Dear Parent/Carer, Students & Friends of San …...Veritas No 05, 05 May 2017 Dear Parent/Carer, Students & Friends of San Clemente P O ox 405, Havelock Street Mayfield NSW 2304 P:

Veritas No 05, 05 May 2017 Dear Parent/Carer, Students & Friends of San Clemente

P O Box 405, Havelock Street Mayfield NSW 2304 P: (02) 4014 7300 F: (02) 4960 2782 E: [email protected] W: www.mayfieldsanc.catholic.edu.au

Two essential areas in schools are those of ‘Wellbeing’ and ‘Teaching & Learning’. There is a critical connec-tion between student wellbeing and achievement. In simple terms, if students feel good, they learn better.

A recent report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines student wellbeing as “the psychological, cognitive, social, and physical qualities that students need to live a happy and fulfilling life.” As a Positive Education school, we are providing an educational environment that devel-ops these qualities. San Clemente has received many accolades during the past couple of years for imple-menting its whole school ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’ approach.

I attended the official Catholic Schools Office Learning Framework Launch last week in Lochinvar. All Dioce-san schools were represented at this momentous event, along with our new Director of Schools, Dr Mi-chael Slattery, and his Leadership Team. This Framework is a culmination of over two years work by Kathryn Fox (CSO – Head of Teaching & Learning) and a committee, and is designed around five essential elements for quality learning, brought together under the one umbrella.

It was a proud moment for San Clemente, as the school featured for leading the way in the area of teach-ing and learning. This included a video on our Evidence Based Visible Learning approach with commentary by Assistant Principal, Marc Romano. It highlighted our innovative and hardworking staff and the quality work witnessed daily in our classrooms, generating much interest amongst those present.

Such recent acknowledgement of the way in which our culture of learning is being developed is very affirm-ing. The school’s approach to both ‘Wellbeing’ and ‘Teaching & Learning’ has a clear vision and aligns close-ly with contemporary educational research. We are very aware, however, that in striving towards excel-lence, we need to remain progressive in nature and this requires hard work and the ongoing dedication and commitment of staff.

Scott Donohoe, Principal

FINANCE OFFICE HOURS: Mon – Thu 8.00 am – 3.00 pm,

Friday 8.00 am – 2.30 pm

Statements:

All statements for Term 2 fees have been emailed or mailed (if we have no email address). If you have not received a statement, please contact Finance Office immediately.

Fees: Term 1 fees should now be paid in full unless paying by direct debit or Bpay. Term 2 fees are due 19

May.

Voluntary Pastoral Contributions:

Forms have been emailed home regarding payment of this contribution. They have also been included in previous newsletters. If you have not yet done so, can you please complete this form and return to school asap.

Assistant Principal—Curriculum Report

Recently Mr Donohoe and I had the pleasure to attend a presentation by Professor Stephen Dinham of the University of

Melbourne. Professor Dinham has performed a study on student learning and what has the greatest impact on student

achievement. He reported that the latest research indicates that students themselves play the largest role when it comes

to variance in student achievement. The statistics he gave on the major source of variance were; Student 50%, Home 5-

10%, School (principals and leaders) 5-10%, Peer effects 5-10%, Teachers 30%.

Further evidence indicated that the most significant effect students achieve for themselves to better their learning is Self-

report grades. Students judging the quality of their work, based on evidence and explicit criteria, for the purpose of doing

better work in the future. When students assess their own progress, and when they do so against known and challenging

quality standards, we find that there is a lot to gain.

All assessment tasks are handed out to students with a marking rubric. Students are encouraged to use that rubric to im-

prove their work before submission. The value in getting a student to mark their own task (using a rubric), then go away

and improve it, before submitting to the teacher is the leading effect of learning. This also emphasises the importance of

students producing their best work, not just submitting “good enough”. Self-report grades encourage students to only sub-

mit when they are confident it is their best work. Then the feedback they receive from their teacher is more informative

and accurate about how they can improve.

Congratulations to the following students on achieving the top 5 interim reports in their year groups. They have been rec-

ognised at assembly with a certificate and at an afternoon tea with their parents.

Thank you to all the parents that were able to make it to parent teacher interviews. The feedback I received on the day

from both parents and teachers was that the day was very worthwhile.

A reminder that next week is NAPLAN. Students in Years 7 and 9 are reminded that they need to be at school for these

exams. A timetable will be distributed to students this week.

Marc Romano, Assistant Principal, Teaching and Learning

Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10

Charlotte Vanderlinde Logan Crozier Sharni Tilbrook Isabella Buman

Lauren Fathers Angus O'Connor Mikali Shanahan Bronte Skinner

Ella Grgas Angelina McGrath Ivy Griffin James Collins

Grace Keegan Lachlan James Angela Teah-Wilson Gabrielle De Vos

Abbey Gould Miriam Newman Annabelle Jones Austin Mackay

Fr Brian Mascord invites members of the community to participate in the Sacra-ment of Reconciliation at St Columban’s in Mayfield on Thursday 11th May at 6pm. The sacrament is available for all baptised Catholics.

Assistant Principal—Wellbeing During the last fortnight I have had several discussions with parents in regard to the recent Netflix program ”13 Reasons”. Our Principal Scott Donohoe sent some very good information about this in a separate letter to parents this week. Here are some links that could provide useful information when discussing this program as a family:

https://mhfa.com.au/news/2017-04-21/32544/resources-adults-and-young-people-watching-netflix-tv-show-13-reasons-why

https://www.headspace.org.au/news/dangerous-content-in-13-reasons-why/

I would also like to reassure parents that at San Clemente we aim to be as proactive as possible in regard to all Wellbeing issues including, and in particular, suicide prevention. Our “5 Ways To Wellbeing” framework has a spe-cific aim to ensure students understand their strengths and how to use these in difficult situations. We are regu-larly running sessions on understanding and reframing our thoughts, being mindful and present in the moment and reassuring students that they are enough as they are right now! Later in Term 3 our school will be involved with a Suicide prevention program being funded by Blackdog Institute and led by instructors from Lifespan Aus-tralia. Further information will be available closer to these dates and we are also planning to run a Wellbeing In-formation evening for all families early in Term 3. Further to this, there is often a great deal of information that can be found online when dealing with Wellbeing issues. So much information that much of it is possibly not of the highest quality. I again encourage parents to contact our Wellbeing team as we often have access to the most up to date and highest quality links and programs.

Uniform

At this week’s assembly I addressed the students in regard to uniform policy and procedures. The key message to this address was staff that are trying extremely hard to work with students and families to wear our uniform well. We have asked staff that remain consistent and persistent with establishing a high expectation but that we also take every case at an individual level, having quality conversations, seeking a solution to the uniform problem but also following up with appropriate consequences. Overall, our students wear the uniform with pride, however, there are some who continue to struggle to meet our expectations. I ask that we continue to communicate any issues with Year Coordinators or myself. We have developed a borrowing system this year so that any student who is having difficulty with their uniform (eg. Lost, in wash, damaged, out grown etc) can still access the correct uniform and – “Wear it well, Wear it right.” Some may say that we maintain a lofty expectations but there is a huge amount of evidence to suggest that when we take care of our outward appearance, we are also taking care of our inner. I used the term to students, “When we look good, we feel good.” Getting ourselves prepared for our work or school day should start with an individual getting themselves up to the standard that is expected, pro-jecting a positive outlook to those that they work with and feeling energetic and positive about the day ahead. What we wear and how we wear it is essential for this positive attitude on a daily basis. There is a full list of our uniform expectations in this Newsletter, however some issues that are currently of concern include:

Hair

Students’ hair should be neat, tidy and clean at all times. Extremes of style and/or colour are not acceptable.

Hair must be tied back in a conventional style i.e. Ponytail, plait or bun. All loose strands not long enough to be contained within the band must be clipped or pinned off the face using hairclips or pins. (WHS Requirement) Hair must be of a natural colour.

Boys’ facial hair is to be clean shaven.

Skirt

The school skirt is to be worn no more than 5cm above the knee. The skirt is designed so that no alterations are required to the length.

Jumper/Jacket

School jumper/jacket ONLY, with no exceptions. (There are jumpers and jackets available 2nd hand for pur-chase or loan).

Shoes

Black, polishable, fully enclosed, leather lace-up, school shoes. With academic uniform.)

If parents would like to have some input into our uniform policy I am always happy to discuss. We have a P & F meeting on Tuesday 16th May which may also be an appropriate time to discuss uniform.

Nathan Beckett, Assistant Principal (Wellbeing)

School Uniform Students will be advised of practical lessons and can wear their sports uniform on this day. This applies also to stu-dents participating in training sessions for interschool sport or those taking PASS as an elective subject Jewellery Fashion jewellery may not be worn to school. Girls with pierced ears may wear one pair of plain sleepers or studs only. Boys with pierced ears may only wear sleepers or studs to school. No other jewellery except a watch or ban-gle (gold or silver) may be worn. This explicitly excludes any form of visible body piercing. The only jewellery to be worn is: watch, one bangle (gold or silver), signet ring, either a plain stud or sleeper ear ring or a pair of plain studs or sleepers, plain chain with crucifix.

Make Up and Nail Polish

Tinted moisturiser only.

No Eye Makeup is permitted.

Nail Polish – CLEAR ONLY

Hair Students’ hair should be neat, tidy and clean at all times. Extremes of style and/or colour are not acceptable. Hair must be tied back in a conventional style i.e. Ponytail, plait or bun. All loose strands not long enough to be con-tained within the band must be clipped or pinned off the face using hairclips or pins. (WHS Requirement) Hair must be of a natural colour’. Boys’ facial hair is to be clean shaven. A student may be asked to refrain from attending school until his/her hairstyle is deemed acceptable.

Undergarments Undergarments must not be visible through or outside the formal uniform.

Girls – Formal Uniform The school skirt is to be worn no more than 5cm above the knee. The skirt is designed so that no alterations are re-quired to the length.

White socks are worn during summer and must cover the ankle. Black stockings must be worn with winter uniform, and must be free of holes and ladders. (June, July, Au-gust Only) Grey uniform pants can be worn during the winter. The school jumper is worn throughout the year.

Boys - Formal uniform The shirt is white with school crest and is worn with the school formal black shorts during the summer terms and long grey pants during the winter (Optional). White socks are worn, and must cover the ankle. The school jumper is worn throughout the year.

Sport uniform The sports uniform is the same for boys and girls. School polo shirt and black shorts are worn during sum-mer terms with the school jumper if necessary. In winter months students wear full tracksuits. The school track-suit may be worn on colder days. White socks are worn, and must cover the ankle. Note With the exception of the hat, no item of the sport’s uniform may be worn with the formal uniform, and no item of the formal uniform may be worn with the sport uniform.

Excursions Unless advised, students are to wear formal school uni-form to excursions. Students not in uniform may be with-drawn from the excursion.

Hats The School Cap only is to be worn when outdoors. (Lunch, Recess, PE Prac, Sport, Bus Lines)

Shoes Formal Uniform: The shoes to be worn with the Formal Uniform are to be fully enclosed, black, leather lace-up, polishable, school shoes. WHS regulations require, without ex-ception, fully enclosed footwear, particularly for Sci-ence laboratory work, Food Tech Room and Tech-nics classes. Open footwear will not be accepted, and students will not be permitted to attend class until wearing correct footwear. Sport Uniform: Sport shoes must be fully enclosed lace-up joggers. Predominately white or black Vans, Converse or Vol-leys style are acceptable. . Sports Uniform The sport’s uniform may be worn to and from school on Friday (Sports Day). The formal uniform should be worn to and from school every other school day.

BOYS

Shirt San Clemente white shirt with school

Jumper San Clemente black jumper with embroi-

Shoes Fully enclosed, black, leather lace-up, polishable school shoes

Sports Shirt San Clemente sports shirt (black &

Sports Shorts San Clemente sports shorts (black)

Tracksuit San Clemente tracksuit (black)

Sports Shoe Joggers

Socks Plain white, must cover the ankle, to be worn with formal uniform and sports uniform.

Pants (Winter) San Clemente long grey trousers

Shorts (Summer) San Clemente black shorts

Winter Scarf San Clemente school scarf (Black) - op-

GIRLS

Skirt/Pants San Clemente uniform skirt. Girls may wear long pants available from the School Uniform Shop (only San Clemen-

Shirt San Clemente white shirt with school

Jumper San Clemente black jumper with embroi-

Socks Plain white, must cover the ankle, availa-ble from Uniform Shop to be worn with day uniform and sports uniform..

Girls can wear black stockings with their

Shoes Black, polishable, fully enclosed, leath-er lace-up, school shoes.

Sports Shirt San Clemente sports shirt (Black &

Sports Shorts San Clemente sports shorts (Black)

Tracksuit San Clemente tracksuit ( Black)

Sports Shoe Joggers

Winter Scarf San Clemente school scarf (Black) - op-

Hair Ribbons Black or White

Year 7 Students

The interim reports were sent out at the end of last term and they provided a snap shot of how your son or daughter has been performing thus far in 2017.

There were 5 year 7 students who performed exceptionally well in their interim reports. These young ladies were con-gratulated at our recent Year and school assemblies. The young ladies have been mentioned in this newsletter.

I will be following up with students who require improvement in areas as displayed in their interim report to set some goals. Mr Donohoe set a clear tone for 2017 at SCM “strive for excellence”. At our recent assembly I spoke to the cohort about what goals each student can set for themselves after the feedback they received via their interim report and/or parent teacher interviews, and students spent some time during the assembly contemplating a goal for Semester 2. Thank you to all the parents and carers who attended parent teacher interviews. It was lovely to catch up with so many . When I asked Year 7 at our recent assembly for some feedback about the parent teacher interviews the overwhelming response where that Teachers involved the individual student in the discussion. Students felt very involved and grateful for this.

The Year 7 assessment schedules and calendar is up and running on our school website, underneath the “assessments” tab. I encourage all students to print out the calendar and highlight the appropriate tasks and dates for organisational purposes.

It is fantastic to see so many year 7 students involved in the house competition each week. There are many avenues that students can pursue, keep an eye on the daily notices for the myriad of opportunities that are available.

With the cooler weather upon us it is important that school jumpers are labelled in case students lose them. I am seeking parental support in ensuring you son or daughter is in full school uniform each and every day.

Year 7 High fives:

Congratulations to: Isaac Sullivan who has been selected in the Hunter Academy of Sport for Surfing, he is part of an over-all 19 member squad.

Malachi Sausaofai has been selected in the final 23 to represent the Hunter Wildfires Rugby Union Team. Malachi will be participating in bonding camps and two training sessions per week. He represents the Hunter region in the Country Championships in May and the State in June.

I am keen to hear of and acknowledge any student successes so please pass them on.

Please do not hesitate to contact myself on [email protected] or through the front office on 40147300 for a phone conversation or to make an appointment.

Year 10 Students We’re already well into Term 2. We have had a very busy start to the term and it was fantastic to see so many parents at interviews on Monday. It was a great opportunity to catch up and pass on some valuable feedback in regards to the stu-dents. If you ever have any questions regarding your child’s progress in class, please do not hesitate to contact the school via email or phone.

Term 2 is always very hectic and I guarantee it will be over before we realise. It promises to be a busy one with Semester One examinations (Week 8), Year 10 retreat (Week 10) and the Careers Expo (Week 4) just to name a few of the upcom-ing events. Last term some students found it very hectic towards the end with several assessment tasks being due. I high-ly recommend students get organised now. Have a look at the website, work out what tasks are due, view the task and plan ahead!!! If you or the students have questions in regards to the task, please ask the classroom teacher or the rele-vant Teaching and Learning Coordinator, encourage the students to be proactive. This would alleviate the stress of trying to do many tasks in the one week. Students are also encouraged to practice mindfulness and controlled breathing when-ever they are feeling anxious or stressed. This allows the heart rate to slow and stress levels will lower almost immedi-ately. The students have practiced this a lot at school and I thank Mrs South for her leadership and guidance in this area.

Year 10 will soon receive information about the Retreat (week 10). Our retreat is held a Collaroy, located on the northern beaches of Sydney. It will be a highlight for Year 10 and I strongly encourage all students to attend. The note will highlight dates and cost etc. Stay tuned!!

Finally, all Year 10 students look great in the jersey’s. I thank all parents for the prompt payment of these and they will be a great keepsake to remind them of their time at San Clemente. It is so good to see the students wearing them each day with pride.

If you have any questions in regards to year 10 please contact me at school via phone or email [email protected].

Bronwyn Denham, Year 10 Coordinator (Wellbeing)

Year 8 Students A warm welcome back to Term 2. I hope that Year 8 and parents are recharged and ready for the term ahead. At Year 8’s year meeting this week the focus for Term 2 is ATTITUDE. In actual fact, it should be the focus in our lives. I read to Year 8 a story about a boy and his father who were hiking in the mountains. The boy fell over and let out a scream. To his surprise, he heard the same scream repeated somewhere else in the mountains. The young boy was confused so he asked his father, “What’s going on”. The father explained that this is an echo, but really this is LIFE - it gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions. Your life is not a coincidence. It’s a reflection of you. I challenged Year 8 to focus on their attitude in everything they do. To focus in every lesson, to challenge them-selves, persevere and to always give their best.

Year 8 assessment booklets, which outline all the assessment tasks for Year 8 in Term 2, are accessible on the school’s website under the Teaching and Learning tab. I strongly recommend that all parents sit down with their child, access this booklet, and print off the assessment schedule - which lists when each subject’s assessment task is due or scheduled. This document should then be placed on the fridge as a daily reminder of upcoming assessments. A reminder, that any questions/issues your child has in relation to assessment tasks, the first point of contact is the relevant subject teacher. The Teacher and Learning Coordinator for each subject is also a valuable source of advice and information, and don’t forget the Feldt Learning Centre at school is always available for all students who require assistance with assessment tasks.

Finally, it was great to see so many parents attend the parent teacher interview day on Monday. I hope the interviews provided you with important information relating to your child’s performance and progress at San Clemente.

Shout Out

Congratulations to all the Year 8 students who recently represented the school in Bill Turner Cup and the Dioce-san Touch Football tournament.

Congratulations to Jack Murphy who recently competed in the Australasian Scooter Titles in Melbourne.

A reminder to Year 8 parents, if you have any concerns at all please contact me at school on 4014 7300 or on the follow-ing email address; [email protected]

A final thought Year 8,

“A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results”.

Patrick Doyle, Year 8 Coordinator (Wellbeing)

Year 9 Students Welcome back to Term 2! This term promises to be a busy time for Year 9 students, especially in regards to academic pursuits. NAPLAN will take place next week and the formal examination period for Semester One will occur in Week 7 (June 5th - June 9th). It is vital that all Year 9 students prepare thoroughly for their exams to ensure they achieve to their full potential. This is Year 9’s first experience at completing examinations in a structured timetabled period. Being pre-pared for each examination will minimise stress and anxiety. Even though the dates are over a month away, the time will pass very quickly. Consequently, planning for study and the revision process should begin now!

I recently read an article titled, “Addressing our Children’s Stress” by Dr John Irvine, a renowned child and family psy-chologist. The article identified a variety of causes of stress for young people including: academic failure, a poor report card and not matching up to brighter or smarter school mates or siblings. One suggested approach of dealing with stress related to the above areas was to look for improvement, rather than perfection with school work and to look for effort rather than success. This coincides with San Clemente’s theme of “Towards Excellence” for 2017 and my mantra for Year

9 students to: “be the best version of yourself”. With NAPLAN testing and examinations approaching, I am personally concerned with the pressure some students may place upon themselves. I encourage all parents to support and encour-age their child during these periods, and if you notice that your child is struggling to cope in any way at all, please con-tact me.

Shout-outs:

Michelle Maricic on her recent selection in the NSWCCC Girls AFL team.

Joshua Stretton on being selected in the NSW Stand-Up Paddle Boarding team to compete at the Australian titles later in the year (the youngest competitor EVER to qualify at this level).

A reminder to all parents/ carers, if you have any concerns or questions about your child’s wellbeing, please don’t hesi-tate in contacting me on 4014 7300 or at [email protected]

Nicholas Marsh, Year 9 Coordinator (Wellbeing)

Welcome to ‘Literacy Matters’ where I’d like to present some information relating to Literacy for parents. At San Clemente we are working on whole school practic-es to improve literacy. Literacy is about communicating effectively. At school we focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening as part of our literacy repertoire. Literacy is not just part of the English curriculum – all subjects “teach” literacy, for example, new vocabulary, reading comprehension and writing or responding.

In terms of writing, teachers will ask students to write different types of “texts”. One text type is the Narrative. I’ve included some information below about Narra-tive Texts. In particular take note of the language features required in a Narrative.

If you’d like some more information about text types please contact me.

Gay McDonell, Learning Support Teacher, [email protected]

NARRATIVE TEXTS

Why do we write Narratives?

To entertain, amuse or instruct.

In what text forms do we find Narrative texts?

Narrative texts may include: short stories, poems, songs, myths/legends, fairy tales, parables, plays, films, adver-tisements, novels –science fiction, fantasy, romance etc.

How can we structure Narratives?

Orientation

Complication

Evaluation

Resolution

What are the main language features of Narrative that need to be taught?

Language of Description

E.g. The lake became a pale golden colour as the sun moved its warm hands across the

landscape.

Kookaburras welcomed the morning with a chorus of deafening laughter.

Language to Indicate Time/Sequence

E.g. Initially, soon after, later

English

Students have settled back into their English classes after a well-earned break. The English staff enjoyed catching up with so many parents and carers at the recent Parent Teacher Interviews and thank you for your on-going support.

Classes are presently working on formative tasks, which are used as building blocks for the summative tasks. Students receive valuable feedback from the formative tasks which assist as they prepare for their summatives later in the term. All summative assessment task notifications can be found on the English MOODLE. Students will also receive a hard copy at least two weeks prior to the task. Year 7 and 8 tasks are due Week 6, Year 9 - Week 7 and Year 10 - Week 8. All 7 – 10 students should be completing home study after every English lesson. Students are also expected to be regularly reading from a novel. Year 7 and 8 visit the library once a fortnight with their class teacher. Mr Daniel McCloghry will be teaching four classes for the remainder of the year and Mrs Gay McDonell is now teaching two classes. Literacy lessons occur for all classes once a fortnight and will now be taught by the class teacher. If you have any questions regarding English at San Clemente, please contact me on the email address below.

Ms Karen Brennan, Teaching & Learning Coordinator Email: [email protected]

Payment can be made by Cash, Cheque, Credit Card or Qkr! If you choose to use Qkr! and you do not have a child currently at school you should list yourself as a member of Staff. If you purchase your ticket using Qkr! the receipt will be your entry ticket.

Coffee Morning for Parents of Students with Additional Needs

SAVE THE DATE!

Friday 26th May 8.45am

Thanks to the parents who attended our first coffee morning – it was lovely to meet you! If you’re able to attend out next get together please let me know:

[email protected]

Gay McDonell, Learning Support, Teacher, Feldt Centre

Parents and

Friends

Fund Raiser

Volunteers

would be

greatly

appreciated

SRC Update

by Liam Nolan – Year 8

This year as SRC members we attend meetings every second week on a Thurs-day where we have many diverse discussions about how we can improve our school.

The SRC is a voice for the students on topics such as how we can make every kid at our school have better wellbeing and make their time at San Clemente even more enjoyable. At the SRC meetings we have been discussing putting posters around the school informing students that bullying is unacceptable and look out for some inspirational words of advice. Hopefully this will have a positive impact on everybody.

The Library will be open after school every Monday til 4pm with teachers available to assist with As-

sessment Tasks and homework.

The Maths ASAP program also operates on Monday afternoons in D3 for Year 9 and 10 students.

Starting Monday 13th March, 2017. All students welcome!

For more information, please contact Mrs McDonell (02) 4014 7300

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Permission to attend Homework Hub at San Clemente High School

I give permission for (Student Name): ________________________________

Year: ________ Mentor Group: _______________________ to attend Homework Hub in the Library at San

Clemente High School every Monday afternoon till 4pm. This student will be travelling home from San Clemente by:

___________________________________________________________________________________________ .

Parent Name: ___________________________ Contact Phone Number: ______________________

From the Feldt Centre (Learning Support)

Last Friday, the Feldt Centre hosted its first parent information morning tea. This morning tea was arranged by Mrs.

Gay McDonell, one of our Learning Support teachers. The purpose of these ongoing monthly meetings is to meet, on an

informal basis, with parents of students with additional needs to discuss how we can better support these students and

their parents to navigate the demands of high school.

It was a lovely, relaxed morning tea and the feedback received from parents was excellent. The staff, including Mr

Donohoe our Principal, had a chance to explain in a more intimate manner, how the Feldt Centre supports their chil-

dren at school and hear from the parents some of the stresses and strains that the students bring home with them in

terms of assessments, assignments and homework. Parents used the opportunity to meet each other and share some

common worries that they face as parents of a child with a ‘disability’ as well as share some of the surprises that they

bring.

The morning tea meeting will continue each month and parents/carers of a child with additional needs are welcome to

attend. The morning tea takes place on the last Friday of every month at 9am in the Feldt Centre where we share

coffee/tea and cake and talk with each other about how we can best support your children. It’s another way of building

connections and taking notice of the things that are working well, as well as the things we need to change or improve

upon on our shared parent-school journey. Friday 26 May is the next meeting at 8.45am. If you want any more infor-

mation please don’t hesitate to call the Feldt Centre (40147300).

My special thanks to the parents who attended the inaugural meeting, as well as Mrs. McDonell who organised the get

together. Please come along to the next meeting where we will focus on the assessment calendar and what it means

for students with a disability (and their parents!)

Kevin Askie. Learning Support Coordinator. (Feldt Learning Support Centre)

SPORT NEWS

Stand Up Paddle Board : Joshua Stretton Yr 9

Joshua had a very successful weekend, attending

the NSW State Titles down at Sussex Inlet in the

Open Men’s division. He smashed his way

through to the final and qualified into the Aus-

tralian SUP Titles (NSW SUP TEAM) to be held in

November (QLD). This is an amazing achievement

as he will be the youngest competitor to ever

qualify and compete at this level being only 14

years and representing NSW. He also came 2nd in

the under 21s Junior Event.

Regional Surfing Competition Friday 05 May

Joshua Stretton, Jed Clifford, Isaac Sharp and Jay Bergsma will compete in this competition at Dixon Park on Fri-

day. We wish them good luck.

Friday Rep Sport Term 2 begins this Friday with competition against our usual rivals St Pius Adamstown, St Mary ’s

Gateshead and St Paul’s Booragul. The sports this term are Jnr and Snr Boys Basketball, Snr Boys and Girls Oz Tag,

Jnr Girls and Boys Football (soccer), Yr 7 Netball and Yr 8 Netball. Thank you to all students who trialled and to those

who were selected. These students give up playing in sports with their friends and represent San Clemente with

great pride. We appreciate this very much.

Diocesan Cross Country takes place this Thursday May 4 at Glenbawn Dam. We have a small representative team

of eight with big hearts. We share a bus with St Mary and St Francis Xavier. The setting at the dam is just beautiful, I

can only urge those students who enjoy running to think about competing next year. Our representatives are: Yas-

min Popovic, Sarah Malone, Lara Wise, Joshua Bell, Jaydn Healy, Jacob Hyde, Zane Grant and Cameron Forde.

Good luck to our team. Thank you to Mr Burns and Ms Lindner who will accompany me as officials at the competi-

tion.

Diocesan Touch Football

Four very keen and talented teams competed last week in the Boys and Girls U/15 and Open in Maitland in order to

gain selection into the Maitland Newcastle Diocesan Team, which will compete at NSWCCC Level. Congratulations to

three players who were selected: Verdelh Antonio Yr 10 into the Open Boys Team, Georgia Stewart Yr 10 into the

Open Girls Team and Daniel de Ridder Yr 10 into the Boys U/15 Team. Thank you to our coaches Ms Abbey Lindner,

Mr Doyle and Mr Blanch.

Bill Turner U/15 Football (Soccer)

This is a state-wide knockout competition in which we can come up against sport high schools. Our coaches, Mr Al-

lan (boys) and Mr Marsh (girls), are doing a fantastic job in coaching the players – and have been doing so for many

years. Our thanks for giving up your time to train, organise and coach – and to staff who give up their time to

transport players to the field. Both teams have

made it easily to the second round. Well done! The

boys are playing on Thursday 4 May and we wish

them a great, winning game!

Mrs Daly, Sports Coordinator

Victory for the Doves

Bill Turner Cup—First Round

Parents & Friends Association

Tuesday 16 May, 6pm in Library, is our next P&F Meeting. We hope

to see lots of parents there as we discuss Centenary and some uni-

form issues.

This year the school has several big events occurring to coincide with

the 100 year celebrations, such as the Ball on the 19th of August and

the Open day on the 27th of August. The P & F will be looking into

how they can support the school community with these events.

We have confirmation of two Kotara Bunnings BBQ’s, these being 28th of May and 8th of October. Please pencil these

into your calendar because we would love your support. We will also we selling the Entertainment Books very soon,

this has proved to be a very successful fundraiser over the years. Rose McAllister, P & F Secretary

Year 7 Visual Arts channel their inner Picassos.

Year 7 Visual Arts students have embraced the Cubist art-works of Pablo Picasso to design and paint their own versions of one of his bull artworks.

They drew on their studies of colour theory to select colour schemes, adding low relief elements to make parts pop out and went wild with patterning. These dynamic raging bulls will be on display as usual at the annual Sight and Sound exhibition at the end of the year.

Mrs McCarthy, Visual Arts

Ms Pippa Hartshorne, English Faculty

Have your parent voice

heard at the P&F Meeting

on 16 May. On the agenda

for discussion is the girls

skirt design.

NOTICE TO STUDENTS / PARENTS—Abundance Rd Closure from 15 May 2017

Please be advised that due to an up scaling of the roadworks in Abundance Rd Medowie, buses will no longer

be able to access Abundance Rd or Lisadell Rd between Fairlands Rd and Abundance Rd. This will commence

from Monday 15th May for approx. 9 weeks. Passengers will be required to board/alight from the following

locations:

Ferodale Rd near Abundance Rd and Fairlands Rd near Lisadell Rd

Parents if dropping or picking up at either location please be mindful that buses will need room to pull in and

out. We apologise for any inconvenience during this time. Management, Hunter Valley Buses

As of 15 May 2017, service route S555 will now divert into Boat Harbour pick up stu-dents in this area that travel to schools in Newcastle. Please find attached an updat-ed route breakdown for all services includ-ing the amended times for S555 (starting 15/5/17).

If there are any questions regarding the school services, morning or afternoon, please do not hesitate to contact our Oper-ations department.

San Clemente High School Gillian Burgess 0437176118 THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

"The Entertainment Book is such a great way to try new restaurants. It’s also a great opportunity to

San Clemente High School is raising funds. Here’s how you can help…

Support our School by ordering your NEW 2017/2018 Entertainment Book or Entertain

ment Digital Membership now. You’ll receive hundreds of valuable offers for every

thing you love to do, and help our fundraising at the same time.

Calendar Dates to note 9/11 May NAPLAN

10 May Stem Excursion

16 May Year 9 Food Excursion

16 May P & F Meeting

22 May Poetry Workshop Yr 7

23 May Knights Knockout U13s and U15s

30 May Knights Knockout U14s andU16s

01 June SFX Talk to Year 10

5 Jun Yr 9 Exam Week

6/8 Jun DIO SOUNDS

12 Jun Queens Birthday Holiday

13 Jun Yr 10 Exam Week

20 June P & F Meeting

27/29 Jun Retreat Yr 10

27 Jun Year 7 Pupil Free (Retreat Yr 10)

28 Jun Year 8 Pupil Free (Retreat Yr 10)

29 Jun Year 9 Pupil Free (Retreat Yr 10)

29 Jun Cheap Thrills Yr 8

30 June End Term 2

17 July Beginning Term 3

18 July P & F Meeting

24 July SFX Subject Info Evening

31 July Athletics Carnival

2/4 August ASPIRE Civic Theatre

17 Aug Macbeth Years 9 &10 Sydney

19 Aug SCM Centenary Ball

27 Aug SCM Centenary Open Day

28 Aug/1 Sep Ski Trip

6/8 Sep CAPA Immersion Tour

11/15 Sep Marine Studies Camp

19 Sep Drama Night

21 Sept Immunisation Year 7

9 Oct Beginning Term 4

18 Oct Year 8 Camp

13 Nov Year 10 Exams

20 Nov Year 9 Exams

7 Dec Year 10 Graduation

15 Dec Last Day Students 2017

31 January First Day Year 7

01 Feb First Day Years 8, 9, 10

Canteen Roster Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Week 3

08 May

Jodie Gill Tony Jackson Helen Starkey Priscilla Heigle

Tracy Samm

Lesley Harland

Week 4

15 May

Katie Smith Regan Dagwell Joan McBride HELP Carol de Vos