20 minute read
MISSION AT THE COLLEGE
Leo Malaesilia
I was the Co-Junior School Leader which meant that not only was I tasked to work closely with the Junior School with organising events, but to also help exemplify the same Marist characteristics set out in the Senior School.
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Presence played a crucial role in demonstrating our welcoming and loving culture at Greg’s. Alongside other Year 12 boys, we often visited the Junior School to help in the classroom and to participate in celebrations which included their Ash Wednesday Ceremony. The greatest feeling of being a leader, in particular the Junior School Leader, will have to be the bright smiles on the kids’ faces when stepping foot onto their school grounds. Being that somebody who they looked up to energised my drive to give back to the community. From guiding the growth of the Junior School to working behind the scenes of College Assemblies and Masses, enabled me to give back to the community I called home for the past six years.
Bayley Suters
I was the Marist Solidarity Leader/ Mission Captain. In this role I assisted in fundraising for Lenten Appeal. I also assisted in fundraising for the Marist foundation in Timor Leste to help build new schools, toilets block and other facilities. I am proud of myself and the rest of the boys, for the efforts we put in throughout the year to help raise these funds, and in all other areas of College leadership we were involved in, including masses, assemblies and involvements with other year groups. During my time as a leader, I was challenged by the balance between aspects of school life, sometimes it was a very busy sport, learning and leadership balance. I also realised that our group didn’t see ourselves at the top, but rather that we were there to serve others and essentially be “servants”. My best time as a leader was probably our leadership days where we spent a day or two together getting to know each other and setting our goals for the year. These days were fun and so many memories were made.
Each of our elected leaders is to be congratulated for their work for the College. They have truly witnessed to the characteristics of being Marist in a year of rapid change and unprecedented expectation. In person and in the virtual sphere they have upheld family spirit, modelled a love of work, been present for others, radiated joy in the simplicity of their words and actions and acted always in the Way of Mary – humbly and modestly. Congratulations Gents on a fine year! Quae Seminaveris Metes
Year 12 Retreat
It was such a blessing that we were able to participate in Retreat with the Graduating Class of 2021! Being together at the Hermitage in Mittagong is always a special time and COVID had meant that the event, usually held in Term 4 as the cohort began the HSC year, had been cancelled. I know that staff and students were grateful for the opportunity to gather at the end of Term 2, fortunately just before the second extended lockdown began.
St Greg’s students love to sing and for this group the hymn Awake My Soul has become a favourite. These words became the focus of our Retreat with each presentation, activity and discussion group aiming to enliven the spirit deep within.
The Retreat experience built on the Reflection Day in Year 11, 2020. On that day we reflected on emotions and the importance of recognising these in our lives. We planted seeds in recogniton of our College motto and we set goals, short term and long term.
Some of the themes explored on Retreat included:
• All About You
What are the strengths, challenges and hopes of this group?
• Heroic Habits and Masculinity
What are the traits of a truly heroic person? How do you measure success as a human person; as a man?
• Making Decisions
Which decisions do you need to be attentive to currently in your life? How do you ensure you are making good choices?
• God Moments
How can you recognise God present in your life?
We also had the opportunity to participate in liturgy – Reconciliation, Affirmation and Eucharist. The Carmelite Fathers celebrated the Mass for us in a simple yet powerful mix of prayer, symbol and song.
A good way to measure the success of any program is to ask the participants. Here is what our Year 12 students wrote in response to the question:
What are the strengths of Retreat:
“Conversations; self-reflecting; sessions”
“Developing as individuals; spirituality”
“Seeing personal side of others; shows love for everyone; understanding others; bonding”
“The way you can connect with others you haven’t talked to before. Also reflecting on yourself”
“Forming trust”
“Being vulnerable”
The Year 12 Class of 2021 have faced disappointment and enormous challenges in their senior years. They are to be commended for embracing the Retreat experience with enthusiasm and positivity. As they prepare for Graduation from St Gregory’s we reflected on how much they have changed and grown during their time at the College. With Mrs Sawyer, Ms Khoury, Mr Nelson and all the Retreat staff, I hope that the life lessons and life experiences will stay with them for a long time; that they will allow their souls to be awake and that faith and God will continue to be a part of the fine young men they are.
You will reap what you sow
JUNIOR School
Leaders Wrap Up
Our time at the Junior School has been a wonderful ride that we will never forget.
Junior School Captains
It all started in Year 3, back in 2018 with the opening of the Junior School. So many new teachers, families and peers who would soon become our great lifelong friends. Many amazing memories have been created throughout our journey from the first days, IPSSO games, carnivals, learning experiences, special events and even the remote learning period. We have learnt so much over this time and for that, we are so grateful to our community.
Opportunities
Every day at St Greg’s has been so unique and so much fun. Days like International Mindfulness Day are so much fun, where we had the opportunity to commemorate all the different cultures we have at the College. Days like these have really been fantastic memories. We also have public speaking competitions every year including the Gordon Fetterplace Speaking Competition which has helped us in developing our skills. Clubs such as Choir, Band and Wakikirri have helped us to discover new skills and friendships. We have had some amazing IPSSO Sport and gala teams over the years. The coaches have created memories we will never forget. All the teams developed skills that helped them to win. We have also had some great swimming, cross country and athletics events. The moment the gun fires or the whistle blows signifies to us all that the competition is underway. One thing that we seem to have in common at St Greg’s is that we love the competition!!! It continues to put big smiles on our faces!
Remote Learning
Remote learning definitely wasn’t the same as being face to face in the classroom. Not seeing friends for so long was really hard,
but our teachers worked so hard so we could still have fun with our learning. Having remote learning in some ways may have been a blessing by helping us to become more independent and get a little taste of high school. It was a very new and different experience for all of us.
School Community
The St Gregory’s College community welcomed us with open arms when we started here in the Junior School. The teachers have always made each day at the Junior School so amazing. Even having a year with our Kindergarten buddy has been so lovely. Having a “good morning” from the teachers is always delightful. They have helped us grow in our learning and develop new skills. Teachers have guided us on our journey and prepared us for our next step . . . high school!
Being a part of the wider St Gregory’s College community has been a real privilege to be a part of. For the girls of Year 6, we wish you well at your new schools. For the boys who are continuing into the Senior School, we wish you all the best on this exciting journey.
We both have been here since Year 3 and over the 4 years, the Junior School has prepared us well for our individual high school journeys. St Greg’s has not only helped us to grow in our learning, but who we are as individuals. We have learnt the Marist Ways and connected to the community. We want to thank everyone for all that the College does and this amazing opportunity of leadership alongside the other amazing captains. A sincere thank you to all Year 6 students and teachers for the past 4 years and thank you to our St Gregory’s College community for such wonderful memories.
By Connor Potts and Tessa Sabu Mandapam Junior School Captains
Junior School House Captains
Something I loved about online learning?
What we loved about Remote Learning was definitely the peace and quiet we got while working, no one was slowing us down or distracting us. Another big thing that we benefited from was doing our work in a certain order that helped us focus. Some of us liked doing the harder type of work first and some liked doing the easiest first but being able to do the work in the order you liked was a good thing about Remote Learning. The biggest thing that the House Captains liked about learning from home is eating whenever you want!!! It was great to eat while you were doing work and having it straight out of the fridge, so it was nice and cold.
Something we hope we can transfer from remote learning to the classroom.
We hope that we can transfer our ability to be agile from Remote Learning, into the classroom. Having many different and creative ways to express ourselves through fun tasks has been rewarding and we look forward to keeping this connection for the rest of the year. Most students
Left to right: Olivia Jardine, Zahra Eva, Ethan Handunneththi and Alexandra Nothdurfter these days are quite adaptive in using various forms of technology, one thing that I am sure will continue to evolve, is the different creative ways we can use technology to support our learning in the classroom. Remote Learning required us to use skills that we at times wouldn’t use as regularly in the classroom. This has added to our skill level and we look forward to building on this in the future.
Something we found hard about Remote Learning
During Remote Learning we had many ups and downs, some things we found fun or easy, others were more challenging. Some problems and challenges we faced were; missing the social interactions with friends and not being able to complete group tasks face to face; some activities were hard as we were not able to have a face to face conversation and discussion with the teachers.
One thing that we will take from this experience is the fact that social interactions with our friends is so vital. It is not until we all returned to school that we realised just how important it is to be surrounded by friends. Mental health is such an important issue in today’s society and this experience has taught us all to value each moment with your family and friends. We had a lot of challenges this year, but we made it and we are so excited to be back in the classroom.
By Alexandra Nothdurfter, Zahra Eva, Olivia Jardine and Ethan Handunneththi. Junior School House Captains
Junior School Marist Ministry Leader
There is no doubt that this year has been very chaotic and one that has been tough for so many in our community. We have been in and out of lockdown and the various restrictions have made it really hard to plan for the various events that we know St Gregory’s for. But when we had an opportunity, big or small, we took it and made the most out of it. The online and faceto-face Assemblies, Liturgies and Masses have been a real treat, and I have enjoyed being a part of them. Firstly, I want to thank Mrs Bowen and Mrs Clarke for their unwavering support. They have always been the brains behind the Liturgical celebrations and the Marist Missionary activities. They have taught me how to be the best version of myself and how to do things that would have a lasting impact. They guided me on my journey to becoming the first Marist Leader.
Even before online learning, the liturgies and celebrations of Eucharist were never easy to prepare. We had to find readers, readings, songs for the choir to sing, and so much more. I cannot express in words how much went on for just a 45-60-minute Mass. If you were to ask me what was easier; preparing for face-to-face or online, I would probably say online! All the hard work that goes into a liturgy or Mass is shown by the quality. Last year, when we had our first online liturgy, I was in awe of its success and the quality. It was almost as good as a face-to-face celebration.
In terms of Marist Initiatives, this year was very slow. The lockdown made it difficult to get traction with initiatives. Unfortunately, there were no Missionary visits, very few fundraisers, and the traditional whole-school events were minimal. However, the things we did do, including the Lenten and Christmas Appeals, made a positive impact on the students and the community.
All in all, I am really proud to be a St Gregory’s College student. I am glad that we adapted to the constantly changing environments and made the most out of the year.
By Michael Yousseph Marist Ministry Leader
CAPITAL Projects
Exciting Capital Developments at the College
Mr Lee MacMaster - College Principal (K-12)
Just as the recent lockdown period began in late June this year, up went the construction fences, and work on our three current major capital projects at the College kicked off.
The timing certainly was not great as the Sydney lockdown impacted the construction industry significantly and for many weeks our projects seemed to be progressing at a snail’s pace.
Luckily, the workers returned to our three sites in a short space of time, and since then, they have made significant progress on our new Entrance Area to the College Administration Block; the new Basketball and Futsal precinct (both these projects are at the Senior School); and the new undercover Netball / Basketball / Volleyball court precinct at the Junior School. It has been exciting to watch the progress of each of these precincts take shape and I know the students and staff are looking forward to the full use of these facilities from the commencement of the 2022 academic year. These new projects reflect our College strategic priority of ensuring outstanding facilities for our students and the broader St Gregory’s community to utilise. As the College Principal, I am mindful of the need to create learning and recreation spaces that enable our students to demonstrate their gifts and talents. These new facilities will certainly be well utilised, and their contemporary design and construction will enable our College to be a leading school in the Macarthur region for outstanding teaching and learning spaces. In other exciting news for the College community, our architects are currently finalising the design and planning for our new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) / Music / Food Technology/ Theatre complex to be built adjacent to the Technology and Visual Arts precincts. This new project has been designed with a strong emphasis on contemporary classroom design, flexible furniture and the use of modern pedagogical practices. We anticipate this new complex will commence in early 2022 and be completed in time for the 2023 academic year.
The new projects for the College keep coming in 2022 with the following projects budgeted for completion throughout the year: - • The Indigenous Learning Space and
Outdoor Class spaces in the grassed area between the Donovan Centre and the
Brother Luke Hall
• Construction of Wet Weather Awning at the Junior School Parent Pick Up Area • Construction of a Covered Walkway from the Brother Luke Hall to the 400 Block
• Additional Female Toilets at the Senior
School
• Construction of the Farm Car Parking Area - Resurfacing and Kerbing • Continual Refurbishment of the Boarding
Houses (Senan House in 2022) • Solar Panels for the Senior School campus • New BBQ / Canteen Area for SGC 1
Playing Field Throughout 2022, the planning and designing for the refurbishment of the 000, 100 & 200 Block classrooms will be finalised ready to begin construction in these areas throughout 2023. I take this opportunity to thank the Federal and State governments for the generous grant they have provided towards the STEM and classroom refurbishment
Senior School Garden.
projects, and to Marist Schools Australia for their support of our initiatives. I hope you get an opportunity to witness the evolution of the College in terms of our capital improvements. You are very welcome to drop in and take a look!
Junior School
JUNIOR & SENIOR School
Book Week
Mrs Rachael Cosentino - Teacher Librarian/Literacy Specialist Junior School
Children’s Book Week is an annual event held each August, promoted by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. During Book Week, schools and public libraries celebrate books and Australian children’s authors and illustrators.
Typically, the week sees Library displays, book-related activities and events and lots of competitions around the Book Week theme. This year’s theme was “Old World’s, New World’s, Other World’s”. At St Gregory’s we also see Book Week as an opportunity to involve the whole College in literacy activities, on both campuses. We are very fortunate to have a dedicated Book Week Team and a great K-12 vision for these celebrations.
Amidst lockdown this year, Book Week 2021 saw a revised program that made the most of remote learning but still provided students with opportunities to tell stories, learn about the craft of writing and tell stories to one another. Each morning of Book Week our Junior students were treated to a special story from a guest teacher and on two of these mornings, our Senior Student Leadership Team also read online to the whole school.
Along with these stories being shared every day, all of the Junior School students had the opportunity to meet author Coral Vass online, in our virtual author sessions. In addition, the students in Years 4-6 also enjoyed an online author visit with author and illustrator, Anna Ciddor. These sessions were well-attended by our students learning from home and we hope that our parents and carers got to enjoy them as well.
Coral’s passion for making connections between images, her ideas and the intended reader was fabulous. It was a wonderful experience for our
students to explore in their own planning and writing. Similarly, Anna’s insight into historical fiction writing, providing photos from her trip to
France and details from her research, was an enlightening experience for them as well.
On Thursday, 26 August we launched our Virtual Book Character Parade, using photos submitted by families via Seesaw. Although never the same as the real parade feel, this year’s virtual Book
Character Parade was still a magnificent showcase of the ingenuity of our students and their families, especially in creating their own costumes with limited supplies at home. We had some truly magnificent submissions using everyday items and not much else.
Also on the 26 August, we released our Book Week Wrap Up video including the announcement of all of our competition winners. These competitions celebrated the theme of
‘Worlds’. Kindergarten through to Year 11 students participated in the “Where in the World Competition” attempting to identify the world location of a staff member.
All students were also invited to participate in Spelling Bees. These were organised as Senior and Junior
Competitions. Mrs Ursino in the Senior School had over 250 students enter the preliminary rounds of the Spelling Bee, whittling down to a tie for the winner. In the Junior School, Mrs Limbrey invited all students in Kindergarten through to Year 2 to participate in an online Spelling Bee, with 87 students joining in.
The Senior School also held a writing competition - Flash Fiction - and the Years 5 and 6 students in the Junior School, along with the Senior Boys wrote and performed their own Slam Poetry. Other Junior School competitions included The K - Year 4 ‘Other Worlds’ competition where students used whatever they had at home to create an ‘Other World’. We had some amazing Lego constructions, clever digital and Minecraft Worlds and very talented artistic creations. All in all, this year’s Book Week celebrations did not go as planned but the result was still a program of exciting literacy learning opportunities and lots of fun.
