Address 75 Mackellar Street, Emu Plains NSW 2750

Phone 4728 8100

Email penola@parra.catholic.edu.au

Web www.penolaemuplains.catholic.edu.au

COLLEGE NEWSLETTER

Volume - 2020:1

14 February 2020

Walking in the footsteps of Saint Mary MacKillop

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Families of the Penola Community Welcome back to another great school year and the first one as Penola Catholic College. A very special welcome to our new students in Year 7 and also new students in other year groups. We hope that in your first few weeks you have found the college to be a warm and welcoming place where you have found your place to belong. There are many exciting events happening throughout the year which will continue to build a sense of community such as our Opening Mass, Camps and Swimming Carnival that are all in Term 1. Students are always expected to be in attendance and use every opportunity to make new friends and join into the spirit of Penola Catholic College. At Penola Catholic College we will continue to build on the values from McCarthy Catholic College as we grow further. The key values that form our charism at Penola are to be people of courage, compassion, hope and Integrity. During the year we will join with students, staff and Parents as a community to unpack how these will be a prominent aspect of our learning and faith Framework at the college. Our College Captains, Ray and Peyton will attend a Youth Leadership Conference in late February with Mr Feeney with other affiliated Josephite schools around Australia and New Zealand to explore ways in which the Mary Mackillop spirit can be central to our identity. They will then report back to the College Executive and Student Leadership Team to assist in building our College identity based on Mary Mackillop’s values and passion for quality education for all. I would like to congratulate all students for an incredibly positive and strong start to our 2020 school year at Penola. In particular, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our Year 7 students to the college. I have completed several learning walks visiting classes Years 7-12 and have been impressed with the engagement in learning that I have been privileged to observe. Congratulations to all students for your commitment, diligence and self-motivated start to the school year. In 2019, our HSC results were most impressive with a record number of Band 5 and 6 results form students and even more HSC courses above state average. Congratulations to all students who gave a strong commitment to achieving their goals in gaining University entry, traineeships or commencing in the workforce. All students who applied for University achieved this successfully either as Early Entry offer or at the time of HSC results announcement in December 2019. Our College Dux Ethan Young and high band HSC achievers were presented to the college community at our awards ceremony on Wednesday 12 February. Congratulations to all students from the 2019 HSC cohort. All of you have made your parents and staff at Penola extremely proud!

During 2020 we will be looking for lots of opportunities to connect with our parent community. I would like to encourage everyone to embrace these opportunities positively and encourage your Penola parent friends to also come along. We will have our Year 7 Meet and Greet Evening coming up on Wednesday 19 February 2020 from 5-8pm and I would love to see every single parent there to engage with our dedicated and passionate staff in an informal way over light refreshments in a stunning Mary Courtyard. This event is just for parents and guardians to enable us to talk freely and get to know you socially. I hope to see everyone there for this lovely, intimate event!

Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers during my Dad, Anton Vujevic’s recent passing after his brief and courageous battle with cancer. Thank you to all students, staff and parents that have expressed sincere sympathies and offered support at this most difficult time for myself and my family. All of these heartfelt sentiments have been greatly appreciated. May the perpetual light shine upon him Lord, May he Rest in Peace. Have a wonderful Term 1 and I look forward to meeting all new parents and students, as well as reconnecting with current students, staff and parents. God Bless everyone as we walk confidently in the footsteps of Australia’s first Saint, St Mary Mackillop. Mrs Tania Cairns Principal Leader

ACADEMIC AWARDS CEREMONY

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING

HIGH ACHIEVERS

FOR 2019 SEMESTER 2

College DUX Ethan Young

Congratulations to Ethan

who will now commence

his study in

Chemical Engineering at

University of NSW

Community Awards Long Tan Youth Leadership Awards: Year 12 Akshay Wakankar Year 10 Brooke Hine Stuart Ayres “All Rounder Award: Elissa Lee Lions Club Award: Hannah Cladingboel Melissa McIntosh Lindsay Quiet Achiever Award: Siobhan Stevens

AWARDS 2019 SEMESTER 2

Year 12 - HSC Academic High Achievers 2019

Sarah Arnold

Caitlyn O’Toole

Lachlan Roet

Cameron Woodhouse

Academic Excellence Awards Years 7 - 10 First Surname Year

Kodippilige Kodippili 7

Shriya Lal 7

Kavya Nalamati 7

Emma O'Toole 7

Julianna Yu 7

Ezthrella Berthriz 8

Zavier Button 8

Aleks Maksimovic 8

Brooke Morgan 8

Chloe O'Hara 8

Shreya Singh 8

Lachlan Troy 8

Josephine Yu 8

Olivia Auddino 9

Harrison Bolton 9

William Burrell 9

Isabella Coey 9

Tanisha Dutt 9

Emma Fowler 9

Broc Geronimi 9

Torrance McLean 9

Hannah Cladingboel 10

Samantha Durik 10

Isabelle Fogg 10

Brooke Hine 10

Caitlin Hume 10

Jesse Warner 10

Katelin Watts 10

Levi Wynbergen Titoko 10

Academic Achievement Awards Years 7 - 10

First Surname Year

James Cremen 7

Jazmin King 7

Kodippilige Kodippili 7

Shriya Lal 7

Alyssa Merriman 7

Kavya Nalamati 7

Emma O'Toole 7

Charlyse Russo 7

Zhengyang Shi 7

Charlie Thomas 7

Julianna Yu 7

Ezthrella Berthriz 8

Zavier Button 8

Byron Gillon 8

Aleks Maksimovic 8

Brooke Morgan 8

Chloe O'Hara 8

Damon Psathas 8

Shreya Singh 8

Zac Stevens 8

Lachlan Troy 8

Josephine Yu 8

Olivia Auddino 9

Harrison Bolton 9

William Burrell 9

Isabella Coey 9

Chayne Davis-Vassallo 9

Tanisha Dutt 9

Emma Fowler 9

Broc Geronimi 9

Holly Lampard 9

Torrance McLean 9

Prabesh Nepal 9

Shreya Bharwad 10

Hannah Cladingboel 10

Samantha Durik 10

Isabelle Fogg 10

Liana Gibb 10

Gabriella Grimaldi 10

Erin Haly 10

Mia Henderson 10

Brooke Hine 10

Caitlin Hume 10

Jesse Warner 10

Katelin Watts 10

Levi Wynbergen Titoko 10

Academic Awards Year 11

Most Outstanding Achievements Year 10 - 11

Award Subject First Surname Year

First in English Extension I Ethan Henfling 11

First in Studies of Religion II Nicholas Mecsery 11

First in Biology Sharna'e Tanti 11

First in Business Studies Nicholas Pike 11

First in Community and Family Studies Sharna'e Tanti 11

First in Drama Mikayla Morgan 11

First in English Advanced Ethan Henfling 11

First in English Standard Sharna'e Tanti 11

First in English Studies Clare Rowley 11

First in Legal Studies Payton Sibary 11

First in Mathematics Ethan Henfling 11

First in Mathematics Standard Annabelle Burrell 11

First in Modern History Max Prendergast 11

First in Music Course 1 Clare Rowley 11

First in Personal Development, Health and Physical Education Sharna'e Tanti 11

First in Photography, Video and Digital Media Payton Sibary 11

First in Physics Harrison Morgan 11

First in Society and Culture Payton Sibary 11

First in Studies of Religion I Payton Sibary 11

First in Visual Arts Max Prendergast 11

Subject First Surname Year

Business Services Year 10/11 Early Commencement Erin Haly 10

Business Services Year 10/11 Early Commencement Sierra Irvine 10

Business Services Year 10/11 Early Commencement Elyjah Kennedy 10

P-TECH Year 10/11 Early Commencement Joshua Lancaster 11

P-TECH Year 10/11 Early Commencement Emily Norris 10

P-TECH Year 10/11 Early Commencement Jack Prendergast 10

Primary Industries Year 10/11 Early Commencement Blake Kruger 10

Primary Industries Year 10/11 Early Commencement Tia Auld 10

Primary Industries Year 10/11 Early Commencement Anneleise Shapcott 10

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Welcome back for 2020

We have had an excellent start to our school year at Penola Catholic College and thank everyone for their efforts in preparing themselves and our families supporting our students to have an excellent learning start in 2020. In our student diary on page 3, you may have read “About Penola.” In this section we have stated that “we aim to create a learning community in partnership with students, parents and the broader community. Our collective high expectations and growth mindset underpin the learning….(to) determine the success of our students.” In my first newsletter for the year, I wanted to thank our families and restate how critical our communication between home and school is to enable us to be the very best learning environment for your child. Our forms of communication for any information you need to tell us, any feedback or issues you need to discuss please:

1. Call the College in office hours on 4728 8100. 2. Email our College penola@parra.catholic.edu.au

Please keep in mind that our teachers may check their emails at different times during their day, however, teachers are generally not expected to respond to emails outside of work hours. If there is an emergency or urgent situation, call our college

3. Download our Skoolbag app to find any notes, alerts or important information that we need families to know in order to support their child at our College. SKOOLBAG IS OUR PRIMARY SOURCE OF COMMUNICATION.

Other forms of communication (not used for issues or complaints). Social Media: Facebook: Penola Catholic College Emu Plains: This is our celebration of learning for students,

families and the wider community to showcase the pride we have in our student’s learning at events and learning opportunities.

Facebook: Penola Parents: This is a closed group for current families that is managed by School

Administrators at our school. This is a place where families can sell uniforms and ask questions. We clearly state that this is a place where we are positive about the learning at our college.

Twitter: PenolaEmuPlains To assist our new parents, here is a flowchart of who to contact and when: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tFQl1f_aw8b_v5VnnN6QnYY8fQ9jP_Py

Take care. Mrs Peta Sparkes Assistant Principal

Supported By

LEADER OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND MISSION

The symbolism of Penola is very significant for the Catholic community. The two colours represent the Pink of the Hope candle during the Advent season and the blue of the braided Monogram worn from the founding era in SA from 1866. This original Monogram reflected a core emphasis on the Holy Family in the spirituality of the co-founders, Mary MacKillop [1842-1909] and Father Julian Edmund Tenison Woods [1832-1889]. The first Josephite Rule written by Father Woods with Mary for the early Sisters was approved by Bishop Sheil in Adelaide in 1868. With respect to the wearing of the Monogram it reads:

“The professed Sisters shall wear upon their hearts a large blue monogram of the Blessed Virgin between three letters J in honour of Jesus, Joseph and John the Baptist thus typifying the Holy Family. This monogram shall be made of plain blue woollen braid.”

These seals feature the combined the letters ‘A’ and ‘M’ for “Ave Maria” of Mary’s Annunciation. There-fore, as we continue our ‘Way to Penola’ we hold firm to the traditions of McCarthy as our foundation in faith especially Our Lady Help of Christians as our Patroness, the value we place on Integrity as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles and a renewed vigour for a genuine human encounter through the charism of St Mary of the Cross and how we, in the way of Christ, respond to the learning environment and the needs of "neighbour" with courage and compassion to reach the fullness of life (John 10:10).

Ever generous God, You inspired Saint Mary MacKillop

To live her life faithful to the

Gospel of Jesus Christ and

constant in bringing hope

and encouragement to those who were

disheartened, lonely or needy.

With confidence in your generous

providence and through the

intercession of Saint Mary MacKillop

We ask that you grant our request.

We ask that our faith and hope be

fired afresh by the Holy Spirit so

that we too, like Mary MacKillop, may live with courage, trust and openness.

Ever generous God hear our prayer.

We ask this through Jesus Christ. Amen.

LEADER OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND MISSION Continued..

Student Leadership at Penola

The College Captains and I are venturing to North Sydney and Kincumber to experience the JJAMM Conference held each year for the School Captains of every Josephite School, that is, schools who follow the charism of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, all over Australia and New Zealand. It through deepening the relationships with the Sisters of St Joseph that we will come to know the Spirit of Penola Catholic College. The Community Engagement & Celebration ministry continued their great work last year by forming the Peer Support Leaders (PSL) under the guidance of Mrs Annie Fuller and Year 12 leaders Hannah Ruxton, Siobhan Stevens, Sharna’e Tanti and Lucia Vinci with support from the Year 12 Learning For Mission class. They successfully integrated the “BIg Fish Little Fish” experience with the Peer Support Program.

The Student Voice Ministry has successfully commenced the Class Captains Leadership Program and together with the Mission Leaders will accompany the young leaders to be commissioned by Fr Paul at Our Lady of the Way on Ash Wednesday (February 26). Our theme for Project Compassion in 2020 is “Go Further Together”. It is through transforming the lives of our global neighbours by providing education opportunities, farm management, food security and supporting mental health initiatives. As St Mother Teresa said, “ Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things, with great love.” Mr Robert J Feeney

LEADER OF STUDENT WELLBEING AND LEARNING

When my children were young, my wife and I thought about what we could do to help our children become more polite and respectful, so when we were asking them about food or drinks, we would ask, “What would you like?” and they had to respond, “I would like . . .”

We never asked “What do you want?” and they were never allowed to say, “I want . . .”

We believe this made a difference to the way our children behaved when they were out of our care.

As parents, we need to think carefully about what we are saying to our children. There has been a wealth of research about positive psychology and a growth mindset. Positive Psychology asks us as parents to look at the character strengths our children possess and encourage them to build on those character strengths. A growth mindset requires us to consider the WAYS in which we give praise.

The idea is that we encourage and recognise effort, not accomplishments. In class, we are asking teachers to recognise the effort a student has undertaken to get a result. Our feedback is becoming more targeted and responsive to strengths and areas that require development. Children are never failures, they simply cannot do it yet. This means they are on a journey to eventually be able to do it. If we say they fail, the students may think they cannot do it at all!

In your conversations with your child consider the following approaches. Whilst the growth mindset requires more thought and effort, the results would be obvious. At Penola we believe students of all ability levels can be successful if we nurture their development through a strong belief in them, high expectations and framing our language positively.

Mr Martin Stein

Fixed Mindset Response Growth Mindset Response

That is an excellent

response! 10/10

You have achieved a good grade because you have really

drilled down on the components of the question and shown

me that you understand how the concepts work together as

You are so smart. You seem to be able to understand the content quickly. You

are able to write about it in your own words and then transfer

that learning to other situations. That must take some thinking

You are so good at drawing I see you have been working hard on your drawing. What are

the things that have taught you how to improve?

You are going to play for

Australia!

You have been working hard at improving your skills and your

positional play. I like seeing you work hard at your sport.

You always get good

grades and that makes me

so happy.

When you put in the effort in your classwork and at home, it

really shows in your grades. We are proud of you and you

certainly deserve to feel proud of your work.

LEADER OF INNOVATION AND DIVERSITY

Personalised Planning Meetings It has been an incredible privilege to meet 50 students and their parents over the past two weeks during the first round of Personalised Plan meetings for 2020. As a Diversity team, we have appreciated the chance to celebrate the natural strengths and interests of each individual and plan for the year ahead by identifying the adjustments that are required, to ensure access to the curriculum and the success that follows. We are grateful for the trust that each student and their families have placed in the expertise we have at Penola. Penola’s Diversity team and teaching team are well prepared to meet individual and collective needs and we are all grateful for the positive feedback we have received from parents. Our next round of Personalised Plan meetings will take place in weeks 7 and 8 of this term, letters will be sent home regarding booking details by the end of next week. Post School Options Launch for 2020 Thirteen students from Year 10 have launched their Post School Options experience this week by attending a Work Orientation Course at St Columba’s on Monday. The course provides a sound starting point for a student’s pre-vocational preparation and is a prerequisite for workplace learning through Post School Options. Each student is issued a certificate of their participation for their resume. We were incredibly proud of the feedback we received from the trainers, describing Penola participants as engaged, respectful, hard working and delightful and we happen to agree. The students involved, very openly expressed their gratitude for having this great opportunity. As a community we look forward to seeing them blossom in their individual workplace experiences throughout the year.

Learning Intervention Groups Launch: During Week 2 and 3 we have been actively assessing a range of students in Year 7 as potential candidates for Reading, Numeracy and General intervention classes. We are proud to have launched our EMU (numeracy) groups during the week and will be starting all Reading and General intervention over the first days of next week. Penola has achieved remarkable gain for individual students over the last few years by addressing specific learning needs through research based techniques. We will keep you posted in our next newsletter. I know we will have some ‘good news stories’ and photos with smiling, proud faces.

Ms Anna Keogh

LEADER OF PEDAGOGY AND INSTRUCTIONAL COACH

Learning Isn’t Meant To Be Easy!

Even though our brains are technically not a muscle they function in the same way?

So imagine you are in the gym and your goal is to build muscle. To be able to see any gains; you are required to complete a set of reps and just when you think you can’t possibly go on or any further, it is at this point it is vital to push through and continue those last couple to your set. If you don’t push through that burn or if your set stops before the burn happens you are not going to see the results / gains you want. Secondly, you are required to fuel your body with the correct nutrients to support the training and repair the body. Mental stimulation works in the same way. To help the brain grow stronger, faster and better able to complete the millions of daily tasks it is charged with: from memory, problem solving, critical thinking, creative thinking and attention.

We all know what happens when you stop exercising? Eventually, you lose your muscle strength, size and endurance. Learning is the same, so don’t stop learning. If your child comes home and says they are finding their classes easy then they are not getting the full learning gains they can possibly get. You want your child to come home and say I am finding this challenging at the moment. This is the purpose of 100min lessons. Allowing students to enter deeper, surface and transfer learning where it may feel difficult or make them uncomfortable, remember this IS the aim for greater learning gains. (It is also known as the learning pit and zone of confusion, something I addressed in one of the later newsletters last year). We want our students to not get to that point in their learning and give up or say it is too difficult. We as their teachers and you as their parents are there to support, encourage and guide them through the difficulties of their learning to achieve, understand and be able to push

through. To have a growth mindset.

So what is a Growth mindset? It is when your child is: able to learn from failure not fear failure. Keeps going, and em-braces challenges, doesn't avoid them. These need to become the mantra within the household and within the classroom as a way to support and foster our students when they hit that difficult / uncomfortable part of their learning. As Penola we want to build safe, respectful and responsible learners with a growth mindset and have high expectations who understand how they learn. Visit Mr Stein’s section as he delves into growth mindset in more detail. Mrs Julie Petrovski

Finance Matters Dear Families Fee statements have now been mailed out by the Catholic Education Diocese Parramatta (CEDP). If you have any queries or have not received your statement please contact Mrs Julie Jones at the College on 4728 8100 Option 2. Please note the due date of the first instalment 18 March 2020 and the payment options which are available. Mr Sean McNally Business Manager

MATHS HELP

In the library

Every Monday afternoon

during school terms

From 3.15pm until 4.15pm

All Welcome

UNIFORM SHOP TRADING HOURS

Tuesday 12noon to 4.00pm

Thursday 8.00am to 12 noon

Telephone Direct Line - 4735 8220

IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR DIARY…

FEBRUARY 2020

Wednesday 19 Year 7: Parent Only Meet & Greet from 5pm to 6pm

Opening School Mass 9.45am arrival for a 10.15am start

Year 10: Assessment Information Evening: 5pm to 6pm (Compulsory) Wednesday 26

Ash Wednesday

MARCH 2020

Monday - Wednesday

2-4

Year 7 Camp

Venue The Great Aussie Bush Camp at Tea Gardens

Friday 6 Swimming Carnival Venue The Charlie Lowles Leisure Centre, Emerton

Tuesday 10 Enrolment Open Evening 5pm-8pm - Tours of College facilities

Wednesday 25 Year 11 and 12 Parent Interviews from 1pm to 7.30pm

APRIL 2020

Thursday 9 Last Day of Term 1 for students Holy Thursday

Monday 27 Staff Professional Learning Day (Pupil Free)

Tuesday 28 Term 2 Resumes for all students

PLANNING AHEAD

PUPIL FREE DAYS 2020

Friday 5 June Staff Professional Learning Day (Pupil Free)

Monday 20 July Staff Professional Learning Day (Pupil Free)

Friday 20 November Staff Professional Learning Day (Pupil Free)

TERM DATES FOR 2020

Term 2 Resumes 28 April 2020 and concludes 3 July 2020

Term 3 Resumes 21 July 2020 and concludes 25 September 2020

Terms 4 Resumes 12 October 2020 and concludes 16 December 2020