Bulletin

Upcoming Events Reminder

Saturday 09 February:  P&F Parents Welcome Cocktail Party - 7.00pm - College grounds

Monday 11 February:  Year 12 Parent Teacher Interviews 3.30pm-7.30pm (see letter emailed from Mrs Mano to Year 12 parents 01/02/19)

Dear Parents and Carers

On Wednesday we hosted a celebration for the distinguished scholars of the class of 2018, and the students from the class of 2019 who had completed Accelerated Mathematics courses.  It was a delight to see the graduates of last year and hear of their exciting tertiary plans for this year and beyond.  The range of degrees they are about to start and the range of universities they have been accepted to were impressive.  At the assembly Bronte Funnell was awarded two special prizes:

• The Grace Robinson Prize for the student who achieves the highest ATAR of her cohort.  Bronte achieved an exceptional ATAR of 99.65.
• The Mary Aikenhead Education Prize for student achieving the highest ATAR across the four Mary Aikenhead Colleges of Australia.

One of the highlights of the academic assembly every year is the address given by the College Dux. This year, Madison Durham and Bronte Funnell co-presented an address to the students which contained many valuable insights and anecdotes:

Bronte:  "There was a point in the middle of the year when I had so much work that I felt that I needed to drop Physics. But after talking to Mr Graham, I walked out of his office with the same number of units...but with a new-found motivation; not to achieve more, but to try more.  I understood that I didn’t have it tough and it wasn’t meant to be easy, it's just a matter of hard work.  So I reacted with effort - and that same subject I was about to drop became my highest mark in the HSC". 

Madison:  "I would get so frustrated because the girls who were getting the top marks made it looks so easy and as if it was second nature to them, and for some of them it probably was, but definitely not for me.  The real turning point came for me around mid-Year 10 when I decided that I too wanted to do well, and I thought, well, all I can do is work hard and give it a shot.  This was, somewhat to my surprise and greatly to my delight, rewarded by the good results that I received for that (Maths) exam.  I saw my marks up there on par with the girls who made it looks easy. I realised there that I TOO was capable, and it WAS possible to be proud of my marks - I just had to work a lot harder for it". 

It was a privilege to hear Madison and Bronte deliver their presentation with the self confidence gained from working so hard to achieve their extraordinary academic success.  We wish these two great scholars and great friends well as they enrol in courses at Australia National University in Canberra.

This morning at St Mary's Cathedral the College community celebrated a Eucharist for the commencement of the 2019 Academic Year.  We also used this joyful occasion to Bless the new Student Leadership Team (featured in the photo above).  The celebrant was Fr Frank Brennan sj, who offered a homily with a message for everyone who gathered this morning.  Whether you were a Year 7, or a grandparent, or a teacher, there was a perfectly accessible message to take from his wise words.

A special thank you to Mrs Kenderes, Ms McLean and Mr Weaver, for the careful preparation of the liturgy.  Students ministered to us through dance, word, voice and liturgical service.  It was indeed a respectful way to commence our year and to commission our new students, new staff and new leaders.

I look forward to meeting up with many parents at the P&F Cocktail Party on Saturday evening. 

Mrs Anne Fry
Principal

The College community offers its condolences to the following who has lost a loved one recently:

Frankie Duffy (Year 7) - Grandfather.

Ms Maryanne O'Donoghue (staff) - Aunt.

Radical love

Today St Mary’s Cathedral was filled with young women and their wisdom figures (parents, siblings, relatives, teachers and staff) standing shoulder to shoulder committing to being respectful people who operate out of love. Over the last week, I have enjoyed working with Mrs Kenderes and Mr Weaver as we have prepared the students and staff for our Mass to open the Academic Year and sharing with them why we gather and celebrate in this way.  I believe that our celebration of the Eucharist is a visible expression of our commitment to being radical.  When I first used the word ‘radical’, I was met with quizzical looks from students and staff, perhaps thinking I was referencing the 1980s cult show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or testing out my latest slang. My intent became clearer when I shared that to be a person who loves all, not just that are easy to love, like family and friends, is a person who is radical. Our participation in the Eucharist invites us to be such people.  I look forward to working with the student Charism committee as we continue to find ways of sharing creative and inclusive liturgy.  The next opportunity for this is the House Masses which will take place on Friday mornings in February and March starting at 7:45am.

We look forward to welcoming new students into their Houses and encourage parents and friends to come and celebrate with us in the Congregational Chapel on the College grounds.  Your Heads of House will be in touch with more details soon.  Please note the following dates in your diary:

15 February 2019 - Cater and De Lacy

22 February 2019 - Aikenhead and Cahill

01 March 2019 - O'Brien and Williams.

Yours in radical love

MS RACHEL MCLEAN
DIRECTOR FAITH AND MISSION

Our first In Weekend for 2019 was based around the College theme of Respect.  On Friday night the boarders led by our Captains Alex and Tyler, completed a range of activities including talking in table groups about what respect looks, feels and sounds like, then writing limericks to share with us about Respect in particular places in our Boarding House.

Saturday afternoon was filled with painting of images to decorate the Boarding House.  The artworks, created by table groups, were following the theme of Respect and were inspired by quotes that the BRC prepared for us.  These quotes made us think and started really good conversations in our table groups. We then attended mass at St Canice and afterwards watched the movie 'Hidden Figures'.

On Sunday morning we tried ice skating for the first time and some of the girls amazed us with their talent!

This weekend was a great way to start this year of Respect in our Boarding House and we are all very grateful for the work of our Captains and the BRC.

Grace Kelly, Dubbo

Yours in Boarding

MS MARYANNE O’DONOGHUE
DIRECTOR OF BOARDING

I was privileged to be awarded the annual Staff Scholarship at the College's 2018 Speech Night.  My field of study and research will be the role of the United Nations in the protection of Human Rights. A particular depth study will be on Human Trafficking.

The Catholic Church today celebrates the feast of St Josephine Bakhita, the patron saint of human trafficking.  She was born in Sudan in 1869 and she died in Italy in 1947, aged 78 years.  She was kidnapped at the age of nine and sold many times as a slave, experiencing the humiliations and sufferings of slavery, both physical and moral.  Eventually she was bought by an Italian Consul who returned to Italy.  While she experienced kindness she was temporarily entrusted to the Canossian Sisters in Venice.  It was there that Bakhita came to know about God.

Josephine became a novice with the Canossian Daughters of Charity religious order on 7 December 1893, and took her final vows on 8 December 1896.  For the next 42 years of her life, she worked as a cook and a doorkeeper at the convent.  She also travelled and visited other convents telling her story to other sisters and preparing them for work in Africa.

I look forward to sharing with you my journey and study.

Mr Joseph Hekeik
Head of Administration/HSIE Teacher

As we commence the school year, I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that the College has an excellent Career’s website that can be accessed via the College website or by using the following link:  http://www.stvincentscollegecareers.com/.  I encourage everyone to have a look.

UCAT

The steps to study Undergraduate Medicine have changed. No longer do students sit for the UMAT exam; instead they will be attempting UCAT.  See below handy links to access UCAT information and preparation materials.

-    Home page: https://www.ucat.edu.au/
-    FAQ's: https://www.ucat.edu.au/faqs/
-    Free preparation resources (practice tests, question bank, online tutorials etc): https://www.ucat.edu.au/ucat-anz/practice-tests/

Gap Placements

Lattitude applications have opened and priority deadline for our their popular placements is Friday 8 March. Overseas volunteer opportunities range from 6 weeks to 12 months.  Check the Lattitude website for details.

MS HELEN MARSHALL
CAREERS ADVISER

Co-ordinator of Sport: Ms Jacinta Jacobs: 0418 416 663 / jacobsj@stvincents.nsw.edu.au

Head of Tennis  -  Ms Therese Taylor    0408 711 881
Head of Touch  -  Ms Elyse Hermanis   0434 610 870
Head of Water polo  -  Ms Steph El Safty    0419 950 164
Head of Swimming/Cross Country - Ms Jacinta Jacobs   0418 416663

SPORTS DRAW:  For all draw and venue information go to: www.stvincents.nsw.edu.au/sport/weekly-sports-draw/  

Website details: www.stvincents.nsw.edu.au/sport . 

TERM 1 SPORT

Welcome to Sport at St Vincent’s College for 2019.

The Sports office is located in the PDHPE office near the pool, however, all Sports information will be posted on the noticeboards on the ground floor of Garcia and also on the College website under Sport . Please contact Ms Jacobs if you have any questions or problems.

Sport is not compulsory at the College, however, we do encourage the girls to play in at least one term each year to meet new friends and develop team spirit.  If your daughter registers for a team and is selected - she is then committed to all training sessions and matches, and to pay the necessary fees.

Coaches will mark rolls at every training session and match.  These rolls will be checked with our new Heads of each Sport. If a student has an unexplained absence on more than two occasions, then she will be required to have a meeting with the Co-ordinator of Sport and may not be permitted to participate in sport in the subsequent term.

IGSSA SATURDAY and TILDESLEY TENNIS

It’s always a great time of year, jumping into the first term of school, and activities.  A new year and a fresh slate...and it’s tennis time all over Australia, but more importantly for the tennis girls of St Vincent’s, it’s Tildesley and IGSSA time.

We have a solid team base for Tildesley and we are asking our girls to fully commit to their efforts, with new draw rules coming into the tournament, which will mean a “fairer go” for all schools who enter the competition.  So, we are expecting big things this year girls!  With more focus on fitness and more emphasis on match play during training, we hope to improve our results this year.

The IGSSA Competition starts on 9 February.  The draw can be found on the College website.  Please remember that you are in a team and there is no “I” in “team”, so you must communicate with the rest of your team and your coach.  Remember to arrive well ahead of time (30 minutes) for all your games and be supportive of your team members.  Always wear a hat and sunscreen and have plenty of water and nutrition and most importantly - don’t forget your racquet.  

Welcome to our new Year 7 teams and players - and don’t forget we can always use more tennis players. So if you think it’s too late, it’s not, we always need reserves.  Head down and chat to Ms Jacobs as we’d love to put you in a team.

Ms Therese Taylor
Head Tennis Coach

TOUCH

Welcome players and parents to the 2019 Touch football season.  Congratulations for the efforts of the first week at training and at the games.  Everyone is constantly learning, supporting their team mates and judging by the buzz and enthusiasm, are enjoying touch football as a sport.

To update you all, the coaches and I are working very hard to instill an environment of team positivity, encouragement and respect. This is in line with the Vinnies spirit.  As a result, the standard of touch football has indicated to me early that St Vincent's is going to have a great season ahead.  The standard of touch is very high at the College, with many improving players and a lot of the younger players featuring heavily in the senior teams.  Providing this sense of dedication and aspiration stays strong, we should see in the long-term plans that touch football at St Vincent's College will flourish.

As a part of the future plans of the program, I have enlisted the help of some very good coaches this season. A good mix of experienced national level coaches and young enthusiastic ex Vinnies' players.  Together we will be providing the best knowledge and experience for the players ready for a fantastic season ahead. 

Ms Elyse Hermanis
Head Coach of Touch

WATER POLO

This term of water polo is about to get underway with the first games starting this Saturday 9 February.  This term we have a massive ten teams competing in Term 1 water polo and have a team entered in every division.  This year we are diving into a new competition, the Eastern Suburbs School Girls (ESSG) competition.  This will bring some exciting new rivalries and a great change - to really challenge the girls this term.

With a week of training already under each team’s belts, it looking to be a positive start to the competition with each team striving to train hard every week and to really build strength and fitness throughout the term.  The teams to watch in Term 1 water polo are always our new Year 7's in their first term of water polo here at St Vincent's.  We look forward to the start of a new competition and good luck to all teams.

The team lists and training times as well as the draw is on the College website and also on the Sports noticeboards in Garcia.

Remember, there is no wet weather number for water polo - you must turn up at the venue and it will only be delayed if lightning occurs at outdoor venues.  Please remember that public pools charge an entry fee for each player and spectator.  School venues do not have entry fees. 

Ms Steph El Safty
Head Water polo Coach

SWIMMING TRAINING AND IGSSA SWIMMING CARNIVAL

All Year 7 PDHPE classes will be completing swimming trials over the next week, mainly to get times for our new students who missed the College Swimming Carnival in Term 4 2018.  These times will give the Sports staff an indication of who should be in the IGSSA team, along with those who have already been selected from the main carnival.  There will be some swim-offs for the competitive Year 7's against the selected 13 year old Year 8's on Friday 22 February at lunchtime, and more information will be emailed to these girls shortly.

The IGSSA Carnival is being held on Friday 22 March at Homebush Aquatic Centre and there will be a meeting/relay session for all squad members at lunchtime on Wednesday, 13 and 20 March.  Jesse and Dene our new swimming coaches, are running sessions on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings from 7.00am-8.00am for any keen swimmers.  The enrolment form can be found on the College website under Sport/Swimming. All levels are catered for and you can come to one or all sessions.  IGSSA squad members must be coming to at least two sessions/week unless they are already in a squad outside of school.

TERM 2 SPORT REGISTRATIONS

Registrations open for Term 2 Sport on Monday 11 February.  These online registrations are due by 3.00pm Friday 22 February.  Students can select from IGSSA Soccer, IGSSA Basketball, SEHA Hockey and Wednesday Netball at St Catherine’s.  Year 7 netball next term will be skills development and mini games at the College on Monday afternoons.

Netball is organised by Ms Kat McGrath, our excellent head coach, and she really does run a great development program.  Term 2 Netball is all about getting ready for the big IGSSA competition in Term 3 and will concentrate on fitness and skill development.  The girls respect that she expects a lot from them, but in return everything is organised for them to enable enjoyment of the game.

To register, you need to go on to the College website  http://www.stvincents.nsw.edu.au, Click on Sport, then click Term 2 Regos.  You will need to know your student ID and email address. If you have any problems doing this please contact the Sports Department immediately.

SPORT STARS

Please keep the Sport staff informed of any good sporting results held outside of the College.  Information and photos can be emailed to jacobsj@stvincents.nsw.edu.au

Congratulations to Taffy O’Neill, Year 10, who was selected the U17 IGSSA water polo team to compete at the CIS Carnival on Wednesday 13 February.  Taffy is a very talented goalie in our Senior Firsts’.  Well done, Taffy!

Congratulations to our Sports Captain, Frances Shires, Year 12, who won a silver medal in the 18 years 5km swim at the National Open Water Championships in Adelaide in the holidays.  Well done, Frankie!

MS JACINTA JACOBS
CO-ORDINATOR OF SPORT

Our first P&F meeting is on 19 February at 6.30pm and it would be great to see some new faces.  It will be held in the LRC (library) to showcase the new furniture purchased with P&F funds. If getting to the meeting is difficult you can dial in from home, or feel free to send me any questions, thoughts or suggestions for the coming year.

One of our most popular social events of the year is the P&F Welcome Cocktail Party on Saturday 9 February.  This is a great night and a fabulous opportunity to connect with other parents you already know, or to meet some new ones, so don't miss out.  Sadly, I won't be able to make it this year as I have a previous commitment out of Sydney, however, I'm sure someone can have a glass of champagne for me!

Obviously any event takes a lot of time and effort to put together and many hands make light work. If any parents or carers would be able to help us with set up in the afternoon or pack up, any time you have to assist would be greatly appreciated - please just let me know.

Katherine Aitken   kgray_kudoss@hotmail.com / 0400 583 677

Looking forward to a great 2019.

Regards

Katherine Aitken
SVC P&F President

Save the Date!

Year 8 Parents/Carers Social Evening

Friday 29 March 2019

7.00pm. More details to follow.

Please contact Year 8 Parent: Michael Laing   (Sophia Year 8)

michaellaing@theagency.com.au

0414 606 035

Meet Cute

Reading a short story collection by a range of successful YA authors is rather like opening a box of chocolates:  some are going to be instantly appealing, some will be disappointing and some may be left to go stale in the box.  Meet Cute is by a collection of authors whose instructions were to write about an important meeting between two people.  The range of reactions is very wide, covering all sorts of romantic meetings.  Being a hopeless romantic, I must admit to enjoying most the two stories that followed the well known and well loved pattern of rom-com.  These were The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love, about a girl in high school who uses her outstanding talent as a statistician to discover if she will ever meet the boy she saw as one train passed another on her way to school.  My other favourite, the last one in the collection, is called The Department of Dead Love about a future where relationships that have failed are examined and recovery is offered.  There are other stories which I am sure different readers will find appealing.  It is all about just taking the cover off that box of chocolates.