MacKillop News – Term 4 Week 10

13th December 2023

From the Principal

Dear Families,

As we approach the festive season, I am filled with gratitude and joy to extend warm Christmas greetings to each and every one of you. The holiday season is a time of reflection, unity, and love, and here at MacKillop, we are truly blessed to share these moments with our incredible school community.

Throughout the year, our students have exhibited dedication, resilience, and compassion, embodying the spirit of our Patroness herself. It is heartwarming to witness the growth and achievements of our students, both academically and personally, as they continue to uphold the values that define our school.

As we gather with family and friends to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, let us take a moment to appreciate the sense of community that makes MacKillop a special place. Our shared commitment to faith, excellence, and service is the foundation that strengthens our bond and shapes the character of our students.

This Christmas, I encourage each of you to embrace the true meaning of the season – the gift of love, kindness, and hope. In the midst of the festivities, may we find moments of peace and reflection, cherishing the blessings that surround us.

Looking ahead to the new year, let us continue to foster a nurturing and supportive environment for our students to thrive. May the coming year be filled with opportunities for growth, learning, and joy.

On behalf of the entire College family, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May the spirit of Christmas illuminate your homes with love, warmth, and the joy of togetherness.

God Bless

Lucas Hurley
Principal

From the Middle Years Curriculum Coordinator

The curriculum team has designed a Literacy Intervention program that will be launched in the Middle School in 2024. The program is aimed at all levels of literacy proficiency and is focused on reading comprehension and reading to learn. I would like to congratulate Andrea Giminez for her appointment as our Literacy Coordinator. In this role, she will lead our Literacy Intervention program. More details about this exciting initiative will be released early next year.

Matthew Sharp
Middle Years Curriculum Coordinator

Getting Ready for 2024

Mackillop 2024 – Ordering Instructions for Online Book Packs

MACKILLOP CATHOLIC COLLEGE YR7to10- SXIIMATRIXN – FEB 24

MACKILLOP CATHOLIC COLLEGE YR11 GRAPHICS – FEB 24

STILE and Education Perfect

Perth Submarine Excursion

Congratulations to MacKillop’s state-level winning team. MacKillop junior and senior teams in the Australian Nuclear Submarine Challenge had a once-in-a-lifetime experience of touring HMAS Stirling, HMAS Perth and boarding submarines as part of the trip to Perth they won as a result of their excellent work.

Winning team from the NT with the captain of HMAS Perth

Isaac Johnstone from MacKillop received the award for posing the most inquisitive question

Having a break at Dome coffee with their chaperones Mr Roy, Ms Emery, Mr Hurley and Mr Bock.

Saints News

Liam Gardner Medal

Traditionally, we have recognised individuals for their achievements in different games and seasons from a playing perspective. We’ve also recognised excellence inside the classroom through our Rugby Codes elective classes. The Liam Gardner Medal was created to fill a gap in our Rugby awards suite to recognise our most complete player of the season, both on and off the pitch.

Congratulations are extended to Nathan O’Sullivan of Year 10 who was presented with the first ever Liam Gardner Medal at our annual presentation evening. Nathan had a stellar year on the pitch and was involved in an u16s & Open Boys Rugby League team’s undefeated season. He was named MVP of the Palmerston Cup having scored a hat-trick. Nathan was close to the best on ground in the Eels Cup Grand Final and was in contention to be the Eels Cup medalist before injury prevented him from completing the match.

Congratulations are also extended to Liam Gardner whose name and image have now been immortalised in Saints folklore through this award. Liam is a former player and captain who is still in regular contact with the club and school. The manner in which he conducted himself as a clubman serves as an inspiration to our up-and-coming players.

Farewell Mr Bryers & Mr Tyler

This week we had the pleasure of recognising the contributions of both Mr Bryers and Mr Tyler to the Saints League & Union program by awarding them both with Saints Life Membership. Both men now join Mr David Graham and Mrs Lauretta Graham in this very exclusive club. Mr Bryers has been our Strength & Conditioning Coach since 2018 and will be moving interstate at the end of this year. Mr Tyler is our current club President. Although he will still be around our rugby teams, he will be leaving MacKillop in an official capacity at the end of the year to follow other business pursuits. We wish both Mr Bryers and Mr Tyler all the best with their future endeavours and thank them for their service.

Matthew Sharp
Head of Rugby Codes

Arts News

Term 4 is a very busy term for the Arts department. Many of our students excelled and put in their full effort all the way till the end of term by performing in multiple events. Music students in particular performed at Music Night, Presentation Night, the end of term Christmas Liturgy as well as a Carols event at Oasis Shopping center over the past two weeks. Members of the public and the Oasis shopping center were very impressed with our students and complimented them on the beautiful performance.

Kathryn Ezzy
Head of Arts

Arts Week

Dance Night

Hi all,

A week ago we held our Dance Night and I just wanted to congratulate the students and teachers involved.

Our dance teacher, Abby, worked very hard on choreographing the dances and organised the students very well to put on the show. The quality of work was very high.

David Lloyd and Jane Marshall also helped backstage and back of house with managing the students and filming and all the different things that it takes to put on a show.

So please, when you see students that you know are involved with dance or the people who were involved with the night, please congratulate them on a successful event.

Christmas Music at Oasis Shopping Centre

You can find full videos of the performances on facebook.

Presentation Night

Languages

Soda Gembira

In Indonesian class, we tried Soda Gembira – Happy Soda. Gembira means happy and Soda is soda. The reason to call it soda gembira is because once you finish drinking the combination of condensed milk, rose syrup and soda water in a tall beer mug, you’ll feel happy and energetic.