Dear Parents/Guardians,

AJASS Conference

Last week I attended the annual AJASS conference in Christchurch, New Zealand.  It was a great opportunity to learn from colleague principals and leaders who are also working in Association of Josephite Affiliated Secondary Schools.  There are currently 36 schools throughout Australia and New Zealand who have joined AJASS in an attempt to understand the Josephite charism and live it out within today’s context.

Many Mary MacKillop prayers mention that “Mary pioneered new ways of living the Gospel” and on Wednesday we heard the history of the Josephite sisters in New Zealand and then visited Marian College, Christchurch an all-girls Josephite school.  The earthquake in 2011 in Christchurch completely destroyed their previous school and they have just received news that they will not be able to rebuild on their previous site as it has been classified as a red zone.  A red zone means that the area is too unstable and is unable to be built upon.  In 2011 they shared a school with an all-boys school where the boys were at school from 7.30am to 12.30pm and then Marian College would take over the school from 1.00pm to 6.00pm.

From 2012 onwards, Marian College has relocated to another shared site in central Christchurch with Cathedral Catholic College.  Unlike the previous arrangement, Marian have their own area of the College, designated classrooms, staffrooms and a distinct area of the school.  They are awaiting confirmation to hear whether they will be continuing on their current site or rebuilding in a completely new area where many of the houses are now being rebuilt.  The students and staff demonstrate remarkable resilience and a genuine sense of belonging in spite a shifting three times in the past six years.

On Thursday we travelled to St Joseph’s Primary School in Temuka which was the first school opened by the Josephite sisters in New Zealand.  We heard of Mary MacKillop’s four visits to New Zealand and the history associated with the establishment of the Sisters of St Joseph in New Zealand. The ongoing question for us is how to witness the Gospel news through the Josephite charism to the students entrusted to our care.  I found these days challenging as I listened to how these remarkable women were answering God’s call. 

Work Experience

Thanks to our Careers staff for their tireless work in assisting over 260 Year 10 students with work placements in the week of May 23 – May 27.  Thanks also to staff who took the time to visit a number of students within their work placements during this time.  Many favourable comments have been received from employers and the wider community regarding the positive impact that many of our students had within their work placement.  As a school community it is great to receive these comments as often we only hear negative comments regarding the youth of today but it is great that the community gets to see the wonderful young people that we deal with daily, in action.  More information regarding this week of work experience will be contained within the Newsletter.

Hairspray

We are looking forward to enjoying the production of “Hairspray” which will be presented over three evenings from Thursday 28 – Saturday 30 July in the Mary MacKillop Auditorium at 7.30pm.  Students and staff, under the direction of Mr James Maddocks, have been working hard for many months now in preparation for what promises to be an outstanding series of performances.  We wish them well and I encourage students and families to support them by your attendance.

Languages Week

Last week at the College we celebrated Languages Week.  Our Languages department provides support for students and families in a wide range of areas including French, Japanese and Italian.  These also include Study Tours and Homestay experiences in each of these countries as well as hosting students from our sister schools in France, Italy and Japan. I thank Mrs Anna Favrin, Head of Languages and all the staff on the great work that they do.  We have made the decision to introduce French from the beginning of Year 7 from 2017 onwards.  This will provide our students with the opportunity to study French, Italian or Japanese for a full six years at Penola Catholic College.

End of Term

Students will be dismissed on Friday 24 June at 3.28pm.  Classes for Term 3 resume at 8.40am on Monday 11 July.

I hope that the holiday period provides some respite from the normal busyness of life and that students and staff return refreshed for the new term.

Let us give thanks to God for the many blessings and gifts of the second term and the first semester.

Student Photographs

A reminder to all parents that you need to notify the College if you do not give permission for your son or daughter’s photograph to be published in newsletters or promotional materials. 

We would like to begin to place more photographs and videos on MyPenola and so I take this opportunity to remind you of the student permission form for photographs.  If we have not received your permission form back at the College we have assumed that your consent has been provided.  It is the responsibility of each family to make this decision and notify the College in writing to my attention if you decide to exclude your son or daughter from having their photograph published. 

In practical terms, this will mean that your son or daughter will need to be excluded from most group shots such as class photographs as these are published in the annual College Year Book.

From the Deputy Principal: Head of Senior Campus

Ernie Pisani

Dear Parents,

The Semester One Reports are currently going through their final stages of the completion process and will be ready for you to view online. Because the close of grades for Semester One were different between the two campuses, the dates by which you are able to view these reports will also be different. Years 10 – 12 reports will be available on the evening of Tuesday 21st June and the Years 7 – 9 reports will be available on the evening of Monday 27th June. We wish all students all the very best for these upcoming reports.

Over the next week all Year 10 students will be visiting La Trobe University, Bundoora Campus, to explore the various study programs that are available to them should they wish to pursue education there. All students will participate in an Inspiring Futures workshop and two workshops or lectures from a selection of: Career Conversations, Curiosity Bot LEAP, Media Workshops, Create your own App, Robots Rule, Graph Colouring, Reading Minds and Detecting Lies. We hope that students are able to be inspired to seek further studies after they complete their current studies at Penola.

Term 2 comes to an end on Friday 24th June. Students will be dismissed at the normal time of 3:28pm. I wish all students and staff a safe and restful term break. Term 3 commences on Monday 11th July and as it is an early leave day, students will be dismissed at 3:00pm.

Year 9 Languages Banquet, 2016

On Thursday 9th June, all year 9s participated in the Languages Banquet. We had to set up our table at the start of the afternoon. We decorated it with both French and Italian items, to represent both of the languages we are studying. First course was Japanese – sushi, second course was Italian – lasagne and dessert was French – chocolate éclair. We all participated in activities throughout the day, including quizzes and trivial. Thank you Mrs Favrin for putting on a great afternoon for all of us.

Chloe, Chelsea, Chris, Nick, Sophie, Marya, Olivia

Sport Report:

Brett Dickinson

SENIOR SPORT ROUND 5

Intermediate Futsal

On Monday May 30, two teams of boys and girls from the intermediate year levels competed at the Annual SACCSS Tournament. The boys team, coached by Miss Dellorso won one game and drew one game whilst the girls team, coached by Mr Le won one game also. A great day was had by all.

Hi from WEP!

Although we had already placed all our exchange students in time for their arrivals this July, we are now urgently looking for four loving, volunteer host families for our Italian and French-speaking exchange students, as their previously confirmed host families had to withdraw for personal reasons.  If you could share the below brief message with your students and/or parents, we would greatly appreciate your time and support. We hope that one’s family loss will be another family’s gain.

Share a slice of your life this July - Host a WEP exchange student!

Welcoming an Italian or French-speaking exchange student to your family is rewarding in so many ways. You can share your family's Aussie way of life with a student from another culture, connect to your community in exciting new ways, and bring the world into your home. And for the student you welcome into your family, you’re providing a once-in-a-lifetime experience they’ll treasure forever.

 It's the simple things!

For our exchange students, it's the little things that make their stay so memorable: trying Vegemite for the first time, attending our high school, seeing a kangaroo, koala or cockatoo. Hosting an exchange student doesn't take anything fancy — just a warm, welcoming spirit and the love you'd give to your own family.

WEP is currently looking for families interested in inviting an Italian or French-speaking exchange student this July. If this is of interest to your family, please contact Sylvia Kelly at WEP today to receive detailed program and student information: www.wep.org.au, sylviakelly@wep.org.au, 1300 884 733.