Christmas, a spirit that tells us of God’s great
love for each of us. May we appreciate the meaning of the birth of
Christ, a birth that has changed history forever. May this
Christmas bring joy and peace to us all. We ask this through
Christ, our Lord. Amen. St Mary of the Cross, pray for us. St
Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.
May you and your loved ones have a very safe, happy and holy
Christmas. Mrs Catherine Nolan Acting Religious Education
Coordinator
Did you know?
The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday, a day of
rejoicing as Christmas draws
near.
Reflection on the Gospel
In Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 3:10-18) people asked John the Baptist
‘what must we do?’ when they came for baptism. The tax collectors
were told to exact no more than their rate, and the soldiers to not
use intimidation or extortion and be content with their pay. Some
people were beginning to think that John was the Christ, so he
declared before them all ‘I baptise you with water, but someone is
coming who is more powerful than I am… he will baptise you with the
Holy Spirit…’ This Gospel demonstrates just how much John was
preparing the way for Jesus: even his teaching was in line with
what Jesus would later say. When the people gathered asked how they
should live out their new found conversion of heart, John responded
with the need for generosity and justice. The themes of justice and
hospitality echo throughout the Gospel of Luke. The baptism that
John preached and practiced was a baptism of repentance. What he
called on people to do was to recognise the areas of their lives
that were unbalancing their relationship with God. In recognising
the need for change in their lives, John challenged them to also
make a change of heart: to approach their lives differently. John
makes clear to his audience, however, the difference between him
and the Messiah who is still to come. Jesus offers people a
tangible experience of life in the Spirit which is a lived
experience, not just a ritual action. We too, particularly during
this season of Advent, are called reflect and make real changes to
our lives.
Adapted from a reflection by Greg Sunter
Christmas Mass Timetable
Christmas Eve Monday 24 December, 6:30pm Vigil
(JOHN PAUL II HALL)
Carols in the Church at 9:00pm
Mass of Midnight in the Church at 9:30pm
Christmas Day Tuesday 25 December, 8:30am and 10:30am*
*(please note the change from normal Sunday mass time)
-
20 Years of being ‘Enlivened by the Spirit’ 5
Be an Angel Yet again we finish a fantastic year of fundraising
with an amazing amount of generosity from the Aquinas community for
our ‘Be an Angel’ campaign. This year saw money raised to purchase
gifts for 57 disadvantaged children who live in the local Menai
community. Every year I am amazed at the support that students show
towards this cause and this year contributions were no
exception.
Each Pastoral class is given the task of raising money to
purchase a gift for a child which is to cost no more than $30,
every class is given one child that they need to purchase a gift
for and this year some class were able to raise enough money for up
to 6 children, which is an outstanding effort. On top of the 57
gifts, the College raised almost $800 for the St Vincent de Paul
Society Christmas Appeal. Mr Keith Corbett was very appreciative of
the continual support that the Aquinas community has given to the
Menai St Vincent de Paul Conference. Mr Corbett spoke to us at our
final mass where he presented us with a shield of thanks to the
Aquinas community. I would like to thank all staff and students who
supported me in the ‘Be an Angel’ campaign as well as the many
other fundraising initiatives this year, it has been a very
rewarding task to be a part of for the year. I would also like to
thank and congratulate Mr Peter Tsambalas who will take up the
position of Social Justice Coordinator in 2013, a job I’m sure he
will be very successful at. Peter Studwick
FLAMES NETBALL CLUB TAKING EARLY REGISTRATIONS
Holy Family Netball Club has changed its name to Flames Netball
Club. We're still the same great club with the same uniform and
where everyone is welcome to play. Registrations are now being
accepted for the 2013 season. You can either register as a team
with your friends or sign up for the chance to meet new friends.
Players of all ages are welcome including nursery and 8 year olds
all the way to senior players and mums who are looking for some
Saturday fun. For more information cal l Gina Skinner (President)
on 0438 066 712. GO FLAMES!!!!
UNIFORM SHOP
THURSDAY 31 JANUARY 8:00am—9:00am
Please note the Uniform Shop only sells
Sports Uniforms and School bags
The Uniform Shop does not accept Eftpos or Credit cards
College caps and sports socks can be purchased from the College
Office
-
20 Years of being ‘Enlivened by the Spirit’ 6
YEAR 7 ITALIAN FOOD EXCURSION
On Monday 3rd December, 7 Red attended an Italian Excursion to
Bellezza Pizza, Menai. As a class, we walked there and then sat
down in table groups, with who would then be in our group. We were
split into three groups each doing different activities: watching
how pizza dough was made in the restaurant’s kitchen, participating
in a quiz on Italian food we had previously learnt in class and
then making our own pizza in pairs! After completing these three
activities we were able to finally eat the pizza we had made and
had been anticipating. The whole class loved their pizzas they had
made especially for themselves and everyone agreed it was their
favourite part of the day! We were all very full after that,
however we decided to stop at McDonalds where Mrs Gulisano was so
kind and bought us all a soft-serve ice-cream. We all agreed that
it was a fantastic day and by far the best excursion. Renee
Gritter, 7 Red
