eNews #8 Term Three Week 3
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Dear Parents
LITTER AROUND THE COLLEGE
I sent an email to students and staff last week, expressing my concerns over the state of the litter around our beautiful school. Students often feel anxious about environmental concerns, yet we believe this needs to start at home, in our school, in the learning environment we spend time in most of each day.
On average, the College grounds and maintenance staff spend two hours per day cleaning the litter, which should have been placed in a bin. This cleaning time which equates to approximately 10 hours per week or 100 hours (12.5 working days) per term, which could be used to complete more valuable projects around the College.
In his Encyclical Letter Laudato SI - On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis highlights the responsibility that all humanity has a responsibility to care for the environment for future generations. The same can be applied to AvÐÔ°® Christi College as Our Common Home is the grounds and facilities that make up the College. We all have a responsibility to care for the College, this includes the simple action of placing all rubbish in one of the many bins located around the campus.
I am sure this message resonates with many parents when discussing such issues as the state of their childs bedrooms! I know parents are powerless to do anything about this issue at school, but I felt it important you were made aware of the communication to students, which may lead to a discussion in your own homes regarding each and everyones responsibility to be sustainable, to be good stewards of our earth, by keeping our school clean.
CATHOLIC PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL
The annual Catholic Performing Arts Festival is in full swing. AvÐÔ°® Christi College has had a number of vocal students perform in Week Two. The Woodwind Ensembles and Guitar Ensembles also performed. All groups received some really positive adjudication comments with performances of note from our Classical Guitar Quartet, Viva Guitarre Ensemble, Senior Flute Ensemble and Woodwind Quartet.
Included below are some of the performances that have taken place this week and our upcoming performances in the Catholic Performing Arts Festival, including approximate numbers and Year groups of students involved.
Week 3 3/8/15 Liturgical/Sacred Choral Music - (Years 7-12, 45 students involved)
4/8/15 Concert Band - (Years 7-12, 22 students involved)
4/8/15 Celtic Band - (Years 8-11, 8 students involved)
6/8/15 African Drumming Group - (Years 7-9 students, 30 students involved)
Week 4 11/8/15 Jazz Band - (Years 8-12, 10 students involved)
Week 5 17/8/15 AvÐÔ°® Dance Company and AvÐÔ°® Collective - (Years 7-12 students, 92 students involved)
Week 6 24/8/15 College Choirs - (Years 7-12 students, 45 students involved)
The College also hosted The Contemporary Band section of the Catholic Performing Arts Festival which took place this Tuesday to Friday. This was a large undertaking and would not have been the success it was without the support of many people. Special thanks are extended to Messrs Evan Georgopoulos, Cam Allen, James Dove and David Harries, Ms Catherine Runyon and Mr Frank Italiano. Thanks also to our College Arts Captains Monica Italiano and Benjamin Ring, and all of the student helpers who assisted over the four nights. Big thanks go to Mr Darren Friesner and our Parents and Friends who manned the door and ran the refreshments stall. This was a wonderful opportunity for them to raise funds. The College Cafeteria staff supplied a beautiful supper for the Adjudicators including Mr Sam Graham from Mazenod College – and we thank them too.
CATHOLIC SCHOOL NAPLAN RESULTS
In recent days, there have been a number of articles and discussions regarding the 2015 NAPLAN results, both nationally and locally. I have included below a media release Dr Tim McDonald, the Executive Director of Catholic Education provided to the Western Australian media.
Catholic schools deliver sustained NAPLAN improvements
Catholic school students in Western Australia have again demonstrated significant improvement in literacy and numeracy results since last year’s NAPLAN test, as well as sustained improvement over the last seven years in almost all assessments.
The results clearly indicate West Australian Catholic school students have maintained or improved their literacy and numeracy results both in absolute terms, and relative to the performance of students across the rest of the country.
The most notable improvements were seen in Year 3 in reading, writing, spelling, punctuation and numeracy. Improvements were also made in Year 5 spelling, numeracy and writing, and Year 9 numeracy.
It is particularly noteworthy to acknowledge the significant improvement demonstrated by students who have been identified as academically at risk in our system. In 2015, less than 2% of the students who sat the secondary numeracy test, fell below the national minimum standard, the lowest figure in seven years.
Executive Director Dr Tim McDonald acknowledged the contribution of Principals and classroom teachers to this years results.
Catholic Education has a sustained system wide focus on school improvement and todays NAPLAN results reflect that focus. The improvement in results can be directly attributed to the leadership provided by our Principals and the efforts and energies of our teachers and school staff.
As a system, we continue to learn from our data which clearly indicates that the longer a student receives a Catholic education, the better their results in standardised testing. This is a very powerful endorsement of the impact a quality Catholic education has on the students of WA, said Dr McDonald.
Catholic Education will continue to work to sustain the improvements that have been achieved in 2015, particularly for those students who have been identified as academically at risk. We remain committed to a sustained focus on literacy and numeracy, and to finding avenues to support and extend gifted students in our classes.
WHOOPING COUGH CASE
There has been a confirmed case of Whooping Cough at AvÐÔ°® Christi College. Please refer to the attachment below for signs of Whooping Cough and contact your GP if you have any concerns.
God bless
Mr Ian Hagen
Acting Principal
TECHNICAL NOTE: We are currently experiencing a few glitches with the current website font resulting in inconsistencies with some characters, namely apostrophes and ampersands. We apologise for this and hope to rectify as soon as possible. Regards, Web hosts.
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[tab_item icon="" title="Middle School" tabs="tabs"]
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[accordion_item title="Year 7 Good Standing" accordion="accordion"]
This week 67 Year 7 students are to be congratulated on achieving a Good Standing Step Up in Semester One. On Tuesday 4 August they received a certificate and small reward to congratulate them for their commitment to the College and their own academic development.
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[accordion_item title="Year 7 Sadler Sleepover" accordion="accordion"]
Week Four will see the much anticipated Sadler Sleepover happening on Friday 14 August. A permission note has been sent home with students and an information poster is available on the Year 7 Portal. Please contact Homeroom teachers or Yvette Pearce, Acting Head of Year 7 for further details if required.
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[accordion_item title="Academic Excellence Program for Primary School students" accordion="accordion"]
The Academic Excellence Program for Primary School Students has commenced with huge excitement and enthusiasm. Fifty two Year 5 and 6 students (from Orana Catholic College, St Emilie Catholic College, Yidarra Catholic Primary and Queen of Apostles Catholic Primary), who were selected by their schools as being academically able, have attended on of the three programs being offered at AvÐÔ°® Christi College.
Students selected from three programs on offer; Coder Dojo, Robotics and Investigating Scientifically. This is the first time AvÐÔ°® Christi College has offered a program of this kind to our neighbouring Catholic Primary Schools.
This five week program offers students the opportunity to collaborate and socialise with like minded students from other schools, to develop their higher order processing and investigation skills, to empower students to strive for excellence and maximise their potential by converting student gifts into talents and to provide students with a positive experience of high school.
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[accordion_item title="Space AvÐÔ°® Information Evening" accordion="accordion"]
On Monday night 3 August, parents and students attended the Space AvÐÔ°® Information evening. Lucy Fenwick from Edu School Tours presented the two week program in great detail. The successfully selected AvÐÔ°® Christi College students will attend Space AvÐÔ°® in conjunction with students from John XXIII College.
This is the first time an excursion of this nature has been offered. Students will spend 6 nights at NASA Space AvÐÔ°® in Huntsville, where they will take part in the rigorous Advanced Space AvÐÔ°® program. They will then fly to Orlando, where they will attend the Kennedy Space Centre, Universal Studios, iFly Experience and ride through the Everglades in an airboat. The last stop is San Francisco where students will visit The Exploratorium, go on a tour of the city and Alcatraz, attend the National Ignition Facility and then visit the home of Google or the Computer History Museum.
This is a unique and exciting opportunity for AvÐÔ°® Christi students.
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[accordion_item title="Aurecon Bridge Building Competition" accordion="accordion"]
On Wednesday 5 August, two teams from Years 8 and 9 went to Scitech to participate in the Aurecon Bridge Building Competition. Several students took part in the preliminary interschool competition and the final teams were chosen based on the weight load their bridges could hold.
On competition day, both bridges were tested for the maximum load they could hold as well as other aspects of the bridge, including creativity, visual appeal and workmanship. Team Ye Old Jaffas (Joseph Cadzow, Finnian Arrigan and Ashil Royal; Year 9 students) bridge held 11.15kg and Team Spunky Turtles (Abbey Rock, Joshua Thomas and Lara Moylan; Year 8 students) bridge held 4.85kg. Overall, students enjoyed the day and look forward to entering again next year. We thank Mrs Rourke for preparing the students in the lead up to the competition.
Lara Moylan 08PA
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[accordion_item title="College Choir at the Cathedral Mass " accordion="accordion"]
On Sunday 26 July, our College Choir took part in a combined Youth Choir at the 11.00am Mass at St Marys Cathedral. We also had students joining the combined Youth Orchestra to provide music for the Mass.
This special opportunity was supported by all staff and students participating in this years Arts AvÐÔ°®. Thank you and well done from Mr David Harries and Mr James Dove for being there to celebrate Mass at the Cathedral and showcase our talented musicians.
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[accordion_item title="Online Safety" accordion="accordion"]
In the interests of online safety, please have a look at the website below. Please take the time to investigate and familiarise yourself with this information.
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[accordion_item title="Year 9 Languages Incursions" accordion="accordion"]
On behalf of the Languages Department, I would like to thank students, staff and parents for your support to our Languages week initiative with the whole cohort of Year 9s.
Activities on Thursday, 13th August will include:
Merci, terima kasih and grazie.
Maria Belloni
Acting Head of Languages
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[accordion_item title="Christian Service Learning Program" accordion="accordion"]
The Year 7 and 8 Christian Service learning programs are up and running. Students will make a folio on CONEQT to record and reflect upon service. In a nutshell:
Year 7: Family Service (Minimum of 10 activities for family, minimum 30 minutes per activity)
Year 8: Family and College Service (Minimum of 8 activities for family, 2 activities for the College, minimum 30 minutes per activity)
ACTIVITIES AND REFLECTIONS to be completed by the end of WEEK 10, Term 3.
Isaac Ramshaw
Acting Christian Service Learning Coordinator
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[accordion_item title="University of Notre Dame Students" accordion="accordion"]
Each year our ESC students work with teaching students from Notre Dame University as part of an adaptive Physical Education program.
In Term 3, we spend 2 periods per week working at the University of Notre Dame on individual fitness programs, tailored to the individual needs our students.
Students from Notre Dame are visiting the College to meet their ESC buddy.
Sara AvÐÔ°®bell
Head of Education Support
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[accordion_item title="Whooping Cough Case" accordion="accordion"]
There has been a confirmed case of Whooping Cough at AvÐÔ°® Christi College. Please refer to the attachment below for signs of Whooping Cough and contact your GP if you have any concerns.
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[accordion_item title="Senior School Course Selection" accordion="accordion"]
Students in Years 9, 10 and 11 have begun the process for making their subject selections for 2016. Students will be completing their selections online using Subject Selection Online (SSO).
All students have received an email that contains their username and PIN as well as a link to the SSO login page (shown below). Students have been instructed not to delete this email.
Once the students log into the site instructions will guide them through the process of making their course selections. After completing selections students will be able to print off a hard copy of their selections that can be kept as a record.
Any student who would like assistance with the process is welcome to make an appointment with their Head of Year, Deputy Principal or Mrs Middleton.
It is important that students complete their selections by the following dates:
Year 12 2016: Tuesday August 11 (extended due to retreat)
Year 11 2016: Friday August 14
Year 10 2016: Friday August 21
God Bless
Mr Peter Sackett
Acting Deputy Principal Senior School
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[accordion_item title="Whooping Cough Case" accordion="accordion"]
There has been a confirmed case of Whooping Cough at AvÐÔ°® Christi College. Please refer to the attachment below for signs of Whooping Cough and contact your GP if you have any concerns.
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[tab_item icon="" title="AvÐÔ°® General News" tabs="tabs"]
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[accordion_item title="Ministry News" accordion="accordion"]
MULAN MOB ON THEIR WAY HOME
The Mulan Immersion Team are on their way home and if you havent been following them on Facebook, you can see their hard work and progress at the Facebook link:
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YOUNG VINNIES PICTURE BOOKS FOR MULAN
In Term 2, The Young Vinnies took on the challenge of designing Picture Books for the Mulan Immersion Program. The students from Years 8 to 11 used their own time to design and create these picture books. The students were quite creative in designing these books, from drawing their pictures by hand, painting the pictures, creating on the laptop, the ability to touch and feel, use of pop-ups and lift-the-flaps.
We were very excited and sad to hand these wonderful creations over to Miss Christopher because they were just so outstanding. I hope the Mulan community enjoy the picture books as much as the students have enjoyed creating them. Well done to those students involved:
Year 8
Rachel Delaca
Taleeya Marsh
Zoe Hardingham
Year 8
Jessica De Freitas Basilio
Alea Go
Alana Boccarro
Semira Ballantyne
Natasha Uniewicz
Year 10
Elish Lau
Ashley Taylor
Phoebe Holmes
Kenith Png
Rachel Raphael
Nakkitta Fortune
Kaliya Tribbeck
Olivia Mocerino
Hayley Zeller
Year 11
Claudia Karwacki
Rebecca Gibson
Kelly Zaccheus
Miss Thomas and Mrs Chong
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[accordion_item title="Arts News" accordion="accordion"]
Week Three has been a bumper week with many events and good news taking place. During these last few weeks, we have been busy preparing for our shows and exhibitions. Amongst all of this busyness, saw the Opening of the Catholic Performing Arts Festival, the end to the three-day Arts AvÐÔ°® and the start to our Art Exhibition and Dance Showcase. The College has also been honoured to host the Contemporary Band section of the Catholic Performing Arts Festival over four nights.
In the classes, staff have been busy refining curriculum matter in preparation for our new WA Curriculum and in Visual Art, we have been through various audits for VET. Next week, we commence the road towards finalising and announcing the 2016 production. A schedule of auditions will follow this announcement.
Congratulations to the following winners at the 2015 Catholic Performing Arts Festival:
Honourable Mention
Sam Coten Secondary Vocal Solo
Gabriela Postma Secondary Vocal Solo
Emma Marsh Secondary Vocal Solo
Caitlin Dougall Secondary Vocal Solo
AvÐÔ°® Christi Woodwind Quartet Instrumental Ensemble (Woodwind)
AvÐÔ°® Christi College Viva Guitarre Ensemble - Instrumental Ensemble (Acoustic/Classical Guitar)
AvÐÔ°® Christi Guitar Quartet Instrumental Ensemble (Acoustic/Classical Guitar)
Certificate of Merit
Sam Coten and Hayley Groen Secondary Vocal Duet
Charli Lill and Samantha Lill Secondary Vocal Duet
Samantha Lill and Jessica O Leary Secondary Vocal Duet
AvÐÔ°® Christi College Choir Secondary Sacred/Liturgical Choral Music
AvÐÔ°® Christi College Wind Band Instrumental Ensemble (Other Instruments)
A big thank you is extended to staff and parents for their involvement and support.
Mr James Dove
Head of Learning: Arts
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UPCOMING EVENTS
AUGUST
Monday 10 Performing Arts Festival - Double Bass Solo
Tuesday 11 Performing Arts Festival - Jazz Band (Chisholm Catholic College)
Thursday 13 Performing Arts Festival – Classical Guitar Solos & Duets
Monday 17 Performing Arts Festival - Dance Company, AvÐÔ°® Collective
Friday 21 Performing Arts Festival – Brass and Woodwind Solos and duets
Tuesday 24 Performing Arts Festival - College Choir
Sunday 30 Dance Showcase
Monday 31 Dance Showcase, Performing Arts Festival – Piano Solo
SEPTEMBER
Tuesday 1 Performing Arts Festival – Piano Solo
Wednesday 9 Senior School OSP Night
Thursday 10 Yr 11-12 OSC Dance Night
Monday 21 Auditions for College Production
Tuesday 22 Auditions for College Production
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In May, Rebekah-Anne Craggs (Year 12) embarked on a journey that would eventually take her across to the other side of Australia. This journey was one that involved three preliminary competitions and a great deal of hard work and dedication. This journey was Rebekah’s quest to represent WA in the National Final of the Rostrum Voice of Youth Competition.
On 23 July Rebekah travelled to Sydney to compete against the other state finalists in The National Competition. Juliet Park, the WA coordinator of this competition, accompanied her with the competition being held at Parliament House on Saturday 25 July.
I am delighted to announce that Rebekah was placed second in the Senior Competition.
We were all very happy that Rebekah was placed second in the final, she did a brilliant job. (Ms Park)
Writing and delivering speeches gives Rebekah a platform from which she can express her ideas and opinions about topical issues she feels passionate about. In addition, she thrives on the challenge of producing a cohesive and persuasive 3 minute impromptu speech, which for most of us would be a nightmarish task.
I commend Rebekah for her outstanding achievements along this journey as well as achieving a second placing in the National final. On behalf of the College community, I would like to extend sincere thanks and congratulations to Rebekah.
The following account sums up Rebekah’s thoughts in her own words.
On Thursday 23 July 2015, I embarked on the journey that would take me to my last ever Public Speaking competition: National Finals of the Rostrum Voice of Youth Competition hosted in Sydney, NSW.
I was lucky enough to be accompanied on my journey by the State Junior winner, the State co-ordinator for Rostrum Ms Juliet Park, and my two brothers (my cheer squad for the weekend).
On Friday, we met the rest of the competitors; seven competitors in each division. Together, we attended a welcome at Government House and were introduced to His Excellency General, The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d) Governor of New South Wales, and his wife Mrs Linda Hurley.
The next day, we spent the morning travelling to Manly by ferry. The weather was lovely, however the nerves of many competitors were starting to spike, as we all headed back to our rooms to get ready for the competitions that afternoon.
The competition was held at Parliament House, in front of a crowd of supporters from all over the country. I chose the title The Missing Piece of the Puzzle for my eight minute prepared speech, focusing my topic on multiculturalism and racism in Australia.
Next, we had fifteen minutes to prepare a three-minute speech from one of four unseen topics. One of them in particular, We reap what we sow stood out for me, as before the competition I had focused my research for this impromptu component, on Genetically Modified foods!
I came second place in the competition, with the title being taken out by the NSW representative who was awesome.
We finished our adventure on Sunday with a speedboat trip on Sydney Harbour, which was an amazing way to say farewell to Sydney, at least for now.
All in all, the weekend was an awesome experience, shared with fantastic competitors, coordinators and supporters. Thank you to Rostrum Australia, Rostrum WA, Ms Park, and of course Mrs Stevenson and Mrs Litchfield, the two amazing public speaking teachers who have helped me over the past six years - Thank you!
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[accordion_item title="Online Canteen Instructions" accordion="accordion"]
Many students and parents have been asking recently how to top up their online accounts, we have detailed this in step-by-step instructions below:
STEP 1
Parents need to go to the following website:
STEP 2
Parents can login using their Coneqt-P username and password. (If this is not know, please contact ICT support at the College.
STEP 3
Parents can use either their Credit Card (Minimum $50) to top up their childrens accounts by clicking on the dollar sign icon to the right of the students name (See arrow) or they can pay using
BPAY (Be aware there is three-day delay from your BPAY payment for the credit to be reflected on the card) By clicking on the Student Account Number to the left of their name you can make the BPAY transfer. (See arrow)
What does it cost?
Topping up your account using BPAY incurs no cost however, using a credit card will incur a 29c transaction fee, and we therefore recommend you look at your projected usage and top up your account accordingly to minimise the cost.
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[accordion_item title="Year 12 Graduating Class of 2014 Yearbook and Graduation Disc" accordion="accordion"]
Class of 2014 Year 12 Yearbooks and Year 12 Discs are ready for collection at the College Administration.
Students/parents are asked to pay $10.00 for the Graduation disc which contains the Year 12 Leavers Electronic magazine, Graduation and Teacher Videos.
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[accordion_item title="Psych Services News" accordion="accordion"]
To celebrate Mental Health Week in October, AvÐÔ°® Christi will be hosting a ‘Mentally Healthy’ Expo during lunch on the 17th of September. There will be lots of fun activities, delicious food, and prizes. Stay tuned in the next few weeks for details.
Carey Baptist College presents:
Tuesday 11th August - The Teenage Brain: A Work in Progress!
Professor Donna Cross, renowned child and adolescent development researcher shares practical tips for parents. The workshop will provide an overview of what we know about the teenage brain and how parents can use this knowledge to support their adolescents health and wellbeing.
Topics covered will include:
Act-Belong-Commit Tip of the week
LIMIT SCREEN TIME
For some people this can be a challenge, but limiting screen time to 1-2 hours per day has many health benefits. You can replace the time you spend in front of the screen with something more mentally stimulating like reading or doing a crossword, trying a new recipe or walking your dog.
You’ll have extra time to nurture the relationships with your family and friends too. Swap the TV screen for a board game or sit down together over dinner.
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ONE DAY CERTIFICATE IN POSITIVE EDUCATION
It is the first time that this course has been offered in Perth so we are very excited to be offering this opportunity to School Psychologists, Counsellors, Teachers, School admin staff, anyone with an interest/passion for the application of Positive Psychology to Education.
Hosted at AvÐÔ°® Christi College, this is a unique opportunity, not to be missed! (Link Below)
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GLASS SLIPPER BALL
Dear AvÐÔ°® Community,
My name is Kasey Carr & together with 16-year-old cancer survivor Caitlin Garrett, we are organising the Glass Slipper Teens Ball for the 2nd year running, to raise funds for the Childrens Leukaemia & Cancer Research Foundation.
We are looking for the support of local schools to promote this event to their students and would like to request the help of AvÐÔ°® Christi College.
The Teens Ball will be held on Saturday 5th September at the Mercure Hotel Perth. Hosted by Hit92.9s Heidi, Will & Woody, the night will be jam packed full of fun and entertainment for teens aged 12-17. There will be a Photo Booth, DJ, Lolly Buffet and much more.
Tickets are on sale now from for $95 which includes a buffet meal and soft drinks. It is a great opportunity for teenagers to get dressed up and experience a night of glitz and glamour as well as supporting such an important cause.
Ticket sales close on 16th August, so if you would like to be a part of this event, please contact me via return email at kasey@glassslipperballwa.com.au or phone me on 0402 346 081.
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IGNITE LIVE- CATHOLIC YOUTH EVENT
Ignite Live is a large Catholic concert event that brings together teenagers and young adults from across Perth. The upcoming event is the fourth time Ignite Live has been held this year and hundreds of people have attended and enjoyed the previous nights, many who wouldn't usually participate in Church events. Anyone and everyone is encouraged to attend on Friday night 14th August at Seton College Theatre (7-9pm). This is a Catholic youth event totally different to anything held before and to get an idea of what to expect visit the website igniteyouth.com/Perth
ASYLUM SEEKER CONCERT - SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER ST MARRYS CATHEDRAL
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[accordion_item title="Whooping Cough Case" accordion="accordion"]
There has been a confirmed case of Whooping Cough at AvÐÔ°® Christi College. Please refer to the attachment below for signs of Whooping Cough and contact your GP if you have any concerns.
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