We are coming into the last two weeks of term. It is hard to believe that we will be half way through the year!

Have you been following the progress of the Matildas as they compete in the football World Cup? How refreshing it is to see young women stir the hopes and dreams of a nation as they achieve success with each game. How equally refreshing is it to see a strident Sam Kerr respond to media reports to a less than favourable result in their first game. As Australians, we love it when we win. When we are not winning, we are not always very gracious in defeat and it is the players who can become the targets of the scorn.  The success of the girls in this team has spurred on many younger girls around the country to work hard at their sport and strive for excellence. It is inspiring to have a female role model with such exposure that other girls can look up to. Our girls certainly are feeling inspired. Let’s hope they do well on Sunday morning! I know I will be up to watch them.

Last Thursday was marked by the United Nations as Refugee Day. Data from UNHCR’s annual Global Trends Report shows that almost 70.8 million people are now forcibly displaced. Of this number, the most significant are refugees, meaning people forced to flee their country because of conflict, war or persecution. In 2018, the number of refugees reached 25.9 million worldwide, 500,000 more than in 2017.  In 2018, every second refugee was a child, many (111,000) alone and without their families. Who advocates for these children and these families? Jesus was a refugee when he, Mary and Joseph had to flee to Egypt to avoid death under Herod’s rule. As Christian people, how do we reconcile this with the compassion and advocacy we extend to refugees of this modern era?

We have many families at the College who have either migrated or fled to Australia to avoid persecution or suppression. They have all been able to make Australia their home and have been given this gift to flourish and live in peace and stability. For many of them, the arduous and dangerous trip to move to another country was for their children. They believed that in Australia there would be hope and a safe future. This will not be the possibility for the many children who are now displaced and homeless in the world as refugees. There are potentially many Sam Kerrs and other notable young ones in there who will never be able to realise their true potential. What a blight this is on our humanity. I urge you to go to the UNHCR’s website or the Jesuit refugee services website to see what you can do for refugees.

Staff are finalising the reports which will be sent home in the coming weeks. I encourage you to sit with your daughter and discuss her results once you receive them. It will be good to affirm her for the work and growth she had achieved and challenge her about what needs to change in the areas where she is underperforming. Please feel free to call the College if you need any clarification on any of the reported results.

We have a busy few weeks ahead. The Musical is coming up at St Gregory’s College which will be fantastic. We will also be holding our annual Benedicts Day activities that raise money for the Good Samaritan Foundation on the last day. Thank you for the support you will give through this day. You are warmly invited to the mass on the day which will be in the morning. Finally we will be hosting G Day  (Grandparents and Special People’s day) for Year 7 on Thursday 27 June.  I encourage you to check the calendar to see what is happening as you are invited to join us.

I will leave you with a reflection on Refugee Day which was shared with staff on Thursday morning.

Blessings

Sue Lennox - Principal 

Almighty and merciful God,
whose son became a refugee
and had no place to call his own;
Look with mercy on those who today are
fleeing from danger, homelessness and hunger.
Bless those who work to bring them relief;
Inspire generosity and compassion in all our hearts;
And guide the nations of the world towards that day
when all will rejoice in your Kingdom of Justice and of Peace;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen

How are major decisions made in the Church and why aren’t women involved?

When issues arise and decisions are to be made, the Pope consults “the people of God” through a synod or synodal assembly. This has been the case since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. The process involves the Pope choosing a topic of relevance to the current affairs of the Church, global consultations being carried out, preparation of a document that gathers all input on the issues, the coming together of chosen participants to discuss and vote on the issue as permitted. The participants chosen include bishops, leaders of the Roman Curia, priests, representatives of male religious orders (eg brothers), representatives of leaders of women’s religious orders and auditors (other participants considered experts on the issue). Only those who are men and who hold positions of leadership within the Church hierarchy can vote at these synods. Women who participate in this process do not hold the right to vote. Pope Francis made a change in 2015 to allow lay religious brothers the right to vote in synods. Religious sisters have not been given this same right despite having the same standing as religious brothers according to Canon Law. The only difference is gender.

The call for change: #overcomingsilence

A campaign has been created called #overcomingsilence that has various goals, one of them being to achieve voting rights for women in future synods. The campaign highlights the gender inequality in the current synod processes and stresses that “these women have dedicated their whole lives to service in the footsteps of Jesus…Surely, their voices must also be heard in the processes that determine the direction of our Church in these critical times”. Campaign organisers also argue that this is fair given that in 2015, there were more than 670,320 women religious in the world compared to 54,229 men. These statistics also mean that women religious exceed the number of priests globally by 61%.

Participating in the campaign

People are encouraged to participate in the campaign by writing a message at the official website (see address below). Information sharing on social media is another way action can be taken. Year 10 students will be learning about this issue and #overcomingsilence in Religious Studies lessons and our student leaders will be promoting the cause through assemblies, the Student Representative Council and Pastoral lessons.

For more information about the campaign see https://overcomingsilence.com

Louise East - Religious Studies Coordinator

Students, parents and/or caregivers will be able to speak to teachers about course offerings. The evening will be hosted by the Learning and Teaching teams to provide information to parents and their daughters about the Year 11 and 12 courses on offer at St Patrick's. Various requirements of the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) relating to courses and subjects will be explained on the evening and our teachers will be making themselves available to share their wisdom and expertise with the students during the Subject Market. The content that will be covered during the presentation component of the evening will include NESA requirements and the guiding principles of subject selection and the role of parental guidance in the process. We look forward to seeing you there.

Chris Bettiol - Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching

Some of the key places we will be visiting include London, Stratford Upon Avon, the Cotswolds, Bath, Paris, Naples, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Rome. We will have expert guides with us as we explore Shakespeare’s birthplace, the Globe Theatre, Tower of London, British Museum, WWI Battlefields of the Somme, Eiffel Tower, Pompeii, the Colosseum, John Keats’ Apartment, the Vatican, and many more. This tour plans to give our students the chance to see first hand many of the sites, societies, texts and writers we study in the History and English courses.

The tour is aimed at students who have a sense of adventure and are open to travelling and experiencing new cultures, places and people. They need to have a sense of curiosity and willingness to learn through travel. We are initially targeting students who will be Year 11 and 10 in 2020 and are enthusiastic students of English and/or Modern and Ancient History. However, we encourage eager students in Year 8 and 9 in 2020 to express their interest and come along to our information sessions in case we have spots available to bring them along too. It will all depend on how popular the tour is and how many students take up the opportunity.

Students have been emailed an information sheet outlining the approximate costing. However, please feel free to contact either Ms Treanor or Mrs East for more information on atreanor@saintpatricks.nsw.edu.au or least@saintpatricks.nsw.edu.au.

Ann Treanor - English Coordinator

During this workshop, the students were able to access the University's equipment and performed Gravimetric Analysis, Titrations, and used the UV-VIS Spectrophotometer to calculate the Equilibrium Constant of Iron Thiocyanate.

The girls enthusiastically completed all experiments and gained further understanding of their Depth Study. The University demonstrators were very impressed with the level of understanding our girls were able to exhibit. I am very proud of the girls as they were outstanding representatives of our College.

Paula Nash - Science Teacher

Roy, Owner and Head Chef from Sushi on Fire, Narellan generously gave his time to show the girls different techniques in preparing, cooking and making sushi. It was an amazing experience for all the girls to learn from a professional chef.

Julian Nash - LOTE Coordinator, Japanese Language Teacher

A variety of products were produced, including a ‘Pin the Emperor on the Colosseum’ game, several Ancient Rome inspired delicacies (always a hit with the teachers!) and a variety of digital presentations. Well done on your creativity, Year 7!

Wendy McDonald - HSIE Teacher

This particular presentation focused on Cyber-Safety and provided students with useful information on how to maintain a positive online presence. With technology and online activity rapidly changing, the tools and advice provided was invaluable and will ensure that our students can interact online in a safe manner. At the end of the presentation, our students also had an opportunity to discuss their own concerns and questions with Constable Clapham which was a positive and affirming experience for them. We would like to thank Constable Clapham for his time and wonderful contribution to support the students of St Patrick's College for Girls.

Jared Baca - Year 9 Coordinator

The activities were dedicated to self-discovery and getting to know other people we might not have met already.  The day started off in the MSC and we were organised into small groups. In these groups, we would discuss the main messages of the activities and gathered together to share answers. A highlight of the day was colouring and decorating a glass jar to show our talents or activities and a tealight candle represented our College motto 'The Lord is my light'. The backpack activity was a great reflection task where we identified our fears and hopes about coming to high school. The day was very successful in helping all Year 7 to stop and think and be able to share their thoughts and feelings.

Olivia M - Year 7 Student and Maria Boulatsakos - Year 7 Coodinator

The team were outstanding throughout the tournament and reached the final against CGSSSA. Despite being the better team all game, the girls were unable to capitalise on a number of goal scoring opportunities which forced the game into extra time. The game remained 0-0 at the completion of extra time which then saw the game go into a penalty shootout.

Unfortunately, CGSSSA were able to convert their opportunities from the penalty spot and took the win, leaving Wollongong Diocese as the runners up.

Although disappointed with the result, the girls played extremely well and represented themselves, their families and the College with distinction. As a bonus, Tara was named in the NSWCCC side to contest the NSW All Schools tournament later in the year. We wish Tara the best of luck in the next chapter of her football career.

Congratulations to Amy S and Ruby D who also represented the Diocese of Wollongong at the NSW Combined Catholic Colleges cross country championships held at Eastern Creek. Both girls ran extremely well, with Ruby having an outstanding run finishing in 5^th place overall to ensure her selection in the NSWCCC cross country team to contest the All Schools Championships later in the term. Good luck Ruby.

Scott Ashcroft - Sports and Activities Coordinator

At the moment there are two types of displays on show on the windowsills:

Mrs Reader's Year 10 DT class with their soft furnishings and Mrs McGillicuddy's Year 9 English class with a display from the novel 'Wandering Girl'.

Watch this space as more displays are to come.

The College Library

The students, and indeed the staff, gleaned a lot from listening to Sean speak of his struggles to write and be published, make ends meet during lean times, and the length of time it can take to see a book through from ideas to publication. He spoke of the illustration process and his sources of inspiration for his stories. All in all, a wonderful opportunity to gain some insight into what makes Sean Tan the celebrated author he is today.

The College Library

This would allow you to continue working while your device is charging and also allows library staff to accomodate more students needing to have their devices charged. 

The College Library

We are currently revamping our Poetry and Plays collection to ensure all titles are applicable, interesting and relevant for our students. This involves assessing and recataloguing each title to create a wide collection of poetry and play books that can be easily retrieved by students from our catalogue based on subject topics as well as title and authorship. Included in this reassement of the collection is the purchasing of more contemporary poetry titles, with a focus on female empowerment, positive self-image and self-confidence. Our goal is ultimately to hold a broad selection of poetry and play titles by both Australian and international authors that educate, inspire and provoke critical thinking.

The College Library

The Big Issue

The Big Issue is an independent magazine released fortnightly, which features articles on the arts, culture and entertainment. It is sold on the streets by homeless, marginalised, and disadvantaged people.

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.

The New Internationalist

The New Internationalist is a monthly, independent magazine featuring articles on a range of social justice and human rights issues.

To access this magazine online:

Go to Destiny Discover, Collections, “Online Journals, Newspapers and News Sources” collection. Click on the link for New Internationalist Magazine Archive. You will automatically be logged in if accessing it from school. To access New Internationalist from home, follow the above instructions. When you click on the link for New Internationalist Magazine Archive, you will be taken to the New Internationalist website. To login, click on “Sign in” at the top right corner. On mobiles/iPads, the sign in option will be an arrow symbol. Enter the following: Username- students Password- Students.

The Conversation

The Conversation is an online webpage which offers informed commentary and debate on the various issues currently affecting our world. Curated by professional editors, it also features a Plain English guide on the latest developments and discoveries from the university and research sector.

To access The Conversation, go to Destiny Discover, Collections, “Online Journals, Newspapers and News Sources” collection. Click on the link for The Conversation. It will take you directly to the webpage.

Happy Reading!

The College Library

for all events at the College, CLICK HERE