Filter Content
Dear parents, friends, staff and students,
Over the last three weeks, we have been absorbed by the Easter story and the death and resurrection of Jesus. As I have previously said, this is the fundamental basis of our faith and gives us the comfort of knowing that we have a caring God that will sacrifice all for us. The continuation of this over the next few weekends focuses on the way that Jesus remains with us even after His death. We hear the story of the apostles eating together with Jesus appearing to them. Last week, Thomas doubted His presence until he could see and touch Jesus. Over the next few weeks, we will hear the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, where they are joined by a traveller who they eventually realise is Jesus. We will subsequently read the story of Pentecost, where the spirit descends on the apostles as they huddle in fear after Jesus’ ascension. Each of these accounts help us to understand that whilst Jesus did die, resurrect and ascend, God remains with us at all times even when we may be fearful or not recognise His presence. This gives us confidence and enthusiasm to continue and should be carried in our hearts throughout life.
Today we held our annual cross-country carnival. Most schools will choose to turn some events into community days and whilst others do this for their swimming carnival, we choose to do it for the cross country. This is mainly due to the fact that more students are comfortable walking a course rather than swimming a race and so we have more students involved. We are also able to have other fun and community-based events. Today was a lovely day both in terms of the weather and of the community feel. A huge thank you to Mr Webb, the staff and the students for their support and efforts in making this day such a success.
Thank you also to the Year 12 staff for the Year 12 Parent/Teacher/Student meetings held on Wednesday evening. These are a very important opportunity for students to gain some valuable feedback on their progress whilst there is still time before the HSC to make improvements. Thanks to the parents and students who attended and took this opportunity to aim for excellence.
Today we formally farewell Mrs Anne Clarke and Mrs Millii Asuit who finish their period of long service leave. We did say goodbye at the end of last year but today acknowledge their contributions. We also farewell Ms Jyasmine Frascella and Mr Ashik Romy who finish their temporary blocks today. At the start of next term, we welcome into our community Mr Blake Simms (English) and Ms Kristina Sulentic (TAS) who join our teaching staff.
Over the last few weeks, I mentioned that there would be a number of surveys over the coming months to assist in improving how we do things as a college and diocese. The first of these is the CEDoW Mental Health Support Services Review. This short survey, which takes only 8-15 minutes to complete, will be conducted with the utmost respect for your time and privacy. For those who have not yet had a chance to contribute, the survey can be accessed here.
Finally I wish you all a very relaxing and gentle term break. I hope that you have an opportunity to take time with family and are able to stop and regenerate.
Mr Steve Lo Cascio
As we conclude Term 1, we finish with the annual Cross Country event. The course has been altered this year due to the building works. Congratulations to all students and staff involved with the preparation, participation, and supervising of the Cross Country. A very large thank you to Mr Webb for his organisation of this significant event in our College year.
During this week there has been a flurry of activity. Below is an overview of College events:
- Mackillop House Champion celebrations
- Wednesday evening, Year 12 Parent Teacher Student Interviews
- Friday, Cross Country, and release of Years 7 to 10 Tracking Reports on Friday.
Finally, a reminder to all students and carers that Winter Uniform is to be worn from the commencement of Term 2. Specific details of uniform and grooming expectations are located on pages 17 to 20 of both the Senior and Junior Student Diary. A couple of specifics include being mindful of skirt lengths, having a tie and belt, haircuts, and extra piercings.
Thanks to all of our community for your support over the past term. I trust that everyone has a well-earned break over the Autumn holidays and returns re-energized for next term.
Mrs Christine Meharg
|
3rd Sunday of Easter  |
4th Sunday of Easter  |
5th Sunday of Easter  |
|
First Reading Acts of the Apostles 3:13-15. 17-19 Peter calls the people to reform. Second Reading 1 John 2:1-5 To know Jesus, keep his commandments. Gospel Luke 24:35-48 Jesus appears to the disciples gathered together. |
First Reading Acts of the Apostles 4:8-12 Peter heals by the power of Jesus. Second Reading 1 John 3:1-2 We are children of God. Gospel John 10:11-18 The Good Shepherd. |
First Reading Acts of the Apostles 9:26-31 Saul joins the apostles. Second Reading 1 John 3:18-24 We are in God and God in us. Gospel John 15:1-8 Jesus the vine, the Father, the vinegrower. |
Did you know that in World War 1, 40 young men from Ingleburn and Campbelltown went off to fight? Most returned home; however many suffered from shell shock.
It was recorded that at a Welcome Home party, when the fireworks display started, two of the returned soldiers his as a means to escape the noise of the fireworks.
A number of the streets and parks in Campbelltown and Ingleburn are named for these men.
Year 7-10 Tracking Reports available via Compass
The Year 7 -10 Term 1 Tracking Reports will be available via Compass today. At this point of the year, this tracking report provides an indicator of how a student is progressing with their course work. These reports provide an overview, with an A-E grade awarded for both the student’s Academic Achievement and Effort in each course. The consideration and effort that goes into the creation of these reports ensures that they are a tool to guide improvement and learning growth. Students will have the opportunity to reflect on these during pastoral lessons.
Year 12 HSC Holiday Classes
During the upcoming break, Year 12 teachers will be facilitating workshops for many of the HSC courses. While attendance is not mandatory, this is an opportunity that we provide for supported revision and consolidation of HSC course content. The schedule of holiday classes has been shared with Year 12 students and sessions will appear on student’s schedules on Compass.
|
TERM 2 |
||
| Week 1 |
Year 11 29/04/2024: 11 Ceramics 03/05/2024: 11 Visual Design |
|
| Week 2 |
Year 10 07/05/2024: 10 Visual Arts (100 & 200 hr) 09/05/2024: 10 Food Tech (100hr) Year 9 Year 9 Food Tech - See Assessment notification for specific dates |
|
Leader of Learning - Curriculum Pedagogy & Leader of Learning - Curriculum Administration
Term 2 Reminders
UNIFORM AND GROOMING
We commence Term 2 on 29 April 29 and we kindly remind all students to adhere to the College's Winter uniform guidelines. Detailed expectations regarding uniform and grooming can be found on pages 17-20 of the student diary. It's essential that all students maintain adherence to these standards.
Please be advised that failure to comply with uniform and grooming expectations may result in a withdrawal from class, contact with home and dismissal to rectify the concern. We urge families to thoroughly review the diary for any clarification needed on grooming standards and encourage reaching out to Year Coordinators for further assistance if required.
| Female |
Male |
|
|
|
Additional
|
|
If students require extra warmth, they are to wear an undergarment that cannot be seen, eg singlet or t-shirt under the long sleeve shirt. No hoodies or zip up jackets to be worn.
SUPPORTING OUR CHILDREN WITH SELF-REGULATION
(Be You Beyond Blue)
Helping children and young people manage their emotions is important for fostering positive mental health and wellbeing.
Self-regulation is learning about your own feelings and emotions, understanding how and why they happen, recognising them (and those of others), and developing effective ways of managing them.
When children and young people learn to self-manage their emotions, they feel more confident, capable and in control. They have stronger relationships, are more able to pay attention, learn new things and can cope better with the normal stresses and disappointments of daily life.
In secondary school, young people experience more complex situations and relationships.
They still need support in understanding and managing their feelings.
Brain development
By adolescence, the amygdala (the part of the brain associated with emotions, impulses, aggression and instinctive behaviour) is well developed. However, the brain’s pre-frontal cortex (responsible for our ability to plan and think about the consequences of actions, solve problems and control impulses) doesn’t fully develop until a person is in their mid-20s. As a result, young people’s brains typically rely on the amygdala to make decisions and solve problems, particularly in emotionally charged situations.
For this reason, adolescents are more likely to:
- act on impulse
- misread or misinterpret social cues and emotions
- engage in dangerous or risky behaviour.
Children and young people need repeated experiences of having their needs met by a caring adult.
Warm, trusting and responsive care helps children to respond with appropriate emotions, internalise a positive view of themselves and others, and learn appropriate behaviour. Children and young people also develop self-management skills by watching and experiencing how other people manage their emotions.Here are some tips about how you can support the development of self-management in children and young people
Explicitly teach skills
- Talk about ways of managing upsetting situations.
- Help them to develop strategies to use when they’re feeling out of control.
- Help them express their emotions in productive ways (for example, by drawing or acting out their feelings).
- Practise mindful breathing with older children and young people.
- Explore the immediate and long-term consequences of actions.
- Promote empathy by talking about emotions and understanding how people will have different reactions to events depending on their circumstances.
- Teach problem-solving and decision-making skills.
Talk about emotions
- Acknowledge and respond to emotional communication.
- Role-model how you manage your own feelings.
- Talk about strategies to manage strong or uncomfortable emotions.
Promote a calm environment
The environment contributes to children and young people’s self-management. Promote a calm, welcoming and encouraging environment by:
- providing structure and predictability.
- establishing age-appropriate routines and limits.
- avoiding competitive experiences for young children.
- including relaxation breaks in the day.
- encouraging ways to release tension they might be holding in their body.
- demonstrating calmness and staying in control of your own feelings and behaviours – self-awareness allows you to maximise your positive interactions with children and young people and better manage situations where they ‘push your buttons’.
Considering the challenges that we have been faced with over the past term, we hope that the break is an opportunity for all students, staff and families to rest, replenish and renew. On behalf of each of the Pastoral Care team, thank you to all members of our community for the care, collaboration and support that has been provided throughout Term 1.
Should students or families require wellbeing support over the break, please find below a list of contact details for agencies that might be of assistance.
Support Services
- Headspace - 1800 650 890, 7 days a week
- Kids Helpline - 1800 55 1800
- Lifeline - 13 11 14
- Beyond Blue Support Service - 1300 22 4636
Thank you for your continued support of your children and the College.
Mrs Theresa Moore Miss Rebecca Toogood
Acting Pastoral Care & Wellbeing Coordinator
Simon Weil’s wonderful insight ‘Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity’ – mentioned in last week’s Literacy Links – resonates with Johann Hari’s superbly researched exploration of the breakdown of our contemporary world’s ability to pay attention in his book Stolen Focus. Published in January 2022, Hari’s text is a powerful depiction of our distracted and fragmented world where the collapse of sustained reading is cause for considerable concern.
For some of us, reading a book is the deepest form of focus we can experience. We can get lost in books for long periods of time and these encounters allow us to travel, to dream, to challenge, to imagine, to remember, and to speculate. Hari reflects on a time when he travelled further in a deckchair by the sea, reading books, than he had in the previous five years of travelling around the world. His reading took him to the battlefields of the Napoleonic wars, to being an enslaved person in the American Deep South, and finally to being an Israeli mother trying to avoid hearing the news that her son had been killed. When Hari considers the messages buried in the pile of books leaning up against the wall of his beach house – even before the words convey their specific meaning – the medium of the book suggests several things. Firstly, that life is complex, and if you want to understand it, you have to set aside a significant amount of time to think deeply. Secondly, there is value in narrowing your attention to one thing, sentence after sentence, page after page. Thirdly, it is worth thinking deeply about how other people live and how their minds work. Hari most definitely agrees with the messages in the medium of the book. He thinks they encourage the best parts of human nature – that a life with lots of episodes of deep focus is a good life. And this is why reading books ‘nourishes’ him.
Young people today need stories to make sense of themselves and their world. Through the stories of real and imagined life they become aware of themselves as feeling and thinking beings who belong in a world potentially more complex than, or very different from, their own. Given that research tells us reading widely, reading regularly and reading deeply has a profound impact on a young person’s life chances, let’s encourage our young people in the two weeks’ holiday period ahead, to put down their devices and pick up a good book instead!
Clare Murphy
English Coordinator and Literacy Instructional Coach
Stay tuned for update Term 2 newsletter for results from today's Cross Country.
Upcoming Events
2 May: Girls Opens Football Champions
3 May: Boys Opens Football Champions
6 May: Diocesan Cross Country Championships
9 May: Diocesan Football Championships
14 June: Diocesan Netball Championships
As always, students are encouraged to sign up and trial for representative teams. Below you will find registration links for both our DIO and NSWCCC events. If you require any further information please visit the Diocese of Wollongong sports here.
Representative Pathways
| MISA Website | https:/wwwwmisaonlineeorgg.au/ |
| Diocesan Sport News | Updates and news on Wollongong Diocese sport events and trials can be viewed here |
| NSW CCC/CSNSW Sport News | Higher level CCC trials and events status can be monitored here. |
| School Sport Australia Sport News | More School Sport Australia information can be found here |
MCCC Mother's Day Breakfast
Please see the attached invitation for the Mother's Day breakfast, Monday 13 May 2024.
Campbelltown - Koshigaya Sister Cities
Students Invited to apply for the trip to Japan
In the upcoming September holiday break, Campbelltown will select 15 students aged between 14 and 18 to travel to Koshigaya, Japan for a life changing experience. Last year 5 students from Mount Carmel Catholic College were selected to attend. If any students aged 14 - 18 know are interested in applying for the upcoming trip to Japan from 29 September to 12 October, please see information below.
To be eligible to apply, students must:
- Live in the Campbelltown City Council local government area.
- Be aged 14 to 18 and still at school at the time the delegation departs Sydney.
Students don’t need to be learning Japanese to apply for and go on the trip. We look for students with a desire to travel to experience a new culture, who have an interest in Japan and a desire to be a great ambassador for Campbelltown.
The information and application form can be found at the Student Delegation to Japan 2024 link at www.cksca.org.au
Applications to join the trip close on 22 May 2024.
Mount Carmel School Bus Routes
Transit Systems (formerly Interline) school bus route timetable is available via this link. Contact phone number is 8118 7102. Please be advised that Bus Route for Willowdale is currently missing from this updated document.
Enrolments 2024 Onwards
The CEDoW has transitioned to a new online enrolment platform, called Funnel, removing the use of all paper forms. Please take note, particularly for sibling applications. The online application form is accessible from the College website.
Social Media – Facebook & Instagram
 |
 |
Coming soon! Watch this space!
Rainer School Wear
Winter uniforms orders now available. Please click here.