Letter from the Principal

17 October 2025

Dear Parents/Carers

Welcome back to Term 4. I hope you and your families had a chance to rest, recharge, and enjoy some quality time together. As we begin this final term of the year, let us embrace the opportunities ahead with energy and optimism. Term 4 promises to be a time of rich learning, meaningful reflection, and new challenges – let us approach it with purpose and a shared commitment to finishing the year with strength and spirit.

TERM 4 EVENTS

This term we pray for Year 12 as they begin their HSC exams. Thank you to all the families who volunteered to pray for our Year 12 students.

Please place the following dates into your calendars:

• Saturday 18 October – Granny Smith Festival
• Tuesday 28 October- Student Leadership Liturgy and Year 11 Academic Awards Assembly.
• Wednesday 29 October- Parent Community Group meeting 7.00pm in the Learning Centre. 
• Friday 31 October- World Teacher’s Day
• Wednesday 5 November – Dr Justin Coulson- The Screensmart Series Webinar 7.00pm. Details to follow.
• Monday 24 November – P&F Volunteer Thank you Dinner
• Wednesday 25 November – Newman Symposium and Creative & Performing Arts Night. 4.30pm-7.30pm. Program to follow.
• November – Wellbeing Month- a separate letter will be sent to the community to outline various events.
• Thursday 11 December- Advent mass at 9.40am. All parents are welcome.
• Friday 12 December – End of Year Awards Assembly Years 7-10. Last day of classes.
• Tuesday 16 December – Optional zoom (am) and face-to-face (pm) parent/student/teacher meetings.
• Thursday 18 December – HSC results released. Year 12 2025 Morning Tea begins at 9.30am.
• Friday 19 December- School closes. 

More information will follow closer to these events.

STAFF COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

Should you have any questions regarding your son’s learning, your first port of call should be his Class teacher. If you have concerns about your son’s wellbeing please contact his Homeroom teacher or his Leader of Wellbeing.  Staff contact details can be found here.  A reminder that Sydney Catholic Schools Parent Charter provides guidelines for communicating with staff. The charter can be accessed here. 

ENROLMENTS

Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) have moved to an online enrolments process which can be accessed via their website or through the MCE website. We are at capacity for Year 7 2026 and Year 7 2027 and are now only accepting applications for our waitlist for all year groups.  We are currently accepting 2028 applicants. If you know of anyone wanting to apply for MCE for 2028 please encourage them to do so as soon as possible.

LEARNING CENTRE (LIBRARY)

A reminder that the Learning Centre is open from 7.30am-5.00pm Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and 7.30am-4.00pm Thursday and Friday. Homework assistance is available on Monday-Friday from 3.00-4.00pm. 

COMPASS

If you have not already done so, please download the Compass App to your smartphones to ensure you never miss any important information. All correspondence is sent out via this platform. Please contact Student Reception if you require any assistance with this. 

PARENT COMMUNITY GROUP

Our PCG Executive comprises of:

• Mrs Jody Patman- President
• Mrs Maria Costello – Secretary
• Mrs Alison Hollier – Treasurer 

PCG meetings are held once per term on the third Wednesday of the term.  The remaining date for 2025 is as follows:

• Term 4 – Wednesday 29 October

The final meeting of the year, which will include the Annual General Meeting (AGM), will be held in the Learning Centre (Library) and will commence at 7:00pm. A nomination form has been included in today’s communications for those interested in joining the committee. We encourage you to consider this opportunity to contribute to our vibrant parent community. Please save this important date – we look forward to welcoming you on the evening.

Thank you in advance for your continued support.  Please don’t hesitate to contact the College should you have any questions or concerns.

Kind regards

Ms Silvana Rossetti

Principal

Years 8 & 10 Archdiocesan RE Tests

17 October 2025

Dear Year 8 & 10 Parents/Carers

Archdiocesan Religious Education Tests

On Wednesday, 22 October 2025, all Year 8 & 10 students in Sydney Catholic Secondary Schools will sit for the Year 8 & 10 Archdiocesan Religious Education Tests. The Year 8 test will take place during Period 1-2 and Year 10 in Period 3-4. Students will have normal lessons for the remainder of the day.

The Year 8 & 10 Religious Education Tests will provide valuable information regarding your child’s learning in Religious Education over the last two years, their understanding of the Catholic faith and their overall progress in Religious Education. 

The test will consist of 50 multiple-choice questions and will be scored out of a possible 50 marks. Questions are based on the Stage 4 (Years 7 and 8) and Stage 5 (Years 9 and 10) Religious Education Curriculum. The test will be completed online through an external assessment organisation, Janison Insights, who will analyse the results and produce the reports and certificates.

Students will need to have their laptop fully charged for the day, so that they can undertake the test during the scheduled session. They may also bring a book to read silently once they have completed the test.

Any student absent on the day will need to sit the test on the Friday of the same week (24 October). Students can revise for the exam by looking at past papers for Year 8 and Year 10

Thank you for your support of this test and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.

Sincerely

Mr Colm McCaughan                                                                  

Religious Education Coordinator

Years 7-10 2025 PAT Testing

17 October 2025 

Dear Year 7-10 Parents/Carers

Years 7-10 2025 PAT Testing

As part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring that our students continue to grow in their learning, we use a variety of methods to monitor student progress. This involves regularly gathering data that allows to identify each student’s strengths and areas of challenge which can then be used to provide targeted intervention.

As well as using school-based data, and national standardised testing data from NAPLAN and HSC data, each year, all students in Year 7, 8, 9 and 10, complete two achievement tests, PAT Maths and PAT Reading.

These tests will be conducted on Monday 20 October, during Period 1 and 3. Each test is 45 minutes in length and is completed online. Students will be sent a message asking them to ensure that they have a fully charged laptop with them on Monday and they will be emailed their username and password.

Kind regards

Melissa Williams

Director of Learning and Teaching

Year 11 – Year 12 2026 Privileges

17 October 2025

Dear Parents/Carers

Year 12 2026 Privileges

Year 12 will be provided additional privileges from Monday of Term 4, Week 3 2025 and will carry over into 2026. One such privilege will be access to Eastwood Shops during recess and lunchtime.  Please provide permission for your son to have access to the shops by completing the following google form.

Each student will need to place their Compass Card in the provided homeroom draw that will be located outside Eastwood House prior to moving to the shops at the beginning of recess or lunch.  It is vital that all students return within an appropriate timeframe to commence periods 3 and 5 as scheduled.

It is expected that at all times student behaviour is aligned to our College rules and expectations. Any student who is not in full uniform or does not act in accordance with high standards for senior students will lose this privilege at the discretion of the College.

Kind regards

Ms Linda Burland 

Leader of Wellbeing – Year 11

Sport Report

Welcome back to all students, Term 4 representative sports were in full swing with Cricket Junior A, OzTag and Volleyball Week 1. Mixed OzTag, remaining Cricket teams and the inaugural sport TeeBall will commence  next week. 

OzTag

Volleyball

Cricket

Swim to Survive 

The Year 7 Swim to Survive  will commence in Week 2, Thursday 23 October. The program is designed to promote water safety and awareness for our Year 7 students. Students will undergo a series of lifesaving aquation survival techniques during Thursday sports. 

Please ensure the swimming ability form is completed, if you have any further questions  contact Ms Khattar monica.khattar@syd.catholic.edu.au 

Student Champions 

Over the break Marist College Eastwood had their very own National representative Champions on the State and International platforms. Both of these individuals, known for their exceptional athleticism, proudly belong to the Year 9 cohort.

Oliver Brown 904 represented Marist Eastwood on the other side of the World In USA and ran very well. In every official race, Oliver was on the podium and took out the prestigious Indiana Springs Invitational coming in first place. Oliver was also  invited to meet with the Head of Recruitment at Arizona State University Track and Field to discuss possible Scholarship opportunities to which his times already qualify him for. 

Marist College Eastwood celebrates Marcel MJ Tahhan (906) for his outstanding achievement in boxing this year. Marcel represented New South Wales in the U15 Boys Division at the prestigious 2025 Australian Schools Boxing Championships, held in Darwin.

His selection to compete at the national level is a testament to his discipline, strength, and commitment to the sport.

School Student Travel Information for Parents & Students

Happy Families – Dr Justin Coulson

Happy Families – Dr Justin Coulson

MCE Parent Community Group AGM

MCE PCG – AGM Nomination for 2026 Form

St Kevin’s Parish Christmas Dinner Invitation

Granny Smith Festival Flyer

Reminder – Year 7 – Vaccinations

26 September 2025

Dear Parents/Carers

NSW Health will offer the following vaccinations to Year 7 students at our College:

–         Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (dTpa) on 7 November 2025

–         Human Papillomavirus (HPV) on 21 November 2025 

If your child is in Year 7 you can provide online consent for their routine school vaccinations. Vaccination will only be provided at school if consent has been received. 

How to provide consent:

1. To complete online consent for your child’s school vaccinations, visit: https://engage.health.nsw.gov.au/engage and login using your ServiceNSW details. This is the same account you may already use to renew your driver’s licence. Refer to Service NSW to create an account if you don’t already have one.

2. Update or confirm your personal details in ServiceNSW as required.

3. Complete the School Vaccination Consent Form for your child.

Read a step-by-step guide on how to provide consent online. Translated guides are available in Arabic, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese.

If you or your child do not have a Medicare card or access, consent can still be provided by requesting a paper-based consent form. Please contact the office if you require a paper form.

The benefits of providing consent online:

• Easily update your child’s details

• Receive SMS and/or email notifications when vaccinations are given

• Faster upload of vaccination records to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

For more information on routine school vaccinations, please visit www.health.nsw.gov.au/schoolvaccination .

If you require information in your language, please visit www.health.nsw.gov.au/immunisation/Pages/school_vaccination_language.aspx

Kind regards

Mr Daniel Fallico
Assistant Principal

Reminder – Year 12 Sign Out

All Year 12 students are to ensure they have returned all school resources (including text/library books, sporting uniform, etc) prior to the end of Term 3 and their sign out date.

Families and students are also reminded to download and save any reports and other documents before access to Compass and their student google account is terminated following sign out.

Reminder – Year 12 – Graduation Mass, Ceremony & Formal Photo Online Order Flyer

Reminder – Prayer Families 2025

26 September 2025

Dear Parents/Carers

Prayer Families 2025

One of the great traditions we have at the College is the Prayer Families initiative. Families volunteer to pray for an individual member of the Year 12 Class leading up to and including the HSC exams. It is a time when it is important for our Year 12 students to know that they are supported by their community, as they complete their schooling and step out into the world.

This prayer can be as simple as keeping the Year 12 student in your thoughts, or as part of some form of prayer ritual your family might undertake, perhaps a simple prayer at meal times or the Rosary. In doing so, you are taking part in our Marist charism of Family Spirit, where all in the community look out for and support one another, especially in their time of need.

If your family is willing to take part in this great Marist Eastwood tradition, kindly fill in this form.

A Prayer Family Envelope will then be given to your son with some prayer cards and the name of your Year 12 student.  It would be great to see as many families as possible lending spiritual support to our Year 12 Class of 2025.

Yours sincerely

Mr Colm McCaughan

Religious Education Coordinator

Careers

MCE Careers Website Link mcecareers.com

Uniforms

New supplier Noone has started taking MCE orders from 3 September 2025.

2nd Hand Uniform Shop next open – Friday, 24 October from 9.00am-11.00am (Week 2, Term 4) – NOTE NEW TIMES.

For more information, please refer to Compass > Community tab (2 heads) > School Documentation > Parent Information and Forms > Uniform Price List & Second Hand Uniform Shop Information