Marian Catholic College 185 WAKADEN STREET, GRIFFITH NSW 2680

TELEPHONE: (02) 69692400

WEBSITE: www.mccww.catholic.edu.au

No 19 Friday 17 June 2016

Dear Parents, Students and Friends,

The performances of our musical Grease have been stunning the audiences since Wednesday. It really is a quality production that has you wondering whether they are really school students in all the roles (except one) or are they professionals brought in for the show! I know that I am obviously biased but I have heard many similar comments over the past few days as audiences file out of the Griffith Regional Theatre. There are only a few tickets available for the remaining matinee show on Saturday. You will need to call the Griffith Theatre Box Office for any chance of seeing it. My wholehearted congratulations to everyone involved. It really is a large scale operation with not only about 100 Marian students and staff involved each night but also many volunteers back and front of stage helping in costume, make-up and hair, programmes and everything else that is needed for a show to be successful.

I had a conversation with one of the audience members this morning, Mr Neville Dwyer, Director of Griffith Child Care Centre. Many people in our city, know Neville and he wrote a piece about our show and it is with his permission that I have included it in this newsletter. It encapsulates the core of what we do as educators. In schools, we are involved in helping to develop people and what a privilege it is! We give our best (as teachers) and we mix our talents with the talents of our students and in front of our eyes a beautiful person is discovering life for themselves! As teachers, we are nourished by the work we do and being surrounded by energetic, dedicated and creative students and staff is a blessing.

Year 11 mid-course reports were emailed to parents on Wednesday 8th June. Parent/Teacher/Student conferences will take place on Thursday 23rd June, 3:45-6pm in the Marian Sisters of Mercy Library. Also on Thursday 23rd June parents and friends are invited to join Year 11 and 12 for the half yearly Awards Ceremony in the Marcellin Hall at 11:50am.

Peace and Best Wishes

Principal

Learning and Teaching News The Year 11 P/S/T Conferences will be in the Library/Language Centre on Thursday 23 June, 3.45 to 6.00pm.

To make appointments for the conferences we use the SOBS online bookings system. Please see the following page for instructions. This way parents have input about their preferred time and can do it more quickly and efficiently from home. Parents can access the system at any time, day or night. There are no codes or pin numbers to remember, and a series of simple screens and prompts can assist you to make their interview bookings, selecting the teachers you wish to see and time slots that are convenient.

To access the SOBS online booking system, please go our new College website:

On the home page of our website, scroll down and click on the “Parent/Teacher Interview Bookings” button as shown on the screenshot below.

Naturally, if you experience difficulty with internet connections, you are welcome to ring the school on 69692400 and ask one of the Office staff members to make the bookings for you. In addition, if you have not been able to make a booking or your circumstances change, all teachers should be present between 3.45 and 5.45pm and you are welcome to try to squeeze in between other people’s bookings We are not just aiming to inform parents about a child’s progress. Our focus is on achievements and goal setting. It is crucial that students attend if we are striving for academic progress and continued improvement in learning. The student diary has a section on goal setting and this would be a great place to record the goals determined in the conference. We are hoping that you find these conferences a profitable part of our school-home partnership. We look forward to seeing you there.

mccww.catholic.edu.au

Christie Scoble

Assistant Principal—Learning

CANTEEN ROSTER TERM 2 2016

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

20 June 21 June 22 June 23 June 24 June S Schaefer J Lockwood E Caffrey

H Panarello Y Aloisi C Laurent

K Trimboli M Macrae K Salvestro

D Zanotto M Marando J Sartor

S Royal C Turner C Pollard

CALENDAR OF EVENTS WEEK 9

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 20 June 21 June 22 June 23 June 24 June

Info Day @ Leeton High School Futures R Us Program Transition Program—St Patricks

Year 11 P/T/S Conferences 3.45 to 6:00pm Year 11/12 Awards Assembly Lesson 3 U/15 Bill Turner Soccer

ZUMBA PARTY Lesson 5 Year 9 HSIE Excursion Lesson 2 & 3 Griffith War Memorial

PRAYERS PLEASE

We pray for any families in our community who have lost loved ones or

are suffering illnesses.

Our thoughts and prayers are

with you all.

LOST PROPERTY

The office has Blazers, Hats, Jumpers, Scarves and Sport Jackets all without

names.

If your child has lost anything please ask

them to come to the office.

MARIAN CATHOLIC COLLEGE

GRIFFITH

YEAR 7 2017

ENROLMENT INTERVIEWS ARE IN PROGRESS NOW!

ATTENTION PARENTS OF YEAR 6 STUDENTS

WHO HAVE NOT SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION PLEASE

DO SO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

If your year 6 student is intending to attend Marian

Catholic College in 2017 please contact Mrs Julie

O’Keeffe at the College Office: 02 69692400 ASAP

PASTORAL CARE NEWS

Congratulations to everyone involved in the school production of

Grease. The musical has been a Marian Catholic School

community event and it has been an amazing experience to

watch. After months of hard work, the excitement level and

enthusiasm of all involved has increased and has resulted in an

awesome spectacular. Many students stepped outside of their

comfort zone and set personal goals; which were well and truly

achieved.

This community spirit will continue next FRIDAY 24TH JUNE from 2:15pm (last

period). The 2016 SOCIAL & WELL~BEING COMMITTEE have invited AR'E

ABERA to host a

“ROCKIN ROBIN”ZUMBA PARTY"

to raise funds for Griffith Public School year 2 student Robin Mataora who is currently

undergoing treatment for leukemia in Sydney.

As part of the wider Griffith community let's

support Robin & his family.

Entry is by donation of a gold coin. Coins will be

collected from Monday 20th to Thursday 23rd

near the canteen by committee members.

Students will be advised of more details via

homeroom notices.

Now that the cooler

weather has arrived please send in any school uniforms that

you may no longer need. These items are distributed as per

need and are extremely appreciated. Items may be left at

the front office.

Have a wonderful weekend. Stay safe & stay warm.

Regards Sue Hone (Pastoral Care Worker)

YEAR 12 BIOLOGY Year 12 students completing their Biology Practical Assessment The task was to investigate the effect of temperature on enzymes

DATE: THURSDAY 30 JUNE

TIME: 7:00—9.30 PM

VENUE: Marian Catholic

College Marcellin Hall

COST: $5.00

NOTES MUST BE RETURNED TO THE COLLEGE OFFICE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

On Thursday 9th of June all Year 10 students visited TAFE Riverina to learn about TVET cours-

es offered to Year 11 and 12 students. TVET courses offer students not only the opportunity to gain an Nationally recognised Certificate II but the programs are designed to give students practical, work-related skills whilst contributing to their HSC and ATAR.

TVET students attend TAFE Riverina once a week and can choose from a wide range of courses including: Beauty, Hairdressing, Automotive, Mechatronics, Business, Finance, Retail, IT, Early Childhood, Nursing/Health, Engineering, and Construction.

Any students interested in learning more about TVET please contact the MCC VET Coordina-tor, Mrs Melody Richards.

Pictured are students learning about Beauty and Automotive courses.

“Why, this car is auto-matic. It’s system-matic. Its hyyyyydro-matic. Why, it’s greased lightning!”

Memory is a funny thing isn’t it, one minute you’re happily sitting in aisle D seat 51 at the Griffith Regional

Theatre in 2016 and next minute, the music swirls around you and suddenly I’m back at Tulloch Lodge, Wagga

Wagga, an off campus student accommodation unit run by Student Services at RCAE (Riverina College of

Advanced Education) before it grew into a University. It’s 1978, and the music of Grease and the dance moves

seem to occupy all of our time outside of study and drinking. We knew every lyric, dance move and had

ourselves choreographed to dance (and sing) every part the building at any time of the day or night, we had

even created dance moves for the grand double staircase. Grease filled our lives, it connected us and made

that first year of college easier and more alive.

Step forward from 1978 to 2016, Marian Catholic College students and the educator team, have placed before

us “Grease”, and bring to life Danny, Sandy, Rizzo, Kenickie, Doody, Sonny, Putzie, Frenchy, and the even

Vince Fontaine. The cast do an outstanding job as a well-rehearsed ensemble to bring the biggest smile to your

dial, so big that at times tears rolled down my cheeks.

School is about a lot of things, we mostly think it’s about learning stuff, the reality is about learning who you

are, who you aren’t and it also allows you to discover things about yourself and what you can do that you never

really knew. We often never see this when we are in the moment, but time allows us to reflect back and we

can see those sparks of knowing that rose up for periods of time. The creative and expressive side of us, is one

of the important links often given less attention in our high school years. The focus on Literacy, Math, Science

and sport often take the limelight and being seen as critical to success in future years. Drama, Music and Art

are often relegated to the side and seen as less critical to our future. However our story as humans, from as

far back as the beginning of the Dreaming, through the Songlines of our first nation people and through the

stories that tell the journey of modern civilisation from the Sumarians to now, is told through song, dance,

story, art and imaginings created by and presented by artists. Creative spirits give voice to who we are and

how we see ourselves, so it is with this focus that Marian Catholic College and its education faculty, continue

to give a place of significance every couple of years to this expressive self.

Continuing the tradition of the big musical, that for me started under Mechelle Anderson and Make me a Star,

a home grown effort that gave opportunity for talent to shine. With the return of Don Hillam to Griffith and in

particular to Marian College, we had the promise of his experience in musical theatre and cabaret in Wagga

Wagga over many years, being brought to the drama team at the high school. From Fame, The Whiz and now

Grease, Don Hillam and his magical team, have not disappointed. He spirited us back to California 1959 and

Rydell High School.

The set and use of the stage, tells us the guy behind the wheel knows about theatre and how to make it tell

your story. His cast is big, choreographed and can sing. His Rizzo, well what a voice, and his Danny and

Sandy are well matched in voice, quality and voice, the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds bring the comedy, chorus

and also the big issues of the day to the fore. The ensemble behind them, well what more could you ask for.

Once again the use of a live band, this time sitting high above the stage, really tell us this school is nurturing a

range of talent and creative elements. It’s a very classy band, tight, on time and well-orchestrated, they shine

bright, but never overpower the voices of the cast. In other productions there have always been standout

voices, strong and vibrant, sometimes they outshone other cast. Tonight though, the voice of Rizzo really

matched the character, as it should, the rest of the cast sang their hearts out, but didn’t over power each other,

to me it was maybe the first time that attention had been given to really having voices that blended and

matched each of the characters.

We are blessed in many ways, given the world and the troubles that impact on people’s lives and happiness can

seem so far away. We have schools in our community that make the effort to go that extra mile so that

outstanding moments like tonight can seem commonplace or expected. It’s not, its hard work, tonight is an

outcome of educators, facilitators of learning and enquiry showing what is possible when support is given in all

facets of a student’s life. Tonight we saw how literacy, maths, and science manifest themselves through

creativity. This is an example of the fundamentals of learning telling our story through art. It’s a powerful

reminder of what makes teachers really want to do this job, this is inspiring and humbling.

Congratulations to the faculty and leadership team at Marian Catholic College, the families and especially

those inspired young people who stepped up on the stage and into the limelight, it’s a brilliant show and you

should feel immensely proud of the value of this production, how it looks, sounds and feels. Powerful beyond

words.

Neville Dwyer