MacKillop Bulletin - Term 2, Week 6, 2024
From the Acting Principal
Dear Families,
Thank you to the families who attended the Creating Futures Expo last Tuesday night as part of the course selection process. It was conducted with enthusiasm and a generosity of spirit. It was a celebration of the many offerings at MacKillop and the dedication of the staff at the school.
It is excellent to see the opportunities for Year 7-12 students at Mackillop College. You may have seen recently the media coverage regarding the challenges of the Tasmanian Education System. The discussion is warranted. I particularly recommend the commentary and insight provided by demographer, Lisa Denny and economist, Saul Eslake. They highlight the poor integration of the levels of schooling, particularly between high school and college. We don't need a structural break in the critical high school years, we need a seamless transition. This point is one of the real strengths of MacKillop Catholic College in 2024 and was one of the drivers of Project 23. With a seamless transition across 7-12, we give our students the best opportunity for success.
One of my main areas of focus over the first few weeks has been listening carefully to the student experience. In my experience in other schools, this is a critical element of successful principalship. One way of listening has been wandering around and having a chat with students informally. Another way has been conducting a student survey. I had had hundreds of responses, with essays and passionate pleas. I have shared a summary with students and they have shared some excellent insights. I will now work in partnership with the student body to respond to the feedback in an authentic way.
Please feel free to contact me directly - bgill@mackillop.tas.edu.au
Brendan Gill
Acting Principal
From the Deputy Principal
Pathways Planning and Subject Selections for 2025
Creating Futures Expo
In Week 4 of Term 2, the College held its Creating Futures Expo to assist students to make informed subject selections for 2025. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to speak to subject teachers and Learning Leaders about subjects. The Senior School Subject Guide was also given out.
If you did not receive your Student Guide, please see your Pastoral Care Group Teacher to obtain your copy.
Year 10 Subject Advice / Pathways Planning Interviews
Year 10 Subject Advice / Pathway Planning interviews for students with their parents/guardians are being held in weeks 6 to 8 in the lead up to students selecting their subjects for 2025 before the end of the term. These interviews provide an opportunity to discuss career options and possible pathways, give a more detailed and personalised explanation of the TCE and ATAR and how each student can optimise their subject choices, including TASC subject choices and VET opportunities at the College in Years 11 and 12. Parents/guardians can book an interview through SOBS. You only need to book one appointment as each staff member involved covers the same information.
Year 11 Subject Advice / Pathways Planning Interviews
Year 11 students and parents/guardians can make an appointment to attend a Year 11 Subject Advice / Pathway Planning interview, either with their child after school or for Year 11 students on their own during the school day. These interviews are designed for Year 11 students who need some support and guidance to assist them with their subject selections for year 12. Parents/guardians can book an interview through SOBS. You only need to book one appointment as each staff member involved covers the same information.
Alanna Stretton
Deputy Principal
Director of Catholic Identity and Ministry
Timor Immersion July 2025 – Applications Packages
Families who requested an application package for the 2025 Timor Immersion should now have received these.
Please ask your child to see myself or Charlotte Davies (Youth Minister) urgently if you have not. Completed applications should be delivered to the College Office.
Ministry Events - Term Two
Here are some of the key events coming up.
Visit from Catholic Misson
On Tuesday 4 June, students in the Mission/Vinnies Team will participate in workshop facilitated by Maria Fracalossi who is the VIC/TAS representative for Catholic Mission and is visiting the State.
Catholic Mission works in developing countries to support Catholic Parishes and Schools. MacKillop Catholic College has a strong connection with Catholic Mission through our partnership in Timor Leste.
Free Dress Day – Wednesday 12 June
Please support the Caritas PNG Landslide Appeal by bringing a donation on Wednesday 12 June. A separate communication will be sent to families with further details.
Online Donations can be made here:
Spirituality Retreats:
Year 11 and Year 12 overnight retreats will be held on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 June.
The Year 11 Retreat will be at Spring Bay Mill facilitated by the College Ministry Team.
The Year 12 Retreat will be held at Spring Beach Youth Camp facilitated by Passionist Youth Ministry (PYM).
You can find out more about PYM here:
Further information will be sent to families via Consent2Go.
Year 8 Mass - Friday 7 June - POSTPONED
Unfortunately, the Year 8 Mass scheduled for this week has been postponed to a later date. Further information will be sent to families when this event is rescheduled.
Real Talk Australia Presentation - Tuesday 18 June
Real Talk Australia is the Archdiocese of Hobart’s approved organisation to deliver relationships education in Catholic Secondary Schools within a Catholic context. Real Talk have been working with MacKillop for the past three years.
The presentations this year are as follows:
Year 9 - Love and Life (Periods 1 & 2)
Year 8 – Consent and Respect. (Periods 3 & 4)
Year 7 – The Digital World (Periods 5 & 6)
You can find out more about Real Talk Australia here:
Lachlan Marsh
Director of Identity and Ministry
Careers and Pathways
Southern Catholic College Career Expo
On Thursday 23 May, our Year 10, 11 and 12 students visited the Southern Catholic
College’s Career Expo. This fantastic event allowed our students to speak with over 50 employers from a range of industries.
Here’s what some of our students had to say:
“There was a good range of career options for us to engage with. Personally, I enjoyed talking to the Tas Police Recruitment Team.”
“The expo was very interesting and a great opportunity to find out more about career opportunities. I spoke to UTAS, Fit College and Allied Health Tasmania and they provided me with some guidance as to what happens in a regular physiotherapy practice and how to get to that position.”
“I enjoyed talking to St Thomas Aquinas Teaching Schools Institute about their Teaching Program and how this could help me for a future pathway in teaching.”
Year 10 Work Experience and Transition Weeks:
In Week 2 and 3 of this term, our Year 10s participated in our Work Experience and Transition Weeks Program. It was so wonderful welcoming students back at the beginning of Week 3 and hearing all about their times on Work Experience.
Keep an eye out for this Term's Spirit Magazine coming in the Term 2 holidays for a wrap up of our Work Experience and Transition Weeks.
For now, here’s a sneak peek at some photos!
UTAS School Leaver Expo:
On Sunday 30 June, UTAS will be holding their School Leaver Expo at the Sandy Bay Campus. Senior students who are interested in a university pathway are encouraged to attend the event to chat with academics about their areas of interest or have a talk with the Tasmanian Recruitment Team for any generally questions about university.
The team from UTAS will be visiting our Year 11 and 12 students this week to introduce the Schools Recommendation Program (SRP) that will be open for applications in late June. Further information will be sent home to families regarding SRP in the coming weeks.
What an exciting time for our Year 12s as they get closer to beginning their future!
Careers Office Bookings
A reminder to all students and families that the Careers Office is open for bookings and they can be made via the following link:
Sarah Gurney
Program Leader - Careers and Pathway Planning
Health Reminder
We have been transitioning into Winter the past few weeks, but it has now well and truly hit! This is just a friendly reminder that if your son/daughter is showing any symptoms of being unwell, please keep them at home.
We do have students whose health can be severely impacted if they come into contact with illness/viruses. Not just the common cold but also more serious illnesses like chicken pox. Thank you for your consideration, it will be greatly appreciated by those students and families.
Most work can be accessed through SEQTA for students from home so they don't have to miss out on their learning.
Thank you for your vigilence and stay rugged up and healthy!
Japanese at MacKillop
Our College N5 program continues again this year. At this program we get to push our Japanese learning, meeting every Wednesday after school. We work together with students from different year levels, studying a variety of topics that we wouldn’t normally cover in class. There is no homework or assessments, the focus is on building our language skills and having fun.
In previous years we used to gather at the end of term to do an activity together, like watching a movie – or playing games. But this year we are doing something different, as you can see on the below images, we have been doing cooking!
Last term we made the dish called ‘Okonomiyaki’ – which directly translates to ‘grilled as you like’. It is a kind of savory pancake made with a variety of Japanese ingredients that we were able to use to cook it. It was such good fun, and I can’t wait to see what we will make this term!
N5 is a great way to both extend your Japanese learning and create some beautiful memories in the process.
Ella Lennon
Year 9
Year 11 ArtRage Exhibition Trip
In mid May, Year 11 Visual Art students made the most of their double lesson, taking a short trip into Salamanca Arts Centre to view the ArtRage 2024 exhibition.
The annual display showcases outstanding senior student artworks from across Tasmania. Students observed quality works created by their peers, ranging from drawings, paintings, ceramics, printmaking, photography and mixed media.
With a little spare time up our sleeves, we were also able to take a look inside the Handmark Gallery artists' studio space on the top floor and the Hobart College 2023 senior visual art students work on display. The aim of the trip is to inspire the students' art making, and observe the work by practicing artists in the context of a functioning art space. Materials collected along with personal reflections will be added to the students' important visual art journal over the coming lessons.
Lincoln Beddoe
Teacher
Technologies
This term has seen the introduction of a new learning space for senior students enrolled in Digital Technology subjects and students interested in attending Stitch and Sew, held each Thursday and Friday lunchtimes.
Over the past few weeks technology students have been working on robotic projects and were keen to explain how they had coded certain functionality so that their robots performed specific tasks.
Stitch and Sew students are very excited to have a creative space and have discussed plans to begin a crocheted blanket and quilt project to donate to charity. Others are practicing their hand embroidery and crochet skills, and a group has started work on making pom poms for a floral yarn display for the room.
As the term progresses, we hope to get our sewing machines humming, with some small projects planned, and some commissioned projects requested by teachers for the school. If you have any yarn or cotton fabric you would like to donate, we would be happy to accept donations toward our crocheted blanket and quilt project.
Donations can be dropped off at the front office. We would love and appreciate some donations of 8 ply wool / acrylic yarn. Thank you.
Lenna Green
Teacher & Learning Leader - Technologies
What's On?
SchoolTV
Because parenting doesn’t come with instructions, the College subscribes to SchoolTV. SchoolTV is an online wellbeing resource that can support parents and guardians in the challenges relating to modern-day parenting. SchoolTV resources provide realistic, practical and ongoing strategies that help to build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers to navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for young people. Editions and series include (but are not limited to) School Refusal, Mental Health, Healthy Bodies, and Cyber Safety.
For Term 2, The College's Wellbeing Team has a focus on educating students on Safe Internet Use and Positive Digital Reputations.
The college is providing resources, information and safe places within the college for students to learn about how to keep themselves and their friends safe on the internet, to report online bullying, unsafe or offensive/illegal behaviour and to develop wellbeing practices for disconnecting from the digital world.
SchoolTV also provides a Cyber Safety Series for parents and guardians on these topics. Please take some time to check out the Cyber Safety Series, including the Digital Reputation edition which can be found here:
An Overview of the Digital reputation edition
Social media has become such an integral part of a teenager’s life that it can cause anxiety and lower their self-esteem. Modern teens are learning to do most of their communication whilst looking at a screen instead of another person. They are missing out on very critical social skills.
Depending on what they are communicating online, it can also affect their digital reputation. Friendships, relationships and even future job prospects are all at risk. As a parent, It is very important that you are aware of what picture they are painting of themselves online.
Once information makes its way online it can be difficult to remove. Images and words can be misinterpreted and altered as they are easily and quickly shared around. Privacy settings on social media sites need to be managed in order to protect your child’s digital reputation.
This Edition and others on SchoolTV can be found on MacKillop Catholic College Website under "Pastoral Care", or by clicking this link:
Tracey Webster
Student Wellbeing Officer
Student Achievements
Year 10 student Harry Donald competed at the Australian National Gymnastics Championships on the Gold Coast, representing Tasmania in the State team. He competed in the International U17 Trampoline, International U22 Syncro, International U17 Double Mini and was nominated to compete in the Teams event in the Double Mini.
Harry qualified for the final in the U17 Double Mini and placed 3rd! His team qualified for the final, bouncing away with 3rd place while Harry secured 9th place in the individual Trampoline event.
Congratulations Harry on these fantastic results and on representing Tasmania with such confidence and pride.
Harry Donald
Alicia Burdon has been selected to represent Tasmania 16s girls at the National Soccer Championships in Victoria from 3-7 July. All the best Alicia!
Alicia Burdon
Is your son or daughter doing something outstanding, amazing, or extraordinary that they want to share with us? We would love to hear from you!
Please send your stories and photos to Fiona Medwin, fmedwin@mackillop.tas.edu.au and we will highlight achievements in our bulletin.