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On behalf of the College I welcome back all families to the College for the second half of the school year.
The school holidays gives everyone the opportunity a chance for reflection and refreshment, I trust everyone had a relaxing break.
This term is an extremely busy one, as we return for Term 3, students and families should be looking back at end of Semester 1 reports and consider the subject selections for 2019 that have been made to ensure they are making informed choices for prospective studies in 2019.
Subject Selection
Establishing clear goals for future success are important for all students in our College community. For many students, their future plans have solid foundations based upon the successful completion of their VET and HSC studies until the end of Year 12. At the end of Term 2 students in Years 8, 9 and 10, were supported through information evenings and course counselling sessions on subject selection. In many cases, the correct decisions made in these formative stages of subject selection have an enormous positive influence upon the outcomes achieved at the end of schooling. The College works hard to ensure as many desired choices of students are met, if any student has reconsidered their selections it is important they see Mr O’Neill as soon as possible before final allocations are made.
Outstanding Student Achievement - Jaxsen Wells and Jayden Young
During the holidays Jaxsen Wells was awarded the Tuckwell Scholarship at ACU. This Scholarship is awarded to only twenty-five Year 12 students from across Australia. The scholarship allows Jaxsen to take full advantage of their time at university, including the many academic, social, cultural, sporting, and leadership opportunities that come with life on campus at ANU. Scholars take part in the Scholars House program, which includes support and mentoring from academic staff and older Scholars; a variety of enrichment activities such as special lectures; community outreach; social events, and an annual camp. Jaxsen underwent a rigorous process of various rounds of written applications and interviews and was a deserving recipient.
Jayden Young attended the 2018 Nura Gili Winter School at UNSW in Sydney during the July school holidays. This residential program gives Indigenous students the opportunity to explore pathways and study university subjects. Jayden chose the pathway of social work to experience and from reports I received left an impression on the Academic and Pastoral staff that he worked alongside. As a graduate of UNSW I am very proud, well done Jayden, you will make a welcome addition to a great University.
New Buildings works
In the next couple of weeks we are very excited to be moving into the completed second stage buildings of the College refurbishment program. Upon moving into the new classrooms of D Block the existing Staff Centre and E Block classrooms will be totally refurbished and upgraded. The new buildings have improved facilities that will improve the experience of students through improved technology, room design to allow team teaching and breakout spaces, whilst being more energy efficient. Thank you to all the students and staff who have worked through the disruptions and we look forward to the last stage being complete in the first half of 2019.
Parental Engagement
As I have written previously, this year a key focus of the College is Parental Engagement. Thank you to all those who have suggested ways that we can improve the engagement of parents with the College. I again encourage anyone to contact me direct with positive suggestions on how the College can continue to improve, please email nathan.mansfield@cg.catholic.edu.au or call the College and I will make contact with you to discuss.
Nathan Mansfield
Principal
Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome back the College community from the holiday period. I hope you had the chance to unwind, spend time with family and friends and find time for some much-needed relaxation.
Term Three has seen staff and students hit the ground running as we enter other busy term. As student’s fall back into the swing of daily school life, our Year 12 students are anxiously preparing themselves for their Trial Examinations.
During the holidays, I returned to Sydney to visit my family and friends. While I was away I attended Mass and as I listened to the Parish Priest offer his homily, I found myself thinking of our year 12 students. The Fr Ian told the congregation a fictitious story his Jesuit friend had told him…
In years gone by the Pope had wanted to remove all Jews from Rome, however, as you can imagine the Jewish citizens did not want to leave. The Pope offered to have a debate with one member from the Jewish community. No one from the Jewish community volunteered for this debate as they didn’t want the fate of the Jewish people’s residency resting on their shoulders against such a theologian.
An older Jewish man, who use to unlock and lock the Synagogue, eventually volunteered. Yet he had one stipulation. He required it be a silent debate. After some consideration, the Pope agreed to Moshi’s clause and the two met.
The Pope started the ‘silent’ debate by raising his hand and moving it into a circular motion above his head, to which Moshi replied by pointing to the ground. The Pope then held up three fingers, Moshi held up one. Finally the Priest took out the Body and Blood of Christ. Moshi took out an apple. After a few moments the Pope stood and said this man has an answer for everything. I give up, the Jews may stay!
The Pope was asked by the Cardinals what had occurred in the debate. The Pope said I raised my hand above my head to signify that God had created the world and everything around us. Moshi reminded me of Hell and the sin of mankind. I replied by holding up three fingers to represent the Holy Trinity, he held up one finger, reminding me that we believe in the same One God. So, I took out the Eucharist and wine to reveal the sacrifice of Jesus and the practice of the Mass. He took out an apple reminiscent of Adam and Eve.
Later the same day the Chief Jewish Scholars asked Moshi, how he a simple humble Jewish man defeated the Pope. Moshi told them: the Pope raised his hand in around him to indicate that the Jews had the leave this place. I firmly pointed down letting him know we were staying put. The Pope then held up three fingers alerting us that we had three days to leave. I held up one finger, as not one of us would be leaving. Moshi then explained that the strangest thing happened. He said then the Pope took out his lunch, so I took out mine.
Fr Ian, went on to explain that life is a matter of perspective. This is what made me think of our year 12 students. Watching them studiously prepare for their upcoming exams and listening to their concerns, it important for them to gain perspective too. For us to provide this perspective. We need to remind our students these exams are another stepping stone in their education. By no means are they the be all and end all of exams or experiences – there is life after exams. The HSC exams can be extremely stressful and overwhelming, especially when students feel their whole life depends on the outcome. However, it’s important for us all to repeat to our students that “your marks don’t define you. There are many different options, opportunities and career paths – there’s not just one path to your future.”
Beyond blue has created ‘Surviving year 12’ fact sheets for parents and students with some great advice and tips for when exam results arrive. These include keeping an eye on a teenager’s emotional health, giving positive feedback whenever possible, taking their efforts seriously, and guiding, supporting and encouraging them.
REACHOUT’S TOP YEAR 12 EXAM STRESS TIPS FOR STUDENTS
- Take care of yourself: sleep lots, eat good food and keep moving.
- It’s normal to feel a whole range of things before or after you get your exam results, but there are ways you can deal with the pressure of expectations. No exam result is so important that it will stop you achieving your goals in the long term.
- Make the effort to balance study with relaxationis not only important for your state of mind, but for the quality of your study as well.
- Exams are stressful, but there are a range of strategies you can use to manage your stress.
https://about.au.reachout.com/theres-life-year-12-exams-for-students-parents/
Fr. Francis Carroll … Pray for Us
Live Jesus in our Hearts … Forever
Mrs. Charlotte Nicoletti
Coordinator of Religious Education and Faith Formation
Congratulations to Jaxsen Wells (Year 12) who was one of 25 recipients of the 2019 Tuckwell scholarships at ANU.
Well done!
Please see full article http://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/2019-tuckwell-scholarship-recipients-announced
Clare Feeney riding in Carroll College colours for the last time at Sydney International Equestrian Centre NSW State Interschool Championships. Clare competed in the Eventing Pre Novice (105cm).
Winter School Report by Jayden Young (Year 10)
Jayden Young - 2018 Nura Gili Winter School Review
Hey, my name is Jayden Young; I am a year 10 student from Carroll College Broulee. During the holidays, I attended the 2018 Nura Gili Winter School at UNSW in Sydney. The week was fun packed and we were provided with plenty of information about choosing our faculties and how we can get into university. This program was such a big thing for me because it really gave me a real sense of what University would be like. It turns out that this program motivated me even more to go to Uni. By the end of the week I did not want to go back to year 10, I just wanted to get started with university.
The program is great for young Indigenous teens who want to pursue their goal of going to university. During the program, I made friends that I will probably see around University when I attend. I did not just make connections with other young people in the program but with supervisors and lecturers. One supervisor I made a real connection with was my night supervisor Tyrone. We had a few conversations about university and the benefits it has including the support that you get. I realised that university is not this big scary thing but it actually will be an amazing experience for me in the future.
I chose social work as my faculty choice. I was the only boy so I was stuck in a room full of girls for 6 and a half hours for three days, good fun. Nah, but regardless of our gender we all treated each other with respect and I made some connections there as well. I would definitely encourage other young Indigenous kids to apply for this, as it is a great stepping-stone to go to Uni.
I really enjoyed my experience and plan to apply again in the coming years. It was truly amazing creating memories I will remember for the rest of my life.
Assistant Principal (Pastoral Care) Report
Congratulations on Term 2 Achievements
Welcome back to Term Three. On the whole, students are to be congratulated on the way in which they have settled back into their classes. I would like to thank you for your support in ensuring your child comes to school every day in the right uniform and ready to engage in their learning. At Carroll College, our focus last term has been on Celebrating Success, and last term we witnessed many examples of students demonstrating a successful mindset through their achievements in the classroom, on the sporting field, the arts and countless other extracurricular activities.
Term 3 Focus
This term our focus will be on another of the pivotal elements of our Broule ABC’s: Respect All. What does this look like in reality? I feel respect is fundamentally centred on the Golden Rule as articulated by Jesus Christ:: “do unto others as you want them to do to you” (Matthew 7:12) and is a universal maxim governing conduct that spans religions and cultures. Ideally, respect for oneself, respect for others and respect for our environment should govern the way we conduct ourselves in all aspects of our lives. As Catholic Educators, it is our responsibility to work with your child, you as parents and the broader community to enact this guiding principle.
Uniform Reminders – Term 3 Winter Uniform
To ensure the year continues to be a successful one for your child and the whole school community. Below are reminders regarding our College uniform. These are highlighted to ensure that our high expectations continue to be made very clear to all members of our College community.
As Term 3 gets underway, our students are to be congratulated for the respect they have shown on the whole for their College uniform. However it is very important that we continue to remind our students and families of our winter uniform requirements.
The winter uniform has the following expectations:
- Regulation lace up leather shoes (Girls and boys)
- Grey ankle socks (boys) and white ankle socks (girls)
- Senior boys should be wearing the regulation College tie
- Sports uniform is only to be worn on Sports days
- College Skirts, must be no shorter than 4cm above the knee. Skirts should not be rolled. We ask that you check your daughter’s skirt and if this is not the case, please rectify the situation.
- Skirt length also applies to Senior girls, however since our Year 12 students have a very limited time left at school it is unrealistic to expect students to purchase new skirts at this stage. If any senior girl is unable to comply with the 4cm rule because they have grown out of their skirts then regulation black stockings or tights MUST be worn.
If in doubt, please ensure you refer to the College Uniform Policy located on our web page: http://www.ccb.nsw.edu.au/pastoral-care/uniform/
Our uniform is something we are all proud of as a community. It reflects our values as a Catholic school and demonstrates our high expectations of all of our students at Carroll College. These are expectations that have already existed since the College was first opened. We thank all parents for your support of our College uniform regulations. Please feel free to contact the College if you have any questions regarding uniform expectations.
Veronica Harrold-Carter
Acting Assistant Principal (Pastoral Care)
SAVE THE DATE - Father's Day Breakfast
The Carroll College community would like to warmly invite all fathers, guardians and grandfathers to attend our annual Fathers’ Day breakfast on Thursday 30th August from 7.30am to 8.30am.
Come and join us for egg and bacon rolls, tea and coffee in the BBQ area behind the kitchen.
We hope to see you there.
Science and Engineering Challenge
On 25 July, 29 Year 10 students travelled to the University of Wollongong to compete in the Science and Engineering Challenge. The aim of the day is to boost engagement with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). It is however a long day for Carroll College, with students leaving at 5:30AM to compete against a range of schools from the Wollongong and Nowra region.
The days competition involves forming small groups of 2-4 students, who then compete in range of activities that contribute to an overall score for the school. Some activities are completed over half of the day while two, building a bridge or a catapult, are completed over the full day.
Some of the half day activities involve; wiring a city for electricity, building an earthquake proof tower, constructing a working bionic hand and transferring a complex message using only three coloured lights. Special note must be made of the group of Riley Maher, Teagan Moses, Jorja Scott and Jordan Macpherson who were the overall winners of the water turbine activity throughout the day. Other highlights included Grace Blackmore, Ethan Mass and Liarna Miller on Confounding Communications.
The full day activities are critical to point scores and our groups performed admirably. The bridge team decided upon a lightweight design that was able to support considerable weight. The catapult team (Jade Briggs, Tom Gaffey, Nick Usher and Austin Reid) built an extremely effective launcher that fired both accurately and over long distances (nearly 40m!). They were somewhat dubiously awarded 2nd overall for this activity after leading throughout the whole day.
Overall Carroll College finished in 3rd place. This is a fine effort and students were engaged and competitive throughout the whole day. We hope that many of these students consider STEM subjects at Carroll College for 2019!
If you are interested in these activities, or want to try some of the Primary School activities with younger children please see the following website:
Mr Simon Blue
“Curiosity,” wrote Samuel Johnson, “is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.”
Book Week has come and gone. Mrs. Carol Young is our Carroll College prime mover in this important event.
Phillip Adams on Late Night Live recently interviewed the celebrated writer Alberto Manguel and it proved to be the inspiration for this article. The Argentinian writer is latest offering entitled Curiosity. It is a most thoughtful and fascinating read. According to one critic:
“Curiosity originates in the drive to keep living. Curiosity is typically adaptive because, while it can be risky, it also brings the possibility of greater understanding and control.” There is a saying that “curiosity killed the cat”. That is not a particularly great testament to this human capacity. In literature, the curious are often consigned to tragedy: Eve and the apple, Pandora, Ulysses even Harry Potter. However, teachers and parents do their best to instil this search for the unanswered question or the unexplored ”truth” but so much in society mitigates against natural curiosity. Where do we get our answers to difficult questions? The default position is invariably Google, Wikipedia or their ilk. My aim, before I retire, is to frame the UN-GOOGLABLE question. I sometimes despair that there is one!
The question of how to find cures for deadly illnesses elicits the question of how to feed an ever-increasing and ageing population; the question of how to develop and protect an egalitarian society elicits the question of how to prevent demagogy and the seduction of fascism; the question of how to create jobs to develop the economy elicits the question of how the creation of these jobs might tempt us to turn a blind eye on human rights and how it might affect the natural world around us; the question of how to develop technologies that allow us to hoard more and more information elicits the question of how to access, refine, and keep from abusing such information; the question of how to explore the unknown universe elicits the uneasy question of whether our human senses are capable of apprehending whatever it is we might discover on earth or in outer space
So many questions. Education is about such things. For me, the question that a student asks is every bit as important as an answer in a test. In addition, of course, the biggest question for an adolescent is “who am I?” Literature can help here too. In Alice in Wonderland, Alice stays down in the rabbit hole until she hears a name calling her that she will like. The caterpillar asks her “Who are you?”. She is unable to supply an answer.
Man is the only animal that looks up not out of fear but of curiosity; to see beyond his world to something else. In Book Week when it comes around each year, we should reflect on what fiction can teach us. Empathy, compassion, understanding must most importantly- curiosity.
Paul Cullen
paul.cullen@cg.catholic.edu.au
Amelie attended the Central West Astronomy festival on Saturday 14 July 2018.
The conference included many guest speakers. Amelie was lucky enough to meet Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who was the Keynote speaker, attending her lecture on the early development of one part of radio astronomy - from quasars to pulsars.
Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell is an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who was credited with "one of the most significant scientific achievements of the 20th Century". As a postgraduate student, she discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. The discovery was recognised by the award of the Nobel Prize in Physics to her thesis supervisor Antony Hewish. She is currently the visiting Professor of Astrophysics in the University of Oxford.