Dear Parents & Friends,

Welcome back to a very busy Term 3. It was a pleasure to kick off the term by celebrating the achievements of so many of our hard working students in the College Hall on Wednesday this week. Awards were presented for students who are committing to personal excellence academically or in terms of their outstanding behaviour & perseverance in their learning. It was a privilege to present so many students with awards. It was also wonderful to see so many parents, grandparents & supporters in the Hall. Congratulations to those who received awards and keep up the great work! Remember that “hard work always beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard!”

Today, we celebrated one of my favourite events, ‘100 days of Kindergarten’ where our youngest students and their teachers dressed up to look ‘100 years old’. The day marked a significant achievement for our Kinder students, many of whom started school with some degree of anxiety about making friends, learning to read, count & write and settling into ‘big school’. 100 days in, Kinder has settled into friendship groups and productive learning routines. Well done Kinder!

This afternoon/evening, staff and students will participate in the St Vincent De Paul Winter Sleep Out. Students will be involved in various social justice activities on this afternoon and senior students will have an opportunity to sleep rough in the Hall in solidarity with those less fortunate then themselves. 

HSC Trial Examinations will commence in Week 3 and we wish every success to our small group of Year 12 pioneers. August will also see many of the Year 12 major works for subjects like Industrial Technology Timber, Design & Technology, Drama, and Music be submitted for marking by external HSC examiners. Best wishes Year 12!

Social Event for Parents Only:

The Family College Partnership Social Committee met last Monday evening to evaluate the Family Movie Night and consider the next social event. The Movie Night was an overwhelming success and well supported by our community. Thank you.

The committee have decided to host a Trivia Night for SFCC parents only.  The Trivia night will be held on Saturday 27th August at 6pm. Invitations will be distributed next week and a limited number of tickets will be available. At $10 per person and cash prizes on offer, we expect the night to sell out quickly so you may wish to begin organising your table of 8-10 people. The committee is happy to arrange people on incomplete tables for those who don’t know many parents and are looking to meet new people. More info next week. 

May God continue to bless you.

Mr Abernethy
College Principal

Congratulations to the following students who have recently received their St Francis Medallion.

Avana T, Trisha P, Anonna B, Annabelle P, Harrison P, Harini A, Blake M, Zara J,
Vivaan P, Isabella I, Evanjelin X, Jessica J, Bella G, Eliiana V, Isabella S

Bronze Awards

Congratulations to the following students on achieving their Bronze award recently:

Year 1
Audrey E
Evelyn E
Evelyn F
Hunter H
Caitlyn L
Daniel J
Ariana A
Jasper H
Shyanne S
Daniel S
Amelia P
Alex T   

Year 2
Izak W

Year 3
Subham T

Year 6
Brianna U
Micaela W
Elpidius B
Lara C

Year 7
Jayda O
Irene J
Sibella R
Emily V
Michelle P
Eva-Rose H
Mya T
Bismita k

Year 8
Eva R
Therese P
Chanelle C
Noori D
Mischa R
Chelsea D
Robert C
Rosin S
Sharbel D       
Michael M      
Nikolas K  

Year 9
Samriddhi B
Gabriel P
Lavent D
Isaiah O
Mihika S

Year 10
Nicholas A
Peng C

Year 11
Taha S

Silver Awards

Congratulations to the following students on achieving their Silver award recently:

Year 2
Daniel G
Scarlett H
Amelia C
Alexis F
Hannah P
Jessica E
Ariana M
Amelia K
Gillian B
Sosefina M
Saul V
Shreya A
Alysha M

Year 3
Reya S
Abigail K
Alexander A
Alivia E
Sophia S

Year 4
Jacob S
Jaden T
Zoe D
Aliska T

Year 5
Andrew N       
Illana F           

Year 6
Kshitizma R                
Anushka B                  
Arianna F                    
Valentino M               
Angel R                       
Ethan Z  

Year 9
Aarna V
Olivia A
Jacob T
Ella L
Namratha M
Alina A
Meghana S

Year 10
Navya B
Vanessa I
Fadi A
Aaron M

Year 12
Rahul A

        

Gold Awards

Congratulations to the following students on achieving their Gold award recently:

JYL

Lexi N,  Kia Q, Lucas F, Axel C, Arushi S, Taya W, Joanne T, Annalise A

MYL

Angelina D, Kripa D, Jacob M

Thalia S, Danielle M, Abigail A, Cheryl S, Nicholas D, Anthony C, Christian T

At the end of last term, Kindergarten had a cultural day whereby students and parents were invited to celebrate their own family heritage and the heritage of others. Students dressed in cultural outfits and parents brought in delicious food from their own nationality for others to try. Kindergarten has been learning to identify similarities and differences between families and can recognise how important family events are commemorated.

Diocesan Netball Championship

On Monday 25th July, saw our Year 7-8 & 9-10 Netball teams play together for the first time together at the Diocesan Netball Championship hosted at Narellan Sports Hub. Competing against a variety of schools across the Wollongong diocese, our girls demonstrated a great sportsmanship and learnt a lot about the game, working together and supporting each other in preparation for our MISA competition. 

Tuesday Sport

With a new term comes new sporting opportunities for our students; with a variety of new, exciting external providers and sports being added to our Tuesday afternoons. 

Year 7 are excited to be engaged in a wide range of sports this term, rotating between the following opportunities:  

• First Try Touch Football Clinic 
• Macarthur FC Soccer Clinic
• Circus Fitness and Skills 
• Netball NSW Clinic
  
  

Year 8 houses have combined houses for sport this term; with half of the term participating in either AFL NSW or Hockey NSW Clinics and rotating. This is an opportunity for our students to enage in new sports, develop skills and get a taste for potential recreational opportunities. 

Year 9 will be in battle throughout this term competing in a House vs House Competition. Run by our talented sports coaches, students will be engaged in short, fast-paced mini games in a new sport each week and visiting a variety of offsite sporting venues to suit. May the best house win….

Term 3 will see the completion of sports rotations that year 10 had commenced in term 2, with our house groups rotating through the following sports;

• Ice Skating
• Personal Training/ School Gym
• Tennis Clinic
• Boot Camp/ Boxing 

A reminder that if you/ your child is suffering from an injury and is unable to participate in sport, it is essential to supply a note or medical documents to support. This can be provided via email or hardcopy to Miss Meadley and/or relevant sport coaches. 

MISA

This term we have our years 7-8 and 9-10 Netball and Soccer teams representing the college in the very competitive league. With a wet start to round 1, we wish our teams all the best for their upcoming season.

7-12 Sports Coordinator,
Miss Amber Meadley

In Term 2 students in Year 5 Science used an Engineering Design Model to design a car that could go the furthest and travel in a straight line. In the process students learnt about the forces that make the car move and slow down. 

Each class selected their best performing cars to take into the challenge.  The photos below show the three top teams on the day of the SuperCar Challenge.

If you could wish for anything at all, what would you wish for?

Tanabata, or the Star Festival, is observed in Japan annually on July 7. It is a festival that originates in China and was first observed in Japan by the ancient imperial court. The festival focuses on the stars Vega and Altair, and marks the once-yearly meeting of the lovers Orihime, the weaving princess, and Hikoboshi, the cow herder. According to the legend, the Milky Way separates these two lovers (represented by the stars Vega and Altair), and they are only allowed to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month - but only if the weather is good! The Milky Way is called “Amanogawa” (天の川) in Japanese, which means “river of heaven”. It is said that if it rains, the Milky Way floods, so Orihime and Hikoboshi cannot meet!

Just as Orihime and Hikoboshi wish to be together once a year, the Japanese people celebrate Tanabata by writing wishes on strips of paper and hanging them on bamboo leaves along with decorations shaped like stars and other items reminiscent of the Milky Way. The Japanese Club wrote their own wishes for Tanabata that have been displayed in the classroom. You can see heartwarming examples from members of the Japanese club, such as “I wish to have a good time at school”, “I wish to go to Japan”, “I wish for all of the earth’s problems to go away and never come back” and “I wish to be a good student” as well as much more in the attached images.

We hope for clear skies on Tanabata so the lovers can always be reunited!

Kind regards,
Ms Tooby
Class Teacher