Page 1

Dear Parents and Carers,

Term 3 Issue 3 28th August—8th September

2017

In this Issue:

Page

1. Principal’s Message

3. Message from the Youth

Minister

4. Message from the Director

of Student Wellbeing

8. Student News

11. Extra Curricular Activities

15. Netball News

17. P & F News

18. Parent News

19. Letter from Bishop Peter

Upcoming Events:

TERM 3

Week 7

28 August—1st September

Mercy Week commences

28 August—9am Mercy Day

Mass

29 August—Mercy Vs SPX

Netball

30 August—Mercy Week Lunch

and Activities

31 August—Fathers’ Day

Breakfast 7.00am

31 August—Year 10 Fashion

Parade

1 Sept—BBSSSA Golf

1 Sept—Mercy Outreach Visits

Week 8

6-8 Sept—Year 11 Exams

7-8 Sept-Bronze Duke of Ed

8 Sept—Year 12 Chemistry

Excursion

8 Sept—Year 7 Vaccinations

SAVE THE DATE

Friday 3rd November—6.30pm

Creative Arts Showcase

The Concourse, Chatswood

“Strive for Better Things” Mercy

Catholic College, Chatswood

Those families who were fortunate enough to be able to attend our Visual Arts and Design

Exhibition last week would have been amazed at the quality of the work on display.

I would like to congratulate every student from Years 7 and 8

Technology classes and the elective Visual Arts and TAS

classes from Years 9 to 12. It was obvious because of the

quality of the work the enormous amount of time and effort

that went into the students’ work.

I was very impressed by the breadth of ideas explored by the

students not only their personal world but they recognised

global issues, both social and environmental, with many ideas

of how they could resolve these issues.

There are a number of staff that need to be acknowledge for

nurturing your daughter’s wonderful talent: Mrs Delia Russell,

Mrs Jane Lennon, Mrs Sue Holman, Mrs Fiona Cunningham,

Mrs Nadia Zambetti and Mrs Michelle Thomson.

MESSAGE FROM BISHOP PETER:

Bishop Peter A Comensoli has written to the school community about the Bill to change the legal definition of Marriage and

the Bill to Legalise Voluntary Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in NSW.

I encourage you to read Bishop Peter’s letter at the end of Mercy Voice. He has also requested that you consider writing

to your local State member to petition against passing the Euthanasia Bill.

MERCY WEEK:

Next week is Mercy week, a week of celebrating and remembering. Celebrating our membership of the wider Mercy

community founded by Catherine McAuley, and remembering that we need to follow her example and look after the “poor”.

We begin the week with Eucharist which you are all most welcome to attend at 9am in OLD Church.

Page 2

Best wishes

Principal

STUDENT LEADERS 2017/2018

As we move towards the end of Term 3 our senior leaders prepare to hand over their

responsibilities to the next Year Group. I have great pleasure in announcing the new

leaders for 2017/2018:

College Captain: Mary-Ann Heaney

Vice-Captain: Grace Johnson

Prefects:

Zoe Coyne Year 10

Caitlin Hester Year 7

Caolyn Mann Year 9

Cassie Parker Year 11

Danielle Thebridge Year 8

I take this opportunity to publically thank our present leaders for all that they have contributed to Mercy College over their year of office. Our new leaders are a wonderful

group of young women with fine qualities of leadership. They will be inducted at our Mercy Day Mass on Monday.

Page 3

Message from Youth Minister

YEAR 10 STUDENTS LEAD LITURGY FOR PRIMARY STUDENTS

In the last month, the CSYMA (Catholic Schools Youth Ministry Australia) class were given the

task of organising liturgies for each Year group at Our Lady of Dolours Primary School As the CSYMA class, we centre our education on God’s teaching and how we can share the message of Jesus in our everyday life.

On the 2nd of August, the Year 10 CSYMA class took part in the creation of combined liturgies with the OLD students.

We were split into groups and were given a Year group and a Mercy value to base our liturgy

around. These were love, forgiveness, integrity, compassion, hospitality, respect, and excellence. We composed prayers, gospel readings, hymns, messages and activities to include

in our liturgy, and attempted to incorporate our value as much as possible.

On the day, we worked together with our given Year group to set up a sacred space and

involve them in the liturgy by giving them readings and singing hymns.

Preparation as well as presentation of the liturgy was time-consuming but a rewarding experience in the end. Additionally, it was challenging as we had to think about what was appropriate for the Year group we were allocated. Luckily, we had members of the Year 6

O.L.D. Mercy Action team to aid us with this problem. The experience gave us an opportunity to reflect on our faith and on the qualities of Jesus, as well as our Mercy values. It was a

learning curve for both the children and the CSYMA class. All the children engaged happily in the liturgy and all had smiles plastered on their faces.

Marie & Alessia Year 10 CSYMA Class

Page 4

Message from Director of Student Wellbeing

Over the term the Pastoral team have noticed a few girls in their Year looking tired and not

being as tolerant with their friends as they would normally be. Please ensure your daughter is getting enough sleep. Research has shown a teenager needs at least 9 hours sleep. The

National Sleep Foundation writes the following about the importance of sleep “Sleep is food for the brain. During sleep, important body functions and brain activity occur. Skipping sleep can be harmful — even deadly, particularly if you are behind the wheel. You can look

bad, you may feel moody, and you perform poorly. Sleepiness can make it hard to get along with your family and friends and hurt your scores on school exams, on the court or

on the field. Remember: A brain that is hungry for sleep will get it, even when you don’t expect it. For

example, drowsiness and falling asleep at the wheel causes more than 100,000 car crashes every year. When you do not get enough sleep, you are more likely to have an accident,

injury and/or illness.” https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep . Recent studies have shown a student who gets more sleep does better than the one who studies that extra hour.

Over this term your daughter will be receiving marks for tests and assignments. To receive

a good mark is wonderful and to receive a mark that may not be as high is not the end of the world. When talking to your daughter about marks, have a conversation with her about

what she has learnt, what can she take away from the situation. If her answer is ‘nothing’, then ask her to think further and say you will talk about it at another time. In this situation your daughter needs time to get over the result and learn to see it as another aspect of

learning and growing. Remind your daughter to be positive and improve, takes action, instead of sitting back and waiting for things to magically happen.

Year 7 students and parents on Monday night heard from Values for Life presenter Tim Powell. Tim spoke about empowering girls, building resilience, empathy and

normalising situations. It is normal to have friendship breakdowns, it is normal to experience bad marks, it is normal for parents to experience a daughter having a bad

moment at home. It is important to allow your daughter to cope with disappointment instead of stepping in to try to make the situation better.

We want our Mercy students to be resilient and gracious. To achieve this takes time, so it is up to all of us to support and teach our students when something does not turn out

exactly as planned it is not a total disaster but rather a great learning experience and one that will help each individual grow and thrive as long as we provide the support and love our students need to keep moving forward.

Link to Values for Life website http://www.valuesforlife.net/~valuesfo/

Use of Social Media

Snapchat and other social media forums are part of our teenagers’ everyday experience. As a parent is important to be aware of the sites and apps your daughter has on her phone. Sahara is an app that allows people to anonymously post ugly, distasteful

comments without knowing the person. It stands for ‘Social Communication Application to Send or Receive Honest Anonymous Feedback’. It is the same as spring form and AskFM. I

would ask you to check your daughter’s phone and if she has this app, talk to her about deleting it. Snapchat is another site that has caused concern. The Catholic Schools office has sent the following information to parents from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner.

Please read.

Page 5

Message from Director of Student Wellbeing

Safe Use of the Internet: Year 7 and Year 8 Term 4

In Term 4 on Wednesday Week 18th October, Year 7 and Year 8 will be listening to a Brett

Lee from Internet Safe Australia talk about safe use of the internet. Brett Lee has worked as a Queensland Police Officer for 22 years, 16 of which as a detective in the field of Child Exploitation.

Brett has been personally involved with the interview, location, arrest and prosecution of

hundreds of online criminals and predators. Nobody else in Australia can offer programs with this level of credibility or insight whereby

the learning outcomes cannot be denied.

In his investigative role, Brett spent years and thousands of hours using the internet under the guise of fictitious children and adults, both male and female. This unprecedented view of the online world enables Brett to view the cyber world through the eyes of a child yet stand

back and process this experience with the mind of an adult.

The world behind the screen is revealed like never before, normalising the basic yet essential outcomes.

The Year 8 talk will be from 10.00am till 11.00pm and the Year 7 talk will be 11.30 till 12.30pm.

Parents are welcome to attend the talk, free of charge, if you would like to hear

Brett.

Ms McDermott

Director of Student Wellbeing

Page 6

Message from Director of Student Wellbeing

Page 7

Message from Director of Student Wellbeing

Page 8

Students News

Visual Arts and Design Exhibition.

From ceramics to print making, laser cutting to 3D printing, apparel to fabric production

and canapés to cakes, Wednesday the 16th August was a celebration of the work of Technological and Applied Studies and Visual Arts students from the College.

The Art and Design Exhibition was a showcase of work from each Year group from Year 7 to Year 12 with the event featuring the Major Textiles Projects, Major Design Projects and

Visual Arts Body of Work from our talented Year 12 students. Many hours of work and devotion from both the students and teachers alike is applied to produce the enormous variety of work which was displayed on the night.

Many thanks must go to the TAS teachers, Mrs Nadia Zambetti, Mrs Fiona Cunningham, Mrs Sue Holman, and the Visual Arts teachers, Mrs Michelle Thomson and Mrs Jane Lennon for their dedication in teaching and supporting the students in order to produce work of

such a high quality. A special thank you to Mr Matthew Robertson and Ms Kath McGreal for their music on the night, Ms Elizabeth Kayrooz for her skills in assisting us in the

organisation, set up and dismantling of the exhibition and our wonderful administration staff.

However, a big thank you must go to the students who have worked hard to develop and

showcase their talents and to the many families who came in support on a very successful night. Please click here to view photo gallery

Page 9

Student News

This term our Year 10 Food Technology class undertook a unit called

“Food Service and Catering” and had an opportunity to cater for the

Visual Arts and Design Exhibition on the 16th August. For this

opportunity, we prepared food during the day and served these

dishes to the parents, guests and teachers who attended the night. I

found this experience fun, enjoyable and an eye-opening experience

to what the Food Service and Catering Industry would be like in the

real world.

Preparing and cooking the food during the day allowed me to refine all my cooking skills, gathered from

the practicals completed throughout the year leading up to this. We created a menu that had an array of

savoury dishes including Mexican Delights, Thai Chicken Cups, Spinach and Feta, and Ham and Cheese

Pastry Twists, Falafels, and Meatballs. Our sweet dishes included: Gluten Free Brownies, Cinnamon

Scrolls, Anzac Slice, Cinnamon Pastry Twists, Mini Cheesecakes and Choc Coconut Slice.

We all enjoyed cooking and creating the food and used good communication and teamwork skills to get it

done. As well, I enjoyed serving the guests during the night and it was nice to see their great reactions

and comments towards the food we created. I feel this experience has allowed our class to better

understand the Food Service and Catering unit and has let my class and myself engage more with the

content. It was nice to put all of our knowledge and our cooking skills into a real life catering/service

event. I am grateful for the opportunity that was given to us. Our class definitely stepped up to the

challenge and produced some amazing dishes.

Natasha R

Year 10

Leaders Luncheon at Parliament House

Recently, we were invited to NSW Parliament House for a Luncheon with our Premier, Gladys Berejiklian. We arrived

expecting to be a single face among many school leaders, and see Ms. Berejiklian from a stand. To our surprise only 2 other

schools showed up and we were greeted personally by the New South Wales’ Premier herself. Although her busy schedule did not allow a long visit, we still thought it was really special that we

received a personal greeting from her before she left to prepare for the dreaded “Question time,” nicknamed the ‘bear pit’ by the

various other MP’s we were privileged to meet on the day. We were delighted to find out that our tour of NSW Parliament House would be led by MP Gareth

Ward, the member for Kiama. He knew a lot about Parliament House and the historical development of each chamber.

Next we entered the main chamber where we were able to experience what Question Time was

really about. We had been warned that it would get a bit wild, but we hadn’t predicted the extent of the brutality and outrage shown by the members in the chamber. Our Question Time did resemble a ‘bear pit’ as various politicians were shouting and

being asked to leave as the chamber questioned the corruption of the opposition. Despite the entertainment factor of the day,

we also learnt about the necessity of Question Time to bring our politicians into account for their actions and to ensure that ‘the rule of law’ is upheld, ie meaning all are equal in the eyes of the

law. This was an amazing opportunity that we were honoured to have experienced and we thank all those involved in organising

the engaging day.

Cassie P and Bella J

Year 11 Leaders

Page 10

Students News

Thursday Walking Club

Join Mrs Tailor and Mrs Oliver every Thursday at 1:30pm (weather permitting) for a social and fun walk

departing from the school gates! Open to all students from Years 7 to 12. Girls bring their lunch and

walk around the local streets for approximately 20 minutes, usually ending at Beauchamp Oval.

Girls can wear sports shoes, but this isn’t a requirement. Parent permission slips (valid for the year)

are available from student reception and there is no cost for this wonderful activity!

On Friday August 18th, the Year 12 Ancient History cohort attended a talk presented by

accredited historian and archaeologist Estelle Lazer. Ms Lazer talked to us about two topics pertaining to our studies of Pompeii and Herculaneum, focusing primarily on the

ethical treatment of human remains found at the sites and the recent advances in technology. She provided us with a greater understanding of their everyday lives, new insight into their deaths, and the analysis of evidence that challenges previously believed

misconceptions.

Ms Lazer was extremely thorough in her presentation, including for us samples of her work such as CT Scans of the skeletal remains and the famous Pompeii casts, as well as an explanation as to why these were significant. Her presentation provided us with a

great deal of useful and interesting knowledge, and engaged us for the entire two hours that we were there.

Overall, it was an extremely valuable experience that will aid our Year in our upcoming HSC exam.

Ms O’Halloran

HISTORY REPORT

Page 11

Extra Curricular Activities

Page 12

Extra Curricular Activities

Page 13

Extra Curricular Activities

Mercy Catholic College Soccer Club

U/18 Div. 2

Mercy (2) V Roselea (0)

Congratulations to the Mercy U/18s Division 2 Soccer team who won their Grand Final last weekend. The majority of this team have been together for the last 4 years having made finals each year but just never quite getting the win, this year was different. An early game and an

early goal put them in the lead but they had to hold on and defend hard as the other team was not going down without a fight. Some close calls in the second half but the Mercy girls hung on

and managed to seal the win with a goal right at the end. A fitting end particularly for those girls in Year 12. Congratulations to all in the team and a job well done to Coach Richard Illy. The U/18 Team:

Scorers:

Cara (12 min), Ashlee (80 min)

Player of the Match: Cara

Isobel G

Savanah H Chantal I

Natalie K Cara L Tasha M

Maiya M (vc) Kristen S

Genevieve S

Ashlee S (c)

Lauren S (vc) Cameryn R

Jasmin L Rebecca M Allegra M

Amy K

Page 14

Extra Curricular Activities

BBSSSA ATHLETICS CARNIVAL 2017

On Wednesday 16 September 32 athletes represented Mercy Catholic College at the Broken

Bay Secondary Schools Sports Association Athletic Carnival at Olympic Park.

LIST OF ATHLETES THAT COMPETED

CARNIVAL ASSISTANTS Kontogiannis Kristina

Mc Closkey Aoife Harmata Gabriele

The carnival was opened with a special prayer dedicated to Betty Cuthbert, the Golden Girl of 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, who had recently passed away.

Our girls performed in true Mercy spirit, giving of their best across the range of their events, with a number of PB’s achieved on the day.

Special mention needs to be made of the girls who achieved selection to the BBSSSA team to

represent at the NSWCCC carnival on 15 September.

Sophie A

Brooke A Claudia B

Amelia B Ainslie B Lauren B

Jana D Lauren H

Cassandra K Alexis K Natasha L

Taylah L

Ali M Tessa M

Hannah M Chloe M Jessica N

Greta N Isabella R

Sophie R Hannah R

Sofia S

Ashlee S Imogen S

Catherine S Skye T Lucca T

Olivia T Chloe T

Bianca T Betsy W Alex W

Ainslie B 1500m walk

Lauren B Javelin

Imogen S 1500m walk

Olivia T 1500m walk

Jessica N 1500m, 800m

Sofia S 200m

Hannah M Discus & Javelin

Sophie R 80m Hurdles, 200m

Sophie A High Jump

Ms Knapinski

BBSSSA Convenor

Page 15

Netball News

MCC NETBALL NEWS

Well done to the 13 teams that participated in last Saturday's Semi-Finals. Seven teams are

directly through to the Grand Final in a fortnight (see game times below); two teams have another chance on Saturday to secure a berth (see fixtures below). It would be great to see Mercy support at the Willoughby courts for those teams still in the running.

Saturday, 26 August - Preliminary Final

13I / Year 7: MCC 17 vs Monte 51 (Court 3) at 8:30am 14B / Year 8: MCC 10 vs SGHS12 (Court 9) at 10:30am

Saturday, 2 September - Grand Final

8am: 13C, 13F (Year 7 teams) 9am: 14E, 14F, 14H (Year 8) 10am: 15F (Year 9)

1pm: B5 (Year 12)

These are the teams who have "hung up their bibs" for

season 2017 - great fun has been had by all!

Philomena Brandt Netball Convenor

Page 16

Message from the Administrator of Co-Curricular Activities

Mercy Catholic College has launched Qkr (by MasterCard) as an easy

to use, secure phone app for making payments from your mobile

phone for co- curricular activities (i.e. Swimming, Cricket,

Basketball, etc). Qkr will accept payment using ANY credit/debit

card (except American Express) and has a simple checkout

function.

Commencing Term 3 all payments for co-curricular activities will

be processed via Qkr. It is simple and convenient to use with no

fees

Getting started!

Step 1. Download Qkr! on your Android phone or iPhone Via App Store or Google Play

iPad users can download iPhone App.

Step 2: Register

Select your Country of Residence as ‘Australia’ and follow the steps to register

Step 3: Find Mercy Catholic College, Chatswood

Search for Mercy Catholic College or Chatswood

Step 4: Register your Child/ren

When first accessing your school menu; you will be prompted to register your child. This allows

you to make school payments on their behalf.

Note: The Qkr web client is available for those not wanting to complete transactions

from their mobile phone.

About the Qkr! App

Qkr is a safe, secure and reliable way to pay for school items. Qkr is provided by MasterCard so

you know the payments are secure. No information is stored on your phone. Registration details

and card information are saved securely on the MasterCard network.

For more information please click on the link below or contact Mrs Margaret Kellendonk Co-

curricular activities Administrator 9419 2890 or margaret.kellendonk@dbb.catholic.edu.au

https:// www.marcard.com.au/en-au/about-mastercard/who-we-are/qkr.html

Page 17

P&F Meetings

Thanks to those parents who attended the P&F Meeting on Wednesday 9 August 2017. We look forward to welcoming you to the AGM on Wednesday 25 October 2017.

If you are interested in taking on a role on the P&F Executive next year, I would be grateful if you could contact me. The roles are not particularly taxing – co-ordinating a few functions each year.

The P&F is a great way to contribute to the school and meet some wonderful parents.

2017 Fathers’ Day Breakfast There are now 200 fathers and daughters attending this event so far.

If you would like to attend, please RSVP by Sunday night so we can cater for all guests. The TryBooking link is https://www.trybooking.com/304864

Thank you to those parents who volunteered after Suzanne Kavanagh’s request in the last newsletter.

I am still happy to receive father and daughter photos if you would like to send them – even for Fathers unable to attend. Please email to perrysobb@gmail.com before Sunday.

Year 12 Graduation Afternoon Tea

Thank you to the five parents who volunteered to help at this function. If you are a Year 11 parent and available to help, I would love to hear from you.

The function will be held on Wednesday 20 September 2017 from 3.10pm to 4.15pm. Tasks include decorations, food preparation and serving and then clean up.

Please feel free to call me at any time if you have any questions or would like to provide ideas or feedback.

With best wishes,

Phillipa Sobb

President P & F

P & F News

Page 18

Parent News

OUR LADY OF DOLOURS CATHOLIC PARISH, CHATSWOOD

CCD Coordinator and Children and Family Minister (re-advertised) 25 hours per week

We are seeking a committed Catholic who will embrace the opportunity to minister as

a pastoral associate with responsibility for:

Leadership and coordination of the Special Religious Education (SRE) ministry in the six primary and one secondary state schools within the Chatswood Parish.

Lead, sustain and develop the existing parish ministry for children and their

families.

Working collaboratively as part of the parish team, this position provides Catholic students in state schools with opportunities to nurture and deepen their relationship with God. The successful applicant will work closely with the Pastoral Associates for

Childrens’ Sacraments and Youth Ministry to provide activities for children and their families in the spirit of the parish mission.

Some essential requirements are: Proven successful experience in SRE and ministry with children and their

families. Qualifications in Religious Education or a related area.

Excellent communication skills and an ability to liaise positively with the Parish and Assistant priests, parish staff, SRE Coordinators, state and parish school staff, parishioners and diocesan personnel.

Excellent organisational skills. Computer literacy including proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, Word,

PowerPoint, Publisher and Excel. A current driver’s license and car.

Salary and conditions will be consistent with Broken Bay Diocesan Guidelines, according to experience and qualifications. This appointment is subject to a

satisfactory Working with Children Check Clearance in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (NSW).

Please contact the Parish Priest for further details and a Position Description:

Rev Paul Finucane

Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Parish 94 Archer Street, Chatswood NSW 2067

paul@chatswoodparish.org.au

Phone: 9410 9000

Page 19

EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT PARENTING

5 SESSION PARENTING COURSE FOR PARENTS OF TEENS

Would you like to learn how to:

Communicate effectively with your teenager?

Understand your teenager?

Help your teenager with emotional intelligence and managing emotions?

Prevent some teenager behaviour problems?

Teach your teenager to deal with conflict?

BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/tuning-in-to-teens-term-3-emotionally-intelligent-parenting-tickets-35585776014

PH: 8021 3668

The 5 session course will be facilitated by a qualified Parent Educator from

Child and Adolescent Parenting, Northern Sydney Local Health District

VENUE: Chatswood Community Health Centre

57 Hercules St, Chatswood

DATES: Thursdays 17th August – 14th September 2017 (5 sessions)

TIME: 7.00pm – 9.30pm

COST: $150 – subsidised rates available re: financial difficulty REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED

Parent News

Page 20

Parent News