‘Enlivened by the Spirit’

Anzac Road Menai NSW 2234 Phone 9543 0188 Facsimile 9541 0398

info@aquinasmenai.catholic.edu.au www.aquinasmenai.catholic.edu.au

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

AQUINAS CATHOLIC COLLEGE MENAI

30th November, 2015 Vol.23.No.35

On Sunday we moved from Ordinary Time into the liturgical season of Advent that will ultimately prepare us for the great joy of Christmas. At this busy time we also remember those in our broader community who are struggling financially as the often expensive holiday season rapidly approaches. The Aquinas students and staff have been responding to this area of need through the ‘Be an Angel’ enterprise of the local Holy Family Parish chapter of the St Vincent de Paul Society. Pastoral classes have been energetically raising monies to ensure that around 50 young people in the local area will receive a gift on Christmas Day that otherwise would not have been forthcoming. Thank you to the Social Justice Group and Mrs Monk, our Social Justice Coordinator, for organising this most considerate venture.

The Archdiocese of Sydney’s social network xt3.com also has released its 2015 Advent Calendar. The calendar, also available as a free App, features daily reflections and multimedia resources to help families make the most of the season of Advent. First launched six years ago as an online resource and as advertised in the College newsletter for a number of years, this year's Advent Calendar has even more exciting content than ever before including podcasts, Advent reflections, video animations created by xt3.com, a message from the Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Rev Anthony Bishop OP, videos from both Australian and international presenters, and Advent messages from Pope Francis. The Calendar is also available as a free App for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. The link for downloading the App follows: http://www.sydneycatholic.org/news/latest_news/2015/20151126_1459.shtml

It is also with a great deal of pleasure that I am now able to announce the Year Coordinators and Year Groups they will be responsible for in 2016 at Aquinas. We are indeed blessed to have a talented group such as this at the College to take responsibility for the wellbeing of our students. Year 7 Mrs Sheenagh Doran [Currently Head of Middle School, Santa Sabina] Year 8 Kelly Morales Year 9 Peter Tsambalas Year 10 Steve Roberts Year 11 Tim Lillis [returning to the College from the ASPECT Unit] Year 12 Marina Vukovic

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Aquinas students have been busily representing the College in a number of ways in recent weeks and on Friday Year 9 were able to see the Catholic Schools Performing Arts [CaSPA] Senior Theatre works production of Julius Caesar that featured our own Michael Monk and Kalina Englezos [Year 9]. Kalina performed the role of Lucius whilst Michael’s role was the character of Ligarus and Flavius. The group performed in two schools each day last week and did so to great acclaim – well done Michael & Kalina.

Last Friday also saw the postponed grand finals of our Friday afternoon representative sport competition take place at various venues around the Shire. Well done to all teams and their coaches, especial congratulations to the following teams who were successful in winning their games and being Premiers of the Sutherland Shire Combined Catholic Colleges’ competitions;

Year 7 Girls’ Basketball team [coached by Mrs Reyes] Year 10 Boys’ Cricket team [coached by Mr van der Kley] Year 7 Boys’ OzTag team [coached by Mr McGee] Year 7/8 Boys’ Softball team [coached by Ms Kilzi]

James Corcoran Principal

Assistant Principal

Key Dates

Week 10 (B) Term 4

Week 9 (A) Term 1

Monday 30th November Year 10 Alternate week begins

Year 7 Zoo incursion for Science

Tuesday 1st December Year 7 Zoo incursion for Science

Asylum seeker centre lunch visit

Year 9 & 10 Drama Night at 7pm

Wednesday 2nd December Year 9 Parish Mass

CEO Student Leaders meeting

7 Green Italian excursion to Bellezza Pizza from 1pm

Year 6 teachers from Holy Family afternoon tea at Aquinas

Thursday 3rd December Australian Catholic Youth Festival for Year 10 and 11 students in Adelaide

Year 9 Forensic Science incursion-Green/Blue P1&2; Red/Purple P3&4; White/Silver

P5&6

7 Blue Italian excursion to Bellezza Pizza from lunchtime

Friday 4th December College Final Mass Year 7-11 Period 1 & 2 in the JPII Hall

Summer sport BBQ

Monday 7th December Year 10 Senior First Aid course day

Tuesday 8th December Year 7 Red Italian excursion to Bellezza pizza from 1pm

Wednesday 9th December Year 7 to 11 Presentation/Awards evening

Thursday 10th December Year 10 Jamberoo excursion

Year 11 last day

Friday 11th December Year 10 Aquinasfest Period 1&2; Year meeting/farewell Period 3; no sport

Year 10 reports issued before departure at start of lunch

Robert Nastasi Assistant Principal

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LEARNING AND CURRICULUM MATTERS

This Week's Assessment Tasks Lisa Mirabello Leader of Teaching and Learning

Year Subject Date

Year 11/12 Business Studies assessment 30/11/15

Year 11/12 Extension 1 Mathematics assessment 1/12/15

Year 11/12 Physics practical assessment 1/12/15

Year 11/12 Ext 2 English Viva Voce assessment 2/12/15

Year 11 Industrial Technology Timber assessment 3/12/15

Year 11/12 Chemistry practical assessment 3/12/15

Year 11/12 Food Technology assessment 3/12/15

Year 11/12 Ancient History assessment during sport 4/12/15

CAREER NEWS

Mock Interviews - Year 10

On Tues 8th Dec Year 10 students will be participating in Mock Interviews. These will be held at the College, in the Mackillop

Learning Common. The students will be receiving further information regarding this later in the week. They will be required at

school for their interview time only, and are expected to dress appropriately for a job interview. They will also be required to

bring a portfolio which includes their resume, letter of application and job advertisement (which they completed as part of their

careers assessment, please ensure this is updated reflecting the changes requested when marked). Timetables for the interviews

will be emailed to students at their school email address.

Students who have outstanding Careers Assessments - or parts thereof - will be required to attend for periods 1 and 2, and will

not be participating in the mock interviews.

If you have further questions regarding this, or if your child will be absent for the interviews, please contact me.

Lisa Higgins

Careers Adviser

(Tues, Wed and alternate Thurs)

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Archdiocesan Social Justice Day at Southern Cross Vocational

College at Burwood

On Wednesday 18th November members of the Social Justice

Committee in Years 9-11 attended the Sydney Catholic

Schools Social Justice Day. The theme of the day was Justice

for Refugees and Asylum Seekers.

There was a CaSPA drama ensemble presentation followed

by a Keynote address from Phil Glendenning from the

Refugee Council, workshops throughout the day, and a final

plenary session and performance by the CaSPA Vocal

ensemble. Students were also given an opportunity to

purchase goods for the House of Welcome at Carramar

Here’s what a student thought of the day:

On Thursday the 18th of November the Social Justice

Committee were invited to Southern Cross Catholic

Vocational College at Burwood to a Social Justice Day to

speak out about our view on asylum seekers.

This was a great opportunity

to hear from other schools on

different views about

refugees seeking asylum here

in Australia!

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We were enlightened by guest speakers from

across Sydney and were privileged to hear from

asylum seekers themselves who came to tell us

about their life and journey and what they went

through in their home countries. They told us

how they were looking forward to a better future

here in Australia!

The social justice committee really enjoyed listening and hearing about their experiences so we can act and put forward for

greater justice for asylum seekers in Australia. Thank you to Mrs Monk for taking us and Mr Corcoran for driving the bus.

Jade Kessey, Year 11

Social Justice Coordinator

There will be a meeting of the Social Justice Committee on Thursday A at lunchtime in

Room 53. All welcome 7-11. Any questions/problems please see Mrs Monk.

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Pastoral Care

Last Tuesday saw the annual Tynan's Road Safety Forum at Sutherland Hyundai. We had a number of Year 10 and Year 11 students and their parents attend the forum where they were addressed by Ian Luff, a renowned driving expert and operator of Drive to Survive. Both students and parents were presented with real-life scenarios and given plenty of tips and techniques for either learning to drive or teaching someone to drive.

The evening was interactive and fun, however saw everyone leave with a renewed respect for safety whilst driving.

I would like to thank all the students and parents who attended this night, and urge all parents to take up this free initiative run by Tynan’s at the end of each year. A special thanks to Ian Luff and his wife Suzie, for their fantastic work on the night; and for Tynan Hyundai Sutherland for supporting our children and preparing them to be better drivers.

Ian Luff also offers various driving courses for students learning to drive which can be found at http://www.ianluff.com.au.

Mr Pay

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AQUINAS BELLEZZA ITALIAN EXCURSIONS

7 SILVER AND 7 WHITE It’s that time of year again when our Aquinas Year 7 Italian students enjoy an afternoon at BELLEZZA

PIZZERIA at Menai to support their “Let’s Eat Italian!” unit.

Week 8 saw 7 Silver and 7 White students learn about pasta and pizza making. They enjoyed watching

pizza dough being made, learning about the history of pizza in Italy and making and eating their own

pizzas! They also got their palate refreshed with some gelato as well. Congratulations to the following

winners;-

7Silver

Quiz winner – Christian Sinicropi

Best pizza makers – Gabriel Danaskos and Matthew Kontogiorgis

Best listeners – Ariel Bishop and Luke Caruccio

7 White

Quiz winner – Erica Carlino

Best pizza makers – Clare Craven and Katie Skarentzos

Best listener – Claudia Selby

Here are a few photos of some of the happy Aquinas faces.

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Athletics Carnival Congratulations to all the students who were names Age Champion and Runner-up:

AGE CHAMPION

Male

Female

U/12

Tommaso Ruperto

Brigitte Duncan Hoo Smith

U/13

Aston Souris

and

Aidan Doyle

Mackenzie Selmon

and

Mikayla Clingan

U/14

Liam Barton

Ruby Cole

U/15

Bradley Hunt

Alexandra Bolton

and

Nicoletta Tatsis

U/16

Nicholas Capovilla

and

Jack Duggan

Erin Blazey

U/18

Joshua

Bradstock

Louise Spratt

RUNNER-UP

MALE

FEMALE

Dylan Georges

Amelia Kirgan

Mitchell McDonough

Shannon Brown

Alec Cotterill

Caitlyn Aranjo

Isaac Feghali

Keira Dailly

Anthony

Kapetanellis

Carly McLachlan

Nathan

Costa

Amelia

Campbell

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Science World Championships – Final Results

Well done to all the students who participated in the recent World Series Science Championships. Aquinas student’s answered

over 100,000 questions over the 10 days of competition which represented 1,826 hours spent learning in this fun, but

challenging, online format. Two Year 9 students, Aidan Puse and Elisabeth Krstanovski were both awarded Gold Awards for

answering more than 3000 questions and Mitchell Giovenco from Year 8 achieved a Silver award for answering over 2000

questions. A further 8 students received Bronze awards (more than 1000 questions) and 11 students received Credit awards

(more than 500 questions).

Across the world 876 schools participated and more than 13 million questions were answered. If Aquinas students answered

100,000 questions in 1826 hours then worldwide students probably spent 230,000 hours learning science.

Aquinas finished 35th in the World, 24th in Australia and 15th in NSW. Many of the NSW schools were first time participants, as

was Aquinas, since Education Perfect has just started to promote their activities in NSW. Aidan Puse finished in 175 th place in

the world from 27,526 students in total. Elisabeth Krstanovski finished in 340th place.

Overall this was a fabulous

experience for the students as the

competitive style of learning

makes it more interesting than

reading a book. The Education

Perfect platform includes video

resources to enable students to

learn in a variety of formats. This

platform will be introduced across

all year groups in 2016 across a

number of classes.

Mrs Maree Woods

Science Coordinator

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Timor-Leste Immersion Participant Report

Name- Emily McKay Overview of the day- Sunday in Maliana was an early morning start for everyone. The day started with some eggs and bread rolls for breakfast to prepare us for the day. After breakfast we got changed into our “Sunday Best” mass outfits. In Timor-Leste, mass is a special event and the Timorese get dressed up for this occasion. We walked up the road from where we were staying, to attend the local Maliana Church. The church was packed filled with happy smiles of the Timorese and their colorful and vibrant outfits for mass. It was great to see their passion for the love of God and their respect for mass. It was hard to understand at times what was going on but it was crazy how much we did understand. The singing of the Timorese was very touching; it is amazing how beautiful their voices are as a collaborative group who love to sing together. After mass we had a bit of a rest and then got changed into our swimmers to head on an hours mountainous drive to make it to the beach. The road was so windy and rough that some people in our group even got sick. The kids from the Salesian John Bosco School joined us at the beach, which was great to see and get to know them more again. Many of the students couldn’t swim very well, but even wanted us to teach them English while struggling in the water. I was amazed at how they will not give up at all. After lunch and a final swim it was time to head home. Although this was no ordinary trip back this was one of the best experiences of my life. Some of the girls and I, got to ride in the back to the truck with all the boys from the school, we had an absolute ball, even though we were covered in dirt. It was one of the most difficult moments saying goodbye to all the beautiful relationships we had made with the teenagers from the school. Overall a great day filled with happiness and laughter, which ended with a lovely dinner. One thing that shocked me- One thing that shocked me was how grateful they are to attend a school. Anytime we were around them, they wanted us to teach them English or anything about ourselves. I was shocked to see how much they love to attend school and to just learn. The kids in Timor, at such a young age, are extremely intelligent. What shocked me even more, was how they know so many languages, despite it being so difficult. Learning 3 languages at the age of 10 is not an easy thing, but the kids are so determined and so eager to learn and that’s what shocked me the most.

One thing that touched me- What touched me was how polite the Timorese were. Each and every one of the Timorese greeted us with such delight and happy smiles on their faces.

One thing that challenged me- What challenged me was the heat! The heat in Timor was intense. Every day it was a challenge for me not to get burnt and to keep hydrated

One funny moment- The funniest moment on the trip for me was when we were heading up to see a statue of the cross and on the way back down, I did more than walk down. I slid down! I fell down about 10 stairs and everyone was cracking up. It was quite embarrassing but it made people laugh including myself.

Would you recommend this experience to others? Without a doubt! 100% the best experience of my life and I have met, on this trip, friendships that will last a lifetime. I have still kept in touch with some people in Timor that I became close with over there and it is one of the best things in the world, to talk to and become friends with someone in another country. The experience makes you see your life from a different point of view. Going on this immersion will make you appreciate all the little things that we take for granted everyday. It will change your perception on life and you will create the most special memories that words cannot describe.

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MIND ON MATHS CHALLENGE

Keeley Lennon, Anna Rickert and Ryan Wade of Year 7 and Hamish Baldacchino, Chloe Cotter

and Steven Celi of Year 8 competed at the Mind on Maths Challenge Day, answering several

problem solving and Working Mathematically challenges similar to the one above. The

following is a report from two of the students who attended:

‘Last Wednesday, three students from Year 7 and three students from Year 8 went to Mary

Mackillop Catholic College at Wakeley to participate in the Mind On Maths day. The Mind On

Maths day has been running for 11 years now and was ran very well. Sixteen schools from the

southern area competed in the day. Some of these schools included DeLa Salle, OLMC, Mary

Mackillop, St Pats, etc. Overall our Aquinas team came fourth by 4.5 points. This was a fantastic

achievement for our team. The day was extremely fun and enjoyed by all. The day consisted of

different challenges that challenged us to think outside of the box and explore different ways of

thinking as well as working as a team. Some of the challenges included counting races, target

number, algebra, logic puzzles and problem solving. The Yum Cha problem solving challenge

was where we excelled scoring 62 points, some of the challenges were related to equations,

money, fractions and decimals, and area

and perimeter. We thank both

Mrs Fensom and Mrs Finnerty for taking

us to Mary MacKillop Catholic College

and for supporting us throughout the

day.’

By Keeley Lennon and Anna Rickert,

7Red

These students worked extremely well as

a team and came away with a great sense

of achievement, and an invigorated

passion for Mathematics.

Well done.

Mrs Elyse Finnerty (Mathematics Teacher)

and

Mrs Catherine Fensom

(Assistant Mathematics Coordinator)

In a 7-digit numerical code, each group of

four consecutive digits adds to 16, and each

group of five consecutive digits adds to 19.

What is the sum of all 7 digits?

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UNIFORM SHOP (Located next to Canteen)

THURSDAY 3 December 8:00am—9:30am

Please note the Uniform Shop only sells Sports Uniforms and School bags

CANTEEN ROSTER TERM 4

TIME: MONDAY-THURSDAY 10:00-1:35, FRIDAY 9:30-12:45

MONDAY 30/11 JACQUELINE HARB

TUESDAY 1/12 KERRIE HARRINGTON

WEDNESDAY 2/12 AMANDA GALEA, JACKIE TORO

THURSDAY 3/12 BELINDA SELBY, SIEN SMITH

FRIDAY 4/12 LIZ GARCORZ, CAROLYN BARLOW, SARINA PANTAZIS, SONJA PARKER

KYLIE GARRETY

MONDAY 7/12 ANTOINETTE KERLE, MICHELLE TURNER, ROSEMARY MORRISEY

TUESDAY 8/12 CHRISTINE KLEIN

WEDNESDAY 9/12 DONNA SHERMAN

THURSDAY 10/12 KIM GLENIE, EMMY LOMONACO, CATHY FULTON

FRIDAY 11/12 MEL COYNE

MONDAY 14/12 ROSEMARY MORRISEY

Drama Night 2015

When: Tuesday, 1st December 2015 What time: 7:00pm Where: Drama Room

Entry is FREE!!

Throughout the year the 2 classes have studied various topics in Drama, from clowning to Musical Theatre. Come along and support the Year 9 and 10 elective Drama students of 2015. Students will perform some of their indi-vidual and group devised pieces. Expect lots of laughs and sheer entertainment.

Any enquiries, contact Mrs McNamara or Ms Wright