Dear Parents and Carers, Term 4 Issue 3 6 November — 17 November 2017 In this Issue: Page 1. Principal’s Message 3. Message from Religious Education Co-ordinator 5. Mercy Girls Inspire 6. Message from Youth Ministry Co-ordinator 8. Students News 13 Co-Curricular Activities 14. Parent News 18. P & F News Upcoming Events: TERM 4 Week 7 20 November—Year 9 Maths Excursion 24 November—Year 9 Excursion for Pastoral Care Week 8 28 November—Volunteers Cocktail Evening 6pm-8pm 30 November—Year 9 Commerce Market Day 1 December—Year 10 Reflection Day “Strive for Better Things” Mercy Catholic College, Chatswood [email protected]101 Archer St, Chatswood NSW 2067 Telephone: 9419 2890 mercychatswood.nsw.edu.au Years 9 and 10 students have completed a week of exams. Part of the reason for them having formalised exams outside of the usual classroom test is to give the girls practice in sitting and writing for an extended period of time. More important however, is to provide feedback to students, parents and teachers about the learning that is occurring in the classrooms at Mercy. Exams can give both students and teachers the opportunity to analyse where the learning is occurring and where there may be some gaps. This in turn provides an opportunity to work on these shortfalls. Parents and students must however keep exams in perspective. They are a snapshot of your daughter’s learning at a certain point in time and only one aspect of her learning. It is also important to see them as a measure of her learning progress over time, so if improvements have been made, even if small, they should be celebrated. P&F FUNDING: In the last Mercy Voice I wrote about how your funds were being used to make improvements to the College, for instance the plantation shutters in the library. The Executive of the P&F passed a motion at the last meeting for P&F funds to be directed towards air conditioning of a few of the classrooms. This will occur over the Christmas holidays ready for the heat in Term 1. It’s pleasing to see that parents’ contributions are making Mercy a better environment for learning for all students. ROTUNDA SITE: As I write about improving our environment, the Rotunda site is being upgraded with a new double storey demountable building which will give us ten classrooms. With this improvement of classrooms will come an upgrade of the facilities and paved area, making this a much more pleasant space, which is conducive to learning. MERCY HERITAGE HONOURED: Your daughters may have come home to tell you of the wonderful new graphics we have on 6 of our walls. Two teachers (Mrs Delia Russell and Mrs Jane Lennon) were given the task of providing a graphic representation of our …..PTO
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Dear Parents and Carers,
Term 4 Issue 3 6 November — 17 November
2017
In this Issue:
Page
1. Principal’s Message
3. Message from Religious
Education Co-ordinator
5. Mercy Girls Inspire
6. Message from Youth Ministry
Co-ordinator
8. Students News
13 Co-Curricular Activities
14. Parent News
18. P & F News
Upcoming Events:
TERM 4
Week 7
20 November—Year 9 Maths
Excursion
24 November—Year 9 Excursion
for Pastoral Care
Week 8
28 November—Volunteers
Cocktail Evening 6pm-8pm
30 November—Year 9
Commerce Market Day
1 December—Year 10 Reflection
Day
“Strive for Better Things” Mercy Catholic College, Chatswood [email protected]
Years 9 and 10 students have completed a week of exams. Part of the reason for them having formalised exams outside of the usual classroom
test is to give the girls practice in sitting and writing for an extended period of time. More
important however, is to provide feedback to students, parents and teachers about the learning that is occurring in the classrooms at Mercy.
Exams can give both students and teachers the opportunity
to analyse where the learning is occurring and where there may be some gaps. This in turn provides an opportunity to work on these shortfalls.
Parents and students must however keep exams in
perspective. They are a snapshot of your daughter’s learning at a certain point in time and only one aspect of her learning. It is also important to see them as a measure of her learning
progress over time, so if improvements have been made, even if small, they should be celebrated.
P&F FUNDING: In the last Mercy Voice I wrote about how your funds were
being used to make improvements to the College, for instance the plantation shutters in the library. The Executive
of the P&F passed a motion at the last meeting for P&F funds to be directed towards air conditioning of a few of the
classrooms. This will occur over the Christmas holidays ready for the heat in Term 1. It’s pleasing to see that parents’ contributions are making Mercy a better environment for
learning for all students.
ROTUNDA SITE: As I write about improving our environment, the Rotunda site is being upgraded with a new double storey demountable
building which will give us ten classrooms. With this improvement of classrooms will come an upgrade of the
facilities and paved area, making this a much more pleasant space, which is conducive to learning.
MERCY HERITAGE HONOURED: Your daughters may have come home to tell you of the
wonderful new graphics we have on 6 of our walls. Two teachers (Mrs Delia Russell and Mrs Jane Lennon) were given the task of providing a graphic representation of our …..PTO
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Message from Principal
MERCY HERITAGE HONOURED CON’T:
College values and to connect them to our Mercy charism. They enlisted the students in
the task with Jenny K’s (Year 10) work being chosen. You will see in the following photos the graphics illustrating our values of Excellence,
Compassion, Integrity, Hospitality and Respect. To demonstrate these values, words used by Catherine McAuley in her letters to other Sisters have been added.
Thank you to Mrs Lennon, Mrs Russell and Jenny for such inspiring works of art.
Best wishes
Principal
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Message from Director of Student Wellbeing
Teenage Daughters
The 2016 Mission Australia Youth Survey which surveyed youth aged 15 -19 years totalling 21,846 young people in 2016 , showed the following results of the top three
concerns by females. For around six in ten females, coping with stress was a major concern
(extremely concerned: 28.1%; very concerned: 30.4)
Females were also more concerned about school or study problems with 48.3%
(extremely concerned: 20.6%; very concerned: 27.7%)
Concerns about body image were considerably higher among females, with 41.3%
(extremely concerned: 17.6%; very concerned: 23.7%)
This survey has led me to think about stress and how it is seen through the eyes of teenagers. At a recent 2018 Year 7 information evening I spoke about stress and how we all have felt stress due to the unknown factor we are about to experience, or the fact we
do not really want to do the task or be at the event so we build ourselves up to an extent at times where we can feel unwell. Before a performance people will feel butterflies, they
will be thinking constantly about their performance. It has been said that feeling a little nervous means you care. To experience stress is normal, however; it is how we handle the stress which is the important issue.
When your daughter talks about feeling stressed, listen to what she is saying and then ask her questions such as:
What makes you feel that way?
What do you feel could happen? What could you do to make the situation better?
By asking your daughter questions you are finding out why she is feeling that way and giving her ownership of her feelings and what she could do, without jumping in with
solutions. It is important to start giving her the tools to build resilience and work through situations so she is able to face events with courage. We all want our daughter to be able
to handle situations and thrive.
Another strategy to use if your daughter feels overwhelmed, is to have her stop and sit down, putting aside all the technology and taking a few minutes to regroup. I talk to the students about using this technique in a test. In a test if a student goes blank, then they
are to stop, put down their pen and take a few minutes to regroup, not worrying about those around them, then they are to pick up their pen and start writing.
At Mercy we want your daughter to be happy, be able to work out situations without teachers intervening straight away. If she has the tools and confidence to sought out
friendship issues, she will be more confident. Friendships are wonderful when everything is happy but once there is a breakdown of the friendship it becomes difficult. We all need to remember nothing can be perfect all the time, and not everyone will like everyone all
the time, there will be the hiccups but again it is how it is handled and spoken about that will make all the difference.
It is natural to change groups in high school because of maturity and interests, unfortunately, this does make some students feel hurt and jealous and they show their unhappiness by being nasty. If your daughter is ever in the situation of changing groups,
it is important she does not gossip about her old group. She could always send them a note saying thank you for the time together or just start sitting next to the other group,
believe me this does work. It is also important when friendships change, the word bullying is not thrown around. A breakdown of a friendship is not bullying. We need to acknowledge change is good but it can be hard and often time is needed before things
feel better.
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Message from Director of Student Wellbeing
Gemma McDermott
Director of Student Wellbeing
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Mercy Girls Inspire
Congratulations to Matilda K from Year 10!
A true Mercy student who demonstrated the College values in keeping with the teachings of Catherine MacAuley, by handing in a
car key to a teacher last Thursday 9th November. The key was then taken to the Police Station and later reunited with its grateful owner. Well done Matilda.
Ms McDonald
Year 10 Coordinator
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Message from Youth Ministry Co-ordinator
Dear Families,
It is the time of year again for the Christmas Hampers which will be donated to St Vincent
de Paul this year. With 2.2 million people currently living below the poverty line in Australia, including over
half a million children, your donation allows the St Vincent de Paul Society to provide more than immediate help, it provides something much more valuable – the opportunity for a
better life. This year, each Tutor Group will be receiving a box from St Vincent de Paul to place items
in. The boxes will be given out on Monday and you will need to finalise all the items by Wednesday, November 29.
In addition to the items in the boxes we thought each Tutor Group might like to purchase a gift voucher for the family.
Families know what is on their child’s wish list this Christmas, but many are worried about
how they are going to afford to put any gifts under the tree this year. We can uphold the dignity of these families, by allowing parents to choose the gift their child will receive on
Christmas morning. Gift cards from local toy shops and department stores give the parents plenty to choose from when selecting their child’s present. Gift cards are a great idea for parents and other adults as well.
Thank you
Mrs Helen Thomas
Youth Ministry Coordinator Religious Education teacher
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Message from Youth Ministry Co-ordinator
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Student News
Year 9 & Year 10 Textiles Technology class
This semester the Year 9 Textiles Technology
class completed a “comforting cushion” unit. They were asked to design, produce and evaluate a furnishing item suitable for use as a floor, bed or
couch cushion. The cushion needed to include at least TWO decorative techniques and incorporate
the elements of design. The students were inspired by nature, music,
fashion, geography and hobbies. They created some excellent cushions, demonstrating skills in beading, fabric dyeing, patchwork,
applique, crochet work, digital transfer printing and piping. This semester the Year 10 Textiles Technology class completed a unit on costume
design. Their task was to design and produce a costume inspired by a musical or theatre production or a film. The students spent time researching costumes from
different fashion eras and productions. They watched the movie Marie Antoinette to have an insight into historical costume design. The students costumes were
outstanding. Ms S. Holman
TAS Teacher
Year 10 Textiles Technology – “That’s Entertainment”
Costume design project
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Student News
Year 10 Textiles Technology – “That’s Entertainment”
Costume design project
Year 9 Textiles
Technology “Comforting Cushion”
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Student News
Creative Arts Showcase
The Creative Arts Showcase held last Friday night was a spectacle of drama, dance and
music. From 125 singing Sia’s, as Year 7 donned blonde and black wigs to perform their Sia mashup to fabulous dancers, talented musicians and moving drama pieces. The night was
certainly a celebration of the immense talent of our students.
In watching our soloists perform the audience couldn’t help but reflect on the dedication it must take to reach this level of skill and finesse. In the Mary of Now performance more than
one audience member was brought to tears. Later those same parents were laughing at the antics of a crazy Christmas feast. A night like this is a demonstration of the dedication and perseverance our students show to reach the high level of performance skill.
Thanks must go to the incredibly dedicated Creative Arts teachers, Michelle Thomson, Kathryn McGreal, Matthew Robertson and Amy Gill and to our Band conductor Mark
Strykowski, Music ensemble tutors Valerie Dart, Zachary Coombs and Jacinta Mikus and Dance teacher Cathy Hansell. Without their imagination, skill, humour and creativity these events would not be possible.
We would also like to thank the Willoughby City Council for their support of this event.
Jane Lennon
Creative Arts Coordinator
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Student News
CREATIVE ARTS SHOWCASE EVENING
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Student News
REMINDER FOR PARENTS
Can you please ensure that State Transit are advised of any changes to your
address as soon as possible to enable your daughters Opal Card to have the correct details.
When updating your details the students will continue to use their Opal Card as normal and will not be issued with a new card.
Only new students to the College will receive a new Opal card. Please contact state Transit if you need a replacement card.
Please Log on to www.opal.com.au or call Opal Customer Care on 13 67 25
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Co-Curricular Activities
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Parent News
A reminder to please RSVP to the upcoming Volunteer Cocktail Party if you have not
already done so.
We look forward to sharing the evening with all who have contributed to our wonderful community in 2017.
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Parent News
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Parent News
Come along to unique family celebrations of faith
Families are invited to join in two unique celebrations of
faith in Sydney as part of the Australian Catholic Youth Festival.
1. LIGHTS OF CHRISTMAS at St Mary’s Cathedral Sydney’s favourite Christmas tradition. Celebrate the
season at Sydney’s most popular Christmas lights show. Join us at the Lights of Christmas at St Mary’s Cathedral Square, in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, for a spectacular sound and light show every night from Wednesday 6 December
until Monday 25 December 2017. Starting each evening at 7.30pm with a choir performance, the free sound and light show will commence at 8:30pm and continue
through until midnight. For more information visit http://lightsofchristmas.com.au/. 2. MASS IN THE DOMAIN - The Australian Catholic Youth Festival—9th December
will close with a massive celebration of the Eucharist in a public Mass in the Domain at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Starting from 5pm with a concert, the Mass will begin at
