eNews #2 Term Two Week 1
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[tab_item active="yes" title="From The Principal" tabs="tabs"]
Dear Parents,
Welcome back to Term Two.
I am writing to you from the Year 12 Retreat in Baldivis. It is a wonderful privilege to be able to spend three days with our senior students who are experiencing their final retreat, to deepen and affirm their faith in a more meaningful way. Director of Student Ministry, Mr Simon Keane has organised our student Retreats for many years and at the conclusion of the week, will be heading east to catch up with family and friends, before venturing overseas as part of his Long Service Leave. We wish him well. Mr Michael Rathmann has accepted Mr Keanes role for Term Two, with Mrs Cheryl-Lynn Mothiram taking on the role of Acting House Coordinator of de Vialar for the remainder of the year.
As you would expect, our Year 12s are at various stages of their faith journey and taking the time out to consider the really important aspects in life. To redress the balance in their lives before entering their final semester which will include examinations, finalising assessments for graduation and making choices about their post-secondary school options is something that we consider to be an important part of their whole education. We hope our Year 12s return to families renewed and reinvigorated, ready to take on the next chapter of their graduating year.
We commenced the term with a wonderful, student-led Anzac Service last Tuesday morning. I am proud of our students who are cadets and who were instrumental in the ceremony representing the navy, army and air force, joining our student leaders as part of the service. Those involved included:
Army Cadets, Fremantle Unit 56A
Year 10: Joachim Verana
Year 11: Kirsty Thomas
Air Force Cadets
Year 11: Brendon Borgomastro
Corporal Michael Orton
Year 12: Sergeant Johann Nair
Navy Cadets
Year 9: Able Seaman Corran O’Brien
Year 12: Petty Officer Alida O’Brien
The cadets were assisted by student leaders Rebecca Machado, Jason Martins, Jennifer Gresham, Jack Dellaca, Rhys Jones, Rebekah-Anne Craggs and Samuel LaMacchia. In his final year here as a student, we were mesmerised by Johann Nair who played the last post and reveille on the bugle which added to the solemnity of the occasion. Last term, all students created paper poppies in their Homeroom which were used to make a large wreath and to decorate the stage in the David Heath Centre, where the ceremony was held. Three students, Alessia Scarfo, Talia Scarfo and Samuel Forster sang Amazing Grace, accompanied by Head of Music Mr David Harries on piano, who together, then led the College in singing the National Anthem to conclude the service.
I would like to welcome the return of three staff to the College back from leave: Head of Mathematics Mr Mark Green and teacher Mr Derek Bickford, along with Head of Technology and Enterprise Mrs Rhonda Armenti who returns after almost six months sick leave, having fully recovered from treatment for cancer. We are grateful to the staff who were involved in covering various leadership roles as a consequence, including Mr Geoffrey Cantwell in Mathematics, Mrs Kelly Wearing in Technology and Enterprise, and Mrs Gemma Wijnberg who was Merici House Coordinator.
We welcome our newly appointed staff covering teachers on Long Service Leave this term. Experienced teacher Mr Adrian Richmond has taught English in the UK as well as Christchurch College and will be covering Mrs Piscetek’s classes; Mr James Stapleton is an experienced History and Humanities teacher from Ireland who has joined us for the remainder of the year, covering Mr Jim Greaves and Mr Michael Rathmann, whilst Notre Dame University graduate Ms Emma Van Woerden will be teaching Religious Education for Term Two covering Mr Keane’s classes.
Finally, please keep in your prayers Teaching Assistant Mrs Nellie Valentine, whose husband Karl passed away late last term. Many members of the College community attended a memorial service for Karl at St Thomas More Church, Bateman, last Friday. May the Lords peace be with Nellie, her three beautiful children, Karls parents, extended family and their friends during this most difficult of times.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Caroline Payne
Principal
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[tab_item icon="" title="Middle School" tabs="tabs"]
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[accordion_item title="Tips for Success" accordion="accordion"]
• Knowledge is power — stay informed about your child’s education and training options – discuss it with people who know, don’t guess.
• Work on helping students identify their long-term goals. Reflect on them, evaluate them, discuss them, let THEM discuss to you.
• Avoid too much emphasis on ATAR scores as a marker of success. There are so many options for kids with different learning styles.
• Encourage students to study in 40-minute blocks, with a 15-minute break in their learning style.
• Provide healthy meal options. Encourage regular physical activity.
• Talk to teachers whenever possible about workloads and study tips – together with your child.
• Help students avoid fixed mindsets — with good habits, results can be turned around. Set a goal, give it time, reflect and evaluate together – let them know you’re on their side and they are driving it, not you!
• Avoid pushing your child into a field of study that doesn’t suit them, regardless of their ATAR results.
• Encourage no study after 10.00pm — sleep is the best way to consolidate learning.
• Encourage your child to ask for help – can they name a person they can ask for help at the College?
(Adapted from: Mike Honiball of elevate education, clinical psychologist Pia Broderick and Relationships WA’s Fiona Mcdonald)
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[accordion_item title="Winter House Uniform" accordion="accordion"]
To avoid confusion please note the following guidelines:
• Students must wear their Full School Tracksuit to and from school with your House Shirt underneath.
• Full School Tracksuit must be worn to Homeroom and Period 6.
• For rest of the day you may remove your Tracksuit Top just like you do with your School Blazer.
• If you do not have any part of the College Tracksuit or House Shirt you must wear Winter School Uniform to school.
• For Practical subjects the usual rules apply. Please change into the required uniform at the beginning of the period and back into your Tracksuit at the end of the class.
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[accordion_item title="Year 7 to 12 Parent Interviews" accordion="accordion"]
Year 7 to 12: Parent / Student / Teacher Interviews Thursday 30 April (12.30pm – 7.30pm)
Each interview time is only seven minutes in duration. Please note that there may be a limited number of timeslots available. To help with this, please ensure you only book ONE timeslot with your child’s teacher, even if they teach your child in multiple subjects.
If you are unable to secure a timeslot during this round of P/T/S interviews, you may contact the relevant teachers directly to arrange a meeting on another date.
If your child’s teacher has indicated ‘Interview requested’ in his/her Term One Progress Report, it is highly recommended that you book an interview with the relevant teacher(s), even if the PTO booking system does not specify that an interview is requested. If your child does not have any interview requests, then your discretion should be used as to whether or not you book an interview with their teacher(s).
You will be able to book interviews for your student(s) from 5pm on Monday 20 April until 8am on Thursday 30 April. The PTO website can be accessed from the College website (instructions can be found on the respective year group portals) or by clicking on the following link:
For information relating to P/T/S Interviews, please check the respective year group portals. The portal will have the following information available to parents:
• Instructions for accessing the PTO website and general information relating to the interviews
Document titled: PTO information for parents
• Map of the College
Document titled: Location of PTS Interviews
• Seating plan for teaching staff on Thursday 30 April
Document titled: Seating Plan – Thursday 30 April
• List of unavailable teachers
Document titled: Unavailable teachers – Thursday 30 April
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[accordion_item title="The da Vinci Decathlon" accordion="accordion"]
The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic gala day in which students compete in teams of eight across ten different categories. These categories include mathematics, art and pretty, science, english and code breaking. This year, AvÐÔ°® entered with a Year 7 and 8 team, as well as a Year 9 and 10 team who competed against twenty-four schools. Leading up to the event, these students gave up their free time to prepare for its challenging tasks with the assistance of many wonderful teachers and senior students.
After several weeks of after school sessions filled with challenging questions and puzzling concepts, our Decathlon teams were buzzing with energy and anticipation for the gala day to arrive. We had built many friendships and had learned to work together as a unit that assisted each other in the best way possible. As it turned out, this proved an invaluable component while we competed as the questions were extremely challenging and required several minds to deconstruct. Everyone worked to the best of their ability, and though we did not win, the experience was worth the hard work. We had some terrific results from both of our teams. (Phoebe Holmes Year 10)
The da Vinci Decathlon results were as follows:
Year 7/8 students
2nd- Code breaking
4th – Maths
4th- Philosophy
8th- Engineering
8th – reative producers
Overall 12/25 school
Year 9/10 students
3rd - Code Breaking
7th- General Knowledge
9th- English
Overall 17/25 schools
I would just like to take this opportunity to thank Isaac Ramshaw, Jein Hein, Jim Greaves, Kelsi Davies, Marian Lavelle, Lidia De Giuseppi, Ben Ring and Alyssa Bay for giving generously of their time in preparing the students for the competition.
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[accordion_item title="Academic Excellence Program" accordion="accordion"]
Students who have been identified as having high academic potential and ability have been selected and invited to take part in the Academic Excellence Extension Program (AEEP). The program offers students the opportunity to work on an extended project of their choice. This program commences on Tuesday 28th April, between 7.30am to 8.30am and will run until the end of August. Students can select a project of their choice and can work collaboratively with others or individually. Click here to access the AEEP site. Student projects will be exhibited and showcased to parents and friends later in the year. In some situations, the students will be able to present their final projects to some of their classes.
The purpose of the program is to:
• Empower students to strive for excellence and achieve at their true potential.
• Maximise the potential of all students, converting gifts into talents.
• Provide students with a positive environment as a result of being involved in unique opportunities whereby, they can pursue their interests.
• Offer students the opportunity to work with like-minded students.
• Train gifted and talented students to ensure correct attitudes and approaches to learning.
• Maintain academically able students, motivated.
• Cater for academically able students who are often self-directed learners.
• Ensure selected students excel at the attributes identified in the AvÐÔ°® Christi College Learner Profile.
• Provide students with the opportunity to apply 21st Century skills including working collaboratively and communicating with others, nurturing student creativity and problem solving skills.
If you have any questions please contact me by email on fcarvalho@corpus.wa.edu.au or by phone on 6332 2500.
Mrs Filipa Carvalho
Head of Academic Excellence
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[tab_item icon="" title="AvÐÔ°® General News" tabs="tabs"]
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[accordion_item title="Ministry News" accordion="accordion"]
Retreat Experience
The senior school retreats are some of the most rewarding experiences that students have at AvÐÔ°® Christi College. They are opportunities for students to take time out from their regular lives so they can look internally at themselves and reflect on their own lives. It gives them opportunities to reflect on the relationships they have with others, the relationship they have with God, and also the type of person they are compared with the type of person they would like to be.
As the Year 12s return from retreat, I pray that their experience was rich, rewarding and positive. I encourage parents to discuss the experience of the retreat with their children so that they may not only develop a deeper understanding of their experience, but also to help bring their realisations into their everyday lives.
Weekly Homeroom Masses – Fridays 8.00am in the College Chapel
A reminder that all members of the community are invited to celebrate the Eucharist with the Year 12 Homerooms. Weekly Mass commences at 8.00am on Fridays in the refurbished College chapel.
Week 2 (1 May) 12 Xavier
Week 3 (8 May) 11 Chisholm
Week 4 (15 May) 11 deVialar
Week 5 (22 May) 11 MacKillop
Week 6 (29 May) 9 Salvado
Week 7 (5 June) 9 Xavier
Week 8 (12 June) No Homeroom Mass – AvÐÔ°® Christi Day
Week 9 (19 June) 11 Merici
Week 10 (26 June) 11 Pallotti
Week 11 (3 July) 11 Romero
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[accordion_item title="Individual PHOTO DAY Monday 4th May" accordion="accordion"]
Our School Photos will be taken on: Monday 4th of May 2015 (3 TEAMS OF PHOTOGRAPHERS)
Personalised Envelopes have been sent home to parents TODAY with students.
PLEASE NOTE You now have the option of placing your photo order ONLINE instead of filling in the pre-paid envelope, refer to your child’s personalised envelope for details about online ordering, or phone MSP Photography on 08 9342 3465 if you have any queries.
If you are placing your order through the pre-paid envelope please make sure that your child brings the envelope to school on photo day to hand to the photographer, otherwise your order will be missed. NOTE: If you have placed your order online, you DO NOT need to bring in your envelope to hand to the photographer.
If you wish to purchase a family photo, please come to the administration office to collect a Family envelope. It is the eldest child’s responsibility to collect their siblings at the scheduled time for family photos. On delivery of the school photos the family photos will be left at reception for parents to collect, they will not be sent home with the children. NOTE: Family photos cannot be ordered online.
NO CHANGE will be given so please ensure correct money is enclosed in your envelope. We now offer online ordering for your convenience. Payment for photos can be made by cash, cheque or money order in your prepaid envelope or via Credit Card for Online Purchases Only.
All children will have an individual portrait taken whether purchasing photos or not for the school data base. If you have not placed an order on photo day you can still ORDER ONLINE up to 6 days after the last photo day. If you wish to place an order and it is after the 6 day period please phone MSP Photography on 08 9342 3465.
PLEASE NOTE: Orders placed after the 6 Day period will incur late fees.
All children will have the opportunity to purchase Specialist Group Photos, once the photos have been delivered to the school, at $15.00 each. The photos will be available to view and order online up to 2 weeks after the delivery of our photos for ordering. The school will send out a new newsletter with instructions once the photos are available to order. Any Special orders placed after the due date (featured in the second newsletter) will incur late fees.
Please remind your children to also bring their smart rider to all photos as this is the method of identifying students electronically.
For all other enquiries, please contact Cam Allen communications@corpus.wa.edu.au OR 08 6332 2517
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[accordion_item title="Psychological Services News" accordion="accordion"]
Upcoming Workshops:
Engaging Adolescents
6th May
Where: Behaviour Tonics, Wembley
www.behaviourtonics.com.au
Protective Behaviours Parent Workshop - For parents and guardians to help their child develop personal safety skills.
5th May or 9th June
Headspace, Osborne Park
To register, or for more information, contact Tiffany Dowling on 9207 5301
Fuel your Future - is a series of 6 workshops, delivered by a nutritionist to improve food literacy in 12-18 year olds. Participants learn how to make good food choices as well as create and eat their own meals!
Commencing 6th May
Headspace, Osborne Park
To register, or for more information, contact Karen Randolph on 9208 9557.
Act-Belong-Commit Tip for this week:
Give yourself a boost with some laughter!
Laughter relaxes the mind and body, boosts immune function, triggers the release of endorphins (the happy hormone) and even promotes heart health. So go on and make the effort to share a good joke with friends, do something silly and spend time with people that make you laugh or watch an episode of your favorite comedy show.
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[accordion_item title="Harmony Day" accordion="accordion"]
AvÐÔ°® Christi College celebrated Harmony Day on Monday the 23rd of March by hosting a group of students from Mulan Aboriginal Community who are currently studying at La Salle Catholic College, Middle Swan and also a number of students from Clontarf Aboriginal College. 
The day included a game of wheelchair basketball, a performance from the Clontarf school band during recess which the whole school thoroughly enjoyed, various story sharing sessions between students from all three schools, friendship band making, a drumming music session and then it ended with an inter school basketball game at lunchtime. The day was a huge success and the students were able to create new friendships and strengthen existing friendships that had been made through AvÐÔ°® Christi’s involvement in the Mulan Immersion.
A special thank you to Trevor Galbraith, Isaac Ramshaw, Josh Patat and Yun Chen for organising all of the ICT activities and recording and photographing the day, David Harries and his Yr 9 students for leading and teaching the drumming activities, Ian Bean for helping with transporting the students to and from La Salle and the huge number of other staff and students who were involved in the smooth running of the day and its success.
For more photos, click on the following link to preview our gallery.
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[accordion_item title="Entertainment Books" accordion="accordion"]
Order now for early Bird Offers:
Click the link below for a preview of the 2015 entertainment book.
http://issuu.com/epaau/docs/perth_entertainment_book_2015-2016__1f76fcf6d48519?e=16038615/12257854
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[accordion_item title="Years 7-9 Essay Writing" accordion="accordion"]
Essay writing workshop for students in Years 7, 8 and 9.
Below is a link to an evening workshop for students to learn structures for writing paragraphs and also essays. Great for those middle school students who respond really well to structures and formats to follow. Past students who have attended this workshop have used these strategies effectively across all learning areas for extended written responses.
From the Learning Centre team.
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[accordion_item title="Parents and Friends" accordion="accordion"]
Calling for your best, clean and appropriate joke, one-liner, anecdote or saying….
I know that although I write factual information for the newsletter on behalf of the Parents and Friends, it's pretty dry and not the most exciting of articles to read, so…this is my impassioned plea to all parents to send in your funniest joke or saying for me to include with each Parents and Friends newsletter article from now on. Please send anything you think may make others smile to parentcouncil@corpus.wa.edu.au Hopefully this will encourage you to read on.
Now for the dry but interesting bit this week….The parents who attended the first two meetings of the year have discussed various issues, initiated a sub-committee to review the Constitution, provided the wine and nibbles at each of the parent information nights and held a Library information session. At the last meeting, the Leadership team presented the schools "wish list" to the Parents and Friends for discussion and decision which will occur at the next meeting scheduled for Tuesday 5th May at 7pm in the staffroom. If you would like to have a say on what the Parents and Friends levy funds, please come along…it is open to every parent.
We will be presenting the school with a cheque for the fantastic full-length lockers and new seating outside the Mater Christi Centre which the Parents and Friends funded last year at a whole school assembly later this term to which all parents are invited. This terms activities will be finalised soon and published in upcoming newsletters. In the meantime, please support the Entertainment Book fundraiser…books can be ordered as hardcopy or a digital version for all phones, for only $65.
Again, we invite all parents to the next meeting. Hope to see you there.
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[accordion_item title="Public Speaking News" accordion="accordion"]
The Sunday morning 23 March was a buzz in Albany. It was not just the Western Australia Rotary Conference that created the buzz, it was also the District final of the 4 Way Test Public Speaking Competition. Year 11 student Molly Elliott, representing AvÐÔ°® Christi College and sponsored by the Booragoon Rotary Club, was one of three students competing for a place in the State Final in this prestigious event.
The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships. The Public Speaking aspect of this guide involves Year 10 students as a way of promoting Public Speaking in Secondary schools. Students are required to construct their speeches to incorporate the Test of the 4 questions:
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOOD WILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
The message of Molly’s speech focused on the idea that our reliance on using social media and technological devices to communicate with people will result in an inability to communicate effectively face to face and therefore increase the potential for miscommunication in the future. Unfortunately she did not progress through to the State Final, however she represented AvÐÔ°® Christi College admirably and is to be congratulated for her dedication and commitment to Public Speaking.
I would also like to commend Year 12 students Rebekah-Anne Craggs and Aveen Yoong for their support of Molly in the lead up to this competition. They were wonderful mentors to her, giving freely of their time to hear her speak and critique her content and delivery.
At a recent Rotary Youth evening held at the Blue Gum Park Tennis Club in Brentwood, Rebekah-Anne spoke about her 2013/14 experience of participating in the 4 Way Test Public Speaking Competition. Rebekah told of how much she learnt about the Test and the work of Rotary and her delight at winning the State Final. She was a wonderful ambassador for AvÐÔ°® Christi College.
The start of the year for Public Speaking has been rather hectic so far and I am thrilled that over 70 enthusiastic students from all years have signed up to participate in this extra curricular activity. I would like to welcome Miss Renee Ardon to the team of coaches along with Mrs Lorraine Carpenter and Miss Tamar Caro and of course our Year 12 coaches Aveen Yoong and Rebekah Craggs. I am most appreciative of their help and energy.
An upcoming date to note on the Public Speaking calendar is Sunday 3rd of May when 11 students will represent AvÐÔ°® Christi College in the first heat of Rostrum Voice of Youth Competition. I wish them all the best for the competition.
Mrs Noreen Stevenson
Public Speaking Coordinator
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[accordion_item title="Community Notices" accordion="accordion"]
ABSENTEES
Please inform Student Services of any absences from school giving your student’s first and last names and the reason for the absence. This can be done by phone call, email or SMS. If the absence is for longer than 3 days, and other than illness, an Attendance Policy must be completed and returned to Mrs Barbara Morton in Student Services.
AvÐÔ°® CAFETERIA ROSTER TERM 2, 2015
Please find a link below for the Volunteer Roster for Term 2, 2015. We would love more parents to volunteer their time throughout the term, so please feel free to contact Ms Jo Court (Cafeteria Manager) at cafeteria@corpus.wa.edu.au
ACADEMIC TASK FORCE
Want to improve your marks? Join our Weekend Help or Master Classes Available for all year levels.
Year 11 and 12 WACE and ATAR Master Classes
Yeas 11 and 12 WACE and ATAR Weekend HELP Classes
Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 Weekend HELP Classes
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