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The 21st September is the feast day of the evangelist, Matthew. Little is known about St. Matthew, except that he was the son of Alpheuss, and he was likely born in Galilee. He worked as a tax collector, which was a hated profession during the time of Christ. According to the Gospel, Matthew was working at a collection booth in Capernaum when Christ came to him and asked, "Follow me." With this simple call, Matthew became a disciple of Christ.
From Matthew, we know of the many doings of Christ and the message Christ spread of salvation for all people who come to God through Him. Many years following the death of Christ, around 41 and 50 AD, Matthew wrote his gospel account. He wrote the book in Aramaic in the hope that his account would convince his fellow people that Jesus was the Messiah and that His kingdom had been fulfilled in a spiritual way. It was an important message at a time when almost everyone was expecting the return of a militant messiah brandishing a sword.
O Glorious St. Matthew
through the grace of God
Our Father you gave us the Holy Gospel,
which brings us joy and life.
Inspired by your example,
I ask for your assistance
in all my needs.
Help me to follow Christ
and remain faithful to His service.
Amen.
NEWS
COLLEGE SENIOR CAMPUS UPDATE
Late on Wednesday last week, we received verbal confirmation from CET Executive Director, Mr Gerard Gaskin, that the movement of our Grade 9 and 10 students to the Senior Campus will not take place at the start of 2021. The move will be postponed until the first stage of the development is complete, and the site has been made ready for learning. This will include the provision of suitable internal flexible learning spaces, specialist facilities such as science laboratories and external play and recreation spaces.
We greatly appreciate the wisdom of Catholic Education Tasmania in supporting the unanimous recommendations of the staff who attended a planning day at the Senior Campus site for the recent Planning for Implementation workshop. Whilst this will mean that conditions at the Huntingfield site may continue to be a little cramped for the first part of 2021, we are confident that the educational outcomes for the students will be best served by this decision.
We can be justifiably excited as we move to the next stage of the planning process. We will eventually move into an excellent facility that can be guided in its design by us, and supported by CET, to be fit for senior secondary education.
MID YEAR PROGRESS STATEMENTS
At the College Board meeting on Monday, the issue of the Mid Year Progress Statements was raised with me. Specifically, not all subjects were reported on and that the statements were "formulaic". I explained that this type of "report" was a one off due to the pressures on staff during COVID-19, it was directed by CET in its content and format and that the end of year reports will revert back to the usual format. The Board members were pleased to note this and asked me to follow up by communicating this information to all our community via the newsletter.
If you have any other questions on the Mid Year Progress Statements, please get in contact with me.
2021 SCHOOL YEAR
We would like to advise families that there has been an amendment for the start of the 2021 school year.
Monday 1st February - Start date for Prefects, Grade 5 and Grade 7 students and SLN students at both Campuses.
Tuesday 2nd February - All students return.
Mr Joe Sandric
Acting Principal
BOOK WEEK
Book Week will be held from 19th - 23rd October. The Children's Book Council theme this year is 'Curious Creatures, Wild Minds".
A book week parade will be held at the Kingston Campus on Wednesday, 21st October and at the Huntingfield Campus on Wednesday, 28th October. Students can dress up as their favourite book character. Unfortunately, due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, parents will not be able to attend the parades but there will be photos taken on the day.
A book fair will be held at the Kingston Campus from 26th - 30th October in the Library. Opening hours will be from 8:00am - 10:00am and 2:00pm - 3:30pm. Only 10 adults will be allowed in the book fair at any time. Students at the Kingston Campus will also have the opportunity the week prior to make a wish list. if you would like to purchase any of the titles, an order can be placed online. Every book sold at the book fair earns free books for the College.
DANCE CLUB - TASSIE DANCERS AGAINST CANCER EVENT
On Saturday, 19th September Grades 1-4 and 5-6 Dance Clubs met in the Sisters of Charity Centre to get their hair and make-up done for a dance concert. There were lots of helpers there to do our make-up and hair for us. When everybody was ready we had a run through of our dances and then Mr Hickey drove us over to the Mt Nelson Theatre where we were performing. We were nervous and excited.
METRO BUS CHANGES
Metro Tasmania has advised that there are upcoming changes in the Hobart City Interchange which may affect students boarding or alighting in the area from 11 October 2020.
- Stops will be renamed
- Some routes will use different stops
- Some services will depart a few minutes later
- Buses can access the western side of the interchange again now that hotel construction is complete – a new stop will open called B1
- Stop names are changing so they are easier to understand navigate
- Some services are changing departure time or stop to reduce congestion on stops at the busiest times of the day, especially in the afternoon peak. This will allow services more time to load passengers without other buses waiting to access the stop
Information and maps are available on the Metro website at metrotas.com.au and our customer service team can be reached at 13 22 01 or correspondence@metrotas.com.au
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Congratulations to Grade 5 White Student Lily Gordon who recently played Netball in Launceston for the Southern Tasmania Netball Assoc (STNA) Under 11 Rep team. The team won their Grand final.
SUSTAINABILITY BULLETIN
Click on the attached link to see what staff and students have been up to, to improve our environmental footprint.
UNIFORM SHOP
As we are at the end of Term 3, it is a timely reminder to begin thinking about getting your uniform items organised for next year!
As families would be aware, all students moving across from Grade 4 to Grade 5 at the Huntingfield Campus, will need to wear a blazer as part of their formal uniform. We have most sizes in stock currently, and will be taking orders for sizes we don’t have, which should be arriving in late October/early November. As a blazer is a more costly item, layby is always an option we offer.
Back to School sales in January will be operating a bit differently this year. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we will be unable to have the shop open for walk in fittings/purchases as has happened in the past. Instead, we will be open for Qkr order collections and exchanges only. This means you can purchase your order via the Qkr app and come and collect from the Uniform Shop. If you need to exchange any items for different sizes, you will be able to do this also. Change rooms will not be available. Dates for this will be advised in Term 4.
We are also busy getting all of our new Kindergarten students ready to begin their school year. Kinder is a very exciting time for both students and parents. We were lucky to have Lily and Henry Brown (pictured) come by and get everything they need to start next year. They were so excited they walked out with all their new gear on!
Alison Brereton
Uniform Shop Manager
FRANKLIN VERSUS CLARK FOOTBALL AND NETBALL CARNIVAL
Students in Grade 6 represented the College at the annual Franklin versus Clark football and netball carnival. Representatives from every Catholic school came together to participate at Dominic College. Despite the wet conditions, students enjoyed close games that were played with great sportsmanship.
GRADE 3/4 HOBART CHARGERS VISIT
The students in Grade 3 and 4 thoroughly enjoyed a visit from Anthony Stewart, head coach of the Hobart Chargers, during their PE classes recently. During the sessions, students participated in a variety of basketball skills, testing and extending their capabilities. The students also enjoyed hearing Anthony's personal story. He explained that he was a late developer in the sport of basketball and that the fact that he never gave up, ultimately resulted in his selection on state and national basketball teams. His message to the students was to enjoy sport, work hard and never give up on your dreams.
GRADE 5/6 ROUND ROBIN
On Friday, 18th September the Grade 5 and 6 students hosted St James College and Sacred Heart, Geeveston for the annual football and netball round robin day. The day gave students the opportunity to enjoy participating in physical activity while getting to know people from two of our neighbouring schools. We were blessed with absolutely perfect weather conditions.
GRADE 7 HIIT FITNESS
Students had their mental toughness tested by Mickey Conalin from Domain Tennis in the form of a Bootcamp. Students were challenged and required to cooperate to avoid copious amounts of sprints and burpees. Students were indeed up for the challenge and after 200 push-ups and countless sprints, students emerged a tougher and more cohesive unit.
SSATIS
The Southern SATIS Athletics Carnival was held on Tuesday, September 8th at the Domain Athletics Centre
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the day had to be split into two parts. The under 14 Girls, under 14 Boys and under 16 Boys travelled up to Hobart to compete in events throughout the morning with the Under 16 Girls arriving later to compete in the afternoon alongside the Opens and Para events.
This year we had two para-athletes competing on the day with Sam King competing in Shot Put and the 100m and Archie English competing in Long Jump and the 100m. Both did an amazing job representing the College!
Well done to all students who competed on the day. St Aloysius Catholic College placed 3rd in the Co-Education Shield, which is a wonderful achievement.
A big thank you to Mr Hickey, Mr Kay, Mrs Ottaway, Mrs Ayliffe and Ashton Oates for supporting the team on the day as well as Miss Evans for helping out the team on training days.
The video below is footage from the day including the Grade 10 girls winning their race at approximately 2.20-minute mark
GRADE 4 EXCURSION
On Wednesday, 16th September we went on a long day excursion to Port Arthur. It was super interesting! Firstly we had to get to school before 7:45am and we did roll call and waited until 8:00am and started heading to the bus. I sat next to Kirrah. The first stop was to the toilets. The drive to the toilets took 1 hour. After that, it was another hour to get to Port Arthur. The next thing we did was walked to the government gardens to have a fruit break and recess.
KINDER FIRE TRUCK VISIT
This week all the Kinder classes had a visit from the Kingston Fire Brigade. Michael Driessen and Mark McKenzie taught the children about fire safety and what fire fighters need to wear to keep safe. We learnt that we need to crawl and grab hold of a fireman if they come to help us in a smoke filled room. The highlight for the children was having a turn at using the fire hoses. The children left with show bags full of activities about fire safety. Thank you to Michael and Mark, parents at our school, for making this experience possible.
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD
This year, Grade 4 students have set a goal to send 50 Christmas boxes to children in need around the world. This is a major project as part of their "Serving Others" unit of work in Religious Education. We are asking all students from Kinder to Grade 4 to bring in an item by Wednesday 21st October for the Christmas boxes to help us meet our goal. There will be a collection box in each classroom. Please see the attached information for items to donate and please make note of prohibited items.
Boxes will be finalised and packed in Week 3 Term 4.
GRADE 7 PASTORAL
As part of PEEC (Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum), Grade 7 have been exploring leadership and teamwork during their weekly Pastoral lessons. Students participated in teamwork activities, including a four-way tug of war.
GRADE 7 PHOTOGRAPHY EXCURSION
On 9th September, Ms Jones and Miss Lewis took their Grade 7 Photography classes into town to photograph architecture. It was a very successful trip and some great photos were taken throughout the excursion. We walked around Hobart taking pictures of urban architecture before having a lunch break and going back to school early because of the rain. Our first destination was at the Cenotaph where we took photos of The Bridge of Remembrance, monuments and statues. We then walked down through the School of Creative Arts centres and through Salamanca in Hobart.
Maiya Jones, Dakoda Summers and Jorja Mott
GRADE 9/10 ABORIGINAL ART INCURSION
As part of our Aboriginal Art Unit, Grade 9/10 Art students welcomed Aboriginal Artist and parent of the College, Michelle Synnott and Leonie Honeychurch from SETAC (South East Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation) for a 3 day workshop where students learned about the beautiful art of kelp craft, rock painting and various other Aboriginal art techniques. They learned about the importance of Country in Aboriginal Culture and walked through the Peter Murrell Reserve to collect natural objects and reflect on nature. The afternoons were spent making art using the techniques they had learned and the materials they had collected. The workshop was a huge success and we’d like to thank Ms Anne-Marie McWatters for her enormous contribution to the subject.
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CHALLENGE
Congratulations to the Grade 9/10 students who attended the Science and Engineering Challenge on Thursday, 17th September. The students worked in small teams to compete against a number of other Southern Tasmanian Schools. Challenges involved problem solving and using their knowledge of maths, science and engineering.
SENIOR DRAMA PRODUCTION
The Spotted Man by Walter Wykes is an Absurdist play that presents the audience with questions about our purpose and position on the planet (particularly as we are experiencing COVID). Absurdism asks the audience to question our existence as humans in this world and our relationship with others by employing disjointed, repetitious, and strange dialogue, confusing situations, and plots that lack logical development.
The lead character in The Spotted Man is Eugene, he attends a medical appointment after he finds himself covered in unexpected spots. Hoping that a simple cream will cure him, he soon finds out he is cursed with a strange disease that may signal the end of the human race as a pandemic has broken out of control.
Senior Drama students did an exceptional job delivering this production to over 400 students last week. They worked hard to develop their characters and set the very absurd scene for students to ponder as they exited the building, questioning the tense and mysterious situation that they had been presented with.
SKIN CANCER TASMANIA
On Thursday, 8th September, students in Grade 9 and 10 participated in a fantastic presentation by Skin Cancer Tasmania. The session shone some light on some unfortunate statistics regarding avoidable damage and the importance of making good choices as teenagers.
A big thank you to Di Mason for taking leave from her work to present on this important topic. Also to Ken Harris for sharing his harrowing experience with melanoma and his life since. The hope is this summer we slip, slop, slap and wrap on a regular basis.
Students received wrist bands that changed colour depending on the UV exposure and sunscreen. Thanks to Mrs Ottaway for organising this talk, the students really benefited from this important message.
INDIGENOUS GAMES
Grade 10 Green have been visiting the Grade 2 students at the Kingston Campus over the past few weeks. Their chief objective was to teach the Grade 2s, two Indigenous Games. They had to prepare a lesson plan, including the Indigenous story to go with each game, safety considerations and have all the sport equipment ready.
Both the leaders and the Grade 2 students had a fabulous time and they learnt a lot about Indigenous games in the process.
CLASS MASSES
Class Masses have resumed at both Kingston and Huntingfield with Masses being celebrated by Grades 8, 6, 4, 3 and 2. Students have been reverent and respectful and are adapting to the new sign of peace! Families and friends are able to attend the Masses in the Church of Christ the Priest but must adhere to social distancing and sign in with their name and contact number when they enter the church as per Archdiocese rules.
GRADE 2 GODLY PLAY
Grade 2 recently heard the story of the Good Shepherd and World Communion as well as having the option to role-play parts of the Mass during their response time in the convent.
HOODIES FOR HAMISH AND GRADE 1 WALK
On Friday, 18th September a very successful fundraiser ‘Hoodies for Hamish’ was held for Hamish Cullen and his family. Last year when in Prep, Hamish was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, and has been through a huge amount in the last 14 months. On Friday some of Hamish’s Grade 1 friends and his teacher Mrs Park, accompanied by Hamish’s big brother Eli and sister Jade, walked from the Kingston Campus to his house to catch up and deliver a joke book the class had made. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning for the children to reconnect and spend some time together just being kids.
Thank you to Grade 4s Ruby Johnson and Summer Lovell who sold lolly bags and ran a 'guess the number of jelly beans in the jar' competition adding over $500 to the Hoodies fundraiser! Well done to Trinny Wilson in Prep for winning the lucky dip of students who came closest to the total.
Thank you also to the Kingston Campus Faith and Mission Leaders who sold hugely popular bandannas at recess on Friday raising $340 for cancer charity ‘Canteen’. We will need to order even more for next time!
Hi Everyone,
We wanted to pass on a personal thank you to the whole St Aloysius community!
As many of you know we have been on a difficult journey since July 2019 and the love and support from the school, students and families has been incredibly wonderful and helped us immensely.
Hamish still continues with chemotherapy when his blood levels allow and continues speech therapy and physio. He is walking unassisted quite well now and is able to mouth some words but he still has a long way to go. We are hoping to have some visits to the school in Term 4 to start to make him feel more comfortable with those surrounds again.
It's impossible to show you all just how grateful we are so please know that we are so appreciative and feel very blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family.
Love to all,
Ben, Kate, Elijah, Jade and Hamish x
You can read updates on Hamish and make donations to the Cullen’s Go Fund Me page at
SOCIAL JUSTICE WEEK
In Week 8 the Kingston Campus ran Social Justice Week taking on a different form to previous years. In response to the recent Catholic Bishops Social Justice Statement, To Live Life to the Full: Mental Health in Australia Today, they focused on healthy bodies, minds and spirits. The aim this year was to raise awareness, it was not about raising funds.
Each lunchtime there was a different activity with a positive well being focus including mindfulness colouring and glitter jars, ‘dance, groove and move’ run by the Parish Associates and Huntingfield Vinnies group, prayer rocks in the prayer garden and culminating on Friday with the hugely popular option to run the Kingston Campus cross country track. Leanne Prichard from the Catholic Education Office taught Christian Meditation sessions with every class and some classes had the option of walking the labyrinth in prayer and meditation. All in all, it was a very refreshing and positive week!
Social Justice Week at Huntingfield looked more in depth at well being and mental health, also focusing on the Bishops’ Statement title, ‘To Live Life to the Full’. Lunchtime Zumba and HipHop sessions were provided and, on Tuesday and Thursday, the Chapel was open for personal prayer and reflection.
On Wednesday in periods 4 and 5 and over lunchtime, a highly successful Well being Expo was held in the gym. This was manned by a number of groups who support the positive mental health and growth of young people. Stalls were manned by organisations such as Carers Tasmania, The Link, Headspace, Girl Guides, Libraries Tasmania, Eddie Rice, SETAC (South East Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation), Karadi (Meeting Place), and a student led stall on inclusion at our College.
Well done to Scott Blackett who won the Deadly Choices tobacco survey prize pack out of over 130 entries, Dominica Matuszak winner of the Libraries Tasmania lolly jar and Jake Marsh winner of a wireless charger also from Libraries Tasmania.
“It’s great to see people from all different areas joining together as one” Lucy Willis, Grade 7
“People don’t know when other people are struggling so always be aware and just be kind to everyone.” Amelia Ellis, 8 Gold
“We all need to be well, but we need to know how to be well.” Tim Harrington, Grade 6 Teacher
Kids Helpline offers information to parents about how to care for children and young people aged 5-25 years. For example, factsheets are available about a range of topics, such as this one advising families about considerations and supports during family holidays. Kids Helpline provides free online and telephone counselling service for young people aged 5-25, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Headspace provides free online and telephone support to young people aged 12 to 25, and to their families and friends. The website offers links to group chats, capacity to personalise online space and resources into “your space”, one-on-one support, and other information about mental health and wellbeing. For example, this page contains tips for young people about staying healthy over the holidays, whilst this page gives family and friends information about 7 ways to help a young person have a healthy headspace.
Smiling Minds provides information and support for individuals, families, professionals and schools to access mindfulness exercises and meditation, including a free app for daily programs. The website also contains links to a variety of additional resources, including Mindfulness in the Home page containing a guide for parents and carers, a family program and family toolkit. There is also a digital care pack for families to use in supporting children’s mental health and with links to self-care resources for parents and teachers.
For older students (aged 12-18, but with a particular focus on those aged 13-16), the Black Dog Institute have developed a free online mental fitness challenge, Bite Back, to help improve happiness, reduce stress, and improve friendship and focus.
For further online information or support, parents can also go to the Healthy Families space by Beyond Blue, or the Raising Children network, or call parent line on 1300 808 178.
VINNIES WINTER APPEAL FINAL TOTAL
A grand total of $569.90 was raised through the various Vinnies Winter appeal fundraisers. With this money, we were able to purchase three full sets of bedding including new doonas, pillows and blankets in time for winter for children in need in our local community. Thank you to Oakley textiles for their assistance. We have also purchased three birth to age 4 car seats for Vinnies as this was identified by them as a priority needs in our community. Thank you also to Mother Goose baby shop in Kingston for their assistance and support.
We are very fortunate to have received a donation of a large box of brand new sunglasses from one of our College families. This prompted the Vinnies students to come up with the idea of sun-safe summer hampers to give to families in need. We now are on the lookout for items such as new drink bottles, sun hats and sunscreen for all ages that individuals or companies can either donate or that we can purchase with the remainder of our fundraising money. If anyone has any contacts please get in touch with Head of Mission, Polly Marriott at pauline.marriott@catholic.tas.
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM
We are pleased to announce our Sacramental Program is back up and running!
For interested Grade 3 families or Grade 4s who were unable to attend at the beginning of the year, our information evening is Tuesday, 13th October at 7:00pm. A family preparation session will then take place at 4:00pm on Saturday, 7th November followed by 6:00pm Mass and a sausage sizzle. Both of these events will be held in the Church of Christ the Priest, Kingston. Our Parish First Reconciliation services will take place on December 1st and 3rd with Confirmation and First Holy Communion following in 2021.
If there are any families who have enquired or those who attended the sessions at the beginning of the year and have not heard from Mrs Marriott please get in touch.
pauline.marriott@catholic.tas.edu.au.
TRAILBLAZERS YOUTH RETREAT
The Sisters of the Immaculata spoke with Grade 5, 6 and 7 students this week to invite them to a retreat they are running during the school holidays;
A retreat for 10-16-year-olds.
Come join us these school holidays for an adventure of a lifetime, as we discover what it means to be set ablaze with the love of Christ and be a light to the world.
The retreat includes games and activities, times of prayer, talks and share groups.
Details are:
When: 3:00pm on 29th September - 2nd October 2020
Where: 3448 Huon Highway, Franklin 7113.
Cost: $60, includes all accommodation, food and activities.
(If you have any difficulties with costs, please feel free to contact us, as we don’t want this to be a hindrance).
To register contact:
immaculatamissionschool@gmail.
0406 372 608