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From the Principal… Dear Parents, Staff, Students and Friends of the Bethlehem Community,
Reflection- The Feast of Corpus Christi-Sunday, June 18 Corpus Christi (Body and Blood of Christ) is a Eucharistic solemnity, or better, the solemn commemoration of the institution of that sacrament. It is, moreover, the Church's official act of homage and gratitude to Christ, who by instituting the Holy Eucharist gave to the Church her greatest treasure. I have included below a thoughtful reflection on the Eucharist by Fr Ron Rolheiser.
A PRIMAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE EUCHARIST
Christian de Cherge, the Trappist Abbott who was martyred in Algeria in 1996, tells this story of his first communion. He grew up in a Roman Catholic family in France and on the day of his first communion he said to his mother: “I don’t understand what I’m doing.” She answered simply: “It’s okay, you don’t have to understand it now, later you will understand.”
Jesus, no doubt, must have given his disciples the exact same advice at the Last Supper, at their first communion. When he offered them bread and said, “This is my body”, and then offered them wine and said, “This is my blood”, they would not have understood. There would have been considerable confusion and bewilderment: How are we supposed to understand this? What does it mean to eat someone’s body and drink someone’s blood? I suspect that in the face of their non-understanding, like Christian de Cherge’s mother, Jesus would have also said: You don’t have to understand it now, later you will understand.
Indeed in instituting the Eucharist at Last Supper, Jesus didn’t ask his disciples to understand what they were doing, he only asked them to faithfully celebrate it until he returned. Their understanding of what they were doing in celebrating the Eucharist only developed as they grew in their faith. But initially, Jesus didn’t ask for much of an understanding, nor did he give them much of an explanation for what he was celebrating with them. He simply asked them to eat his body and drink his blood.
Jesus didn’t give a theological discourse on the Eucharist at the Last Supper. He simply gave us a ritual and asked us to celebrate it regularly, irrespective of our intellectual understanding of it. One of his more-explicit explanations of the meaning of the Eucharist was his symbolic action of washing his disciples’ feet.
Little has changed. We too aren’t asked to fully or even adequately understand the Eucharist. Our faith only asks that we are faithful in participating in it. In fact, as is the case for all deep mysteries, there is no satisfactory, rational explanation of the Eucharist. Nobody, not a single theologian in the world, can to anyone’s intellectual satisfaction, adequately lay out the phenomenology, psychology, or even spirituality of eating someone else’s body and drinking his blood. How is this to be understood? The mind comes up short. We need instead to rely upon metaphors and icons and an inchoate, intuitive understanding. We can truly know this mystery, even as we can’t fully understand it.
During my seminary and academic training, I took three major courses on the Eucharist. After all those lectures and books on the Eucharist, I concluded that I didn’t understand the Eucharist and that I was happy enough with that because what those courses did teach me was how important it is that I celebrate and participate in the Eucharist. For all the intellectuality in those courses, their true value was that they ultimately said to me what Christian de Cherge’s mother said to him on the day of his first communion: You don’t have to understand now, later you will understand. Contained in that, of course, is the fact that there is something profound here that is worth understanding, but that it’s too deep to be fully grasped right now.
Perhaps this can be helpful in our search for what to say to some of our own children and young people who no longer go to church and who tell us that the reason they don’t go is that they don’t find the Eucharist meaningful. We hear that lament all the time today: Why should go to church, it doesn’t mean anything to me?” That objection is simply another way of saying what young Christian de Cherge said to his mother at his first communion: I don’t understand this. Perhaps our answer then could be along the lines of the response of his mother: You don’t have to understand now, later you will understand.
The British theologian, Ronald Knox, speaking about the Eucharist, submits this: We have never, he claims, as Christians, been truly faithful to Jesus, no matter our denomination. In the end, none of us have truly followed those teachings which most characterize Jesus: We haven’t turned the other cheek. We haven’t forgiven our enemies. We haven’t purified our thoughts. We haven’t seen God in the poor. We haven’t kept our hearts pure and free from the things of this world. But we have, he submits, been faithful in one very important way; we have kept the Eucharist going. The last thing Jesus asked us to do before he died was to keep celebrating the Eucharist. And that we’ve done, despite the fact that we have never really grasped rationally what in fact we are doing. But we’ve been faithful in doing it because we grasped the wisdom in what Christian de Cherge’s mother to her son: You don’t have to understand this; you just have to do it.
Term 2 Issue 9 16 June 2017
TERM 2 UNIFORM SHOP OPERATING HOURS Tuesday: 10.30am-2.00pm
Wednesday: 8.00am—11.30am Fridays 10.30am—2.00pm Phone Number 9799 6163
CASH/EFTPOS or CREDIT CARDS accepted Cheques payable to TALEB AUSTRALIA
Lay-bys available
INDEX
Principal Pages 1–3 Important Dates Page 3 BCA Swimmer-Pacific School Games Page 4 Assistant Principal Page 5 Curriculum & Brain Teaser Page 6 Religious Education Page 7-8 Counsellor Page 9 Sports Page 10 Parents’ & Friends’ Page 11 Community Page 12-13 DLS Ex Students/Staff reunion dinner Page 13
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Student success
• Natalia Tartak (7 Caritas 1) has been successfully cast for the 2017 CaSPA DanceWorks ensemble. The production will be taken 'on the road'
around the three regions of Sydney Catholic Schools doing a total of 8 school performances.
• Zina Fotakis (10 Aikenhead 1) has been successfully cast for the 2017 CaSPA VoiceWorks ensemble. The Voiceworks program serves to
nurture the talent and skills of young singers while promoting live vocal performance and excellence in the arts in our Sydney Catholic Schools. The production will go on the road doing 8 performances in the three regions of Sydney Catholic schools.
Year 11 2018 Information evening June 5 and Subject talks, June 6 On Monday evening, June 5 Year 10 students and their parents/carers gathered in the College hall for Year 11 2018 Information evening. This was the first step in a detailed process designed to ensure that students entering Year 11 and their parents/carers have an understanding of the subjects on offer at the College but, more importantly the best pattern of study to meet the abilities and interests of each student. Mrs. Mann spoke about the NESA requirements for the HSC, the subjects available and offered advice on how to choose subjects. Mrs Casey spoke about the religious dimension and opportunities for Faith Formation in Stage 6, Mrs Toomey spoke about VET, Ms. Stewart spoke about Careers and eVet options, I explained the Senior Enrolment Contract and flexible study options through the Inner West DEN project and Viva programs and Co-Instruction with De La Salle College and Ms Farhart instructed students on how to choose their pattern of study using the online tool. Families left that evening with a detailed subject selection handbook to peruse, ready for the Subject Talks the next day. On June 6 Year 10 spent part of the day hearing from the Key Learning Area Coordinators, Teachers in Charge and current students about the subjects on offer at the College. They had the opportunity to ask questions and clarify their understanding of the demands of each course. I would like to thank Mrs Mann for her leadership of the process and the Key Learning Area Coordinators, Teachers in Charge, Mrs Wise the Acting Year 10 Mentor and The Year 10 Homeroom Circle Mentors for their contributions to the process
Athletics Carnival, Tuesday June 13 On Tuesday June 13 the community travelled to Sydney Olympic Park Athletics centre at Sydney for our annual Athletics Carnival. For the first time, the College chartered a train to and from the venue so that the staff and students could all travel together. It was a very smooth operation thanks to the organisation of Mrs Anderson, Mrs Leach and Eddy from Sydney Trains. We managed to load the train in 65 seconds at Ashfield station! Once we arrived at Sydney Olympic Park it was only a 10 minute walk to the venue. We were blessed with good weather, student attendance and participation were excellent and House spirit was
high. There were a number of records broken both on the track and in the field events. The carnival ran smoothly thanks to the excellent overall coordination by Ms Dew and the great support of the the PDHPE staff, teachers and Years 11 & 12 student helpers who worked tirelessly throughout the day. Some of the highlights of the day included the 100m age final event, the House relays and the Invitation 100m event which brought together the fastest runners from Years 7-12. The results of the carnival will be announced at the Whole School Assembly on Wednesday, June 28. Thanks are also extended to the parents who attended to support their daughters.
Bethlehem College Good Luck to our Years 8 and 9 Debating Teams During the past six Friday evenings our Years 7-12 Bethlehem College Debating teams have competed against other Catholic schools in the Catholic Schools Debating Competition. The girls and their coaches have committed their time one lunchtime a week and each Friday evening to develop their skills in this prestigious competition. The students have also been well supported by a small band of dedicated parents. The Year 9 students managed to move through the preliminary rounds to qualify for the Quarter final round on Friday, June 23. Year 12 had to compete in an elimination playoff against St Dominic’s College Penrith on Thursday afternoon to move into the Elimination 2 round at Oakhill College on Friday, June 16.
Congratulations and thanks are extended to all of our debaters and their coaches for their commitment and their efforts this season and to their parents who have accompanied them to each and every round of the competition. We offer our best wishes to our Year 12 and 9 teams for success in the next round of competition. Lost in Disney - Performing Arts event. As I write this newsletter article , 170 talented performing arts students from across the school and their dedicated teachers are preparing for three major performances of “Lost in Disney” the 2017 Bethlehem College Performing Arts event. I would like to thank them for their exceptional dedication, generosity of time and passion for the performing arts and wish them luck for their performances. There will be more to report in the final newsletter for the Term 2.
NSW Schools Titration Competition, Saturday June 17. The NSW Schools Titration Competition is a quantitative analytical competition open to NSW students currently enrolled in Senior Chemistry studying towards the Higher School Certificate. The competition operates at a number of school and university venues throughout the State. Students compete in teams of three and, in ninety minutes, must complete a set of acid-base titrations to determine the unknown concentration of a weak acid. The team's score will depend on the accuracy of the work of its members. The best score wins medals for the team. They may then be invited to participate in the National Competition later in the year. This year Bethlehem will enter five senior teams who will travel to Wenona School for Girls in North Sydney on Saturday June 17. The girls have spent many hours outside of scheduled lesson time to
prepare for the competition under the guidance of Dr Crane.
This competition has always been a successful one for our Chemistry students so we wish them every success on Saturday.
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NSW NSWCCC Open Basketball Championships - June 19 and 20 Good luck to our Open CCC Basketball team who will compete at the NSWCCC Open Basketball Championships at Penrith on June 19th & 20th. Best wishes to the following students: Tylah Mundine, Chloe Speight ( Yr 12), Kimberley Boviatsis, Brittany Gardiner ( Year 11), Kiara Haumono, Amou Ring, Shaolina Radevic ( Year 10) , Judith Nwosu, Adout Ring ( Year 9) and Aaliyah Haumono ( Year 7) . They have been preparing for this competition under the careful guidance of super coaches Ms Tsiftsis and Ms. Beaumont. Years 7-10 Parent/Student Teacher Meetings, June 26. Parents and carers of students in Years 7-10 should have already received information about booking appointments for the Parent Student Teacher interviews on Monday June 26. There are no scheduled lessons on this day so that parents and students can attend the interviews. Semester 1 Years 7-10 reports will be published to the Parent Portal a few days before the Parent/Student/Teacher day on Monday, June 26 so I would urge all parents to analyse the data and jot down some questions for your daughter’s teachers. Should you have any problems logging into the Parent Portal, please contact Mrs. Leanne Moody in the front office and she will assist you.
Please do not think that you do not need to attend the interviews because you have a copy of your daughter’s report. It is essential that you attend the interviews with your daughter to not only collect her official, signed report but also to receive verbal feedback on her progress and discuss any concerns. The Years 7-10 reports do not have written comments so this feedback is crucial. Uncollected reports will not be posted home.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE NO FORMAL LESSONS FOR STUDENTS IN YEARS 11 AND 12 ON THIS DAY.
Bethlehem Day Mass, June 30 All parents are warmly invited to the celebration of the Eucharist on Bethlehem Day on Friday, June 30. The mass will commence at 9.15am in the College hall. This is always a beautiful celebration as we honour our heritage as a school founded in the tradition of the Sisters of Charity, welcome a number of invited guests from the Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Charity Outreach (the recipient of our fundraising efforts for the day), local feeder primary schools and local community groups who offer great support to the College. We also invite a distinguished Ex-student of the College to deliver the Bethlehem Day address.
Mrs P Bounds Principal
Important Dates Term 2 2017 17 June Senior Chemistry—NSW Schools Titration Competition 19 –23 June Yr11 Work Placement week (Retail) 21 June Yr10 Food Tech Excursion to Sydney Tower Restaurant 21 June Yr12 Chemistry Excursion to Sydney University 22 June Yr12 Western Sydney Expo. Sydney Olympic Park 22 June Yr7 Mass 8.40am St Vincent’s Church 23 June Yr12 Glamatic Car Maintenance Incursion 23 June Yr10 Indigenous Excursion 26 June Yrs 7-10 Parent/Student /Teacher Interviews (10am-7pm)
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BCA Swimmer at Pacific School Games...
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From the Assistant Principal… Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of the Bethlehem Community,
Principal’s Contract Renewal
Congratulations to our College Principal, Mrs Paula Bounds on the success of her recent Contract Renewal conducted by Mr Michael Bezzina, Head of Teaching and Learning and Mrs Debbie Buscall, Inner West Region Consultant on behalf of Sydney Catholic Schools. Mrs Bounds is currently in her sixth year as Principal of Bethlehem College and her hard work, dedication and visionary leadership of the College was commended by the panel as they interviewed members of the BCA Leadership Team, Coordinators, staff, students and parents as part of the Contract Renewal process. On behalf of Mrs Bounds, thank you to all members of the College community who participated in Mrs Bounds’ successful Contract Renewal.
Whole School Events and Life at the College
The past few weeks have seen a hive of activity at the College with all students participating in a number of significant whole school events as well as year group and subject based experiences outside the classroom. While we acknowledge the balance between the students participating in events that take them outside their normal routine with classroom learning, it is always with the achievement of the best outcomes in mind for our students that we balance in class and outside of class learning on a broader scale.
Last Tuesday’s College Athletics Carnival for example, was a significant community and sporting day in the life of the College enjoyed by the entire College community. Thank you to Ms Dew and the PDHPE staff for their organisation of the event.
Reconciliation Week was celebrated in Week 6 with a beautiful Breakfast hosted by the St Vincent’s Primary staff and shared between all three schools within the Ashfield De La Salle/ Bethlehem College / St Vincent’s precinct. Ms Beshara, our Indigenous Support Teacher and students organ-ised a beautiful Reconciliation Week Mass also attended by our Year 10 students to acknowledge the importance of continuing to work for Reconcilia-tion between Indigenous and non- indigenous people in Australia. We look forward to recognising this year’s NAIDOC Week focus at our upcoming College Assembly in Week 10.
Year 12 recently participated in their Retreat at Stanwell Tops Conference Centre. Thanks to the efforts and careful planning of Mrs Casey (Acting REC), Mrs Toomey (Year 12 Coordinator), Ms Pasion (Youth Ministry Coordinator) and the teachers attending, the girls experienced this significant opportunity to reflect on their faith and life journey as a Year 12 student body.
Students across all years have participated in a range of Incursions and Excursions/Study Days to support and extend upon their learning and pas-toral care. These have included the Year 12 Careers Excursion to Western Sydney University, the Year 11 Careers Excursion to the UNSW Careers Market, Years 9 and 10 Indigenous Performer/Speaker Incursion and the Years 7 and 8 Music Workshop Incursion. Please ask your daughter about these out of class experiences and what she took away from them in terms of her broader learning.
Finally, our students continue to be involved in a number of co-curricular experiences in a range of sporting, academic and cultural platforms with great success. This evening is the culmination of many months of hard work from the Music/Drama/Dance KLAs in the Performance Evening under the directorship of our Music Coordinator, Mrs Sally Bowyer. We wish Mrs Bowyer and her team of staff and students all the very best for this evening. Also this evening is the Elimination Round of the CSDA Debating, with our Year 12 and Year 9 teams vying for a place in the CSDA Semi-finals. Our Mock Trial team coached by Mr Martin (HSIE Coordinator) and supported by Ms Pender and Ms Nehme also had a win in their recent round against St Patrick’s College, Strathfield. Finally, our Senior Chemistry Titration team organised by Dr Crane are competing this weekend in the prestigious Titra-tion Competition and we wish them well in an area where they have enjoyed great success in the past.
These as well as representative CGSSSA events in Cross Country and Gymnastics well and truly bear witness to the broader involvement of our Beth-lehem students in all aspects of College life. In addition, they support the research which exists around building resilience and confidence within young people through opportunities to connect with other students and take risks in situations where they can build teamwork, networks and collaborative practice.
Police Talks Ashfield Police
Unfortunately social media and technology continue to present challenges for our young people in their online interactions with friends, acquaintances or people they don’t even know. At Bethlehem College, the safety of all students, including their online/cyber safety, is our priority and we continue to work with families to ensure that information regarding safe practices is communicated and reinforced with our students. Next Monday 19 June, we are fortunate to have Detectives from Ashfield Local Command coming to speak to our students in their year groups on the safe use of technology and responsible use of social media. The presentations will be targeted appropriately for each year group and students will have the opportunity to ask questions. Home Room teachers will also be in attendance at each session with the appropriate Year Coordinator and members of the College Leadership Team. Pastoral follow up activities are planned within the Home Room Circle structure in the coming weeks to allow for meaningful debrief sessions with the students where HR teachers can look at ways in which the messages given to the students can be implemented and taken forward.
State Transit Authority Opal Card Usage
I have written before on the subject of Opal Card usage by our students which are issued to students as free travel cards for use to and from school on public transport buses and trains. In recent months, the State Transit Authority has indicated that they are reviewing the services in the Inner West on the basis of usage so in addition to all students tapping on and tapping off as a condition of usage for the free travel passes, students are asked to make sure that they do so to avoid services being cut or reduced on routes which are used by many of our students and their families. The assistance of parents in supporting their daughters/young person in their care is very much appreciated in this area.
Mrs Catherine Anderson Assistant Principal
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From the Curriculum Coordinator… Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews These interviews take place on Monday 26th June for students in Year 7 – 10. We look forward to meeting with parents and students to discuss pro-gress throughout Semester 1 and set goals for Semester 2. ASSESSMENTS DUE DURING WEEKS 9, 10 and Term 3 Week 1
Mrs Janet Mann Curriculum Coordinator
Brainteasers: Problem 73: Start at a corner square and move in a clockwise spiral to the middle to spell out a nine-letter word. What are the missing letters and what is the word?
Students are invited to solve this problem, and deposit the answer, marked clearly with name and homeroom, in the box in the General Office by 3pm on Tuesday 27th June. The first correct entry drawn will receive a canteen voucher!!!! Congratulations to Amelia Vasiliou, 9C2, who correctly solved the KenKen. Well done, Amelia! See Mrs Mann to collect your canteen voucher.
YEAR 12 YEAR 11
WEEK 9 19th June – Economics 21st June – Dance, Eng Adv/Sta 22nd June – Eng Studies 23rd June – Bus Stud, Eng Ext 1
20th June – Physics, Hospitality 21st June – Photography, IPT 22nd June – Maths Ext, Maths General
WEEK10 26th June – SOR Focus Day 27th June – Legal Stud, Photography 28th June – Visual Arts 29th June –Maths Ex1,Eng Ex2, Geog 30th June –Hist Ext
27th June – Fundamentals of English 29th June – Drama
WEEK 1 18th July – Dance 20th July –Mod Hist, Maths Ex2, Vis Arts, Food Tech, Hospitality 21st July – Anc Hist, Food Tech
19th July – Modern History 20th July – SOR, Cath Studies
YEAR 10 YEAR 9
WEEK 9 20th June – Science 21st June – Commerce 23rd June - Maths
19th June – Commerce 20th June – Drama, IST 23rd June - Maths
WEEK10 27th June – Dance 28th June – Drama
27th June – Maths 5.3 Part 2
WEEK 1 Nil 19th July – Commerce 20th July – English 21st July - iSTEM
YEAR 8 YEAR 7
WEEK 9 22nd June – PDHPE – E,A,R,N 23rd June – Maths, PDHPE L
19th June – PDHPE A, E 20th June – PDHPE L, N 21st June – Maths, PDHPE R
WEEK10 29th June – Visual Arts Nil
WEEK 1 Nil Nil
F S
E C
A N I
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From the Acting Religious Education Coordinator… Year 12 Retreat
“I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full”. (John 10:10)
This line from John’s Gospel was at the heart of the Year 12 Retreat. It linked perfectly to Year 12’s own motto, “Be a pebble of excellence, create a ripple of change” in which they defined excellence as a way of life, a determination to use the gifts we possess as God intended and by this help to create change and bring hope which is so needed in our world. It is also at the heart of everything Bethlehem College desires for our students - that they may know Jesus Christ and through Him live life to the full. On the Year 12 Retreat there were many opportunities to enjoy just being together as there were times to pray and reflect. Dr Crane led a memorable meditation on the invisible and wonder-filled reality of the natural world and linked this to the nature of faith. Ms Moodey spoke about the importance of good friends to having a good life and how to see the obstacles we all face in life as opportunities. Ms Pasion spoke about how we do not have to face all the challenges of life on our own, Jesus declares in John 10:10 that he will be there to help. In the midst of all of this the girls painted twelve individual symbols which will be united in their graduation cloth, ran a talent quest, organised a birthday party for Mrs Toomey, made high end couture outfits with only newspaper and wrote hundreds of beautiful affirmations to each other. On behalf of all the staff who attended, we would like to thank Year 12 for making this retreat a very special time for us too.
I would like to thank Ashley Lieu for writing about her experience of the Retreat and Jie Zhang who took these photos while on the bush walk at Stanwell Tops.
On the 31st of May, the Year 12 cohort left for what would be our last and final retreat. In the midst of an upcoming exam period, the three days at Stanwell Tops were a perfect opportunity for us to ground ourselves before coming back and jumping into the fray. Throughout the retreat we were reminded of the importance of keeping perspective - that it is so easy to lose ourselves to the demands of exams and assessments. But through the beautiful sessions led by Mrs Casey, Ms Moodey, Dr Crane, and Miss Pasion, we were brought back to the reality that the HSC isn’t something that we need to carry with us for the rest of our lives. Rather, we have the choice to hold onto truth, friendship, and life instead. So while we left retreat with the bittersweet realisation that this would be our last, it was not without the knowledge that these memories and lessons would be ones to hold onto for life. (But then again, who could possibly forget Dr Crane’s ‘argh’-mazing runway strut).
Thank you to Mrs Toomey, Mrs Casey, Ms Moodey, Dr Crane, Miss Nehme, and Miss Pasion for giving up their time and putting so much effort into making our Year 12 Retreat an unforgettable experience for us.
Eurella Volunteer Programme for senior school students
This initiative is entirely the work of a very compassionate and dedicated group of Year 11 students - Rebecca Boumina, Natalie Sirone, Monica Ibrahim, Josie Barbara, Isabella Abraham and Adriana Zappulla. After St Vincent de Paul Night Patrol was no longer available, these girls asked to volunteer to spend time with disabled adults at the Eurella Centre in Burwood. Each Thursday afternoon the girls will spend an hour talking to the clients about current affairs. Last week was their first visit to the centre, and though they were a little daunted at first, they made friends quickly. The staff at Eurella said the girls were a “great bunch” and they were going to do really well. This is no small compliment because many of the people there have severe disabili-ties. This is a pilot programme, and at the end of the term we will see if other students might be eligible to volunteer also.
Bethlehem Day
On Friday 30th June our College will celebrate ‘Bethlehem Day’. This is a time when we reflect on the great work of the Sisters of Charity. Without the foresight and passion of Mother Mary Aikenhead and the many amazing and dedicated women who followed a calling to be a Sister of Charity our Col-lege would never have eventuated. In the tradition of our College we will celebrate ‘Bethlehem Day’ on the last day our College term. The day will begin with a Mass in the College Hall, highlighting the admirable works of service the Sisters of Charity began many years ago. After Mass we have numer-ous fundraising activities to support the works of the Mary Aikenhead Ministries.
If you would like to join us for this celebration for please contact the College office, the Mass will commence at 9:30am. We are also extremely privi-
leged to have a number of Sisters of Charity joining us for this celebration.
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From the Acting Religious Education Coordinator (cont’d.)…
On the Block Youth Night
Following the success of last term’s On the Block Youth Night we hope to hold one each term. Below are the details for our term two event. Everyone is most welcome. For any information please speak to or email Mrs Casey or Ms Pasion.
Australian Catholic Youth Festival
Applications to attend ACYF have opened and the response has been incredibly positive. Last count this festival will be attended by over 11,000 Australians. If you would like more information about the exciting event please click on this link to the ACYF website http://youthfestival.catholic.org.au/ .
The Australian Bishops have announced 2018 to be the Year of Youth. Sydney Catholic Schools has made 20 special positions available to students from each school to attend ACYF as part of their training to become student leaders of the Year of Youth. Nominations opened for these positions last week and we have been delighted with the re-sponse. Interviews begin next week and we are hopeful that we will have a strong team to lead this important initiative.
In Faith, Mrs Ruth Casey Acting Religious Education Coordinator
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Counsellor’s Corner…
Never stop doing these things no matter how old you are (and model this for your kids).
• Never stop dreaming. A person without imagination will find it harder to find the joy in life. • Never stop saying “I love you”. It is never too much. Tell your loved ones you love them everyday. • Never stop exploring. The world is big; never just stay in your comfort zone. • Never stop complimenting yourself. You need to appreciate yourself whatever others think. • Never stop doing good deeds. Though you may never get it back, you will feel more fulfilled. • Never stop believing. Believing keeps our hopes alive. • Never stop playing. Keep your inner child alive and kicking. • Never stop learning. When we stop learning, our brains die. And finally, a quote from Mahatma Ghandi which sums most of this up, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever”.
Karen Rushbrook School Counsellor
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Sports Corner...
MCCS Results
MCCS Netball Round 6 Year 7 Team vs. Trinity Loss 18 - 1 Year 8 Team vs. Trinity Loss 30 - 3 Year 9 Team vs. Trinity Won 15 - 9 Year 10 Team vs. Trinity Won 14 - 9 Senior Team vs. Trinity Forfeit Round 7 Year 7 Team vs. Nagle College Loss 12 - 0 Year 8 Team vs. Nagle College Loss 12 - 5 Year 9 Team vs. Nagle College Loss 21 - 7 Year 10 Team vs. Nagle College Won 16 - 11 Senior Team vs. BYE Thank you to Ms Dew, Ms Pasion and Ms Conneely for helping coach Netball this season. We are waiting on results this week to determine whether any of our teams will make the semi-finals next week. Term 3 MCCS Competitions
Basketball - Week 1 - 9
Soccer Week 1 - 9
Ultimate Frisbee - Thursday 21st September
CGSSSA Updates
Upcoming CGSSSA Competitions in Term 3:
Tuesday 18th July - CGSSSA Netball
Friday 18th August - CGSSSA Athletics
Wednesday 13th September - CGSSSA Dance
Kathryn Beaumont Sports Coordinator/MCCS/CGSSSA
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BCA Parents’ & Friends’ News...
Welcome to the Bethlehem P&F news, my name is Janine Hannigan the president of the P&F. I have been in-volved with the school since my daughter Sarah (year 10) started. I’ve been lucky to be involved in the St Vincent night patrol, Christmas hampers and now helping one morning a week at the breakfast club.
Term 1 : Our first meeting of the year and we were lucky to have John George from InFlow education, where John delivered a motivation and study skill seminar. It was a great turn out. Parents left armed with a little more knowl-edge in how to support our young ladies through the schooling years
Term 2 : Our school Counsellor Ms Karen Rushbrook held a presentation for the parents on Body Image and Body Esteem. A topic that we should all be aware of. On the school website is a great slide show of what was discussed at the meeting with great advice and tips. Term 3 : The next meeting on the 1
st August our assistant Principal Mrs Catherine Anderson has been able to lock
in two Senior Constables, School Liaison Police Officers to deliver a presentation on Cyber Safety, focusing on responsible and safe use of social media. A very important topic we should be aware of and talking about with our daughters on a regular basis.
Dates for your Diary:
1st
August 7pm - The next P&F meeting. We would love to see you there.
25 August – P&F Bingo & Social Night
Bingo night – these evenings don’t come together by themselves. We need the Bethlehem community to come together. How do you do this? … come to the night, it’s always a fun night. Book a table or we can put you with parents from the same year group as your daughter. We also need donations, some ideas are: chocolates, wine, movie vouchers, hairdresser vouchers, tutoring vouchers, fruit baskets, sporting goods .
Please bring donations to the school office with your name on it or contact myself at
[email protected] and we can arrange pick up or drop off.
Thank you
Janine Hannigan
P&F President “A little bit of Mercy makes the world less cold and more just” Pope Francis
18 Bland Street, Ashfield NSW 2131 • Email: [email protected]
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Community News...
Contact details for Peter Lambley (AAFC) 307 (City of Bankstown) Squadron Australian Air Force Cadets P (02) 8745 7650 (Tuesday evenings 6.30pm – 9.30pm) E [email protected]
Reminder: Important notice regarding Staff Development days for Terms 2 and 3
As you would be aware Bethlehem College has commenced a major building program. The College has worked closely with the Project managers Crown Projects Services, Gledhill Constructions and Sydney Catholic Schools to ensure the smooth operation of the project. Work on the new building (on the old basketball courts) has been slow because of interruptions caused by the rain but we are hopeful that the rain will cease and the next stage of the construction will recommence. Project managers Crown Projects Services and Gledhill Constructions are keen to minimise impact on teaching and learning and ensure the safety and wellbeing of staff and students, so they are scheduling much of the noisy, dusty and dirty work for the school holidays between now and the completion of the project in August 2018. Following discussions with the Inner West office of Sydney Catholic schools, a decision has been made that Staff development days scheduled for Terms 2, 3 and 4 will be combined into four days of Staff Development at the end of Term 3. This means that all students will commence their Term 3 holidays on Tuesday September 19. I hope that this provides sufficient time for parents to make alternate arrangements for the care of your daughters/ young people in your care.
DE LA SALLE COLLEGE ASHFIELD - Ex Students and Staff Annual Dinner
Friday, 18 August 2017. Please contact the College on 9797 3200 to order your
ticket. Tables of 10 can be booked. Tickets $75.00 each which includes your meal and drinks.
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Community News, Reminders and... DLS College Ex Students & Staff Annual Dinner
Reminder: Registering for Parent Portal Access:
BCA parents who have not already registered individual login details to the Sentral Parent Portal must do so asap in order to access Excursion Permission Notes and to book interview times with teachers for 2017 PST interviews (Yrs 7-10: Mon 26 June). Parents without login details are asked to contact Ms Moody in the College Office Monday-Thursday.
Reminder: Are you receiving the school emails to your Spam/Trash folders?
Add Our Address to Your Email Safe Senders List, Address Book or Contact List. On occasions our Email newsletter or other Communication from Bethlehem College can be blocked or filtered into the spam folder especially now that email filters are focusing more strongly on “grey mail” or commercial mail. As a result of these changes you may be unable to read certain email communications. To avoid these situations, add our email addresses to your Safe Senders List. Please add either the From Address that the email you received came from (eg: [email protected]) OR add the domain @[email protected] to your Address Book or Contacts to continue receiving our communication in your inbox!
