Bulletin

REMINDERS AND UPCOMING EVENTS:

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Midnight Sunday 02 June:  Bookings close for Year 10 Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews.

Monday 03 June 3.30pm-7.30pm:  Year 10 2019 Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews (see Mrs Mano's letter emailed to Year 10 parents 16 May).

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Friday 07 June - Pupil free day - Boarders' Travel Day

Monday 10 June - Queen's Birthday Public Holiday - Boarding House opens from 4.00pm.

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12-14 June 2019 - Year 11 Play "Staffroom:  The Musical".  Book here via  TryBooking 1513564   

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INFORMATION:

Rockwall Crescent Gate:  Since Monday 13 May the College's entrance driveway at Rockwall Crescent is being completed, therefore, the pedestrian entrance cannot be used during the construction period.  

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SVC Uniform Shop - Orders Now Online  

Monday     8.00am-2.00pm  /  Wednesday   12.00pm-5.00pm  /  Friday   8.00am-2.00pm           

Phone:  02 9161 7979  Email:  SVC@noone.com.au  

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Dear Parents and Carers

I had the privilege early in the week to attend a reception at St Vincent's Hospital, at which a student from the graduating class of 2018 was presented with an award recognising her work for justice.  Erica Vlassis participated in the 2017 Warralong Immersion, and on her return used her talent in design and her passion for justice to design a style of modular housing that was designed to meet the cultural/family needs of the Warralong community.  This was the initiative and talent that St Vincent's Health Care recognised in their award to Erica (please see the photo above).  While it was very celebratory for the Vlassis family, it was also an important co-celebration for St Vincent's College and St Vincent's Hospital.  For a very long time we have stood as the two bookends of this neighbourhood.  The ministries of health care and education have been core to the Sisters of Charity, and that continues under the stewardship of Mary Aikenhead Ministries.  The Hospital and College are both under the patronage of St Vincent de Paul, who worked to provide dignified care for the poor.  The great legacy of the Sisters will be enshrined in a new Heritage Centre that will be officially opened next Thursday, 6 June.  It will be a place of hospitality and history, and a place of pilgrimage for all those touched through the health and education ministries of the Sisters.

On the next day after the official opening, our staff will spend time exploring the archives and artifacts on display.  We are charged with the sacred responsibility of furthering the works of the Sisters, and our Staff Spirituality day will allow us to explore the Expressive, Enduring and Evolving story of Mary Aikenhead Ministries.  This Staff Spirituality day is taken with the public holiday to create a four-day long weekend to allow our Boarders' time to go home and enjoy connecting with their families.  I hope for all our families the long weekend brings a chance to relax and rewind, and enjoy the delights of the season.  There will not be a newsletter published next week.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Anne Fry
Principal

As tomorrow marks the first day of winter and almost the halfway mark in our academic year, I thought it timely that I remind our parent community of our commitment to our teaching and learning College goal this year to challenge and improve our practice in learning and pedagogy with a particular focus on authentic assessment and feedback processes.

‘When the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative assessment; when the customer tastes the soup, that’s summative assessment’.

Feedback, both formally (summative) and informally (formative) is powerful in learning and our new Common Assessment Template empowers the learner by;

• Informing each student of the outcomes they have achieved on each assessment activity
• Transforming the students’ learning through concrete, skills-specific advice about how to improve on areas of weakness
• Empowering our students to reflect on and action their teacher’s feedback to set their own new goals for learning growth.

This reflective cycle of assessment and feedback, maximises our students’ academic potential throughout the year.  Both teachers and students are working hard to ensure that meaningful feedback is provided to students once assessment is marked, empowering students to unpack this feedback and set their own personal goals to improve their learning in each of their courses, via a Google reflection form.  At the forthcoming parent-teacher evenings, we will be well positioned as teachers to share with parents how this feedback is growing your daughter’s learning.

At the beginning the year, each Year group received a 2019 Assessment Handbook and our new Common Assessment Template is featured in the girls’ handbooks. Each Assessment Handbook  and the Assessment Schedules for 2019 detail every formal assessment activity your daughter will be assessed on this year, from Years 7-12.  The College’s Assessment Policy is found in each student’s handbook for your reference and hers, with specific advice about our Illness/Misadventure Policy.  Please also know that you may access your daughter’s individual Year group’s assessment calendar detailing the type of each assessment and the calendar date through this pathway on our College website:  https://www.stvincents.nsw.edu.au/learning/teaching-and-learning/

• Scroll under the ‘Learning Support’ section and you will see each assessment schedule for your information.

As always in partnering with you in the pastoral and academic care of your daughter, in our Year of Respect, please feel free to contact me should you have any specific questions about this or your daughter's learning in general as we approach the end of Term 2. 

Mrs Jasmin Mano
Director of Teaching and Learning

Every Monday, the staff gather at 8.00am for our weekly Staff Briefing; it is an opportunity to hear what is happening in all aspects of the College, work collegially on our College Goals and outline the activities that will be happening throughout the week.  It is also the space where each member of staff, partnered with a buddy, shares a little of their faith and offers a prayer or reflection for the week to come.  Throughout the year we will:  Listen to sacred and secular music; contemplate images of nature and art; hear prayers from home in a staff member's mother tongue; offer thanks to patron saints and honour holy days of obligation.  Sometimes, we will also hear the murmurings of a staff member’s soul and their hope for our fragile world.

On Monday, we were invited by Ms Helen Marshall to contemplate how we can be people who embody ‘love in action’.  As National Reconciliation Week draws to a close and the media and politicians slowly find their new normal, Helen’s invitation to be people who LOVE is timely.  It is time to heal communities and mend broken lives.  

Reflection by Helen Marshall at our Monday Morning Staff briefing

Following on from the powerful Sorry Day commemoration at the College on Friday, yesterday’s National Sorry Day seemed to have an even deeper impact on me than usual.  So today I’ve prepared a reflection on the value and need for kindness, acceptance and forgiveness in our everyday lives, in our dealings with one another, our students, their families and the individuals who cross our paths, randomly or routinely.

Jesus told us to love ‘one another’ which leaves us with no wriggle room, no explanations, no exceptions, no rationalisations.  ‘One another’ means all those around us, those with whom we live, work, teach, in fact, anyone we interact with. And loving one another means more than just tolerating or getting along with another, it means listening to them, accepting and including them, caring about their successes and supporting them in their losses and failures. Loving one another is about making connections, being involved and present.  It means making time for another, and, as we know that is not always easy.

St Teresa of Avila spelled it out beautifully when she said, “Christ has no body now but yours.  Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world.  Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.  Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world.  Christ has no body now on earth but yours".

St Teresa’s message is about love in action; and love in action is something we should all take on board, because it is what will rebuild broken lives and broken communities.

Prayer

God has given us the power
to create beauty
to make another smile
to be a healing presence in someone’s sorrow
to bring justice to the oppressed
to console those in difficulty
to bring peace and joy to others
to help those in need
to laugh and enjoy life
to do good and turn from evil
to forgive those who have hurt us
and, most of all, to love.

Let us pray that God will continue to grace us with his love and mercy and to spread that love to others during our journey.

Ms Rachel McLean
Director of Faith and Mission

The Carey Society STEM Club Solar Powered Boats

Congratulations to students who participated in the careful planning, sculpting and wiring of their solar powered boats over the last two terms. There were some solid designs and the boats performed well in the College pool!

Dr Chris Reynolds
Head of Science

It has been standing room only in the Inter-House debates that have taken place during lunchtimes over the past two weeks.  Students in Years 7 and 8 have formed teams to represent their Houses in gruelling debates.  Their skills and enthusiasm has been complemented by the kindness and guidance of older students who have coached their House teams.  Each debate has been student-led with girls from all Houses assisting as chairpersons, timekeepers and adjudicators.  It has been most impressive to see the amount of time and dedication students have offered to allow this competition to take place.

The teams have enthusiastically debated on topics such as:  ‘Social media ruins our social lives’; ‘that we learn more from computers than our parents’ and whether or not ‘multi-culturalism is Australia’s greatest asset’.  All debaters have demonstrated thoughtful preparation, team spirit and great courage in arguing for their Houses.

The standard of debate has been impressively high and all students should be proud of the incredible effort they have put in.  Special commendations go to the O’Brien and De Lacy teams who made it through to the semi finals on Wednesday.  I would like to offer a huge congratulations to the formidable Aikenhead and Cater teams who made it through to the grand-final that took place at lunch time today. 

The Cater team triumphed after a rigorous debate on the contentious topic, ‘that freedom of speech is more important than being polite'.  Special congratulations go to the girls in the Cater team:  Emily Smith, Matilda Demetriou, Mia Nowlan and Olivia Hall, who are the Inter-House Debating Champions of 2019.  Special thanks to Ciara Snelling and Madeline Lawrence who coached the winning team, and to all the supporters who filled the Hall during the final debate.   Well done girls!

Ms Siobhan Devaney
Debating and Public Speaking Co-ordinator

Winter Holiday Workshops

Whitehouse Institute of Design

Registrations for the five-day 2019 Winter Workshops in Fashion Illustration, Interiors Illustration, Image Styling and Foundation Sewing are now open.  The workshops will be held from 9 to 19 July at the Sydney campus, 2 Short Street, Surry Hills.  For more information phone 02 9267 8799, or for bookings go to:  https://whitehouse-design.edu.au/workshops/

Torrens University

Students may attend workshops at Torrens University in the July holidays in the following areas:  Hospitality, Business Design, to gain insight into what a career in these areas would be like.  Hospitality students will tour five-star establishments, Design students will do hands-on activities, Business students will visit Google, and Health students will do a beauty masterclass.  Please visit www.torrens.edu.au/about/events for details to register your interest.

Open Days 2019

Whitehouse Institute of Design, Australia Open House 2019

The Open House will be held on Saturday 24 August 2019 at the Sydney campus:  2 Short Street, Surry Hills.  For bookings and further information please email:  enquiry@whitehouse-design.edu.au.

Macquarie University Open Day

On 17 August MU will host their Open Day from 10.00am-3.00pm at the Macquarie Park campus.  For an event program and to find out more go to: openday.mq.edu.au

NIDA Open Day

NIDA is hosting its Open Day on 15 June at the NIDA Kensington campus.  Participants can take backstage tours, listen to alumni and course talks, see free shows and NIDA Open classes.  The day will showcase everything that makes NIDA one of the top ten drama schools in the world.  If you are interested please register here https://www.nida.edu.au/about-nida/open-day

Post School Pathways

TAFE NSW

Bachelor of IT Degree (Network Security)

Currently there is an unprecedented demand for professionals who can secure and monitor IT systems and protect the privacy of people and organisations. For more information on how to gain a qualification in this area please use the following link:  https://www.tafensw.edu.au/degrees/bachelor-of-information-technology-network-security

UOW College Australia

UOW College provides pathways to the University of Wollongong.  UOW offers university preparation courses for students who have not attained a high enough ATAR to go straight to university.  UOW College supports students and progresses them to university studies.  They also provide TVET courses for students seeking work-ready qualifications in Nursing or Fitness.  These may then  be used for a direct pathway to a Bachelor level study.  Find out more at https://www.uowcollege.edu.au/ or emailmadeling@uow.edu.au

Scholarships

Torrens University offers scholarship opportunities available in every faculty at Billy Blue College of Design, William Blue College of Hospitality Management and the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School.  To find out more and how to apply go to: http://www.torrens.edu.au/apply-online/scholarships

Ms Helen Marshall
Careers Adviser

Our Performing Arts students are currently working hard in and out of the classroom:

Another Theatresports WIN

After last weeks intermediate team, our senior team also made it through to the upcoming semi finals and we all wish them the very best of luck!

Ellen Ebbs, one of the team, reports:

On Monday night three senior students - Ellen Ebbs, Bibi O’Loghlin and Sophia Fitzgerald, travelled to St Andrew’s College and attended Impro Australia’s ‘Theatre Sports School Challenge’.  Theatre Sports is a form of improvisational theatre and everything that is created on the stage is completely made up on the spot.  This competition enables school students to practise and celebrate this important skill of improvisation and interact with other students who share this same passion for the arts. 

These three senior students came in fourth place out of nine schools from all around Sydney, and they are very excited to be competing in the semi finals in a few weeks time.  

Below:  Bibi, Ellen, Sophia

The Year 11 Drama Play ‘Staffroom: The Musical’

The Year 11 Drama Play "Staffroom: The Musical" is a journey through your average high school staffroom - the cliques, the friends and enemies, the arguments over coffee mugs.  The teachers in the English, Maths, Drama, Art, PDHPE and Religion Departments are far from close friends - but when they find themselves stuck in the staffroom together, they must band together to triumph over their shared enemy.  There will be singing, dancing, ghost stories, Dolly Parton music, tea, romance, maths puns and a lot of laughs.  Get ready for a performance you’ll never forget!

Please see the poster and buy your tickets onTrybooking HERE: 

Speech and Drama

Speech and Drama Trinity Examination results were excellent this semester.  Congratulations to all the students and their teacher, Ms Georgia Britt.

This May, 24 students undertook their Trinity College London examinations at the College, and achieved extraordinary results.  A particularly huge congratulations to the 15 girls who achieved Distinctions:  Sophie Anderson, Molly Barwick, Amahli Clarke, Pippi Cullinan, Ruby Cullinan, Sofia Dermody, Charli Dwyer, Polly Grindrod, Cleo Heywood, Ella Humphreys, Charlotte Lawrence, Eleni Matsos, Haylee Muir, Lilas-Mae Njoo, Judith Walsh.

Ms Catherine Johnson
Head of Performing Arts

 BOOK YOUR TICKETS VIA TRYBOOKING HERE

SVC Dads,

The year is rushing by and it is time to think about the Father Daughter Sleep-out for this year.

What:  Father Daughter Sleep-out and Charity Fund Raising event

When:  Night of Saturday 03 August 2019  (approx. times 6:30pm Sat to 7:30am Sun)

Where:  At the College

Who:  SVC Fathers, Mentors or Male role models and their Daughters or those they care for or support at SVC.

We had about 100 fathers and daughters participate last year in what was a great night and raised over $1200 for Charity.  We are hoping to double that this year.  We are planning to make it even better this year, so capture the date in your diaries (and your daughters).  Stand by for more in upcoming Bulletins.

For those who might like to support the organisation of the event, please contact:

Jane Palin - palinj@stvincents.nsw.edu.au  or Mal Wise (Ella, Year 9) afewporkchops@icloud.com

(Our Book Reviewer, Ms Suzanne O'Connor, is now living in Timor Leste working in a volunteer capacity with the Loreto Sisters).

LEARNING ABOUT TEACHING

Eddie Ayres’ beautiful memoir, Danger Music:  How Teaching the Cello to Children in Afghanistan Led to Self-Discovery Almost Too Hard to Believe, is full of sorts of riches many of which helped me in my current situation.  Although Timor Leste is clearly far more secure and safe than Afghanistan, there were many comments and insights that I understood.  Teaching in a developing country is fundamentally the same as teaching in a developed country:  There is a teacher and a class of students and a subject to teach.  However, you are teaching students whose life experience is hugely different to your own, whose assumptions are not your assumptions and whose culture may value what you do not.  For Ayres, there was the additional stress of the daily danger of Taliban attacks as well as the geographic fact that the country is prone to savage earthquakes, and the constantly changing classes with students either being smuggled out of the country for a chance of a safer life or forcibly removed by parents who believed marriage was the only acceptable future for their daughters.

In 2014, Ayres had left his job as an ABC radio presenter of a music programme and suffered from crippling depression.  He applied for a range of positions and was successful in being hired by the newly established school of music in Kabul.  At that time, the Taliban had been driven out of the city, so that music could once more be played.  The director of the school, an Australian Afghani, set up a radical institution which was co-educational and taught Western music as well as Afghan music.  The “danger” of the title is derived from the reality that there were still Taliban bombings of buildings in Kabul, and so security was suffocating and a constant reminder of the danger everyone faced every day.  As well, the Taliban had violently enforced the ban on the playing of any music and singing.  There were many in the general population who had supported this ban and were uneasy about the school’s purpose.

Ayres writes wonderfully about the joys of teaching children who are starved of any experience of personal expression; of the leading of talented and excited children from the age of seven into learning to play a range of instruments as well as the cello.  He writes about the sleep deprived pupils who often had night jobs to support their impoverished families who were usually fatherless.  Then there were resentful students who objected to foreigners trying to explain their own country’s music to them.

One of the reasons for Ayres' depression was his life-long loathing of his female body.  From a small child, he had been certain he should have been a man but had kept this certainty hidden away as a shameful secret until he was in his fifties.  With the support of his loving mother and sister (tellingly, his father is never mentioned) and some loyal friends, he begins the long process of surgery, therapy and hormonal treatment.  He realised that these massive changes would not be accepted in Afghanistan and sorrowfully resigned after a year to return to Australia for the most vital journey of his life.  I think this is an inspiring account of the joys and sorrows of teaching, especially in a challenging setting.  It is also a gentle book about his personal sorrow about feeling an outsider for over fifty years, and his relief and finding an easing of his grief.  His passion for all sorts of different music is another fascinating aspect of this book.