Book Week

An article in The Guardian this week places into question the interpretation of the data upon which statements about a massive decline in male reading in Australia is based. While not disputing that reading, especially of novels, remains in decline, the author would argue that the differences reported between males and females are statistically irrelevant. He would suggest that by classifying it as a gender issue we risk, in fact, looking for a solution to the wrong problem.

As an avid reader myself, the overall decline in reading is concerning, but not surprising, given that our recreation time is a highly contested space. Reading requires sustained concentration, free of distraction so that the mind can imagine the world being painted by the author. This is exactly what the owners of our social media platforms have so successfully engineered against. They feed the reward centre of our brain, and lured by instant gratification, we get drawn into a world where deep thinking is discouraged.

Experts suggest that the solution lies in talking about books so that literature does not sit just in the “book space” but becomes part of our daily conversation. Just like we would tell friends about something that we had enjoyed on Netflix, or a great game we had seen on the weekend. If you have read a book that changed your life, let your young person in on the secret. Reading in front of your young people is also important, as we know modelling can be powerful.

Book Week is our chance to talk about the joy of books, and I would like to offer my thanks to our library staff for their quizzes this week and to our young people who have risen to the challenges. I encourage you to continue the conversation in your home.

Year 9 Camp

At the time of writing, our Year 9 students are on Camp. The camp provides an opportunity for students to learn more about themselves and each other by being challenged to take controlled risks and work together in teams. We know that camps also create lasting memories. Camps are possible thanks to the generosity of our staff who give their time to facilitate these experiences. Many thanks.

College Ambassadors

I often write about the role of our College Ambassadors on our Talk and Tours and thought it appropriate to expand on the great job these students are doing and the very positive feedback that we receive from prospective parents. Our ambassadors guide our visitors on a tour of the college and talk about their experience as a student, often including their own story of transition from another school. Our visitors are glowing in their praise of our ambassadors and genuinely appreciate that they get the student perspective on life at St Mary’s. Thanks to the following students who have volunteered this year:

Year 12
Eva O’Keeffe, Matilda Phyland, Veronika Konotopchyk, Thomas Lauder, Harvey Andrew, Jude Fitzgerald, Amalia Ryan, Liam Harrison, Campbell Lavender, Thais Murray, Tomasz Tamowicz, Joel Farrar, Maddy Gournas, Matthew Dellas, Lachy Cameron, Jasper Martell

Year 11
Stella Ligudzinski, Maya Taifernopoulos

Year 10
Massimo Serritiello, Liam Retallick, Jack Muir, Imogen Fancourt, Ryder Poupard, Elliot Brennan, Benjamin Bake

Year 9
Oscar Cao, Zac Holland

Year 8
Michael Tsaglos, Olivia Koutroulis, Michaela Lea, Ethan Hasslett, Summer Garcia, Poppy Dressel-De Bruyn, Mila Cao

Year 7
Matilde Masson, Ava Ankertell, Linda Abraham, Mia Saik, Gia Torres

SIMON Everywhere

A reminder that you have free access in the App Store to SIMON Everywhere, an app that you may find simpler to use on your phone than the Parent Access Module (PAM). Both share information with you about your young person’s progress and facilitate contact with the College to inform of absence or lateness. Over coming weeks, we are reviewing the information that is linked in PAM to ensure that the important information for parents and guardians is available and easy to find.

Darren Atkinson 
Principal

Dear St Mary’s College Families,

As has been mentioned in the newsletter recently, we are now working through subject selections for students in all year levels. As students work their way through the school, the choices available to them, in terms of electives and pathways selection continue to expand. Following the well attended senior pathways information evening a few weeks ago, we conducted subject selection interviews for the Year 10 into Year 11 selections. This enabled a detailed, guided conversation about subjects and pathways choices, which can vary greatly from student to student. In the past week we have also conducted an online information session and Q&A For Year 9 families selecting Year 10 elective subjects and considering accelerating in a Year 11 VCE subject next year. Finally, we have had school presentations to Year 7 and 8 students, who are mainly determining the art and technology subject/s they would like to study. These processes are very well supported by high quality and easy to read subject selection handbooks for each year level.

Once the data from these selections is collated, we begin to formulate a preliminary timetable and commence staff allocations for next year. This typically takes at least 6 weeks, enabling us to inform staff and students well before the headstart classes (for senior classes) and booklist requirements are circulated.

Please see the below details regarding Child Safety Standard 8.

Child Safe Standard 8: Child safety knowledge, skills and awareness

This standard emphasises the importance of training to build the child safety knowledge, skills and awareness of staff, volunteers and school governing authorities appropriate to the nature of their roles. Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic.), employers have responsibility for the health, safety and wellbeing of employees and other persons on site, including students. This standard makes explicit the minimum requirements for ongoing training and education to support individuals to play their role in creating a safe environment for children.

At St Mary’s College, we work towards the implementation of Standard 8, by:

• Induction training for new staff and direct contact contractors and volunteers.
• Ongoing and refresher training briefings.
• Completion of DET Mandatory Reporting eLearning Module.
• EREA / St Mary’s Staff Learning System training.
• Additional training for the Child Safety Team.

Shaun Lancashire
Deputy Principal

Earlier this term, St Mary’s College had the privilege of welcoming a group of students and staff from our long-time partner school, Taisei High School, from Osaka, Japan. This cultural exchange marks the beginning of a new chapter for our school’s international program and represents a significant step forward for our college. Over the course of twelve days, the visiting students had the opportunity to immerse themselves in Australian school life, residing with our host families and attending classes at St Mary’s.

Each day, the Japanese students travelled to school with their host student, attending a combination of English lessons with an EAL teacher and regular lessons in their host student’s classes. This gave both our students and our guest students a unique insight into the cultural differences in learning approaches and etiquette and fostered relationships between all students. Beyond the classroom, our guests and host students engaged in a variety of extracurricular activities each afternoon. These activities included a walk through Melbourne and the Royal Botanic Gardens, a visit to the Healesville Animal Sanctuary, the Melbourne Museum, and the Queen Victoria Market, among others.

Outside of school, our host families organised many activities to welcome their guest into their family. These included cooking and taking the guest students to local sports and family events. Many of our families coordinated larger group activities such as taking the Japanese students to the MCG. These experiences fostered lasting friendships that will extend far beyond the visit and provided the opportunity for students to learn about each other’s cultures.

The success of the program was made possible thanks to the generosity of our host families and the enthusiasm of both sets of students. Experiences like these emphasise the importance of our global connections and encourage our students to be open-minded and engaged citizens of the world. On behalf of St Mary’s College, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the families that accepted the responsibility of hosting one of our Japanese students. We hope that this experience was rewarding for your children and your families. An acknowledgment of our wonderful staff and students who embraced our Japanese visitors is also owed. A special thanks to Paris Rouvalis, Regan Smith and Nicola Op’t Hoog for planning and running English classes for our guests, Adrian Cataldo for running sports classes and Sandie Saundry for conducting food technology classes.

We look forward to continuing and strengthening our partnership with Taisei High School in Osaka. Future opportunities for cultural experiences for our students to travel to Japan will no doubt be welcomed with the same kindness and hospitality shown here. Beyond our relationship with our Japanese friends, St Mary’s is excited to reintroduce our community to our global partners.

George Baxas
Learning Support Officer

Year 4 Feeder School Visits

In Terms 3 and 4, we are delighted to welcome Year 4 students from our Catholic feeder schools to give them a taste of secondary school life at St Mary’s.

Over the past two weeks, we have enjoyed the company of students from Our Lady of the Assumption, Cheltenham.

The program has been full of hands-on learning and fun:

• In the Food Technology kitchen, students created their own pizzas with toppings of their choice, while enjoying the stunning facilities and views.

• In the Science Lab, they met our axolotls, blue yabby, and even some less-than-alive creatures! Students also learnt about Bunsen burner safety and experimented with circuit boards to create light, wind, and sound.

• The visit concluded in the Music Room, where Ms Thomas impressed on the drums and students shared some fantastic performances of their own.

These Year 4 visits are a wonderful way to engage with our feeder schools and showcase the rich learning opportunities available at St Mary’s College.

A big thank you to Ms Saundry, Mr Harrison and Ms Thomas for their support in making these days so special.

Jo Warr
College Registrar