BULLETIN Vol 28 Issue 5 21 May 2020

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

At last week’s online Mass for the Bellerive-Lindisfarne Parish, Fr Richard announced that Fr Fidelis would be finishing up at the Parish, to take on a position assisting

Archbishop Porteous. We are grateful to Fr Fidelis for his presence and support of MacKillop Catholic College over the last 18 months or so, and wish him well in his new role.

It has been a joy for me to listen to the online services that continue to come out of the Bellerive-Lindisfarne Parish via Facebook. Our own Director of Ministry, Mr Lachlan Marsh, with support from our Youth Minister, Mr Daniel de la Motte, and our Head of Theology and Spirituality, Mrs Melissa Brown, has provided online prayer opportunities for us at the College. These have also been a great source of nourishment.

The words from the prayers and homilies remind us that we are not alone in these times and have the opportunity to continue with a reflective life, which can help us achieve a level of unity with God through Jesus Christ. Jesus set the example of loving service which we aspire to. I am grateful to our community for your acknowledgement of our staff and for your constructive feedback. Special mention to our Parents and Friends Association, who are unrelentingly positive and supportive.

Staffing update

Congratulations to Mr Cameron Briers, who has been appointed Director of Student Wellbeing for the remainder of the year. Ms Hannah Carter has picked up a teaching position at St Mary’s College. We thank her for her work with us this year and wish her well in her new position.

EAMONN POLLARD Principal

KEY DATES TERM 222 May Student-Free Day

27 May-3 June National Reconciliation Week

8 June Queen’s Birthday public holiday

9 June Learning @ School recommences

22 June* MacKillop Catholic College Parents & Friends meeting, 4:00-5:00p.m

26 June* Guilford Young College (GYC) enrolment applications due

3 July End of Term 2

* Dates are subject to change.

For Catholic Education Tasmania updates visit:HTTPS://CATHOLIC.TAS.EDU.AU/COVID-19

For Department of Health updates visit:DHHS.TAS.GOV.AU

If someone in your family has asthma or other respiratory issues, you may wish to visit Asthma Australia’s site: ASTHMA.ORG.AU

COVID 19 INFORMATION

Metro Tasmania bus services will continue to operate to regular timetables to transport students to and from school. The free travel period has been extended until Sunday, 31 May. For the safety of all passengers given the conditions of COVID-19, Metro has implemented rear-door boarding on all services.

Fr Fidelis

FROM THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

How to get kids back-to-school ready

The following is an extract from an article by Kamahl Cogdon (18/5/2020). Parents and guardians may find this useful as they begin preparing their child/children for heading back to school. Read it in full at https://tinyurl.com/y9ywyfsa

With home learning being phased out, experts warn the transition back to classrooms will take some getting used to — for parents and guardians as well as students. Re-establishing routines, supporting nervous students, and reconnecting with friends and teachers are keys in the days leading up to, and early days of, a return to school.

Routine

Deakin University education expert Dr Elizabeth Rouse recommends that families return to their pre-pandemic routine now – including times for bed, getting up in the morning and starting a remote learning day – before starting back in the classroom.

“Structure the child’s day so they start their learning early, have a break for morning ‘recess’ and a break for lunch, just like they would in a regular school day,” said Dr Rouse. “This will make it much easier to adjust when they go back to school.”

University of Wollongong transition expert Dr Lyn Cronin said that for those with children already back at school or juggling the staggered return of siblings, the focus should be on establishing a routine as quickly as possible and keeping it consistent.

Addressing fears

Dr Rouse said some children will be worrying about reconnecting with friends they had not seen in person for many weeks. She suggested parents/guardians arrange informal catch-ups and seek opportunities to help their children renew friendships.

Parents and guardians should have “open and honest” conversations with children about how they feel about going back to school. “Often parents and children are looking forward to very different things. So hearing what the child is thinking, what they are looking forward to, and what they are concerned about, is very important,” she said.

Parenting expert Dr Justin Coulson said parents and guardians should not just tell kids everything would be okay.

“Assuring them everything is okay does not help,” he said. “Explore what they are thinking and what can be done to help. Don’t try to minimise their feelings of anxiety.”

Learning

While kids might worry about fitting back in at school, many people are concerned their children have been left behind academically. Dr Coulson said these fears were unfounded.

“I completely reject the premise that our kids are going to be academically disadvantaged because they missed a handful of weeks at school due to coronavirus,” he said.

He pointed to research on the impact of missed schooling after the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand in 2011. The research showed students did not suffer academically despite weeks out of school and most not having access to online learning or discussions with teachers.

“They didn’t just bounce back, they actually outperformed other students in their final exams,” Dr Coulson said.

Dr Cronin urged parents not to “beat themselves up” over how they had managed home schooling, saying, “Learning happens in many different ways.”

Dr Rouse agreed, saying children would have learnt valuable lessons about resilience and problem-solving while at home.

“That learning will position them much better to cope with academic learning,” she said. “They will catch up.”

DONNA BROWN Deputy Principal

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

FUNDRAISING: Congratulations to Joe Burke (top) and Jode Brewster Jones (below), both in 10 Gold, who have raised hundreds of dollars to help fight brain cancer through The World’s Greatest Shave. Joe, who shaved off his golden locks on 24 April, said, “I was thinking of doing it in Term 1, but what really motivated me was seeing Jode’s photos up on Instagram since he did the shave in the holidays. Him being a mate, I didn’t want him to be a lonely ‘egg’ so I thought I might become an ‘egg’ as well!”

CROSS COUNTRY: Well done to all our students who participated in the Virtual Cross Country event today, both at the College and at home. We will have the results available in the next few weeks, with a full report and photos in MKC Spirit magazine. A special mention to students who ran 15km-plus and to Dean Griffiths (8 Gold), who clocked up 20km! A big thank-you to Jode Brewster Jones, who took video of the at-school event and kept filming when the weather turned. Look out for that great footage.

email jtoms@mackillop.tas.edu.au

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF MINISTRY

House structure review

Over the next few years, the student population of MacKillop Catholic College is expected to increase significantly. The College has decided that now would be an appropriate time to review our House structure, which currently comprises Penola, Tenison, Lochaber and Kirby.

It will be necessary to increase the number of Houses from four to six, to accommodate our growing enrolments.

I invite members of the College Community to nominate themselves to be part of a working group that will make recommendations to the College Principal and the Advisory Board on this matter.

Current students will be consulted through a separate Google Form on SEQTA and via the Student Representative Council.

The working group will consider:

• The existing House names• The two new Houses, including

• name • colour(s) • connection to the Charism of St Mary of the Cross and Blessed Edmund Rice • connection to the history of MacKillop Catholic College.

• How the new House system might be implemented.• Opportunities and challenges associated with any changes to the House structure.

Please follow this link to complete the Google Form: https://forms.gle/j8RoaNfcaZmqeqRy5

LACHLAN MARSH Director of Ministry

MacKillop Catholic College 2 Goondi Street, Mornington, Tasmania 7018

Postal address: PO Box 1068, Rosny Park, Tasmania 7018

Phone: (03) 6245 0099 Email: enquiries@mackillop.tas.edu.au Website: www.mackillop.tas.edu.au

Young Tasmanian Writers’ Prize 2020

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TTaassmmaanniiaann AAssssoocciiaattiioonn ffoorr tthhee TTeeaacchhiinngg ooff EEnngglliisshh ((TTAATTEE))

Junior secTion YeAr 7–9 sTudenTs

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senior secTion YeAr 10–12 sTudenTs

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PRIZES: Winner – $300 and publication in TASMANIA 40°South.

Two runners-up – Each receives a $30.00 Fullers Bookshop gift voucher.

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A shorT ficTion comPeTiTion

oPen To All TAsmAniAns enrolled in YeArs 7–12

TRANSITION FOR YEAR 10TRANSITION FOR YEAR 10

The transition process for our current Year 10 cohort into senior secondary schooling was scheduled to begin in May. Due to the status of education and

online learning, Guilford Young College (GYC) are altering how this information will be delivered and extending all associated dates. Specific details around transition and course selections will be communicated shortly.

In the interim, if you have any concerns, please contact our Student Pathways Co-ordinator, Nina Dobie, at ndobie@mackillop.tas.edu.au or GYC’s Enrolments Registrar, Bernadette Pogorzelski, via email at enrolments@gyc.tas.edu.au (6238 4312). Bernadette is more than happy to answer any question about enrolments, fees, cross-campus travel and more.

NINA DOBIEStudent Pathways Co-ordinator