MerrylandsMerrylandsMerrylandsMerrylands

No. 17 Term 4 Week 6

A Message f rom the Pr inc ipa l

Dear Parents, Staff and Students

Year 12 students have now completed their final HSC examinations. Please keep these students in your prayers as they make the transition from school to further education and employment.

Students in Years 7 to 10 are now completing their final assessments for the year and should still be undertaking a normal home/study routine.

Many thanks to our Year 11 Hospitality Commercial Cookery and Food and Beverage students and a small number of Year 10 students who assisted in the catering and service at our P & F Luncheon this week. All the students learned much from this experience.

This week, the world commemorated both the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which divided East and West Germany. We also commemorated Remembrance Day in which we remember the 102,000 Australian service personnel, who have died fighting for our country.

As a school community we pray:

Friday 14 November 2014

CERDON COLLEGE

newsletter

Lord, if I ever “build walls”, cutting people off or isolating myself

from the needs of others, alert me to what I am doing.

Open my eyes to see what unites people rather than what divides us. Show me how to be inclusive

and build bridges between people instead of being exclusive

and putting up walls that divide. Amen

College Uniform Shop Change to Trading Hours on Wednesday 19 November 8:00 am—11:00 am only

Normal trading hours (Monday and Wednesday 8:00 am—2:00 pm) will resume on Monday 24 November for the remainder of the term.

We apologise for any inconvenience

There will be extended trading hours on Thursday 4 December 3:30 pm —7:30 pm and Monday 8 December 8:00 am—6:00 pm Enquiries can be made directly to the Uniform Shop on 8724 7329

SEE BACK PAGE OF NEWSLETTER FOR FULL LIST OF EXTENDED HOURS FOR 2015

God Bless

Mrs Patricia BakerMrs Patricia BakerMrs Patricia BakerMrs Patricia Baker PrincipalPrincipalPrincipalPrincipal

Sacrament of Reconciliation As December approaches, so too does the Season of Advent, a special time of spiritual preparation for Christmas. Each year we have the opportunity to reflect on our lives and to renew our commitment to hold Jesus at the centre of all that we are and do, an opportunity for Christ to be born once again within us and within our daily living. It has long been a tradition in the Catholic Church that part of our Spiritual preparation for Christmas is to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. At Cerdon College this year, with gratitude to Fr Peter Strohmayer OSPPE, from St Margaret Mary’s Parish Merrylands, the Sacrament of Reconciliation (First Rite) will be offered at the school in one of our interview rooms specially prepared for this occasion. Please take note of the days and times: Tuesday Dec 9th - 8.15am – 8.50pm Thursday Dec 11th - 8.15am – 8.50pm Tuesday Dec 16th - 8.15am – 8.50pm Sr Kate McPhee sm

P A G E 2

Enrichment @ Cerdon

The Year 8 Cerdon College Knowledge Challenge In which part of the body would you find the femur? Who is the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs? What percentage of horses deemed favourites, have won the Melbourne Cup? These were just some of the hundreds of questions which formed part of the Knowledge Challenge for Year 8, 2014. The very enthusiastic group of students battled through a written section and buzzer round questions in a variety of areas including English, Mathematics, Science, History, Art, Sport, Entertainment and Current Affairs. The final was a Colin vs Colin contest, with the 2013 winners retaining the title…by only 2 points! Congratulations to Elise Cribbin, Sara Haider, Jessica Li, Lucy Tan and Christine Yau for making the final. A special congratulations to Emily Dang, Tahlia Del Principe, Nicole Gereige and Jessica Li for taking out the title of CCKC champions once again!

The Australia-Japan Relations Essay Contest 2014

Conducted by the Consulate-General of Japan in Sydney this

competition encourages relations between Japan and Australia, and gives students the opportunity to explore Japanese culture. The competition has a Junior division (Year 7 and 8) and Senior

division (Year 9-12). The first prize for the Junior division is a $300 book prize. The first prize for the senior division is a return ticket to Tokyo, with accommodation and a rail pass. This is a

fantastic opportunity for any student interested in Japanese culture. For further information visit www.sydney.au.emb-japan.go.jp or see Mrs Agius. Entries close November 10, 2014.

The Somerset Celebration of Literature Writing Competitions

If you enjoy writing and dream of producing the next bestseller, these competitions are for YOU! As part of the Somerset Celebration of Literature, students are invited to participate in

2015 Novella Writing Competition and/or the 2015 Somerset National Poetry prize. The novella competition requires students to write a novel between 6000-10000 words, on any theme. As

well as winning over $2650 worth of prizes, winners will receive personalised advice on their work from members of the Penguin Group (Australia) Publishing Company.

The National Poetry Prize students can submit any unpublished piece of work which is no more than 50 lines on any subject. Winners in each category will receive $300 plus flights to attend the Somerset Celebration of Literature festival in Queensland.

Further information is available from Mrs Agius or by visiting

www.somerset.qld.edu.au/celebration-of-literature Mrs S Agius

Enrichment Co-ordinator

2014 NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge

Congratulations to the students in Year 7, 8 and 9 who completed the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge this year. A total of 18 students completed the Challenge reading a total of 360 books (20

books each). Students demonstrated a personal commitment to the Challenge as well as an enjoyment of reading in general. Students who completed the Challenge receive a NSW Premier’s Reading

Challenge certificate (to be issued later this term), a Studies Coordinator’s Award and 10 points towards their House team. Well done to all the students who completed the 2014 NSW Premier’s

Reading Challenge.

Mrs N Sylaprany

Year 7

Jemma Dickson Angelina Elias

Veronica Gambacorta Alexandria Makary

Jade Williams

Jordan Wyer

Year 8

Chantelle Cheung

Elizabeth Elias

Sara Haider

Samantha Jabour

Jessica Li

Mai Truc Anh Nguyen

Hannah Rahimi

Teresa Tran

Nicole Yu

Carissa Zajac

Year 9

Nicole El Jammal

Kirsten Harb

Year 7A Maths Challenge

Miss Nimac's Year 7A Maths class challenged themselves to a Pi Contest last week. They had been learning about circles and the importance of the irrational number Pi in calculating circumference and area. Following the footsteps of Mathematics enthusiasts around the world they decided to try and learn as many decimal places as

they could.

This is no easy challenge as the numbers do not repeat and there is

no pattern to memorise.

Congratulations to our first place winner Althea Trieu who was easily able to recall 150 decimal places from memory. An amazing feat! Also to be congratulated is Trinity Taylor (114 places), Wendy

Le (107 places) and Jade Williams (101 places).

Ms Nimac

P A G E 3 N O . 1 7 T E R M 4 W E E K 6

Co-ordinator’s Awards

Zeina Alammery, Mickayla Anderson Louisa Aoun, Zali Aquilina, Celeste Aviet

Amanda Awad, Louise Awad Gabriela Badrov, Francesca Bova

Monique Brunet, Kristine Chamoun Chantelle Chan, Alana Cohen, Elise Cribbin

Esther Duruchukwu, Marie El-Khoury Daniella Farah, Jade Graham, Holly Ibrahim Ysabella Mani, Taylor Mansour, An Nguyen

Claudia Ong, Madison Reynolds-Pace Eman Sediqi, Charmaine Semaan

Balpreet Sunner, Wei Yee Lucy Tan Amy Townsend, Salwa Tuma, Nicole Yu

Year 8 Italian Day At Year 8’s Language Day to Club Italia, we experienced a great insight into the Italian culture. We arrived at Club Italia at about 9:00 am and proceeded into the hall. We were greeted by a group of lovely Signore, who introduced us to the club and its history. We had a great volunteer who taught us how to make different types of pasta with homemade dough. She also taught us to make frittelle. After that useful demonstration, we then ate some frittelle. Once finished we split into class groups and got allocated activities. The activities consisted of Italian Tombola, Bocce, Italian card game Carte and an Italian styled trivia. After the fun experience of Italian passatempi, we then proceeded back to the main hall to have pranzo which was delicious pasta with tasty garlic bread. And to finish off, we had some gelato. Overall, Year 8 had a fantastic experience packed with Italian fun and culture. On behalf of Year 8, we would like to thank the teachers who organised the trip, and Club Italia for having us. Maria Razouk and Shiarna Tarasenko (Year 8)

Remembrance Day - 11 November This year marks the 96th anniversary of the Armistice which ended the First World War (1914–18). At our Remembrance Day Assembly,

we observed one minute’s silence, in memory of those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts. Some things to note about soldiers during WWI

• Soldiers were assigned to battalions according to

where they enlisted. This meant that often family members or neighbours were in the same battles

meaning many families lost more than one son. You can see this if you look at any WWI memorial especially in country towns.

• Young men who enlisted in the army saw it as an

adventure, a way to travel (before the days of jets) and believed the war would be over quickly.

• The Australian government in 1919 committed to

ensuring that every Australian soldier would have a marked grave. Hence, even today, with DNA testing,

bodies found in the Western Front are placed in marked graves. The most recently opened Commonwealth War Grave (opened in 2011) in

Fromelles (France) had 90 Australian World War 1 soldiers interred in 2011.

Biography of Arthur Charles Hall VC

Arthur Hall was born at Granville, New South Wales, on 11 August 1896, the son of Charles and Emma Jane Hall. His father owned Glenelg

and Willeroon stations in the Nyngan district of northern New South Wales. He was educated at All Saints’ College, Bathurst, where he served in the school cadets. Arthur then became an overseer on his father’s properties. He

enlisted in the AIF at Dubbo on 3 April 1916 and was allotted to the 6th reinforcements to the 54th Battalion. Hall was wounded in the leg on 30 March but returned to his unit on 21

April and was promoted to Lance Corporal in June and Corporal in October. For his bravery and leadership during the operations at Péronne, 1-2 September 1918, he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

During the attack on 1 September, Hall single-handedly rushed a machine-gun post which was checking the advance, killing four of the occupants and capturing fifteen others and two machine-guns. He then crossed the

objective with a small party and covered the advance of the rest of his company. Advancing ahead of the main party, he located, assaulted and captured many small parties of men and machine-guns. At one stage he was

able to report that the recently destroyed bridge over the Péronne moat was unguarded and his unit was able to cross nearby on planks and debris. Next day the 54th battalion continued to clear Péronne of enemy. During a

heavy barrage Hall carried a wounded comrade, who was urgently in need of medical attention, to safety. On 12 October, the 54th Battalion disbanded and Hall joined the 56th

Battalion. He was decorated by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 10 April 1919 and was a temporary Sergeant from 6 March until his return to Australia on 8 May. He was discharged in Sydney on 3 August.

During WWII Hall served as a Lieutenant and retired in 1943. He continued

to work as a farmer until his death in 1978.

Cerdon CollegeCerdon CollegeCerdon CollegeCerdon College PO Box 277PO Box 277PO Box 277PO Box 277

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Term 4 Diary Dates Week 7

Friday 21 November Year 12 Formal

Week 9 Monday 1 December

Creative and Performing Arts Showcase 7 pm Week 10

Monday 8 December Presentation Night 7pm Tuesday 9 December

Year 10 Self Protection Course Wednesday 10 December Year 10 Alternate Program

Year 7-10 Reports Distributed Thursday 11 December Year 10 Alternate Program

Year 10 and 11 Liturgy and Presentation P5 and P6 Year 10 Reports Distributed Year 9 Peer Support Training

Friday 12 December Year 11 Picnic

Year 10 End of Year Function Year 9 Peer Support Training

Week 11 Monday 15 - Wednesday 17 December

Year 11 Assessment Period Monday 15 December Year 10 Prefect Training Tuesday 16 December

Year 7-9 Mass Presentation Assemblies

Wednesday 17 December HSC Results

Year 7-9 Picnics Last Day for Students Term 4

Thursday 18 December Staff Development Day

HSC Class of 2014 Morning Tea 10:30 am Friday 19 December

Staff Development Day Last Day 2014 School Year

Craft Market and Antique Valuation for CareFlight Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish (OLQP) Greystanes is again holding its highly popular Greystanes Charity Craft Market and Antique Valuation event on Saturday, 22 November 2014. The profits from each Craft Market are given to a different charity each time the event is held; the profits from the upcoming Craft Market will be donated to CareFlight. The eighth Greystanes Charity Craft Market and Antique Valuation is on Saturday, 22 November from 8am to 2pm in Camilleri Hall. It is one month before Christmas, so be assured the Market will have special gift ideas. There are over 35 stalls from all over Sydney, selling quality gifts, baby wear, home-made décor, kitchen goods, edible treats, scarves and bags, jewellery, violets and plants and much more. A unique drawcard of the Craft Market is the professional Antique Valuations, available from 8.30am. Everyone is encouraged to bring along special treasures or family heirlooms and paintings to have them valued. Instead of bringing large paintings with you, the valuation can be done from a photo of the painting and artist signature. Each valuation costs $5.00. This is a great social day out for the whole family with traditional Devonshire teas and a fantastic sausage sizzle serving breakfast and lunch from 8am. Profits from the Craft Market will be donated to CareFlight. For further information please contact:events@olqp.org.au w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m / O L Q P e v e n t s w w w . o l q p . o r g . a u Jane Williamson Craft Market Coordinator

Uniform Shop Extended Trading Hours

2014 Thursday 4th December - 3:30 pm—7:30 pm Monday 8th December - 8:00 am—6:00 pm

2015 Monday 19th January - 9:00 am—3:00 pm Tuesday 20th January - 9:00 am—3:00 pm

Wednesday 21st January - 9:00 am—3:00 pm Thursday 22nd January - 9:00 am—3:00 pm

Friday 23rd January - 9:00 am—3:00 pm Monday 26th January - CLOSED

Tuesday 27th January - 9:00 am—3:00 pm Wednesday 28th January - 9:00 am—3:00 pm