SMCOC June 2022

FrF

Dear members of St Mary’s Coptic Orthodox College community I

pray that you all had a very blessed time celebrating the Pentecost.

Feast of Pentecost always reming us of our duty as Christians to witness for Christ and carry the message of Salvation for everyone. Our fathers the Apostles started on this day accompanied and supported by the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel for all nations. The great message of Love our Lord Jesus Christ has taught us through His Cross is the real passion of every Christian. We have learnt to stretch our hands and harts for all people regardless of their colour, religion or country. At St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox College we endeavour to teach our students to be the real ambassadors of Christ and that people can smell the sweat aroma of being sons and daughters of Christ through their actions, words and behaviour.

During the first have of this school year we faced many challenges. Our school like all other schools has to cope with lack of teaching staff and other type of workers like drivers and support staff. The school managed tackle this issue and make sure that the education process is functioning in the best way we can.

Covid-19 had its impact in many aspects of life all around the world. We need to be more dedicated and persistent facing these challenges with faith and courage.

This year the total number of students is approaching 900 students which is quite a significant gradual increase over last years. We need urgently to upgrade our resources to accommodate this increase. We need more classrooms, more open space, more busses and more parking spots.

The school has just submitted a master plan for all future expansions and needed projects. In the first stage of expansion about 12 classrooms will be added. More car parking will be moved to our adjacent properties to release valuable space for new classrooms and other resources. It is anticipated that the first stage will start soon and finalised early next year.

I am so grateful for the hard dedicated work of all the school staff and workers.

I wish to acknowledge the great efforts of the school assistant principal Mrs Germaine Saad, head of primary Mrs Mervet Boulos and all the heads of departments and coordinators. The very special job taken by our maintenance staff, office staff and transport staff is very specially appreciated.

Let us all pray that The Lord support us to carry out this great mission for the sucess and progress of our children.

Fr Tadros Sharobeam Principal

Our Primary teachers are always looking for any initiative to engage our students in becoming the best people they can be.

Carla Maisano has created a wonderful initiative which she calls ’The Kindness Garden’. This is an approach to encourage and stimulate the spreading of kind acts amongst each other. The garden is blossoming and spreading throughout the whole of Primary.

Children and excited to see their names on the Kindness Garden.

As we teach the Christian values of SMCOC we are embedding the joys of giving and receiving kindness.

Kind regards, Carla Maisano Year 3 an 4 Cluster Coordinator.

Dear Parents and Carers, On Friday the 17th of June, we farewelled one of our most valued teachers.

Claudia Odisho has gone on maternity leave and we wish her all the very best with her journey as a first-time mother.

It was like a mini reunion with Christine Peverett and Marina Younan joining us with their adorable little babies on this day.

With plenty of food going around and the sound of laughter filling the air, anyone would have imagined that we were a big family, not colleagues at work.

At SMCOC we are blessed every day, because we work together so well and truly feel like a family at work.

Being happy at work helps us strive to always do our best and teach our students to achieve the best outcome possible.

May God always be present amongst us and grow the admiration we all have for each other.

We can’t wait for when Claudia returns to SMCOC. Kind regards, Mrs Mervet Boulos Head of Primary

MUSIC DEPARTMENT NEWS St.Mary’s Coptic Orthodox College Primary and Secondary Choirs will will take part in The 2022 Victorian School Music Festival in Box Hill and 2022 Royal South Street State Choral Competition in Ballarat St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox College Junior Secondary Choir and Upper Primary Choir have been working hard since the beginning of the year to prepare themselves to participate in The Victorian School Music Festival in Box Hill and Royal South Street State Choral Competition in Ballarat in August this year.

They are very excited about showcasing their talents and proudly presenting our College to the wider Victorian school community.

Our students, guided by Mrs. Sandra Mlikota and Mr. Ben Feillafe are working on improving their singing technique and polishing off the repertoire of songs they are going to present at these two big occasions. Apart from their performances, both choirs will listen to other school choirs performing, which will enable them to better reflect on their own work.

Both the students and the teachers are going to receive feedback for their performances from the highly recognised Australian Music professors, adjudicators and directors.

One of them is Mr. George Torbay, who is currently a Head of Music Theatre at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide and former Judge on Channel 7’s Battle of the Choirs.

The whole preparation process, as well as the participation at these big events benefit our students’ cognitive, academic, emotional, social and behavioural development.

Looking forward to great performances and memorable experiences for our students and teachers.

Sandra Mlikota and Ben Feillafe Music teachers

Child Safety & Wellbeing Corner Welcome to our Child Safety and Wellbeing Corner, where we hope to provide useful information and tips for parents and carers to help keep children and young people safe.

In this issue, we would like to focus on cyberbullying, or what children may refer to as ‘online drama’ as well. This topic is very important, as cyberbullying may cause long term harm to a child or young person experiencing online bullying.

Keeping Our children safe The eSafetyCommissioner website, www.esafety.gov.au provides lots of valuable resources to help young people and parents and carers prevent and respond to some big issues such as cyberbullying, that have become part of kids’ life.

The ‘Cyberbullying and online drama’ short video provides the tools to support young people to have safe and respectful online relationships and what to do if things go wrong. It’s designed for parents and carers of young people aged 11 to 18 years old.

However, we believe that all parents would benefit from the shared tips.

This video can be accessed by clicking on Cyberbullying and online drama or under video resources on the .

Child Safety and Wellbeing Consultation As part of our transition to the new Victorian Child Safe Standards, to be implemented from 1st July, the College conducted focus groups with student representing Primary and Secondary Schools (see photos from our Primary focus group below).

These opportunities allowed our student leaders to share their views on safety at the College and while in our care, and share what makes them and their peers feel safe and comfortable. They also identified situations that can make them, or their peers, feel anxious or unsafe and shared ideas on how adults and older students can improve safety for children and young people.

While some areas of improvement have been identified, particularly in the outdoors at playtime, it was very comforting and pleasing to find out that all of the participants, regardless of their age, felt safe and supported while in the College’s care, and appreciative of what staff and the leadership have put in place to keep students safe and feel safe.

The College has also consulted with parents/carers and conducted an online survey for parents/carers and age-appropriate surveys for students, to learn about the perceptions and experiences of individuals in all sections of the College community. Data from the surveys will inform the improvement of our child safety and wellbeing policies and practices. Further information on the findings from these surveys will be published in the near future.

St Mary’s Coptic Orthodox College is a child safe school and will do its utmost to protect children and young people from any foreseeable risk of harm, regardless of their background or circumstances.

UPCOMING ENGLISH WEEK The English Department will be having an English Week from August 29th – September 2nd, 2002.

There will be Wordles, a Spelling Bee, Literature Quizzes, and a Literature themed dress up day dress up with a gold coin donation (all proceeds going to a charity to be decided).

We have already seen entries to a couple of short story and poetry competitions earlier this year. These were externally organised national competitions and there was a good response across the College, with many pupils expressing interest in submitting their work.

We shall also be awarding Amazon vouchers for the best short story or poem created during the English Week. There will be 3 prizes valued at $100, $50, and $25 for the three best pieces we receive. Further details of this to come.

We look forward to sharing a fun week with the students and helping guide and foster an evolving enthusiasm for literature and language.

Thank you to the Parents of SMCOC for their continued support for the English Department and the wider school community in general.

Murray Stone – Head of English

His Grace Bishop Thomas Visit to St Mary’s College 29th March 2022

Forces in Science Year 4 n year four we have been focusing on ‘Forces’ in science. Students had to design and build a car that would move on its own (non-contact) the fastest over different surfaces. Students had to think

about what to make the body and wheels out of (including which size and texture might be best) as well as how you will get to move!

Anthony Ishi from 4A did a fantastic job on his project! Well done Anthony!

it

Fr Daoud Lamie visit to St Mary’s College 9th May 2022 - Leture to VCE Students

Year 3 Werribee Mansion Execrsion Term 2 2022

Celebrating Feast of Holy Resurrection - Divine Liturgy 28th April 2022

Respect A short description to the respect talk that was delivered to all primary.

As part of our ongoing wellbeing programs, the primary school students have been exploring ‘respect’ as a Christian value we live by.

The students on our theme ‘I am so I love’ by that they are and chosen himself and everyone of purpose, they of the earth, they respect each other.

contemplated harmony day loved, and reinstating valued, loved

by God that each and them has a are the salt and therefore and love

We unpacked the respect concept, we looked the many meanings of respect as a way to show care and kindness to others, we discussed that respect is important because it provides us with the sense of safety that helps us learn, and we looked at ways to show respect to ourselves, people, places and things. We learned ways to assess ourselves if we are respectful enough.

The presentations were delivered in interactive ways using visual aids, hands on activities and robust discussions to ensure respect is embedded in the students hearts and minds.

We are looking forward to witnessing the seed of respect growing around the school community and in the students’ lives.

Silvia Saad College Counsellor Wellbeing Support Services

Year Five Camp - Sovereign Hill, Ballarat Recently Year 5 students attended a camp at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat.

Consolidating studies in Humanities they explored the Victorian Gold Rush of the 1800’s.

Students stepped back into time and learnt about the discovery of gold, consequent immigration and the licence system. They participated in a variety of activities which exposed them to life on the goldfields.