Dear Parents & Friends of St Clare’s

Over the past nine months, St Clare’s teaching staff have been implementing a number of strategies into their classroom practice designed to improve the learning outcomes for our students.  All classes are expected to begin with clear Learning Intentions:  statements that make clear to students what they are expected to learn during each lesson.  These Learning Intentions are supported by Success Criteria:  the specific outcomes that a student must meet to ensure that they are successful in their learning.  Some success criteria may be adhered within a lesson; others will reflect learnings across a series of lessons or a unit of work.

These initiatives are based on the work of educationalist Lyn Sharratt, who has a long history of helping systems of schools improve their learning culture and student outcomes in many countries around the world.  Along with many schools across our Catholic system, the St Clare’s Clarity Working Group will be working with Lyn in Newcastle in mid-March.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our day-to-day lives, I wish to thank students, parents and staff for their continued support of our hygiene guidelines.  The St Clare’s executive is very keen to re-engage with the wider community, but recognise that many of our practices and procedures, that had served us well previous to the pandemic, will not be appropriate until we have all received inoculations against COVID-19.

All of our families should have received their Compass login information which allows parents and caregivers access to student timetables, letters, forms and daily updates.  Parents and students not at school also have access to all lessons and tasks via the Compass App, where each day teachers log study information and tasks that classes are mastering each day.  If you are experiencing any difficulty regarding Compass, please call the St Clare’s Office and staff will assist you to access the App.

The distribution of the Ashes on Wednesday marked the commencement of the 40 days of Lent, an important time of personal and community reflection before the Easter season.  At each of our Lenten ceremonies on Wednesday, ashes were distributed and students were challenged to reflect on their lives and make what changes they need to make to ensure that they are growing towards being people of good conscience.

Reflecting on the wrongs of the world is relatively easy and is not often transformational, but when individuals make the commitment to address the deficiencies they see in themselves, great personal and community growth can occur.  My thanks to Ministry Coordinator Denise Ryan and the team of students and staff who worked to make St Clare’s Ash Wednesday gatherings a wonderful time of reflection and prayer.

My thanks also to Assistant Principals Theresa Avery and Phil Gibney for their work in ensuring that ‘school photo day’ ran smoothly.  Thank you also to our students whose good manners and positive community spirit helped make the day enjoyable for all involved.

Last week’s annual swimming carnival was conducted under COVID-19 guidelines which meant that many of the traditional chants and inter-house contents had to be modified to ensure the health and safety of all involved.  The day was a wonderful expression of community spirit much enjoyed by students and staff.  My thanks to Sports Coordinator Laurent Gonfond, Senior Student Sport Leaders, competitors and staff for their collaboration in ensuring a good day was had by all.

Recently, our Stage 6 students had the opportunity to attend a University Road Show and investigate areas of interest that relate to future career and study options.  Year 11 and Year 12 students reported that the information they received was very helpful and had given many of them significant “food for thought”.  Careers and Vocation Education Coordinator Karen McCann organised access to the event for St Clare’s students and is a knowledgeable resource for any student or parent who may want to make an appointment to discuss course selection, employment opportunities, applications for scholarships or any aspect of post-school work and study.

I hope that this newsletter finds you and your family fit and well.

God bless

Peter Nicholls
Principal

St Clare’s has registered with Service NSW to obtain a QR Code.  This means that when signing in at the front office or any school function, you simply need to use your phone, scan the code, follow the instructions to check in to the school.  In order to make this easier, please download the Service NSW App onto your phone.

Mass Times

Forster-Tuncurry Catholic Parish

Holy Name Church current Mass times are:

Saturday – 5 pm
Sunday – 8 am, 10 am and 12 noon

Due to current restrictions regarding the number of attendees we can have at Mass, attendance is by registration only.  To register, phone 6554 6401 or email forster-tuncurry.parish@mn.catholic.org.au.  Please provide names of those attending, address, phone, email and preferred Mass time.

To watch the 8 am Sunday Mass live stream please send us your email address to receive the link. 

The Holy Name Church is open from 9 am- 3 pm Monday - Friday for private prayer.  

Further updates can be viewed on the Forster-Tuncurry Parish Website: 

Taree Catholic Parish

Our Lady of the Rosary Church Taree current Mass times are:

Saturday - 6 pm
Sunday – 9:30 am

Saturday, 20 February

6:00 pm Taree Mass
6:00 pm Harrington SCAE

Sunday, 21 February
1^st Sunday of Lent

7:30 am Old Bar Mass
7:30 am Wingham SCAE
9:30 am Taree Mass

COVID-19 Mass Attendance Regulations:

1. Please kindly scan the QR code before entering and show the confirmation details to our volunteers at the door. People who are unable to sign in using QR codes may do it manually.  Our volunteers are willing to assist.
2. The volunteers at the church door can tick your name if attending the following weeks service.
3. If you are unable to attend you will need to rebook via the office. Please leave a message on the phone if the Parish Office is unattended.
4. Please do not attend the SCAE or Mass service if you are not feeling well.

Pope Francis on Lent

“Lent is the time to say no
to the asphyxia of a prayer
that soothes our conscience,
Of an almsgiving that leaves us self-satisfied,
Of a fasting that makes us feel good;
To the asphyxia of relationships
that try to find God
while avoiding the wounds of Christ
present in the wounds of his brothers and sisters.
In a word, all those forms of spirituality
that reduce the faith to a ghetto culture,
a culture of exclusion”

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Church’s Lenten season, a period of 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday, when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus following his passion, crucifixion and death on Good Friday.

During our liturgy, we will be signed with the blessed ashes.  These ashes serve as a reminder to us that we are human and fail in the choices we make, to love and follow God’s way in our daily living.

We begin this season of Lent, aware that we are not perfect, but commit to strengthening our connection with God by spending time in prayer, turning away from possessions, activities and conveniences that keep us from God, and giving what we have to help those less fortunate than ourselves.

Denise Ryan
Ministry Coordinator

Careers Corner

We are certainly back into the full swing of things here at School.  The Year 11 and 12 students have had the opportunity to learn about University as a pathway, through the Country University Roadshow which was hosted at Chatham High on Thursday, 11 February.  This was an excellent opportunity for the students to learn about what is involved in going to university.

On Friday, 12 February, Year 12 remained at school for a Careers Day while the rest of the students attended the Swimming Carnival.  They checked their NESA information, started to complete a resume, listened to some guest speakers and were encouraged to think about possible pathways post-school.  Ainslee, from VERTO (Apprenticeship and Traineeship provider), took us through the process of registering through Careergate and how to access the aptitude tests.  She stressed the importance of a good resume and cover letter.  There is also help available to all the students through VERTO.  The students enjoyed pizzas for lunch!

A huge thank you to Mrs Avery and Mr Masters for their assistance on the day.  It was lovely to have you there.  A special thank you goes to Mrs Rowsell who spoke about Trade pathways.  The students were very impressed with this information.

Jack Wood (School Captain 2019) came to talk to the students about his post-school pathway and had many words of wisdom for the current Year 12 cohort.  Thanks so much Jack for giving up your time to be with us.

It is extremely important that all students have up-to-date resumes for at least two different choices of career.  This can be done via Job Jump, My Future, My Future Finder (UNE) and “Word”.  We will continue to develop these in the coming weeks in our Careers sessions on Tuesdays Period 3.

The Year 10, 11 and 12 students have access to their own Careers OneNote and I am encouraging them to keep PINs, passwords, resumes etc. here.  There is also a copy of a Careers Booklet which I would like the Year 12 students to complete over the course of this year.  This can be done in hard copy or on OneNote.  This will help me to help the students.

There is a copy of my timetable up on my office door with blank spots when I can talk to students, so please, ladies and gentlemen, check it out and come and see me at some stage.

Finally, thanks to all the students who stayed, for your input and great behaviour on the day.

It was a little disappointing that a number of students left after the NESA information session.  They missed out on important careers information.  I have students asking for information about post-school pathways all the time and this is always a great opportunity to find out more about Apprenticeships, Traineeships, Universities and other post-school pathways.  We also touch on coping strategies and the importance of working together as the year progresses.

It is very important that all the students gain as much information as possible about the many post-school pathways so that they have options at the end of their schooling.

Please remember to check the Careers section of the school website for information about university days, apprenticeship and traineeship information and the latest information from Job Jump.

On Wednesday, 3 February, 20 Year 10 and Year 11 students (19 males, 1 female) completed their White Card at St Clare’s.  We were very lucky to have Kiel from “Men at Work” deliver the course to the students.  These courses have to be delivered face-to -ace in NSW for the card to be valid and all students who wish to work or do Work Experience in the Construction industry must have a valid White Card.

It was my very great pleasure to accompany 13 of our Year 11 Sports Coaching class to Gloucester where they assisted at the Manning Regional Primary School Swimming Carnival.  St Joey’s Taree provided the transport – thanks to Lisa Bourke for organising this.

The students were amazing, and everyone has sung their praises!  Thank you for being such wonderful ambassadors for St Clare’s.  It was a pleasure to be with you on the day.  Most of the students have now completed 12 hours of their 70 compulsory Work Placement hours which is excellent.

I would like to remind everyone about Work Experience.  Please come and see me if you would like to do this.

Karen McCann
Careers/VET Adviser

Year 8-4 Geography are learning about water in the world.  Our learning intention on the day was to see how much fresh water there is in the world compared to salty water.  The students decorated the water tank the lesson before and then we filled it with water to the percentages representing different types of global water.  We used glass markers to show the various levels of water.

Later, during this term 8-4 and Mrs Tilbrook we will be using the water tank again to investigate polluted water.

Troy Wright adding more water to the tank
Ruby Hillyard enjoying the water filling part
Taylor Johnston getting closer to the top of the saltwater mark

Bruce Bielby
HSIE/LOTE Coordinator

We were lucky this year, the sun decided to grace us with its presence and the rain stayed away for the day.  Congratulations to all students for their efforts, showing terrific participation and enthusiasm levels.  The house spirit shown was outstanding, with Patterson taking home the Spirit Cup.  I would like to personally thank all of the house captains who did an incredible job, encouraging their team and staying within the COVID guidelines, they kept a smile on their faces all day and created an amazing atmosphere.

A huge thank you to all staff involved who did an excellent job, without your commitment and support the carnival could not have gone ahead.

Order was restored this year, the staff have regained the bragging rights for the staff vs students relay, with the staff winning the race in convincing fashion.  However, students were not a push over and the staff had to work really hard for the 1^st half of the race before running away with the win.

We also saw quite a few PBs and records broken on the day by Harrison Tancred, Year 7, who won all his races in convincing fashion and achieved his PB in 200 m IM which was only 0.02 of a second slower than the school record set in 2015.

Harrison finished 1^st in 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke, butterfly, freestyle and breaststroke, achieving three PBs in these events as well as setting new school records.  He broke the record for the 100m freestyle, 50 m backstroke and 50 m freestyle, which were set in 2010, and set a new record in the 50m breaststroke which was set 2012.

School records tumbled on the day, with four records being broken by Harrison of Kendall.  Harrison swam unbelievably throughout the day and managed to set new records in the 100m freestyle (1min03.14sec), 50m Breaststroke (35.95secs),50m Freestyle (28.86 secs), the 50m Backstroke (34.72secs).  Congratulations to Harrison.

Congratulations to the following age champions:

12 Years – Aria Tritico (Lawson) and Cohen Shoesmith (Paterson)
13 Years – Miley Cox (Gordon) and Harrison Tancred (Kendall)
14 Years – Hannah Carmichael (Lawson) and Dylan Kinkade (Gordon)
15 Years – Amy Rowell (Paterson) and Jackson Shoesmith (Paterson)
16 Years – Emily Rowell (Paterson), Jayme Wisemantel (Lawson)
17 Years - Yolanta Guthridge (Paterson) and Thomas Fidock (Kendall)

Winning House:  Paterson

Well done to all houses, and once again thank you to everyone involved in what was a fantastic day!

Laurent Gonfond
School Sport Coordinator

NSWCCC Selection and Registration Process 2021

Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) Sport Selection process:  Any student who wishes to trial for CCC selection must follow a specific registration process.  CCC trials are for students who excel in their chosen sport and who wish to trial for a position to represent the Combined Catholic Colleges.  Students should inform the Rep Sport Coordinator of their interest in trialling and students must be approved by the school to attend these selections.

The following sports require Individual online registration which takes you straight to NSWCCC selections:  AFL, Baseball, Basketball, Cricket, Diving, Golf, Hockey, Netball, Rugby League, Rugby, Softball, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball.

Selections for these sports occur at different times throughout the year and these details are outlined on the following new website:

Instructions on how to login to the new portal are outlined below:

• Existing parents in old system: Click on LOGIN, Click on Forgot Password.  An email with a link will be sent to your e-mail address (this address MUST be the e-mail address used on old website). 

• New Parents: Click on REGISTER and follow the prompts to set up a new account. 

• Once logged in, parents will be able to see very clearly in their child’s profile –REGISTER FOR A SPORT.

To be eligible to trial for CCC selection in Athletics, Cross Country, Swimming, Football and Touch the process begins from being selected in the school representative team, then trialling for the diocesan team before proceeding to CCC selections if successful.

Any queries about the process should be directed to Mr Laurent Gonfond or you can access the website listed above.

Laurent Gonfond
Representative Sport Coordinator

Mathematics Workshop provides the opportunity for every student to obtain assistance and support in improving their understanding of mathematics.  In the lead up to Yearly Exams in Term 4, a number of Mathematics Teachers are available each week to explain the concepts you are finding difficult or give assistance to enable you to complete your homework, assignments or any work that you may have missed due to absence from class.

WHEN IS IT ON?  Wednesday lunchtime
WHERE?   Room 10
Bring your lunch!

We hope to see you there!

Mr Mark Fletcher
Mathematics Coordinator

Retired teachers from St Clare’s High School reminisce

A group of 24 ex-teachers met for lunch on 5 February at the Waterfront Restaurant to share memories of our time as teachers and support staff at St Clare’s.  The tradition began in 2020 with our first luncheon and it is hoped that each year the group will meet.  What made the day even more memorable and special was that the waitresses, Kim and Deanna, as well as the chef, Dale, were all ex-students of St Clare’s.  Many stories and memories were shared, resulting in lots of laughter.  In 2022 it is hoped to extend the group to retired teachers who have moved away from the area.

Carol Healey

Term 1 2021

Term 2 2021

ASPIRE

2021 ASPIRE Song Writing Showcase

The 2021 ASPIRE Song Writing Competition is open to all students in our primary and secondary schools.  This year’s themes come from the 2021 ASPIRE production ‘The Masked DJ’.  Young Composers and songwriters can use one or both of this year’s inspirational concept to writher their original.  These are Masks and Dance Music.  The flyer below will give you more about the song competition which closes on Thursday 1 April 2021.

Those selected as finalists will workshop their songs and then perform at the Song Writing Showcase on Thursday 13 May 2021.

Sport Registration