Welcome back to term 4. It has started very quickly and before we know it we will be singing Christmas carols and setting up the Christmas tree!

As we finished off at the end of last term we learnt that a few Year 12 students had achieved nomination at the highest level of their area in their Year 12 performance courses with BOSTES. For Dance, I would like to acknowledge Rhiannon B for being nominated in both core performance and major study performance and Alexandra W for core performance for Callback. As well in Drama, Megan K was nominated for Onstage which is the top performances across the State in Drama. Well done to all these girls for their achievements.

Over the course of the break, a few from the community participated in immersion experiences. Madeline travelled with other students from Good Samaritan Colleges to the Philippines to work in the Kinder School. In addition to this, Ms Boulatsakos travelled with staff from Good Samaritan Colleges to Japan on an immersion. Both have spoken very highly of their experiences and I suspect they will have recollections to share in time through the Inside Out.

As we begin to move to the end of the year, several staff move from the College and staff return from leave. Sadly, after over 20 years of service at the College in a number of roles, Mrs Glynn has decided to retire. Having first started as a student at the College, Mrs Glynn has been a long and faithful staff member who was preceded by her own mother as well. We will have a farewell on Friday 2 December, if any ex-students would like to attend. Further details will be coming in subsequent editions. Regrettably Mrs Saywell and Mr Gahnem have come to the end of their contracts and will be finishing at the end of the year also. They both have been highly valued in the Mathematics Department and across the College community.

The Good Samaritan Foundation is having a raffle to collect funds for the work of the sisters. Attached are electronic raffle tickets if you would be so kind as to sell them at work or at home. The sisters will be very grateful. Here is the link to the raffle ticket sales https://www.trybooking.com/230685

The building program continues to make good progress. The finishing date has been delayed a few weeks, hence the reception has stayed in room 11. Thank you for accommodating this change during the term. Once it is all complete, we will be very pleased with the outcome.

We continue to prepare for the 2017 St Patrick's Emerald Dinner Dance. We have secured some wonderful sponsors and are looking for any family members who could donate a few raffle or silent auction prizes. If you are able to assist please contact Danielle Grant or Deborah Renshaw at the College.

Parents with daughters in Years 8 and 10 will have noted the change in Year Coordinator this term. Mrs Ibbett (Year 10) and Mr Ashkar (Year 8) took responsibility for both a year group and their own responsibility for the first three terms of the year, for which I am very grateful.  The busyness of Term 4 has necessitated another staff member to take on the year coordinating role for the remaining term in an acting capacity. I thank Ms Glase (Year 10) and Mrs Wright (Year 8) for taking on these roles for the term.

This Thursday, we hosted our first STEM Challenge for girls in Years 5 and 6 from local primary schools. We had 60 girls participate and it was a great success. Congratulations to the A team from St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, who were the outright winners. The girls were unstoppable in facing the challenges and driven in their desire to find the solutions. Our own Year 7 students assisted on the day which was a great learning experience for them. Thank you to all the schools who competed and took the time to escort their girls to such an important event. Special thank you to Ms Lefever, Mrs Nash, Mr Camilleri and Ms Matti for their work on the day.

Finally, McCrindle Research recently released some data on a study conducted for Optus on social media trends.  37% of young adults have regretted a selfie, of those, almost half were females. 41% young adults have been unsuccessful in getting another person to remove a photo they have posted. 67% of parents see the selfies posted by young people as inappropriate. Almost 60% of children taking selfies are concerned that they will attract the attention of strangers online. Only 16% of parents have taken action to force their child to remove their photo from social media presence. Social media continues to be the bold frontier of concern for parents and young people today. Regrettably, it continues to be a concern of young adults as well. I encourage you to continue to be involved in your daughter's social media accounts and provide her with the support and advice that will result in sensible and responsible interactions with her friends and acquaintances. Once a selfie is posted online it is not possible to control where it will go or how it will be used. Girls will need the wise advice of parents and responsible adults to assist them in navigating these very treacherous waters until they have the maturity to make wise decisions themselves.

Sadly, Aunty Yvonne Wright passed away last week. Aunty Yvonne was one of the original elders who established our Aboriginal Education Advisory Committee several years ago. Her funeral service held this week was a lovely tribute. I ask that you keep Aunty Yvonne and her family in your prayers. I will leave you with this reflection from a Carmelite Monastery in Waterford, Ireland.
 
Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
All is well
Nothing is past; nothing is lost
One brief moment and all will be as it was before
Only better, infinitely happier and forever
We will all be one together with Christ.

Blessings
Sue Lennox