Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox College - Newsletter

It's difficult to believe that we have already approached the half way mark for 2019 - Year 11 has only one more term before they commence their HSC courses; Yr 12 have only one more term before they undertake their HSC exams! 

As we draw to the end of this half year, it’s appropriate to reflect:

1.        Our school has reached its maximum capacity, now only able to offer placements to external students if a current student/s withdraw in any particular cohort;

2.       Secondary and Primary Curriculum and Pastoral formats and initiatives are being implemented across the spectrum of Teacher Professional Development, Curriculum Processes, Staffing, Evaluation, Surveys, Leadership Development and Effectiveness and Maintenance Processes and Planning.

3.     The Tendering process for the construction of the new facilities is at its tail end of the process and will be completed, God willing, ready then for excavations and the building construction element to occur in July.

4.   Mid-Year HSC Lessons for Year 12 students.  Before the end of term, Mr Joseph will distribute to all Yr 12 students relevant Tutorial Days for various HSC lessons. 

Please understand that these sessions are not to cover new work, but are offered by individual Yr 12 staff, voluntarily sacrificing some of their break to reinforce concepts and content that will be of great assistance to each student.  These sessions are not compulsory for either Staff to undertake or students to attend, however from experience, the majority of subjects with respective students do take advantage of this offering if they are remaining in Sydney during the break. 

Therefore, we urge all parents of Yr 12 who are remaining in Sydney, to please take advantage again this year of this wonderful Service offered by our dedicated and committed staff.  Student attending are to be in full tracksuit sport uniform.

Much has been done and its great to acknowledge the wonderful work that goes on behind the scenes which oftentimes is not seen.  This work includes the Board members, the Teaching and Administrative Staff, the Parents and the various sub committees quietly working on specific projects – THANK YOU to all.

We look forward to seeing everyone for the commencement of Term 3 - Theotokos Term as follows:

Monday 22 July: Staff Professional Development Day "First Aid Compulsory Training"

Tuesday 23 July: K - 12 commence lessons

Wishing everyone a wonderful and enjoying mid-year break!  (I've included a b & w outline of the Icon of 'The Feast of the Holy Apostles' as the Apostles Fast commences soon on 17 June for you to copy, enlarge and print as a colouring-in session for your children during the upcoming break.)

The Rite of the Feast of Pentecost (Descent of the Holy Spirit)

One of the Seven Major Feasts of the Lord is the descending of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, known as Pentecost Day (Fiftieth day). On this day, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples as tongues of fire, through which they were able to speak in different tongues and preach the news entrusted to them by our Lord Jesus Christ. This gift is the promise of the Father to the human race. After the Son reconciled the Father with the human race by giving Himself up as a sacrifice on the Holy Cross, and after giving our human body the capability of living with God through His Ascension, God the Father poured on us the grace and blessings of the Holy Spirit, allowing us to live by the Spirit with God while we’re still on earth. The feast is called “the Feast of Pentecost (Arabic: Ansara),” a Hebrew word that means, “feast.” Originally this day was a Jewish feast, which was one of their three major feasts: the festival of weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the festival of ingathering at the turn of the year (cf. Ex. 34:22). 

In the New Testament, the Church celebrates this day by commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples: “From heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts. 2:2-4). 

In the Dioscolia (chapter 31), it is written: “After ten days from the Ascension, let there be a great feast, for on this day, in the third hour, our Lord Jesus Christ sent us the Paraclete, and we were filled with His gifts and spoke in new tongues.”

Also, in the Canons, it is written: “Do not work on Pentecost day, for the Holy Spirit descended on the believers through Christ.” This day commemorates the institution of the Church and its true beginning, and it marks the beginning of the true service and the preaching of the Apostles and disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason, the day has a special place in the life and rites of the Church.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We would like to invite all the students in Years 7 & 8 to participate in the Bring Your Own Chromebook Program which commenced in Term 2 - 2019. At this stage no students are obliged to join; however, if you wish for your child to participate in this exciting move, please access the following web page for further information which includes our policies and agreement. 

Suppliers:

• LWT - 
  SMC BYOD Purchasing Portal
• Officeworks, JB-Hi-Fi...etc 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Best regards,

Remon Metira

IT Manager