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Dates to remember:

Janelle Agius – Acting Principal

Jubilee 150

Congratulations to the Jubilee 150 Committee for their

organisation of a wonderful celebration at the weekend. All reports

reaching me in Belgium tell me that it was a wonderful weekend

with the Mass on Sunday a particular highlight. Thank you to Ms

Jodie Zahmel and her Year 12 Hospitality class for preparing the

platters for the welcome function on Friday evening. Thank you

also to the students who volunteered their assistance to Ms Zahmel

with the serving of the platters: Fraser Anderson; Zoe Barnes; Edward Carroll; Laura Crowley;

Tessa Neivandt:, Matthew Stewart and Mrs Margaret Browne. Special thanks to Mrs Rose

Christensen and her team: Mrs Denise Stewart; Mr Andrew Lamont; Mr Phil Clancy and Mr

Stephen Mortimer for her weeks of preparation and organisation working with the Committee

to bring this event to life.

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week is a time for all

Australians to learn about our shared

histories, cultures and achievements, and to

contribute to building a reconciled Australia. It

is held each year between two significant dates

– 27 May and 3 June. 27 May is the anniversary

of the 1967 referendum in which more than

90% of Australians voted ‘Yes’ to count

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

in the census. 3 June marks the historic 1992

Mabo decision in which the High Court of

Australia recognised native title. On 26 May,

the day before National Reconciliation Week,

we celebrate National Sorry Day, which

commemorates and honours the Stolen Generations. We have a group of students, indigenous

and non-indigenous, attending the National Sorry Day event which is being held by the Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service at Queen Victoria Park.

Debutante Ball

We wish all our debutantes and their partners a great night on Friday. Much preparation has gone

into this evening and we are especially grateful to the women and men from the Catholic parishes

of Mackay who support this event. Their attendance at the weekly training sessions, teaching our

students how to dance and how to attend a formal evening are much appreciated. We are

especially thankful for the support of Bishop Michael McCarthy who will receive the debutantes

and their partners. Mrs Berenice Wright has been the Ball Chairperson / Secretary for many years

and we are very grateful for her energy, drive and enthusiasm for the Debutante Ball. Best wishes

to Mr Geoghegan who will be the compere for the evening.

Relay for Life

Thank you to the group of students that

volunteered to serve afternoon tea to the

cancer survivors as part of the opening

ceremony at last weekend’s Relay for

Life. Their presentation and manners

were acknowledged by the organisers

and supporters and were a credit to

them, their families and the college.

May 2016

27 Catholic Debutante Ball

31 ICAS Science Compet.

June 2016

1 P & F Meeting, 6:00 pm

Board Meeting, 7:30 pm

9 Senior Schooling

evening

10 Year 10 Maths A exam

13 Year 11 Industry

Placement starts

15 End Semester exams

commence

19 Music Ministry, 6:00 pm

St Patrick’s Church

23 Show holiday

24 Exams finish

End of Term 2

July 2016

11 First day of Term 3

11-12 JCU Experience

14 Subject Selection

15-16 Arts Camp

17 Music Ministry

25 May 2016

NUMBER FOR

SMS

The number to send

SMS messages

regarding student

absence is

0416 906 288

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Weekend Masses

Enrolment Processes for 2017

The dates are below for your information if you have a student in Year 10 or you know of

others who may be interested in enrolling in the college next year.

9 June Introduction to Senior Schooling beginning at 7.30 pm in St Patrick’s Hall. All

prospective Year 11 students, accompanied by at least one parent, are strongly

advised to attend. Enrolment forms and information and Choosing Subjects books

will be distributed at this meeting.

14 July Subject Selection Evening from 3:30 pm – 6:30 pm in St Patrick’s Hall. Attend

at a time to suit your family.

22 July Due date for Enrolment and Subject Selection forms to be returned to St Patrick’s

College

8 August Notification of enrolment interview date posted in week beginning 8 August

15 August Formal enrolment and subject advisory interviews with a member of the college

leadership team will begin during the week of 15 August.

End term 3 Notification of acceptance

24 November Orientation Day

Election 2016

We have another Media Release from the National Catholic Education Commission this week

with information for parents re the funding of schools from a Catholic perspective. This is on

pages 15 and 16.

Readings at Mass, Sunday 29 May 2016 – 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time

First reading, Kings 8:41-43 … all the peoples of the earth may come to know your name and,

like your people Israel, revere you …

Psalm, Ps.116:1-2 … Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

Second reading, St Paul to the Galatians 1 : 1-2, 6-10 … If I tried to please people, I could

not be a servant of Christ.

Gospel, Luke, 7:1-10 … Nowhere in Israel have I found as much faith

REFLECTION

This week we welcome the Diocesan ‘Icon of Mercy’ to our

College as a stopover during its tour throughout the Diocese. This

Icon is an original painting by Michael Galovich of Jesus the Good

Shepherd.

Icons are used to teach; they remind us of what we should be. We

use Icons as a focus for our prayers as they provide us with a

representation of the important teachings and beliefs of our faith,

importantly they provide a glimpse into the kingdom of heaven.

Icons hold a special place in the traditions of the Catholic Church,

they are created through a process of prayer and artistic work,

therefore we treat them with reverence and veneration.

This Icon the ‘Icon of Mercy’, represents Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Jesus is often referred

to as a Shepherd in the gospels, and we are his flock. This does not mean that we blindly

follow. The shepherd would normally follow behind the flock, guiding them to safe and plentiful

areas. The shepherd watches over the flock, providing protection and looks out for the needs

of each within the flock. In Luke 15:1-6 we read the story of the Good Shepherd. The shepherd

leaves the flock to search for the one lamb whom has gotten lost. The 99 are not forgotten,

instead the one is in most need, so the shepherd goes to find, support and carry the one back

to the safety and care.

Jesus, like the Good Shepherd, will be there to support and care for those of us that are in

need. When you find yourself in trouble, in discomfort and out of your depth, that is when

Jesus and the Holy Spirit will be most present in our life. The hard part is to listen and be open

to his presence.

The Icon of Mercy will be on display in the Library until Friday.

Southside Cluster Saturday Vigil Mass

6:00 pm St Francis Xavier

6:00 pm St Mary’s

Sunday

7:00 am St Patrick’s

7:00 am St Therese’s

Northside Cluster

Saturday Vigil Mass

6:00 pm St Joseph’s

6:00 pm St Brigid’s

Sunday

7:30 am St Brendan’s

9.00 am St Joseph’s

Walkerston

Saturday Vigil Mass

6:00 pm St John’s

Sunday

7:30 am Eton

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People love to talk about how we live in times of momentous change. This weekend the Catholic

Church celebrated 150 Years in Mackay. As I was on my way to the celebration of the Mass on

Sunday, I couldn’t help reflecting on the changes that have occurred in the world since that time,

but also the changes that occurred in the very decade in which Mackay was founded and the

Church first put down its roots in the district. It was a very turbulent decade. In 1866, the

American Civil War, which killed 600 000 Americans, was barely over and Abraham Lincoln not

yet cold in his grave. Neither Germany nor Italy existed as nation-states, they were rather

geographical expressions in ways not too dissimilar from the way we use the words ‘Sahara’ or

‘Amazon’ to describe regions which encompass many countries. The 1860’s was the decade in

which the Suez Canal was opened in Egypt, Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and antiseptics were

used for the first time in operations. Victor Hugo published Les Misérables, Leo

Tolstoy published War and Peace and Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Charles

Dickens published Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend.

One thing is undeniable. Religion played a more pronounced role in the lives of people 150 years

ago. Those beliefs, which had sustained and supported western civilisation for close to two

millenia were to be irrevocably changed, for many, by two especially notable publications. Karl

Marx’s Das Kapital (1867) and Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859) began to seep

into the public consciousness in the 1860’s. One would struggle to find two publications that

were to have more powerful effects on the development of western consciousness than these

two books. Germans have two magnificent words, which are damaged in translation. The first,

‘Zeigeist’ refers to ‘the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the

ideas and beliefs of the time.’ (It’s easier to use their word!) The second, ‘Weltanschauung’ refers

to the entirety of an individual’s (or society's) knowledge and point of view. Well, these two

books were to have long-term ramifications that were to stretch well into the twentieth century

and beyond. They certainly were to have a profound effect on the Zeitgeist of Europe and people’s

Weltanshauung. At the time of their publication, they were deeply controversial because they

challenged and overturned existing understandings of how society functioned. They also

challenged the fundamental beliefs of Judeo-Christian civilisation. Marx and Darwin’s works were

in many respects an all-out assault on religious belief. These works were considered by many to

be a step in the right direction, an opportunity for western society to step further toward the

rationalism begun by the Enlightenment. Many at the time believed these works were moving

civilisation ‘forward’ and away from what they considered to be religious obscurantism. They

were presented as works of science, and in that period (as is often the case today) there could

be no higher accolade. Their delivery was however to alter society’s understanding of what it

means to be human in some very fundamental ways.

In an article published by Jerry Bergman in 1999 entitled ‘Darwinism and the Nazi Race Holocaust’

he makes the case that leading Nazis, and early 1900 influential German biologists, revealed in

their writings that Darwin’s theory and publications had a major influence upon Nazi race policies.

In the formulation of their racial policies, Hitler’s government relied heavily upon Darwinism,

especially the elaborations by Spencer and Haeckel. The ‘superior race’ belief was based on the

theory of group inequality within each species, a major presumption and requirement of Darwin’s

original ‘survival of the fittest’ theory. This philosophy culminated in the ‘final solution’, the

extermination of approximately six million Jews and four million other people who belonged to

what German scientists judged as ‘inferior races’.

Of the many factors that produced the Nazi holocaust and World War II, one of the most

important was Darwin’s notion that evolutionary progress occurs mainly as a result of the

elimination of the weak in the struggle for survival. Although it is no easy task to assess the

conflicting motives of Hitler and his supporters, Darwinism-inspired eugenics clearly played a

critical role. Darwinism justified and encouraged the Nazi views on both race and war. Bergman

goes on to make an extremely powerful statement that is exceptionally difficult to dispute: “If the

Nazi party had fully embraced and consistently acted on the belief that all humans were

descendants of Adam and Eve and equal before the creator God, as taught in both the Old

Testament and New Testament Scriptures, the holocaust would never have occurred.”

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Expunging of the Judeo-Christian doctrine of the divine origin of humans from mainline German

(liberal) theology and its schools, and replacing it with Darwinism, openly contributed to the

acceptance of Social Darwinism that culminated in the tragedy of the holocaust. Darwin’s theory,

when modified by others, clearly contributed to the death of over nine million people in

concentration camps, and about 40 million other humans in a war that cost about six trillion

dollars.

Some celebrate the notion that Australia is seen as developing toward a ‘post-Christian’ society,

that we can comfortably prosper as a society that embraces humanism. Do I have a point? I

suppose it’s essentially this: The long-term effects of ideas are not always apparent to the

generation that embraces them. Often they have the characteristics of a Trojan Horse.

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, on Thursday and Friday of last week I attended the

Positive Schools Mental Health and Wellbeing conference in Brisbane. The purpose of this

conference is to provide Australian schools and colleges with ideas and strategies to nurture and

support better mental health, wellbeing and positive education. Our Pastoral Care team was very

satisfied with this conference and are now energised and inspired to put ideas into action.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, one of Australia’s most prominent child and adolescent psychologists

presented a revolutionary idea that new and emerging technologies could be utilised to improve

and promote wellbeing in young people. The Mission Australia Study (2015) revealed that young

Australians are very concerned with issues such as: coping with stress; school or study problems;

body image; depression etc. Dr Carr-Gregg described how the University of Sydney is currently

trialling ‘The Happiness Central Ecosystem’, a personalised e-health dashboard that assists

individuals to develop their own wellbeing plans which then recommends apps and e-tools to

assist individuals to achieve their wellbeing goals. For example, if a student is having trouble

sleeping, the happiness central ecosystem might recommend the ‘Sleep Better’ app (Sleep Better-

Mindfulness for Better Sleep) which provides useful tips for relaxing your body and mind for

improved sleep with mindfulness based guided sleep sessions. If an individual is dealing with a

relationship breakup, their dashboard may direct them to the ‘Breakup Shakeup’ app which

provides ideas for fun, easy things to do to help you cope after a breakup. The Mission Australia

Study (2015) revealed that 32% of girl’s skip breakfast. Some girls think that it will help them lose

weight but they are more likely to eat more later. In this instance, their dashboard may

recommend the ‘Mediterranean Diet for All’ app which will provide the best and most accurate

information about the World’s healthiest diet.

Our Pastoral Care team was impressed with these ideas and are now exploring ways which we

can put these ideas into action to assist our students with their personal wellbeing. Considering

the increasing use of technology and the pressures of being a teenager in today’s society and

particularly in a senior college where school stress and anxiety is more prevalent, such a program

could prove to be very beneficial.

Change of Assessment due date for Year 12 Physics

Please note that the due date for Year 12 Physics EEI is now 3 June (instead of 31 May).

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Jacki Cooper – Choir Workshop

On Tuesday morning, our choir had the wonderful opportunity to

work with Jazz vocalist and lecturer, Jacki Cooper.

“Jacki Cooper has been a regular feature on the Australian jazz scene since

1990 and after travelling much of the world, now resides in Sydney, Australia.

She holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Voice from Adelaide University and

currently teaches jazz voice for the Bachelor of Music program at Central

Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Mackay.” (Morrison Music, 2014)

After a fun vocal warm-up exercise led by Ms Cooper, the choir sang

their novelty music theatre piece, “Jet Set” from Catch Me If You Can and “3 Blind Mice” by

Australian composer, Mark Puddy. Ms Cooper worked through each score with much focus on

polishing the music through the use of dynamics, articulation and phrasing. She was most

impressed and entertained by the choir as they performed their novelty piece with choreography

by Mrs Jess Finch.

We look forward to integrating Ms Coopers’ teachings and techniques in future rehearsals. The

choir will perform these works at the CQU Jazz Festival in July and at the Mackay Eisteddfod in

October.

Thank you to Ms Cooper, Ms Kathleen Campbell and all the choristers for an inspiring rehearsal!

Ms Kathleen Campbell (Conductor) and the St Patrick’s College Choir with Ms Jacki Cooper (centre).

Interschool Cross Country

Last Monday the St Patrick’s College Cross Country team travelled to the Pioneer Valley Golf

Course at Mirani to compete in the Mackay Interschool Cross Country. St Pat’s finished 2nd in

the Senior and Overall Divisions, a commendable result considering the team only competed in

the 16 and 17 years age groups and were up against schools who had a number of students

competing in the 18 years division.

The following students achieved outstanding results on the day and were rewarded with selection

in the Mackay District team which will participate in the Capricornia Trials being held at Harrup

Park on 31 May:

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16 Years Boys

16 Years Girls

17 Years Boys

17 Years Girls

Darcy Webb-Smith – 1st Hayden Connor – 7th

Kahtia Gooch – 3rd Dimity Cole – 7th

Jamie Sanders – 1st Mitch Kelly – 2nd

Matthew Stewart – 8th

Chelsey Thompson – 1st Taylah Wyles – 2nd

Monique Sant – 6th

Rugby League

2nd XIII

The St Pat’s 2nd XIII Rugby League team are up against Holy Spirit College tonight at the JRL

Grounds, 6:15pm kick-off. The team are currently sitting 4th in the Division 2 competition and

with a couple of catch-up games up their sleeve, will be looking to finish the regular season in the

top 4 and qualify for the semi-finals. All supporters welcome.

1st XIII

The 1st XIII have a tough road trip to Townsville next week to play against the defending national

schoolboys champions Kirwan High School in the Aaron Payne Cup. The following week (Week

9) will see the team come up against traditional rivals Mackay High School. This game will be

played at the JRL grounds on 8 June, 7:15pm kick-off. Both school’s 2nd XIII teams will play against

each other in the curtain raiser to the main game. It’d be great to see a large number of the St

Pat’s community supporting both teams on this night as all students involved are very proud to

represent their school on the sporting field.

Time Court Umpire Duty

4:00 5 MSHS Parrots V SPC Green

6 HSC Fire V Sarina Slam Mirani Mayhem / SPC White

7 MCC Phoenix V SPC Red WAS Crystals / SPC Blue

8 SPC Gold V Mercy QISSN

4:45 5 MSHS Emu’s V Mercy Blue MSHS Parrots / SPC Green

6 Mirani Mayhem V SPC White

7 WAS Crystals V SPC Blue MCC Phoenix / SPC Red

8 MSHS Lorikeets V HSC Stars SPC Gold / Mercy QISSN

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Last week, Mrs Deb Millar and I attended the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Education Conference. It was a rewarding three days of reflecting, sharing and professional

development. The theme of the conference was “Supporting students, families and communities”. The shell cross was central to the celebrations and the story of the cross is included below.

The opening ceremony was extremely powerful with Torres Strait dancers forming a guard of honour and aboriginal dancers leading all delegates down the road to the conference venue. We were very honoured to be in Darumbal country.

Workshops, along with keynote speakers, allowed us to explore indigenous spirituality, leadership, community engagement, mathematics and literacy tools, transition planning and whole school

approaches to teaching and learning. These new tools will be used to assist the learning of all our students – indigenous and non-indigenous.

The Shell Cross The story of the shell cross is about journeys and relationships. It involves the Quandamooka people

of Stradbroke Island and the former coordinator of Indigenous Education at Brisbane Catholic Education, Rosemary Bell. In 1994, Rosemary, a Quandamooka woman created the concept that the

cross be used for the inaugural Catholic Indigenous Education Workers Conference in Cairns. Rosemary organised the crafting of the cross from wood from the Ngutana Lui site in Brisbane and

with other Quandamooka people collected shells from the shores of Stradbroke Island to place on the cross. (Conference Program)

Geography excursion As part of our studies in

Geography, students are required to participate in

fieldwork. As the students are currently studying

catchments they conducted fieldwork Tuesday 24 May at

the Botanical Gardens, the Pioneer River near the Hospital Bridge and near

Canelands. Their task was to document human impact and

conduct water testing. By making these observations

and testing the water, the students’ gained a knowledge

and awareness of the Pioneer Catchment area and why it needs to be protected.

Students were driven to the Botanical Gardens by Mr Lamont where testing occurred before the

students and Mrs Brauer walked back along the Catherine Freeman walk. To quench their thirst and hunger they refuelled at Canelands before completing the excursion.

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School Bus Assistance for Lower Income Families

The Safety Net Scheme was developed by the State Government to assist students who do not receive other forms of School

Transport Assistance and are members of lower income families.

Who may be eligible?

To be eligible for assistance under the Safety Net Scheme, students must be in one of the following categories:

Students of families eligible for a Health Care Card;

Students eligible for a Health Care Card;

Students of families eligible for a Pensioner Concession Card;

Students of families receiving Veterans Affairs Pension; or

Students placed under a Care and Protection Order.

Conveyance Allowance Assistance

Conveyance Allowance is an assistance provided by the Department of Transport and Main Roads to eligible parents / guardians who

drive their students to school or to the route of a school bus.

There are several types of Conveyance Allowance available. These are determined by the type of school attended, distance driven to

school or bus route and the type of school bus service (if any) provided in your area.

Application forms with further details are available for both of the above schemes by calling into the Translink division of the Department

of Transport and Main Roads at Level 3, 44 Nelson Street, Mackay or by telephoning 4951 8673.

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