College Newsletter | Term 3, Week 5 | 18 August 2023

A College Community

Mr Matthew Brennan - College Principal (K-12)

Dear members of the St Greg’s family,

Tuesday saw the Feast of the Assumption, the day that, as Catholics we believe, that Mary’s body and soul entered heaven from earth after her death. Reflections were held throughout the College, and I was privileged to be a part of the celebration in both our kindergarten classes and also at Mittagong at Mass with our Year 12 cohort. The Marian influence is a big part of our community and to see our youngest and oldest students (and everyone in between) reflect on the solemnity of this was special. Mary’s faith is an inspiration to all and a guiding light to our community.

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Success in the Senior School

Mr Joel Weekes - Assistant Principal

Dear Members of the St Gregory’s Family, 

I am in my 7th year at St Greg’s and I must say that each and every year seems to be speeding up! Maybe the fact that we are constantly engaged with so many wonderful experiences to keep us all entertained is a contributing factor. As we hit the end of Week 5 which marks halfway through Term 3, it is important for us to congratulate our Year 12 students who have now completed their Trial HSC, celebrated with their Year 12 Reflection Day on Tuesday and now bunker down to focus on the last 25 days of school.

 

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The Importance of Reading

Mrs Diana Ivancic - Head of Junior School

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week we celebrate Book Week. It has always been one of my favourite weeks of the school year, even as a child. This is probably because of my passion for books – and reading! As a child, my dream was to own a book shop. Even now, as an adult I can’t walk past a bookshop without walking in, I am a self-confessed cookbook-aholic and there are always a few books on the go around my house. Being able to read is not just a hobby, it is an essential skill for life.

At St Greg’s Junior School the staff are committed to the belief that “Reading is a non-negotiable”. If there is no other homework assigned, every student is expected to still read for at least 15- 20 minutes every night.

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Write A Book in a Day

Ms Judith Tolomeo - Director of Teaching & Learning

The “Write a Book in a Day” competition is a fun, creative challenge that sees budding writers and illustrators create a book in just one day! Perfect for helping unlock creativity, the competition encourages literacy, teamwork, and resilience. Eligible books will be shortlisted and submitted to a judging panel who will decide the winners of the book awards and prizes! And the incredible part is, digital editions of the completed stories are made available online and shared with hospitals across Australia. Funds raised through sponsorship go to The Kids’ Cancer Project, a national charity supporting childhood cancer research.

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What's Happening in Boarding?

Luke Morrissey - Director of Boarding

Dear Parents and Friends,

 

We have arrived quickly at the mid-point of Term 3, the busiest Term of the calendar year, and as always there has been lots happening in our community.

There is a fair bit to share in this newsletter issue, so click READ MORE below....

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NAIDOC Week Celebrations

NAIDOC week celebrations were held in Week 2 of Term 3 across both the Junior and Senior schools. After attending many community-based NAIDOC celebrations over the mid-term break to celebrate NAIDOC in their communities, it was great to see the energy brought to all activities held across the College.

To start the NAIDOC week celebrations, our Junior school students completed a weaving workshop with the group from Yaali Collective. The students have presented the school with a piece that has now been contributed by those students who participated and the team from Yaali have completed the piece by adding the feathers of the Dhinewan (Emu).

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Noah Spiteri

Noah Spiteri had been selected for the Rugby Union Under 16's All Schools 2 team to compete at the NSW Invitational during the holidays.

Noah was selected from the ISA team as Number 1 and attended a 2-day camp at Randwick before playing 2 games at Rosebay. They won both games, they beat Sydney 23-22 and Country 54-1.

  

2023 Peter Mulholland Cup

Off the back of our Grand Final win in the PDS Competition two weeks ago, the boys were riding high on confidence and looking to end our season on a high in the final game of the Peter Mulholland Schoolboy Cup Competition. Unfortunately, we could not progress despite the result, the first-round loss against St Dominic’s ended up being a nail in the coffin for this competition after changes to the format this year.

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Greater Sydney AFL Schools Cup

On Wednesday 9 August, the Year 7 - 9 AFL team played in the Greater Sydney AFL Schools Cup.

The team was able to bring their skills, strength and speed together perfectly and managed to go through the day undefeated. We even continued to improve throughout the day and find new energy to continue to put points on the scoreboard.

  • Round 1:  41 – 25 win against Waverley College
  • Round 2:  59 - 9 win against Endeavour Sports High 
  • Round 3:  65 – 6 win against St Johns College Dubbo
  • Grand Final:  77 – 19 win against Endeavour Sports High

As the regional winners, we are now invited to play in a State Final early in Term 4.

Congratulations to all the members of the team. 

It was a pleasure to spend the day with you,

Mrs Julie Sligar

 

The PYP Exhibition

Year 6 are into their fourth week of the PYP Exhibition. What’s been happening?

This week’s focus was all about research, learning new research skills and diving deep into their issues. 

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100 Days of Kindy

Kindergarten celebrated 100 days of Kindergarten last week and being 100 days smarter. 

Congratulations Kindy on your wonderful school milestone; you are all too clever!

Thank you to all the parents and carers who attended for the “Seniors parade” in the afternoon!

“We can write sentences, say the school prayer, make new friends and do so many new school things.”

Lunch on the Lawn

Last Friday a large number of parents and carers attended the 'Junior School Lunch on the Lawn'. 'Lunch on the Lawn' is always a lovely time for parents and carers to enjoy time with their children at school. It is important to remember the purpose of the event – to spend time sharing a meal with your child and their friends. Whilst we all enjoy a treat, may I ask you to be mindful of the food that is brought along on these days.

We support and encourage a healthy lunch at school and would encourage you to leave fast food lunches such as McDonalds and slurpies for home time. These high sugared treats can often impact on the students’ learning as they return to the classroom. We would also encourage you to invite your child to stay with you during this time as well as any toddlers who come along. We have one more Lunch on the Lawn in Term 4.

An extra special treat last week was the Krispy Kreme fundraiser organised by Mrs Natlene Faro who was supported by a group of Year 6 parents. This fundraiser was organised to raise money for the Year 6 school gift. I’d like to thank Mrs Faro and her helpers for making this happen. I think they were enjoyed by many as a treat for the day.

Mrs Diana Ivancic

Shoelace Tying Workshop

At St Greg’s there are always many skills to learn – including how to tie shoelaces!

This week, Paul Sawaqed from Ascent School Footwear, kindly ran workshops for our students from Kindergarten to Year 2. Each child was given a shoe pencil case to learn and practise how to tie their shoelaces. It was wonderful to watch the children deep in concentration and practicing over and over. I hope they continue to practise until mastery, at home. 

Sporting Success in the Junior School

Independent Primary Schools Sporting Organisation (IPSSO) 

Winter IPSSO

IPSSO Results Week 3

On Wednesday, August 2, 2023, our teams competed against Wollondilly Anglican College.

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