今日吃瓜

Thank you to our families for the wonderful start we have made to 2023. There have been many events and so much learning happening across the PK-12 Community. Our community continues to exude our Marist characteristics of Family Spirit and Love of work in everything that we do.聽

As previously communicated, we are using the Newsletter as our main form of communication for our families regarding upcoming College events and key dates. Please refer to the Key Events/Dates section for important information scheduled to occur over the next two weeks.

Lent

Lent is an important part of the Church鈥檚 calendar, and as such, 今日吃瓜 celebrated the beginning of lent through a range of activities. I encourage you to read our Ministry & Catholic Identity pod to see images and read about what occurred.聽

Parent Information Evenings

It has been a pleasure to welcome families to the College to give them important information regarding the year ahead. Classroom teachers, Leaders of Wellbeing and College Leadership have enjoyed being able to share our vision and hopes for your children in 2023. The evenings have undertaken a renewal with our Pastoral Care Teachers having the opportunity to engage in goal-setting with families. We hope you have enjoyed this partnership and collaboration.聽

Year 7鈥檚 parent information evening is on Wednesday 1 March. Refer to the details found in the Key Events/Dates or Deputy Principal Secondary sections

Youth Ministry and Advocacy 2023

The College is committed to engagement with the mission and expression of the Church through opportunities for reflection and practical works of outreach rounded in catholic social teaching. With a large range of activities occurring across the College and different agencies, every year we provide information to our families about areas where students can become involved. Please click to read about the opportunities available to our students and families.聽

NAPLAN

There have been significant changes in the reporting of NAPLAN results for 2023 onwards. New proficiency standards with 4 levels of achievement for each year level will replace the previous 10-band structure. NAPLAN will continue to measure student achievement in numeracy, reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and punctuation in years 3,5,7 & 9.聽

NAPLAN Individual Student Report

The numerical NAPLAN bands and the national minimum standard will be replaced by the following 4 levels of achievement:  

鈥� Exceeding  

鈥� Strong  

鈥� Developing  

鈥� Needs additional support.  

Each category will have descriptors aimed to assist parents in understanding what their child鈥檚 literacy and numeracy skills are at the time of NAPLAN testing. 

If your child is in the Strong or Exceeding category, it means they have demonstrated proficiency and that their literacy or numeracy skills are where they should be at this stage of their schooling. If your child has not yet achieved proficiency, then they will either be in the Developing category or the Needs additional support category.  

These changes in the NAPLAN measurement scale will mean that 2023 NAPLAN results will no longer be able to be directly compared to previous NAPLAN results.  

Year 9 Students

Previously in Western Australia, Band 8 data has been used to determine if students have met the minimum literacy and numeracy requirements, and informed parents, students and schools whether the student would be required to sit the Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA), which is required for achievement of the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) at the end of Year 12. With the changes in the reporting of NAPLAN, the School Curriculum and Standards Authority will now report to the College to indicate whether a student has or has met the minimum literacy and numeracy requirements and whether they are required to sit the components of OLNA (reading, writing and numeracy). This information will in turn, be provided to parents.  

Beth Murphy 聽
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL TEACHING AND LEARNING PK-12

Marist Football Club 鈥� Auskick to Year 12

Registrations for Marist Football Club are now open.聽 Please click 聽for further information on how to register.

Code of Conduct

Year 12 Retreat

This week I have had the great pleasure of spending the week at Serpentine Camping Centre on retreat with our Year 12 students.  The theme of the retreat has been Who am I? Who do I want to be? and Who are those sharing in my journey? Students have spent time together in fellowship, reflection, and prayer as they considered these questions and more. The participation and enthusiasm shown by students throughout the retreat has been excellent, and for many students, it has been an emotional and deeply reflective experience. We look forward to welcoming our Year 12 students back to school next week, where we hope they will continue to grow and develop in the fullness of who God intends them to be. 

Shrove Tuesday

On Tuesday, we celebrated Shrove Tuesday across all three of our campuses with pancakes on sale. Students were able to purchase pancakes to enjoy in the morning and at recess, with all proceeds going towards Project Compassion.  The tradition of pancakes for Shrove Tuesday comes from a time when families would seek to purify themselves in the lead-up to the beginning of Lent and remove from their homes any of the food they were foregoing for Lent. Traditionally this included eggs, fats, milk, and sugar 鈥� all the ingredients we use to make pancakes today.  

Although Shrove Tuesday is a great day to enjoy pancakes, it has another, more significant meaning too. Shrove Tuesday comes from the word shrive meaning 鈥榓bsolve鈥� which means to be declared free of guilt or punishment. As the last day before the start of Lent, Shrove Tuesday is a day of self-examination where we can consider what sins we needed to repent of and what changes we can make to our lives so we can live more according to the teachings of Jesus. 

Ash Wednesday

On Wednesday, students across the College gathered in their respective campuses to celebrate Ash Wednesday with a Liturgy that reflected the significance of this day. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent 鈥� a time when we can focus on our spiritual lives, as well as deepening our relationship with God through the practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Students received ashes as a symbol of our mortality, and also our desire to repent and turn away from sin. 

The Gospel message of the day (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18) recalls Jesus鈥� call to us to go out and do good quietly in this world 鈥� not to parade our good deeds in front of others, or only commit to acts of generosity because of the way it might help us be perceived. This is a beautiful message for our students to take on; to act with a gentle strength and a humble nature in fulfilling the teachings of Jesus.

Project Compassion Launch

This year, Caritas Australia鈥檚 launch of Project Compassion for Western Australian schools was conducted online. It was led by Servite College and St Kieran鈥檚 Catholic Primary School students, with the support of Deacon Paul Reid, Community Engagement Animator WA/SA for Caritas Australia. 

The event was live-streamed and was attended by 20 of our students across the Lavalla & Marcellin Campus. The program was designed to be interactive which enabled our students to interact with others across Western Australia. The launch commenced with a Liturgy and concluded with a traditional 鈥榩ancake tea鈥� which gave our students an opportunity to reflect on the morning. During the workshops, our students created an action plan which they will drive as leaders of the College to support the mission and works of Caritas. 

Our Vision for Mission calls us to serve humanity and raise up those experiencing poverty. At 今日吃瓜, we commit to supporting Caritas鈥� Project Compassion every year during Lent. This is an opportunity for our school to raise funds to support underprivileged societies around the world. 

The theme of Project Compassion 2023 is 鈥楩or All Future Generations鈥�. Together, we can create lasting change for people living in some of the most vulnerable and low-income regions in the world. 

You can read more about Project Compassion for 2023  

Upcoming Events

There are a number of important events coming up over these next few weeks in the Ministry calendar: 

• Tuesday 28 February: Year 11 World Religions Excursion 
• Tuesday 28 March: Game Changers Launch 

• Wednesday 1 March: First Marist Connect Night 
• Thursday 2 March: Year 6 Confirmation Retreat 
• Thursday 9 March: Year 7 Retreat 

Community Mass

It was wonderful to see everyone at our first Thursday morning Community Mass or 2023 this week, which was hosted by Brigid Guild and Year 6 Red. 

The whole College community is warmly invited to join us in the Champagnat Chapel at 8.10am on Thursday mornings for Mass celebrated by one of our local Parish Priests and hosted by our students from Marcellin and Lavalla. 

Please see the upcoming schedule below; 

• Thursday 2 March, Catherine and Year 6 Green 
• Thursday 9 March, Chisholm and Year 5 Green 

We look forward to seeing you there. 

We enjoyed welcoming all our students and staff back to school, the grounds have been alive with vibrant energy. The students have made an excellent start to the year.  I would especially like to acknowledge our new staff and our new students; the littlies in PK and K the new high schoolers in Year 7 – all of our new Newman Beings across the College. Starting in a new community can be daunting, and they have risen to the challenge admirably.

This year, we will focus on our Marist characteristic of 鈥楶RESENCE鈥�, in acknowledgement of staffing and leadership changes and anticipation of the new Principal, Mr Andrew Watson in Term Two. The Marist understanding of presence is underpinned by 鈥榓 way of being鈥� that requires relationships to be intentionally based on care, attentiveness, and acceptance of the other. A still and mindful presence helps us to come to know God. A physical, compassionate and respectful presence allows us to come to know each other. Over time, presence promotes familiarity and is foundational to the development of trust and respect. Being present to one another in a school setting also requires a joint appreciation of the reasonable boundaries, established norms and expectations of behaviour in our community.  The Marist theme this year is 鈥楥reated and Called: a revolution of love and tenderness.鈥� The theme focuses on the notion that we are each created unique and are called to express our deepest and truest selves in this world, safe in the knowledge that we are loved unconditionally by God. It is in living as our truest selves that we reach the potential that lies within each of us.

Family Mass

We were fortunate to be able to gather as a community of staff, students and parents at our Family Mass on Wednesday evening.  It has been three years since we have come together in this way and the Mass was a beautiful way to start the year. We commissioned our 2023 Year 6 and 12 student leaders on the night. We wish them well as they embark upon their leadership journeys. I know they will serve our school confidently, with kindness and respect. Thank you to students and families for attending and participating in the Family Mass. I have had many people approach me to share positive affirmations about this special occasion.

WACE Results

We congratulate the Class of 2022 on their achievements as a graduating class. Their successes are evident not only in their results but in their contribution to the College. We will have an opportunity to celebrate the results when our top 30 students return for our High Achievement Assembly next week. We wish all of the wonderful young women and men in the cohort continued success in their future endeavours. Click here to view the full WACE results brochure

Year 11 and 12 Information Evening

Thank you to Year 11 and 12 students and parents for attending the Information Evening on Thursday 2 February. The Information Evenings are important occasions for parents and students to attend. We take the opportunity to introduce the PCG teachers and leaders and share information about the journey ahead. These nights set the tone for a productive year.

Parent Welcome Sundowner

It was wonderful to host our Newman Parents at our Welcome Sundowner on Friday evening.  The night was a great success, parents and the executive staff mingled in Founders Court while the band played. It was a perfect setting for new families to meet current families, and for our current families to reconnect ahead of the school year.

Funeral Duncan Pugh

It was with great sadness that we shared the news of Duncan Pugh鈥檚 passing on the 25 January, a much-loved Physical Education and Outdoor Education teacher of 17 years.  We celebrated the life of Duncan yesterday at the College with his funeral service in our Champagnat Chapel, which flowed outside to Founders Court. Vast numbers of friends, family, current and past students and colleagues came to pay their respects to Duncan, his wife McKenzie and his boys Charlie and George. Ex-students and ex-staff commented that returning to Newman to celebrate Duncan was like coming home. His impact was evident in the crowds of people that gathered on our grounds. Duncan鈥檚 death at just 48 is a stark reminder that life can be fleeting. He was well-known as a devoted family man and a loyal and loving friend. The beautiful service yesterday should inspire us to reach out and be present to those we love, our friends and our family. We closed the secondary school from lunchtime yesterday to facilitate the funeral and I extend a thank you to all our parents for supporting this significant occasion. 

CEWA Student achievement

On Monday 6 February, Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA) celebrated the top 70 ATAR students in the state. Two of our graduating Class of 2022, Owen Karamfiles and Saskia Wigley, were invited to receive recognition. We congratulate both Owen and Saskia on this most significant commendation.

Lavalla Carpark

The Lavalla Carpark is now open and the feedback from parents has been very positive. The traffic flow in both the morning and afternoon is smooth and efficient. The kiss 鈥榥 ride section will be operational shortly. We thank parents for their patience and understanding around the unavoidable delay in opening.

2022 Annual

The 2022 Annual has been printed and is available for families. It is a large publication that represents the 2022 year well. The Annual can be picked up at the school. Instructions for the collection of the publication will be sent via the classroom and PCG teachers.

Events Ahead

We look forward to the significant events occurring in the next two weeks, which include the K-6 information evening on 16 February, Year 7 to 12 Swimming Carnival on 16 February, Years 8 and 9 Information Evenings on 20 February, the Year 10 Information Evening will be online. The Year 3 to 9 auditions for our junior school musical, The Lion King are occurring, and our High Achievers Assembly is next week.

We look ahead to the coming weeks with a sense of hope and presence as we collaborate to provide an engaging Marist education for our young people.