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Easter Blessings
The Easter Liturgies will take place over the school holidays which will arrive very soon. In these Liturgies, we remember again the last week of Jesus, his death and resurrection. I have found over the years trying to understand some of the mysteries of Christianity, perhaps in particular Easter, is not all that easy. It is certainly a lifetime’s reflection for me.
Christianity makes the claims that God became human in Jesus. God knows what it is to suffer. Those who were supposed to be closest to Jesus (the apostles) betrayed, denied and abandoned him. Jesus sweated blood in anticipation of his suffering in Gethsemane. Yet there was a healing and reconciling love. Perhaps this empathy and compassion can be transformative for us in our own times of suffering.
I once heard somebody say that there are two types of people in the world, those who become bitter due to their suffering and those who become compassionate due to their suffering. I believe the risen Christ is still present and can help us from blaming ourselves or others when things go wrong and to choose empathy and compassion for ourselves and others.
Consent
Consent is a topical issue at present, particularly in the context of schools. I think it is very positive that a clear message is being enunciated that enough is enough and that the dignity and boundaries of each person need to be respected and honoured.
We take seriously the need to educate all of our students on this topic and the importance of consent and that coercion is unacceptable. This topic is already in our curriculum, that is all of our High School students receive an education that includes rights and responsibilities in healthy relationships, consent and party/social safety. I know that parents also take the responsibility seriously to educate their child(ren) in these areas. Please note this article which has some important points to make on Porn, Consent and Character, from Michael Grose:
Over the last month or so we have been reviewing how we educate our students on this topic with a view to strengthening the message. To this end, we are collaborating with some staff at Kingston High to share resources and learn from each other. I am keen to continue to consult with staff, students and parents of St Aloysius to be as effective as possible in getting the message across.
Parents and Friends Meeting
The Parents and Friends committee was relaunched a couple of weeks ago. We had around 40 people present, which was terrific. The first formal meeting is this Thursday, 7:00 p.m. at the Middle (Huntingfield) campus in the Staffroom. All welcome.
Future Newsletters
This term we have reviewed how we communicate our newsletters to the College community. This review has included input from the Board and parent representatives from the College Community Group (now known as the Parents and Friends). As a result of this feedback, this newsletter will now come in weeks 2, 5 and 8 of each term. At the end of terms 1, 2 and 3, there will be glossy publication, perhaps 16 or so pages long, which will highlight the many good things that happen each term. In Term 4, we will publish the College Yearbook which will be issued to all families.
Staffing News
Ms Susie Bond has resigned from the College to take up the position of Education Officer: Pastoral Care and Wellbeing, working at the Tasmanian Catholic Education Office. Susie will not commence in this new role until we have a replacement in place.
While we are happy for Susie that she has been successful in winning this position which she will excel at, she will be greatly missed in our community. Although Susie has been at St Aloysius for a relatively brief period of two years, she has been an outstanding leader and member of our College community. We must especially acknowledge her exceptional work in the area of pastoral care and wellbeing for both students and staff. Susie’s caring nature, professionalism, ability to tackle the hardest situations with diplomacy and compassion is something that St Aloysius has been the fortunate recipient of. There is no doubt that she has a gift when working with students and families, to ensure their pastoral needs and concerns are addressed whilst still ensuring all students feel safe in the College and have the best opportunities to learn.
Susie’s warmth and genuine care for all students, parents and staff will be sorely missed. We wish her all the best in her new journey.
Best wishes for the break
Term 1 has flown by. I am very grateful for the warm welcome I have received and am now feeling quite settled. I remain feeling privileged to be a part of this wonderful community.
My first impressions of a positive, cheerful and energetic community also remain. There seems to be a general consensus that we have started the year well. Best wishes for the Term 1 break.
2022 Kindergarten Enrolments
The College is currently taking Kinder enrolments for 2022. We encourage families with siblings looking to enrol for next year to please contact Mylinda Fletcher at enrol@staloysius.tas.edu.au or 6229 0200.
Muso's Corner
Anita Cairns, voice and piano - Instrumental Tuition
Anita Cairns is a graduate of The Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music and is a regular on the Tasmanian music scene. She has performed for national football and cricket matches, at festivals all over Australia and spent over 10 years as the lead singer of the Tasmanian detachment of the Royal Australian Navy Band. Anita's greatest loves are pop, soul and jazz. She currently performs solo and in many bands across a broad variety of genres.
From the P&F Association
The next meeting of the P&F will be held tonight, Thursday 25th March in the Staffroom at the Middle Campus. All are welcome!
Easter Raffle
The Easter raffle is a fantastic way for Parents & Friends to raise funds. Money raised from the raffle will go towards new goal post pads at the Junior Campus. Thank you to all the families for their donations of Easter eggs there are going to be some great prizes!
A reminder that tickets and money are due Friday, 26th March
Click on the link below for further information.
Entertainment Membership
The Entertainment Membership is a fantastic fundraising opportunity, with 20% of every book purchased going to the P&F. This money is later spent on items that benefit the students. Click on the link below for further information and how details on how you can purchase a membership.
Environmental Warriors
Every Tuesday, these environmental warriors meet to tackle issues, whether that be energy use, reducing litter or sorting recycling, students are keen to work together to improve our College's ecological footprint. These students have shown a huge interest in making the College more environmentally friendly and are to be commended for their commitment to sustainability.
Science
This term in Science, Grade Four students have been learning about how living things depend on other living things and the environment to survive. We were very lucky to have Jason, Nina and Lola Hendy give up their valuable time to talk all things bees. Students experienced and observed live bees, beekeeping equipment, hives, wax, and of course, honey. The Hendy's shared their wealth of knowledge with the grade 4 cohort and some lucky students were lucky to walk away with some delicious Howden Honey.
Grade 3 Musical Compositions
The Train Journey by Grace, Charlie, Sophie, Lola and Lachlan
The Train Journey by Lola, Oscar, Ryan, George and Neve
Grade 4 Leadership Day
The Grade 4 Leadership Day was a great success! The students spent the day discussing their roles and responsibilities as leaders of the Junior Campus. They participated in team-building games and activities and listened to leaders from our community including Eamonn Pollard and the Kingborough Mayor, Dean Winter.
Interschool Chess Competition
Congratulations to the Primary team consisting of Jesse Frost, Mark Ashlin, Logan Gathercole, Jordan Taylor and Oliver Wolfert who competed in the Interschool Chess competition on Tuesday, 16th March and finished first place. It was a different experience for the players as the competition was completed over Zoom.
Grade 10 Science
Grade 10 Science students have been finishing the term by investigating Newton's Laws of Motion. To explore Newton's third law, students created balloon rockets.
Science and Engineering Challenge
Selected students from Grades 9 and 10 travelled to the Hobart City Hall to compete against other schools in the Science and engineering challenge. Students worked in groups to complete a series of engineering and problem solving tasks including building a Hovercraft and weight bearing bridge. Other activities included working with scientists from TasNetworks and TasWater to build water turbines.
High School Surf Life Saving League
54 students from St Aloysius Catholic College participated in the recent High School Surf Life Saving League competition at Kingston Beach. The weather for the day was outstanding and the surf conditions offered enough to make the day a challenge for all.
St Aloysius had 4 teams competing on the day. There was a range of events on offer from beach flags, beach sprints, team board relays, ironperson races and rescue tube races.
All students did an amazing job and represented the College with pride. We were lucky enough to have 2 teams finish on the podium.
Thanks to Surf Life Saving Tasmania for hosting such a wonderful event. Well done to all students on your effort throughout the day. We look forward to another wonderful carnival in 2022.
Huon and Channel Swimming Carnival
SATIS Swimming Team
The SATIS swimming team have represented the College in both the Southern SATIS competition and the State SATIS competition held at the Hobart Aquatic Centre against other schools in Tasmania. Grade 10 students Makayla Atherton and Lochlan Mott were awarded the Swimming Captain role for 2021 and ensured each swimmer was prepared and encouraged in their event. The swim team demonstrated exceptional effort at both carnivals with many swimmers displaying pleasing results. A fantastic effort from the swim team!
Eli Jones- 1st 50m Backstroke (35.18)
Sam King- Personal best (60.34)
Ethan Jones- 1st 50m Freestyle (26.12), 1st 50m Backstroke (31.29), 1st 100m Freestyle (58.14)
Amber Bumford- 1st and personal best 50m Freestyle (33.70)
Lucia Harris- 2nd 50m Breaststroke (48.06)
Olivia Nichols- 1st 50m Butterfly (31.61), 1st 50m Breaststroke (37.43)
The College recently hosted its annual BBQ to welcome Aboriginal families to a new school year. It was wonderful to see non-Indigenous families who are interested in Aboriginal education, also attend this year. This annual BBQ event provides students and parents with opportunities to meet cultural tutors and community members. Local Aboriginal Elder Uncle Rodney Dillon welcomed everyone to Country with a moving speech and smoking ceremony. Families were introduced to cultural tutors and knowledge holders Bron Dillon, AJ King, Jason Smith, Danny Gardner and Michelle Synnott. These knowledge holders will be working with teachers and students this year to deliver lessons in art, music, science, history and sustainability. Over 100 people attended the event this year. The College wishes to thank everyone who came along, especially the staff and parents who helped set up, cook and pack away.
Purple Day
Dig out your purple gear and get Op shopping for some new purple accessories now! St Aloysius Catholic College’s annual Purple Day for Project Compassion will be held on Thursday 1st April, the last day of Term 1, with lots of opportunity for purple fun and fundraising.
At the Middle Campus during assembly, there will be a Purple Fashion Show with the best dressed from each class hitting the catwalk. The Middle Campus will also have some items and baked goods for sale.
At the Middle Campus at recess and Junior Campus at lunchtime, there will be the opportunity for students to have some purple face paint or nail polish for $1 each and raffle tickets will be available for 50c each or 3 for $1. There are delicious chocolatey raffle prizes available at both campuses!
The College has a membership with Parenting Ideas for Schools. They provide articles, webinars and videos for parents.
Click on the link below for this fortnights articles.