S t M a r y ’ s C o l l e g e A Journey of Truth

Issue 7, Monday 7 August 2017

S t M a r y ’ s C o l l e g e 253 Franklin Street

ADELAIDE SA 5000

T:8216 5700 F:8216 5730

W: www.stmaryscollege.catholic.edu.au E: enquiries@stmaryscollege.catholic.edu.au

From the Principal

Dear St Mary’s College, We began our feast day celebration with a gathering on the Veritas Lawns and a procession into St Patrick’s Church. In the procession each of the girls carried a truth they have discovered or experienced through the course of this year. The symbolic ritual, designed by our senior leaders, was a powerful enactment of our theme for this year A Journey of Truth…Seeing into the heart of things with the eyes of God.

Throughout Dominican Week, and in all of this term, our school is engaged in activities centred on the pillars of our community – study, prayer, community life and service. We continue to learn about the story of Dominic and his followers and how they provide a window for us into the bigger story of Jesus. We engaged in Morning Prayer and then a whole school liturgical celebration. Our senior leaders and school executive also joined with our fellow Dominican schools by sharing in mass at the three other Dominican Feast Day masses. We finished our week with a whole school breakfast coordinated by the SRC, a great celebration that involved students, staff and parents gathered around the Veritas Lawns. We end this term with Social Justice Day, another whole school celebration that brings to focus ongoing service work that we do throughout the year.

One of our challenges as a contemporary Catholic School is to bring the gospel alive in today’s world. Celebrating the lives of those who have shaped our tradition is one important way we can do this. The College theme for each year encourages us to develop a renewed insight into what we can learn. In my own reflections for mass I spoke about relationships as one of the key ways I can see into the heart of things with the eyes of God. In our relationships we are challenged to learn about ourselves and about others. Being in community is not always easy and things inevitably break down. There are times that we struggle to get along or to see the good in others. These are the points that really invite us together, to see each other as God sees us. And to see ourselves as God sees us. This is not always easy to do! I will finish with some words from our gathering on the lawns before mass last week and with an invitation to consider where in your own life you are being called to see into the heart of things with the eyes of God.

Today, we will process from Veritas Lawns, into St Patrick’s Church, and we do so in a strong symbolic statement, as a community, recognising that we, like Dominic, are also on a journey of truth and discovery, a journey we share with one another, where we learn from each other and from the shared and individual experiences of our lives. We are all at different stages along our journey of discovery, we have no doubt discovered different things about ourselves, about life, about the world around us, about what is important and what we value, about our faith and about God, and about the meaning and purpose of our lives. And as part of this Dominican community, we too are called to see into the heart of things with the eyes of God.

Enjoy the coming weeks.

Clare Nocka

Principal

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From the Deputy Principal: Student Wellbeing

Welcome back everyone to another exciting term.....Term 3 - the term of 'Annie’, External tasks for Year 12s, Research Project and Service Learning Week for Year 11s, Year 10 Retreat, Outdoor Education Camps, and a multi-tude of learning activities across the breadth and depth of our school.

Grit During the first week back, the Staff Professional Learning Week, we explored a range of different aspects to teaching, learning and wellbeing. One of the many aspects we explored was the notion of grit, some would say a dying art in today’s world!

According to Angela Duckworth and Caroline Adams Miller (two of the gurus

and prominent researchers in this area), grit is ‘passion, purpose and persever-

ance for a long term goal’. That is, living life like it is a marathon not a sprint.

It is persisting in the absence of constant praise;

It is learning how to work hard and overcome disappointment;

It is holding the same top-level goal for a very long time.

The power of grit is knowing which goals to hold on to and which ones to let go.

Gritty people do more deliberate practice and therefore experience more flow;

deliberate practice is for preparation and skills building and offers us the thrill of

getting better at something.

Caroline Adams Miller states that companies in America are coming up with

unique ways to work out which prospective employees ‘bring a strong work

ethic, good sense of teamwork, and likeability’. They want people who have

nursed a passion for years and stuck with an activity even when it was hard,

and the only reward was not giving up. They also want people who persist in

the absence of constant praise, and who have learned how to work hard and

overcome disappointment.

Authentic grit is the passionate pursuit of hard goals that awes and inspires

others to become better people, flourish emotionally, take positive risks, and

live their best lives.

Strengths and actions needed to build authentic grit:

Passion

Goal setting

Self-regulation

Confidence

Risk taking

Patience

…….and becoming comfortable with the discomfort and using setbacks as springboards.

Angela Duckworth’s research found common denominators in people who have overcome multiple challenges over many years: 1. Passion: single-mindedly focussed on something that crowded out other

interests, gave their lives meaning, and filled them with a sense of purpose; 2. Perseverance: bounce-back quality through years of emotional droughts,

physical and financial setbacks, and discouragements; 3. Long-term goals: They attached a goal to their passion that might have

seemed unrealistic to some but which became their immovable North star.

How do we grow and develop grit in young people:

Effort builds skills. Deliberate practice is the key to enabling gritty people to persevere towards their goals…..for example: it is getting up early to go to rowing/swimming/running practice or coming home early to do so regardless of the weather, comments from the people around us, other commitments, etc.

Telling young people in our families and classrooms stories of how we’ve over-come tough hurdles and tough times, or demonstrating risk-taking to them, modelling delayed gratification & patience;

- Or maybe the stories of well-known figures who have shown grit;

- Our grandparents used to tell such stories, maybe even our own parents. What stories can you recall growing up?

Set and value hard goals for yourself and do not be afraid to fail…..share your goals with the young people in your life.

According to Duckworth, a Fixed Mindset develops in children from constant praising for their innate intelligence or talent. Thus, children believe their strengths and talents are fixed at birth, and therefore avoid situations where they might fail as they need to maintain the image and belief they are special. Fixed Mindsets are grounded in fear.

On the other hand, children who grow up with praise for their effort irrespective of the outcome develop a Growth Mindset, more of a gritty approach to life and they do not give up. They relish the challenges put in front of them, do not fold at the sign of failure or discouragement. They also develop a belief that out-comes are mostly under their control if they have enough persistence to keep going. Effort and growth are the true measure of what we are worth. Growth Mindsets leave people feeling more confident, makes it easier to set ourselves goals, to ask for help and to feel motivated to achieve the things that matter to us most.

We need to become aware of not only which mindset we work out of, but also which mindset our children operate out of.

Grit increases over our lifespan….it’s not static. Endurance tests show that the body gives up only after the brain tells it to do so…..therefore, we need to ‘change the channel’ in our brains when we’re tempted to throw in the towel – and teach young people to do the same.

We need to look at the quality of our relationship skills, the prevalence of posi-tive emotions in our lives and the storehouse of willpower to develop more well rounded authentic grit.

We live in a society where instant gratification, irrespective of the consequenc-es or cost, is encouraged and valued. Therefore, in many ways, we are being counter-cultural in developing grit.

We need to live with Passion, Purpose and Perseverance so that we can all become better versions of ourselves. We need to:

1. Work diligently; 2. Stick with the task, even when it’s tough; 3. Show up on time; 4. Handle honest, and sometimes, critical, feedback.

Lorna Starrs Deputy Principal: Student Wellbeing

St Mary’s College, Issue 7 Monday 7 August 2017

The State Cyclocross Championships hosted by the Port Adelaide Cycling Club, were held on Sunday 9 July in the North Adelaide Parklands. Kiara Didyk (Year 4) won gold in the U’11 age group. This was an amazing achievement as it was her first state championship.

Congratulations Kiara!

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St Mary’s College, Issue 7, Monday 7 August 2017

From the Deputy Principal: Curriculum

I wish you a belated welcome back to Term 3 with us; belated in the sense that this newsletter already sees us well into Term 3, and also as the girls started back with us in Week 2. Week 1 saw our staff engaged in a week of professional learning (rather than at the start of each term and end of year), part of which was the St Mary’s College Future Learning Symposium.

Future Learning Symposium The intent of our Staff Future Learning Symposium was to provide some time and space for teachers to hear about current and future trends in education. The aim was to present, hear and explore current trends, and to begin to dream about what they might mean for St Mary’s students now and into the future.

The week commenced with staff viewing the educational film, Most Likely to Succeed (http://www.mltsfilm.org/). The award-winning documentary examines the history of education to shed some critical light on, and promote further discussion about, the current education system and the future of learning paradigms. The narrative focuses on the project-based teaching style of High Tech High in the USA, but more specifically asks some important questions about what we want for our students, and promotes discussion on what mix of content, skills and knowledge we wish for our girls and young women to experience, and ultimately leave school having gained, at St Mary’s College.

Over 30 of our own staff presented their own research and experience around the context of future learning in a variety of workshops. The preparation and research for these topics had come from a variety of professional resources: interstate and overseas conferences, personal and academic tertiary study, teaching and work in the classroom, and more. For example, across the 27 different workshops we had research and activities presented from Singapore, Ireland, Scotland, Finland, the United States and the United Kingdom, just to name a few.

Attending and following the activities in the Symposium was a professional Graphic Facilitator. Her role was to observe, interact, question, synthesise, design and report what she saw and heard. Essentially, she spent the three days looking for connections of overarching themes between the workshops, and then presented back to us what she heard through both talking to staff and designing an infographic. The resulting visual summary has provided an excellent blueprint against which we can reference our current Strategic Plan, and perhaps start discussions around the next one. It will be displayed in our staff room, which will allow us to reengage with its themes and summaries over the end of this year and into next year.

I wish to thank the organising committee of Lorna Starrs, Ben Chambers, Joanne Livingstone and Giovanna Iannicelli. I also wish to thank the staff who presented, and our teaching and support staff as a collective who are open to hearing new ideas and commentaries, and critically engaging in conversations as to what is possible in the coming years.

Year 12 and 11 Subject Selection (2018) The Subject Selection process is well and truly underway for Year 11s. We have met twice to discuss the process of subject selection and specific SACE aspects. Year 11s have also experienced the Subject Selection Expo, where they had a chance to hear from Learning Area Coordinators and key teachers about prospective options for next year. The next step in this process occurs at Learning Reviews where students and families can speak to teachers of Semester 2 subjects about the prospect of studying the equivalent or similar subjects at Stage 2. Students will also have individual conversations with other teachers over the next three weeks, who will advise on their prospective subjects, to finalise their provisional subject selection form which is due back by Friday 25 August.

A similar process will occur for Year 11 subject selections commencing Monday 21 August for Year 10 students during that week. Families of Year 10 students can also use the Learning Reviews for the same process as above.

The subject selection process is detail-oriented and heavily focussed on

individual students forming a pathway to help them achieve their personal best. In this context, this means that we ask students to carefully consider their strengths, interests and any possible connection to future pathways. We find working in this close way leads to very successful academic results and leads students to their chosen pathways (where, in 2017, 93% of

students first round of SATAC offers were for a first or second preference).

Take care,

Corey Tavella Deputy Principal: Curriculum

Bridget Cooper-Rogers (9W) was selected for Daniel Ricciardo's Racers Junior Development Training through CAMS Australia. Her first session was Level 1 driver training and was held at Mallala Motorsport Park on the 9 July. The session covered basic track skills, racing skills and safety. This was delivered in both theory and practical exercises by experienced V8 supercar and Formula 5 race Drivers.

Bridget had her own V8 supercar coach with her in the car all day and ended the sessions with hot laps in a V8 supercar travelling at speeds over 200km/h.

Bridget has always expressed an interest in Motorsport, so has thoroughly enjoyed this amazing experience.

Dental Assistant Traineeships

SA Dental Service is offering more than 20 Dental Assisting Traineeship positions at clinics across the state. The 12 month traineeship contract

includes on the job training and attendance at TAFE where you will gain Certificate 3 in Dental Assisting while earning $17,685 – $32,761 a year.

If you are 17 to 24 years of age (or up to 30 years if Aboriginal or Torres

Strait Islander)

Have finished Year 11.

You may qualify for a Traineeship.

Applications open 01/09/17 – 22/09/17 for the February 2018 intake.

For more information visit www.sahealthcareers.com.au Search Job Number: 623462 at this website from 1-22 September to apply.

St Mary’s College, Issue 7, Monday 7 August 2017

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Year 10 Science and Engineering Challenge

Congratulations to the students who competed in the 2017 Year 10 Science and Engineering Challenge at Flinders University. The girls came a very respectable third place on the day.

In groups of 3 or 4, students undertook a series of meaningful, hands-on challenges based around themes such as Future Power, A Mission to Mars and Hovercrafts.

The Challenge aimed to inspire the students to see Engineering as a rewarding career that can make a difference in the world.

An amazing journey began on 22 June at 4:30 am, as we boarded a plane with Mrs Loro Parham and Mrs Raymond, embarking on a 26-hour journey to Adrian, in Michigan, USA. Our destination was Sienna Heights University to attend the 2017 Dominican Preaching Conference. Although a long journey, we were all buzzing with excitement and anxiousness about what was to come. For the next five days, we experienced so many different activities with people from all across America and Puerto Rico, that helped deepened our faith and challenged ourselves in a variety of different ways.

This conference highlighted that we have the ability to spread the message of Dominic, not just in our school and our community, but globally. Our friends, mentors and fellow preachers explored the meaning of the Dominican spirit. Throughout the conference, we leapt into the unknown in new and exciting situations. These experiences included giving service in places like Habitat for Humanity and at the permaculture centre, participating in the rosary in different languages, and performing in a variety show!

This conference has given us a newer, deeper outlook on life, with an appreciation for what we have and a more powerful sense of faith within ourselves. We are all extremely grateful for this incredible opportunity and we have made many new friends from amongst our extended Dominican

family. So today, right at this moment, let our Dominican values, morals and spirit live through us all, no matter the waters that separate us. Eilis Murphy and Maddy Healey SMC Conference delegates

St Mary’s College, Issue 7, Monday 7 August 2017

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Sunday Sounds

On Sunday 18 June, the Music Department held the biggest showcase of the year, Sunday Sounds!

This musical extravaganza of an afternoon featured most of the College instrumental and vocal ensembles from the Senior, Middle and even our Junior school.

It was a wonderful event which saw many outstanding performances by our talented young women in front of a packed crowd.

The concert displayed the depth and breadth of the Music program here at St Mary’s and we look very much forward to the upcoming performances scheduled for Term 3.

Ben Chambers Music Coordinator

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St Mary’s College, Issue 7, Monday 7 August 2017

Year 9 P.E.R.M.A Night On 28 June, all Year 9 students in their Care Groups created presentations to educate their parents and families on Positive Education, specifically PERMA. PERMA stands for Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. The PERMA night was a great success in 9 White. The girls put together fun activities that were creative and entertaining. They said it assisted them with their public speaking confidence and group collaboration skills. The presentation flowed well as we were organised and professional. The PERMA night was very beneficial for everyday life as the depth of the understanding of Positive Education was broadened. Lili Rothall For PERMA night, 9Red presented a Powerpoint where each group explained one letter of P.E.R.M.A and organised an activity as well.

The Positive emotion group activity was a positive jar where each

parent wrote a positive thought and then it was placed into a jar to be read out at every morning Care Group.

The Engagement group presented a kahoot quiz based on their power

point, and each parent and student worked together to answer the questions.

The Positive Relationship group played "Guess the Song" where

teams had to guess 10 songs which were played.

The Meaning group gave each parent a jar with a secret seed planted

in soil and they were to write an inspirational quote to go on the jar, take it home water it and see what grows.

The Accomplishment group showed an inspirational video to finish off.

Overall, 9B PERMA was a successful night. Many parents showed up and our class had a range of interactive and social activities that really got the parents thinking, including some humour which also made the learning experience more enjoyable. We think that the parents can now use their understanding of positive education and apply it to their lives as well as ours. Each individual group explained their aspect of PERMA differently (with unique games and videos) and helped the parents take away a positive mindset that reflects PERMA. Tori Moore I really enjoyed the Year 9 PERMA night. I believe it was a really fun and creative way to learn about the PERMA model as it helped us to further understand the concepts so we could teach them to our parents. I enjoyed having the opportunity to interact with our parents and show them what we have been learning in Care Education this term. Jordyn 9Y And some parent feedback…… (a) I really enjoyed the presentations and watching how all the students clearly understood their topic and were able to convey the importance to us as parents/audience. They gave it meaning, and therefore it became meaningful to us. The girls took pride in their presentation and were well informed on PERMA enabling them to impart their knowledge well to the parents in attendance. The school is actively involved and committed to ensuring the overall wellbeing of our girls by educating them not just on academic subjects such as maths and science but also through emotional and mental health subjects, which is so much more important than I would have thought. It sends a really strong message to the girls on how they can cope with the ups and downs of life. So important at this young age. (b) We were impressed with the effort put in by all the students. Getting the parents to interact and participate in activities was brilliant. Ms Lawrence and the students need to be commended on an excellent and interactive evening. (c) Was great to see that all of the girls were involved and the presentations were varied, using the different skills and talents of each individual. Great work by all of those involved and shows that there is a

great relationship between the students and the teachers for such an event to take place.

It was an amazing night, with lots of energy on display! A big thank you to Renee Irvine as Middle School Director for her leadership with this night, and the hard work of the Year 9 Care Group teachers in bringing it all

together with their classes – Laura Heinrich, Angela Caporaso, Kathy Lawrence, Stephen Kay and Courtney Lovering. Lorna Starrs Deputy Principal: Student Wellbeing

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St Mary’s College, Issue 7 Monday 7 August 2017

The Junior School community joined with family and friends to celebrate our R-6 Grandparents and Special Friends Morning on 30 June.

We commenced with a joy-filled Eucharistic Celebration in St Patrick’s Church celebrated by Father Peter Dunn with the most angelic of singing. Classroom visits, the JS Art exhibition and Morning Tea completed a most enjoyable morning and provided a wonderful opportunity to gather together and celebrate the wonderful gift that are our Grandparents and Special Friends. It was a special time where new memories were made and old ones relived.

The Art exhibition raised over $900 which will go towards our Cambodia scholarships for students to attend university or apprenticeship training.

We are most grateful for these special people in our lives.

Anne Soldan Junior School Coordinator of Prayer and Liturgy

Here are some reflections from our community:

“I love the way the girls sing with enthusiasm… There is something so enchanting and moving listening to the purity in their voices.” Christine (grandparent)

“It’s nice for Grandparents & Special Friends to see what we’ve done & meet our teacher” Tehya – Year 5

“I think it’s good how your Grandparents see our artwork, teacher, friends and all our stuff. Mass was good – I liked Father Peter’s story.” Ava D – Year 5

“I liked the music and singing. I liked going to play in the classroom with all the grandparents.” Georgee - Reception

“We did playdough with Olive’s grandparents.” Summer - Reception

“It’s really sweet celebrating with our grandparents. I liked the way we got to sing to them and share activities with our grandparents & special friends.” Cindy – Year 5

“I showed my grandma everywhere and all my books and all around the place.” Ariana – Year 1

“It was lovely that they came to see us.” Chloe – Year 1

It was a good time to get to know your grandparents and have some time with them.” Meisha – Year 4

“I felt calm and in a safe environment. Everyone was in a calm environment – smiling, feeling that you were ok and that nothing bad would happen. I loved Fr Peter’s story about loving even when it’s hard.” Quincey – Year 4

“It was very nice, soothing. I felt calm & relaxed.” Kahlia – Year 4

“It was good. I carried the wine and the bread with my Aunty.” Siena – Re-ception

“In the Mass I liked how everyone was so respectful. My grandparents said they liked all the parts of the Mass, the singing was most beautiful”. Alice – Year 6

“I liked the Mass because it was good to gather together with my grandpar-ents.” Brooke – Year 6

“The Mass was happy and organised.” Caitlin S – Year 6

“My Nonno came and it was fun. I love my Nonno.” Maria - Year 2

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St Mary’s College, Issue 7 Monday 7 August 2017

2017 Cambodia Pilgrimage

You see of it You hear of it You know of it But what is it really?

I believe you cannot completely know until you experience it for yourself.

Over the past four years, St Mary’s College has provided students the opportunity to experience a pilgrimage to Cambodia. This year on 26 June, sixteen students and four staff journeyed to Cambodia for two weeks and two days, to assist Cambodian students improve their foundation of English. The Pilgrimage allowed us to immerse ourselves in the culture, history and people of Cambodia.

The first two days were spent in the capital city, Phnom Phen, where we gained a sense of Cambodia’s history. We saw firsthand the genocide that occured 40 years ago under the Pol Pot Regime. With this came the understanding of how future gen-erations have been affected, including the children that we would be working with. The next ten days were spent in Battambang, with the children living in two centres; the Matakaruna Centre and the Pryam Pour Centre. We immersed ourselves in their culture through learning and seeing traditional dances, tasting traditional dishes, observing authentic surroundings and speaking with them about their way of life.

Despite the language barrier, the St Mary’s students were still able to teach, help and learn from the Cambodian students. Strong relationships were created between everyone. These strong connections filled the girls’ hearts completely with immense love and happiness. It is the kind of bond they will never forget and will live within them forever.

The infectious, positive energy generated by the Cambodian individuals instantly warmed our hearts and made us feel especially welcomed. Their big, bright smiles, sounds of laughter, warm greetings and touch of love, urged us to notice that appre-ciation can be discovered within the smallest of things and that there is so much in life to be joyous about, no matter your circumstances. They unintentionally taught us how a positive mindset is a key contributor to life. A positive mindset helped deter-mine our experience; what we gained from it and our effort output. The pilgrimage taught us resilience. We dismissed the hardships and entirely immersed ourselves in the moments.

Whilst we learnt how to love, give, live in the moment, be independent, create con-nections, communicate with foreigners and countless other life skills, we still only got a taste of Cambodia. During the many times of reflection, we were able to realise how different their life is to ours. They left an imprint within us. Cambodia was a journey to remember.

On our return, we were able to share many first time experiences including things such as: a first trip overseas, to riding elephants and tasting their cuisine like frogs, cockroaches or just travelling on a tuk tuk. Francesca Covino Cambodia Pilgrim

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St Mary’s College, Issue 7, Monday 7 August 2017

On Thursday 22 June the Year 8 cohort attended the annual Meet the Writers Festival at the Adelaide Convention Centre. The festival was offered to a range of South Australian high schools, where students were able to listen to their literary heroes. Key note speakers included Isobelle Carmody and Andy Griffiths with a range of authors leading intimate sessions to follow.

Earlier in the term, students from 8 Yellow completed an Author Study on renown local authors Phil Cummings and Shaun Tan and as part of an assessment they created a magazine cover and wrote a book review on one of the studied authors. Students had the opportunity to attend a session led by Phil Cummings himself and even managed to get a photo with the acclaimed author.

It was a worthwhile experience for all students involved as they got to hear from and meet their favourite authors.

Students shared their thoughts and magazine covers:

The day began when Isobelle Carmody, author of the Obernewtyn Chronicles and Greylands, gave a very interesting and flamboyant opening introduction. Many authors had come to share their writing experiences, one of which being Phil Cummings, an Australian author we had constructed an author study on in our English class. Ella David

I liked how each author had a different approach to the workshops. For example, Phil Cummings read us some of his books and told us stories about his life. Dan McGuiness focussed more on his illustrations, telling us his motivation for writing comics and the process of illustrating them. Cameron Golding

The best thing about meeting the authors was finding out what inspires them and the meaning/themes in their books. It was obvious while listening to some of the authors that they all write in their own unique way and even different books by the same author can be quite different. Mackenzie Neylon

Meeting the authors and listening to them gave me heaps of inspiration to write new stories and poems. The authors gave us tips and tricks to pull inspiration out of everyday life for ideas. I loved Phil Cummings’ workshop and was sad when it ended because he was a very good public speaker and interacted with the audience (particularly by scaring us and

asking us questions). Ruby Stevens

In class, our Author Study involved studying Phil Cummings and Shaun Tan’s books. We did activities such as reading circles, conducted research and watched a range of interviews and the animation ‘The Lost Thing’ by Shaun Tan. I loved how we were able to study an author that we could later on meet in real life. Charlotte Lawrie

Meet the Writers was a fun, interactive day and I’m sure every Year 8 would have been very inspired and amazed by all the things the authors have been able to achieve in their lives. I left the festival feeling moved and encouraged, and most importantly ready to write! Sarah Freeze

Sarah Freeze Cameron Golding

Ruby Stevens

St Mary’s College, Issue 7, Monday 7 August 2017

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Please refer to the respective websites for more information

Adelaide 20 August 2017 10:00am to 2:00pm

2017 Open Day—TBA

St Mary’s College, Issue 7, Monday 7 August 2017

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St Mary’s College, Issue 7 Monday 7 August 2017

For the attention of:

Parents and Guardians of Year 10, 11 and 12 Students

Year 10-12 parents and guardians are invited to a road safety information evening conducted by the SA Police. On Tuesday 8 August, a presentation will be given by Senior Constable First Class Robert Grinter at St Mary’s. This presentation is for the parents and guardians of children who are about to, or have recently, obtained their learner driver’s licence. Much of the initial education of novice drivers is provided by parents. To assist with this, the following information will be covered:

The preparedness of parents to undertake the task of supervising

a novice driver.

Recent changes to the road rules.

The incidents and severity of novice driver crashes.

What to look for in a driving instructor.

ANCAP safety ratings and the issues surrounding vehicle

selection, price, safety ratings, consumer rights and roadworthiness.

The presentation will begin at 6:30pm in the Centre for Performing Arts (CPA) and take approximately one hour.

I hope this presentation will be of interest to you and I look forward to seeing you there.

Jasmin Parasiers Year 10 Coordinator

Maths & English Help

Maths & English Help is up and running. This is a fantastic opportunity that students have to receive assistance with their literacy and numeracy. Students are invited to bring friends as a form of peer support and gain help with homework and classwork. For those students who are struggling, or having difficulties completing homework, this can be an excellent way to get ahead.

At lunchtimes on Mondays and Tuesdays, there are at least five teaching staff available to help one-on-one. On Wednesday afternoons, the Library is staffed with teachers to help students who wish to stay after school. Students can get help with all Maths topics up to Year 12. The English staff assist students in developing self-drafting techniques, empowering them to edit their own work as well as essay structure, spelling and grammar.

Does your daughter need additional help? Ask her if she knows about Maths & English Help. Taking a proactive approach to seeking assistance develops academic responsibility and remind her that she can always bring her friends!

Maths & English Help is in K11 during lunchtime on Monday and Tuesday, and in the Library after school on Wednesday.

OSHC Leads the Way Against Waste A Mini Marys’ Report

Following our bin audit, OSCH, led by Director Anjie Evans, has made many, many changes reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.

Now, food scraps go in the green waste bin, that Anjie takes home and puts in her green waste bin. Our glass jars, cardboard cartons and paper are recycled.

We wrote a poem encouraging everyone to use only one paper towel to dry their hands and then put it in the green waste bin.

To cut down on food wastage we prepare our own fruit platters and snack each day.

Instead of paper towels, we use cloths to clean tables and benches that can be washed and re-used.

When girls leave at snack-time, they now take their snack on a returnable plate, instead of a paper towel.

Anne Soldan JS Coordinator Dominican Faith Formation

The College is pleased to present the 2016 School Performance Report.

As a requirement of the Australian Education Act (2008), the College must report School Performance information annually to the school community.

This report provides an opportunity to share valuable information regarding staffing, student and community aspects of the 2016 school year.

The 2016 St Mary's College School Performance Report is available online at www.stmaryscollege.catholic.edu.au under the Publications page.

A hard copy can be provided upon request by contacting the College Front Office.

St Mary’s College, Issue 7, Monday 7 August 2017

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St Mary’s College, Issue 7 Monday 7 August 2017

August

8 Year 10 Parent Road Safety Presentation - CPA (6.30pm)

16 Learning Reviews (1.30 pm - 8.00 pm)

21-25 Book Week

21 Year 11, 2018 Parent SACE Information Evening

30 Subject Counselling Year 11 into 12, 2018 (1.30pm - 8.00pm)

September

4-10 School Production Week

11 Year 10, 2018 Parent Evening for Subject Selection

12 Year 8 Vaccinations

13 Subject Counselling for Year 10 into 11, 2018 (1.30pm - 8.00pm)

15-24 Year 11 Oak Valley Immersion Trip

18-23 Year 11 Service Learning Week

19-20 Catholic School Music Festival Evening Performances

20 Year 8 Retreat

E V E N T C A L E N D A R child & adolescent

sleep clinic

Does your teenager have a sleep problem?

Does your teenager:

have trouble falling asleep?

not fall asleep until late at night?

have trouble waking up or getting out of bed in the

morning?

miss school or feel fatigued throughout the school day?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, your

teenager could benefit from a new treatment program

being run at the Child & Adolescent Sleep Clinic, within

the School of Psychology, at Flinders University.

For more information please call

8201 7587 or email casc.enquiries@flinders.edu.au

www.facebook.com/cascsleep

2018 Enrolment Confirmation

In order to assist our planning for 2018, if your daughter(s) will not be returning in 2018, we ask that you please complete the table below and return to the College no later than Friday 1 September 2017.

Parents and Guardians are reminded that one term’s notice is required when intending to withdraw their daughter from the College.

Please only complete this slip if your daughter (s) WILL NOT be returning to the College in 2018.

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Please return this slip to the Student Services Office no later than Friday 1 September 2017.

Parent/Guardian (Name): ……………………………………………………………………………....

Parent/Guardian (Signature): ………………………………………………….. Date:….………………….

Daughter(s) Name Current Class School Transferring to in 2018

St Mary’s College Absentee Phone Line : 8216 5716

Please telephone before 9.30 am if your daughter is absent

St Mary’s College Uniform Shop : 8216 5719

Opening times - Monday 8.00 am - 11.00 am Wednesday 1.00 pm - 4.00 pm Thursday 8.00 am - 11.00 am

St Mary’s College OSHC : 8216 5743