The greatest act of empathy

Every now and then a word or phrase enters our lexicon to try to capture some latest issue or development.

We all clearly remember the technical jargon like bits and bytes and in more recent times we have been introduced to a particular perspective of “fake news”.

Each of these new words or new ways of using words came about because something changed or was changing. 

Of late, a new phrase has popped up in the media: “Empathy Training”.

In my role as Principal, I have to undergo mandatory training for many things like Child Protection, Governance, and Work Health and Safety. These I do to make sure that I keep up to date with the latest laws and best thinking in these areas. 

But empathy training?

I am very saddened to hear that a figure in public life needs to undertake empathy training… saddened but not surprised. 

Empathy is generally defined as the ability to sense other people’s emotions, to be able to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. To step into their shoes so to speak. We all know that empathy is important because it increases the likelihood of helping others and showing compassion. It is a building block of morality, for people to follow the Golden Rule, the rule that Jesus gave us: To love one another as I have loved you and to love your neighbour as yourself. 

Apathy, defined as “a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern”  is the opposite of empathy. 

How ironic that empathy training is being laid bare at a time in the Christian calendar when we remember and celebrate the greatest act of empathy – the crucifixion and death of Jesus leading to the victory over death through His resurrection. 

There are growing voices within society who cannot see the relevance of religion, so other than a few days off work and the odd easter egg, it’s just business as usual. 

Some within society may even say,  this story is old news maybe even fake news and definitely irrelevant because we don’t punish people by crucifixion. Or do we?  

Others are even more apathetic and just don’t see what all the fuss is about.

In any case, the world has changed…. but have we? 

What hasn’t changed is our human condition, at times our lack of empathy and compassion for others, and our increasing self-centeredness and apathy. 

The message of Jesus Christ is as relevant today as it was then. Jesus took on all that it is to be human. He walked in our skin. The epitome of empathy. 

Good Friday reminds us of our human frailty, our weakness, our ability to be intolerant and apathetic towards others… of our sinfulness.

The Resurrection with its promise of hope and new life is not given for us to keep hidden, but to radiate from our grateful hearts out to the world in word, action, and above all in our thoughts towards others. 

Let our prayer be that empathy training disappears from our media circles because we don’t need it any more.  

May this Easter time challenge each of us to be open-hearted so that all will see the Risen Christ through us. 

God bless you and your families this Easter.

Mary Leask

Principal

Important reminder: remote learning for all students on 19 April

The College office will be closed from 4.00pm Thursday 1 April 2021 and will reopen at 8.00am on Monday 19 April.

Please note that the College will be holding Year 11 and 12 Parent-Teacher Interviews on Monday 19 April from 9 am through to 6 pm. This is the first day of Term 2.

Given that our staff will be involved in Year 11 and 12 Parent-Teacher interviews, all students in Year 7 to 12 will be on remote learning for this day and there will be no face-to-face classes.

Work for each lesson will be posted on Compass and students are expected to complete this work ready for face-to-face lessons on Tuesday 20 April 2021.

Please note that all students return to the College in full College winter uniform on Tuesday 20 April 2021. The College second-hand uniform shop will be open for business on the third Wednesday of Term 2 during lunch.

Laura Gant

Assistant Principal

Gospel Reflection: We must faithfully live our lives as Jesus did

This week is quite different to most other weeks in the church calendar, as we have two Gospel readings.

Opposing reactions

The first is a short one. It tells us about the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. It is a time when the people of Jerusalem were shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” – something we repeat in our celebration of the eucharist. 

The second Gospel reading, which is much longer, is about the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ, told from the Gospel of Mark. In this Gospel reading, the Roman Governor Pilate asks the people who they want released and they choose Barabbas. He then asks what do the people want done with Jesus. The crowd responds “crucify him.”

The same people who only days before praised Jesus and celebrated his entrance into Jerusalem with palms and the laying down of garments in his path, now call for his death. A very painful and horrible death by crucifixion. What made them change their minds? They move from “Hosanna!” to “crucify him!” in a matter of days.

For us, if we were there in the crowds, with Jesus in front of us, what would we shout? Jesus entered Jerusalem, not as a warrior in the tradition of King David as many had hoped for, but riding simply on a donkey. The disciples and the crowd applauded him, but they proved fickle in their support. Are we sometimes fickle in our faith? Christian when it is easy, putting our faith aside when it is hard?

The will of God

Today, we are quite rightly hearing a lot about victims – people, who through no choice or fault of their own, have been dealt with wrongly by others who are free to act otherwise and who know better. In some of the ways we think about the passion, Jesus becomes God’s victim. Through no fault of his own, and seemingly powerless in the face of his Father’s will, Jesus becomes a victim of God’s need for a sacrifice, a ransom or atonement.

As a result, many of us can feel that sometimes we are God’s victims too, because if God wanted Jesus to suffer and die, why should we be surprised or complain when we receive large crosses to carry as well?

Mark’s account of the passion tends to reinforce Jesus as a ‘victim’. Mark has Jesus eating with the outcasts, his friends betraying, denying or deserting him. He tells us that Jesus is terrified at the prospect of death and calls on his ‘Abba’ or Father to help him out. In the end he accepts ‘the will of God’ but even then feels abandoned by God on the cross. 

A lesson in how to live

I often think we misread what Jesus is referring to when he accepts God’s will in the garden. Rather than refer to the particular will of the Father to see Jesus suffer and die on Good Friday, I think it’s more helpful and consoling to understand it as referring to God’s will that Jesus remains faithful to the way he lived. If by doing that, Jesus threatened the religious and political authorities of his day so much that they have to murder him, then his death is the ultimate sacrifice that reveals how far God was prepared to go in demonstrating his love for us. This reveals to us that Jesus came ‘to live’, and that by faithfully living this life he was put to death by the powers of sin. Through the cross we see the price to be paid in confronting sin in our day and obediently living out the demands of God’s Kingdom of justice and peace.

This Holy Week, let’s celebrate that God spared nothing in showing us how to live. As we commemorate Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, may we move from being victims of a bloodthirsty God to choosing again to follow Jesus’ example and live lives which are faithful, loving and obedient. May we also appreciate that as Jesus was faithful to God and God to Jesus, so they will remain faithful to us as well, no matter what.

May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a blessed Easter.

May the joy and hope of the Risen Christ be with you and your families and I pray you have a safe and restful school break.

Julie Monk

Religious Education Coordinator 

End of term Project Compassion update

As we journey through Holy Week, let us take time to remember the life and teachings of Saint Oscar Romero.

His many lessons include: live a simple life, commit to bringing peace to the world, speak the truth and, of course, aspire not to have more but to be more.

Some words from what has become known as the Oscar Romero prayer

“We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realising that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.” 

Project Compassion fundraising total

Thank you for supporting Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion campaign this term.

Your generosity has raised over $10,500 for Project Compassion. I would like to thank Elisha and Alex the Mirrabooka leaders for leading the team through all the initiatives and really chasing the change for Caritas.

Antoinette Nader

Assistant Religious Education Coordinator and Youth Ministry Coordinator

Upcoming One Meal Kingsgrove services

Over the school holidays, One Meal Kingsgrove will still be running each Wednesday evening:

• 7 April – OLF parents team led by Vivian
• 14 April – St Ursula’s parents team led by Loubna Fadel

I take this opportunity to thank all 12 teams who have contributed each week and continue to give witness to our Gospel values in our local community.  

Antoinette Nader

Assistant Religious Education Coordinator and Youth Ministry Coordinator

Harmony Week at the College

Amaroo and Girralong committees collaborated in Week 9 to provide a range of activities for the staff and students to enjoy and to celebrate our College diversity.

A week of cultural activities and College unity

Two of the week-long initiatives started on Monday, where we displayed flags from all over the world and held a ‘Find the Flag’ scavenger hunt for students to find small flags hidden around the College.

On Monday, students from the Amaroo and Girralong committees also handed out orange ribbons and bookmarks as a way to get everyone into the Harmony Week spirit. At lunch, we also held a mixed teacher vs student chairball match, where Japan and France went head to head. Teachers and students went up against each other, with the final game being Year 12 vs the teachers. Congratulations to Japan for winning against France!

Tuesday lunchtime we held a mixed teacher/student soccer match with the countries being Italy vs Brazil. With 10 seconds to go before the end of the game, Brazil managed to score a goal, giving them a win of 1 to 0.

Wednesday lunch was our whole school Kahoot, where we tested students on their geographical, cultural and Harmony Week related knowledge. With a turnout of over 200 girls, this was another successful initiative. It was an extremely close game, with the leaderboard changing constantly. Congratulations to the Cool Carrots for placing third, JEP for placing second and Marxgalz for placing first.

Thursday was our busiest day celebrating the Indigenous heritage of Australia. We had slides in the notices and a Voice of Tomorrow discussion about changing the flag to be more inclusive of Indigenous Australians’ identity –The Australian Flag; maintain or modify?

Also on Thursday we had a chalk activity on the playground, where students were encouraged to write something about Harmony Week or a greeting in their cultural language on a tree drawn in the main playground.

Fun fundraising initiatives

We also had cupcakes with orange decorations and milkshakes being sold, with all proceeds going towards Project Compassion. Students were eager to get in line to buy one, with all food items selling out within the first 10 minutes of lunch. A huge thank you to Ms Smith and her Hospitality team for the contribution of such delicious cupcakes and milkshakes. 

Finally, to close our week, we had a cultural mufti day, where students were encouraged to come in orange, wear a sports jersey or cultural dress for a gold coin donation. We were happy to see a lot of people showing off their culture. At lunchtime, we had a cultural Just Dance, where the dancing skills of students and teachers were challenged as they tried different cultural dances.

The week was a big success and we are so grateful to our committees and everyone that helped during the events. A special thank you to all the teachers and students who participated in our week. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. 

Cara Shivakumar, Elizabeth Rolls, Charlize Marques and Georgia Motto

Amaroo and Girralong Co-Captains

College supplementary programs foster 21st century skills

Increasingly, we are hearing that our students will be employed in jobs in the future that may not have even been invented or thought of yet.

Educators, school reformers, colleges, universities, employers and others have been using the term 21st century skills for some time now to refer to a broad set of transferable knowledge, skills, work habits and character traits that are believed to be critically important to success in today’s world, particularly in university programs and contemporary careers and workplaces. 

What we offer

At St Ursula’s, we have a number of supplementary programs to support students in developing these 21st century skills:

• Year 7 students participate in L@unch (Learning @ Ursula’s Nurturing Challenge), our transition to secondary school program. They learn new ICT skills, how to use feedback and how to develop their study and organisational skills.
• In Year 7 and Year 8 are involved in Rock8t, which helps students develop numeracy skills and apply their mathematical understanding to real-world problems.
• In Year 9, Girls9Unite focuses on literacy skills and examines the importance of literacy for girls in the developing world. 
• In Year 10, careers and community service are the focus of ACT10n, where teachers work with our students to develop knowledge and skills in the area of subject selection for the HSC and understanding future career paths, as well as serving the community.

These important programs equip our students with the skills needed to be lifelong learners who are able to face future challenges with confidence,

Jo McKeown

Leader of Teaching & Learning Innovation 

Digital resources are available for all Year 11 and Year 12 students

Edrolo and Atomi for Years 11 and 12 provide online resources in all subjects and are designed to supply students with engaging, informative and comprehensive presentations to help them understand and learn all they need to know for their revision, assessments and exams. 

How to access the resources

To ensure that students have access, please check the instructions below.

Atomi – Students should have received an email from Atomi saying that their account is now active.

Edrolo – Students need to activate their accounts:

• Students can activate their Edrolo accounts by following the prompts at edrolo.com.au/activate/mte-wyc 
  • P.S. The 6-digit code for St Ursula’s Kingsgrove is mte-wyc
• This is the crucial first step – students can only study once logged in!
• Those who used Edrolo this year can head straight to edrolo.com.au and click on ‘Login’ in the top right corner. 

Education Perfect – students should check if they can login or if they need their password reset via educationperfect.com.au

Box of Books – This is accessible through Compass:

• Students should go to the star icon on the Compass menu and select Box of Books.
• Sign in – student’s SCS email is linked to the sign in
• Check all books are there and that digital resources are accessible

Jo McKeown

Leader of Teaching & Learning Innovation 

Year 7 learn about what it means to be Catholic

On 26 March, Year 7 had the privilege of meeting Sr Fran Milidge OSU, an Ursuline who taught at St Ursula’s and is still working as an integral member of the support staff at the College.

Sr Fran shared her life story and testimony with us. She explained that her decision to become an Ursuline wasn’t easy but it gave her peace. I was most moved by the determination Sr Fran showed in her discernment and the courage she had in educating many young women in Armidale, Ashbury and later Kingsgrove. 

This presentation allowed us to understand that we belong to a Catholic community and, within that, the Ursuline community. We were encouraged to consider ways that we can continue to be inspired by the lives of St Ursula and St Angela Merici, so that together we can ‘Chase the Change’.  

Meekah Embrey

Year 7

Year 9 students celebrate 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia: Humble beginnings

Catholic Education has contributed greatly to Australia over the last 200 years, developing a sense of justice and Catholic values in students and families.

Where did Catholic Education start in Australia? 

Catholic Education began from humble beginnings, with 31 students enrolled at Parramatta Marist High School, the first co-educational Catholic school to be founded by Fr John Therry in 1820. Over the next 13 years, nine more Catholic schools were founded in Australia and Catholic Education grew exponentially. 

Congregations such as Sisters of Mercy, Christian Brothers and Sisters of Charity arrived in Australia to meet the growing population and demand for Catholic Education. While the Ursulines were establishing a school in Greenwich, London they met a young Capuchin priest named Fr Elzear Torreggiani, who promised to help them if ever he had the opportunity. In 1879, he was made Bishop of Armidale, New South Wales and promptly invited the Ursulines to his diocese. Around this time, many religious congregations came to Australia at the invitation of bishops, precisely to carry out the work of Catholic Education since, by 1882, the government had withdrawn financial aid from independent schools. In the second half of the 1800s, the Good Samaritan Sisters, Presentation Sisters, Dominican Sisters, Marist Brothers, Lorreto Sisters and Brigidine Sisters arrived in Australia.  

Catholic schools continue to be the largest non-government provider of education in Australia, with one in five Australian students attending Catholic schools. Today, there are 1,755 Catholic schools in Australia and each school aims to empower students to live out their Catholic faith and contribute to the betterment of society. 

This year marks 200 years of Catholic Education and we celebrate the dedication of passionate priests and religious and lay people, who have worked tirelessly to educate students and nurture faith. These efforts rely heavily on the support of staff, families and students.

Stephanie Da Silva and Lara Xenos

Year 9

Year 10 student attends U17’s Junior Matildas Camp

I was recently selected for the first U17’s Junior Matildas Training Camp held in Sydney’s Valentine Sports Park.

Prior to this selection, I was chosen for a trial elite match in November, where I played my first 90-minute game in the iconic green jersey. Especially during COVID-19, it was a very overwhelming process, but to come into a professional environment was amazing!

Following this, I went through another trial match in February and, in a matter of a few days, I received a very exciting email that I was selected in a squad of 26 girls around Australia to attend the first camp from 15 to 19 March.

A memorable experience

Attending camp was surreal and being there with a fantastic team of coaches, physios, staff, and a group of players all passionate about football was challenging and engaging. The training and theory sessions offered me great opportunities to present my knowledge and, in doing so, gain more insight into the game. I look forward to hopefully doing it again soon and potentially representing my country in the September 2021 qualifiers in Cessnock and the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup!

Alexia Apostolakis

Year 10

Two students take top spots at Japanese Karate Federation National Tournament

Year 8 students Sabrina Vetrisano and Keira Abouhaidar competed at the Japanese Karate Federation National Tournament in Wollongong.

It was a very successful day for both the girls, with Sabrina winning the National Title and Keira placing 2nd.

Both students qualified for Internationals and will compete in Japan next year for the International Tournament.

Congratulations, Sabrina and Keira!

Jaclyn Mott

Sports Plus Coordinator 

Article recommendation: How parents can talk to teens about vaping

Vaping is becoming increasingly popular with young people.

Paul Dillon has recently written a blog for parents titled What should parents say when their teen says “But it’s not smoking” when they find out they’re vaping?

The article equips parents with information on how to discuss vaping with their children and how to minimise the potential risks in the future.

Read the blog post here.

Who is Paul Dillon?

Paul Dillon has been working in the area of drug education for more than 25 years. Through his own business, Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA) he has been contracted by many agencies and organisations across the country to give regular updates on current drug trends within the community. He continues to work with many school communities across the country to ensure that they have access to good quality information and best practice drug education.

Laura Gant

Assistant Principal