Bunbury Catholic College Newsletter 11

The latest news from Bunbury Catholic College

27 June 2019.
Newsletter No. 11.

Wednesday 26 June - Friday 28 June: Year 12 Retreat (Mercy campus)
Friday 28 June: Marist campus cross-country
Monday 1 July - Friday 5 July: Year 10 Work Exposure
Wednesday 3 July - Friday 5 July: Year 12 Retreat (Marist campus)
Friday 5 July: End of Semester 1
Monday 22 July: Staff Professional Learning Day / Student Home Study Day
Tuesday 23 July - Friday 27 September: Term 3

Prayer
As I face you in prayer, God of Compassion, I remember my country’s words: Send them back or Stop the boats.
Then I fear, not your anger but the steady gaze of boundless love and unlimited compassion that impel me to hear Jesus’s command: Love one another, as I have loved you.
Or Pope Francis’s call to open our hearts to a universal communion which excludes nothing and no one.
Daring to step into such relationship, I pray for those forced to leave family, home and all they hold dear; may they find safe passage and helping hands.
I pray for an end to the wars and oppression that forced them to leave; I pray that those who welcome them are blessed in abundance.
And with deep humility and a heart hungry for justice, I pray that we Australians, citizens and leaders, open our eyes, our minds and our hearts that we may see, understand and welcome our brothers and sisters.
May our change of heart penetrate to our beginnings as strangers in this land.
May we allow those we displaced —the First People of this land—to welcome us.
Then knowing, in humility, what it is to be welcomed, we will know how to welcome the strangers who come to our shores.
This we ask in the name of Jesus your Son, in whom we are no longer strangers.
Amen.
Catherine and Marcellin... pray for us.

WELCOME
A very warm welcome to Alice Bulgheroni, Alessandra Capitanio and Stefany Caroca Arias, our Italian Exchange students who have joined us from Milan, Italy, to be part of the school community until the end of August.
This is a wonderful opportunity for these young people to learn about the Australian culture and experience the Australian education system.
It also provides our students the chance to learn about the Italian culture and for our language students to practice speaking Italian.
Thank you to the Brown, Clarke and Hynes families who are hosting these students and welcoming them into their homes.

UPDATE ON PREPARATION FOR 2020 AND TWO SCHOOLS
The Principal appointment for Our Lady of Mercy College (OLMC) is progressing as per the original timeline and it is anticipated that the announcement of the Principal will be made on 5 July.
The timeline for the BCC (Marist) recruitment process has been changed with the interviews to be held next term and the announcement to be made on 2 September.
Once the announcements have been made I will be in contact with the appointees to invite them to visit the Colleges and to be involved in some of the planning discussions for 2020.

Very valuable feedback has been provided from the ‘Discovery’ sessions with staff, students and parents which has helped to inform our discussion about the mission of OLMC, value statements, images, colours, and uniform.
The parent survey on the Hub (https://connect.cewa.edu.au/BCC) will remain open until 4pm on Friday 28 June.
I hope all parents will take the time to complete this survey to help guide our planning.

STAFF
We have a number of staff members who will be on long service leave for short periods of time over the next six weeks and wish them well for the time they will be away.
Mr and Mrs de Lima will be away from next week for five weeks (including the holidays).
During his absence any queries which will normally be directed to Mr de Lima will be dealt with by Mrs McKenzie or myself.
Mrs Vikki Merritt will spend time on each campus in the counselling role should students or parents require counselling assistance.
Mr John O’Dea will be absent for the first three weeks of term 3.
Mr Murray Hegney will be taking on the Acting Deputy Principal role during that time and Mrs Garbutt is also available to assist in dealing with student and parent concerns on the Marist campus.

We say farewell to the following staff members who complete short term contracts having filled in for staff who have been on leave: Mrs Marina McCosker who was the PE Assistant on the Mercy campus and has been of great assistance for this department and for many other aspects of organization on the campus; Ms Theresa Davis who was the Acting Religious Education Coordinator this term bringing a wealth of experience to the College; Ms Emma Lynas who replaced Mrs Yates over the last five weeks; and, Ms Pamela Graves who replaced Mrs Ashby.
We are very grateful for all that they have contributed to College life for the benefit of our students.
I am also very appreciative of the work of Mrs Daryl Carew for her role in coordinating the Technologies Learning Area in Mrs Ashby’s absence.

END OF SEMESTER
As this will be the last newsletter for the term, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff and students for their wonderful contributions over this semester.
Schools are very vibrant places with so many activities conducted to complement our learning programs.
It has been wonderful to see so many students participate in the various events and activities over the term.

Of note this week has been the House cross country carnivals.
The Mercy campus event managed to be completed on Tuesday with only a few periods of drizzle.
We are praying that the Marist event to be held on Friday is as fortunate.
Congratulations to the Marcellin House on winning the Mercy event and the champions and runners-up for this carnival.

Our Arts students have also been enjoying great success in the WA Performing Arts Eisteddfod which is underway at the BREC.
Some of the results we have heard to date include: Abbie Fearns - Intermediate Dance Aggregate; Joshua Jacob - Most Outstanding Performance by a Secondary School Pianist; Kalea Miller - The Most Promising Digital Piano/Keyboard Performance; and, Tim Robinson - Most Promising Voice of the South West and Most Outstanding Drama Performance.
The Drama students who performed in the Monologue category were awarded the top three places: 1^st Sienna Mileto, 2^nd Sienna Garner and 3^rd Nanette Bucher.
Caleb Warnock was awarded 3^rd place for the Year 12 category.
We will publish the full list of BCC award recipients when we have further information.

Best wishes to our Year 10 students who undertake their week of Work Exposure next week and our Year 12 students who will be on their three-day retreat.
I hope these opportunities are wonderful growth experiences for each student.

NAIDOC WEEK
NAIDOC Week will be celebrated in the wider community from 7 July to 14 July and I would encourage you to participate in some of the local events.
This year the College will celebrate NAIDOC when we return to school in Term 3.

The end of semester reports will be issued on SEQTA over the coming weeks.
I have been pleased with some of the outstanding achievements that have been recorded in the reports that I have read and commend these students for their hard work over the semester.

The coming two week semester break is a great time to review the term and re-set academic goals for the second half of the year.
I encourage all students to plan for the coming term to ensure that they are able to achieve their personal best.
Also take time to relax, enjoy time with your friends and family and return in Term 3 renewed and refreshed for second semester which commences on Tuesday 23 July.

God bless
Denise O'Meara
Principal

As the second term draws to a close, we thought it timely to provide a few useful reminders with regards to uniform expectations.

The College will notify parents formally if any changes are made to policies, so please do not rely on informal discussions with your young person when making decisions about College expectations.
We appreciate your support and look forward to a successful end to this busy term.
Mrs Deborah Garbutt and Mr John O’Dea, Deputy Principals
Mr Eugene de Lima Vice Principal

Uniform shop
The College uniform shop will be open for one day of the school holidays - Thursday 18 July.
During the first week of Term 3, it will be open on Monday 22 July (student free day), Tuesday 23 July and Thursday 25 July.
Opening hours on all of these days will be from 8am until 11.30am.
The opening days will then revert back to usual, which is Mondays and Thursdays, from 8am and 11.30am..

Lost property
There is a large collection of unclaimed items in lost property.
If your child has misplaced a uniform item or jewellery, please ask your child to check the lost property..
We ask that you label each item of clothing with your child’s full name, as abbreviations make it difficult to locate the owner.

ATAR English excursion
In order to upskill and to prepare for the Composing section of the ATAR English Exam, students were given the opportunity to attend a writers workshop.
This was in Margaret River at Ellensbrook at Mokidup and allowed students to immerse themselves in local history in order to write about local perspectives.
The visit to Ellensbrook presented the students with the ultimate opportunity to prepare for the composing of the ATAR exam by allowing them to experience characters not from text books.
A full immersion in to an environment where students can "climb in to the skin" of our forebears and Indigenous ancestors, is a much more enriching experience and an opportunity to learn about characters from real life.

Australian of the Year talk
On 18 June, a group of Year 11 students from Bunbury Catholic College attended a talk by Dr Craig Challen, the 2019 Australian of the Year.
Dr Challen is a Western Australian, and the Australian of the Year award acknowledged his heroic efforts as part of an international rescue mission to save 12 boys from flooded caves in Thailand.
Dr Challen was awarded with a Star of Courage for his selfless bravery during the rescue.
He explained that in no way was he aware of the extensive operation required to rescue the boys, but at all times he was fully prepared to do anything possible to bring the boys to safety.
Dr Challen said that he does not like the title of hero; rather he is someone that puts the need of others before his own.
Throughout the venture, Dr Challen was not worried about his own safety; he remained focused on the rescue and was only concerned for the boys.
After the honour of receiving 2019 Australian of the Year, he now visits primary and high school students sharing his inspiring story and message.
Dr Challen spoke that each of us will be faced with a difficult challenge at some stage of our life and what will define us is how we respond to this challenge.
It was an honourable experience to listen to someone so humble and selfless, and each of the students that attended were grateful for the amazing opportunity.
Hannah Lowe, Year 11 Marist campus student

Marcellin wins Mercy cross-country
Marcellin was victorious in the 2019 Mercy campus cross-country event, held on Wednesday.
Students again raced across the 2.6km course through the Leschenault Recreation Park, and there was plenty of effort shown despite challenging conditions that alternated between sun and rain.
Marcellin finished on 123 points, defeating Xavier (108), McAuley (103) and last year’s champion house Valentine (101).
Year 11 student Noah McAneny equalled the course record of 10 minutes and 52 seconds which he had set last year.
The top three male and female place-getters from each year group and more photos from the morning are on our College website.

Mercy footy skills
On the past three Tuesdays, Mercy students between Years 7-9 have been able to test their footy skills with prizes on offer.
Organised by the Year 10 students, this lunch time competition has involved different games each week that have tested the kicking and handballing skills of participants.
These challenges have been well attended with students eager to showcase their abilities and bring out their friendly competitiveness.

Jill Harrison incursion
The Year 11 Film and Photography class was recently visited by wildflower photographer, Mrs Jill Harrison.
In preparation for our entries on the upcoming Chevron Biodiversity competition, as we learn more about macrophotography, Jill wowed us with stunning images from Manea Park in College Grove.
It was a very inspiring and very beautiful presentation.
We learnt how to take stunning photos of fauna in our own backyard and surrounding bush.
Tips included what equipment is best, how to use our new macro lenses, how to experiment with light and settings, where and when to go and most importantly to walk slowly and look carefully.

P&F News
The Marist P&F Association held a general meeting on Monday 17 June 2019, to ratify changes to its constitution. The changes were unanimously accepted. Many thanks to those parents who were able to attend.
The P&F is very active in supporting all our students at the College; money was approved to assist our Netball Touring Team who were recently in Alice Springs, money has also been allocated to buy additional lockers for our students and the P&F will be assisting with the purchase of canteen furniture.
As always, there is an open invitation to all Marist parents to come along to the P&F meetings; the next meeting is scheduled for Monday 5 August 2019.
Make this a date!
Mrs Deborah Garbutt, Deputy Principal

Ration challenge a success
Several staff and students are feeling much livelier this week as the Act For Peace Ration Challenge concluded on Sunday.
These amazing people lived on only the rations that are given to Syrian refugees in the Talibah Refugee Camp in Jordan for up to seven days.
Bunbury Catholic College raised over $9500 as a dedicated group of staff, students and parents and we are most appreciative of all the support, both financial and emotional, that we received.
Other than the hunger and longing for tasty food, Mrs Mackay noted that her cognition was very much affected and stringing together lucid sentences or typing messages on the computer became incredibly difficult by day five.
This prompted many conversations about how hard it must be to learn and even think when you are hungry.

The Congdon Family are most thankful for all of the support that they received from friends and family and acknowledge how tough ration week was.
They reflected on the experience: “The week has definitely given us a better insight into the plight of refugees, and all vulnerable people around the world.”
Many Syrian refugees live on these small amounts of basic foods for long periods and it’s hard to imagine.
We were able to only glimpse what this must be like but are so lucky to know this hungry week has ended.
We must always be mindful of and charitable towards our fellow people who survive for years on this diet, enduring a devastating lack of nutrition.
We are hoping to support the Ration Challenge in 2020 and will be researching exciting ways to cook plain rice in the meantime.
Mrs Leah Mackay

Performing Arts announcement
Earlier this week, we posted a 'teaser' on the College Facebook page about a major performing arts announcement that would be revealed in the newsletter.
We can officially announce the 2020 Bunbury Catholic College production will be the Roald Dahl classic 'Matilda'.
We are excited to get under way following the success of Beauty and the Beast last year, which sold out multiple shows on Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre's main stage.
Further information about the production including opportunities to be involved will be available soon.

Eisteddfod and Dance
As mentioned earlier in the newsletter, we have had many students competing in the Eisteddfod both as individuals and representing the College in group performances, including the Mercy Year 9 dance students (pictured) who competed against the Marist students and other schools.
Further details about the Eisteddfod will be in the next newsletter.
On Tuesday night, we held a successful Semester 1 dance showcase in the Marist PAC.

Photos and details from that night will also be in our next newsletter.

Careers Expo TV winner
Congratulations to Hannah Lowther from Australind Senior High School, who won the 32-inch television donated by Retravision at the South West Careers Expo hosted by the College earlier this month.
Hannah is currently looking to follow a career path into engineering and found the day to be very valuable in being able to chat to the universities as well as Engineers Australia about possible pathways.

Successful tour for netballers
Our netball touring team did the College proud in the Australian Marist Netball Carnival, held in Alice Springs.
The girls qualified for the Championship division after a strong first day and eventually finished sixth out of 17 teams, with all results and awards shown below.
We also won the Spirit Award for our sportsmanship and consistent positivity on and off the court.

Hockey
We had good results from both the girls and boys First XI.
The girls started the carnival under pressure after a 3-0 loss to Grammar.
However good two wins against Georgiana Molloy and MacKillop, including winning in a penalty shootout, got the girls into the final.
It was a much more competitive game this time, with the girls going down 1-0 which was a good effort considering our oldest players were from Year 10, aside from only one Year 11.
The boys First XI was also under selection pressure due to the flu, requiring Year 7 and 8 students being called up and a goalkeeper being forced to play on the field.
However that didn't stop the boys from easily defeating Grammar in the first game and then wining in a penalty shootout against Georgiana Molloy.
The final against Grammar was a much closer game, however our boys came back to win 2-1. and progress to the David Bell Cup Finals.

Netballers compete
The South West High Schools Cup was on Monday June 24 and the rain held out which allowed a lot of high level netball to be played.
All students are to be commended for their sportsmanship during the day.
Year 8 Marist girls showcased some great skills with their largest win being 31-1.
They fought out six games and won all but one, against the premiers of the carnival.
Lower Division: 3rd (Mercy) and 5th (Marist)
Intermediate Division 3rd (Mercy) and 5th (Marist)
Open Division: 2nd (Touring Team)
Thank you to coaches Graham Jones, Cass Shine, Liana Perrella, Renae Pere and Jacinta Tap and umpires Vikki Merritt, Abbey Sharpe, Tiani Knox, Hannah Kim and Caitlyn Heslewood.
Finally, thank you to Sue Howard, Ludita Mclean and the Year 12 Sport and Recreation students for their organisation and running of the event.

Soccer
After the loss to Grammar in Round 2, the senior boys soccer team bounced back successfully with two successive wins against Australind (2-1) and Bunbury High (4-2) to give the College a chance at a fourth consecutive path to the knockout stages of the competition.
The team put in a good shift in both games with the group starting slowly in each and playing from behind courtesy of early goals conceded.
Fortunately, the lads continued to play with confidence and were able to come out victors and now await the completion of the South West round games to see if a 3-1 win-loss record will be sufficient to advance to the next stage.

Basketball
The girls suited up against defending Country Week champions Bunbury Senior High School SHS on Wednesday 20th June.
The game was played at their gym and the girls started slow, allowing the opposition to jump out to an early lead.
The girls settled and started to play some great defense switching between a player-to-player defence and full court pressure.
Unfortunately the girls weren’t able to break the initial lead and BSHS ran away winners 45 – 31. Strong performers were Chloe Scott (13 points) and Amity Parsons (six points) with Candace Clarke and Ella Moorhouse playing strong defensively with multiple steals each.

Sports Star
Congratulations to Paige Zabajnik who has been selected to represent Western Australia in the 2019 Hockey 16’s Girls Championships in Newcastle in early August.
Also a big congratulations to Katie McDermott who has made it into the SSWA 18-years and under girls soccer team.
Both of these girls will receive points towards the Sports Star of the Year for their achievements in these sports.
Also, remember if your child has made it into any state, regional or national representative teams please let us know.

Footy
Our Marist Year 7 boys football team played in the ACC Carnival at Hay Park on Tuesday.
We should be very proud of these boys, who played amazing football all day, showing great team work and winning most matches with ease.
They also showed exceptional sportsmanship, playing the game hard but like gentlemen.
The last game of the day was effectively a grand final against Mandurah Catholic College. Scores were level with less than 30 seconds to play but unfortunately we could not hold on this time and Mandurah kicked a goal.
Our boys were very humble in defeat and the coaching staff were exceptionally proud of their efforts.
A big thank you goes to our coaching assistants Beau Luzi, Matt Harris and Rocco Versace.

Rowing success
Our rowers did very well at the First All Schools Regatta at Canning Bridge in Perth. Bunbury Catholic College and composite crews made 14 finals and finished with three first places, four second places and two third places.
Congratulations to all members of the team - Angus Park, Anai Gelmi, Autumn Giumelli, Jac Austin, Sarah Ellis, Lauren Prowse and Georgina Gianotti.
Congratulations and many thanks also to the teams' great coaches - Chris Holliday, Pina Barbera, Carmel Lloyd, Mitch Oliver and Mike McDonald and to the army of parents and club members who support our junior rowers.

Cross country
Tomorrow morning’s weather forecast is touch and go, however, we are hoping to stay with our morning timeline as detailed in the graphic below.
Parents are more than welcome to come and support.
If the weather is our enemy, details about the change in timeline or date will be sent out via direct message on SEQTA.
Another reminder that in order to make the SSWA Interschool Cross Country team, the top five boys and girls from each campus across the line per year group will take part in a match race at a later date, as we can only take the top five competitors across both campuses.
The reason for a qualifying match race is that our courses are separate and run on separate days.

NASA astronaut to speak in Perth
On Wednesday 10 July 2019, NASA’s veteran astronaut and International Space Station (ISS) Commander, Steve Swanson will be coming to Curtin University to have a conversation and public Q&A about life in space and the future of space exploration.
Hear incredible stories about his experience and the complexities of what is it really like being in space.
It is a great chance to ask those pressing questions about space travel and life as a professional astronaut with more than 200 days in orbit.
Tickets can be bought at the link below.

WAAPA Winter School 2019
WAAPA at ECU is offering an exciting performing arts program for children and young people in Years 1 to 12, these July school holidays.
The Winter School includes classes in drama, acting, screen acting, film making and musical theatre.
For information about the many courses on offer please visit Winter School or contact Gabrielle Metcalf at g.metcalf@ecu.edu.au or 9370 6775.

Catholic marriage conference
Be a part of the pre-eminent marriage and relationship education and formation Conference across the Australian Catholic Church.
Bringing together leaders and innovators, the Renaissance of Marriage Conference is a unique gathering of teachers, marriage educators, clergy and counsellors who are involved in and passionate about Catholic marriage.
Join us in building a dynamic marriage culture in our communities.
Friday 26 and Saturday 27 July 2019, University of Notre Dame, Sydney

Limited places are available and registrations can be made at www.ROM.org.au.

Principal's Report

From the Deputies

College News

College Activities

Mercy Campus

Marist Campus

Pastoral News

Performing Arts News

VET Department

The Back Page

Community News