Caroline Chisholm College Newsletter

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

Would you describe yourself as a creative person? What do you imagine a creative person to be? For many years, we have suffered under the myth that to be creative you must excel at the arts: music, dance, drama or visual arts, or that creative people are ‘dreamers’. In fact, everyone can (and must) be creative.  Sadly, our civilisation is poorer for this very dangerous and wasteful myth. Sir Ken Robinson says that “we don’t grow into creativity - we grow out of it”. When we observe little children we know this to be true. Sadly, there comes a point where the world stops valuing the creativity of young people as much as they value their productivity and their compliance. Robinson also says that teaching creativity is as important as teaching literacy and numeracy, and I agree. Whilst politicians clamour to support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) as the cure-all to society’s challenges, I would suggest that there is greater hope in creativity - which can be brought to all of those disciplines. We are so blessed at Caroline Chisholm College to have a flourishing education in creativity - particularly in the arts.

Over the past week our students have had the opportunity to showcase their creativity in some very high profile ways. On Friday night, the Penrith Regional Gallery and Lewers Bequest hosted ‘Night Garden’ - an exhibition of visual arts from some local high schools accompanied by beautiful music in the gardens performed by our students. The large crowd enjoyed a range of visual media created by our girls: drawings, collage, complex origami, ceramics and printed perspex while listening to our singers and instrumentalists. On Sunday, our dancers delighted the thousands of visitors to the Vivid Festival in Sydney as they ‘swam’ luminescent fish puppets through the crowded docks of Barangaroo and King Street Wharf. Our Aboriginal Djurrumin Sisterhood (and others) will be performing the same production at Vivid on Thursday night. It is an honour to be chosen to participate in the official Vivid program. 

You will, no doubt have seen the advertising for our musical ‘Pop Stars’ which will be produced in collaboration with St Dominic’s College. This production is the first joint musical hosted by the two colleges, and will be a fun show for all ages. Make sure to follow the instructions in this newsletter to book tickets early.

All of these creative opportunities are only possible with the hard work, vision and energy of our Creative Arts team under the leadership of Mrs Karen King. Your daughters get to explore their creativity in every subject, but in these areas in particular, we celebrate the way students can use the arts to express something quite profound about their personhood. Our music, dance, visual arts and drama teachers devote many hours outside of their regular duties to facilitate these (and many more) experiences for our girls and I am very grateful to them.

Last Friday we marked Aboriginal Reconciliation Week at the college. Whilst we acknowledge the Dharug people as the traditional custodians of the land at every gathering, I challenged the community to think deeply about what that means. I am grateful for the continuing relationship Caroline Chisholm College has with our Aboriginal families and our local Aboriginal community and I commit myself to working in practical ways towards healing and reconciliation. Let us pray that God will strengthen us in this important work.

Creator Spirit,

All creation once declared your glory,

Your laws were honoured and trusted,

Forgive us our neglect as our country approaches

the most critical moment in its history.

Listen to our prayer as we turn to you,

Hear the cry of our land and its people,

Just as you heard the cry of Jesus,

your Son, on the Cross.

Help us to replace our national shame

With true national pride by restoring the

dignity of our First People whose antiquity is

unsurpassed.

May our faith and trust in you increase.

Only then will our nation grow strong and be

a worthy place for all who wish to make their home in our land.

Amen.

© Elizabeth Pike, September 1997

Mr Greg Elliott 
Principal

Mayoral Reception

Mental Health First Aid for Parents Course
You are invited to participate in a training course for Mental Health First Aid that will help you support the young people in your life.

At our Parent Forum in Term 1, Jane Armstrong, an accredited MHFA (Mental Health First Aid) Instructor, presented a brief insight into ideas about Mental Health First Aid and its application to teenage girls. A number of parents expressed an interest in doing the full 14 hour course so the principal, Mr Greg Elliott, has organised for Jane to present this course over three consecutive Thursdays at the college early in Term 3.

Jane will introduce the concept of Youth Mental Health First Aid before exploring the issues of Depression, Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Psychosis and Substance Misuse. For each of these topics, she will present approaches a parent could take, supported with a manual and other helpful resources.

The college will cover the cost of the presentation as well as catering. This course is offered to current parents of the college only. You would need to be able to attend all three sessions on:

●       Thursday July 25
●       Thursday August 1
●       Thursday August 8

The sessions would run from 9.30 to 2.30 with a 15 minute morning tea break and a 30 minute lunch break.

There is a strict limit of 25 participants in this course. If we have a large response, we may have to limit participation to one parent per family. If you are interested, please contact Mr Elliott’s PA, Mrs Robyn Wilson, either by phone on 4737-5500 or by emailing her on rwilson2@parra.catholic.edu.au. Places will be filled in the order of contacting her.

Tell Them From Me Parent Survey
Just a reminder about the invitation in the last newsletter and on Skool Bag to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey. As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community, we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at Caroline Chisholm College. 

The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. You are able to access the parent survey on your computer or mobile device by going to www.tellthemfromme.com/carolinechisholmcollege .

 You will be able to access the survey until Friday 14 June.

 “Doing the Right Thing Awards”
Students who provide service to the college for a variety of reasons are eligible for a “Doing the Right Thing Award”.  Congratulations to Lilian Jayachandran (7 Kenny), Toshani Naicker (7 Jackson), Kiana Hale (8 Gilmore) and Carys Moore (8 Macarthur) who receive vouchers for the canteen for being the students drawn from the box.  All students who put in award slips will have points credited to their house.

Appreciation of Honesty
Students at Caroline Chisholm College regularly display outstanding honesty in returning items they find on the college grounds. Often these can be of quite substantial value. Students handing in found items receive a certificate of appreciation. I would like to congratulate the following students who have handing items in over the last fortnight: Isabella Hargrave (7 Kenny), Aurelia Parsley (7 Kenny), Samara Dias (8 Gilmore), Kate Rennie (8 Gilmore), Sarah-Louise Lobb (10 Gilmore), Tahlia Rando (10 Jackson) and Chloe Rossetto (10 Macarthur).

Mr Greg King - Assistant Principal 

‘Manages her learning’ – what does that mean?

Report profiles – Years 7-11

As you are aware, the College has changed the ‘Student Profiles’ on the reports. The new profiles are:

• Manages her learning
• Takes opportunities to extend her learning
• Relates to others to enhance learning. 

The new report profiles challenge students to take control of their own learning and to develop learning habits that will allow them to continue learning for the rest of their lives.

This week I spoke to some of our students and asked them to explain what ‘Manages her learning’ means. Here are some of their answers.

Monique and Mia Year 10

We think ‘manage your learning’ is to be responsible, persistent, organised and to take pride in what you do, contributing and using your time wisely.

Ilaria, Elle, Vashti, Emily and Isabella Year 7

• Organising your time and effort effectively.
• Taking responsibility for what you need to know and seeking assistance from a range of resources.
• Organising and planning study times, whilst having routines that allow you time to participate in social / leisure activities. Effective learning is all about maintaining a balance.
• Setting yourself realistic goals to keep track of your learning.

Caitlin, Ellie and Madison Year 12

Keep your notes up to date, manage your time effectively, complete missed work, do your homework, ask questions if you don’t understand something.

Karla, Faith, Renee and Georgia Year 11

Managing your learning means being organised, using your time well, staying on task, getting involved with teamwork tasks and class discussions. It also means you complete your homework and check in with your teachers to see how you are going in class.

Jessica, Jasmine, Danielle and Layla Year 9

We think that managing your learning is when you want to extend your knowledge by working hard, asking questions, respecting the teacher. You should also study for all of your subjects and make sure you understand what you are learning.

Marissa, Caroline, Brooke and Caitlin Year 8

Managing your learning is when you pay attention and make sure you understand. It is about finding something you are not good at and improving on it. Don’t leave assignments to the last minute, know when things are due and stay organised. Managing your learning is important because it helps you grow in your learning.

Mackenzie, Georgia, Kanesha and Sofia Year 7

• Be organised.
• Do your work on time.
• Use your diary to stay organised.
• Study and revise consistently.
• Engage with our learning and encourage yourself to keep learning.
• Contribute to group projects.
• Listen in class.
• Get involved with class learning.

Evelyn, Siobhan, Madeline and Jess Year 8

Ms Deborah Scollard - Assistant Principal

On Monday 27th May a strong team of year seven, eight and nine students participated in the Soccer Gala. The girls played five games and were unlucky not to make the final as they did not lose a game the entire day.            

Results were:                                                                           
Round 1: Chisholm drew 0-0 with Gilroy who went on to win our pool and play in the final against Marion College.                                                        
Round 2: Chisholm defeated McCarthy 1-0.                                             
Round 3: The girls played Xavier and came back from being 2 nil down to draw 2-2.                                                                                                   
Round 4: Chisholm defeated OLMC 2-1.                                                
Round 5: Chisholm drew 0-0 with St Andrews.

Special thanks to Emma Buckley of Year 11 for giving up her time to train the team. Emma provided great support, advice and encouragement to the girls throughout the day.

Thank you also to all the parents who came to cheer on the girls and to Ms Liza Buckley for refereeing on the day.

The CCC team consisted of Year 7 students: Amelia MacDonald, Kiera Geoghegan, Carissa Paduch, Eva Buterin, Emma Matthias, Chontelle Rinaldi and Charlotte Wood. Year 8 students: Noufina Conde, Kyla Grosse, Shae Hodgson, Ashlea Kramer, Evangelina Papalia and Katelyn Smith Year 9 student: Isabella Padjen.

Mrs Caroline McElroy - PDHPE – Leader of Learning

Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest held their annual youth event, Night Garden on Friday 31st May. The gallery had invited six local schools including Caroline Chisholm College to exhibit selected student artworks along with music performances for this student pop-up style art exhibition. Over 350 students, families and friends from the schools came to see the student works and hear performances.  In particular, it was wonderful to see the support from our own community with teachers, parents and students from across our College enjoying the evening. The event was a unique opportunity to showcase the talent and skills of students in our local community and develop a greater awareness of the contemporary arts.

Caroline Chisholm College presented five separate exhibitions from over 75 Visual Arts and Visual Design students from Year 9, 10, and 11. Year 9 Visual Arts students exhibited their “lost thing” drawings, an imaginative series of night creatures based on author Shaun Tan’s book “The Lost Thing”. They also presented these works in a Vivid style projection on the gallery wall in the garden.

Developed in a workshop with design team STEAMpop, Year 9 Visual Design students exhibited their mathematical tessellated paper lanterns that were colourfully spray painted in the main gallery. Year 10 Visual Design students exhibited their designs from the unit “The Language of Flowers” based on the environment and ecology. After developing their illustrations, the girls’ works were printed on transparent Perspex.

Three Year 10 Visual Arts students from 2018 presented their finished ceramic forms in the lounge area near Lewers House. These works were developed from visits to the gallery to see the site and collection.  Year 11 Visual Arts students exhibited their graphite drawing based on the local suburban homes around Penrith.

Musicians from Elective Music presented a wonderful half hour acoustic set in the main gallery accompanied by Mr Richard Caws.

Visual Arts teachers, Jodie Cusack, Felicity Wood and Sarah Eyles, and Music teacher Richard Caws all worked with me for many hours prior to the event preparing the works to ensure that the student works were presented well on the night.

Participating students

Year 9 Visual Arts class  - “Lost Thing” Drawings and Light projection in the garden
Year 9 Visual Design class  - Origami STEAMpop Lanterns in main gallery
Year 10 Visual Design class  - “Language of Flowers” Perspex panels in the main gallery
Year 10 Visual Arts – Ceramics in Ancher House  - Nicola Casis, Nevine Idris, Caela Vernon-Wright
Year 11 Visual Arts students – Drawings of the suburbs
Musicians from Elective Music

Mrs Karen King - Leader of Learning Creative Arts