Delany College - Granville

Newsletter Term 1 Week 4

Principal's Message


I would like to congratulate all students on the start they have made to the 2020 school year.  It is important for students to establish positive routines and study patterns to support their learning at school.  


As you would appreciate, our teachers and specialist staff have been working to ensure students have access to great learning experiences and the support needed for students to achieve their learning goals.  Your support is critical as we work together to assist students with their learning and establishing good habits – particularly in relation to attendance, punctuality, study schedules and their level of personal presentation. It was a pleasure last week to welcome families to the College and share some important information at the Year 9 to 12 Parent Information evening.


It was also great to join with the Holy Trinity Primary community to celebrate our opening mass on Friday, 7 February,  Thank you to Fr Andrew for celebrating the mass for us and commissioning new staff at Delany College and Holy Trinity Primary. 

The respect our students showed and the way they conducted themselves during mass was a credit to the College.


Friday, 21 February, is our College swimming carnival at Granville Swimming Centre.  

This will be a great day for students of all abilities – those participating in championship events, novelty events and other activities scheduled for the day.  

It is a compulsory school day and students are asked to attend in causal clothes in line with our usual mufti day guidelines and aligned with their house colours.  

There are further organisational details later in this newsletter.  


A reminder that Monday, 24 February is a student free day as staff of the College will be undertaking professional development and planning activities.  


Assistance needed:  Lego Wanted!

This year we have launched a new learning opportunity for students in Years 9 and 10.  The elective subject, named ‘My Ideas Experience’, challenges students to design and develop their own projects.  As part of the project design process, students will be developing prototypes using a variety of materials.  One of the mediums we would like to utilise to facilitate prototype development is Lego.    Accordingly, if you have any supplies of Lego that are no longer required by your family, donations would be greatly appreciated.  If you can assist, please drop off any Lego to the Administration Office.

As always, your support is greatly appreciated.


God Bless


Paul Easton

Acting Principal

 

Assistant Principal


During the past two weeks I was very pleased to meet new parents and welcome back current parents during the Information Evenings for all year groups. I trust you walked away knowing what’s expected, what’s coming up and who to speak to at the College. Your attendance, discussion and participation contributed to two successful evenings.

The Delany community

Small experiences make a strong community.

This afternoon I met with a visitor to the College, and it was this person’s first time to Delany. He described his initial interaction with our students:

I arrived at the front gate which was closed, and the intercom was not working. A student, probably one of the girls in year 11 or 12, greeted me at the gate, let me in, and directed me to the office. As I arrived at the office door, a few boys who were possibly in year 9 or 10, were about to leave the office, but instead opened the door, stood back and said “You first sir”. 

At the conclusion of last week I met with all our new teaching staff, and amongst other questions, I asked, “what is one highlight of your first two weeks at Delany?”. Here are two of the responses:

The students really want to get to know me, and they want me to know them. 

I was walking through the yard with my arms full of books and a bag. A few students came to me and asked if I wanted them to carry anything. It has been years since I’ve experienced this!

From little things big things grow. Thank you to those students who quietly make a difference - the Delany Difference.

The academic community 

Did you know…that the 2020 year has begun with around 50 additional students at the College. Not only do we have the largest Year 7 class for the past few years (65 and counting), but new students in almost every year group. 

The Higher School Certificate program is already approaching the halfway mark for students in Year 12. Students will be preparing assessment tasks for most, if not all, of their courses over the next few weeks. Parents and students are required to attend Parent/Teacher interviews on Wednesday, 18 March from 3:30 - 6pm.

The Patrician community 

As I wrote last week, we began the year by celebrating Mass with a combined Delany & Holy Trinity celebration. Thanks to Fr Andrew Bass who always makes time for us. It is always an exciting event when the primary school children join the “big kids”.

You are very welcome to join us on Ash Wednesday (26 February) at 11am in Holy Trinity church for a liturgy to mark the beginning of Lent.

Year 7 students will attend the first Formation day of their Delany career on Friday 28 February. Bishop Vincent states that “we are not a school for Catholics, but a Catholic school for all”. There is no better reflection of that than Delany College because we are both a multi-cultural and multi-faith school. Our Formation day (there is one day for every year group throughout the year) is designed to challenge students to both reflect about their own faith, and to develop a deeper understanding about our own Catholic faith and school. It is also an opportunity to learn about and appreciate the Patrician heritage of Delany College, remembering and giving thanks for the Patrician Brothers who founded the College, and who taught in and lead this school for 76 of the 78 years of our history.

Attendance 

It has been an impressive start to the year with the vast majority of students attending every day and being on time for classes at 8:45am. I want to remind all families that the minimum attendance for students in all Parramatta Diocese schools is 90% of all days. Please understand that this rate, however, is really not good enough. In fact, if a student is attending 87% of the school year they will have missed one half of a term’s worth of education during the year. That’s way too much. 

I’ll take this opportunity to remind you of the process when your child is unwell. If they are unable to attend school please send us an email, or phone and speak to our office staff to leave a message. You can ring at any time of the morning and leave a recorded message. Most importantly, maximise the number of days your child attends school. In my experience, when a child is feeling only 80% OK,  the best medication for a speedy recovery is having friends around them.


St Patrick, pray for us.


Mr Anthony Blomfield

Assistant Principal

2020 FEES

Fees Statements have now been issued for Term 1 Fees.  Please note the due date for Term 1 Fees is 18 March 2020

If you have any difficulties or would like to discuss payment options, please contact me on 8633 8107.




Margaret Hopley 

School Support Officer

Valentine's Day


Valentine’s Day, also known as Saint Valentine’s Day, was held on Friday February 14.

The Year 12 Leadership team took the initiative to hold a cake stall at recess and lunch, to enhance the spirit of Valentine’s Day across the College.

The bake stall consisted of freshly baked cupcakes, brownies, biscuits and cake pops, along with chocolate and lolly bags. Music was played to help celebrate the day as students were able to jam along and have fun. It was a successful day!

As a College, we were able to raise $400, with all proceeds going towards Project Compassion which will assist millions of Australians through the annual Lenten appeal. The day would not have been a success without the help and generosity of the College staff, students and the Year 12 Leadership team!


Laura Awad

College Events Leader

Lifted Leaders Bishop's Conference


As the Year 12 leaders, we were able to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity at West HQ in Rooty Hill to gather with other leaders from different schools in the Parramatta Diocese.

The event was hosted by Catholic Youth Parramatta and gave us the opportunity to sit and share ideas with our peers.

We were addressed by the Director of the CEDP, Greg Whitby and Bishop Vincent, which allowed us to become more educated on how we can become better leaders in our schools and communities, we also discussed our school’s plans for future events.

A key point I took from the lectures is that as a leadership team, we should learn from last year’s leaders, but we should also branch out and try new things. That’s not to say it was just all learning experiences though, I mean we did technically go to a concert. All in all, I believe this event gave us insight into what the next few terms hold for us and how we, as leaders, should act.


Aydin Kilciler

College Communications Leader

Out and About with Year 11

Our principal Paul Easton and Assistant Principal Anthony Blomfield

took some time out earlier this year with some of our Year 11 students

discuss Learning intentions & goals for the year.


Delany College

Maths Matters

The Writing Hub

Library Lovers Day


Friday, 14 February, we celebrated Library Lovers Day with the theme

‘Uncover Something New’!

This is an opportunity to show off the Library and encourage students to connect with it. Many staff wore something red, the Library was decorated with red balloons and streamers, and small heart-shaped chocolates as well as new bookmarks were offered to all who visited on the day.

We had a number of students attend a Book Read Aloud at lunchtime! One of our teachers, Ms Amal Nizam, read  Freya’s Unusual Wedding, from the book Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.

We also had a number of students and staff share  ‘A Book I Love’ with us. These were printed and are on display in the Library offering suggestions of ‘Something New’ for students to read.

Thank you to all who supported this event.


Mrs Lynette Perrett

Library Manager

Health Care Plans

FOR MEDICAL ISSUES


Each year Delany College updates their records in order to keep your child healthy and safe in school and on excursions. An important part of this process is having updated Health Care plans to let the school know about any allergies your child may have, for example Asthma or Anaphylaxis, and how staff should respond to your individual child's need.
These are updated each year to remain current so that any medical attention we administer to your child is consistent with their needs.
If your child has a new Health Care Plan please bring it to the Administration Office and ask that it be given to Mrs Collimore, Leader of Diverse Learning.


Mrs Kata Collimore
Leader Of Diverse Learning

Important Information - Vaccinations

Health Information

College Open Day

The Delany Difference

Parramatta City FC is a family friendly football (soccer) club within the Granville District Football Association.

One of the Club’s objectives is to engage as many children and young adults as possible in team sport and thus improve their overall physical health, social skills, developing friendships, etc.

The Club also promotes the involvement of children and young adults in community involvement through the provision of coaching and refereeing opportunities, once they have completed a formal FFA approved course.

Parramatta City FC has teams for most age groups, starting at 5 years to all age men and women.


Many thanks,

Delany College

Uniform Shop

For all students requiring new Blazers for Term 2, please come to the uniform shop to be fitted by Tuesday 18 February to ensure it is ordered in time, as it takes approximately 6 - 8 weeks for them to be made & delivered.


Thank you 

Uniform Shop

Important Dates

Swimming CarnivalFriday 21 February
Staff Development Day / Pupil free dayMonday 24 February
Ash Wednesday Wednesday 26 February

 Year 7 Reflection Day Friday 28 February

College Open Day

Friday 6 March

Don't forget, you can use the SkoolBag App to add events directly to your phone's calendar! 

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