Dear Parents/Carers, Students and Friends of St Aloysius Catholic College,

Firstly, I want to thank everyone for the support that I have been shown since taking
the role of Acting Principal this term. We have had an eventful term, from our Staff
Spirituality Day at the beginning of the term to our wonderful NAIDOC week which
we have celebrated this week. This has just been a joy to experience with our wider
community and centred around the theme “For Our Elders”.

ST ALOYSIUS FEAST DAY

On Wednesday, 21st June, we celebrated the Feast of our Patron Saint, Aloysius Gonzaga. St Aloysius was born into privilege but devoted his short life to Christ and helping others. When the plague struck Rome in 1591, Aloysius volunteered to carry the sick and dying from the streets to the hospital founded by the Jesuits. Here he washed and fed them, showing them dignity and care. Aloysius became infected and died on 21 June 1591, the day we now celebrate as his Feast Day. This day reminds us of what our mission is, to help those in need, particularly the sick and poor, reinforcing the fourth vow made by our founders, the Sisters of Charity and to see Christ in everyone. 

The day saw our 9s and 10s head over to the Junior Campus, and the Years 1s and 2s spent the morning over at the Middle Campus. It was great to see the interactions between the younger and older students as they participated in several activities throughout the day together. It was also a time to spend in prayer and reflection as we had our Mass and a Liturgy in Christ the Priest Church, followed by a liturgy at the Middle campus in the afternoon. Thank you to Father Mike for leading these, and a big thank you to Polly Marriott for organising the day. It was a great success.

SENIOR YEARS INFORMATION NIGHT

In Week 7 we had our Senior Years launch. The evening was well attended, and some very constructive conversations took place, as students begin to plan for their senior secondary years. Thank you to all the staff who were involved in getting this event organised.

YEAR 10 EXAMS

Year 10 students had their first experience of exams in Week 8. This was a great introduction for our Grade 10 students in exam preparation and conditions as they move towards the senior years of their schooling and perhaps further higher education. The students were exemplary in the way they approached the exams, and I congratulate them on the attitude with which they approached them. Again, thank you to all staff for their coordination of this and, in particular, Director of Learning and Teaching, Sarah Adams. 

STAFFING

Georgia Pearsall has been employed as our Marketing and Communications officer. We welcome Georgia and the expertise she brings to the College.

UNIFORM/HAIR – STANDARDS AND EXPECTATIONS

Being a member of the St Aloysius Catholic College community is a great privilege, and we have a wonderful uniform that represents this. This week, members of the Pastoral Care team at the Middle Campus will be talking to students who continually choose to not follow the standards and expectations of the College. A letter will also come out to families reinforcing these standards and expectations. I ask that parents/guardians help support us in upholding this. If you have any questions about anything, please do not hesitate to contact the College for further clarification.

IN CONCLUSION

In conclusion, as we near the end of term, I would like to thank all staff for their hard work in what is a very busy time. I am grateful for their dedication to our students. I also want to congratulate our students on the way they have conducted themselves and the effort they have put into their studies and represented the College. I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.

ENROLMENT ENQUIRIES FOR KINDERGARTEN AND YEAR 7, 2024

Kindergarten, 2024

Applications are still being accepted for Kindergarten in 2024. If your child was born in 2019, they are eligible to attend Kinder in 2024. Families new to the College will be contacted to arrange an enrolment appointment and tour of our Junior Campus.

If you already have children at St Aloysius and have another due to start Kindergarten in 2024, please reach out to us to confirm their enrolment.

Year 7, 2024

Applications for Year 7 in 2024 are also still being accepted. All families will be contacted to arrange an enrolment appointment and tour of our Middle Campus.

Enquiries for all other year levels are always welcome.

Please contact Melissa Dance (Enrolment Officer) with your enrolment enquiry either at sacc.enrol@catholic.tas.edu.au or by phone: 6229 0108.

NEW SENIOR CAMPUS EXCURSION

Last week our Year 10 Housing and Interiors students attended the new Senior Campus to learn more about the construction industry.

The students were hosted by Fairbrother Site Manager - Adrian DeJong who walked them through the whole campus, highlighting all aspects of the project.

The students particularly liked the undercover Basketball Court, Gym and Common Room! Stay tuned for more exciting updates from our new campus. 

Thank you to Fairbrother for having us onsite and to Adrian for hosting us.

KINDER EXCURSIONS TO BORONIA BEACH

The Kinder classes began their first visits to Boronia Beach this term, where they were able to see penguins and wallabies. This is a great experience and we look forward to seeing more trips throughout the remainder of the year.

SPEAK UP STAY CHATTY SHORTS DAY

On Thursday, 22nd June at the Middle Campus we took part in Speak Up Stay ChatTY's Short Day. This day takes place on the shortest day of the year and promotes mental health. On this cold day, hundreds of schools and workplaces around Tasmania wore shorts. The ideas being that speaking about mental health can sometimes be uncomfortable as can wearing shorts in the middle of winter. Over half of the students in the school took part which was fantastic. It was really worthwhile reminding students that it is okay to reach out to someone they trust for help when they are having a hard time. 

Thank you to Mr James Wright who organised the day, and everyone who braved the cold conditions for a great cause.

NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK

All students from Kinder to Year 11 recently commemorated National Reconciliation Week. A ‘sea of hands’ installation was created at both Campuses on different days. Many children dressed in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flag colours to show their support for the histories and cultures of First Nation Australians. 

A dedicated Reconciliation Assembly was held at our Middle Campus with guest speaker Adam Thompson addressing staff and students. Speeches were also delivered by palawa students Jesse Frost, Lucas Frost and Jethro Penney. The assembly was led in prayer by Parish Priest, Fr Mike Delaney.

A special dance performance by proud young students Archer McMeekin and Jack Batchelor, supported by Aboriginal dance practitioner Leroy Hart, happened at our Middle Campus. Despite the cold wintery conditions on the day, the boys performed twice for different audiences. Well done Archer and Jack!

St Aloysius Catholic College is blessed with over 150 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. We are committed to learning alongside our students and community in the journey of reconciliation and support the continued sharing of knowledge and culture. 

NAIDOC WEEK

The College community has enthusiastically embraced NAIDOC Week celebrations this year. The theme ‘For our Elders’ was the main focus of our ceremony at the Middle Campus as we paid tribute to the achievements of local Aboriginal Elder, Uncle Rodney Dillon. Guests arrived to a snowy reception acknowledging that the palawa lived in lutruwita through two ice ages. First Nation students led a whole Campus assembly, with speeches honouring their ancestors. A highlight of the event was a special dance ceremony performed by students. Special guests joined staff and palawa students afterwards for lunch and a very special cake. 

Students at our Junior Campus celebrated NAIDOC Week by attending a dedicated Mass. Proud, young palawa student Zoe Frost began by delivering a moving Welcome to Country. Fr Mike Delaney and Acting Principal, Mr Brad Canning commended all the palawa students for how well they read their prayers of intercession, liturgical reading and Gospel acclamation. It was wonderful to hear the church filled with song. Thank you Fr Mike for individually blessing over 400 young students.

ST ALOYSIUS FEAST DAY

The College Feast Day was a tremendous day of fun, faith, feast, cross-campus and community! Year 7 and 8 had a ‘choose your own adventure’ morning involving bush walking, basketball, movies and games, while the rest of the College took part in cross campus buddy activities. Our older students really stepped up to the mark and our younger students were so excited to have a big buddy to look up to. There was a real feeling of connectedness and joy all around!

Mike had a marathon of liturgical celebrations which started with the Yr 3, 4 and 9 classes joining the Parish for morning Mass, then a Kinder/Prep/Yr 10/Yr 11 Liturgy in the Church of Christ the Priest followed by a Middle Campus Liturgy for the Year 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8 at midday in the gym.

The food vans at the Middle Campus were once again a bit hit (unfortunately we had longer lines than anticipated due to one van being unavailable at the last minute – mechanical issues) and the Yr 10 Leaders ran a hilarious and interactive zoom quiz in the afternoon at the Middle Campus. Our Year 3, 4 and 10 students also worked very hard to create little notes of gratitude for staff in Feast Day gift bags which also contained a magnetic cross bookmark and a packet of love heart lollies.

The day was filled with ‘God Moments’ and there were so many positive comments from staff and students:

• I commend the Grade 10s and 11s on their behaviour and interaction with our Kinder students. They absolutely loved our BIG buddies and asked, ‘when will we see them again!’ So many smiles on their faces and they interacted so positively.
• I spent most of the morning with different  scavenger hunt groups and it was a huge hit. The Year 5/6s took on a leadership role and looked after their buddies so well, with their little buddies on their best behaviour enjoying themselves running around the school.
• Times of connectedness during the day were wonderful.
• Our older students interacting with our younger students was so wonderful to witness. 
• My favourite part of the day was returning to the Kingston campus and revisiting old memories and places.
• I loved the bush walk it was so fun
• Going on a bushwalk, it was really fun to get out of school for a bit and enjoy our surroundings with friends.
• I got to spend the day with the youth Parish leaders and play games.

'A success like our St Aloysius Feast Day isn’t just down to the planning of one day of events. Every day, when someone at the College encourages, supports or goes above and beyond for a student, family or another staff member, we build on a culture of community that goes back generations. Wednesday was a fabulous opportunity for us to display and celebrate this.’ Polly Marriott, Director of Mission

KINGSTON-CHANNEL PARISH YOUTH DINNER

You are warmly invited to a Kingston-Channel Parish Youth Dinner.

A night of fellowship and fun for all members of the community. Come for a youth hosted dinner, with music and a talk by guest speaker Sam Clear.

It will be held on the evening of Saturday, 22nd July at the Sisters of Charity Hall, starting at 7:00pm. Donations at door to cover cost gratefully accepted.

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/youth-dinner-tickets-665107884587

*This event has been organised by the youth of the Kingston Channel parish.

For more information contact ruby.prichard@gyc.tas.edu.au

HIGH SCHOOL BADMINTON ROSTER

Each Friday during Term 2, we have had five badminton teams competing in the High School Badminton Roster. Two of our teams made it through to the Grand Final on Friday, 30th June. Results will be published in the next newsletter. 

SATIS YEAR 7/8 NETBALL ROSTER

Congratulations to all three teams who made it through to the finals of the SATIS Girls Year 7/8 Netball Roster, played on Monday, 3rd July. We wish the girls all the best and look forward to sharing the results in the next published newsletter.

Year 7 Div 1

Fahan v St Aloysius Blue 

Year 8 Div 1

St Aloysius Blue v SMC

St Aloysius Div 2

St Aloysius Lime v SMC

KNA WINTER NETBALL ROSTER

Forty seven new and returning Year 3-6 players took part in the KNA Winter Netball Roster each Monday afternoon across terms 1 and 2. This roster is always popular with our students, being local and a great starting point for both girls and boys who are wanting to try netball. We thank Kingborough Netball Association for providing this opportunity for students and would like to extend our thanks to their committee members who spend many hours ensuring the roster is a fun, safe and inclusive environment for the players, coaches and umpires

Congratulations to the Year 5/6 White team who made the Grand Final played on Monday 19th June against Illawarra Red. 

Illawarra Red - 19 

St Aloysius White - 10 

YEAR 9/10 WATERPOLO

Well done to our Year 9/10 girls who completed the Schools Water Polo Roster this term. Their season was interrupted with illness and player absences but nevertheless persevered and were excited to come away with the win for their final game. A big shout out to Stuart Bumford who coached the girls, which is a big commitment with games being played on a Friday afternoon, sometimes quite late! Well done girls and we hope to see you continue next season. 

Team List: Casey Bumford, Miki McLeod, Kate Broadribb, Makayla Wiles, Luci Harris, Bella Honner, Ebony Honner, Mia Atherton, Brydie Cordwell

CROSS COUNTRY 2023

As the track and field season winds down, we move into the Cross Country season starting with the College Cross Country Carnival on Friday 12th May. For the first time in a few years, the skies were clear and only had a very light drizzle of rain, but the no wind gave us almost perfect conditions for cross country. This year we took advantage of the great running tracks we have across the road in the Peter Murrell Reserve, incorporating these tracks into our courses for Year 7-11 students which they enjoyed. Congratulations to all Year 3-11 students who ran on the day, it was wonderful to see such a high level of participation. 

Thank you to the parents who came to support and cheer on the students, it was great to see so many parents there particularly in the afternoon for the Primary Carnival. 

Organisation of any College Carnivals requires a team effort from many, and we would like to particularly thank members of the HPE team, maintenance crew and other staff who all helped make the day run smoothly. 

Congratulations to the winning house, Charity, taking the win marginally from Fides by 12 points. 

Charity 423

Fides 411

Aikenhead 366

Galilee 323

Gonzaga 248

SATIS CROSS COUNTRY

Congratulations to the 56 Year 7-10 students who were selected to compete at the SATIS Cross Country Carnival on Wednesday, 24th May at the Soldiers Memorial Oval/Soldiers Walk, Queens Domain. Thank you to Peter Kay, Joshua Roberts, Lacey Woodfall and Matilda Payne who accompanied the team on the day. Students should be proud of their efforts, all contributing towards our second place in the Co-Ed Aggregate Shield. Well done team! 

Results https://satis.com.au/sports/cross-country/2023-ssatis-cross-country-results/

HUON & CHANNEL CROSS COUNTRY

Well done to the 55 selected Year 3-6 students who travelled to Huonville to compete in the Huon and Channel Cross Country Carnival for 2023. We were prepared for the icy cold conditions that we had in 2022, but pleasantly surprised to arrive to reasonable temperatures and sunshine. The students had a great day, everyone giving their best and cheering on their peers. 

A special mention to our Year 3 students who, for most, was their first experience in a representative school team. 

STCPSSA CROSS COUNTRY

The second interschool carnival for our Primary Cross Country team was the Southern Tasmanian Catholic Primary Schools, held at the Police Academy, Rokeby on Friday, 9th June. In previous years, schools have competed in divisions, determined by student numbers. This year the association  trialed a new format with all schools attending the one carnival to give greater opportunity and competition to all students, with over 100 runners in each race. Although it was very cold, the students had a great day and efforts were rewarded with some fantastic results. A pod of dolphins were even spotted in the Year 4 boys race as they ran along the water edge! 

Results 

ALL SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS 

To finish the cross country season, St Aloysius took a team to both the Primary and Secondary All Schools Cross Country Championships, held on separate days at Symmons Plains. This event is state wide, and gives our students the opportunity to compete against all schools across the state racing against up to 250 students in each age division. The top results from this event is also used to select the Tasmanian Cross Country team to compete at the National Championships later in August. We congratulate two  of our Year 5 boys; Lachlan Vince and Angus Brereton for being selected in this team, finishing 5th and 6th in the Boys 11 Years. We wish them both all the best for August, 

We extend our congratulations to all students who competed at these Championships and applaud them for their efforts! It was a long day on the bus and we  had some very tired legs and hungry bellies on the way home. 

Results can be found on the Athletics Tas website: https://www.tasathletics.org.au/home/

MESSAGE OF APPRECIATION FOR OUR VOLUNTEERS

A special shout out to all parents and staff who have volunteered their time during Term 2 to coach/manage a sporting team. Without your support, we are unable to offer these sporting opportunities to our students. We know both staff and parents are busy and your time is valuable, so from the College to you we say THANK YOU for all that you have done and continue to do. 

Badminton - Peter Kay, Laura Wood, Ben Hibbert, Kelly Oates, Sharon Stevenson, Megan Harris, Christine Leaman, Clynton Scharvi

SATIS Netball - Megan Daley, Alanna Monks, Gene Lovell, Joshua Roberts, Peter Kay 

Year 3-6 Junior Netball - Jane Whitney, Karen Taskunas, Katrina Driessen, Jill Abbott, Jess Bradley, Mia Sullivan, Charlotte Alexander, Bridey McLean, Maddie Wicks, Kate Broadribb, Chloe Rider, Caitlin Oates, Marli Francis

Water Polo - Stu Bumford, Sally Broadribb

ART RAGE EXCURSION

Our 9/10 Art and Ceramics and Sculpture students visited Salamanca Arts Centre to view the travelling exhibition 'Art Rage', which showcases the work of 11/12 Art Students from 2022. The level of skill and creativity present in the work was most impressive and our students left feeling inspired about their own art ideas and to consider future study in the Arts.

Congratulations to Indigo (Grade 2) and Jacey (Grade 4) of Mazza’s The Place of Dance Ballroom Studio who completed their compulsory Ballroom Medals for 2023 recently.

Jacey completed her Silver Bar Composite Medal and Indigo completed her Silver Bar Composite Sash. Both girls were given a Highly Commended Pass with Honors by Examiner Peter Todd from the Australian Dancing Society.

To achieve this Medal and Sash, the girls danced the Waltz, Quickstep, Merrilyn and Cha Cha Cha.