From the Principal – Ms Pussich

With the end of the year approaching I would like to take this opportunity to thank the parents, staff and students of Mary MacKillop Catholic College for a wonderful 2019.

A special thank you to the Parent Advisory Group for their work throughout the year: Mrs Bursic, Mrs Carniato, Mrs Citroni, Mrs Dal Col, Mrs O’Grady, Mrs Raad, Mrs Fuller, Mrs Ly, Mrs Yonan, Mrs Fosita, Mrs Hoang, Mrs Williams, Mrs Silva-Giuliano, Mrs Mekho and Mrs Toohey.

Christmas Mass

It was wonderful to see so many parents/carers present on Thursday 12 December to join us for our Christmas Mass. We were grateful to have Fr Remy Bui, the new Parish Priest of Sacred Heart Cabramatta, preside over Mass.

Fr Remy reflected on the meaning of Jesus’ words in the Gospel, “I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen, yet the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is”. He told us that in God’s Kingdom even the insignificant person can be great, but it is up to us to transform ourselves. Fr Remy also told our students to be grateful for the people who have helped them grow this year and what they have brought to their lives; the loving care from their families, the wisdom from their teachers and the sodality from their friends.

At this Mass we also distributed Christmas Hampers to the St Vincent de Paul team of Cabramatta. I counted over 70 hampers. A great response from our homerooms!

Awards Night

On Wednesday 11 December we held our annual Awards Night. This was a celebration of the academic, cultural and sports achievements of our students. Thank you to Mr Thomas who coordinated the evening and the staff who assisted: Mrs Mayer, Mrs Labozzetta, Mrs Webster, Mrs Bales, Mrs Falzon, Mr Reutens, Mr Harski, Mrs Jeffery, Mrs Veljanovski, Miss O’Regan, Mrs Gomes, Mrs Fassoulas, Mrs Sedger, Ms Crosariol, Mr Grana, Mrs Lowe, Miss Israel, Ms Genovese, Mrs Arapi-Nunez, Mrs M Matti, Ms Gagliano, Mr McLean, Mr Andrejev, Miss Jennings, Mrs Toohey, Mrs Withnall, Mrs Messina, Ms Orlando, Ms Tate.

Congratulations to all our award winners. Please click on link to view a full list of recipients: Award Winners 2019

Staff Farewells

At this time of the year we farewell our Year 12 students and their families and some of our staff. Thank you and best wishes to: Mrs Evans, Ms Jennings, Mr Tomich, Mr Rainert, Mr Rakecki, Ms Veljanovski, Mrs Withnall.

We also send our best wishes to our temporary staff: Mrs Bales, Miss Ciantar, Mrs Cliffe, Mr Kissane, Mrs Lam, Mrs Leonello, Miss Michael, Mr Moss, Miss Nguyen, Mrs Santamaria, Mrs Twarkowski and Mrs Velnic.

Staff Middle Leadership Team 2020

Year 7 – Ms Boustani, Mr Hennessy (Assistant) McCormack House

Year 8 – Ms Gagliano, Mr McLean (Assistant) Henderson House

Year 9 – Mr Andrejev, Miss O’Regan (Assistant) Arena House

Year 10 – Mrs Toohey, Mr Reutens (Assistant) O’Shane House 

Year 11 – Mrs Messina, Ms Crosariol (Assistant) Crosio House

Year 12 – Mrs Orlando, Mr Fricot  (Assistant) Goolangong House

Religious Education – Mrs Flanagan, Mr Sacca (Assistant)

English – Mrs Wylie, Mrs Gomes (Assistant)

Mathematics – Mrs Herrera, Mrs Waugh (Assistant)

Science – Mrs Hornas

HSIE – Mr Rooney, Ms Pavisic (Assistant)

PDHPE – Ms Malakovski

Technology & Applied Studies – Mrs Ryan

Creative & Performing Arts – Ms Tate

Languages – Miss Israel

Vocational Education & Training, Pathways & Partnership – Mrs Pedavoli

Catholic Intensive English Centre – Mrs Arapi-Nunez

Diverse Learning – Miss Brown

Youth Ministry – Miss Ayoub

Sport – Mr Carosi

EAL/D – Mrs Arapi

Library – Mrs Thomson & Mrs Felipe

Literacy – Ms Pavisic

Numeracy – Mrs Waugh

Musical – Ms Tate

Newman – Miss Brown

STEM – Mrs Waugh

Wishing you a blessed Christmas and a joyous New Year.

Ms Pussich

Principal

From the Assistant Principal – Mr Grana

Term 1 2020 Commencement Dates

First Day of Term 1 for Years 8 – 12

We look forward to the return of all students across Years 8 to 12 on Thursday 30th January 2020.  On this day, the school day will finish at 12.00pm for all students. Homeroom teachers will be contacting parents of any student who is absent on this day. Students must attend in full summer uniform (not sports uniform).

Please note that our new Year 7 students for 2020 begin classes on Wednesday 29th January 2020.  Year 10 2020 Homeroom Leaders and some Senior Leaders will also be required to attend school on this day starting at 8:00am in their summer school uniform (including blazer) to greet and assist with the new Year 7 students.

Opening College Mass

We invite our parents/carers to our Opening College Mass for 2020. Mass will be celebrated on Friday 31 January in the Hall from 9:45am. If parents/carers would like to attend, please RSVP by calling Mrs Grace Labbozzetta on 9725-4322.

MMCC Swimming Carnival

Please note our College Swimming Carnival is at Prairiewood Leisure Centre and will be held on Friday 7 February 2020.  Students are to wear their summer sports uniform on this day.  This is a normal school day and as such attendance is compulsory.  Parents of any absent students will be contacted on this day. 

As with the previous years, all students will be travelling by bus to and from the venue.  Parents are reminded that students cannot be dropped off at the venue. If a student is being picked up early a note must be pre-delivered to the College before the day of the Swimming Carnival and given to your daughter’s Homeroom teacher(s).  

Term 1 2020 Summer Uniform Reminders

As the end of the year draws to a close we congratulate you on the respect your daughters have shown for our College uniform this year. It is very important that we continue to remind our students and families of our summer uniform requirements for 2020. 

The summer uniform has the following expectations:

• Regulation College white ankle socks are to be worn at all times.
• College Skirts must cover the bottom of the knee-cap (ie covering the whole knee).  We ask parents to ensure that over the holidays this is checked and rectified before coming back on the first day of Term 1.
• Pink/Blue Blouse.
• Undershirts are to be neutral in colour and must not be showing otherwise these will have to be removed if they are brought to school.
• The College jumper is not part of the Summer Uniform and is not to be worn during the summer uniform period
• The College Blazer can be worn in cooler weather and can be worn as the outer garment when arriving and leaving the College.

If any student is not in the correct summer uniform or incorrectly groomed on the first day of Term 1, she will be sent home to have the problem rectified.  Please ensure you refer to the College Dress Code in the College Diary. Please refer to the summary table below.

What is allowed	What is NOT allowed
One (1) watch	Bracelets or rings
One (1) Gold or silver necklace with a Christian symbol (not seen under the blouse)	Anklets, chokers, leather bracelets, tribal or other types of necklaces
One pair of earrings in different earlobes only.	Multiple Earrings (will be confiscated). Other piercings such as nose, tongue, screw-in earrings. (will be sent home)
One (1) natural looking hair colour tied back, with a pink/light blue/maroon ribbon/headband	Dyed, coloured, multi-coloured, bleached, streaked hair. (will be sent home)
Knee Length Skirt (bottom of the knee-cap, must cover the WHOLE knee)	Skirts above the knee (must be taken down or purchase a larger size)
Black, leather, low heeled and lace up shoes on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday	Open top (Mary Jane style) shoes that present a WHS risk. Black leather converse shoes (these are sneakers not school shoes)
Wearing Sports Uniform to and from school on Thursday Year 12 Jersey on Thursday	Sports Jacket on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday (jacket will be confiscated until the following Wednesday afternoon)
White or coloured athletic type sport shoes	Canvas, skate, gym, hightop or other casual shoes.
	College Jumper
	Coloured Nails (will be asked to remove them) Acrylic/Shellac/SNS Nails (will be sent home)

New Bell Times for 2020

A review with staff and student leaders was conducted regarding our bell times for 2020. The following new bell times will take effect as of Term 1 2020.  The changes centre on a review of CLC. The outcomes of this review of CLC and bell time changes are below:

• CLC has been renamed to Homeroom
• Extended homeroom will continue to take place on Monday’s and Tuesday’s till 9.15am and the school day will end at 3.15pm
• Wednesday and Friday Homeroom will run for 10 minutes till 9.05am and the school day will end at 3.05pm 
• Thursday remains unchanged 
• Each morning a movement bell will ring at 8.50am on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and at 8.45am on Thursday. Students are expected to be at school no later than the Movement bell time. 
• Any student who arrives to Homeroom after the Homeroom bell will be deemed late to school.

Afternoon bus services will remain the same, however, we are currently investigating a change of bus times to align with our new afternoon bell times.  More information will be provided in 2020.

Preparing for the New Year – A message from Pope Francis

Most of us seem to make new years resolutions such as going on a diet, spending less money, getting a better job and earning more money or saving up for a holiday overseas.  Let us take a moment to ponder some of the more important resolutions we can make that can have a more positive life changing effect for ourselves and others as listed below.

A happy and Holy Christmas and a prosperous and healthy new year to all of our families.

Awards Night Recipients

Congratulations to all our award recipients for 2019. Below is a full list of the recipients:

Award Winners 2019

Year 10 PASS excursion to Manly Beach

Mrs Cox, PASS Teacher

Open Day 2020

Coming Events

Mass Times