I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Headmaster’s

News

1

Mission 2

Teaching and

Learning

2

Student

Profiles

3

Pastoral Care

and Year 10

News

3

Sports News 4

Other News 4

St Gregory’s College

Campbelltown 1 0 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 V O L U M E 4 9 , I S S U E 3

U P C O M I N G

E V E N T S

13-15 March

Year 7 Camp

16 March

Rostrum Voice of

Youth Public Speaking

17 March

Harmony Day

Assembly

27 March

Year 12 Half-Yearly

Exams commence

Headmaster’s News Dear Members of the St Gregory’s Family, We are now in the second week of Lent, a time when we should be preparing for the coming of Easter and all that that entails. Christ went to the desert to fast and pray for forty days and forty nights in order to prepare for what was ahead of him. We should also be doing some preparation ourselves in order to reflect on our own prayer life and our lives in general. What is our relationship like with God? In order to have a strong healthy relationship, one has to communicate on a regular basis. Our relationship with God is no different if we want to continue it. Are we living our lives according to the Gospel values? The only one that can answer that question is the person it is asked of. During Lent, we are encouraged to give what we can afford to the Lenten collection. A number of the senior boys will be encouraging the College community to give what they can over the next couple of weeks so that the money can be sent to support the Marist Missions such as the Solomon Islands, where a group of our young men will be going on immersion in the first term holidays.

Cocktail Evenings

Thank you to the large number of parents who supported the Cocktail Evenings over the last couple of weekends. There were over three hundred people represented across the weekend and many had travelled great distances to be part of the weekends. Thank you to the Directors of the Foundation who made themselves available and to the many host parents, many thanks. I hope that tonight, we will be able to take the Year 10 parents through the new Learning Centre which will be operational in the next few weeks.

Co-curricular Activities

Congratulations to the following Cricket Teams (First Grade, Third Grade, 10A and 8A) who won their respective Finals at the MCS Cricket recently. The 8A team under the guidance of Mr Bingham have won this competition for the last eight years. Congratulations to the Show Team who recently visited Canberra and achieved some marvellous results especially in the School Classes. Congratulations to the four boys (Zak Hackett, James Macri, Carl Rushworth, and Jonathan Bombardiere) who have gone through to the Zone Final next week in the CDSA Public Speaking Competition.

Parent Forums

Thank you to the many parents who attended the Forums over the last three weeks. A copy of what was discussed will be sent out shortly. There over one hundred parents who attended one of the six meetings.

Cooma Visit

Thank you to the parents of the Cooma students for hosting the dinner last week. It is always wonderful to visit where the boys come from and to touch base with the parents in the hometown. The Griffith, Hillston, West Wyalong and Harden weekend is coming up shortly this term and I will look forward to seeing the parents and friends in these towns.

Quae Seminaveris Metes.

Damien Millar Headmaster

Mission

During the week I have had the privilege of visiting some Year 7 Catholic Studies classrooms to introduce myself and make sure they feel very welcome to be a part of the many faith experiences which are available to them here at St Greg’s. What a positive experience to be able to answer questions such as, ‘Why did you choose to be in a Marist school?’ and ‘Why does Br Ernest make sure he recognises all our birthdays?’. Of course the answers to seemingly simple questions can be quite complex, but my general response is that in a Marist school we are family. Another question I was asked was, ‘Do you have to be Catholic to participate?’, of course my response is ‘No’. As educators we are encouraged to look for any opportunities in our interactions with young people to support Jesus’ teaching and healing ministries just as the first disciples did. It is our privilege and our responsibility to encourage the growth of the faith of our young men. With this in mind, I remind all boys of the invitation to attend Mass at 8 o’clock each Friday morning. I encourage the boys of Year 10 to actively participate in the celebration of Eucharist which will take place for each class during Week 9. This is part of their study of Eucharist in Catholic Studies.

The term will end with our Easter liturgy at 9am on Holy Thursday morning. My hope is that once again our community will be able to celebrate this special time in a memorable way. I also hope that our families will be able to attend Mass on Easter Sunday, the most significant feast in our Church calendar with the communities in their own parishes. Looking ahead, any students wishing to take part in the Sacramental Programme, either wishing to join the Catholic Church in the sacrament of Baptism or to receive Communion and/or Confirmation, are encouraged to put their names down for the preparation will which begin early in Term 2. Please email an expression of interest to judith.walsh@stgregs.nsw.edu.au. The Sacramental Mass will take place on July 28. Please feel free to contact me if there are any questions from students or parents about this programme.

Cathie Clarke, Director of Mission/RE Coordinator

Arise, awake,

and Christ

will shine on

you

(Eph 5:14)

Teaching and Learning

Characteristics of Good Learners

Some people seem to be natural learners; they answer all of the questions in class, they consistently receive high marks, and they just seem to ‘get it’. Most often though, these students are not just naturally capable. More likely than not, they have put in hard, well-focused work behind the scenes which no one else knows about. Before understanding what they’re supposed to know and do specifically in each subject, they have learned the characteristics that will enable them to acquire new knowledge and skills more generally. The good news is, these characteristics can be developed in almost anyone; you don’t have to be born with them. But you do have to intentionally seek to develop them. In each newsletter this semester, I will introduce characteristics of good learners that parents and students may wish to ponder. It may be a worthwhile exercise to set each characteristic as a challenge for your son over the fortnight between newsletters.

Characteristic 1: Good learners ask questions

Louise Millar, Director of Teaching and Learning

Study Skills—Building Concentration Skills

Many students find it difficult to concentrate and stay focused when they are doing their schoolwork at home. So what can we do to improve concentration levels?

Catherine Keegan, Director of Studies

The full Characteristics of Good Learners report and Study Skills newsletter can be found at Teaching and Learning

Student Profiles

Congratulations to the following students who were placed in the top 5 of their heats in the Paraders Competition at Canberra Show:

Sam Maxwell

(Year 9) 4th place

Beau Gilbert

(Year 9) 5th place

Dugald Mullen

(Year 8) 6th place

Sam Prince

(Year 12) 5th place

Charlie Lennon

(Year 9) 6th place

Daniel Watkin

(Year 9) 6th place

Pastoral Care As we move into the final phase of Term 1, I am happy to report that our boys have settled into the grind of academic life well. Planning the year ahead is pinnacle to a strong outcome. To aid this process ‘Academic Tracking’ is high on the agenda, and with the help of homeroom teachers and Year Co-ordinators, the boys have spent time deconstructing past reports and creating positive strategies for this year. The conversations created by their teachers have set benchmarks for setting goals and expectations in their studies. To add to this, students had exposure to a developing Study Skills Program, the presenter enhancing techniques earlier this term with senior students and Year 7.

Overall, the pastoral incentives this term have been of a high calibre:

Year 10 and 11 students have attended the P.A.R.T.Y Program at Liverpool Hospital;

Year 7 students have watched a performance by ‘Brainstorm’ and will attend camp later this term;

Year 12 had a guest speaker, Shaun Spence, Old Boy from 2009;

Year 8 will be involved in ‘Boys and Blokes’ on the weekend;

I look forward in keeping you updated throughout the year with additional information regarding pastoral care incentives.

In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries or concerns regarding your son’s wellbeing at school.

Baldino Vetrano, Pastoral Care Coordinator

Year 10 have started Term 1 with a lot of positive energy and are already showing signs of achieving great things. With this great start and the application of the ON PAR motto, 2017 is shaping up to be a big year for this group of young men.

In week four the Year 10 group were introduced to the Community Service Program by the Marist Youth team. All boys will have the chance to participate in the giving of their time to help others in our community. This is a very worthwhile opportunity which Year 10 have embraced with open arms. Thanks to Mrs Clarke, Mrs Quirk and the Year 10 Homeroom Team for their work in this initiative.

A highlight in week five was the group of thirty students who took up the opportunity to participate in the Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y) Program at Liverpool

Hospital. The P.A.R.T.Y Program is based on learning through vivid and emotional experience from real people and their very real experiences. The P.A.R.T.Y Program allowed our Year 10 boys the opportunity to experience the path of a trauma patient as they are rushed through the trauma room doors, into surgery, rehabilitation and, if lucky enough, recovery. This P.A.R.T.Y Program is about experiencing what happens when young people make a decision that changes their lives forever. Students who participate in the P.A.R.T.Y. Program leave knowing that they have the power to make the right choice. Thanks to Mr Vetrano for organising the day and to Mrs Coupland and Mr McGinnity for attending.

I look forward to more great news from Year 10 throughout the year. John Dixon, Year 10 Coordinator

Year 10 News

Joshua Fenech

(Year 10) 1st place

Izac Johnston-Kaluzyn

(Year 11) 1st place

Michael Watkin

(Year 11) 3rd place

Nicholas Alcorn

(Year 10) 2nd place

Daniel Brennan

(Year 10) 3rd place

James Bush

(Year 9) 4th place

Sports

Events

16 March

MCS Football Round 1 (trials)

MCS RL Trials (Opens and 15 years

MCS Tennis Championship (16 years—Opens)

21 March

MCS Swimming Carnival

23 March

MCS Football Round 2 (trials)

MCS RL Trials (Opens and 15

Sports News TERM 1 – WEEK 6

ANNUAL SWIMMING CARNIVAL Our Annual Swimming Carnival was held at the Bradbury Pool last week. The wonderful support of the staff and the great enthusiasm of the students led by their House Captains resulted in another successful Carnival. Kilian House (Green) finished second this year, losing to Molloy House (Blue) by seven points, after having won the Carnival for 13 years in a row.

NORTH SHORE INVITATIONAL MARIST SWIMMING CARNIVAL With five of our best swimmers unavailable, seniors Joshua Ashkar (Year 12) and Mark Perich (Year 11) led the team to an exciting defence of the North Shore Marist Invitational Swimming Carnival Championship. The Carnival provides excellent preparation for the MCS Carnival and because we are allocated two lanes for our College twice as many students have the opportunity to participate which has developed a greater depth of competitive swimmers.

Congratulations to the Swimming team, their Coach, Mr Dixon, and supporting staff, Ms Wray, Ms Keir, Mrs Dash and Mr McGuiggan.

MCS CRICKET COMPETITION In a very rare accomplishment, our MCS Cricket teams won all Divisions of the 2016-17 competition. The First XI defeated Blacktown by 64 runs; our Third XI defeated our Fifth XI by 2 runs in the last over of the game for the Second Division title; the Year 10 “A” team defeated Penrith by 40 runs; Year 8“A” defeated Penrith by 55 runs. Congratulations to all players and their coaches.

ALL SCHOOLS TRIATHLON The 2017 All Schools Triathlon was St Gregory's College biggest ever turn out. With 80 boys competing in the event over two days it is safe to say the interest is growing at the College. The event was a huge success with all individuals and teams completing the Triathlon and all of the boys leaving with a sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction. The College had very successful results with our Intermediate team coming 9th in the State/5th in CCC (time: 49:03) and our Senior team coming 14th in the State/5th in CCC (time: 50:41). Mitchell O’Brien, Triathlon Coordinator

Joseph Lantz, Sports Coordinator

The full report with results and Representative Honours is in the News section of the College website.

Other News CANBERRA ROYAL SHOW

On 22 February 2017 the Show Team travelled to compete at the annual Canberra Royal Show. This year we were extremely fortunate to be able to take 17 students, 6 head of cattle and 14 sheep. The Show was a huge success with the team returning with a swag of accolades. In the Cattle section, 12 of 17 students were placed in the top 5 in their heats of the Paraders’ competition. Our cattle also performed very well with our Shorthorn Bull being awarded the Junior Champion Shorthorn Bull of the Show. This year the College was also exhibiting cattle in

support of the Marist Brothers at Mittagong, Lavalla Limousins. In some tough competition these animals also brought home a first, 2 seconds and a third.

The Sheep section also saw some fantastic results. In the Stud section, where the College was competing against other commercial breeders, we achieved 2 firsts, 5 seconds and 2 thirds as well Reserve Champion Ram and Champion Group of Sheep. In the Schools section almost every animal came home with a first or second placing as well as Champion Long Wool Ram, Reserve

Champion Long Wool Ram, Champion Long Wool Ewe, Reserve Champion Long Wool Ewe, Supreme Long Wool Exhibit and Supreme Schools Exhibit. Our students also competed in the Junior Handling and Junior Judging competitions.

We head to Robertson Show today and then to Moss Vale, Camden and the Sydney Royal in coming weeks.

Michael McGuiggan, Agriculture Teacher

The full report with individual results and photos can be found on the News page.

ISA SPORT

Basketball Congratulations to the Under 13, Under 15 and 1st grade basketball teams who competed in last weekend’s semi-finals. The Under 13’s and 15’s both had very close games against strong opposition but were unable to get a win on the day. The 1st grade team were exceptional. Whilst the first half was quite close, the boys simply outclassed their opponents in the second half. They eventually won 88-62. They play in the Grand Final this Saturday against Chevalier College, Bowral. We will take the entire boarding school to support

them. The game is on at 12:00pm at Penrith Basketball Stadium, 30 Herbert Street Cambridge Park.

Cricket The cricket team had an unfortunate finish to their season with a closely contested loss to St Pius. After some adjustment was made to the final points tally to account for washed out games, we ended up dropping to 5th place and were forced out of the semi-finals. Despite the disappointment, the boys performed admirably all season and were fine ambassadors for the College on and off the field.

Matt Stimson from Temora did a superb job as Captain.

Rugby Union Registrations are still open for this season. Most teams have already commenced training. All registered players and those interested should attend a Rugby Clinic here at the College on Saturday 18 March. This will commence at 10:00am with gear allocation. The clinic will include games against Redfield College from Dural. We will also be attending the Brumbies v Waratah’s game that evening.

Max Spencer, Director of Boarding