Welcome
Welcome back to the new year. I would like to welcome all our new staff to the College. They will be a great addition to learning and teaching and I am confident your daughters will find them to be excellent educators. We have included a photo of each in this edition for your information. They include Mr Bettiol, Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching, Ms Claudine Bella, English/RE, Ms Laura Bryant, and Ms Sarah Hilder, who are all English, Ms Cassandra Iler, HSIE/RE and Ms Soliette Roa who is Music. Finally we have Ms Courtney Russell who is our School Psychologist. Thank you to Mrs Wright who held the Acting Principal position during Term 4 and negotiated these new positions.

New Students
Welcome also to our new students in Years 8-11 and all the Year 7 girls who have made a great start. We wish you and your families the very best as you begin your time with us at St Patrick's.

At our first assembly I spoke to the girls about being fearless. Everyone has fears. Some of these are important as they keep us safe but others stop us from becoming the person we have the potential to become.  I read to the girls what some prominent people had to say about being fearless. Madonna King, who spoke to this community in 2017, described fearless as being rarely easy. Maree Crabbe, founder of Risk and Reality, believes fearless means not being controlled or limited and defined by fears. Several student leaders believe it is about being out of their comfort zone or to be able to show yourself as vulnerable and that you will make mistakes.  During Chapel we spoke with the girls about one area in their life where they will be fearless for 2019. It can be in their approach to work, it can be in their relationships with others or it can be in the activities or behaviours they have. They each wrote down what they will be fearless in and this has been put in a safe spot. Later this term we will revisit the commitment they made to themselves and review how they are going with it.

As key supporters of these girls we all need to encourage them to try new things, to make safe choices and extend themselves so that they have the experience of what they can do and like to do. It will mean being out of the comfort zone and possibly making errors but it is the only way to fully embrace what is on offer. Certainly, every new student who started at St Patrick's this year has made that very step. They are on a journey and a new beginning that has required them to be fearless. I encourage all girls to take up this challenge to be fearless.

Open Day
The start of the year is always very hectic. I am currently visiting all the Catholic Primary Schools and speaking with the girls in Years 5 and 6. They are delightful and ask very good questions about high school. I am ably accompanied by two Year 10 students who are exceptional representatives of the College. We are informing all  girls of our upcoming Open Day. A flyer for Open Day  is included in this edition for your information. If you know of anyone with a Year 5 or 6 girl who have yet to decide on their high school, can you encourage them to visit us on Saturday 23 February. It is always a great day and often the turning point in school choice for many girls and their families.

Winter Uniform
We were recently informed by our uniform supplier that they have insufficient material for the winter school order that the College placed last November. A new batch of material will be ready by June but as you would be aware, this is after the girls have transitioned into the winter uniform. You will have received an email outlining the strategy we will deploy so that we support you in acquiring a winter unform. Unfortunately, this is an unforeseen situation that will require your patience and assistance. We will keep you informed of the developments and apologise for the situation.

Parent Portal
During our parent information evenings over 2018 you would have heard of the new Parent Portal that the College has launched. It appears to be utilised by several parents with high levels of satisfaction. We still have a few anomalies to iron out but it will serve the College well into the future. We therefore are in a position to discontinue the Schoolstream application. To duplicate information to two access points increases the risk of potential error and disjointed communication. We will therefore be discontinuing the app and will develop capability in the Parent Portal to cover the tasks parents may have used with the application. An email will come from the IT department to inform you of how to do this.

Emerald Gala Ball 
You may be aware we are finalising the preparations for the St Patrick’s College Emerald Gala Ball which will be held on Saturday 16 March 2019 at The Cube, Campbelltown Catholic Club. We will need some parents to help us package up the silent auction items. If you have a few hours in the week of 11 March to 13 March we would dearly love your assistance. Please email dgrant@saintpatricks.nsw.edu.au to indicate your availability. We will provide chocolate and tea/coffee !

Finally, thank you for your ongoing support of the College. The girls have returned to school invigorated and ready to learn. They are a credit to you and their community. We are forever grateful to be in this blessed community. I will leave you with a short reflection on Hospitality which is one of the Benedictine Values for 2019.

Blessings

Sue Lennox - Principal 

A wisdom story from oral tradition...
An old rabbi once asked his pupils how they
could tell when the night had ended and the 
day had begun.
"Could it be," asked one of his students,
"when you can see an animal in the distance
and tell whether it's a sheep or a dog?"
"No," answered the rabbi.
Another asked, "Is it when you can look at 
a tree in the distance and tell whether it's a fig
tree or a peach tree?"
"No," answered the rabbi.
"Then when is it?" the pupils demanded.
"It's when you can look on the face of any
man or woman and see that it is your sister
or brother. Because if you cannot see this, it is
still night."

Joan Chittister - Songs of the heart - Reflections on The Psalms

Verna Holyhead sgs writes of hospitality in The Life of St Benedict: the hospitality Benedict teaches is not a social event but a holy event.  It is costly, not in terms of money, but in the demands it makes on our hearts, our time, and our personal resources.  Benedictine hospitality does not ask what can I get?  Rather, it asks what can I give?  That is the challenge for our community in 2019.  What can you give?  How will you be Christ to another?

Petah Foran - Religious Studies Coordinator

As Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching, I recognise how integral it is that we as a community put forth a strong vision that imbues the Catholic traditions of the College, including embracing the Benedictine values espoused in our College's Academic Care Framework.

A new school year brings excitement, new beginnings, new opportunity and challenges. Learning is at the heart of our College community as we nurture and deepen the spirit of compassion, hospitality and welcome that will be necessary to 'receive all as Christ'.

HSC Results

The 2018 HSC results are a fitting and just reward for the hard work of a determined group of students, the commitment of their dedicated teachers, as well as the ongoing support of their families.  All Year 12 students of 2018 can be very proud of their achievements, satisfied with their efforts over the two years working towards their HSC. These students will always be a part of Macarthur's top performing catholic school of 2018.

We will acknowledge these achievements at the High Achievers Assembly on Wednesday, 13 February at 9am. We hope to see many of our graduates in attendance. 

Some of the other data of note:

• 2 All Rounders – Kate Woodbury and Teagan McConchie 
• College Dux (Kate Woodbury) achieved an ATAR of 99.30
• Top Achiever – Kate Woodbury – English Advanced (Top 20), English Extension (Top 10) and Mathematics General (Top 20)
• Seven students received an ATAR in the 90s
• 47 Band 6 or equivalent from 25 students (28% of all students received a Band 6)
• Kate Woodbury – Band 6 for all of her 13 units
• Teegan McConchie – Band 6 for all of her 10 units
• Maddison Sheens – Band 6  for six of her units
• Sarah Xing – Band 6 for six of her units
• The College was ranked 166^th of the 800 high schools in NSW (Sydney Morning Herald, 14 December 2018)
• 73% of courses were above the State average

Chris Bettiol - Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching

Big Sister Little Sister is a pastoral initiative that gives our new Year 7 students the opportunity to form bonds with our senior students. Further exciting Big Sister Little Sister events will be taking place over the course of this year. 

Maria Boulatsakos - Year 7 Coordinator and Louise Glase - Year 11 Coodinator

It has been almost two weeks and our new Year 7 students have settled into our beautiful school quite nicely. So far they have experienced new subjects and their teachers, our brand new learning spaces, lockers and bus lines and opportunities to join the exciting clubs St Pat’s has to offer. They have also met their Big Sisters from Year 11, participated in their first Tuesday sport day, worked through some activities for Safer Internet Day, had their iPads set up and experienced a whole school assembly. I strongly encourage our new students to get involved in as much as they can so they can form new friendships and become lifelong learners who love learning. I look forward to seeing the smiling faces of Year 7 each day as they become confident, articulate, resilient and empowered women.

Maria Boulatsakos - Year 7 Coordinator

Monday 11 February                      NSWCCC Blues Awards Night (6pm -10pm)

Wednesday 13 February                 NSWCCC Cricket Nomination Closing Date

Friday 15 February                         NSWCCC Softball Nomination Closing Date

Wednesday 20 February                 NSW All Schools Triathlon Entry Closing Date

Thursday 21 February                    College Swimming Carnival

Monday 25 February                       NSWCCC Tennis Nomination Closing Date

Monday 25 February                       NSWCCC Cricket Selections (Campbelltown)

Tuesday 26 February                       NSWCCC Softball Selections (Seven Hills)

Wednesday 27 February                  Diocesan Carnival – Girls Touch (Wollongong)

Thursday 28 February                     NSW ALL Schools Triathlon (Penrith) - Individuals

Friday 1 March                               NSW ALL Schools Triathlon (Penrith) - Teams

Monday 4 March                             Back Up - Diocesan Carnival - Girls Touch (Wollongong)

Monday 4 March                             NSWCCC Tennis Selections (Parramatta)

Thursday 14 March                          Diocesan Swimming Carnival (Corrimal)

Thursday 14 March                          Diocesan Tennis Teams Carnival (Wollongong)

Wednesday 20 March                       NSWCCC Hockey Nomination Closing Date

Monday 25 March                            NSWCCC Hockey Selections (Moorebank)

Thursday 28 March                          Back Up - Diocesan Carnival - Tennis Teams (Wollongong)

Tuesday 9 April                               College Cross Country

Scott Ashcroft - Sports and Activities Coordinator

We also have a range of activities this year, including three weekly Book Clubs  - one for Years 7 and 8, for Years 9 and 10 and for Years 11 and 12, with a Manga Book Club in the near future. We also have weekly clubs including Makerspace, Technology, K-Pop (Korean Pop) and Anime clubs, and encourage all students to get involved. An IT helpdesk is set up in the Library to assist students with device or printing issues (during non-teaching times), and as usual we will continue to broaden our physical and electronic collection to support study and reading endeavours. Your Library team includes Michelle Feely (Librarian), Sue Harradine (specialising in Non-Fiction), Amanda Dallo (specialising in IT issues) and Lisa Robertson (specialising in Fiction/ Readers Advisory), and overseen by Dr Debra Bourne (Leader of Library and E-Learning Services).

The College Library

1. Write the three things you are going to try to do and focus on this year on a big piece of paper or whiteboard and place it somewhere in the house where you will see it every day – like your mirror! Or the fridge! Or the toilet! 
   
   
2. Tell at least three people what you are aiming to achieve this year. Maybe a friend, a family member, or a teacher.
   
   
3. Put reminders in as many places as possible. if you have an iPhone you could create a reminder that pops up each week and also write it in your school diary.
   
   
4. Aim to have a regular time each week when you assess how you are going with these actions.
   
   
5. At the end of the term, think about how you are going. If you have them under control, what else could you try? If they are not under control, what could you do differently?

You will find lots of useful grids and planners to help you be organised for school this year at the bottom of the THINGS TO PRINT page, in the Study Skills Handbook that can be accessed through Destiny Discover. If you need assistance in accessing this resource or would like help in setting or planning your goals, please see the library staff. 

Michelle Feely - College Librarian

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