Last Mother’s Day my father passed away. He was 91 and had been ill, particularly so, in the last seven weeks. Whilst I believe him going is a blessing given the suffering he was experiencing, it is still a significant loss to say farewell to a parent. I am not the first one to lose a parent nor will I be the last, so many will identify with this experience. Nevertheless, irrespective of how old, mature or established we are, our parents remain our parents for the entirety of our lives and the relationship we have with them is unique and comforting. I have received many kind words and prayers, for which I am very grateful. I know that a few in our community have experienced similar bereavements or are currently supporting sick or failing parents. Let’s keep these families in our prayers as they support and care for their loved ones.

Last Saturday we hosted the enrolment interviews for Year 7 2020 and a few for Year 7 2019. We are approaching capacity for 2019 and have very strong numbers for 2020. If we have any siblings wishing to join the College for either of these years who have not yet submitted an application, I urge you to please do so very soon. Once the positions are filled, we will not be able to accommodate siblings, irrespective of their priority in the enrolment policy.

During the last holidays our Chair of Board Dr Michael McDonald stepped down from the College Board. Michael had been on the Board for six years and was chair for over 5 years. Having a legal background and extensive experience in property, Michael brought great wisdom and capacity to the Board. As a governance leader of the College, he was reflective, astute and collegial. We thank him for the devoted service he brought to this voluntary role and his passion for the education of girls in the Macarthur area. We are very grateful to have Ms Ann-Maree Creenaune step into the role of Chair of the Board. Anne- Maree works in policy with the Catholic Education Office and has extensive experience in education and compliance. We again are very fortunate to have a person of Anne-Maree’s calibre take on this role. Our College is in good hands under her leadership.

Saturday 26 May is Sorry Day and begins Reconciliation Week. We have a few activities planned at the College to mark this important week. I will leave you with a prayer on reconciliation and the hope that as a nation we continue to work towards healing the grief and trauma experienced by our Aboriginal brothers and sisters caused by the policies and practices of past and present.

Blessings

Sue Lennox - Principal 

Holy Father, God of Love,
You are the Creator of all things.
We acknowledge the pain and shame of our history
and the sufferings of Our peoples,
and we ask your forgiveness.
We thank you for the survival of Indigenous cultures
Our hope is in you because you gave your Son Jesus
to reconcile the world to you.
We pray for your strength and grace to forgive,
accept and love one another,
as you love us and forgive and accept us in the sacrifice of your Son.
Give us the courage to accept the realities of our history
so that we may build a better future for our Nation.
Teach us to respect all cultures.
Teach us to care for our land and waters.
Help us to share justly the resources of this land.
Help us to bring about spiritual and social change
to improve the quality of life for all groups in our communities, especially the disadvantaged.
Help young people to find true dignity and self-esteem by your Spirit.
May your power and love be the foundations
on which we build our families, our communities and our Nation, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(NATSICC - National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council)

The theme for term 2 Makerspace is ‘Dreaming’, tying in the cultural understandings of the Aboriginal peoples, and we are fortunate to have Ms Tanginoa generously give of her time to instruct the students in weaving bracelets, rock painting, and creating dreamcatchers. So far, the girls have really embraced the bracelet weaving sessions and created some beautiful work, using their choice of coloured cord and beads to weave their bracelets. Staff have also been inspired to create during these workshops. This week will see the students prepare their rocks and plan the artwork they intend to put onto their rocks for the rock art sessions.

The College Library

To view The Big Issue magazine online, go to Destiny Discover, Collections, and click on the “Online Journals, Newspapers, and News Sources” collection.

Click on the link for The Big Issue Magazine Digital Edition. You will be taken to The Big Issue Magazine online website. Click Login (Under Create an Account), and enter the following username and password:   

Login:  students@saintpatricks.nsw.edu.au

Password: StBenedict

Once you have logged in, click on “Past Editions” at the bottom of the web page, and from there you will be able to view all current and past editions of The Big Issue which the library has access to.

Happy viewing!

Amanda Dallo -  Library Technician

All students are encouraged to take the 10 word story challenge before 18 June. There are over 300 titles to choose from! Take a look at the website readingaustralia.com.au to see the full list or see the library staff.  

The prize:

• 10 Booktopia vouchers in total will be awarded after the competition has closed.
• Five vouchers will be sent to the student-winners. In addition, the school library of each of the students will also receive a $100 Booktopia voucher.

The College Library

As a part of Library and Information week, the library looked at how the students are borrowing, and what books have proven to be most popular this year. The top three fiction titles for 2018 are:

The last days of us  by Beck Nicholas

Love, hate & other filters  by Samira Ahmed

Whisper  by Christine Keighery

Tuesday 22 May is National Library Technicians' Day and is a day for our library technicians to celebrate all that they do and love about their roles in the College library.

Ms Amanda Dallo has worked at St Patrick’s for three years and been a Library Technician for the past 12 months. Her responsibilities include looking after the journals and cataloguing all the fiction. She plays an integral part in the running of special projects, such as the Indigenous Literacy Book Swap running in week 6.

Mrs Suzanne Harradine has worked in the St Patrick’s library for the past 17 years and been a Library Technician at St Patrick’s since 2012. Both of her daughters attended St Patrick’s College. She is responsible for the cataloguing of all non-fiction material, as well as creating involvement and promotion through various mediums such as this newsletter, the Makerspace and library social media.

The College Library

Their task was to find used and unloved items at home, in their local community or from local op shops to up-cycle into a new product. The girls have been dedicated to producing outstanding products within a 12 week time frame with a budget of only $50 for all their materials. This has been a great opportunity for the girls to develop an understanding about the impact old products have on the environment and how they can be re-purposed into something new. The girls designed and produced products ranging from costumes for the College Musical, handbags, furniture, clothing and artwork.

I would like to congratulate the girls on their hard work and commitment to this task. All their products are currently being displayed in the library for the next few weeks. 

Olivia Matti - TAS Teacher

Their assessment requires them to work in groups to design a fully operational/functional food truck.

As well as designing the fit-out, they must create an exciting and original food truck menu.

Last week both classes had the opportunity to  explore first hand inside the food truck "Mr Pig". They were treated to a gourmet burger, chips and drink. Food truck owner/operator BJ spoke to the girls about the requirements involved as well as answered many of their questions.

The girls had a great afternoon and not only did they love their lunch but also found the whole experience a worthwhile addition to their learning experience.

Maree Durrington and Jackie Irwin - TAS Teachers

Both classes had the challenge to develop a new and exciting muffin flavour for a local café. The girls spent the term researching, collecting consumer feedback, practicing their recipes and making modifications based on their target market demands. The purpose of the task was for the girls to develop an understanding of the process used by food production companies to develop and market a new product.

The girls have worked incredibly hard on this project and they developed some very innovative and delicious muffins. We are now very excited to start their next project in the textiles room. Designing and producing pyjamas for the new Peter Alexander pyjama line.

Olivia Matti and Maree Durrington - TAS Teachers

We would love to hear from anyone in our community who has an ancestor who served in World War I.  We would like to honour them, record their story and use their photographs in our service.

I can be contacted at the College on 4629 2999 or via email fmusicorullo@saintpatricks.nsw.edu.au

Fran Musico Rullo – HSIE Teacher

The purpose of this cause was to encourage people to be the light and kindness they want to see in the world and to raise awareness to help put a stop to the hate and disrespect of young men and women. By being involved in this worthy cause, our College community demonstrated their love and support to not only the people around us but to people around the world who may be in these situations. 

Last month, the stars were used in an installation that was displayed during the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. This display demonstrated the country's solidarity towards domestic violence and bullying experienced around the world. 

On behalf of the 2017 Middle School Leaders, I would like to thank all of the students at the College for their determination to make the stars and their support for the entire project. 

Olivia Matti - TAS Teacher 

The team and results of our top performers were as follows:

12 Years
Valentina B

13 Years
Charlotte M, Angelique M, Mia C, Charlotte T and Darcy E.

14 Years
Zoe D, Jessica A, Kassandra S and Ashalea.

15 Years
Hannah P, Alyssa A, Emilee O and Tara B.

16 Years
Amy S- 1^st Place, Ruby D – 3^rd Place, Natalie S, Elizabeth C, Stephanie E and Emily M.

17 Years
Emily M, Andrea M, Julia P and Cecilia P.

18 Years
Ana C, Gemma C and Kayla G

Congratulation to Amy S and Ruby D who have now qualified as members of the Wollongong Diocesan Cross Country team that will contest the NSWCCC Cross Country Championships being held at Eastern Creek later in the term.

A big thank you must go to Ms Cornett and Mr Muller for the role they played on the day as team managers and officials. I would also like to thank the parents who made the trip to Nowra to support their daughter and the College.

Scott Ashcroft - Sports and Activities Coordinator

The teams hard work led them to finish 3^rd in their pool behind St Mary's and St John's who ultimately played off against each other in the Grand Final. Individually, the girls also performed extremely well with three of our students: Andrea M (Year 11), Julia P (Year 11) and Tara B (Year 10) being identified in the top 20 players from the tournament.

Congratulations to Julia P (Year 11) and Tara B (Year 10) who gained selection in the Wollongong Diocesan Representative team to contest the NSWCCC Football Championships at Valentine Park from 15 and 16 June.

A special mention must also go to Andrea M (Year 11) who was selected as a shadow player for the Wollongong Diocesan team.

Finally, I would like to extend a big thank you to Mr Fuda for driving the team to the venue, Mr Chrissimos for supporting the girls throughout the day and to Olivia F (Year 11) for being the linesperson and cheerleader for the day.

Nina Tacca-Baudana - Teacher

Unfortunately, the teams in the pool we faced were fierce and we experienced three losses during the round robin competition and a forfeit. In our first game against Albion Park, the girls demonstrated fantastic effort, the whole team pumped. Emilee O our goalkeeper, kept all the goals at bay and fancy footwork from Sophie M, Tay S and Christina L was awesome to see at the front. Sarah P performed with great stride, taking the ball up through the middle and narrowly missing a goal. Our second game against St Mary's was intense. Emily A, Emily U and Olivia S did some great passes and long kicks, Karina B, Chantel D and Amelia M held the fort at the back for some awesome defence. In our last game against Corpus Christi, we shook things up a bit with Hannah P in goals who did a great job there and Kyla M and Amelia G in the midfield. However, as we played back to back games, we did feel the pressure. Overall, the girls did an amazing job working as a team and exhibited high spirits during the day. They were great ambassadors for St Patrick’s College. Better luck next year girls.

Maria Boulatsakos – Teacher

To view the Macarthur Chronicle's article on Amy, click here

Well done, Amy, on such a fantastic achievement!

There will be no car parking within the Stadium grounds. The small car park off Pembroke Road is reserved for staff only. 

For the safety of students, staff and the general public, Pembroke Rd should not be used for student drop off or pick up which also includes the small car park off Pembroke Rd. 

Parent and student parking can be found off Airds Road and the athletics centre can be accessed by the pedestrian footbridge providing a safe entry and egress into the facility and a lot more parking.

Anyone individuals found to be parked in the Wests Leagues or Tennis Club car parks risk being fined or have their car towed.

All students should be dropped and picked up from the back of the stadium near the Tennis Club.

Campbelltown City Council

YouthRock is part of NSW Youth Week and is backed by the NSW Government with $10,000 of prizes on offer and exposure to the greater music industry.

Rory's band competed against 40 other bands of many other genres. They made it through to the grand finals for 22 April. They played an awesome set and won recording time and an award for being the most passionate band of the night and they were really proud of themselves.

Congratulations Rory on following your passions and getting out there! 

25 May - CSDA Debating Round 4, Year 9 -12 AIME Excursion, Year 7 STEM Day
26 May - Sorry Day
28 May to 1 June - Reconciliation Week
29 May - Year 8 Liturgy, Year 12 Visual Arts Excursion
30 May - Years 7 - 12 Parent/Teacher/Student Evening, NAISDA Dance Incursion
31 May - Year 12 Chemistry Excursion, Year 8 MISA Debating
1 June - Middle School Dance, CSDA Debating Round 5
7 June - College Athletics Carnival
8 - 10 June - Year 12 AIS Excursion PDHPE
11 June - Queen's Birthday - PUBLIC HOLIDAY
12 June - College Assembly
13 to 15 June - Year 12 Retreat
14 June - Grandparents Day
15 June - CCC Cross Country, Year 10 History Incursion, CSDA Debating Round 6, Year 9/10 Camden Open Day Excursion
19 June - Middle School Assembly
20 June - NSW CCC Touch
21 June - College Musical Dress Rehearsal, College Musical 7.30pm
22 June - College Musical 7.30pm, CSDA Debating Elimination Final
23 June - College Musical 2pm and 7.30pm
25 June - Year 11 2019 Information Night
27 June - Year 11 'U-Turn the Wheel" Incursion
29 June - Year 10 Community Service Incursion, CSDA Debating Quarter Final
2 July - College Assembly
6 July - Benedict Day Mass, Staff and Students finish for Term 2
23 to 27 July - Staff return for Term 3 - Pupil Free Week
30 July - Students return for Term 3