The Fountain Newsletter – 12 June 2019

One of our four Presentation Values is Resilience. It’s a quality that is necessary at all ages and stages of life. It’s a reality that life has hard times. As well-functioning humans we need to be able to cope with the difficulties of life.

For children resilience is often built through seeing they can overcome disappointment and disharmony in the playground.

For young people it seems managing stressful situations and changes in friendship is a common way of building resilience.

I think for all of us, it helps to be able to change our perspective on a situation. Being able to take the perspective of others, or even seeing our situation in a broader perspective of more significant issues is helpful. As adults supporting children and young people to build resilience, we need to resist rescuing and instead help them to look at the situation in perspective. It’s often a matter of good timing – you don’t want to offer that wisdom too soon!

Sunday was Pentecost Sunday.  We are reminded that the Holy Spirit is at work among us.

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:16-18.

Helen Spencer
Principal

Click to read more posts from our Principal

Please click on a title to be directed to individual blog posts.

Director of Pedagogy’s Blog
In your focus changing?
Tameika Grist

Counsellors’ Blog
Fathers and daughters
Gai Bath and Andrea Maver, Counsellors

Thursday 13 June

• Year 11-12 study day.
• JSSATIS Cross Country (Year 3 – 6), Rokeby Police Academy.
• Excursion: Year 4 to Mures Sustainability Fish School (10.45 – 2.00pm).

Friday 14 June – Friday 21 June

• Year 11-12 mid-year exams.

Friday 14 June

• Excursion: Year 6 to TMAG (10.00am – 12.00pm).

Wednesday 19 June

• Year 10 Meningococcal vaccinations.
• Excursion: Year 4 to Freemason’s nursing home (1.15pm – 2.45pm), Lindisfarne.

Thursday 20 June

• Excursion: Chinese poetry competition, Hutchins.
• Year 6 Debating, The Friends’ School (4.30pm).

Sunday 23 June

• Walk with Christ, St Joseph’s Church (1.15pm).

Monday 24 – Tuesday 25 June

• Year 12 overnight retreat.

Monday 24 June

• Year 11 retreat.

Tuesday 25 June

• All Schools Cross Country, (8.00am) Symmons Plains.
• Excursion: Prep to Mures Fish School, TMAG and Mures (9.00am – 1.45pm).
• Excursion: Kinder Wallabies to Woolworths (9.30am).

Congratulations to the following students:

• Ella Jankowiak, Alet Le Grange, Holly Richardson (all Year 5), Mel Bremner, Mia Anderson, Chloe Broomhill, and Rianna Scott (all Year 6) who have been selected as part of the Southern Tasmanian Netball Association under 10 and under 12 teams respectively to compete in Launceston, Hobart and Kingston throughout the year.

• Phoebe Teale, Charlotte Chambers, and Lucy Roberts (Year 10) who have been selected as part of the under 17 National Training Centre Challenge with the Australian Institute of Sport.

• Amelie Cox, Eliza Mason and Samantha Rickwood (Year 9) who have been selected to represent Tasmania in the Water Polo state championships.

• Amelia McMahon, Sophie Pidgeon, Olivia Read and Jessica Scott (Year 9) who have been selected as part of the state under 15 Netball team who will compete in the School Sport Australia Championships in Caloundra next month.

• Priscilla Wara (Year 4), Mia Brooks, Charlotte Pritchard (both Year 5), Billie Salter, Alet Le Grande (both Year 5), Jessica Smith, Mia Anderson, Bree Steele, and Isobel Gray (all Year 6) who placed in the top ten at the Southern Tasmanian Catholic Primary Schools Sports Association on Friday 7 May.

We want to hear about your child’s significant achievements, so please email us at stmarys@smc.tas.edu.au

St Mary’s has been participating in Woolworth’s Earn and Learn program this year. We’ll be earning equipment for the College from Wednesday 1 May until Thursday 25 June. To participate, simply collect your Earn and Learn stickers at the checkout and place them in the collection box, either in store or at the College in the Junior School courtyard. For more information, please visit their website. 

Next year the College will be undertaking an adventure to Australia’s centre. Open to students in Year 10 -12 in 2020, we will travel to Alice Springs to spend six days hiking the iconic Larapinta Trail that winds the Western McDonald Ranges, taking in a sunrise climb of Mount Sondar.

From here we’ll be heading to the Ampilatwatja community, north-west of Alice Springs, for a traditional Welcome to Country. Here the students will have the opportunity to work with the women on a special project – Moon Sick Care bags.

While at Ampilatwatja, students will attend an art lesson at the local art school, learn about bush medicine, and traditional local foods. From here we will travel to Uluru and Kata Tjuta, accompanied by our local guide.

Keep an eye on the Bulletin for further information, additionally, there will be an information evening for interested students and parents at the College on Thursday 4 July at 6.30pm.

For more information, or to express your interest in the trip, please contact Kathryn Webb.

From July 31-August 3 students from St Virgil’s College and St Mary’s College will performed the much-loved classic Wizard of Oz at the Joyce Performance Centre. Tickets are now on sale here.

A mid-year Assessment Statement will be generated and released via SEQTA Engage. This will be for all students Prep to Year 12.

To access your child’s Statement of Achievement, you will need to register with SEQTA Engage. It is recommended that you log in and familiarise yourself with the main features of SEQTA Engage prior to the release date.

Prep – Year 6 release date: 28 June
Year 7 – 12 release date: 3 July

Parents who have not yet registered:

The welcome email contains a link from SEQTA that will remain active for one week.
This will be resent this week to those parent email addresses that have not registered. Check your junk or spam email folders if you do not receive it.

Office staff are happy to resend it, if the time expires.

A basic information page about features for the parent view of SEQTA can be found here: http://www.smc.tas.edu.au/seqta-info/

If you have any further queries regarding access to the Parent portal SEQTA Engage, please don’t hesitate to contact the school or email the office at awilson@smc.tas.edu.au.

The College came together last week to reflect on the role Indigenous Australians have, and continue to play, in our community.

Chloe Bowden (Year 12) gave a meaningful insight into the Welcome to Country tradition, explaining its importance and significance throughout history, as well in a contemporary context.

At the College’s Senior School assembly Serafina Brady, Georgia Collins, Miranda Guy, Sarah Hass, Shreya Karunakara, Rosie Holloway, Emily Kean, and Ava McInerney (all Year 10) gave a compelling and emotive presentation highlighting the challenges indigenous Australians faced, and still face to this day. The students drew from indigenous Australian Dewayne Everettsmith’s experience of his people’s struggle for reconciliation and equality.

Year 6 recently had the opportunity to learn more about Tasmanian’s Aboriginal culture on their excursion to Dru Point. Their On Country experience saw them warmly welcomed by elders Uncle Bill and Mitchem who shared local food gathering knowledge and traditional dances. With the weather holding off, the students were able to make the most of this immersive and invaluable experience.

With only two bouts left this term, the College’s Year 6 Debating team has left the competition behind, sitting on three wins from three!

The team’s preparing for their next competition, to be held in a fortnight, and will be mooting that screens are ruining family life.

This is the first time the College has had a Year 6 Debating team and all members should feel extremely proud of what they’ve accomplished.

On Friday 17 May, intrepid students, with their support staff, headed to Cradle Mountain ready to face the extremes of the Overland Track. For six days – almost 80 kilometres – the group tackled the hike, accompanied by packs that only seemed to get heavier.

First blessed with a bout of fine weather for the first two days, they could take views across Tasmanian’s rooftop. However, rain set in for the remainder of the trip, but despite the wet conditions, the group kept smiling.

Congratulations to the Outdoor Leadership students Alana, Mollie, Charlotte and Georgina (YEAR 12). A special thank you to Gaby Stuebing and Sheree Kemp for again assisting the College with the trip.

On Thursday 30 May the College competed in the Southern SATIS Cross Country Carnival, which was held at a very chilly Pontville Recreational Grounds.

We had some amazing individual results with Cate Clingeleffer (Year 7) and Georgia Chambers (Year 10) taking out first place in their respective events.

In the Age Group pennants, the College recorded the following results:

U13 – 3rd
U14 – 5th
U15 – 2nd
U16 – 4th
Open – 3rd

Well done to all athletes! The age group results show how well we performed as a team with every runner playing a crucial part regardless of where they may have finished.

Congratulations the College’s Year 12 Co-Captains, Anna Blackwell and Georgia Stalker who represented St Mary’s in their last cross country.

On behalf of the HPE Staff, I would like to thank all the girls for their positive attitudes on the day, you definitely went more than one pace beyond, and should be proud of your efforts. It was from all accounts a pretty tough course and you showed real resilience and guts out there!

Next up we’ve got the Tasmanian All Schools Cross Country (Tuesday 2 July) at Symmons Plains. We’re looking forward to another successful team effort!

Mia Blignaut
Senior School Sport Coordinator

Prep – Year 2 Field Hockey report

Quarter Field Hockey – Prep – 2 SMC Green

From their coach, Gabby Hutchinson:

Our Prep – Year 2 Green Team are having great fun this term. We have played some very strong teams and, win or lose, our players have tried their best to the very end.

They’ve run hard, tackled, scored goals, played as a team, smiled, and always showed great sportsmanship .

I know all the parents are very proud of their little ones and I am loving coaching them. We have all learnt heaps in only a few weeks!

CRJFA Under 8 Boys report

Message from the coaches Tania and Brett Hayes:

The team has been full of superstars this season. We love watching the team support each other – on and off the field. Their sportsmanship is a credit to each boy and we love coaching them each week.

Well done boys on a terrific season so far!

How to return your Entertainment! book

Your 2018 – 2019 Entertainment! book has now expired!

Please also return any remanding Entertainment! books, that were sent home in April, to Student Services as soon as possible.

If you would like to purchase a book, but haven’t yet received one, please do so from here.

Your 2018-19 Entertainment! book expires on 1 June.

Oceana Swim School

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