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

Welcome to our final week and final Newsletter of Term 3. It has been a very busy term at the College and I’m sure everyone – students and staff – are looking forward to the holidays. I’ll keep this brief so we can get there all the sooner!

Formal Uniform Week 17-20 October

As you know, we are trialling changes to our Uniform Policy for students in Years 5-11.
During the trial period, wearing either sports or formal uniform is optional at the Middle Campus for students except, on those days or weeks, when one or the other is compulsory. The first week of each term will be formal uniform (including blazers) as we will be scheduling most of our formal events during those first weeks of each term. The first week of Term 4 commences on Tuesday, 17th October and students must be in formal uniform for that week. I will send out a letter to students, and to parents, before the end of tem, with more information on the Uniform Trial and changes to our Behaviour Management and Pastoral Care procedures.

Voice Referendum Forum

Many thanks to the parents, students and staff who attended our Parish and School Community Forum on the Voice Referendum. It was wonderful to see our community gather to discuss this historic event and to hear from Uncle Rodney Dillon and Fr Mike Delany on the importance of this moment. The Catholic Bishops have made it clear that the vote must be a free expression by every citizen and that it is not their place to tell us how we should vote – only that we should be fully informed in making that choice. However, they have also made their full support of the Uluru Statement from the Heart – which calls for a Voice to Parliament for our Indigenous brothers and sisters – equally clear.

Anti-Bullying Program

Bullying and other unwelcome behaviours that can impact on students’ happiness and welfare is a problem from time to time for all schools and our focus on educating people about it doesn’t stop when we leave school. All adult workplaces have bullying and harassment policies as well. Next term we will have a special focus on anti-bullying and that focus begins in week 1 with surveys for students and parents. The questions will be pretty simple – ‘Is bullying, harassment or unkind and unwelcome behaviour a problem for you at St Aloysius?’ If it is, ‘how well do we as a College deal with it?’ And finally, ‘how can we do better?’

The surveys will give us very important information on our school climate at St Aloysius and give us some direction for policy and procedures. Just as the questions are simple, so are the aims – to make sure that our actions as a Catholic school live up to the words of our Mission and the commandment of Jesus Christ that we ‘love one another as I have loved you.’

Term 4 Parent Forum

The next Parent Forum will be during Week 3 of Term 4 (date TBA). This forum will focus on educational planning for the College which is one of the key pillars of the College’s Strategic Plan. I will write to all parents in Week 1 of Term 4, outlining the date and time of the forum and the agenda. If there are any matters you would like to see addressed in the forum, please let me know and we can add those to this or later forums.

Best wishes for a safe, restful and enjoyable break.

Call for Nominations for Vacancies on the CECT’s Standing Committees

COMMUNITY FORUM

Our Community Forum on Tuesday, 12th September was a great success – thank you to the families and staff who attended.

ENROLMENT ENQUIRIES 

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.

CHESS CLUB

Kingborough and Huon Valley Inter School Chess Tournament at Calvin Christian School

On Monday, 4th September, all St Aloysius students who are members of the Black Square Chess Club woke up with one thing on their mind: winning. 

By 9:30am, the bus had collected Year 3-10 students from each campus of St Aloysius, and arrived at Calvin Christian School in Kingston. The students got off the bus and entered the hall where the Kingborough and Huon Valley Interschool Chess Tournament was taking place. 

The tournament was split into a Primary division and a Secondary division. Each student competed in two tournaments, an individual one to score as well as they could and improve their ranking, and a school tournament to represent the school and qualify St Aloysius for the State Inter-School finals in Term 4. 

St Aloysius did very well and placed in second place in the Primary division and first place in the Secondary division. Everyone received a certificate that showed how well they went and Mr Ellis captured a photo of the four boys that placed best and won the secondary division for St Aloysius. After the photo was taken we picked up our bags and exited the hall with a smile on our faces. 

Thank you to Mr Ellis and Mrs Griggs for accompanying us, and Mrs Broadribb for organising our attendance at the Tournament.

Harrison Payne, Year 8

YEAR 9/10 BUSINESS MARKET

Year 9/10 Business Studies class held their annual market fundraiser at the Junior Campus in week 8. Students from this elective course have spent the term learning, planning, shopping, and creating for the market. Students practised their entrepreneurial skills and showed off their knowledge of key business concepts.

The Junior Campus students received the market with great enthusiasm, purchasing and enjoying homemade cakes and slices, slushies, scrunchies, pancakes, popcorn, raffle tickets, works of art and more. All money raised will be donated to charity!

Congratulations to the 11 swimmers who represented St Aloysius at the Southern and State SATIS Swimming Carnivals during September. A small but committed team of students, who are to be commended for giving up their student free day on Friday 1^st September, attended the carnival and represented the College.

Well done everyone!

Results: https://satis.com.au/sports/swimming/2023-swimming/

HIGH SCHOOL NETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The High School Netball Championships is a State wide competition open to Government, Catholic, Independent and Specialist school teams from around the state and displays some of the state’s best young netballers. Teams play in a round robin carnival across multiple regions around Tasmania, with the top teams advancing through to the State Final. 

St Aloysius had four teams compete at the Southern Regional High School Netball Championships across week 9, including our first ever Year 9/0 boys team. Our coaches and students have been preparing for these championships for several weeks, with their hard work and commitment paying off with the incredible results that came on the day.

St Aloysius 7/8 Girls Blue – 1^st

St Aloysius 7/8 Girls Lime – 3^rd

St Aloysius 9/10 Girls Blue – 5^th

St Aloysius 9/10 Boys Blue – 2nd

Match Results: https://www.playhq.com/netball-australia/org/netball-tasmania/high-school-netball-championships-2023/dedd7185

Congratulations to the Year 7/8 Girls Blue team, and our Year 9/10 Boys Team who both made it through to the Southern Regional Grand Final, qualifying for the State Final to be played in Ulverstone/Devonport early in November. 

JUNIOR NETBALL SPRING ROSTER

It has been so nice to see so many happy faces at the netball courts on a Monday evening, with many new and returning students to the KNA Netball Spring Roster. With St Aloysius having multiple teams entered in each division, our teams often come up against each other. It was an absolute joy to watch two of our Year 3/4 teams play against each other early in the roster, our players and coaches all having a great time regardless of the coloured bib they were wearing. We look forward to watching all of our teams continue to develop their skills throughout the roster. 

SENIOR DRAMA PRODUCTION

PREP EXCURSION TO THE THEATRE ROYAL

On Wednesday, 13th September all Prep classes went to the Theatre Royal to watch a Monkey Baa production of Possum Magic. There were amazing props, costumes and even real magic! We could not take our eyes off the stage!

Afterwards, we all went to Legacy Park at the Domain to enjoy some lunch and a play.

Here are some quotes from the day:

“How do they do that?”

“My favourite part of the day was the chairs in the theatre that go up and down”

“The roof in the theatre is so high!”

“I want to go again it was so cool”

“There was real magic!”

Year 11 RIS2 Excursion

On 8th September, our Year 11 Religion in Society 2 class visited Parliament House as part of their coursework studies. During the time of their visit, students were studying a unit called 'Religious Citizenship' and, as part of our foundational study in this unit, we explored more broadly the terms 'citizens' and 'citizenship'. During this unit we also looked at important global organisations such as The United Nations, Amnesty International and various Catholic charities such as Vinnies, Caritas and Catholic Mission.

RYKA ALI – VISITING PERFORMER

Year 7 Religion students have just completed a unit about ‘Creation’ in which they not only studied our Christian Creation story but also explored creation stories from around the world, including ancient ones here in Australia.

Our Aboriginal Student Success Teacher, Anne-Marie McWatters taught one lesson to all Grade 7 classes, describing the concept of Tjukurpa/the Dreaming and Dreaming/Dreamtime stories. To consolidate and extend student learning we hosted a traditional dancer: Ryka Ali, who performed two shows for us.

Ryka’s heritage stems from the Yidinji clans of Cairns, the Kuku Yalinji clans of Mossman & the Torres Strait Islands and he performed for us The Mythology of the Yidinji & Kuku Yalanji. These performances were a massive hit with students and staff alike and resulted in lots of crowd participation! 

'STUDY WORK GROW' NEWSLETTER

A great read for parents about achieving a balance between too much and too little!

PREP – HASS – TRADITIONAL PALAWA SHELTERS

Prep students recently had a unique opportunity to learn about traditional shelters made by Tasmanian Aboriginal people.  We brought out the mini traditional hut that was specially made for St Aloysius Catholic College by local palawa artist and craftsman, Danny Gardner. Melurkerdee man, Corey Mundy (Abel’s father), visited our Junior Campus to answer any questions the students had.The children further engaged with the topic by reading a Little J & Big Cuz book called ‘Stormy Night’ in which a young boy, with the help of his Nan, builds a traditional palawa shelter and sleeps in it overnight.  

YEAR 2 – HASS – ON COUNTRY

From school, through bush to sea Country

The first group was led by local Elder Uncle Rodney Dillon and the second group was guided by his daughter Bron (Arlo’s mother). Year 2 Teacher, Mr James Tischler, drew a map based on the students’ experience. The children learnt to classify plants as either food, medicine or craft. For many, it was the first time eating saltbush. It was also the first time for many to see pademelons as well as a live penguin in its burrow! Year 2 classes learnt a lot about the traditional Aboriginal uses of different trees, plants and grasses as they ventured through nearby Boronia Reserve.

YEAR 2 – VISUAL ART – MODERN PALAWA KELP CRAFT

Young Art students in Year 2 have been learning about different Australian Aboriginal art styles. With their recent ‘on Country’ excursions still fresh in their memories, children appreciated the way the palawa/pakana people of lutruwita/Tasmania continue to incorporate natural materials in their modern artistic art and craft expressions. Kelp Craft mobile making sessions were led by Michelle Synnott who explained that kelp was traditionally used by the palawa to create water carriers. Children learnt that, instead of hole punches and scissors, the traditional tools would have been made from echidna quills and stone. 

The College is grateful to Michelle for sharing her knowledge and providing students with such a unique learning opportunity. Thank you also to palawa parent volunteers Emma Schenk (Max’s Mum) and Brittany Francis (Lucy’s Mum) who supported students with making their mobiles with driftwood, kelp and shells, collected by Michelle Synnott at various coastal sites traditionally used by her ancestors. Colourful coconut shell pieces were also added to the mobiles to incorporate other Australian Aboriginal craft materials. 

Thank you also to the Year 2 teaching team for ensuring that all students engage fully with the Australian Curriculum by planning units of study that include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island perspectives. These magnificent mobiles are now hanging, drying and taking shape in the classrooms and students are intrigued by the way the kelp is shrinking and curling as it dries. 

WORLD'S GREATEST SHAVE 

We now have 19 members in our SACC Cancer Crushers Team and have upped our fundraising goal to $8000! We are currently sitting on $7106.

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that has donated so far.

If you would like to help us reach our fundraising goal and raise awareness around blood cancer, please follow the link below:

There will be a number of fundraising activities on Friday as well as the 'Shave'. Please send along gold coins for the sausage sizzle, cupcake stall and other fun activites!

FOOTY COLOURS DAY

This Friday, 29th September, all students are invited to dress up in their favourite team colours – AFL, Rugby, Soccer, Basketball or another code!

Please bring a gold coin donation for the Archbishop's Samaritan Fund. All donations will go towards supporting families in need.

Our friends at St Francis Flexible Learning Centre (SFFLC) are putting together a formal for their students and they would like our help.

JESS SANDERS – BODY IMAGE WORKSHOP

On Thursday, 14th September 2023, Jess Sanders presented a workshop to our Year 7 female students on body image. Jess is a social worker, educator and a best selling award winning author. Her books focus on body image, self-care, gender equality and emotional literacy, and can be found in over 30 countries and in 10 different languages. Growing up, Jess experienced bullying and developed poor mental health and body image issues as a result. This session covered:

• Jess sharing her story of negative body image and bullying. 
• Group discussion on body image pressures and the gendered nature of the beauty ideal.
• The comparison trap – what it is and how to avoid it. 
• Self-objectifying – how to stop doing it and stay in the present moment. 
• Body functionality – appreciating our body for what it does for us as opposed to what it looks like. 
• Defining a healthy relationship to food and exercise. 
• Identifying when our inner critic is speaking and learning to speak to ourselves and others with compassion. 
• Building self-worth by remembering that we are so much more than our body and focusing on what really makes us who we are. 
• Jess’ key strategies to support a healthy body image and healthy relationship with food and exercise. 
• When and where to get help. 

The session was really well received by students and staff in attendance. It was a great opportunity for these students.