MacKillop Bulletin - Term 3, Week 3, 2024

From the Acting Principal

Dear families,

It is a real honour to be appointed the ongoing Principal of MacKillop Catholic College. The College has a strong history of providing secondary education on the Eastern Shore of Hobart. Last week, we had former student and current AFLW player Nicole Bresnehan speak to the students at assembly. As we celebrate thirty years as a College this year, examples like Nicole highlight the positive contributions of MacKillop Catholic College to the broader Tasmanian community. A couple of messages from Nicole that really resonated with students were 'you can't be what you can't see' and whilst you may want to strive to succeed in a particular career or pathway, you also need to develop your character.

Thank you to parents for their active participation in parent/teacher conversations last week. I have an enormous amount of hope for the future at MacKillop Catholic College. There are so many fundamentally positive attributes about the school. There are also definitely some areas that need to be addressed for the school to flourish. Only by working collectively can we hope to achieve the best outcomes for our whole community. Thank you for your support of the College.

Our recent parent COPA survey indicated an appetite for a thorough review of the current College uniform. If you are interested in being a part of a parent focus group, can you please let me know at bgill@mackillop.tas.edu.au.

Brendan Gill
Acting Principal

From the Deputy Principal - Wellbeing

In this edition of SchoolTV - RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS

Fostering a nurturing environment of respectful relationships within your family holds the key to not only harmonious living, but also improved academic outcomes for your children. As parents and caregivers, embracing the art of teaching children about respect at a young age sets the stage for a lifetime of healthy interactions and empathetic understanding. It will help cultivate a positive environment where communication flourishes, conflicts are resolved constructively, and bonds are fortified.

Teaching children to respect themselves and others will open up avenues for both personal growth and academic achievement. Fostering an environment where respect is not just a word, but a practiced behaviour, will empower young people with essential life skills. Effective communication, active listening, and the art of compromise, will provide your child with a solid foundation that will transcend family interactions and help them collaborate effectively with peers, teachers and the broader community.

Equipping children with an understanding of healthy versus unhealthy relationships is an important aspect of their development. It will guide them to make informed choices, foster positive connections, and set boundaries that contribute to their emotional wellbeing. Understanding the nuances between healthy and unhealthy relationships provides children with the essential tools to navigate their social world, build self-esteem, and cultivate meaningful relationships.

In this edition of SchoolTV, learn how to empower young people in healthy interactions to embrace differences and forge connections that honour their self-worth.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Respectful Relationships edition of SchoolTV:

Study Skills Handbook - PROOFING YOUR ASSESSMENTS

As you gear up for your next assessment, mastering the art of proofreading is key to ensuring your hard work shines through. In this month's edition, we dive into the essential steps to proof your assessments effectively and elevate your academic performance.

1st Proof:

To begin, consider relocating to a fresh setting for a focused proofreading session. Find a place that is not your usual study space where you can concentrate on refining your work. Bring along the assessment criteria and question prompts to guide your review. Your initial proof should encompass the following key factors:

• WORD COUNT: Confirm that your assessment aligns with the specified word limit. Identify any excess words that may need trimming to meet requirements.

• SPELLING / GRAMMAR: While spell check can be helpful, don't rely solely on it. Look out for common errors like 'form' instead of 'from' that may slip through automated checks.

• SOURCES: Verify that all sources for visuals, examples, and quotes are properly cited and listed to support your arguments.

• CRITERIA / QUESTION ANSWERED? Review the assessment criteria and ensure that your responses directly address the requirements. Tick off each criterion as you confirm its coverage in your work.

• REPETITION: It’s easy to repeat points, double check you haven’t done this.

• USEFUL INFORMATION: It’s not uncommon to write unnecessary information. Do you have points that don’t really answer the question? Have you written clearly? Is there any information you could leave out? Is there any information that you realise needs to be added?

• REINFORCE: This is where you need to finalise which words you will bold, highlight, underline etc. so your assignment clearly identifies the main points. Bolding can let the teacher see clearly that you have covered all the parts of the question, that there is a sequence of ideas and you have organised the information well.

2nd Proof:

The next day repeat the above steps, but this time - READ YOUR ASSIGNMENT OUT LOUD! If you didn’t print your assignment to proof the first time, now could be the time. Reading and hearing the words spoken in different mediums can sometimes give a new perspective to your writing. Note down any changes you need to make.

3rd Proof:

It’s always a good idea to ask someone to proof your assignment after you have proofed it first. It is common for the writer not to pick up typos or silly mistakes because they know what they meant and see the words they intended to write, and not the errors. So recruit a proof reader (parent, relatives, older sibling or friend etc.) to gain fresh insights.

Remember, meticulous proofreading is a valuable skill that can elevate the quality of your work and set you on the path to academic success.

You can learn more about being more effective with assessments in the ASSIGNMENT SKILLS unit of www.studyskillshandbook.com.au by logging in with these details:

Username: mackillopcatholiccollege

Password:  skillstosucceed23

Andrew Pritchard
Deputy Principal - Wellbeing

Director of Catholic Identity and Ministry

Feast of St Mary of the Cross (MacKillop) – Thursday 8 August

This week, the College will celebrate the Feast of St Mary of the Cross, Patron Saint of MacKillop Catholic College. This is the most important liturgical celebration for our faith community where we celebrate the life and works of Mary MacKillop and the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

The Liturgy will be concelebrated by our Parish Priest, Fr Mark Freeman and Assistant Priest, Fr Kasun Dananjaya.

As this event is a formal occasion, all students are required to wear their formal uniform, including the College blazer on Thursday 8 August.

I am asking families to assist their child in complying with this uniform requirement.

JJAMM Week – Monday 5 August – Friday 9 August

Students will be participating in several activities of the course of the week to celebrate the Feast of Mary MacKillop. Please refer to separate communications and SEQTA Notices for details.

JJAMM stands for Joseph, Julian and Mary Mackillop and is pronounced ‘jam’.

Joseph (St Joseph) Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and earthly parent to Jesus. The courage and dedication of St Joseph inspired Mary MacKillop to found the order of religious known as the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

Julian (Fr Julian Tenison-Woods) Catholic Priest who worked with Mary MacKillop to found the Sisters of St Jospeh and to open the first school for poor children in Penola, South Australia. Julian Tenison-Woods has a particular connection with Tasmania as he visited our island many times to catalogue the native flora and fauna. Fr Julian was responsible for bringing the Sisters of St Joseph to teach in Tasmania.

Mary MacKillop (St Mary of the Cross) Australia’s First Saint. Born in Fitzroy, Melbourne in 1842, she created a legacy of outstanding education across Australia and New Zealand inspired by the love of Jesus Christ. Mary MacKillop was a humble yet determined woman who provides inspiration for all in the MacKillop Catholic College Community.

Catholic Education Week Mass – Thursday 15 August

Next week, our College Captains, Mission Captains and House Captains will attend Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral to celebrate Catholic Education Week. The Mass will be celebrated by His Grace, Julian Porteous, Archbishop of Hobart. Students will be accompanied by myself and Mr Gill.

Vinnies Winter Appeal & Sleepout

The MacKillop Vinnies group will be participating in our annual school sleepout on the evening of Thursday 22 August. More details on how to make a donation will be sent to families.

Blessed Carlo Exhibit

A travelling exhibition about the life of Blessed Carlo Acutis will be visiting MacKillop Catholic College on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 August. The exhibit includes and relic of Blessed Carlo that will be displayed in St Joseph’s Chapel.

Families should contact Mr Marsh if they would like to visit the exhibit outside class time.

You can read about the story of Blessed Carlo here: 

Lachlan Marsh
Director of Identity and Ministry

Director of Junior School

A few weeks ago at a years 7 and 8 assembly I presented to the students about a relatively new term 'sexploitation'.  I drew on resources provided by thinkuknow and some recent stories in the media (see links below) to inform the students of this seemingly growing trend, in a bid to help keep them safer online. The key messages for the students were:

• to be wary of new 'friends' online with accounts that have generic profile images, few friends / followers / connections and seem to have a connection with them through a place, club, relative etc.
• to avoid leaving their game sites to engage in further conversations with online friends (if their motivation is to be your friend and chat, they will do so in the game!)
• to  be alert to warning signs like questions about whether they are alone ('where are your parents?'), if they are in their bedroom or statements about being unable to use their videos to chat ('my camera is broken'.)
• to resist invitations to share personal information and images and be on guard for ways that this information might be elicited. I shared with the students a story of a boy that was bribed as a result of sending explicit photos to a stranger and lost a great deal of money as a result.
  

We also touched on the vulnerability that AI brings to anyone with a social media account.  In this era of 'Deep Fakes' anyone that chooses to have an online profile of any kind (and that's almost all of us) is able to be mimicked and impersonated doing ANYTHING and that's something that we probably didn't sign up for when we first engaged with our social media platforms years ago.  So the consequences of that are quite limitless.  It is alot for our students to be contending with today.  As parents and educators we need to keep up to date with these trends as much as we can to help our students (and ourselves) navigate and manage the risks and consequences.  

So the central message of the assembly for the students was for them to remember that they are far more important to us than any amount of money or concern they might cost us and that they need to reach out to the key adults in their lives for support whenever they run into trouble online (or elsewhere!).  I encourage you to have a quick look at the materials below so you too feel up-to-date and perhaps can have a conversation with the young people in your life about how aware they are about their vulnerability online.  It is so important to try and keep the dialogue open with our young people and have them feel like they can come to us about anything and get help about anything without shock and shame and rejection.  A huge exercise in having a 'poker face' in some cases I know.

For further information and reading go to:

Alison Stevens
Director of Junior School

Director of Pastoral Care

COPA Update

Day 1 of Term 3 saw our students returning with an air of positivity for the term ahead. The uniform amendments shared with students in the final Term 2 assembly, and with families via Brendan Gill’s letter, have been adopted by students with optimism and support - for this we are most grateful.

I shared the following message with students in our final assembly last term:

‘…It is essential to note that we feel very strongly that our Uniform is a very important element of our College’s identity. It has been worn by many groups of students over the years, and represents the ‘face’ of our community. It is a tangible connection with our past and takes us forward as a community into our future. It gives us all an equal footing when we come to school each day.

The Crest, located on our uniform, was designed by Christina Ramsay, when she was a student at Corpus Christi School. Her original idea for the crest of the College, “a cross and a star intersecting, each gaining inspiration from the other”. Christina suggested our crest was symbolic of “hope and new life”. It also reminds us, through the star, that God is transcendent, always beyond human thinking and imagining, but God is also immanent. Christina later joined the early group of students to enrol in MacKillop College. Sadly, when she worked on her suggestions for our College crest she had just been diagnosed with cancer. Christina battled with the illness throughout her years at MacKillop and sadly succumbed to the disease in 2004. We would like you to think of this contribution to our uniform and many others when you put on your uniform each day’.

In the recent House assemblies held on August 2, our House Leaders delivered a powerpoint presentation with students sharing consistent messaging around our COPA, including:

‘Uniform helps to connect people, it provides a sense of identity and security. School uniform is not a matter of fashion...it is about dressing appropriately for the workplace’. 

In the short time that we have been back at school, we are seeing excellent cooperation from students with respect to needing hair tied back during practical subjects/activities and greater support around issues with excess jewelery. Each day we are happy to see more and more agency from students in making good decisions with respect to the COPA and we encourage further positive actions in this space moving forward. It means a lot to us to see the students wearing our uniform with pride. 

It is important to reiterate, that our Senior - Years 10 - 12 students are permitted to have a single nose stud piercing in the nostril. Students in Years 7-9 must not wear any kind of facial piercing, and nor should they use clear studs as substitutes for any facial piercings; this remains an area requiring greater student support in the younger grades, but overall is working well.

The second key area requiring a little further attention and support from some quarters is the selection of uniform worn with respect to Sports Uniform vs Formal Uniform - students are reminded that unless they have HPE, Dance, Outdoor Ed or certain excursions requiring Sports Uniform, they should be wearing the Formal Uniform. Students in Years 11 and 12, who would not normally attend any subjects requiring Sports Uniform to be worn, may choose two days each week as their nominated Sports Uniform days. When wearing the Sports Uniform, notably, if wearing leggings, we ask that navy blue leggings only are worn.

Finally, an additional step to assist in building greater awareness and understanding around our COPA expectations, has seen signage developed and shared in each classroom learning space; these are proving to be useful reminders and prompts to proactive teacher-student conversations and student decision making.

We acknowledge that there are still some growth areas when we view our uniform, and in the future, a detailed evaluation and review will occur to determine any necessary changes. Please feel free to continue to share any feedback around our COPA…all information is greatly appreciated and will collectively inform future decisions and evaluations.

Kim Rowlands
Director of Pastoral Care

Careers and Pathways

Trade opportunities for our students

As students have been busy selecting their courses for 2025, I thought it would be a great
opportunity to highlight the College’s upcoming partnership with the Tasmanian Building
Group Apprentice Scheme – commonly known as TasBGAS.

Students in Year 11 and 12 next year will have the opportunity to apply for two different
offerings through TasBGAS and MacKillop Catholic College.

The first is the MacKillop Catholic College Construction Skill Set. Students enrolled in this course will complete key units relating to construction and will have a blend of learning on-site at the College and the TasBGAS workshop. An instructor from TasBGAS will be coming to MacKillop each week to teach this class exclusively. They will also travel to the TasBGAS
workshop to complete the practical components of the course.

This Skill Set course has already proved to be a popular choice among our students for next year, as it means they can achieve the course within one year, right on-site at MacKillop. It’s also worth noting MacKillop Catholic College is just one of two schools who offer their students this opportunity in Hobart!

The second offering is the TasBGAS Building Futures Program, which is essentially a tailored School-Based Traineeship opportunity for students wanting to enter the construction area. Applications are open now for this program for 2025, and like the Skill Set course, this has already been so popular with our students.

Students who are successful in their application to this program will work towards their Certificate II in Construction over two years, which involves block placements and the completion of theory work. School-Based Apprenticeships/Traineeships are in huge demand from students currently as the blended style of learning and working suits so many students and allows them to kick start their qualifications and careers early.

Applications are now open for this program. Click the below link to find out more.

The College will also continue to offer Certificate II in Construction offsite at the TasTAFE Clarence Campus, however, we strongly encourage students with a pathway interest in construction to apply for the two TasBGAS courses.

A huge thank you to our VET Learning Leader, Mrs Sue Howard, who has worked with TasBGAS to make these opportunities available to our students in 2025.

UTAS Open Day
On Sunday 15 September, UTAS will be holding their Open Day 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

Southern Tasmanian Dance Eisteddfod

On Friday 5 July, thirty five students performed at the Southern Tasmanian Dance Eisteddfod, which was held at Wrest Point Casino.

The year 7 and 8’s performed a Taylor Swift mashup which was performed beautifully, and they proudly received a special mention. The year 9 and 10’s brought the hype performing Tina Turner and taking 3rd place.

We also had two of our year 11 students, Hannah Jackman and Karl Young perform a song and dance duo which made everyone have a giggle including the judge.  They worked so hard and came out with a lucky 1st place.

We would like to thank Miss Robertson and Miss Priest for assisting on the day and making the day flow.

Another big thank you to Hannah and Karl for their help in choreographing the year 7 and 8 routine.

Good job to everyone who performed

We would like to thank Mrs Williams, Mrs Tew and a special mention to Nicole Rosson for all the hard work they have put into these dances and for everything they do for us to make this sort of stuff happen.

Lilly Walker, Sky Priest and Taylor Adams 
Year 10

Performing Arts Update

Last week students from years 7-10 took part in the play reading of Barry Kay’s Australian Play, Dreams.  This is the first stage in the production process. This week auditions will be held, and students will have the opportunity to read for the roles that interested them. The play is a light-hearted comedy about teenagers and their dreams for their future. Dreams will be performed at the Fusion Festival in term 4.

This week the Grade 8 Drama, Grade 10 and 11 Dance and 9, 10 and 11 Music students will attend the GYC production of "Legally Blonde". This is an excellent opportunity for MacKillop’s Performing Arts students to experience live theatre. The performance includes students who previously attended Mackillop and performed in our own High School Musical in 2024. For many students this experience will form part of their assessment as students will be asked to review the performance as part of their responding stand.  

Anna Cato
Teacher & Program Leader

MacKillop Mathematics

The next few weeks will see a number of events being held within the Mathematics Department.

The Australia Mathematics Competition
The Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) will be held between Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 August and is open to students in Years 7-12. The AMC contains unique problems designed each year by leading educators and academics to challenge and extend students’ problem-solving skills.

For further details please go to the below link.

Please contact Mr Cooke learningext@mackillop.tas.edu.au before August 1 to register your interest.

Maths Relay

The Mathematical Association of Tasmania (MAT) is hosting the MAT Maths Relay Southern Heat 2024 on Sunday 22 September 2024 and is open to students in Years 5-12.  The relays see teams of four students take on mathematical problems of increasing difficulty as they race to beat other competitors and the clock. It’s an exciting day to be part of! Each team is accompanied by an adult who will be a marker to check students’ answers against the answer sheet.  Consider getting a few friends together to form a team. 

Problem Solving Competition

The ML Urquhart Mathematics Competition is an annual problem-solving competition for Tasmanian students in Years 11 and 12. This Competition is the most mathematically demanding of competitions conducted by the Mathematical Association of Tasmania. Students have three hours in which to attempt the questions. The winner of the Competition receives the Urquhart Medal and a certificate. Registrations are restricted to up to three students per college or school.

The ML Urquhart Mathematics Competition will be conducted on Thursday 12 September 2024.

For further details on these two events, please go to the below link:

Please contact Ms Doyle sdoyle@mackillop.tas.edu.au to register your interest.

I would encourage students to consider any of the previous events. Participation in maths competitions can help students advance their mathematics skills and gain other important life skills like collaboration, analytical and critical thinking and thinking ‘outside the box’.

Sandra Doyle 
Learning Leader - Mathematics

What's On?

Student Achievements

Year 9 student Reuben Jacobson was selected to represent Tasmania as part of the U15 boys team attending the National Youth Soccer championships in Wollongong in July.

Congratulations Reuben on being selected to represent Tasmania!

Noah Capaci, Year 9, has been selected to represent Tasmania at the 2024 Australian Youth Volleyball Competition in the boys U16 Team.  All the best for this great opportunity Noah!

Alicia Burdon, Year 10, was successful in her representation in the Tasmania 16 Girls National Soccer Championships in Victoria in early July.  

Alicia was recognised by the Junior Matildas GK Scout who indicated he would continue to watch her progress. Wonderful result Alicia!

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.