Term 4, Week 5 - 13 November - 2020
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From the Principal
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KLA in Focus - TAS
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Careers
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Rachel Johnson Memorial Service
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Rachel Johnson Memorial Touch Football Competition
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NAIDOC Week - Story by Jara'na Dutton
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Gardening Program
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Parent Assembly Flyers
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Prayer Time and Resources - From The Soul
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Parish News
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Celebrating 30 Years
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Safe on Social Media - Snapchat
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Recipe of the Week - Brayden Jamieson
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Birthdays
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Advertisements
Dear Parents and Carers
NAIDOC Week - Always Was Always Will Be
Always Was, Always Will Be. recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years. As a College community, we respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians, the Gumbaynggir People, who have walked and cared for this land for thousands of years and their descendants who still maintain these Spiritual and Cultural Connections. We also extend our respect to the people of the Bundjalung and Yaegl nations, where many of our students come from. We acknowledge the elders past and present, and future and know that these lands, seas and waterways, always were, are and will always be, the land of the First Nations peoples.
This week we have been celebrating NAIDOC week in a slightly different way with a special focus on Rachel Johnson, our Indigenous Education Worker who passed away suddenly in July this year. To mark NAIDOC Week and in memory of Rachel, our students and staff have been participating in the Rachel Johnson Memorial Touch Football Competition. Each homeroom (28) committed a team of players to participate in a 10 minute game of Touch at either recess or lunchtime. The players have been well supported by spectators and we have seen some excellent skills displayed by many students and staff. The final was played at lunchtime today between TR4 and CH4. Congratulations to the overall winning homeroom -TR4.
Rachel would have been very proud and probably a little embarrassed by the acknowledgement she has received. Thank you to the organisers of the event - Carla Snow, Col Speed, Craig Nipperess and Rod Paton and to everyone who assisted to make this event such a success.
Rachel Johnson’s Memorial
Incorporated into NAIDOC week, and to coincide with the Inaugural RJ Touch Football Competition, was a Memorial Service and Tree Planting for Rachel. A prayer service was held in the hall for the whole school and then a Muurrbay tree was planted in our Memorial Garden. Muurrbay means ‘white fig tree’ in the Gumbaynggirr language and the Muurrbay tree carries the spirit of wholeness. We have included the story of the Muurrbay Tree that was told in the Memorial service in a special section of this newsletter and I encourage you to read it.
Remembrance Day - 11 November
We always take time to acknowledge Remembrance Day at the College. This year - the 102nd anniversary - Remembrance Day was incorporated into our Tuesday Assembly and our PC lesson. On Wednesday at 11am our Captains, Jacqui and Ryan, led the school community in an acknowledgement of this special day, when we remember Australian men and women who have served in war and peacekeeping activities. Remembrance Day does not glorify war – it honours the memory of all those who laid down their lives for Australia. As a mark of respect to those who have served, we stopped to observe one minute’s silence. One thing we can do for the people who fought for our country is to continue the tradition of remembering them.
In Flanders Fields BY JOHN MCCRAE
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Graduation
Our Year 12 students completed their HSC exams this week and we will celebrate their Graduation from McAuley Catholic College on Saturday evening. Students have been able to invite their parents to this event which will take the form of a presentation to each student, acknowledgement speeches and thank you’s, followed by dinner and entertainment. I congratulate each one of our students on reaching this milestone in a year like no-other and wish them all the very best as they move into the next part of their life journey.
Plan for the end of term, 2020
A letter will be sent home to all families on Monday outlining the plan for the next 5 weeks of this term. This will be emailed to parents and I ask that you take note of the dates and plans.
Leadership - Year 11 & 10 2021
Nominations for leadership positions for 2021 are currently open for our current Year 9 & 10 students. I encourage students to consider nominating for these roles. It is an opportunity to have a voice and represent the students in their year groups through the Student Leadership Team. A major focus of the team is service, as we are teaching and promoting the concept of Servant Leadership. Interested students should see their Year Coordinator for more information.
Bushfire anniversary
This time 12 months ago bushfires were raging in our local area. Many communities affected by the fires have been gathering together to commemorate the anniversary and acknowledge the impact of the fires. We continue to keep those affected by the bushfires from 12 months ago in our thoughts and prayers.
Week 6 - Reflection Days
Next week students in Years 7 - 10 will be participating in their annual Reflection Day. All students are to be in attendance on these days as it is an enrolment expectation. These days are very beneficial for students, in terms of spiritual development, wellbeing, and developing and restoring relationships.
Enjoy your fortnight,
Kind regards,
Kate
Kate Thomson
Principal
“We should be shining lamps, giving light to all around us.” Catherine McAuley
HSC Major Projects - Timber
This year saw Xavier Hodgson and Elliot Speed assemble Major Projects in Industrial Technology Timber. Both students produced furniture items of a very high standard and should be extremely proud of their work.
Xavier designed and assembled an antique style red cedar Tree Hall Stand to hang his hats and coats. Elliot constructed a contemporary lowline Spotted Gum Entertainment Unit to house his media.
Both boys should be congratulated on their efforts throughout this challenging year.
Year 10 iSTEM
As part of the CAD/CAM unit of study our iSTEM students have been designing and manufacturing portable bluetooth speakers. Students have used Onshape, an online CAD drawing platform to generate their designs. Once the CAD drawings have been developed students send their files to either the 3D printer, Laser Cutter or CNC Router to be manufactured. The materials of choice have been 3D print filament, acrylic and timber. The students have thoroughly enjoyed developing new skills in the use of this modern technology.
HSC UPDATE
With HSC exams finished this means the first UAC round of offers for Year 12 students who applied under the Schools Recommendation Schemes will be out this week.
Students have been able to login to the UAC website from 7.30 am on Thursday 12 November to find out if an early offer has been made.
Offers
Just a reminder that students can only receive one unconditional offer in an offer round. They can then accept the offer, remove it from their preference list, rearrange their preferences in-time for the next round of offers. Then all preferences will be considered and another offer may be given.
The Muurrbay Tree
In Rachel’s memory we will plant a Muurrbay tree. Muurrbay means ‘white fig tree’ in the Gumbaynggirr language. In the Dreamtime, the Muurrbay tree is the tree of life, being the source of food for the whole Gumbaynggirr tribe. This same giant fig tree, was taken up by Yuludarla the Creator, because two clans were quarrelling over it. The theme of the story is caring and sharing. This is the story as told by Aunty Shaa Smith
The Muurrbay tree is a white fig. The old people who tell this story say that this white fig was so huge it covered about an acre of land. It was really huge. This white fig was a place where people gathered. They would have gathered in a season when the fruit was ready for picking and eating. When they gathered, they came from the east and the west. So, they came from the coast and they came from the mountains. They shared this fruit, this sacred fruit. There was this whole sense of sharing and caring. The people gathered in this state of harmony and togetherness. Sitting together and singing together and just celebrating the sacredness of that. This is what they did.
Then one day, for some reason, the people started fighting over this tree. They started fighting over the Murrbay. The one mob were saying, ‘You have all come around to our side and taken all the big figs and left us all with the little ones’. And another mob were saying, ‘The father gave this tree to us, this is ours’. So, this went on and they were raising their fists and they were shouting at each other and bad mouthing each other.
In the Gumbaynggirr tradition we have the father, the first man, we have the mother, and we have the son. These are our three ancient ancestors. So the father, Baabaga, he heard and he saw the people fighting and bad mouthing each other and he said to them, ‘All you people have turned completely evil, so I am going to take this tree away from you all forever’. So, he pulled up this huge, huge tree out of the ground, roots and all. He pulled it up and took it up into the sky. In some of the storytelling the old people say that all these birds came, lots and lots of birds came and helped Baabaga, the father, take the tree up into the sky. And some people tried to hang onto the vines and the roots to hold it down and keep it on the earth but they couldn’t. So they went up into the sky with the tree. That’s where the tree remains today.
The tree is now the place where, when a person dies, their spirit goes to eat the fruit, eat the sacred fruit before they journey on. When a person dies the Ngalunggirr, the cleverman, will call out to the spirit, ‘yuway’ and the spirit will answer back ‘yuway’. That will keep going on until the spirit stops answering back. Then the Ngalunggirr says that spirit is good, they are at the Muurrbay tree now.
So, the Muurrbay tree carries the spirit of wholeness, which is what we all long for, what we yearn for- our wholeness. It’s our wholeness with ourselves, with each other and with the earth.
Muurrbay ya. Muurrbay ya.
Jagii wajaana minya
Gunumbay ngalinya
Muurrbay ya. Muurrbay ya.
Ganggaali gaaba warrii
Duguula ngayinggi
Muurrbay Tree, Muurrbay tree (white fig)
Sacred fruit of the earth
Give life (connection, belonging) to you and me
Muurrbay tree, Muurrbay tree
Calls us west, east
Together, next to each other, to live (sit) in harmony
- https://www.gumbaynggirrjagun.org/stories/muurrbay-tree-of-life
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The much anticipated McAuley Catholic College Rachel Johnson Memorial NAIDOC Touch Tournament kicked off on Monday.
28 Home Room Teams competed with 6 games played throughout the recess and lunch Breaks.
All games were played in great spirit, and the sportsmanship among the teams was fantastic and something every student (and staff) should be proud of.
The winner of the competition was Tracey 4 (Captained by Mr Rod Paton)! A huge congratulations to the winning homeroom, all other teams who participated and the countless staff and students who helped organise this competition.
It was great to see such a great community spirit displayed amongst our students and staff.
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Over the last couple of weeks, the gardening crew have been busy picking their first crop of zucchinis, lettuce, spinach and onions. The onions have been harvested and hung up to dry in the school glasshouse. The crew have also had a lesson on how to pickle beetroot. Each student took a jar of beetroot home and discovered that homegrown beetroot is far superior to store-bought produce! Some lucky staff also received a jar from the boys to try. The potatoes should be ready for digging later in the term. Corn is coming along well, also zucchini, button squash, chocko, white apple cucumbers and tomatoes. All vegetables have been chosen by crew members with some unexpected choices. The crew are learning that it is great to grow and eat your own food but even better to give their produce away to others.
SO WHAT IS SNAPCHATS "MY EYES ONLY"?
We have received numerous questions from parents over the last month regarding "My eyes only" that was introduced back in 2016, so please feel free to use this information in your school newsletters.
This feature of Snapchat is a secure storage folder where an account holder may keep Snaps and Stories of a more personal nature. The logic behind this is to prevent embarrassment should another person be using your Snapchat and to prevent them viewing such Snaps.
When this features was launched in 2016 – there was something of a collective feeling that Snapchat had admitted the existence of sexting, and as a result created this section where more risqué images could be kept. By and large, this prediction seems to have held the course – and commentary about the content of individual My Eyes Only content on other platforms confirms this.
(The folder is not exclusively used for sexting images, and nudes ; and individuals also keep images of important moments in this space.)
My Eyes Only is only able to be accessed by a password, different to the Snapchat login. And should an individual forget this, there is no legitimate way to access the folder anymore.
The SnapChat team are unable to assist in password recovery, are very clear about this and the only solution is to reset the My Eyes Only password; which will wipe the content saved. This makes this content quite secure for social media app.
Risks
Be wary of hackers offering to access this account when you have forgotten your password.
Young people have posted queries online, looking for a workaround when locked out of this folder, and often get responses from a strangers online. They should be very wary.
The information necessary to share would provide such a person with access to their Snapchat account, contacts, images and other details. This, plus the content of their My Eyes Only folder (should they be able to hack it) may well be used against them by sextortion, identity theft or online bullying.
If they do forget their password – they need top accept that they have lost the contents of this folder and their images are gone.
- As a teenager, if they are storing intimate images of themselves and/or a partner in this folder they should familiarise yourself with the laws in Australia surrounding images of people under the age of 18yrs that may be considered inappropriate. Possessing such imagery, distributing it, and even creating it can be against the law. The younger they are , the more likely this will be the case.
- Be very careful about the location of the “Save” button for My Eyes Only and its proximity to the “Add Story” button on Snapchat. They are side by side, and if the image is a particularly personal one ; they do not want to accidently post it to the wrong location.
- Consider using their phone camera storage roll for family and friend images. Should they forget their password to My Eyes Only these will be lost permanently.
- Keep their password private at all times, both their Snapchat login details and your My Eyes Only access.
- Always use the latest version of Snapchat. Snapchat has been the target of a number of cybersecurity challenges, and updates will include additional protections and improvements.
- Do not accept strangers into their SnapChat…ever.
Parents, please be aware that this folder exists if you are in the habit of checking your child’s activity online. The folder is located via the Memories section of Snapchat. This is accessed by swiping up in camera mode, then swiping left to My Eyes Only. You will not be able to view the content without the consent of your child and the provision of their password.
The link below is to Snapchat’s information section on My Eyes Only.
Frypan pasta bake with spinach and ricotta
Ingredients
150g frozen chopped spinach portions, thawed
- Cook the pasta shells in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 10-12 minutes or until almost cooked through. Drain well.
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Meanwhile, use your hands to squeeze the excess liquid from the spinach. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the ricotta, parmesan and nutmeg. Season. Mix until combined.
- Place the pasta sauce and 60ml (1/4 cup) water in a 20cm ovenproof frying pan or ovenproof dish. Stir until combined
- Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan forced. Spoon heaped tablespoonfuls of the ricotta mixture into each cooked pasta shell. Arrange the stuffed shells in the pan or dish in 2 concentric circles over the sauce to create a flower pattern. Use 11 shells for the outer circle and 5 for the inner circle.
- Place 1 cherry tomato half, cut-side up, in between each shell around the edge of the dish and the final tomato half, cut-side up, in the centre. Sprinkle with the cheddar. Place the pan or dish on a baking tray. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden. Scatter with basil to serve.