Newsletter 23 March 2011 - Marist College Kogarah

Wednesday, 23 March 2011 Term 1 Week 8PrayerGod Our Father,Your Word became Manand was born of the VirginMary.May we become more likeJesus Christ,whom we acknowledge as ourRedeemer, God and man.We ask this through Christ ourLord. AmenFeast of the Annunciation25 March, 2011Dear Parents, Staff and StudentsAsh WednesdayAt our weekly Mass Fr Xavier blessed the ashes to be distributed to every student at the College.Thank you to Mrs Roebuck, home room teachers and students who attended classes to conductthe beautiful liturgy. The prayer reverence was a meaningful way to commence this mostimportant season of the Church year. Thank you to students who have been making regularcontributions to the Lenten Appeal, every dollar makes a difference to someone less fortunatethan ourselves.Swimming CarnivalAnother highly successful carnival was conducted at Bexley swimming complex. The success ofthe day was due largely to the participation and enthusiasm of our students, admirably led byYear 12. Thank you to all staff who were involved on the day but especially to Mr Scali and histeam for the hours of planning and preparation that go unseen in the lead-up to the event.Year 12Good luck to Year 12 who are about to commence their half-yearly exams. Every student shouldbe devoting at least three hours each day to study and revision right up until the HSC later in theyear. These last two terms of school will seem to go by very quickly and every student owes it tohimself to do the very best his abilities will allow. Every year there are some students who aredisappointed because they have not achieved the results they are capable of achieving. As bothstudents and parents know, our boys are well taught by a dedicated staff. Ultimately, however, itis the responsibility of students to make the commitment to do the hard work. Parents and teacherscannot do the study for them.State ElectionAs I mentioned in the previous newsletter, those who have any concern for Catholic schoolswould be most concerned about the education policies of the Greens. Although some peoplemay be drawn to their policies on the environment, their education policy would have adevastating effect on Catholic schools. The education system we have in Australia is unique,with all sectors receiving a fair share of funds from governments (parents’ taxes). Animplementation of the Greens’ policy would result in a massive increase in fees which would seeCatholic schools, as we currently know them cease to exist.The Catholic Bishops of NSW are also very concerned about the Greens’ policies in a number ofother areas. Those named in a recently published message list areas such as religious freedom,drug use, marriage, abortion and euthanasia. Please read this important document that is onpages 4 and 5 of this Newsletter.Upcoming EventsWednesday 23 March Year 12 assessment period commences (concludes 5 April)Tuesday 29 March Advisory Council MeetingFriday 8 April Last day Term 1John RiordanPrincipal

HSC STUDIES OF RELIGION DAYYear 12 students will have the opportunity towork with experienced educators who willaddress specific content areas within theStudies of Religion Syllabus.Date: Thursday 30 JuneVenue: ACU StrathfieldTime: 9:00am - 3:00pmContact: Louise Zavone on (02) 9568 8207 orlouise.zavone@ceosyd.catholic.edu.auWALK WITH CHRIST PROCESSIONThis annual procession of the Blessed Sacramentmarks the Feast of Corpus Christi and is joined bythousands of Sydney Catholic parishioners.Schools are asked to promote this event andencourage the participation of staff, students andfamilies.Date: Sunday 26 JuneVenue: St Patrick’s Church Hill to St Mary’s CathedralTime: Commences at 2:30pmContact: Anthony Gordon on (02) 9568 8117 oranthony.gordon@ceosyd.catholic.edu.auARCHDIOCESAN SOCIAL JUSTICE DAYEach school is invited to send up to 15 studentsfrom Years 9 to 11 to reflect upon and discuss theSocial Justice Statement for 2011. A variety ofpresenters, workshops and student activities willbe planned for the day.Date: Wednesday 16 NovemberVenue: Southern Cross Catholic VocationalCollege BurwoodTime: 9:00am - 3:00pmContact: Louise Zavone on (02) 9568 8207 orlouise.zavone@ceosyd.catholic.edu.auFor further information, see Mr Donohue. A fulllist of youth events can be found on the WorldYouth Day noticeboard below Room 57.ABUSY TIME FORCOLLEGE LEADERSTerm 1 has been a hectic time for our College leaders. Marc Stanghieri (CollegeCaptain) and Josh Linklater (College Vice Captain) have been involved innumerous activities here and outside the College. Both boys have enjoyed theresponsibilities that go with the leadership position.Since being appointed Captain and Vice Captain of the College, Marc and Joshhave had the opportunity to meet leaders from other Colleges as well as hearingfrom experienced people on leadership. One event they thoroughly enjoyed wasthe Marist Leadership weekend at Mittagong late last year, where they met otherMarist students and shared ideas on leadership.Marc and Josh also attended the MAPS (Marist Asia Pacific Solidarity) internationalafternoon at the Berne Centre as well as Cardinal Pell’s PentecostConsultation at the CEO in preparation for the 2011 Pentecost Statement. At thisgathering the boys werefortunate to hear from twodistinguished leaders ofeducation, Cardinal George Pelland Dr Dan White.Josh also represented theCollege in the Lions Clubs Youthof the Year where he reachedthe regional levels. RecentlyMarc attended a United Nationsweekend with fellow Year 12students Ashley Molloy andNicholas Brimmer at theCollaroy Centre. Marc commentedon what an invaluableexperience it was.All Year 12 leaders were heavilyinvolved in the recent CollegeOpen Day, MCC SwimmingChampionships and CollegeSwimming Carnival. MCK is veryfortunate to have leaders whoare able to combine a veryhectic study schedule withleadership commitments. Theboys are looking forward tointroducing initiatives with juniorstudents in Term 2.Above left Vice Captain Josh Linklater and rightMarc Stanghieri (Captain).THE MOTHERS' DAY MASS AND MORNING TEA will be held on Friday,6 May, 2011. The Mass will be celebrated in the Marist Centre at 9.30am, followed bymorning tea.We hope this will be an opportunity for students to show their appreciation for all thethings that you do for them. A special invitation is made to students' grandmothersalso to attend this celebration. The students will have the opportunity to sit with theirmothers and grandmothers during the Liturgy.In recognition of the very special bond shared between the boys and their mothers/ stepmothers/ grandmothers, or thosewho are a ‘mother’ to our boys, we would like to have a special Powerpoint presentation. So we would ask you to select onefavourite photo celebrating this bond; please enclose this in an envelope and mark on the back of this photo your son’s nameand homeroom. It would be greatly appreciated if you could send this photo to the College Office as soon as possible, but nolater than Friday, 29 April. We look forward to the possibility of you joining us to celebrate the special relationship that youhave with your son/grandson.

For full sport details for Thursday 24 March 2011, please see the Sports Newsletter on the College Website.52 WOLSELEY STREET BEXLEY, 2207 TELEPHONE 9587 3211 FACSIMILE 9556 1790WEBSITE: www.mck.nsw.edu.auEMAIL: admin@mckogarah.catholic.edu.au