Caroline Chisholm College Newsletter

Dear Parents, Friends, Staff and Students of Caroline Chisholm College,

Tuesday was one of my favourite days in the college calendar: Year 7 Orientation Day for 2020. We welcomed 192 students from around our diocese and region, all dressed in their primary school uniforms and incredibly excited about starting their Chisholm journey. It is amazing to think that, before too long, these strangers will become classmates, friends and, hopefully, come to regard each other as sisters united in the special bond of a Chisholm education. In the morning, we had dozens of student leaders and helpers welcome their new schoolmates with enthusiasm and a genuine warmth stemming from pride in their school. Anxious parents were encouraged to say goodbye and head-off so that the girls could settle in to their new surroundings. I was delighted to introduce the Year 7 Leader of Learning for 2020, Mrs Sonya Peters, fresh from her duties as Year 12 Leader. Mrs Peters welcomed the girls and set them the challenge of approaching this new experience as an adventure which will require self-reliance, courage and curiosity. When the time came to head home, new friends had been made and the butterflies of the morning were long gone. Many students told me that they can't wait for January when they can return in their new uniforms.

Last Thursday night I was very proud to be present at Penrith City Council when Claudia Fava, from Year 12, was presented with the Victor Chang Prize for Excellence in Science Learning. Claudia sets such a wonderful example for learners with her curiosity and her passion for the wonders of space. Her prize includes a tour of the Victor Chang Research Institute. Whilst on the topic of science, one of our Year 9 students, Jamie Wilkinson, has won a place in the prestigious research experience week at the University of New South Wales Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology. Only five students are chosen from NSW. Jamie will be undertaking a full week of science research in a range of fields. The sessions will be a combination of the science, the experimental process, and specifics of the equipment and procedures used in cutting edge scientific research. What an exciting opportunity.

It is my pleasure to introduce Nicky Alsemgeest, our new Partnerships Manager. Nicky comes to us from St Luke's at Marsden Park where she worked in development and community relations. Prior to this, Nicky has extensive experience in the university sector. Her role, as Partnerships Manager, is to develop partnerships with businesses, industry, employer groups, government and other institutions that can enhance learning at the college, or create opportunities for students. In the new year, she will be seeking potential partners from our parent community who work in areas that would be of benefit to student learning. I know Nicky will have a great impact as we continue to work to transform learning at the college.

I love receiving feedback from parents and carers about our teaching and support staff, and it is very touching that people go out of their way to bring the excellence of our team to my attention. Working in a school is a complex and sometimes very demanding job. In today's newsletter, Mr King writes to remind you that communication between home and school is incredibly important to us but teachers, especially, can't always respond immediately or even on the same day. Their schedules simply prevent it. I'm grateful as always for your patience and your understanding. Our commitment to supporting you and your daughter is unwavering; it just may take a little time to make the necessary arrangements to respond.

As we see and smell daily reminders of the fires and extreme weather that has become almost commonplace in our part of Sydney, our sisters and brothers in the bush continue to struggle. Please consider the options for supporting people affected by drought detailed in this newsletter. In the meantime, please continue to pray for an end to the drought.

Eternal God,

In wisdom and love

you created our earth to sustain us and give us life.

 We turn to your now in faith, hope and love, asking you to look with favour on our drought-stricken land, on our starving animals, on our failing crops.

 Strengthen, sustain and give new heart to our farmers and to all who are affected by drought; be with those who support them.

In your loving providence, send abundant rain and restore our parched earth.

Father on all compassion, hear our prayer through Jesus Christ your Son, in whom the promise of new life: Renew your faithful people; Renew the face of the earth.

Our Lady of the Southern Cross, Mary, Help of Christians - Pray for us.

 St Mary of the Cross MacKillop - Pray for us.

Mr Greg Elliott - Principal

If the matter is urgent and requires an immediate response, please inform the staff member taking your call of this and we will attempt to find an appropriate staff member to assist you, even if temporarily.

A lot of communication between teachers, students and parents these days is via email. We encourage this communication but students and parents need to understand that while teachers often work in their evenings, this is not part of their formal work hours and there should be no expectation that emails sent after 4.00 pm are responded to until at least the next day, although teachers often do.

Parents and carers are reminded that students should not be communicating directly to parents when students are ill. They should be speaking to a teacher and the student services officer contacting the parents to assist us in our duty of care.

Finally, we often have a situation where a student will contact a parent or carer during the day as soon as an issue arises at school. This may be an issue with another student or a teacher. We would encourage students to develop their resilience by not phoning a parent immediately. If there is a critical incident, the student should be speaking to a teacher first. If it is not critical, it is often best for the student to allow a little bit of time to elapse to consider what is the best response. By all means, they should talk it over with parents but in most cases, this is best done at home away from the heat of the moment. We would encourage parents to ask their daughters who contact them with concerns during the day to follow these steps where appropriate.

Eyelash Extensions
The college rules regarding make up are:

• no make up for Years 7-9
• Light make up, (“natural looking”) including foundation and mascara for Years 10-12.

This clearly does not include artificial eyelash extensions so parents are asked to support us in not allowing their daughters to have these.

Sport Uniform Expectations for 2020
The college transitioned to a new sports uniform in 2017. Next year all students in Years 7-10, should be in the 'new' uniform. While most students currently in Years 7-9 would have bought the new uniforms on starting, a few students have been wearing older sisters' or second hand 'old' sports uniform. From next year, only Years 11 and 12 will be allowed to wear the old uniform. Old sports uniforms should not be passed on or sold second hand. Thank you for your co-operation. 

Policies
From time to time we highlight in the newsletter aspects of college policies which we are required to remind parents of. Today I would like to draw your attention to:

1. Supervision and dropping off and picking up students

Caroline Chisholm College provides supervision of students in designated areas in the playground from 8.00 am in the morning, through recess and lunch breaks and until 3.00 pm. From 3.00 pm to 3.15 pm, supervision is provided at the front of the school only for the last scheduled buses.

Parents are to use the drop-off zone outside the college in accordance with the signage. Parents using the drop-off zone are asked to move forward to allow cars behind or to move to spaces in front of already stopped cars. The drop-off zone is officially designated “No Parking”. This means people can:

• Pick up or drop off only
• Park for under 2 minutes only
• Must remain within 3 metres of the vehicle

Do not park across the driveway entrances which are designated “No Stopping” – this is becoming an issue on some mornings. No cars, other than staff cars, are to enter or leave the school grounds (including the bus bay) between 8.00 and 8.25 am. No cars are to enter or leave the school grounds (including the bus bay) between 2.40 pm and 3.00 pm.

Students walking home and crossing to the north side of The Lakes Drive are to do so at the pedestrian crossing outside the college.

Students needing to leave school early must have a note signed by a parent and presented to the homeroom teacher in the morning for signing. They will be met and signed out by a parent or authorised person at the appointed time. Students who become ill during the day are to have their diary signed by a teacher before proceeding to the student office and being admitted to sick bay. An office staff member will contact the student’s parent/carer and arrange for the student to be taken home. Students are not to phone parents directly to arrange for collection when sick.

Any form of corporal punishment is explicitly and without reservation banned as part of any student management at the college.

3. Procedural Fairness
Caroline Chisholm College is committed to ensuring procedural fairness in all situations. Procedural fairness refers to what are sometimes described as the ‘hearing rule’ and the ‘right to an unbiased decision’.

The ‘hearing rule’ includes the right of the person against whom an allegation has been made to:

• know the allegations related to a specific matter and any other information which
•  will be taken into account in considering the matter
• know the process by which the matter will be considered
• respond to the allegations
• know how to seek a review of the decision made in response to the allegations.

The ‘right to an unbiased decision’ includes the right to:

• impartiality in an investigation and decision-making
• an absence of bias by a decision-maker.

Procedural fairness includes making available to students and parents or caregivers the policies and procedures under which disciplinary action is taken. At Caroline Chisholm College, these policies are contained in the Student Diary, Information Handbooks issued to students and their parents/carers and on the college website.

 Mr Greg King - Assistant Principal

Introduction from our new Leaders of Learning – Paige Colgate and Lorilei Knight

 Hi, we’re Paige and Lorilei, the new Learning Committee leaders. The Learning Committee is a student run group at CCC dedicated to improving the learning aspects of all students within the college. Our aim over the course of the next year is to encourage students to explore their interests and passions within their learning.

Paige: I am passionate about the history of art and science in our society. I enjoy learning about how forms of art and science have contributed to the development and advancement of societies over the course of time. I am particularly interested in how the two intertwine with each other to further enhance ideas we have about the world.

Lorilei: I am passionate about the ever-evolving subject of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and the hope it can provide to society in many ways. I am also passionate about travelling and seeing the world as it allows for a greater cultural understanding of the different communities around the world.

What are you passionate about?

This week I asked some of our other students to tell me what they are passionate about. It was lovely to see the girls come alive as they spoke about their interests and passions. Here are some of their answers:

There is a lot we can learn from these reflections which speak about embracing challenges, overcoming setbacks, the importance of relationships, the importance of health and fitness, the desire to learn and discover new things, the value of creativity and self-expression and the drive to do things for others.

Ms Deborah Scollard - Assistant Principal Learning

Sujin and I started trying to go to classes without help from our buddies on Wednesday. So far, we’ve been successful in finding the right buildings, and it’s not too difficult to locate a classroom from there (apart from one little art room confusion …).

Every morning I arrive at school around 8 o’clock and make my way up to my homeroom on the second floor. Then I have 40 minutes to study, socialise or sleep before school actually starts.

Some of my classes I have with my homeroom buddies, and the others I go to with Sujin. There are some teachers, like my social studies teacher, who will explain the lesson overview in English for me, and even sometimes prepares some English notes on worksheets for me!

Other teachers are happy for me to work independently or with Sujin on our own thing. When this happens, we try to understand the lesson as best we can, or share new words or phrases we have learnt with each other.

There are also some classes that I can understand and participate in. English is the most obvious one, but music, art, and maths have been fairly straightforward for me and so it’s exciting to see how different their lessons are. I’ve even started taking the maths mini-tests, and on Saturday I played music for a performance assessment task.

I was surprised by the ten-minute break in between each lesson. I really enjoy having that extra time to find my next classroom on time and refocus my mind. It’s also really beneficial for the students if they have a test because they have extra study time. They have time to change into and out of their sports uniforms too so they’re never late for class.

My host mother makes me gorgeous lunches every single day. They’re always made very carefully so they look pretty and she makes sure I like the food she puts inside them. I have friends in my class to eat lunch with and sometimes Sujin and I eat in each other’s classrooms.

I’ve attended a club almost every day after school. So far, Koto has been my favourite, but I’ve also attended tea ceremony, Japanese archery, dance and home economics. I am an unofficial member of the brass band as both my host sisters are in it, so they asked me to learn one of the songs and play with them at performances.

I really enjoyed Koto club on Thursday (24th) and all the girls were impressed that I was able to play the sakura song!

On Saturday (26th) the university had a festival. Some of the girls in my class took me to buy fairy floss and we ate lunch together. 

Written by Emily Farrell - Japanese Exchange Student