Religious Education news

Gospel – The Most Holy Trinity (John 16:12-15)

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I still have many things to say to you,

but they would be too much for you now.

But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to complete truth,

since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he learnt.

and he will tell you of the things to come.

He will glorify me since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine.

Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said:

All he tells you will be taken what is mine.’

On Sunday we celebrated the giving of the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to the disciples. At our baptism we received this same gift and were sealed with the Holy Spirit at our confirmation. Everything that we have is a gift from God. However, we are often too quick to forget that these gifts have been given to us for a purpose – our participation in the mission of Christ in proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Each of us must reflect on the gifts we have been given: do I recognise them as a gift from God? Am I prepared to give them back to God to follow his mission? What is holding me back? What is one thing I can do this year that I am not already doing for the sake of God and his kingdom?

Pentecost

Pentecost is referred to the birthday of the Church. This is when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples, just as he had promised. The Holy Spirit brought the gifts of joy, love, patience, kindness, understanding, reverence, and courage. As a result, they were transformed, and they were empowered to go out and preach the message of Jesus. These gifts help us, too, to follow Jesus’ way, the right way. We are filled with God’s goodness. The Year 3 students and teachers led the Del Monte community in a liturgy to celebrate this special event.

Rosary Club

In the month of May, a month dedicated to Mary, Mr Del has once again begun Rosary Club. Rosary Club is open to all students and takes place on each day during 1st break at 11.00am.

During this time, students gather in the library and pray a decade of the Rosary. Students can bring their own Rosary Beads if they have a set.

Tina Nicotina
Co Acting Assistant Head of Primary P-4, Religious Education Coordinator P-6 and Year 3 Primary teacher.

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The students on the Del Monte campus shared some books from the library and worked with buddy classes to create a display incorporating our Dominican Pillars. The pillar of community is emphasised by our Catholic traditions and those of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians.

The pillar of service comes to life through community engagement and working together. The pillar of study revolves around Veritas, a Dominican motto meaning truth. The pillar of prayer is woven throughout all dimensions of school life, including gatherings like our National Reconciliation liturgy.

Tina Nicotina
Co Acting Assistant Head of Primary P-4, Religious Education Coordinator P-6 and Year 3 Primary Teacher

Introducing OpenBook – a new initiative fostering a love of reading in Year 8

Learning in the Library

We are very excited to invite Year 8 families to take part in our inaugural OpenBook reading initiative.  OpenBook – What will we discover?… is a buddy reading program for Year 8 families to promote reading and conversation.  Interested families are invited to sign up and choose a book from a robust selection centred around three key themes:

1. Stories of finding courage
2. Stories of growing up and finding your identity
3. Stories of hope, resilience and joy

To enjoy during the Winter Term holiday break, your book (two copies) will be sent home in a complimentary book bag, with discussion points to promote conversation and observation.  It’s a chance to have a shared experience with your child; one that encourages connections and a great sense of belonging. Think of it as a family book club.

We have a selection of novels for all types of readers: avid, reluctant, discerning.   Remember, that sometimes it only takes twenty minutes a day of reading to see a difference in the way your child engages with the world. What a better way for them to experience that than with you part of that journey.

When Term 3 resumes, students will be asked to return the novels and discussion cards, however, the bookbag remains with you as a small gift.

Please watch out for the letter and Google form that will be sent out next week for those interested to sign up.

Please feel free to contact us here in the library if you have questions.  

We hope you enjoy reading and discussing these great books.

Susan Lombardo (Head of Library (5-12)) and the SSC Library team

s.lombardo@ssc.nsw.edu.au or library@ssc.nsw.edu.au

College Principal

The focus this week for our country is on National Reconciliation Week. This is a time for all Australians to learn more about our shared histories, cultures and achievements and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. Reconciliation Week occurs at this time every year as we commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey, firstly, the 1967 referendum which took part on 27 May 1967 and saw more than 90% of Australians vote to give the Australian Government power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and recognise them in the Census, and, secondly 3 June is significant as it was on this day that the Australian High Court delivered the Mabo decision, the culmination of Eddie Kioki Mabo’s challenge to the legal fiction of ‘terra nullius’ – land belonging to no one, and leading to the legal recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of lands. This decision paved the way for Native Title. 

We celebrate National Reconciliation Week in our school and recognise that Reconciliation must live in the hearts and minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This year’s theme, ‘Be A Voice for Generations’, encourages all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways in our everyday lives – and for the benefit of future generations to act for a just equitable and reconciled country for all. In our Dominican way, we seek to understand first through listening to another’s position that may be different from our own and respond with respect. Not to pretend there are no differences, but to build unity. 

Last week we were delighted to welcome the Golden Boys and Girls to the College for Mass and lunch.  These ex-students form part of an exclusive club, they must be past pupils for 50 years or more so last week the Class of ’73 were welcomed into the fold. The deep love they hold for their school and for the friends that they made here so long ago is testament to the strong community bonds formed at Santa Sabina College. Some of their school stories were hair raising and I assured them that our girls would never do such outrageous things to their teachers today! 

We held our inaugural Health and Harmony Mother Daughter weekend retreat at Tallong last weekend and it was a really beautiful event. Loving connections were strengthened between mother and child and it was a really relaxing weekend with planned mindfulness activities, yoga, bushwalking, a beautiful liturgy and a rejuvenating time in the great outdoors. As always, the meals were delicious and our Chef Geoffrey created food for the soul as we sat about the fireplace sharing meals and sharing stories. Madonna King’s sessions for mums and daughters on themes of friendship, confidence, communicating needs and feelings were very engaging and she drew upon her research with thousands of adolescents across Australia to highlight important issues for consideration. My heartfelt thanks to Elise Whiley, our Dean of Pastoral Care and Year 7 Coordinator, for bringing this vision to life. 

Massive congratulations also to our Peter Pan cast and crew. It was such an enjoyable production and I enjoyed seeing our young performers really developing in their confidence as they entertained us for the four sold-out performances. Much thanks to Mrs Ellis-Windsor and Mr Freeman who gave up their Sunday mornings to prepare the students so well. This week we also had the Representative Dance Showcase which showcased the talents and high energy of our brilliant dancers from all year levels.  

Our primary students participated in the National Simultaneous Storytime initiative last week which saw all Senior Staff reading The Speedy Sloth to students in our early years Primary classes. We also had our Year 3 and 4 students excited to visit the Sydney Writers Festival and they were able to participate in a wide variety of workshops with authors. 

Congratulations to our students from Years 2-6 who competed at the Sydney Catholic Schools Cross Country Championships and to those who have progressed to the Mackillop Cross Country Championships. This week we wish our Primary students well as they compete in the Del Monte/Gioia House Athletics Carnival here at school.   

It’s difficult to believe that we are halfway through the school year already. In all the busyness of our lives, I hope that you and your children are taking time out to relax and find peace. 

Go gently

Paulina Skerman
College Principal

Term 2 Sports Update

This year, I have been enjoying the opportunity to come back to a passion of mine: 11-a-side soccer coaching. It has been great to coach the Year 7 soccer team, playing the IGSA Competition (SAN04) during the week as well as managing them during their matches on the weekend. It has been a real joy to watch the skills acquisition and development as well as the team spirit and cohesiveness shown in each game.

Basketball and Hockey are also in full swing with our six senior Basketball teams playing in the IGSA Championship Competition and three senior Hockey teams playing in the Invitational Competition this term. I commend each team for their results so far this season!

Our IPSHA Hockey teams are also doing a fantastic job so far! Many of the girls playing this term have never played before and it has been fantastic to watch their skills and game play grow and develop over the course of this term.

At Santa, we aim to develop coaching pathways in all sports to take our students through similar structure and coaching standards across Junior and Senior School. Ensuring maximum engagement in the early years leading to a high level of participation across all stages up until Year 12. This way we believe to be working towards the students’ development in Sport, inspiring them to leave a healthier lifestyle.

Reminder: No games will be played in Week 7 (Saturday 10 June) due to the King’s Long Weekend.

Luiz Ramalho
Director of Sport and Co-curricular Activities

Athletics Carnival – a day to remember

The Years 7-12 Athletics Carnival on Friday 12 May was a remarkable success. Counting on the outstanding organisation from the Sports Department and the whole school staff help we were able to facilitate the best of the days to our students.

The day started with the Pre-Carnival events (1500m races, Javelin Throw and High Jump), running through rotations of all track and field competitive and participation events, finishing with a great demonstration of House spirit when the students showcased their cheering and chanting leading up to three very exciting House relay races.

I would like to thank the Sports Department for their dedication and competence while running such a big event: Ms Rachael Simmons for being the brains of the operation organising a very successful program with the help of Ms Danielle Larkin who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that all the preparations were done in time and that all the plans would be thoroughly followed. Miss Cate Crampton and Ms Joanne Gocher for showcasing their talent and expertise while seamlessly running the events they were in charge throughout the day but still managing to be a great help to the success of the whole Carnival.

I would like to congratulate all the Carnival Overall awards recipients as follows:

• Junior Athletics Champion: Sophie Hickey
• Intermediate Athletics Champion: Lily Stewart
• Senior Athletics Champion: Emma Wheadon
• Overall College Athletics Champion: Lily Stewart
• Open 100m Championship: Lily Stewart
• Overall House Points: Mundaworra
• House Spirit Award: Kurrawa

Luiz Ramalho
Director of Sport and Co-curricular Activities

Representative Sports update

CGSSSA Football

After running trials on 27 April and a training session on 4 May we have taken 29 of our best footballers (12 Juniors in Years 7-9 and 17 Seniors in Years 10-12) to the Catholic Girls Secondary Schools Sports Association (CGSSSA) Football Tournament at Blackman Park.

The Tournament ran from 8.30am until 2.30pm. After three rounds of great Football where Santa Sabina College played against Monte St Angelo and St Scholastica’s teams, we watched, at the end of the day, the ‘Possible versus Probables’ open team match as the tournament was used to select the CGSSSA team to play the Combined Catholic Colleges Tournament on 23 May.

I was particularly impressed with the pride the girls displayed while representing Santa Sabina College and their tenacity and resilience during the matches.

I would like to thank the coaches Mr Michael Zammit and Mr Prestifillipo for taking the teams and ensuring that the students would shine in their endeavours to make it to the next level at the same time that a tactical structure would be offered so our teams were able to keep up with the competition until the end of the tournament. I would like to congratulate the following students for their achievements on the day:

• Cecilia Cicco for making into the ‘possibles versus probables’ match at the end.
• Alexia Mavraidis for being selected as a ‘shadow player’ being able to train with the squad who took part in the CCC Tournament.
• Claudia Pickett, for being selected to the CGSSSA Football team, playing the CCC tournament on 23 May, only being defeated in the Grand Final by Maitland Newcastle.

I also would like to thank the support of all the Football families at Santa. You are a driving force towards the students’ success, well done!!!

Luiz Ramalho
Director of Sport and Co-curricular Activities

NSWCCC Hockey

Fifteen students represented the College at the NSWCCC Hockey Championships in Bathurst over two days in Week 4. The girls braved the cold weather and played tough competition from around NSW and represented Santa with pride over the two days! A huge thank you to Ms Jenkins for coaching the team during the tournament. Congratulations to the follow students for attending the NSWCCC Hockey Championships:

• Drew Babbage
• Caitlin Brennan
• Elizabeth Buckley (Game 2 Captain)
• Vanessa Cassimatis
• Hannah Gaul
• Lucy Gee (Game 3 Co-captain)
• Tamara Haddad (Game 3 Co-captain)
• Isabelle Law
• Emmagen Matheson
• Emmaline Middleton (Game 1 Captain)
• Abigail Middleton
• Sofia Moyano
• Olivia Stewart
• Eleanor Yates

Cate Crampton

CGSSSA Cross Country

On Friday, 19 May, Santa Sabina College sent 18 of our finest long distance runners to the CGSSSA Cross Country Carnival at Bicentennial Park, Homebush.It was lovely to see how our students were running with passion putting their hearts out at every race.

The day started with the 18 Years old race, where our very own Emma Wheadon placed herself in a very comfortable lead from the beginning to the end, when she completed the 6km circuit.

The races kept on running throughout the age groups from 17 years of age until the last one, when the 12 years old students had the opportunity to showcase their ability to run and strategise along the course.

The College Cross Country team gave a great demonstration of competitiveness in all races. Good running technique and race plans were evident throughout the day. I would like to Congratulate all the runners attending the event, specially the ones achieving the next level (CCC Cross Country Carnival, representing CGSSSA) as follows:

• Scarlett Chidiac (Year 7)
• Una Quinn (Year 7)
• Annika Ingerwersen (Year 11)
• Emma Wheadon (Year 12)

I also would like to thank Ms Rachael Simmons for organising registrations and the liaisons with CGSSSA facilitating our students participation in the events.

Luiz Ramalho
Director of Sport and Co-curricular Activities

NSW Regional OzTag

On Wednesday 23 May, Santa Sabina College sent a Senior Oztag team to the NSW Oztag Secondary Schools Regional Qualifiers Tournament at Gannon’s Park, Peakhurst. With three wins and a loss, the team finished second in their pool and fifth place overall in the senior division. This meant they played fourth-placed Beverly Hills High School, who narrowly defeated the team in the first round. Unfortunately, with fatigue and a few tough calls from the referee, the team went down 4-0.

I cannot commend the team enough on their competitiveness and enthusiasm throughout the day, as well as their sportsmanship and willingness to learn from each game. The team was also a player down due to a late withdrawal, which meant that they did not get as much time to recover as we had anticipated. Congratulations to the following girls who attend the tournament:

• Valantia Antonakopoulos
• Zara Barakat
• Erin Barnes
• Erin Burnicle
• Raquel Calandra
• Abbie Crakanthorp
• Sienna Maroun
• Sophia Nassif            
• Maree Sialepis
• Lily Stewart
• Nicola Toomey

Matt Feltrin

Conference 2 Primary Cross Country

On Wednesday 24 May, 19 students from Years 2-6 competed at the Sydney Catholic Schools Cross Country Championships held at Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek. All students ran very well and represented the College with pride.

Congratulations to the following students who have progressed to the Mackillop Cross Country Championships to be held on 13 June at Sydney International Equestrian Centre.

12 Years Girls

Isla The – 2nd

Emma Elphick – 4th

11 Years Girls

Freya Ingwersen – 1st Place

Abigail Schutt – 4th Place

Ryan Dunlop

NSWCCC and MacKillop team selections

Congratulations to a number of Primary and Secondary students who have been selected for further representative honours.

NSWCCC Volleyball Team – Danielle Bettridge

                                              Isabella Simurina

                                              Jennifer Yang

MacKillop Football Team – Ava Sinnott

MacKillop Tennis Team – Ashley Duigenan – 3rd place

MacKillop Rugby League Team – Faith Ata

MacKillop Swimming Team – Genevieve Lloyd Jones

• Romee Lee
• Alessandra Ronsisvalle
• Elizabeth Collins

ERNA Netball

Round 5 saw the arrival of our new match balls which produced some smiling faces and flashy shooting from all teams.

Round 5 also saw the absence of several players after the Year 5 camp and those who attended the wellness weekend at Tallong, but all was not lost, as several Santa sisters came to the aid of their teammates. So a massive thank you to the following players who allowed all the SSC teams to take the court this weekend. 

Emily Ng SSC23 (Y5) who assisted SSC14 (Y7)
Mila Amore SSC23 (Y5) who assisted SSC19 (Y6)
Sofia Mirarchi SSC21 (Y5) who assisted SSC18 (Y6)
Sienna Rowda SSC21 (Y5) who also assisted SSC18 (Y6)
Katarina Brodowski SSC 20 (Y5) who assisted SSC15 (Y7)
Annabel Mason SSC19 (Y6) who also assisted SSC15 (Y7)
Eva Villarroel SSC8 (Y9) who assisted both SSC07 and SSC06 (Y11)

And thank you to all of our wonderful coaches who were also very accommodating.

The College also has five students participating in the Umpiring Development Program (UDP) this year so a special mention to: Aria D’Amico, Sienna Di Santo, Arianna Harris, Isabella Kelly and Charlotte Salameh who are halfway through the program and to the mentors who are supporting their progress.

Congratulations to Gianna Leonard who recently received her ERNA Encouragement Award for umpiring and will now be working towards her National C badge.

Reminder: There are no games on 10 June but Santa Sabina are scheduled to do canteen and table duty on 17 June, round 7. 

Thank you to those who are volunteering their time on the day to assist with these duties.

Joanne Gocher

SVL Volleyball

SVL is the state Volleyball league in which some of the top players and teams in the country play each week against each other. Santa Sabina has long been an invested party in participating in this competition as it allows a great opportunity for all the athletes to develop and work on the skills they have practised in training. With the competition well under way, some really solid performances have been seen from a lot of the teams, showing some really promising signs leading into the schools first NSW Schools cup event.

Lewis Jupp

Co-curricular news and updates

On Friday 26 May, Ms Christelle Bassil, our Co-curricular Arabic teacher has kindly organised for Mr Elie Akoury to come and visit our students. Elie is the Director of the Cedars of Folkloric Group, with more than 46 years of experience in Lebanese Folkloric Dabke (a popular Arabic style of Dance). A cultural immersion was provided to our students as Ellie taught them the basic Dabke steps. It was a remarkable experience as the students were able to make good use of the Arabic Language taught this term at the same time they were having fun dancing.

Please note that the Arabic lessons registration link for Term 3 is still open as well as the programs listed below:

Co-curricular Activities – closing Friday 23 June

• Fit Club (Years 5-12)
• Run Club (Years 5-12)
• Senior Boxing (Years 10-12)
• Arabic Lessons (Years 4-12)
• Dance Development Program (Years 7-10)

Forces and motion

On Thursday 25 May students from the Year 11 & 12 HSC Physics classes and the Year 12 IB Physics class visited Luna Park as part of their investigation into forces and motion. Students had the opportunity to apply their conceptual understanding to amusement park rides. Through a well tailored program, students analysed the motion and forces that act on a person and performed a range of calculations to investigate the operation of several of the rides. Many students stretched beyond their comfort zones on some of the rides but overall everyone enjoyed the experience. 

Student reflections:

Going to Luna Park was a valuable experience for us as a class as we were able to connect the theoretical knowledge we developed in class to some real-world examples and experiences that will allow us to better understand Physics concepts.

Olivia Sukar
Year 12 IB Physics

Going to Luna Park was an invaluable experience we will not forget. It was amazing to be able to apply our knowledge to real life amusement park rides, and with some difficulty, analyse their motion. It was great to see concepts we’d learnt about, and we felt for ourselves the forces of centripetal motion, inertia and more, whilst enjoying all the crazy new rides. It was a super fun day!!

Elena Di Mento & Elena Zengovski
Year 12 HSC Physics

Going to Luna Park was a great experience. It was a fun way to see what we have been learning in class in action and to explore real life applications of forces. I also really enjoyed getting to have fun with my fellow classmates and teachers throughout the day.

Genevieve Bitar
Year 11 HSC Physics

Alex Conolly
Assistant Head of Science

In School Co-curricular activities

On the Del Monte Campus we offer in school co-curricular programs to provide our students with extra opportunities to develop their sporting, creative and cultural interests.

Science Club

The Del Monte Science Club met last week to conduct some very interesting science experiments. These young scientists are developing scientific thinking skills. Ms Camilleri and Mrs Nicotina hope to promote their curiosity through fun and experiments ask questions and investigate the natural world around them. They have an exciting term ahead, full of wonder and discovery! Try this first experiment at home.

Basketball Club

In Term 2 the Year 3 and Year 4 students participate in basketball skills training activities, run by Mr Wang every Monday at lunchtime. These sessions provide the students with the opportunity to develop skills in basketball as well as improving their movement skills.  Students will learn to interact and operate in a basketball team, understanding strategy and fostering team spirit.

Tina Nicotina
Co Acting Assistant Head of Primary P-4, Religious Education Coordinator P-6 and Year 3 Primary Teacher

Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care

Be a Voice for the Generations

The occasion and theme for National Reconciliation Week has played out in numerous ways in Veritas Voice this week. This is not a case of repetition but an indication of how this week of solidarity and action has been a focus across our entire College over the past week. In our Catholic Dominican community engagement with Reconciliation is an issue of faith in practice.

The Bible is full of references to reconciliation. In Acts of the Apostles Chapter 3 it states ‘Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord’. The Bible acknowledges that in our world there is a sense of things that need to be reconciled and corrected. Reconciliation is about justice, it is about acknowledging the errors of the past and it is about working together towards a more unified Australia.

In order for that ultimate reconciliation to come about we need to understand that it requires that we are open-minded and selfless. This is the case in fact for any act of true and meaningful justice. Reconciliation cannot be one-sided. And it can’t just be seen as something that you have to do. It’s got to be something that we want to do because we know the ultimate reward that’s going to come in the end. It requires faith that reconciliation is not just going to be good for us individually, but good for the whole. True reconciliation is informed and genuine.

To this end, our Years 5-12 Reconciliation Assembly this week engaged in a creative, intelligent and uplifting manner with these components of Reconciliation and with the Voice To Parliament in particular. In our prayer and reflection we noted that the Catholic Social Teaching principle of subsidiarity holds that all people have a right to participate in decisions made about their lives and that decisions should be made by those closest to, and most affected by, the outcome. This understanding allows us as a Catholic community to understand why Catholics around Australia are in support of the Voice to Parliament being enshrined in our constitution. 

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference issues a statement arguing that First Nations Peoples have lived in Australia for many thousands of years but their custodianship of the land isn’t mentioned in the Constitution and this is ‘an omission which needs to be rectified’. They state that A Voice to Parliament isn’t the only way to achieve that outcome, but it ‘is the way requested by those who gathered at the historic meeting at Uluru’. ‘This could be a significant step towards a more just and equitable Australia,’ the statement says. The bishops call for a meaningful debate on the issue, acknowledging that ‘people may, in good faith, have differing concerns and perspectives…We are an open democracy, and this is a moment to use our democratic institutions to produce a high-quality debate shaped by a genuine concern to do justice and bring healing to First Nations Peoples,’ they wrote.

As you listen to your children talk about what they are hearing and learning about in terms of Indigenous Reconciliation and the Voice to Parliament this week, it is important to note that we are not taking a stance in these areas because we are partisan but because we are Christian. 

Melanie van der Meer
Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care

Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning

At assembly this week, the Year 12 Legal Studies students prepared an entertaining and informative presentation for the students on the Voice to Parliament. They explained referendums, the constitution and the changes suggested. They also examined the importance of being informed about what is happening in the world around them, highlighting that we should not use the excuse that there is not enough information. While most of these students are not old enough to vote, they are at a point in their life when they can be engaged in discussion on contemporary issues.

On my way to the Siena Centre for the last College discovery Tour, I followed a Gioia House student guiding new parents to the venue. As she pointed to the College banners of the Dominican Pillars and Santa Sabina’s motto she confidently articulated Veritas’ translation and with examples, how she lived this each day. It reminded me how lucky I am to teach at Santa Sabina with engaged, articulate students with a voice. 

Part two of the reconciliation assembly included a superb performance of a student’s work. Isabella Peterson, a Year 11 IB Diploma student, composed a song, Free to Dream with orchestration by Alex Palmer. This will be part of the Gala Concert in a few weeks. She was inspired by the words of Zelder Quakawoot, an indigenous poet, from her piece ‘Right to be Heard’. The lyrics were not only pertinent for Reconciliation Week, but how we educate our students. I was truly moved by Isabella’s musical and compositional talent. 

Year 10 students have now completed their Careers Avenue interviews and will now choose the subjects for their Senior Studies. We have conducted Information Sessions for the HSC and the IB Diploma courses both online and for the Year 10 students this week. Next week we will have an expo for students to meet with the Heads of each Department as they showcase the subjects on offer for 2023. We look forward to working with the students and the parents as they plan their patterns of study. 

On Saturday, Santa Sabina welcomed Gifted NSW Incorporated and the Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales, as they hosted their biennial Gifted Awareness Forum for Educators (GAFE). This was attended by our Dean of Gifted Education 5-12 Matthew Mountford and Coordinator of Gifted Education P-4 Caddie Ruster. Caddie presented, amongst other international and local experts in the field, on the work she is doing with our students in Del Monte using SOLO Taxonomy. 

Jacqueline Pugh
Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning

Deputy Principal Operations

With student reports due later this month, I would like to remind families that historical reports that were available on Veritas Online are now available on Parent Lounge. To find the reports, log on to Parent Lounge and they can be accessed from the Academic Reports menu on the left-hand side of the page.

Students from Year 1 to Year 12 have been practising feverishly throughout the semester in preparation for the Music Gala concert at Sydney Town Hall on the 19 June. The 2022 concert was one of the highlights of the school year and Mr Chung and the music team assure me that this year will be no different.  Students participating on the night have been sent permission forms via Parent Lounge with details of the night and transportation for the rehearsals at Town Hall. 

I would like to remind families that the designated kiss and ride zones on Carrington and Jersey Road are for pick up and drop off only. The College regularly receive reports of cars parking in this area from staff and members of the community.  I am regularly liaising with both the Burwood police and Strathfield and Burwood councils to assist in ensuring that the zones are safe. I urge all families to make a plan for pick up and drop off to ensure that the Kiss and Ride zones run as smoothly as possible.

John Gilmore
Deputy Principal Operations

Head of Gioia House

Gioia House update

Congratulations to our remarkable Year 5 students for their outstanding display of a growth mindset during the outdoor activities at Tallong last week. Their enthusiasm, courage, resilience, and kindness toward one another were truly commendable. We are immensely proud of their achievements and the positive attitudes they exhibited throughout the experience.

I would also like to express my utmost appreciation to our talented dancers for their captivating performances during the extraordinary show on Tuesday night. Their dedication, dazzling costumes, and infectious energy held us spellbound, leaving a memorable impression. We extend our gratitude to Miss Williams, the coaches and, of course, the dancers themselves for their commitment and incredible talents.

Thank you to all our talented musicians for their commitment to rehearsals. Their dedication and hard work are truly commendable. We are eagerly looking forward to witnessing their exceptional performances at the upcoming Gala Concert in Town Hall.

To our student-athletes, well done on your dedication and sportsmanship. Your commitment to your chosen sport is a testament to your character and resilience. We wish you all the very best for the upcoming games.

Meeting students at their starting point

At Gioia House, our commitment to meeting the diverse needs of all students is at the forefront of our teaching and learning approach. We strive to provide engaging and targeted experiences that support the development of every student. To address the needs of those requiring additional support, we have implemented two intervention programs focused on building foundational skills in Literacy and Numeracy.

Our Literacy targeted intervention program is designed to assist students in applying phonemic awareness and comprehension strategies. We have integrated the highly regarded Macquarie University MacqLit Program, which is supported by a range of other resources grounded in current educational research. By implementing this program, we aim to empower students to become confident and proficient readers and communicators.

The primary aim of the Numeracy program is to enhance students’ understanding of number concepts while fostering their confidence in Mathematics.

In addition to our targeted intervention programs, we believe in providing an inclusive and enriching learning environment for all students. Our in-class enrichment program serves to extend the knowledge and skills of every student, regardless of their starting point. By employing differentiation strategies, our teachers ensure that every student is challenged and supported to reach their potential. This approach benefits students across the learning continuum, including highly able and gifted students, who are provided with opportunities for further growth and development.

We are committed to continuous improvement and consistently seek ways to modify and refine our classroom environment and teaching strategies to meet the evolving needs of our students. The Gioia House teachers continue to engage in various professional learning and this term all teachers participated in the Words Their Way Spelling program to ensure an effective implementation of the program across all grades. The teachers are also involved in a range of action research projects, collaborating with staff across the College to drive improvement in key areas. The projects focus on student wellbeing and resilience, improvement in students’ reading comprehension and reading stamina and differentiation in Mathematics. We are committed to professional learning and action research to stay up to date with the latest teaching practices and to ensure that we are providing our students with the best possible education.

Parent-Student-Teacher Meetings: 14-15 June

The interviews will be online via MSTeams between 3:45pm – 7:45pm on both days. The interview time with your daughter’s CORE teacher is 13 minutes. The conversation will focus on areas of strength and those needing further development. Next week you will receive a separate letter with a link and instructions on how to book your interview time. We look forward to meeting with you at our parent-students-teacher interviews on either 14 or 15 June to discuss your daughters’ progress so far this year.

Semester 1 Reports

The academic reports will be available to parents in Week 9 this semester. A huge amount of time goes into preparing and marking assessment tasks and writing each student report. I thank each teacher for the considerable out of hours time put into these reports. Our commitment to your child’s learning goes beyond the academic reports. Our teachers will continue to reach out to you directly if there are any concerns or updates regarding your child’s progress in the classroom.

As we reflect upon the recent celebration of Pentecost and look forward to embracing the significance of Reconciliation Week, we are being reminded of the power of the Holy Spirit to heal and reconcile. Our students celebrated Pentecost with a Liturgy and learnt about Reconciliation at the College Assembly. We continue to focus on creating an environment where forgiveness, compassion and unity flourish. May this week be a time of deep reflection, prayer, and action as we wholeheartedly embrace the spirit of reconciliation. Let us allow the transformative power of the Holy Spirit to heal and unite us, creating a more harmonious and compassionate world.

We have fun while learning

CALENDAR DATES

• 1 June  – K-6 Athletics Carnival
• 14-15 June – Parent-Teacher-Student Online Interviews
• 19 June – Gala Concert
• 25 August STEM Gala Day
• 13-15 September – Year 6 Outdoor Education Experience at Tallong

Stella Azizian
Head of Gioia House

Head of Primary P-4

Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold rather a large amount of gratitude.

Winne the Pooh, A.A. Milne

Through our new Friendology program, the students are exploring the importance of building and maintaining relationships. One of the concepts that we are exploring is gratitude.

Just as forgiveness is an essential quality for relationships, so too is gratitude. Throughout the curriculum, the children are given opportunities to focus on gratitude. Gratitude is a form of affirmation that acknowledges the gift of others. Gratitude also acknowledges that there is a choice in how we relate to the world, and to each other. 

Experiencing gratitude, and a deep sense of appreciation is one of the best ways to boost wellbeing. Attached here is a link to boosting wellbeing a paper from Harvard Medical School. Helping children learn to express and share their gratitude for their friends helps them to feel good while strengthening their friendships too.

Human beings are relational. With the children, we focus on expressing gratitude to others and God. For what are we grateful? And to whom are we grateful? How do we express gratitude? Teachers spend time with the children looking at ways they can communicate gratitude and invite them to do so in the classroom, school playground, and at home. Also, spend some time reflecting on experiences where they expressed gratitude and where they were shown gratitude. 

How do we express gratitude to God? Give children experiences of prayers and liturgies of thanksgiving, e.g. a Psalm of thanksgiving. 

As with forgiveness, gratitude is learned by experience. Our staff model gratitude in their relationships with the children. They model to the children the many times when we can say ‘thank you’, and express gratitude for a person’s actions or words or something that happens. 

Gratitude is also explicitly taught to the children. One unit, in particular, is the Year 1 Religious Education Unit ‘love one Another’. In this unit, the children focus on the concept of relationships. It begins with the children’s experience of friendship and broadens to the Christian way of relating to others. The children explore gratitude in relationships in Gospel stories. One of these stories is the Gospel story of the 10 lepers.  

…one of them turned back praising God at the top of their voice and threw themselves at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. 

Luke 17: 11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the villages, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood some way off and called to him, ‘Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.’ When he saw them he said, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ Now as they were going away they were cleansed. 

Finding himself cured, one of them turned back praising God at the top of his voice and threw himself at the feet of Jesus, and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan. This made Jesus say, ‘Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.’ And he said to the man, ‘Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.‘

In the classrooms, the children explore ways to express gratitude to others and to God. This last week we have had many things to be grateful for on campus. Here are some of the things that our children were grateful for:

I am grateful for my friends because we are all kind to each other. I am grateful for my sports lessons because I love playing sports. I am grateful for my teachers because I really love learning, and my teachers show me how to write, read and draw.

Emilio Medina
K Snowy

I am grateful for my teachers because they teach me new things and I am grateful for my friends because I have someone to play with.

Elizabeth Van Hore
4 Daintree

I am grateful for my teachers because they support me in my learning to develop new skills.

Aiden Park
4 Daintree

I’m grateful for my really nice friends, I never feel lonely.

Eleanor Dann
1 Niland

I’m grateful for my teachers and our fun playground. Some students at other schools don’t have equipment like ours.

 Sabrina Commisso
1 Niland

I am grateful for having a great classroom and fun playground and really great friends.

Celine Daher
2 Lindsay

I am grateful because I have a nice classroom, I have a really great teacher and I have good friends.

Brendan Kirwan 2 Lindsay

I am grateful for the playground equipment and a really fun classroom.

Henry Li
2 Lindsay

I am grateful for my school and friends.

Augustin Medina
3 Paterson

I am grateful for the teachers as they work hard to make sure we learn and understand each day.

Scarlett Ghossein 
3 Thiele

Gratitude at home activity

Here is something that you may wish to do at home with your child/ren.

Communication

Please also take the time to look at our Grade pages to see what the children are learning in Friendnology this is updated fortnightly.  This week in Veritas Voice our Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) classes are sharing their Friendology learnings.

As mentioned in the last Veritas Voice (VV), the Grade pages also contain information about 

• Term Curriculum Overview
• Specialist timetables (when to bring Library Books and wear Sports uniforms!)
• Friendology Update: See what your child/ren is learning in our new Friendship program (this is updated fortnightly)
• Photos of your child’s class events
• Homework Information
• Music Ensembles Infomation
• Campus dates

Upcoming dates

Please note that all of the dates below and the dates for the rest of the 2023 Academic Year are available on the Parent calendar. For ease of reference, there is a parent calendar link on our Primary Veritas Online page.

For Grade updates please visit our Grade pages.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact the Del Monte Office via delmonte@ssc.nsw.edu.au.

Joanne Gianinni
Head of Primary P-4

Director of Mary Bailey House

Vacation Care

With fewer than four weeks until the end of term, I’m pleased to say that the Vacation Care program has been finalised. In preparing the program we considered what the children enjoyed most in recent vacation care programs and plan to meet these interests. STEM activities were most enjoyed so, we have arranged for the following workshops to be presented: Young Inventors, Christmas Science Fun, Master Slime and Brick Works. Physical games and activities were also popular, so we organised Exergames, Laser Tag and African Drumming to visit along with another excursion to Strathfield Park.

Vacation Care is a busy and engaging OOSH program. It commences at 7:00am and ends at 6:00pm and costs between $75 to $110 per day depending on the daily activity. If your family is eligible for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) the daily fee will less.

The NSW BASC Voucher program ends on 30 June 2023. If your child/ren still have a portion of their $500 BASC Voucher, it can be spent on the first week Vacation Care. BASC Voucher funds are deducted after CCS has been allocated making the Voucher funds extend even further.

If your child does not attend Before School Care or After School Care, they are most welcome to attend Vacation Care. They just need to be enrolled in OOSH before doing so. To enrol your child/ren simply email the OOSH Coordinator Jessica Azzi ooshmail@ssc.nsw.edu.au

So, if your child is looking for something to do during the school holidays book them in. They have ample opportunities to connect with other children and immerse themselves in fun.

Jackie Baxter
Director of Mary Bailey House

Director of Tallong Campus

Well it has been a big few weeks at the Tallong campus. We have coordinated outdoor education programs for SCEGGS Redlands, SCEGGS Darlinghurst, St Paul’s International School and our very own Year 5 students. To top it off the campus also played host to our very first Santa Sabina College Health and Harmony weekend for Mothers and Daughters. This weekend saw 50 mums and daughters arrive at the campus for a weekend of yoga, basket weaving, embroidery, campfires, bushwalks, tree planting and insightful sessions from the author Madonna King on how to enhance connections between mothers and daughters. Our amazing Cheffrey and the kitchen team spared no expense in serving up an incredible array of healthy and nutritious meals over the weekend. 

With little to no phone service and zero internet, this weekend proved an invaluable opportunity for our mums and daughters to slow down, connect with each other and recharge. The weekend ended with a tree planting session where some playful metaphors were used to illustrate the raising of children. We need to prepare the soil for the sapling, fertilise it, nurture it, place guards and boundaries around it to protect it from the environment. We need to water it and tend to it. We also need to prune it back on occasion and remove the weeds that can sometimes surround it. At some point the boundaries and guards need to be brought down, the stakes removed to help it stand tall. The sapling needs to be exposed to hardship, wind, rain, frost, otherwise it will not develop the grit, determination and resilience for it to thrive. So with these metaphors in mind the mums and daughters chose a site on the campus to plant their tree and held a conversation with each other about what will nourish them going forwards, and what will get in the way of them thriving. 

Thanks to the incredible team from the College – Mel, Elise, Stacey and Britany – who gave up their weekend for this camp to go ahead.

From all accounts so far the weekend was a huge success and we look forward to the next one in 2024.

Kendal Hann
Director of Outdoor Education and Tallong Campus Manager

Director of Community Relations P-12

Our annual Golden Girls and Boys reunion which we celebrated last Friday brought together over 150 ex-students from the Class of 1973 and beyond. They celebrated a liturgy together including performances from the College Choir of Dominican Hymns and the old School Song.

Following the Liturgy, ex-students moved to the Hall where they enjoyed lunch and reminiscing with classmates while visiting the Archive display. All ex-students were also given a special handwritten card from Year 7 History students welcoming them back to the College. 

After lunch, ex-students were treated to tours of the College, visiting the old dormitories which now serve as classrooms as well as previously out-of-bounds areas for students of the ’60s and ’70s. Our students were so proud to showcase the College’s new TAS kitchens as well as our Design and Technology classrooms. A highlight was when students from the Class of 1973 shared memories of watching the 1969 moon landing in the same room where students of today were learning PDHPE.

It was an honour to welcome back our ex-students and hear their stories, helping us understand and appreciate that our own story is a collective one formed in the spirit of community. It is also an opportunity to share the amazing education Santa Sabina continues to provide today’s students.

Yvette Graniero
Director of Community Relations

Director of Development

Golden Girls and Boys Reunion

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting many of our Golden Girls and Boys as they gathered for Mass and then lunch in the Hall. What struck me was their love of the College and the wonderful memories of being a Santa student many years ago had not diminished with time. The many friendships that they fostered at school still remained today which was evident in the way they interacted and their joy at seeing old friends. While the old cliché still holds true – Once a Santa student always a Santa student – it struck me that students young or old feel that Santa Sabina College holds a very special place in the lives of many, many of our community.

Bequests

Ms Skerman and I spoke to the ex-students about the possibility of giving back to the College either in the form of a donation, providing a scholarship for future students or a bequest. There may be many in our community who are not aware of The Orange Tree Society we have at the College. Therefore, I have included a brochure about the Society for you to read and understand. Named after the Orange Tree that sits proudly at the front of the school and without giving away too much, please have a read of the history behind it and a message from one of our ex-students who is a member of the society.

Please view the brochure below.

SSC Annual Golf Day

Save the date: 12 October at Strathfield Golf Club

The 2023 Santa Sabina Annual Golf Day is set down for 12 October starting with a breakfast from 6:45am and shotgun tee off at 7.30am followed by lunch. For any keen golfers, or for anyone in our community who would like to join us, this is a great Santa Sabina community day of fun where golf is not taken too seriously no matter whether you’ve never played before or you’re a pro, a link to sign up for the day will be sent to you all in the coming weeks. We are seeking from our community prizes that can be awarded at our lunch no matter how small or large, gift vouchers, experiences or providing a service, if you could assist us this would be much appreciated. Please contact me on 97450232 or g.ayoub@ssc.nsw.edu.au or Joseph Gittani on president@ssc.nsw.edu.au

Donations

Since the beginning of the year, many in our community have supported the College in either donating to the building fund through the College fees or donated via the Veritas Annual Appeal to either the Scholarship Fund or Building Fund. I am asking everyone in our community to help us in this drive to provide much-needed money to help fund College initiatives for our boys and girls. Whether you would like to assist in providing a Dominican education for a student who otherwise may not be able to afford it or provide financial assistance to the building fund for projects such as the Illumination Lab we are about to embark on that will transform the way our students learn and interact with the world around them.

If you would like to donate and assist us in our appeal, please click below to go to the donations page to complete the form.

Santa Sabina College Business Directory

We are continuing to field questions on our Business Directory that provides our community with an opportunity to advertise your business, promote your company while providing a service to our parents, friends and local supporters of Santa Sabina. I encourage you to consider this as a way to grow your business and promote the service you provide.

Please click here to complete the google form to advertise your business. Alternatively, please contact me in the Development office on 97450232 or giving@ssc.nsw.edu.au

Keep well and all the best.

George Ayoub
Director of Development

Junior Drama production

I was able to grow as an individual but most importantly we were able to grow together, as a company.

Vanessa Cassimatis

The adaptation of the original play by J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan, was an exciting and enjoyable adventure. We played in the imaginative world of the theatre, and it was such a gift that we got to share it with all of you. It was the perfect avenue to collaboratively play and learn the craft of acting and storytelling together. The students had so much fun becoming these characters and working as a theatre company to create and present this delightful play. We had a blast rehearsing and improvising and creating this production. Congratulations to all the young performers who performed with inventive creativity and supported each other to make this playful and joyful production happen. 

Thank you for coming to see the show!

Nicole Ellis-Windsor
Head of Drama and Visual Arts

Mission and Social Justice Updates

This term has been busy in the Mission and Social Justice space, with many opportunities for students to deepen their understanding and faith. I invite and encourage all students from Years 5 to 12 to join one of the many initiatives below available.

I also thank and congratulate students who have represented our college at the Solemnity of Mary Help of Christians Mass and completed the Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion training Ella Hodge, Isabel Aunedi, Carmel Mayo, Teresa Mayo, Hannah Lockington, Yasmin Hannah, Alysia Rostirolla and Lucy Gee.

Lastly, let us wish the best of luck to the students preparing for the upcoming World Youth Day pilgrimage in Portugal.

Ryan Reyes
Dean of Mission

Thursday lunchtime Mass

Students on the 5 – 12 campus are invited to spend time away from the business of the school day to attend Thursday’s Lunchtime Mass in Week B, celebrated by Fr John Hayes from St Martha’s Parish, Strathfield.

Mass will begin promptly at 12:50 pm and conclude with enough time for students to eat lunch.

Please keep an eye out for reminders on Veritas Online.

Prayer Group

Students on the 5 – 12 campus are invited to join the Prayer Group in Room 2111 at lunchtime every Thursday.

The Prayer Group aims to foster a sense of belonging and allows the members to deepen their relationship with God. The group reflects, prays and contemplates on scripture and its application to their lives.

Curious About Christ

Curious about Christ (CAC) is a group that meets every Week B Monday to discuss questions and topics within Christianity. It allows students to experience the depth of Christianity and live more like Christ.

Each session will be focused on one question or topic, and students are encouraged to bring forward topics or questions within Christianity. The group will discuss all questions and draw on sources such as our Religious Education Teachers and Dominican Sisters, who will give unique insight.

Students on the 5 – 12 campus are invited to attend!

St Vincent de Paul Winter Sleepout and Donation Reminders

The St Vincent de Paul Winter Sleepout is when participants step out of the comfort of their homes for one night and sleep outside to understand what it’s like for the more than 120,000 people experiencing homelessness around Australia.

Year 12 students are invited to sleep overnight on campus to spend the evening hearing from speakers about the issue of homelessness, packing snack packs and participating in fun activities that can create advocacy for homelessness. But we need all of your help. 

Over the coming weeks, each grade will be given a specific snack they need to bring in through Homerooms, and we will collect these in the lecture theatre over the next few weeks to use these items to pack the snack packs.

Gunagulla: Packets of sultanas or fruit cups
Kurrawa: Cans of tuna or two-minute noodles
Mundawara: Small packets of chips or single-serve biscuits (tiny teddies)
Teangi: Popper juice
Weelya: Chewy Muesli bars (nut-free) or Le Snack
Yetinga: Black garbage bags / medium zip lock bags  or cup-a-soup sachets

The house that brings the most items will get points for the house cup, so bring generously!

Vinnies Night Patrol

Your family can get behind Night Patrol –  the St Vincent de Paul’s outreach program –  by volunteering to join the team that takes the truck out, making sandwiches or donating the little extras such as chips, muesli bars or fruit.

Making sandwiches can be a family project: one mother told me it’s when she really gets to talk to her daughter. The children learn about doing something for others (and can add the hours to their service record). If you think you might be interested, please contact Ms Sulis j.sulis@ssc.nsw.edu.au or 9745 7034.

Solemnity of Our Lady Help of Christians

A group of Years 8 – 11 students, accompanied by Ms El Azzi and myself, attended Solemnity of Our Lady Help of Christians Mass along with staff and students from schools in the Sydney Archdiocese.

The feast day to Mary Help of Christians has been celebrated in Australia since 1844, but the history to this day dates back to the start of the 1800s.

The infant church in Australia had a special reason for turning to Mary. No priests were sent to the colony in its early days, and Mass was not allowed except for one brief year until 1820. It was largely the Rosary in those early days that kept the faith alive.

Catholic Australia remained faithful to Mary and was the first nation to choose her under the title Help of Christians as principal Patroness.

St Mary’s Cathedral was dedicated in her honour by the Irish pioneer priest, Fr John Therry, who arrived in Sydney in 1820 and assumed responsibility for the planning and initial construction of the Cathedral.

When Australia became the first country to have Mary Help of Christians as Patroness, it became the first country to have a mother-cathedral under the same title.

Adapted from Catholic Weekly

World Youth Day 2023

Our World Youth Day representatives began their journey towards the pilgrimage by attending the formation event ‘Journey Of Truth’ at De La Salle College, Revesby.

Student pilgrims across the Archdiocese of Sydney gathered together to sing, pray and learn about the World Youth Day host country, Portugal.

We look forward to hearing about their spirit-filled experiences during their pilgrimage from 21 July – 11 August and wish all the best to Isabel Aunedi, Erin Allan, Antonia Abounajm, Lara Millward, Sienna-Marie Maround and Rochelle Dias.

It’s raining eggs!

Year 10 students have been exploring the physics of motion in their science classes this term, and last week was their opportunity to put their learning to the test. Students constructed a range of weird and wonderful prototypes with one core goal – to minimise the damage to a vulnerable raw egg that could potentially be caused by a 4.5m drop! Assessed for creativity, originality, size and use of materials, these devices were released from the piazza balcony to determine which could best protect its precious cargo – with a range of gooey results… 

The task was to drop an egg off the Piazza level balcony, without it cracking. We were not allowed to use parachutes or anything that slowed down the drop, as the aim of the assessment was to cushion the drop. My design was a cardboard box, lined with a thin sponge at the bottom and filled with scrunched up newspaper. 

This was a really enjoyable task as it was a self-directed assignment, and there were only certain requirements that needed to be followed, making every design very unique and creative. When my class all dropped our egg protection devices, designs, some fully smashed, some slightly cracked but nearly half of Ms Sheehan’s class stayed intact.

I learnt many concepts through this assessment task relating to Physics including inertia and how it applies to car safety devices such as seatbelts and airbags. it works. To ensure that my design successfully protected the egg, I first needed to understand what inertia was and how to cushion the egg without going over the weight limits that were given in the criteria. 

My design, along with many others, was successful in a 4.5 metre drop. I wanted to challenge my design and decided to see if my egg could also still survive a drop from the top-level balcony of the Piazza. I opened up my design to see if the egg survived, and it was successful. No cracks or damage to the egg were visible, so this practical experiment was a successful way of learning about protecting an egg and applying this knowledge to car safety devices.

Zara Zanic

Our whole class went to the balcony to drop our different egg-protection devices and see if our eggs cracked. We learned whilst enjoying ourselves and observed that the devices which bounced protected the egg the most effectively.

Emily Shi

We tried to make the egg not come in contact with the outer side of the device. We made a triangular base to protect the egg. Since the bottom absorbs the most shock we had to keep it soft and strong.

Ziyan Tang and Ivy Lee

The process of making the egg-impact-absorbing-device took a lot of research and logic in its design consideration – however the results were rewarding as we had positive outcomes in the end.

Isabella Huang and Danielle Song

The egg drop was such a good way to learn in an engaging and practical way. It was a highly enjoyable experience to apply our knowledge outside of the classroom.

Tamara Jabbour

My egg drop experience was exhilarating – standing there, watching my peers on the ground, ready to showcase my amazing egg protection device was a proud moment. The success in the aftermath was rewarding for the time and effort that was put in to creating this masterpiece.

 Antonia Abounajm

We found it stressful, but it was a good experience where we learned and evaluated different ways to figure out a successful design. I learned a lot from my peers – some creative designs worked better than others.

Chloe Eiszele

Textiles Camp at Tallong 7-9 May 2023

Over the three days at Tallong, elective Textiles students from Years 9 to 11 participated in a range of different activities including macrame, embroidery, natural dyeing, resist dyeing, couching and a newpaper fashion challenge which was a highlight for all. In our cabins we were all able to meet new people in Year 10 as well as get to form closer friendships with other students in our own grade. On the first night we watched The Devil Wears Prada while embroidering our upcycled denim items of clothing, which made the evening very relaxing and enjoyable. On the last night, we got to collaborate and put our skills to use by participating in a newspaper dress challenge where we had one hour to make a Met Gala worthy dress. To complete the challenge, we had a runway walk to showcase our creations with our own choice of song. Overall, the Textiles Camp was an amazing opportunity that allowed us to enhance and grow our skills.

Vanessa Cassimatis
Year 9

HSIE Enrichment – Commerce students deep diving into Economics

On 23 May Year 10 Commerce students who have been academically identified as demonstrating an extensive understanding and potential talent for Economics were invited to attend an Economics Enrichment Study Day. The focus of the day was to challenge students to think critically and creatively about real-world Economic concepts and investigate how economics impacts our everyday lives. The activities gave students an opportunity to apply their knowledge to consider real-world problems and suggest solutions and strategies. Ms Carla James, the Director of Fiscal Policy at the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet was an inspirational guest speaker who shared how the practical application of Economics impacts all our contemporary lives. Ms Ma must be congratulated for her design of this highly successful HSIE extension learning program.

Brigida Zagora
Head of HSIE (Humanities and Social Sciences)

Student reflections

The Economics Enrichment Day was an opportunity to further build on my knowledge and understanding towards the subject of Economics. We were given the rare chance to listen to Ms Carla James, who inspired us all with her informative presentation and speech regarding her career as an Economist and the importance of economics in our lives. To end the day, we had an exciting debate with the question, “Should we offer a subsidy for electric vehicles?” by considering the fact that Australia’s government is trying to offer a subsidy for electric cars in order to improve its affordability and promote environmental sustainability. Overall, The Economics Enrichment Day was a great incursion that allowed me to further deepen my perception about the subject with the help of Ms Ma and her enthusiasm.

Danielle Lee

I found The Economics Enrichment Day to be very beneficial to solidify and increase my understanding towards Economics. During the incursion, Ms Carla James who is the Director of Fiscal Policy at the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet gave us an educational talk on what it’s like to be an Economist. This talk was interesting and we had all learned a lot. It has also allowed us to see ourselves in several possible future occupations. In conclusion, we all had further deepened our understanding of Economics and had a swell time learning about Economics.

Cary Yeung

Business Immersion – HSIE Authentic Learning

McDonalds is a contemporary example of a successful global business model and HSIE students utilise this business as a case study within their studies. On 30 May Year 12 HSC Business Studies and Year 12 IB Business Management students were invited to investigate the operational reality of one of the world’s largest fast food chains through a visit to a local McDonalds Restaurant. This Business Immersion was guided by the McDonald’s Franchise Owner, People and Culture Manager and Kitchen Manager who addressed the challenges and strategies in the areas of human resources, finance, technology adaptation and operational strategy. Students were able to observe, explore, discuss, and meaningfully apply business concepts to understand why McDonalds is the world’s largest and most recognised fast food restaurant.

Brigida Zagora
Head of HSIE (Humanities and Social Sciences)

Student reflections

Going to listen to Ben Holden and the employees at the Haberfield McDonalds was an invaluable experience for our IB Business Management class as it supplied us with up-to-date information regarding the business. The information that we gathered helped us develop a stronger understanding of how technology has been openly embraced by the McDonalds Business Model to aid them in remaining one of the most popular fast food chains worldwide. 

Olivia Maria Sukkar

The Business immersion to McDonalds in Haberfield was an immersive experience in the hospitality industry. My peers and I went through three rotations, meeting Crew Members, Store Managers, and the Society and Culture Manager. We learnt about the complex structures of employment and training strategies. In regards to the McDonalds kitchen the strategy of the ‘Just-In-Time’ approach to inventory management was surprising. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to apply my Business knowledge in a real-life setting whilst learning about McDonalds and its intricate business structures.

Frances Doyle

The Business Immersion was a unique opportunity to be able to witness the behind the scenes operations of McDonalds, from the technological ordering system to the timing processes associated with the preparation of orders. We were addressed by the leadership team including People and Culture Manager and the Franchise owner who informed us about McDonalds’ management structure. It was interesting to learn that the sales fluctuations can be caused by season, community events and the location of the store. This experience greatly assisted us in expanding our knowledge about Human Resources, Finance and the processes involved to create a successful and efficient global business. 

Sienna Signorelli and Erin Blanchard

Careers Spotlight @ SSC

Term 2 has been an extremely busy term in the Careers Program and there are still a few exciting events ahead of us.

Year 10 Careers Interviews

Year 10 recently engaged in an individualised careers interview following their career profiling in Term 1. This was an opportunity for students to learn more about their strengths and aptitudes from their profile as well as to start considering possible career paths. Students are encouraged to revisit their profile and continue to utilise the Career Avenues website and action plan as they progress through the next stages of their academic journey in deciding their senior study pathways.

National Careers Week

During Week 4, we celebrated National Careers Week. The week aims to promote the benefits of career planning and development for a successful career by raising the career aspirations of individuals and increasing their exposure to career pathways and opportunities. Students engaged in a number of activities throughout the week including daily homeroom discussions, careers quizzes and “day in the life” videos. Students heard about the career paths of some members of our community during assembly and attended lunchtime guest workshops throughout the week on a range of career paths and tertiary options in Pharmacy, Medicine, opportunities at Macquarie University and scholarship pathways. Thank you to all students who participated in these events.

Year 12 Careers update

In Week 4, I met with all of Year 12 to discuss the university application process, focusing on UAC and early entry procedures. Students have access to the presentation on Veritas Online and are encouraged to reach out and make an appointment time with me should they require further direction with this process. A summary of early entry programs and tertiary institution open days have also been shared with Year 12 via VO.

This year, all of Year 12 have the wonderful privilege to attend the Western Sydney Careers Expo on Friday June 23 (last day of Term 2). The expo will have over 100 different tertiary providers from across Australia as well as access to a range of workshops including exam preparation workshops and sessions run by providers that students can attend. This will be an invaluable experience for our students to access information directly from institutions and gather resources to assist them in their post school decisions. Further information will be communicated to families shortly and students are encouraged to have their permission notes returned as soon as possible.

Career Women’s Network Breakfast

This Friday we will host our annual Career Women’s Network Breakfast and look forward to welcoming members of our community to the College who have generously offered to be career mentors for our students. We trust that this event will be an enriching experience for both students and mentors.

Upcoming Careers events

Please refer to this link for the upcoming careers events and opportunities.

Eva Guirguis
Head of Future Pathways & Partnerships

Pentecost Liturgy 

Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. Last week, Year 6 reflected on the Pentecost story in our Liturgy.

Stella Azizian
Head of Gioia House

Year 5 Outdoor Education at Tallong

Last week students in Year 5 took their learning to the outdoors. The students travelled to Tallong Campus and participated in a range of activities from flying fox, abseiling, group challenges and mountain biking. The students also developed their navigation skills, completing an orienteering activity, as well as discovering the insects of the water, catching, and identifying a range of insects. They of course enjoyed the wonderful food and time to build new connections with their peers. The students were challenged to achieve their personal best and to reflect on this. All returned rather tired but proud of their achievements.

Student reflections:

This year’s camp was very exciting because it was my first camp and let me just say it was amazing! I loved the food and the activities. It was all so great. My favourite activity was definitely the flying fox because I felt free and I felt like I was flying. The food was amazing and my favourite was definitely the chicken drumsticks and the chocolate moose. Something I found challenging was trying to sleep but overall camp was amazing and I can’t wait to go back next year.

Rachel Michael 

At camp we had the opportunity to do stream watch, low ropes, hot chocolate making, flying fox, abseiling and mountain biking. I enjoyed spending time with my peers and the flying fox. At first I was so afraid of the flying fox and I thought I was going to fall. To overcome this I thought of all the safety equipment holding me and to trust the instructors. Camp was a new opportunity for me to make new friends and connections with new people.

Sienna Rowda

Something that I enjoyed was mountain biking because I’m confident on the bike and the trail was so much fun. Something that I found difficult was abseiling as we had to walk down at the beginning of abseiling. It was a bit nerve racking but I did it and got it over and done with. Something I found interesting was the ziplining because we all lined up to get the rope back to the beginning of the line for the next person. One thing I would do next time is probably get to finish the low ropes cause we couldn’t finish as it started raining lots. 

Tamika Nicholson

When we arrived at camp we had gotten split into groups. I had come late because I went to cross country – by the time I arrived they were having afternoon tea. We were having some watermelon and oranges. I personally don’t like oranges so I just had some watermelon. On the first day we had done some stream watching. I hadn’t found any creatures but it was still fun. Then we went on a walk on a walk through the bush and walked across this cave. It was really narrow but I still had a go at going through. It was fun and then I went a couple of times. Then we had a delicious lunch and then played games like stuck in the mud. We then had some dinner.

Ola Kochman

This was the first time I have ever been to camp. I was a bit nervous to go but it was super fun. One of my favourite activities was abseiling.I was extremely scared to do it. I got more nervous as I was heading to the front, I got tied to the rope. I didn’t know if I could do it but chose to do it because I knew I would regret it. All my friends made me feel more confident when taking my first steps. I got to the end and I absolutely loved it. It was amazing and I was so happy I chose to do it. I got to watch  all my friends go down the big rock too. I loved camp and made so many friends that I hopefully will keep.

Sophie Ash

This was the second time I went to camp. I enjoyed the new activities and the new opportunities, the campfire and the food. Some of the new activities included abseiling and streamwatch. During abseiling at first I thought I wouldn’t like it but as I got more and more people telling me that it was fun then I decided to have a go at it. I got nervous when I took the first step off, but after I did it, I loved it! Overall I loved camp and I would want to go back and do all the activities and fun things again!

Olivia Abi-Hanna

Camp was amazing! It was the best experience i’ve ever had because we got to do so many things such as abseiling, flying fox, streamwatching, mountain biking, hot chocolate, low ropes, bush walking and so much more my favourite thing about going to camp was the food, Cheffry is the best! I overcame so many of my fears such as doing the 7-metre abseiling wall. It was very hard taking those first steps back off the wall. My second thing that l had to overcome was the low rops balancing and not falling. I loved camp!

Isla Kenniff 

At camp, I enjoyed making new friends and trying activities that I have never done before like flying fox, abseiling, mountain biking, making hot chocolate and making a campfire. A challenge was abseiling. I have a fear of heights and abseiling is climbing down a cliff (with harnesses of course). I overcame it by thinking positively and trusting my instructors. By the time I reached the bottom, I felt so happy that I went down because, if I didn’t go down the cliff I would miss out on all the fun!  

Georgii Nohra

Science: Earth

In Science, 6AM learnt about the composition of our Earth. Students created the different layers of the Earth using playdough. The activity also required students to measure the width of the layers so that when they were placed all together into a ball shape and then cut in half, the layers were even. Not an easy feat to achieve but fun nonetheless. 

Ann Milicic
Year 6 Teacher

Stella Azizian
Head of Gioia House

Easter Vigil

In the time of Easter, Year 5 students have been learning the importance of the Easter Vigil. Students explored the symbols and rituals used in the Easter Vigil, which in turn helped them have a deeper understanding of hope and new life. 

European Explorer

Year 5 has been writing information reports about a European explorer. They have acquired and used research skills from their Interdisciplinary and Library lessons to help them gather information to create a comprehensive information report. They have been focussing on informative features to include in their report and have enjoyed reading one another’s texts and have been giving feedback to one another to inform their writing. 

Bryony Willams
Year 5 Teacher

Accendo

As part of our Accendo lesson in Week 5, students in Year 6 had the opportunity to share the novels they are currently reading in a jigsaw conversational setting. Students shared setting, character development, theme and how the novel’s titles related to the stories. This activity allowed students to share and engage with each other. They created images that created an Accendo story quilt.

Ann Milicic
Year 6 Teacher

Australian Flag

Year 5 has been investigating Australia’s cultural diversity. After completing some research the students were asked to redesign the Australian flag and write an explanation of their design. This allowed the students to apply their learning in a creative way.

Multiculturalism means many cultures. Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the world. I know Australia is multicultural because many people (26%) were born overseas. Also sadly 18% have experienced discrimination due to their skin colour or religion.

I chose the symbol of two hands to represent peace between humanity and to show love between two cultures.

I chose the sun to symbolise energy and positivity. I also put little people around it in different colours to represent different cultures.

I also added a bit of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s flag to remind everyone of the first people on this land. 

Amelia Brogan
Year 5

My flag was designed to represent many different cultures together. Multiculturalism means Australia holds many cultures; the top 5 being  Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Punjabi. So many different languages are spoken, over 300 plus languages and those are just the top five! 

The symbols on my flag

I chose the holding hands symbol to show that skin colour doesn’t matter.

I chose the world in a heart to show that everyone is the same in this world and to show that no one should be alone.

I chose the dove constellation of peace to let everyone know that you shouldn’t fight and to help others if they fall.

Keira Toal

Bebras

All Gioia House students participated in the BEBRAS Computational Thinking Challenge which is run in Australia by CSIRO Digital Careers.

Students had the option to work in groups of three, with a partner or alone and there were many animated discussions between students as they shared their thinking, explored ideas to solve the problems, discussed changes in strategy, compromised and challenged each other with alternate techniques to reach an answer within the timeframe. For students who chose to work alone focus was the key as they recorded ideas and considered a range of possible strategies for their solutions. No matter which choice they made, students really enjoyed the process.

Congratulations to all the students for their enthusiasm and focus on the day.

A special congratulations to: 

Kyra Gomes; Alicia Bouantoun; Zahra Triulcio; Ella McGinty; and Mikayla Sarkis in Year 6 and Gabriella Khalil; Mia Khoury; Annabelle Wong in Year 5 who received a High Distinction. 

Sophia Luo and Julie Zhu in Year 6 who received a Distinction.  

We also congratulate the 

5 students who received a Credit. 

38 students who received a Merit. 

137 students who received a Participation Certificate.

Leonie McLaren
Year 5 Teacher

National Simultaneous Reading Day

National Simultaneous Storytime is an important annual campaign that encourages young children to read and enjoy books. Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops, and many other places around Australia, New Zealand, and the world at 11 am. 

At Del Monte we conducted our Simultaneous Storytime after recess at 11:30 am. The story was read in each class from prep to Year 2 (Years 3 and 4 were at the Writers Festival) followed by the students completing activities related to the book. Some classes had a guest reader!

About the author

Rebecca Young is an award-winning author from Sydney. Her first book, Button Boy, illustrated by Sue deGennaro, was a Notable Book for the 2012 CBCA Awards and has been published internationally. In 2016, Teacup, illustrated by Matt Ottley, won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature in the NSW Premier’s Literacy Awards.

About the illustrator

Heath McKenzie is an award-winning children’s book illustrator who has written and illustrated countless books for children. Heath lives in Melbourne with his wife, two kids, a dog, and a fish that he considers more of a lodger than a family member.

Joanne Giannini
Head of Primary P-4

Year 1 Friendology

During Friendology, Year 1 is learning about strategies for making new friends, including how to introduce themselves and ask a friend to play. This semester has all been about exploring and practising their friend-making skills during the Friendology sessions.

This week, students were given a range of scenarios, which involved the skills of how to make new friends. Through these scenarios the students explored the variety of ways they could ask students to play, introduce themselves and ways to solve problems that may arise on the playground or in the classroom. The students were able to practise their Ninja-style tricks for making new friends which included ‘Super Introducer’, ‘Ask & Pass’, ‘Quick Question’ and ‘Be a Magnet’. The students all enjoyed acting out the scenarios and exploring the aspects of Drama through the role plays, during Friendology.

Kelly Garcia and Juliana Hunt
Year 1 Teachers

Year 2 Friendology

During Friendology sessions this term, our Year 2 students have been focusing on the three topics of Inner Ninja, True Colours and Making Friends

In our first session the students focused on being an Inner Ninja, where they were encouraged to recognise that in order to establish healthy friendships, they first need to learn how to treat themselves with kindness and respect, and to be their own best friend. Students were engaged in a range of learning experiences, where they made friendship wristbands, as well as put themselves in a friend’s shoes by sharing a friend’s cool or crazy experience. In this powerful session the students learned the importance of empathy and self-compassion.

Our True Colours session was based on students identifying ways they are unique and as a class they reflected on feeling: positive and negative feelings, how feelings can change and how they can feel more or less sensitive at different times and about different things. The students engaged in a creative task where they created their own word to describe a complicated emotion and practised putting a voice to their feelings. They also completed a task where they expressed how they were feeling in symbols, colours and words and practising an I-statement.

In our third session, ‘Making Friends’, the students were introduced to strategies for making new friends, focusing on how to introduce themselves and asking a friend to play. Students were then provided with an opportunity to put these skills into practice through role plays with their peers, as well as applying their learning to a range of activities during Grade Fitness. 

We are looking forward to the upcoming sessions in Friendology and continuing to support the students learning the vital skills in making and maintaining healthy friendships.

Stephanie Yiorkas, Mersini Perivolarellis, Jessica Boumelhem, Nicole Meehan
Year 2 Teachers

Intentional, explicit and scaffolded

What is it? 

The teacher uses this teaching strategy for students to learn new literacy skills and grasp key concepts. It is a powerful, and concise, segment of instruction time when the teacher demonstrates, models, and shares what the teacher is thinking.

What’s it look like? 

Explicit teaching for writing is a teacher demonstration of specific writing skills, strategies, procedures and understanding. Students observe as the teacher creates a text, listening to what the teacher is explaining and the thought processes the teacher is sharing while making decisions about the writing. 

Currently at Del Monte: 

Year 4 is focusing on informative writing texts, particularly explanations. Some components of our explicit teaching have included using a model text to scaffold the structural and language features of an explanation.    

Year 3 has been working on informative writing texts focusing on information reports about living things. Throughout some of the explicit teaching and learning experiences students have been delving into understanding the appropriate structural and language features to inform an audience. 

Years 1 and 2 are exploring the structural and language features of explanations. Students have focused on technical language, language to indicate cause and effect, present tense verbs and enhancing the complexity of their writing by implementing relevant adjectives and adverbs. Students have been focusing on using coordinating conjunctions to create texts that are organised into purposeful paragraphs with compound sentences that are informative and engaging. 

Kindergarten is introducing the concept of descriptive writing through their unit on Australian animals. Children are exploring adjectives, nouns, conjunctions and verbs to add specific detail to their writing. Students are also learning the importance of including punctuation consistently when creating their written texts. They are creating an animal profile using diagrams and key words, and then transferring this information into a writing scaffold. 

Prep has been learning about the letter ‘S’ and the sound it makes as part of their PreLit program. Students have been learning how to write the letter ‘S’ in both lower-case and upper-case form. The teacher modelled the correct method by explicitly showing the students to start at the top and work their way down. Following this, each child was invited to have a turn at writing ‘Ss’ on the interactive SmartBoard.

Reneé Andrews 
Acting Assistant Head of Primary

Sydney Writers Festival

On 24 May, Years 3 and 4 were fortunate enough to attend the Sydney Writers Festival at Sydney Town Hall and engage in four insightful and engaging sessions with renowned writers. Each author brought a unique set of knowledge to inspire our children to write imaginatively and use everyday experiences to shape their own novel in the future. 

Cristy Burne kickstarted our incredible day with some explosive storytelling, engaging students in different science experiments. Cristy inspired students to view writing as an experiment. She reminded aspiring writers that the big exciting explosions cannot come before the basis has been built correctly. 

I liked how she used science experiments to make us laugh like throwing marshmallows into the crowd.

Christopher, Year 3

Maryam Master was renowned for her work transforming well-known books into plays and musicals all around Australia. Maryam also told her own personal story of fleeing Iran as a child and how this heavily influenced her writing. While reading an expert of her novel she encouraged children to take their own personal stories as inspiration for their writing. 

The Wylah Series was a fan favourite of many students. 

Very clever authors Jordan Gould and Richard Pritchard took our students through the creation of the Wylah series. Students were very excited to help design a megafauna creature that will become a part of Wylah’s world. Students were engaged in choosing the personality traits, physical features and name while watching the author bring the character to life digitally on the screen. 

I liked hearing how writers came up with their ideas.

Elijah, Year 3

I liked being able to create our own character and watching it come to life.

Celine, Year 4

Soaring into a world of heroes and unicorns, students were taken into the supernatural world for the final session with author A.F Steadman. In her first book, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, students explored and created a new unicorn that can be used in her subsequent novels in the series. 

It was interesting to hear about new books.

James, Year 3

Overall a great day for all students!

Joanne Giannini
Head of Primary P-4

Year 4 Excursion to the Rocks

As part of our ‘First Contacts’ history unit of work, Year 4 embarked on a guided walking tour of the Rocks. Students learned about daily life in the early colony and visited historical sites such as Cadman’s Cottage and Campbell’s Cove. A highlight of the experience was the opportunity to dress up as the governor or captains, convicts or free settlers. Each student was given the identity of a significant person of the time to connect them to the historical setting.

Year 4 Teachers

Artistic Director

Friday Recital

Congratulations to the performers who performed at our Friday Recital last week. It was fantastic to see so many students from P-12 perform so confidently in front of a friendly and supportive audience of parents and friends.

Australian String Association Festival

Congratulations to some string students who performed at the AUSTA NSW String Festival at Sydney grammar school in St Ives. The students were recognised for their fine playing with some trophies.

Mia Lee Year 3       Vera Zhang Year 3Lean Han Year 5
Estelle Gilmovich Year 6  Minori Yoshimura Year 10

Gala Concert 2023 

Sounds from Santa – A Celebration of Women Composers

Sydney Town Hall, Monday 19 June 7:00pm 

This unique concert celebrating female composers will include fourteen world premiers of original compositions by Year 9-12 Elective Music students, former students, and music staff. The original works consist of various styles of music for choirs, symphony orchestras, string orchestras, wind ensembles, chamber ensembles, dance, percussion ensembles, brass ensembles, stage bands, music technology and, of course, the magnificent Town Hall organ. 

A rehearsal schedule for Friday 16 June (at Santa) and Monday 19 June (at the Town Hall) has been emailed to students, parents and carers of all performers.

PERFORMERS
All students in Years 4 – 7 (combined singing items)
Gioia House Choir (all students in Years 5 – 6)
Gioia House Strings
Primary Years Laudare Singers
Primary Years Siena Singers
Primary Years Camerata String Ensemble
Primary Years Chamber String Ensemble
College Choir
Symphony Orchestra
Wind Ensemble
Sinfonietta
Chamber Orchestra
Chamber Choir
Stage Band
Brass Ensemble
Senior Taiko

Tickets: $40
“Trybooking: https://www.trybooking.com/CIJMENB: performers do not need to purchase a ticket

2022 Gala Concert Extended Highlights Video 
We were very pleased with the fantastic efforts of students and staff, given that live music ceased in the 2nd half of 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions and remote learning. Please share this video with your family and friends!

Timothy Chung
Artistic Director P-12

Senior School Ethics Olympiad

On 2 May, 10 senior students competed in the Senior School Ethics Olympiad. The competition involved us sharing and responding to perspectives on various contemporary case studies of ethical issues from our day-to-day lives, ranging from veganism to mandatory military service. We had the opportunity to compete against 40 teams from schools across Australia online and meet judges from across Australia who shared their expertise in ethics and philosophy with us.

Our Santa Sabina Red Team received an honourable mention, and the Santa Sabina Purple Team was awarded a Bronze medal! The Olympiad was so much fun, the day goes by really fast and it’s great to hear from the other teams and judges about their perspectives on the issues. The competition’s also unique because you’re encouraged to change your opinion and collaborate with the team you’re competing against. I recommend the Ethics Olympiad to anyone who’s interested!

Tanisha Chari
Year 11

Introducing our Assistant Heads of House

Staff Story

The expansion of our Pastoral team in 2023 has brought six experienced teachers into closer contact with our students from Years 7 to 12. These outstanding teachers and pastoral leaders are helping all our students develop the skills to take safe risks, be resilient in the face of adversity and maintain healthy relationships. They are passionate about supporting, encouraging and empowering young people to reach their full potential by assisting them through challenging life situations and times of growth through their formative years. 

Each Assistant Head of House brings something unique to the team:

Samantha Whittemore, Gunagulla

Samantha is a Japanese and PDHPE teacher with a Bachelor in Human Movement & Health Education, a Diploma in Modern Languages – Japanese, and is currently completing a Master’s in Youth Mental Health. She is approachable and loves learning more about the students in her House, ‘working with them to achieve their goals or manage their problems they are dealing with. Seeing students thriving, enjoying all aspects of school and our Santa community is very rewarding.’ Outside of teaching her two daughters keep her busy and she is always at South Sydney home games.

Michelle Nosworthy, Kurrawa

Michelle is a Science teacher with a degree in Pharmacology and Postgraduate Certificate of Education in Chemistry. She has recent pastoral experience as Head of Year at another school and says, ‘Teaching is different every day – I’m never bored.’ Michelle is also a keen runner and is currently training for the City2surf. She also loves exploring Sydney, her new home.

Lauren Jenkins, Mundawora

Lauren is one of our History teachers with a first class honours Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Teaching (Secondary). She cares deeply about our students and wants to make a difference: ‘The part of my job that I most love is building positive connections with students. They are intelligent, funny and compassionate, and it is a joy to see them thrive both inside and outside of the classroom’. When outside of the classroom herself, Lauren spends time baking, taking her dog Floyd to the beach and playing and coaching hockey.

Stacey Tse, Teangi

Stacey teaches Design and Technology and Textiles and holds the degrees of Bachelor of Integrated Product Design and Master of Teaching (Secondary). As Assistant Head of House for Teangi she loves being able to build connections with her students every day, ‘knowing that I can be someone that they can rely and turn to for support’. When not teaching, Stacey is out with her family and friends, exploring cafes and restaurants or bouldering – ‘a great way to clear my mind’.  

Argy Asimakoula, Weelya

Argy teaches PDHPE and holds the degree of Bachelor of Human Movement and a Diploma in Education. She has been involved in service work – volunteering in South Africa where she worked to support sick and vulnerable children. Argy sums up the work of all the Assistant Heads of House when she says: ‘I enjoy empowering young people to have agency over their lives through helping them develop their knowledge, skills and understanding of various key issues including building respectful relationships, enhancing personal strengths, promoting health, safety and wellbeing. I am particularly passionate about educating young people about developing their resilience and GRIT, managing challenges and change as well as recognising, supporting and protecting themselves and others in a range of situations.’ Argy spends her time off with her daughter ‘painting, reading books, going to the movies, watching musicals and being active’.

Jacqui Sheehan, Yetinga

Jacqui is a Science teacher with a Diploma of Teaching (Secondary Science and Mathematics) and a Graduate Certificate in Education but is also experienced in teaching Religion, Mathematics, French and TAS. She says our vertical House structure allows each Assistant Head of House and Head of House to follow students through from Year 7 to Year 12, allowing them to really get to know the students as they develop as individuals. She particularly enjoyed transitioning the Year 7 Yetinga girls through their first term. ‘They were an absolute delight to work with and their energy and enthusiasm were very contagious’. Jacqui can often be seen walking the Bay Run and two nights a week can be found at Alliance Française in the city, improving her French.

Victoria Harper
Publications and Marketing Officer

Uniform shop holiday trading hours

The Santa Sabina College Uniform Shop will close for the school holidays on Friday 23 June at 4:00pm and will re-open for Term 3 on Monday 17 July at 8:00am.

Normal Trading Hours

Monday                                           8:00am – 4:00pm
Tuesday                                           1:00pm – 5:00pm
Wednesday                                     8:00am – 4:00pm
Thursday                                         1:00pm – 5:00pm
Friday                                              8:00am – 4:00pm

Online orders can be placed at www.midford.com.au, please then select Santa Sabina College.

Pass Phrase is SS1894.  Orders are packed during opening hours.

Please note the Uniform Shop does not accept cash, payment is via eftpos/credit card only.