Newsletter 11 - July 23

Principal's Message

Dear Parents, Students and Staff,

Galatians 5:22-23 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” 

A Cannonball Moment: On 20 May 1521, St. Ignatius was seriously injured when a cannonball shattered his legs. This cannonball moment marks the beginning of Ignatius’ spiritual journey of conversion and a more closely following of Christ. It opened up a new dream for Ignatius; one he had not thought of earlier. He started seeing the world and all things new with the eyes of Christ.

The Coronavirus may be an opportunity for us to reflect on this as our ‘cannonball moment’. Since the beginning of last year when things seemed so dire, then we struggled together and apparently came through as a community and nation relatively unscathed, some complacency perhaps has crept back into our way of doing things. This is our opportunity now to seize this cannonball moment and redirect our lives once again in service of each other and those less fortunate.

How will you allow this cannonball moment to inspire you to be ‘men and women’ for others?

Be prepared: The lessons of the past 12 months have taught us that being prepared is the key to managing challenging situations. The most recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Sydney appears to be the most aggressive variant yet; as such, the entire community is in a perpetual state of alert. It has been very rewarding to see the calm and confidence of our young people over the last week as we prepare them to spring into action for any eventuality. Having said that, we cannot allow complacency to interfere with our preparation process. I ask all parents to make sure you are fully aware and supportive of the Home Learning directions on the College webpage. Each of our year groups have been systematically stepped through this once again in case the worst happens.

In the meantime, we pray for our friends and families in those communities directly impacted by this latest outbreak. God willing we won’t be impacted but at least we know we are well drilled if the virus comes knocking at the Xavier community door.

Parental Reminders During Covid: The CSO, CSNSW and NSW Health have advised that NO non-essential visitors be onsite during this latest outbreak. We ask, then, that parents avoid coming onsite where possible and use other means to transact business with the College. Phone, email, direct messages and even diary notes in your child’s planner are preferable to casual visitation to the College office or facilities. Rest assured we have the best advice and plans in place to ensure your child’s wellbeing.

Academic and Consistent Effort Awards - Years 7-10: I was pleased on Thursday and Friday to be able to present to students in Years 7-10 across each of the house groups. I commend all students for their determined and focused effort in achieving these accolades and encourage everyone to set goals for the remainder of the year. It is within every student’s potential to achieve, at the very least, a Consistent Effort award in all subjects. You don’t need to be the smartest, highest achieving student to be awarded this. You simply need to be prepared for work each day, bring all your equipment, complete all set work in class and homework and submit all tasks on time. Creating and working towards a positive learning culture in the classroom is everyone’s responsibility and I look forward to recognising their efforts at the end of this forthcoming semester.

God Bless,
Mr Kevin Lewis
College Principal
kevin.lewis@lism.catholic.edu.au

Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning

Year 7-10 Reports

Semester 1 Reports for Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 were made available via the Parent Portal on 14 July. Students are encouraged to reflect on their report and to set individual learning goals for Semester 2. Term 3 Assessment Calendars for each year level are available on the College website under the Curriculum Tab/Assessment Information/Year level.

Parent/Teacher Phone Interviews

We thank parents for their understanding of the phone interview process that was implemented for Parent/Teacher Interviews on Thursday 22 July due to COVID-19 restrictions. We hope the opportunity to discuss your child's progress and to form ongoing partnerships with the teaching staff was valuable. If you require further information on your child’s academic progress please be reminded to contact the classroom teacher via email or the relevant Leader of Learning.

Year 10 Subject Selection

Year 10 students completed individual interviews for senior subject selection on Monday 19 July and Tuesday 20 July. Year 10 students are to be commended on the preparation and positive approach displayed toward the senior subject selection process. Thank you also to parents and guardians for your support and understanding during the revised online selection process.

Year 8 into 9 Subject Selection

Year 8 students will be involved in subject selection information sessions on Monday 26 July. Students will be guided through the subject selection process and will experience four subject rotations in order to experience a range of elective subjects on offer. Students will select TWO elective subjects from the subjects on offer for study across Years 9 and 10. Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions a parent information evening will not be able to be held. Students and parents will have access to the Year 8 Subject Selection Google Site to assist in choosing elective subjects for study in Years 9 and 10.

Trial HSC Examinations

Year 12 students will complete their final assessment tasks this term during the Trial HSC Examination period.  Examinations commence on Monday 9 August and conclude on Monday 23 August. All Year 12 students are encouraged to consolidate all course material and to focus on a program of study in order to be well prepared for the forthcoming examination block. A sense of balance is particularly important at this time and students are reminded of the need to take time for relaxation and to nurture their wellbeing in the lead up to Trial and HSC examinations.

Year 11 Examinations

The Year 11 Examination block is scheduled for Weeks 8 and 9. Examinations will commence on Monday 30 August and conclude on Friday 10 September. All students are encouraged to commence a program of study and regular revision of course content in preparation for the end of course examinations.

Minimum Standards Tests

Catch up tests for any Year 10 student who missed the recent round of Minimum Standards Testing will occur on Monday 9 August. A further opportunity for students who have not yet attained the Minimum Standards will also be provided on this date. 

Continuity Plan for Learning and Teaching within the context of COVID

We find ourselves in the situation of facing the ever-changing nature of the COVID outbreak in NSW. Please be reassured that a continuity plan for learning and teaching has been developed to ensure we are prepared at the College if a period of learning from home is required to be enacted at any point in time. 

Mrs Amanda Falvey

Assistant Principal - Staff and Students

Staff Professional Learning Day 

I hope that our students all enjoyed and made the most of their extra day of holidays while the staff returned to work on Monday 21 July for a valuable Professional Development day. These opportunities are so important for us to gather as a staff and have that solid block of time available to learn, share and reflect on the many aspects of Teaching and Learning and Pastoral Care that we are involved in. Collaboration makes us stronger as a community and more effective as an educational institution as we align our goals and enrich each other by sharing our God given gifts.

A key focus of this recent Professional Learning Day was analysing the data provided for our Pastoral Care Teachers from the student survey that was completed in PC groups last term. The survey was a great tool for personal professional reflection and aided teachers in planning of future goals and directions for their Pastoral Care group activities and routines. It was wonderful to hear of the consistent strength that was articulated by the students about the connections they make across the Xavier College Community through their vertically structured homegroups and, importantly, a large number of students identified the importance of the inclusive and nurturing environments provided by their Pastoral Care teachers. A number of students and teachers acknowledged a desire to further encourage connection across the year levels with students being more active in the running of the homeroom activities, notices and prayer time each morning. With this in mind I challenge all the students in our school to embrace this culture and not only continue with their positive attitude toward their PC group but to really step up and be an active member, supporting their homegroup  in activities and running of Pastoral Care group time, encouraging and supporting each of their PC members to do the same.

Start of Term 3 with new COVID restrictions

I would like to thank our entire community for how we have adjusted to this new round of COVID restrictions. With the teachers wearing masks in the classroom and students wearing them on buses, the times of encouraging social distancing are, unfortunately, still with us and the restriction to visit friends and family in Sydney and beyond our borders remains. I encourage all families to ensure they reach out, virtually, to family and friends who may be isolated or in lockdown. We look forward to the days ahead where we will once again be in the physical presence of, and hold, the people we love and who love us and therefore appreciate even more the gift that they are to us and we to them. Remember that nothing on earth really lasts forever except in, through, and with God.

Business sponsors for ‘School Mental Health Program’

On Thursday last week I was able to attend the launch of the Teen Mental Health First Aid Program created by Prevent Consultants. The driving force behind Prevent Consultants Trent Chapman and his team have been hard at work in the community sourcing sponsors for mental health initiatives and programs in local schools. Xavier Catholic College will be one of the lucky beneficiaries as we will be able to have Trent and his team run the program for our entire Year 7 and Year 10 cohorts at no cost to the College. This is such a blessing and amazing gift for our College. We have previously had Trent in to deliver a Mental First Aid course to our Year 10s, so we are well aware of the incredible value this experience has been for our students in the past and we are excited to be a part of this program which will take place in Term 4 this year. 

The Xavier College Community would like to show our gratitude to Trent Chapman and his team, but also the generosity of the following local businesses McGrath Real Estate, Kubota, Rapid Media, Subway and All Pest Solutions who have kindly sponsored the program and made this opportunity possible. We can only hope that more businesses in our local community will be willing to contribute to the ongoing growth of this project in future year

Mr Peter Fear

Catechesis and Evangelisation

Vinnies Winter Sleep Out

Members of the Senior Ministry Team spent a very cold and rainy night ‘sleeping rough’ under the C Block awning last term as part of our Annual Sleep Out for the Vinnies Winter Appeal. Winter sleep outs encourage students to give up their comfortable bed to help raise funds and awareness about homelessness and disadvantage in Australia. 

The Vinnies Winter Appeal is ongoing and our efforts as a College community to reach our goal of $200 was wonderfully achieved. We would like to extend a huge thank you to all who donated and supported us as we have been able to raise $772.55. To help Vinnies provide support for those in our community who need it the most please consider a donation at Vinnies Winter Appeal.   

Masses in The Manresa Chapel

Fr Anselm presided at a celebration of the Eucharist this week with students from Year 7 Nagle and Ignatius Houses. Students prepared and led various ministries during these liturgies, from proclaiming the readings to writing the prayers of the faithful.  

Year 9 Ministry

At the end of last term a group of Year 9 students assisted Holy Family and St Francis Xavier Primary schools with their Confirmation preparation. These students ran faith-based activities centered around the importance of Confirmation. 

Year 10 Ministry

Last term members of the Year 10 Ministry class volunteered to assist local Youth Ministry Officers and the Diocesan band, Wildfire, with their 10:10 Proclaim days in Alstonville. They worked with primary students from both St Joseph’s Alstonville and St Carthage’s Lismore, leading small groups, activities and sharing their own faith experiences.

Year 10 Retreat

Unfortunately the Year 10 Retreats scheduled for next week cannot proceed under current COVID restrictions. All regional NSW schools will be on Level 2 COVID restrictions until (at least) 30 July. Level 2 COVID restrictions do not permit overnight camps or retreats.

Alternative retreat dates are currently being explored as well as options for alternative locally-based discipleship experiences that can be conducted during school hours. 

Parents and students will be advised as soon as any decisions are made.                                                 

The Diocesan Shine Gathering

Due to the recent COVID restrictions the Shine Gathering in Coffs Harbour has been postponed. The new dates are Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 September. 

Mr David Eyles & Mrs Mary Howard

Wellbeing

Mindfulness and Compassionate Commitment
[ Character Strength and Jesuit Value]

This term will include the Trial exams for the Year 12 students, the end of course exams for the Year 11 students and the normal term assessments for all students. It is important to develop a healthy and sustainable pattern of study for intellectual growth.

Study Success:  

These are scientifically proven steps to study success from ReachOut.

1. Break your study up into manageable 20-minute chunks. Get some more info about setting small goals here.
2. Talk about it or say it out loud. When you say something out loud, you’ll find it much easier to remember. Chatting with someone about what you’re studying is even better.
3. Remove the distractions. Put your phone on silent and out of reach, and turn off the pop-up notifications on your computer. Research shows that it can take up to 20 minutes to refocus on what you’re doing once you’ve been distracted.
4. Take breaks. If you plan your study chunks with breaks in between, having the time away can help you to come back refreshed.
5. Get some sleep! Getting a good night’s rest helps your brain and body to rest and recharge. In fact, you’ll do better at your exams and remember more of what you studied if you get a good night’s sleep, rather than if you stayed up late studying.

Other things you can do include eating the right foods, perfecting your time management skills, and knowing when to take a break from studying and getting some physical activity or social time in.

Find out more at: https://au.reachout.com/articles/5-steps-to-study-success

Cyber-bullying

On Thursday Senior Constable Papasidero from the Police School Liaison Office spoke to the Year 7 and 8 students about the very serious nature and impact of cyber-bullying. Like all other bullying this repeated poor conduct can have a devastating impact on the victim, but can be done quickly and from a distance. Students were asked to screen capture such bullying and to report it to their parents, the school and the Police in very serious cases.

Please use social media in a positively social manner. 

Mr Anthony Condon

House News

Ignatius House - Caring for our Common Home

Fundraising Thankyou 

As you may be aware, as members of Ignatius House we do our best to raise awareness about the importance of Caring for our Common Home. We also choose to focus our fundraising initiatives around this important issue. 

We reported at the end of last term that the Ignatius fundraising initiative would be twofold. Firstly, it involved selling soft drinks on Fridays for the last three weeks of term. We would like to thank you all for supporting our brothers and sisters in Turiscai by buying soft drinks. Through this alone we raised close to $600. However, the really important part of selling these drinks was to encourage our College community to engage with the Return and Earn program and learn how to use our new bins appropriately. This wonderful program allows communities to keep eligible recyclable materials out of landfill whilst earning some money at the same time. 

We are very pleased to report that in the three short weeks of these bins being utilised in our community we were able to keep 811 containers from being added to landfill, raising another $81.  This brings our total funds raised for our friends in Turiscai to almost $700. Thank you to the students and staff who supported our initiative by using the bins correctly, to Mr Rod Balkin for sorting the rubbish out of the bins and to Mr Matt Purcell for taking the containers to the Lismore Bulk Return and Earn centre to collect our refund. 

The Return and Earn Program will continue in the College. Funds raised in the immediate future will go towards purchasing more bins. It is hoped that this will facilitate ease of access for the students to engage with the program and place more eligible drink containers in the bins.

On behalf of Ignatius House and the Ignatius Captains, we sincerely thank the College community for supporting our fundraising initiative.

Mrs Janine Wallace
Head of Ignatius House

Sport News

2021 Championship Athletics Carnivals

The 2021 Championship Athletics Carnivals were held over two days with around 120 students nominating and competing on both days. 

Field Athletics

This carnival was held on the College Oval on Thursday 24 June. Students had their first use of the new long jump/triple jump tracks, as well as the shot put and discus throwing spaces at the southern end of the oval. Javelin was also conducted on the northern end of the oval. Congratulations to all the Field Athletics competitors and thank you to the staff and the Year 11 SLR helpers on a great day. 

Congratulations to the following students who set new College Field records in 2021:

• Zoe Hope: U12 Girls Long Jump - 3.87m 
• Cooper Thomas: U14 Boys Discus - 30.30m 
• Alexander Crimmins: Junior Boys Triple Jump - 12.06m
• Olivia Hayden: Junior Girls Triple Jump - 8.64m
• Abbey Davies: U15 Girls Javelin - 22.30m
• Olivia Page: Senior Girls Triple Jump - 8.24m
• Olivia Page: U17 Girls Javelin - 23.98m
• Olivia Page: U17 Girls Discus - 16.72m
• Olivia Page: U17 Girls Shot Put - 7.85m
• Lara Fogarty-Bennett: U17 Girls Long Jump - 4.29
• Lachlan Miles: U17 Boys Long Jump - 5.44m
• Zachariah Sullivan: Senior Boys Triple Jump - 11.83m
• Zachariah Sullivan: U17 Boys Javelin - 31.43m
• Zachariah Sullivan: U17 Boys Discus - 25.80m
• Zachariah Sullivan: U17 Boys Shot Put - 9.72m

Track Athletics

This carnival was held at the Chickiba Ovals, East Ballina on Friday 25 June. The Ballina Shire Council prepared a track that was flat and fast. Students competed in 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres and 1500 metres. Congratulations to all the Track Athletics competitors and thank you to the staff and the Year 11 SLR helpers on a great day. 

Congratulations to the following students who set new College Track records in 2021:

• Declan Wallace: U13 Boys 400m - 65.18s
• Tyler Dogan: U14 Boys 1500m - 5.02.60
• Tyler Dogan: U14 Boys 800m - 2:32.0
• Alexander Crimmins: U15 Boys 200m - 26.02s
• Lachlan Miles: U17 Boys 100m - 12.63s
• Jesse Allen: U17 Boys 800m - 2:47.5
• Joel Roach: U17 Boys 1500m - 6:06.4
• Cheyanne Acret: U17s Girls 100m - 15.13
• Clancy Miller: U17 Girls 800m - 2.50.40
• Clancy Miller: U17 Girls 1500m - 6.08.40

2021 Xavier Catholic College Athletics Age Champions

Congratulations to the following athletes:

• U12 Girls - Elizabeth Quinn
• U13 Boys - Declan Wallace
• U13 Girls - Marli Francis
• U14 Boys - Caiden Manley
• U14 Girls - Madeleine Alexander
• U15 Boys - Alexander Crimmins
• U15 Girls - Abbey Davies
• U16 Boys - Tom Tullett
• U16 Girls - Bridie Moss
• U17 Boys - Joel Roach
• U17 Girls - Olivia Page
• U18 Girls - Ashlee Patterson

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2021 Lismore Diocesan Athletics Carnival

This carnival is planned to be held at the Coffs Harbour Stadium on Thursday 12th August. 

The Xavier Catholic College representative Athletics team will be selected based on Championship results. The top 2 placegetters in each event (top 4 for junior, intermediate and senior 4 x 100m relays) will qualify for Diocesan Athletics, with 3rd and 4th placegetters being next in line.

Students wishing to be considered for High Jump, 110 metres hurdles or 1500 metre walk at Diocesan level, need to see Mr Pat Kennedy.

House Volleyball Competition

Throughout the last 2 weeks of term 2, we held our annual College House Volleyball Competition. Congratulations to yr12 student Joe Knott who convened this and the house sporting captains. Matches were played in the Hall and on the Village Green, with large crowds watching on.

2021 House Volleyball Competition results:

1. McAuley 
2. Ignatius
3. Campion
4. Mackillop 
5. Nagle
6. Foley

Congratulations to the winning Year 12 McAuley House Volleyball team.

Mr Pat Kennedy & Mr Flynn Whitney (Sport Trainee)

Canteen News – Term 3 2021

Mrs Denise Barnard – Canteen Supervisor

Canteen is a great opportunity to meet other parents and to be involved in your child/childrens school life

• Arrive at school by 8:45am and park on the street (or you will get locked in the bottom carpark!)
• Go to the Office to sign in and receive your Visitor Badge.
• Head over to the Canteen where you can start preparing for the day’s lunch orders.
• Volunteers receive lunch and their children receive a $5 canteen voucher.
• Finish time is approximately 1:30-2:00pm, depending how busy the day is.
• If you are unable to make your rostered day please email Denise at xcccanteen@lism.catholic.edu.au or phone the College beforehand on 6618 0180.
• Text message reminders are sent on Wednesdays the week before your rostered day.

College News

Year 9 Year Assembly

Year Assemblies are part of the regular routine at Xavier, along with College and House Assemblies. This week’s Year 9 Assembly featured musical performances by Jessica Docherty and Jake Rubbo.

Year 9 Pastoral Care Days

The Year 9 Pastoral Care days were a great chance for the whole of Year 9 to come together and become closer friends with everyone else in their year. The boys had two great days of fun and activities. We were lucky enough to have Trent Chapman come in and talk to us about his life experiences and how he overcame his struggles with mental health. He taught us how to maintain a positive mindset and how to help ourselves when we aren't mentally in the best places through strategies such as exercise, reading, meditating and focusing on your breathing. He also taught us how to read food and drink labels and maintain healthy diets. 

On Friday we had more of a teacher run day with lots of activities on the stereotypes of men and how we need to break free from these. We also had fun playing games with our year at the end of the day. 

In addition, it was great to have the Year 11 panel of students come in and talk about their experiences in Year 9 and their take on how to live a happy life.

By Jack Mundey
Year 9

The Year 9 Pastoral Care days are for Year 9 students to bond with their year group and share their feelings. By engaging and participating in these days created by the teachers, Year 9 students experienced a sense of belonging through fun activities, movies, and guest speakers. These days had a very strong and special impact on the year group as a whole and I feel that the students involved will remember these days for years to come.

The boys and girls split off into groups in order to create a stronger sense of community within the year to talk about how we can improve as a year and strengthen our bond. We did many activities along the 2 days that we had. One of the activities that we got to participate in was cutting out images of a daisy and passing it around to different girls in the room so that we could write kind and caring things about each other on them. We then got our daisy back and it was filled with many uplifting compliments.

My favourite activity that we got to do was grabbing heaps of boxes that our teachers had collected along the way and we wrote down hurtful things that we had heard and that have been said to young girls and women. When we finished writing on the boxes, we built them into a wall and knocked them down. This was such an amazing activity as we got to push down negative thoughts, words and feelings and were taught to remember to focus on the positive things about ourselves. 

The girls were left empowered after our talks with Tyla Sponder and Louise Baird as they gave us very powerful and insightful information on how we can get through this year as it can be tough. Tyla Sponder shared with us what her new song ‘To be a Girl’ was about. She explained how and why she created this song and how it came to be. She mentioned that she actually first started writing her song after her own Year 9 Pastoral Days experience at Xavier Catholic College. 

Another guest speaker we had was Bod Squad to get us off our feet and have some fun. The Bod Squad trainers Alex and Rikki showed us girls fun ways to exercise and dance which encouraged us to laugh and showed us how we can use movement to create a clear mind. 

At the end of each day, the boys and girls met up for the last two periods to have some fun. We had much fun playing games with our Year 9 cohort. We also had the opportunity to listen to guest speakers from our Year 11 students to talk to us about their experiences when they were in Year 9 and let us know some key points. This was invaluable as they were in Year 9 only 2 years ago. Thank you to Zac Sullivan, Will Jenkins, Tyler Adamson, Tilly Peacock, Cheyenne Acret and Ruve Murdoch who told us about their Year 9 schooling and how they went through the challenging things you go through in Year 9.

The Year 9 Pastoral Care days were filled with joy but overall we would like to thank the teachers and guest speakers that came to make these two days possible. We experienced fun and were encouraged to have a positive outlook on today, tomorrow and our exciting journey to come.

By Myia Clarke
Year 9

Reflections about the day from Year 9

• I enjoyed spending time as a year group and addressing issues that come up in daily life

• The zoom with Tyla and Lou's speech to the girls were very inspiring and the daisy creating made everyone feel good about themselves. The box activity was extremely powerful and emotional

• Really fun and engaging

• Helped us feel closer as a group

• Helped me understand that everything is going through stuff

• Talking with some of the guest speakers was really nice

• The box activity was really great

Special thanks to the teachers who planned, organised and facilitated the two Pastoral Care days - Mr John Cunyngname, Mr Julian White, Mr Matthew Wills, Mrs Kate Kilby, Mrs Naomi Byrnes and Mrs Rebecca Kennedy

Co Curricular News

School Tree Day - July 30, 2021

Schools' Tree Day (and National Tree Day) is all about regeneration - whether it's ecosystems recovering from the vicious bushfires, or our mental andemtional recovery in the wake of COVID-19.

Each year thousands of schools across Australia take part in National Schools Tree Day by getting their hands dirty and planting a few. But why are trees so important for the environment anywya? Check out this video to see how other schools have been particiapting each year. For more information and research from the National Tree Day team, head over to the National Tree Day site.

Schools Competition

The Schools Tree Day competition is now open. Planet Ark wants to see students visualise how trees interact with the non-living things (elements) in their environment. the competition closes on 30 July 2021. Enter here.

Plastic Free July

Many in our College community have been supporting the annual Plastic Free July. Plastic Free July® is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution – so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities.

Food Wastage

Food Smart is an interactive program to help NSW households learn how to reduce food waste at home. People living on the north coast can be part of North East Waste's Food Smart program.

Sign up to the Food Smart program at www.newaste.org.au/foodsmart .The Food Smart program will give you great storage tips and hints, as well as recipe ideas on how to make your food go further, preventing good food from going to waste and saving you time and money.

Sustainable City | Fully Charged

An interesting program on what can be done to battle climate change.

Masks

"Studies have recently shown that, even when factoring in imperfections and human error, wearing face masks can reduce transmission of coronavirus by around 60 per cent," reads a press release outlining the advice, which is unprecedented in Australia.  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-17/coronacheck-melbourne-masks-are-they-effective/12462034

Instead of choosing to use the single-use disposable masks, opt for a reusable face mask, and even better choose to support a local store/artist near you that sells them!

• By choosing to use reusable items to protect yourself and others during this pandemic, to choose to be zero-waste is going to have a positive impact on the environment. 
• Reusing cloth masks helps limit the hefty amount of microplastics that are present in the disposable masks that are worsening pollution.
  

Ms Leanne McFadden

Cut the elastic before disposing

Community News