From the Principal

Ash Wednesday Begins our Lenten Journey to Easter

Last Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, the College community joined together in Houses to begin our Lenten journey to Easter. The symbol of placing a cross, with the ashes, on our forehead reminds us that Jesus died for us and that our call through Lent is for renewal and to be faithful to the Gospel message. Through our Lenten journey as a College community, we will be supporting the work of Caritas, through Project Compassion. This support is a very tangible way of reaching out to others, a responsibility that our Marist community is called to act on. 

MSCW Winners!

Over the past couple of weeks, MSCW has excelled in a variety of events:

Public Speaking – Firstly, congratulations to Elissa Evans (Year 7) and Jacinta Da Silva (Year 8) who made it through to the Zone Finals. Elyssa is continuing on to the Grand Final tonight, 11 March. Thank you to Mrs Colreavy for her coordination of Public Speaking at the College.

SCS Swimming Carnival Conference 2 – MSCW won…

Overall Female School (the most points on the night)

Junior Cup Winners (most points 12-14 years combined)

Senior Cup Winners (most points 17+ years)

Age Champions 

• Olivia Treadwell – 12 Years Champion
• Eve Lange – 13 Years Champion

International Women’s Day 2022 (8 March)

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for celebrating women’s equality. IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. 

The theme for IWD 2022 was #BreakTheBias. It calls on women and men to strike a pose with arms crossed to show commitment to calling out bias, smashing negative stereotypes, breaking inequality and rejecting discrimination. At MSCW, our students and staff strike the pose in solidarity and support for this commitment the ‘break the bias’. Our Woolwich Student Union (WSU) is currently holding a ‘dignity drive’ collecting sanitary products for women who unfortunately may not have access to these necessities. This is a great way for our students to be empowered as Marist Women of Action in support of other women.

From the Assistant Principal

Uniform Review

Early this week you would have received a communication from the College regarding the Uniform Review.

The review process will involve gathering feedback from parents, students and staff regarding current uniform needs. The first opportunity for parents to be part of this Uniform Review will be at our Parent Engagement Meeting Wednesday 30 March at 5.30 pm – Coffee/Tea for a 6.00 pm start in Belley.

Please register for the Parent Engagement Meeting by completing this form. Following that, we will continue to gather student and staff feedback via Focus Group workshops during Term 1 and Term 2. Please see the letter sent via COMPASS for further information.

COVID Regulation Update

Earlier this week NSW Health guidelines were updated with the following information regarding individuals who have previously tested positive to COVID-19 and their isolation requirements.

People who have recovered from COVID-19 have a low risk of getting it again in the 8 weeks after you are released as most people develop some immunity (ability to fight the disease). If you come into contact with someone with COVID-19 within 8 weeks after you are released, you will generally not need to self-isolate or get a test.

If you come into contact with someone with COVID-19 more than 8 weeks after you are released, you will need to self-isolate, test and follow the advice in the Information for people exposed to COVID-19 and Get tested for COVID-19 factsheets.

Travelling to and from School – Masks

I ask for your support as a parent/carer in ensuring that your daughter/s are wearing masks on public transport, which includes the bus and ferry. Please see below the communication from the School Liaison Police Officer for the Ryde Area that was sent to all schools in the area:

The current Public Health Orders regarding face coverings for students aged 12 years and older are required to adhere to this legislation

COVID-19 MANDATORY FACE COVERINGS

Public Health Act 2010

The Public Health (COVID-19 Mandatory Face Coverings) Order 2021 was amended commencing 29 January 2021.

A fitted face covering is a mask or other covering that fits securely around the face and is designed or made to be worn over the nose and mouth to provide the wearer with protection against infection. A scarf is not a fitted face covering.

Requirement to wear a fitted face covering

Public transport

A person in Greater Sydney must wear a fitted face covering at all times when:

(a) at a public transport waiting area, or

(b) when the person is in a vehicle, train or vessel that is being used to provide a public transport service and the vehicle, train or vessel is carrying passengers or is in service and available to carry passengers.

Public transport service includes a taxi service, rideshare service and community transport service. A public transport waiting area is a station, including the platform of a passenger railway station or light rail station/stop, a ferry wharf, a bus stop or taxi rank.

Thank you for your support of the current requirements for wearing a mask to and from school on public transport.

This article on College life meets The Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools – Charter #2, #6 & #8

From the Religious Education Coordinator

The Lenten Journey Continues

How are you travelling through Lent this year? In his Lenten Message for 2022, Archbishop Anthony Fisher says that during Lent ‘we seek to experience the mercy of God the Father, and to practice it in our daily lives.’  May your Lenten journey be one that is a daily experience of God.

Prayers for Ukraine

On the 28 February, Pope Francis invited ‘everyone to take part on 2 March, Ash Wednesday, in a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace in #Ukraine, in order to be near to the suffering Ukrainian people, to be aware that we are all brothers and sisters, and to implore God for an end to the war.’ As the hostilities against the Ukrainian people continue, we continue to pray for the people of Ukraine and for those in wars in other parts of the world such as Yemen, Syria and Ethiopia.

May weapons be silenced! God is with peacemakers, not with those who use violence.” – Pope Francis

Celebrating the Life of Br Francis Attah

Br Francis Attah, the head of the Marist Community in Pailin, North Cambodia died on 10 February 2022 after a short battle with cancer.

Br Francis generously welcomed and hosted the three Marist Sisters’ Woolwich immersions to Pailin (2017, 2018 and 2019). His warm and generous welcome of MSCW students and staff to the Marist Pailin community, his passion for supporting the young people and the country of Cambodia and his culinary skills were highlights for the students during the three immersions. He impressed the MSCW students by showing them that he too could sing the Salve Regina. Br Francis’ dream was to build the Marist Centre of Hope – a residential hostel for students from outlying areas to have a place to live while completing their secondary education at Pailin. On 20 February 2022, the official blessing of the Marist Centre of Hope took place. 

Ash Wednesday House Prayer Services

The College community marked the beginning of the season of Lent with Prayer Services in their Houses led by the House Liturgy Captains – Ava, Aleyah, Natasha, Arianna, Eliza and Claudia.

This article on College life meets The Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools – Charter #1, #2

From the Leader of Wellbeing

My COMPASS Goals

Students were provided with resources to prepare them to lead the My Marist COMPASS Goals (MMCG) conferences that have been scheduled by their parents with their Tutor Teachers. During this time, students will articulate their MMCG for 2022. Since Tuesday of Week 5, students have been working with their Tutor Teacher to develop their goals for 2022 and during Community Time this week, they recorded their MMCG in COMPASS.

Students who set goals through self-reflection open themselves up to achieving greater accomplishments and an increase in personal satisfaction. Distractions and challenges can keep young people from the path that they want to take. By setting explicit goals and monitoring their progress toward goals, there is a much higher probability that they will find the success they hope for.

Conversations about goal-setting in Tutor Groups allow students to develop a new mindset that builds cooperation and mutual improvement as they see their goals are not solely their responsibility. We all improve when every one of us improves. This is why the College invests a significant amount of time and resources preparing for and facilitating MMCG conferences as goals need to be shared. Conferences provide a supported framework in which students take both ownership and responsibility for their growth in the four pillars:

• Learning (empower)
• Social & emotional (sisters)
• Spiritual (gift) and
• Physical (courage)

Social Media and Young People

So what is a ‘healthy digital diet’?

Here are some resources that may assist you in forming your own response to this question in relation to your daughter.

• Dr Tam’s ‘Top Healthy Digital Diet Tips’
• Dr Tam’s Podcast
• Episode 13: A Healthy Digital Diet with Jocelyn Brewer
• Balancing your child’s digital diet
• Brad Marshall (Child Psychologist) and Maggie Dent (Parenting Educator and Author) talk all things tech, teens and kids in a lockdown context

Social media has become such an integral part of a teenager’s life. However, many miss out on some critical social skills, with most communicating while looking at a screen instead of another person! Statistics show that 60 per cent of 10-11-year-olds are using at least one social media site, with the majority using age-restricted platforms. What kids do, post and say online is permanent and most are not mature enough to manage their own digital footprint. Friendships, relationships and even future job prospects are all put at risk.

Parents need to be aware of what pictures their children are painting of themselves online. Unfortunately, many parents do not see the dangers inherent in these sites, as they form opinions based on their own experience. But predators are usually not interested in grooming adults. Over the years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of primary schoolers owning mobile phones, highlighting the importance to teach kids about the dangers of social media and the implications it can have.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn how to talk to their children about the inherent dangers of social media and how to educate their kids to be responsible users in the online world we live in.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the College counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Social Media and Digital Reputation edition of SchoolTV. It can also be accessed in COMPADD via the grey favourites star, top-middle of the home page.

Additional Resources

• eSafety Commissioner: Parents
• eSafety Commissioner: Young People
• ReachOut: Cyberbullying and Teenagers
• Kids helpline: Parents eSafety

What a fabulous statement for the community to focus on: 

Student Leaders will be leading the community celebration of this event along with all of Year 12. In Tutor Groups, students will consider how they can foster kindness in the MSCW community and make a ‘promise’ to contribute through their actions (words, decision making and physically) to make this a reality for all. MSCW will acknowledge that we are all ‘Sisters’ who live in a relationship with everyone around us and that each individual has a responsibility to support building a culture of kindness.

This article on College life meets The Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools – Charter #1, #2

From the Leader of Learning and Curriculum

Are Butterflies Fluttering in Your House?

There is an inextricable link between learning and wellbeing, and good wellbeing leads to good learning outcomes. At this time of the term, assessments begin, and so too might nerves and butterflies in stomachs. Jitters are a normal and needed part of school life for students to be able to perform, but wellbeing can be comprised if they get out of control.

The College’s subscription to SchoolTV has an excellent resource on Exam Jitters. The advice can be applied to all assessment tasks and I recommend two articles that might assist in taming those stomach butterflies:

• How to handle exam anxiety (Step-by-step tips on how to identify and handle study stresses); and
• Helping your child cope with exam anxiety.

With My Marist COMPASS Goals conferences taking place next Wednesday, I encourage all families to review their daughter’s study environment at home. Setting a schedule is vitally important – is there a study timetable on the fridge?

Students need to schedule everything, from sleeping and eating to studying and exercising, and it is one of the best ways to manage inevitable assessment and exam stress. 

This article on College life meets The Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools – Charter #6 & #8 

Gifted and Talented Report

This article on College life meets The Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools – Charter #2 & #6

Sports Results

Basketball – MVP

Basketball – MVP

This article on College life meets The Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools – Charter #2, #6 & #8

SCS Swimming Carnival

The MSCW Swimming Team competed in the Sydney Catholic Schools Swimming Carnival Conference 2 at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Monday 28 February. The team set the pool on fire from the first race and took home a number of individual trophies and also the overall championship trophy.

Well done to all the students who gave their best against strong opposition from Rosebank College and Domremy Catholic College. 

Congratulations to the following students on their fantastic results

Olivia Treadwell – 12 Years

1st Place 50m Butterfly          

1st Place 50m Breaststroke

1st Place 50m Backstroke

1st Place 50m Freestyle

12 Years Age Champion

Rebecca Linssen – 12 Years

2nd Place 50m Freestyle

1st Place 50m Butterfly

2nd Place 50m Breaststroke 

1st Place 100m Freestyle           

Lara Carvallo – 13 Years

4th Place 100m Butterfly              

Sophie Mitchell-Cook – 13 Years

4th Place 50m Freestyle

6th Place 50m Butterfly

4th Place 100m Freestyle

5th Place 50m Backstroke 

Eve Lange – 13 Years

Georgia Sherry – 14 Years

 5th Place 100m Freestyle                

Angela Lakic – 14 Years      

3rd Place 50m Freestyle

2nd Place 100m Butterfly

3rd Place 100m Freestyle

3rd Place 50m Butterfly                          

Maddison Tannous – 14 Years

2nd Place 50m Freestyle

3rd Place 50m Backstroke

3rd Place 50m Breaststroke                    

Amy Linssen – 15 Years

1st Place 50m Freestyle 

3rd Place 50m Butterfly

1st Place 100m Freestyle

2nd Place 100m Fly                     

Ziani Viola – 15 Years      

3rd Place 50m Freestyle 

3rd Place 50m Breaststroke 

2nd Place 50m Backstroke                  

Sienna Brown – 16 Years

3rd Place 50m Freestyle

2nd Place 50m Butterfly

3rd Place 100m Freestyle                                                           

Sofia Watts – 16 Years 

4th Place 50m Breaststroke

Natasha Payne – 16 Years

3rd Place 50m Breaststroke                                                                               

Elsie Gray – 16 Years    

2nd Place 100m Backstroke

2nd Place 50m Backstroke                               

Maddison Sherry – 16 Years

3rd Place 50m Freestyle

4th Place 50m Butterfly 

4th Place 100m Freestyle 

5th Place 50m Backstroke

Zara Chand – 17 Years +

4th Place 50m Breaststroke

Anastasia Lakic – 17 Years +

4th Place 50m Freestyle

2nd Place 50m Butterfly

1st Place 100m Freestyle

1st Place 50m Backstroke                                              

Ava Gibson – 17 Years +       

1st  Place 50m Butterfly

1st  Place 50m Freestyle

1st  Place 100m Backstroke

1st  Place 100m Butterfly          

1st place 4 x 50m Junior Freestyle Relay

• Olivia Treadwell
• Maddison Tannous
• Eve Lange
• Angela Lakic

2nd place 4 x 50m Intermediate Freestyle Relay

• Amy Linssen
• Ziani Viola
• Maddison Sherry 
• Sienna Brown

1st place 4 x 50m Open Freestyle Relay

• Ava Gibson 
• Georgia Sherry
• Natasha Payne
• Anastasia Lakic

1st place 4 x 50m Junior Medley Relay

• Olivia Treadwell
• Maddison Tannous
• Eve Lange
• Angela Lakic

2nd place 4 x 50m Intermediate Medley Relay

• Elsie Gray
• Sofia Watts
• Amy Linsseen
• Ziani Viola

1st place 4 x 50m Open Medley Relay

• Ava Gibson  
• Zara Chand 
• Anastasia Lakic
• Sienna Brown

 1st place 6 x 50m Freestyle Relay

• Ava Gibson 
• Olivia Treadwell
• Sienna Brown
• Angela Lakic
• Amy Linssen
• Eve Lange
  
•  Junior Age Swimming Champions
• Senior Age Swimming Champions
• Overall Champions

A fantastic effort!

This article on College life meets The Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools – Charter #2, #6 & #8

2022 MSCW Campus Experience Evening

New Date: 14 March

Event Booked Out

We are pleased to share that the MSCW Campus Experience Evening has been rescheduled to Monday 14 March from 4 pm. Tour bookings remain with ticketholders from the original date and no further places are available at this stage.

We look forward to welcoming attendees to the College on 14 March.

Year 7 2024 and 2025 Applications are Now Open

Clothing Pool News

The Marist Sisters’ College Woolwich Clothing Pool is seeking your unwanted school uniforms.

Now is a great time to clean out the wardrobe and unburden yourself of school uniforms that you no longer need.

It is also a great way to support your College community. All proceeds from the sale of Clothing Pool donations go back into projects across the College, which benefit the whole College community.

Donations can be handed into the General Administration Office any time during school hours.

Should you wish to place an order with the Clothing Pool, please visit: www.flexischools.com.au

Thank you for your support.

Canteen News

The Canteen is now fully operating for all – breakfast, recess and lunch.

A reminder that Flexischools online ordering is available for lunch pick up in the Canteen. Please have your student ID ready for pick up.

The new 2022 updated menu is now available online and in the Canteen. Please note that some items have increased due to our supplier’s increase.

MSCW Annual School Reunion

Youth Group

The first Holy Name of Mary Parish Hunters Hill Youth Ministry high school Youth Group for the year is on Friday 25 March at the HNOM Parish Hall. There will be plenty of food, fun and interesting discussions. This year, the group has been extended from Year 7 and Year 8 students to include Year 9 students as well. 

View the poster here.

Lowes VIP Sale

Position Available – Marist Mission Centre in Hunters Hill

The Marist Mission Centre in Hunters Hill is seeking an administrative professional for a permanent part-time Donations Officer position. The administration position is for 12 hours per week over 2 or 3 days (negotiable) as is for an immediate start

For an application package, please contact the Provincial Business Manager, Mr Andrew Biddle on 9844 2222 or email businessmanager@maristfathers.org.au

Applications close Monday 21 March 2022 at 5:00 pm