it gives me great pleasure to - victoria |...

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the 2016 school year as incoming Principal. The last few months have been somewhat challenging but quite exciting as we commence a new year and new chapter in the journey of St Mary’s College. Upon reflection, I am amazed at the numerous achievements of our students and staff and are humbled by the warm, supportive and welcoming community that is our families, partner schools and the Catholic Education Melbourne team. Over the coming years, inspired by the Dominican pillars of prayer, study, service and community, I intend to dedicate my time to realizing the potential of the College and the dreams of our students.

Towards the end of 2015, I met with Acting Principal Michael Quin, the external reviewer Robert Lambe and the Designated Canonical Administrators to ensure I was familiar with both the strategic and pastoral intent of St Mary’s College. Overlaying this information with my leadership experience in Deaf Education has ensured I have a clear vision for the College in developing a centre of excellence in the delivery of education for deaf students within Catholic education across the greater Melbourne region.

We have finally opened our new campus at Salesian College Sunbury and are enormously grateful to commence this new partnership with them. It is indeed a beautiful school offering contemporary learning in a truly integrated manner with our team of specialist staff based there. I would like to warmly welcome all our new families who have joined our campuses in Sunbury, Dandenong, South Morang and Wantirna South.

The primary campuses at Wantirna South and South Morang provide a wonderful opportunity to experience best practice in team teaching where St Mary’s College teachers of the Deaf work in mainstream classrooms alongside the partner school primary teachers in providing diverse and individualized learning opportunities. From what I have observed, both primary and secondary students have settled in well to both the St Mary’s Community and that of the partner school. We have also had a number of new staff commence this year including Josephine Hynes and Grace Broadbent (Wantirna South), Vicky Horton (Sunbury) and Rachel Wilson (South Morang). I would particularly like to thank the leadership team and our administration officer for the supportive and efficient manner in which they have guided all staff new to St Mary’s through the transition into a new school community. Our commitment to developing the capacity of Catholic teachers in gaining their Masters level qualification as Teachers of the Deaf will continue to be a focus of the College this year, made possible through the John Patterson Bursary. A further focal point will be the scheduled school review, which will provide an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the past four years and identify areas for improvement in going forward. I hope you enjoy this edition of the St Mary’s College newsletter Amanda Purcell

Dominican Way Edition 1 25th June 2016 Page 1

St Mary’s College Name Change

The terms deaf and hard of hearing have been articulated by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People as the preferred terms when referring to people with mild to profound hearing loss. The term ‘deaf’ is considered to encompass both hard of hearing and Deaf people. There is shared agreement that these individuals should not be identified as hearing impaired as this term is considered to be pejorative. Consequently, the St Mary’s College staff, Board and Designated Canonical Administrators are currently investigating a change of name for the school. Should you have any questions relating to this, please don’t hesitate to contact the College Principal.

The official launch opening of St Mary’s College and Salesian College Sunbury’s partnership took place on Thursday 9th of June at the Catholic Education Office, Melbourne, with a blessing by his Grace, Archbishop Denis Hart. St Mary’s Principal, Amanda Purcell along with Salesian College Sunbury Principal, Mark Bockhus cut the symbolic ribbon and declared the official opening of the St Mary’s College Sunbury Campus.

Earlier this term, we were privileged to trial two new assistive

listening devices in our shared classrooms with our partner

school, Holy Trinity – the Roger Touchscreen Mic and the Roger

Pass-around, pictured below. With 75% of the school day spent

engaged in listening activities for learning, the new technology in

the microphones provide up to 54% improvement in speech

understanding, which benefits all students in the room. Our staff

and students enjoyed testing out this equipment throughout the

week from Grade 1 to Grade 6 and their feedback was very

positive! Hayley (5/6B) said, “I think it is amazing because it is loud

and clear. It’s really good because it is new and has a touch

screen. It connects really quickly which is good.” Seth from 5/6B

also said of the Roger Pass-around, “I think it’s pretty good. It’s

nice and small so it’s easier to hold. It’s easy to use and picks up

the sounds better. You don’t have to hold the mic so close.” We

look forward to purchasing the equipment in the very near future

for our school to use, and will be seeking your support soon.


Above: The Roger

Touchscreen Mic –

great for group

work!

Above: The Roger Pass-

around Mic

I am very excited to inform you that a group of parents from the Wantirna South campus have set up a St Mary’s Parents’ & Friends Association with the support and approval of the St Mary’s Board of Management. The purpose of the committee is to provide assistance, information and support to the school itself and to the teaching staff. We will assist our school leaders to identify and bring action to areas of need and instigate new ventures that have not been possible before. The primary aims of the committee are as follows, but not limited to: 1) Share experiences, resources and support with other St Mary’s families. 2) Assist the St Mary’s Team Leaders with extracurricular activities. 3) Provide support to the teaching team. 4) Fundraise for the school’s needs. 5) Maintain effective communication and relations between St Marys and its partner schools. The St Mary’s Parents’ & Friends Association is a committee for our entire St Mary’s family. It is a legitimate operating committee, consisting of a Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary, Fundraising Co-ordinator, a school representative and as many parent members that are willing and able to participate. The Committee is currently focusing on fundraising to purchase the new Roger Touchscreen Microphone and Roger Pass-around Microphone for students at the Wantirna South campus. We are off to a good start but have a challenge ahead of us to purchase a total of four units. Possible fundraising events this year include a Bunnings BBQ and Christmas Shopping Bus Tour so stay tuned for further details. As you know, we are a small school in numbers however the demands on our resources, funds and teaching staff are great. I would like to invite all St Mary’s parents to participate in the Parents’ Committee if you are able to and even consider setting up sub-committees at the individual campuses to focus on the specific needs of each site. If you would like any more information or wish to participate in the Committee please feel free to contact me to discuss. Sincerely, Anne Le Page Chairperson, St Mary’s Parents’ & Friends Association email: [email protected]


St Mary’s Family Fun Day

for Primary School students

Save the Date:

Saturday 6th August

More

Details to

come!

mailto:[email protected]

This semester has had a busy and enjoyable start. Marymede has opened its much anticipated Trade Skills Centre and our students were excited to be involved in the opening celebrations. They were involved in the promotional photos and were introduced to Senator Bridget McKenzie. Many of our students will benefit from this centre and some of our Year 10 and 11 students currently work in the centre. Students enrolled in a VET course for Carpentry and Building and Construction fulfil the practical component of their course on school site. This is beneficial for any of our students who wish to have a career in this industry. The Preps and Year 1’s have had a fantastic start to the year! The Year 1’s have learnt about food from farm to table. They even had their own eggs, which they watched hatch into chicks! Araz also did a project about how hamburgers are made. Luis and Tanisha are our brand new Preps this year and they have settled in well. They have learnt letters, sounds and creepy crawlies! We just can’t believe how much they’ve grown this year! All of our primary students are happy and they all love to talk. Luis loves football and his favourite team is Hawthorn Hawks. He likes to remind Janelle that Hawks beat the Eagles in the AFL Grand Final last year! As part of the Physical Education Program, AusKick came for a few sessions to teach the young primary students a few AFL skills.

Two of our Year 10 students, Andrew and Shiva, were successful in winning the Year 10 Premier League Grand Final. The Premier League includes schools around the area, where they compete in sport such as football and soccer. They were very proud wearing their medals back to school and showing them off. Well done boys!

One of our Year 11 students, Chantelle, visited the Top Art exhibition in the city as part of her Visual Art VCE subject. She went to the National Gallery of Victoria and Potters Gallery. The Top Arts displays all the best folio entries for VCE Studio Art in 2015 and the purpose of this trip was to give Chantelle inspiration and ideas for her own folio. Chantelle liked looking at the paintings, as this is her favourite art medium. Chantelle was also inspired by this bicycle display on Swanston St on her way to the galleries. Our Year 12 students, Paul and Sabrina, have been doing a community project as part of their Personal Development Skills unit. They were required to interview staff about possible donations they could collect from the Marymede Community. They were also fortunate enough to have a tour of the cattery and kennel and were inspired to put their name down for volunteer work.

Mrs Rachel Wilson - Team Leader


We were privileged to have a visit from Asphyxia, a deaf artist in the Melbourne community. She visited the Marymede art students, and our secondary students were invited to attend. Chelsea was inspired by Asphyxia’s journey and her unique expression in art.

Sports is an important and very enjoyable part of school life for students. On Tuesday 9th February, our secondary students were involved in the swimming sports at Northcote Aquatic Centre. Andrew, Sabrina, Shiva, Max and Ryan joined in with the school spirit and had a go. On Friday 21st March, our students participated in the school athletics carnival. Our Year 12 student, Paul, loves to go all out when dressing up. He dressed up in his house colours for the day to support his team and cheer on the athletes. Paul now goes by the title of ‘Captain Cucumber.’

Our school camps were an exciting journey for many of our students. The Year 7’s went on a 3 day camp to Marysville in March. Our Year 7 student, Rocky found some of the tasks challenging but gave them a go and everyone at St Mary’s were very proud of his efforts. Rocky also tried initiative activities, bush walking, canoeing, camping, ropes course and cooking for a large group. This was Rocky’s first camping experience, but he displayed resilience and perseverance despite being nervous about being so far from home. Well done Rocky! In April Chelsea braved the cold and nerves to go on Year 9 Challenge Camp at Lake Eildon. This camp required the Year 9 students to step out of their comfort zones and try different tasks such as hiking, camping outside in a tent, cooking for a group, high ropes and water initiative. Chelsea showed a lot of courage, determination and team building skills in all aspects of this camp. Good going Chelsea, we’re proud of you!


As part of the inaugural enrolment of our youngest campus, I would like to introduce our students. In Year 7 we have Tess, Amity and Amber. In Year 8 we have Hayley and Thomas. In Year 10 we have Macey and in Year 11 we have Soraya.

Semester One for 2016 at Sunbury has had an amazing beginning. While in practice St Mary’s has had a part time presence at Salesian College Sunbury through out most of Semester Two of 2015, it has only been this year that we have been fully operational as a St Mary’s Campus in our own right. With the official opening at James Gould House on Thursday the 9th of June, Arch Bishop Denis Hart formalised the partnership between our two schools and Blessed our newest campus. Our students, as well as Vicky and myself are very grateful to Mark Brockhus for providing our school with two substantial working rooms which are ample enough to allow subdivision as our student enrolment increases.

Being part of a working farm on over a thousand acres allows many varied experiences for our students Three times a cycle Amity and Amber participate in Agricultural Studies (colloquially referred to as ‘Ag”) taking their turn in feeding and raising the ‘Rupo’ lambs and piglets as well as tending the herb and vegetable gardens. The home grown produce supplies the canteen as well as being sold to staff and the community at the monthly Harvest Market. Many events are celebrated in Sunbury such as the birth of our first Corriedale for the year, who Ag students are hand feeding leading up to her first show at Holbrook next Tuesday. Highlights this year so far have been the Swimming Carnival (in our own pool) and The Athletics Carnival. Both of these were accompanied by DJs and music loud enough to hear, even if we took our hearing aids out!!! They were both a lot of fun and really made us feel welcomed in our new partnership. And there certainly wasn’t a need for any crossing guards as they ran through the paddocks for the annual cross country event!


Mr Frank Canning - Team Leader

Welcome to the New Year!

This year we welcomed Kayla, as she graduated from our Wantirna Campus to year 7 at our Ringwood Campus. Already she has participated in a variety of activities including the year 7 camp, swimming and athletics carnivals, Harmony Day, Dominic Pilgrimage, and Brainstorm - Verbal Combat. Kayla is settling into the activities and routine of secondary school life along with her friends. We hope that all our students have an enjoyable, fulfilling and successful year. Each Year commences with a College Assembly, the highlight being the procession of all the new year 7 students into the gym to the enthusiastic applause of all the members of the St.Mary’s & Aquinas community. The school leaders address the school for the first time and the previous year’s students’ achievements are acknowledged. Early in Term 1 the College community came together to celebrate the new year. The mass focussed on this year’s college theme of “Stewardship” whereby everyone is encouraged to look after the people and environment around us.

The year 12s were privileged to have Moira Kelly, former Victorian of the Year, speak to them earlier in the year. She highlighted the fact that we all have the opportunity to help change people’s lives. Moira identified that she had been inspired by two significant women, Mary MacKillop and Mother Teresa. She also set her audience a simple challenge: Please remember to give back! Harmony day was celebrated by acknowledging Australia’s cultural diversity. The students are made aware that everyone is entitled to have a sense of belonging, feel included and be respected. A wide range of activities were organised for the students that included lion dancing, African drumming ,a FIRE carriers ceremony, and a firsthand experience presentation from a Sudanese refugee. As part of Reconciliation Week our community, and invited representatives from neighbouring schools participated in the Long Walk. Michael Long who initiated the first Long Walk when he walked to Canberra to raise awareness of indigenous issues was a guest. Both Michael Long and Gavin Wanganeen led the senior students on their walk and later addressed the students at the school assembly.


Ms Mini Saundry - Team Leader

This year, I will be in Year 12 and attend both Aquinas College and the St Mary’s School for Hearing Impaired Students to complete my secondary school education. I was diagnosed with a mild to profound hearing loss in both my ears in 2006 and for ten years, I have been a student with hearing impairment. Growing up with a hearing loss did not impact life negatively or restrict my chances at achieving my goals and aspirations as many people expected. Instead, it has driven me and motivated me to strive harder in every aspect of life including my school work, social life and part time work. While many hearing impaired students, like the students in St Mary’s and me, are posed with restrictions that may threaten our chances at receiving an equal quality of education as our peers in Aquinas, St Mary’s School for Hearing Impaired students ensures that hearing impaired students are able to perform at the same standard as our hearing peers. Mini Saundry, the leader of the Aquinas’ St Mary’s Campus, and the multiple helpful staff at St Mary’s are amazing in their approach to enabling all students to achieve their true potential and this is ensured through support by email and weekly St Mary’s classes. Furthermore, St Mary’s teachers go beyond the call of duty and ensure that their hearing impaired students are encouraged and supported in every aspect of life. St Mary’s and its teachers also inspire and motivate me to strive to achieve my best in SACs, classwork and exams and I am truly grateful for all their aid, solace and tolerance in my last year of schooling and will take their wisdom with me in my next steps in life. Dhruvi Year 12

The St Mary’s and Aquinas College communities reverently paid tribute to the brave service men and women who have fought for our country. Students stood together quietly and reflected prayerfully to mark this very special occasion, 101 years after the ANZAC’s landed at Gallipolli Cove. Lest we forget. Nicola shared her experiences with us. “On Anzac Day I did a march with 31 ACU army cadets. We marched from Federation Square to the Shrine of Remembrance and carried banners. I had so much fun.” This year for the first time all the year 9 students participated in a 16 kilometre challenge walk that started at the Studley Park Boathouse and ended at Federation Square. During the walk the students completed activities that focused on their character strengths as well as getting to know you activities. Joanna, one of our Year 12 students is completing a VET course in Equine studies at Box Hill Tafe as well as her VCE subjects. During the first term school holidays Joanna volunteered to work at the Caulfield Racecourse. Early one morning she was delighted to be introduced to Michelle Payne.


The Wantirna South Campus has enjoyed a very busy semester! In Term 1, we welcomed Mrs Vanessa Stewart as our acting Team Leader. Vanessa was a great asset to our team and we were very lucky to have her join us from our Ringwood Campus. Ms Josephine Hynes also started with us, teaching our Year 1 students and Mrs Aiko Walmsley and Mrs Jo Berry were welcomed back to our campus to teach Years 4, 5 and 6. We also said goodbye to Mrs Julie Thomas who was working with our Year 1 and 2 students. Thank you, Julie, for your hard work and dedication. We’ll miss you!

Hayley was elected our School Captain for the Wantirna Campus and we would like to congratulate her on her success. We look forward to her leadership as she works through her last year of primary school.

A favourite event for our school community is the annual Twilight Sports. Students compete in a friendly, fun filled atmosphere and enjoy time with their classmates and their families. Field events were run throughout the day while the sprints and novelty team events were held during the evening. Everyone got into the team spirit and sported their team colours with great pride. Students were very excited to participate and loved having their parents on hand to cheer them on, not to mention the amazing Team Chants! They had practised these chants during lunch breaks for a couple of weeks prior to the sports day. Thank you to all our families for participating and to all the staff that worked so hard to make it all possible.

Our first term was completed in style with a whole school picnic to finish our Healthy Eating unit. It was an amazing day with all students and staff attending Norton’s Reserve for a healthy hamburger lunch. Picnic games were enjoyed and our partner school, Holy Trinity are to be congratulated for the organisation of this wonderful day! Many thanks to all the staff and parents that contributed to this happy event.

Mrs Grace Broadbent - Team Leader


In Term 2, we welcomed Mrs Grace Broadbent as our new Team Leader and Year 1 and 2 teacher.

Our Year 5 and 6 students attended camp at The Briars in Mt Martha and enjoyed the adventure activities and outdoor education program. Below, two of our students share their positive reflections:

Last week, the Year 5/6 students went to The Briars in Mt Martha for school camp. My highlights were

beach soccer, leap of faith, canoeing and red faces. We had lots of fun!

- Hayley 5/6

Last Wednesday, all the Grade 5/6s went to camp. I liked canoeing, the Giant Swing and the Leap of Faith. The Leap of Faith is where you climb up a really tall pole which felt higher than it looked. Then you jump off, but luckily, the harness that you’re wearing catches you so you don’t hit the ground. I loved the food on camp. We ate chicken schnitzel and hot dogs. Camp was great and I would like to go again, especially to go canoeing. - Ashley 5/6

We were also privileged to have two of our students nominated for the T.O.R.C.H award. Juan, in year 4, and Avinash in Year 2, received the award for showing the values of Tolerance, Optimism, Respect, Confidence and Honesty.

This year the Knox Council continued the tradition of asking all the local schools to compete in a Banner Competition displayed during the Knox Festival. The theme this year was ‘Hidden Treasures of Knox.’ All the students contributed to painting our banner and were very proud of the finished product. Ashley, Juan and Hayley wanted to showcase our school as they felt we were hidden treasures. Keira and Thomas wanted to highlight the Skate Park as it is one of their favourite places, while Zara and Amy chose to paint Knox City as they love shopping! Avinash painted Lakeview Reserve loving the ducks, with Shannyn and Elaina painting the parks and bike tracks they love. Come and have a look at our banner which is proudly on display outside the student entrance to our Campus.

Students in Years 1 and 2 enjoyed a day at Healesville Sanctuary as part of their Inquiry unit on ‘Caring for our World’. Small groups were set up with individual tasks to gather their information. Each team had a Navigator, a Photographer, a Time Keeper, a Problem Solver and a Note Taker. Each student researched an Australian animal and wrote a report about their creature including threats to their habitat and ways in which we can reduce the impact of adverse effects. Another exciting event was the selection of art pieces by our Year 2 students, Elaina, Avinash and Shannyn chosen for exhibition at the Visual Arts Exhibition at the Catholic Leadership Centre. We would like to congratulate all our students for their great effort and success.


St Mary’s at Dandenong have had an invigorating, busy and happy Semester One. We welcomed Kody, our Year 7 student and he enjoyed the Year 7 Camp experience. Our partner school St. John’s, Opening Mass and College Assembly was held in the second week of the school year and we welcomed back our 2015 Year 12 student Veronica who received an award for Academic Excellence and was honoured for achieving a score of 40 for English (EAL) in her VCE exams. Veronica has commenced a Commerce-Law degree at Deakin University as a bursary student.

Current Year 12 student Joshua R proudly represented St Mary’s; carrying the school banner in the opening procession and our new Principal, Ms Amanda Purcell was introduced. Following the Eucharist, our students came to St Mary’s at lunch to meet with and spend time with her. Term one moved apace and there was spirited competition in both the St John’s Swimming and Athletics Carnivals. All St Mary’s students cheered and participated enthusiastically. James and Joshua R participated in the Year 12 Retreat and James was our banner carrier at the end of term College Assembly. Term two also began with a flourish after the Easter break. Kody, Emily, Joshua M, Rashira, Ashleigh and James continued to attend the OK Lunch Club on Tuesdays and Thursdays, whilst James and Joshua R have set up a social club gathering on Monday’s. The days have become very full!

The Anzac Day ceremony was a moving occasion for all. Estelle and her dance ensemble shone at the St John’s Talent Quest and both she and Lewis are thoroughly enjoying their VCAL work placements. Taruka is a Year 11 IPad Assistant and participated in the IT Information Night for Parents at St John’s. Adnan and Dilshan had an experience of life after school when they completed their Year 10 Mock interviews, Jordan is hoping for a St John’s basketball team and Cait is an avid Theatre sports participant, a perfect place for her droll and entertaining wit. House Cross Country was held in early May and all St Mary’s students participated with Joshua R chosen to represent St John’s in the SIS Cross country competition. The last weeks of term have seen Emily, Joshua M and Rashira engage in the Year 9 Immersion program with activities at school and excursions to Healesville Sanctuary, highlights of the City, the Sea Shepherd and Science works. MAD Day is still to come however; students are actively involved in Inter-House competitions at the partner school to raise money for the chosen social justice organisations.

We have had monthly visits from our Australian Hearing Audiologist and all staff at the Dandenong campus welcome her input. Thanks are extended to our partner school, St John’s; both staff and students, for enabling a positive and embracing learning environment for both St Mary’s students and staff. We look forward to more of the same next Semester.


Mrs Sally Dane - Team Leader

it gives me great pleasure to - victoria |...

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