Newsletter. Issue 3 : 28 March FROM THE PRINCIPAL Mr Peter Riordan. St Patrick s Day Mass

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1 Newsletter Issue 3 : 28 March 2018 St Mary s 7-10 Campus 273 Victoria St, West Melbourne 3003 Tel: FAX: St Brigid s VCE Campus 20 York St, Fitzroy North 3068 Tel: FAX: principal@sccmelb.catholic.edu.au FROM THE PRINCIPAL Mr Peter Riordan Term 1 at Simonds Catholic College has quickly come to an end. What an exciting and busy term it has been for our school community, where a myriad of activities have taken place, as has been highlighted in our three newsletters this term. Behind the scenes, a great deal of work has been done in making Parent Access Module (PAM) a reality for staff, students and particularly parents. All parents are now able to log on to the school network/parent portal to check on the progress of their son(s) at any time. I particularly thank our ICT Department lead by Mr Joshua Jennings, and our two Deputy Principals Mrs Helen Koutoulogenis & Mr Robert Anastasio for leading and driving this great initiative, and bringing PAM to fruition. Prayer Meditation for Holy Thursday My Most Precious Lord Jesus, this night You gathered with Your Apostles to share with them Your last meal. But this was no ordinary meal. This was the gift of Your most Sacred Body and Blood, soon to be broken and poured out on the Cross for the salvation of the world. Allow me, dear Lord, to spend this night in prayer and meditation with You. After the meal, You invited Your Apostles to join You for one hour, to stay awake and keep vigil as You prepared for Your arrest. The Apostles fell asleep, leaving You in Your bitter agony alone. I accept Your gentle invitation of love, dear Lord, to spend this night in vigil with You. May I enter Your Heart as it faced the coming persecution You were to endure for my sins. May I console Your Sacred Heart and know the love and Mercy that flowed forth. Our Lenten journey also concluded this week. We know Lent is a preparation to the person God means us to be and a time for growing closer to God. Lent is about having a good look at ourselves, really seeing ourselves, and to reflect on the life we are living. Our College Chaplains, Fr Anthony & Fr Savino lead our St Mary s Campus and St Brigid s Campus through the Stations of the Cross on Holy Thursday encouraging students and staff to reflect on Lord, when I face the crosses of my own life, give me Your divine courage and strength to say Yes to the Will of the Father. Your love for me is abundant and is perfect in every way. Help me to know that love, to embrace it and to allow it into my life. I made my vigil with You this night, dear Lord. I love You, help me to love You with all my heart. Jesus, I trust in you. their own Lenten journey in preparation for the celebration of the Easter Mystery. May all families have a very safe, happy and Holy Easter. Yours sincerely, Mr Peter Riordan Principal Simonds Catholic College St Patrick s Day Mass

2 On Friday 16 March, several students along with the Principal, Mr Riordan, attended St Patrick s Day Mass at St Patrick s Cathedral in East Melbourne. The Mass is a reminder of Melbourne s colonial past and its close ties with the Irish Catholic Community. During the gold rush of the 1850 s many Irishmen, and women, came to the goldfields and made extraordinary amounts of money. They then made donations to aid in the building of many Catholic Churches throughout the colonies, including St Patrick s. There are many people of Irish descent, and many who are not, who see St Patrick s day Mass as an important part of their lives. I would like to thank the Altar Servers and Mr Riordan as well as the boys who volunteered to carry on our association with St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. They help to show that God s Kingdom is real here on earth. As the Liturgical season of Lent moves into Holy Week, we follow the timetable of events laid out very plainly for us in Mark s Gospel. It gives us a day by day itinerary of what Jesus and the disciples were doing during this important period of the liturgical year. Palm Sunday s Gospel reading from Mark, gives us an insight into Christ s Passion and willingness to accept God s design for Him. Project Compassion donations will wind up this week, so please support your son s efforts to ensure justice in our world for some of the most marginalised and needy people of our planet. The school holidays will begin with the Triduum, the three days beginning with Good Friday and leading up to Easter Sunday and the Resurrection. Christ is risen, Christ is risen indeed! Yours in Faith Mr P Hennessy Religious Education Coordinator Italy Study Tour ITALY STUDY TOUR Have you ever thought about giving your son the opportunity to travel overseas? Simonds Catholic is organising a Study Tour to Italy for September The study Tour is open to all students in year 9/10/11 If you would like to find out more about this amazing opportunity please contact MR. DI FABRIZIO at St Mary s Campus Year 7 Camp gdifabrizio@sccmelb.catholic.edu.au On Tuesday 13 March the Year 7 s set off to Toolangi for their 4 day camp. During the camp the boys participated in activities such as bush walking, canoeing, high ropes, bark hut building and archery. At night they also enjoyed activities such as dodgeball, a night walk and a movie night. The boys worked up huge appetites and were well

3 fed by the staff at Camp Toolangi. Activity groups were mixed across the 4 different Homerooms which saw new friendships formed and a general sense of camaraderie built across the year level. Thank you to all the staff who attended the camp and contributed to the organisation and supervision of the activities; Mr Sean Westaway, Ms Leah Kelly, Ms Yuxi Liu, Mr Theo Byard, Ms Josephine Mercuri, Ms Kim Northmore, Mr Peter Hennessey and Ms Laura Fisher. Mr M Hande Year 7 Coordinator W@SP Simonds Program) News Student Wellbeing Team 2018

4 Luke Solano Hayden Bright Lukas Mizis Stelios Politis Noah Seiderman Ashton Skerget Yak Goch World s Greatest Shave On Friday 9 March, the Student Wellbeing Team conducted the Simonds version of the World s Greatest Shave, raising awareness of blood cancer and raising funds for the Leukaemia Foundation. We are happy to announce that we raised (after costs) a total of $1937. Thanks to parents and all those who sponsored the students to shave and/or colour. Thanks also to the students brave enough to offer their scalps for the day! The event was a huge success and a lot of fun. Wellbeing videos Hayden and Lukas are back again this year working on music videos (one produced each term). The current video is called fairy-tale and tells a story about gaming. The point to be made is that gaming, in moderation, is fine. Too much, too often, can be dangerous and even addictive!

5 All the best Pascal Rohan Counsellor Coordinator of Student Wellbeing Congratulations to Eric Low Over the weekend in Victorian States Championship, Eric Low won gold in Under 21 single scull, B grade coxed quad scull and a silver in Under 19 single scull. ACC Choir On Thursday 22 March the Simonds choir went on an excursion to St Joseph s College in Ferntree Gully, where we sang together with other fellow students from ACC schools in their first rehearsal for the big Hamer Hall ACC Concert on September 18th. 16 Simonds students from Years 7-11 took part, including 2 music captains Matteo Encena and John-Paul Hudec. Tickets will be available for the Hamer Hall concert soon!

6 Many thanks to Ms Kelly, and student teacher Ms Qiu for organising this trip, and many thanks to Max (Ms Kelly s son) for being our Simonds Choir mascot and supporting us with little hi-fives! Year 7 & 8 Music Captians John-Paul Hudec & Matteo Encena Tuesday April 17 All classes commence for Term 2 20 School 9.15am Anzac Day Ceremonies 24 Parent Teacher Interviews 2pm 8pm Students dismissed at lunchtime 25 Anzac Day Public Holiday May 3 Board Meeting No. 2 8 School 9.15am 9 St Mary s Year 7 & 10

7 11 Simonds Day Mass & Celebration NAPLAN Testing June 7 Year 11 Study Day Year 7 & 8 Exams 11 Queen s Birthday Public Holiday 8-14 Year Exams Year 7-9 Exams 13 General Achievement Test (VCE units 3&4) 21 Parent Evening When The Going Gets Tough End of Term 2 Assembly 29 End of Term 2 Enrolment

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