Term 3 | The Way Newsletter | Monday 21 August 2023

Congratulations to all Year 3 and Year 4 student for their participation in the Junior School Creative Arts Performances ‘Come Fly with Me’. These special events are memorable experiences for everyone in our community and it was wonderful to have both of the evening shows with a full audience. It was the first time Year 4 have played together as a year group and I was very impressed! Through engaging in the Band Program they have discovered their creative potential and hopefully not only widened their experiences but their horizons. Who knows what the future holds for our promising Year 4 musicians!

South West Festival is fast approaching! A big thank you to all our families who have been bring in donations for the gift hampers and specialty to our parent volunteers who have spent hours wrapping. Various Junior School South West Festival competitions have begun in the lead up to Saturday 26 August. It will be a spectacular day of fun with our College and local community. I hope to see you there!

Photo week is on this week. Junior School students are to be in full College winter uniform. Girls are to have their hair tied back and only red hair accessories to be used. Boys are to wear ties and have their hair above the collar, not restricting their vision and not groomed in an extreme or exaggerated fashion. The bomber jacket is not required for the photos. Bring your best smiles everyone!

If you haven’t seen our social media post of our Creative Arts Night, please enjoy this video.

Year 12

We are at the halfway point of Term 3 and it has been a very busy time for our Year 12 students. 

The Trial HSC Exams concluded last Monday. Over eleven days, thirty-three courses were examined. It was a real test for our students in terms of effort, perseverance and commitment. Well done to all of the Year 12 students for their efforts over the examination period.

The Year 12 teachers are now diligently marking, writing feedback and preparing final report comments for this wonderful group of students.  

Term 3 is also the time for students completing subjects with major projects and performances to submit and present their work to NESA for marking. Already, the Society and Culture projects have been sent to NESA. Next week, Drama students will be marked on their performances by the HSC markers. Extension English 2 projects are due soon, as are the Design and Technology and Visual Arts projects. Music compositions and performances won’t be far behind. Well done to all of the students and staff who are involved with these projects and performances. It really is an amazing effort to complete a major work for the HSC.

We also have two students who are studying a language via NSW School of Languages and Saturday School of Community Languages. Over the last two Saturdays they have been completing their HSC Speaking Exam in front of the HSC markers. 

Finally, many of our Year 12 students are eagerly awaiting early entry offers for 2024 university placements. It’s an exciting time for them, and it is the very best part of my job when I hear about their plans for life after school. I am sure that you will join me in praying for them over the coming months as they prepare for their HSC examinations and make decisions about their future pathways. 

Year 11

In the coming weeks, Year 11 will begin wrapping up their preliminary studies. They will then complete their Final Examinations in Weeks 9 and 10. This will be a busy time for them and a chance for students to demonstrate their understanding of subject content in a formal examination. Year 11, we are praying for you and know you will do your best. 

Years 8 and 10 

Year 8 and 10 students have recently submitted their elective/subject choices for 2024. Students will be excited to know that I will be in contact with them soon about their subject allocations for next year. 

Ms Kelie Munro
Academic Dean of Students

Fathers, Grandfathers and Guardians, you’re invited to come along for a free breakfast in the Rawdon Middleton VC Sporting Complex Courtyard.

Please come anytime between 7am and 8.15am to enjoy your breakfast. Students may only attend if accompanied by a parent/guardian. The event will conclude at 8.30am. Senior School students must go to class for Period 1 at 7.55am.

This is a free event for the College Community, however bookings are essential. This event is for Dads, Grandads, father figures, and students. We kindly request that Mums and Grandmas refrain from attending to ensure it remains their special moment. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Please RSVP by Wednesday 30 August. 

Booking are essential thac.nsw.edu.au/book

Last Thursday, three students, Sean L, Tara A and Naomi C, as well as sixteen other schools attended the Annual Premiers Breakfast at Club Menangle Trackside. We were greeted by several honorable guests such as Parliamentary Secretary Greg Warren MP, Sally Quinnell MP, Nathan Hargarty MP and the 47th Premier of New South Wales, The Hon Chris Minns MP. For an early 7:00 start we listened to Chris Minns discuss several topics related to the upcoming budget, as well as issues regarding our generation. Namely, the tough housing market and the pressure of being able to afford a house. The politics we heard about were extremely important topics of debate and hearing the Premier talk about them in such a meaningful way was an extremely eye opening experience that we will not forget.

After some scrambled eggs on toast, paired with orange juice, we were escorted along with the other schools to take a photo with the Premier himself. He spoke to us personally and thanked us for attending.

Overall the breakfast was such a good event to attend, hearing from so many great speakers and leaders was inspiring and will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact on all three of us.

Sean L (Year 11)

What is it? An illustrating competition open to ALL students, Prep to 6.

When is it? Submissions must be entered by Tuesday the 12th September. These are to be given to the class teacher.

Students will be given some time to work on their entry at College, but any final flourishes will need to be done at home.

INSPIRATION: Each class will be given a story to illustrate. The stories used as the inspiration will stay at school and not be sent home at all.

Submissions: Students may use pencil, paints, crayons, pastels, mixed media and choose their style. Their entry must be on A4 paper and not be on lined paper.

Entries must be labelled with the story’s name, their own first and last names, class and HOUSE on the back of the entry.

The entry must be original, and not previously awarded any prizes in other competitions. It must be the student’s own work.

Entries will be chosen from every grade to be published in a Thomas Hassall Magazine. A winning entry from each grade will also receive a mystery prize.

Questions to [email protected]  

The South West Festival for 2023 is only days away. We are looking forward to seeing you from 10am. 

Have you got your Unlimited Ride Band yet? If not make sure you purchase before Friday 25 August at 3pm to save $10 on the day!

Only $35 if you prepay, $45 on the day.

Some of the festival rides include: Dodgem Cars, Sizzler, Round Up, Super Slide, Flying Elephants, Atomic Rush and Jurassic Adventure Inflatable. But there are so many more, you don’t want to miss out

Be sure to buy your Unlimited Ride Band now! You can do this buy clicking here. 

In their study of environmental management, Year 10 students embarked on an excursion to explore coastal management at Cronulla Beach. They gained insights into strategies employed to address beach erosion and observed the techniques scientists use to study dunes. The excursion provided a unique opportunity for hands-on experience with fieldwork. Despite the overcast day, the weather remained dry, with rain only starting once the group had boarded the bus. This hands-on experience assist with their knowledge and understanding of environmental issues. 

Mrs Andrea Kemp
HSIE Coordinator - Social Science

Year 6 excitedly participated in the "Building Resilience" incursion run by the team at My Strengths. Our students learnt vital skills to conquer challenges confidently. Students loved the energy of the team who supported us in identifying our top 5 strengths and encouraged us to consider how we might use these strengths to build others up.  Here are a few of the student’s reflections:

My top strengths are:

• Optimistic

• Humour

• Leadership

My favorite strength is leadership. This is my favourite strength because I always speak up and lead in group work and make sure everyone has a role to play. - Yata (Year 6)

My top 3 strengths are:

• Reliable

• Loyal

• Leadership

My favourite strength is reliable. This is my favourite strength because I know all my friends can trust me for many things and rely on me if they need help. People can always rely on me for helping them in times of need and I won't just leave them to deal with it themselves. No matter the circumstance I will always help my friends when they need it. - Aiden (Year 6)

Mrs Cristy Abecina
Stage 3 Leader and Teacher

Tuesday 15th August was a day to reflect, celebrate and reset for Year 12 students as they headed off to Teen Ranch at Cobbitty following their Trial HSC Examinations. We spent the morning together hearing from Mr Whelan about his own experiences at school and choices he made for his future direction post-school and the necessity to work as a team to achieve the best outcomes before we headed out to a variety of team building activities that encouraged us as a cohort to persevere and rely on each other. These were great fun and some of us faced our fears and tried new things such as horse riding and rock climbing. In the afternoon, we spent some time reflecting on how far we had come in our schooling journey, we received some special letters from people who have supported us on this journey and we looked at how we could continue to support and build each other up as we approach the HSC and life beyond school. The day culminated around a night hike and campfire. Thank you to the teachers who took time out to create this opportunity for us. It will be a day to remember.

Mrs Catherine Sutcliffe
Year 12 Advisor & Secondary Teacher - English

Our next College Musical 'The Little Mermaid' for 2024 is slowly approaching, and we are hosting an Information Evening on Tuesday 22 August. All are welcome to join and learn more about the exciting production and how you can get involved.

Click here for the Zoom link to join. 

Information Night 2023.pdf

Our students in 7-9 have been participating in house competitions during Tuesday Sport. It has been great to see groups coming together in their houses and earning points for their house.

Students are encouraged to wear their House Shirt every Tuesday to earn bonus points for their house.

Here are the current points:

Mrs Irene Focas
Senior School Sports Co-ordinator

The NASSA Junior Athletics Carnival was held on Thursday 10 August at Campbelltown Athletics Stadium. Our College had a team of 67 students, who worked hard with specialist coaches from Little Athletics NSW in the weeks leading up to the carnival to prepare them for their events. Thanks to coach Alvin and Coach Youcef for their expert advice.

On the day our students performed well and the College finished 3rd overall in the point score! There were many fantastic individual performances from our students, with many achieving a personal best.

Special mention to Sara B, who competed in the 9 year old girls High Jump event and broke the NASSA high jump record and achieved a PB. She had placed 2nd overall at the event.

As a College we were very proud of the efforts of our team. Congratulations to all students and to those who have qualified to represent NASSA at the NSW CIS Athletics Championships on Tuesday 19 September.

Mrs Sharon Evans
P-6 Sport Coordinator

A few weeks ago, some College families had the opportunity to host exchange students from Takayamamura School in Japan. Here is a few reflections from host families: 

We didn't really know what to expect when we answered the school's urgent request to host two Japanese exchange students. A short phone call from some Staff gave us some guidance of how we should prepare, "Just your usual weekend routine and a space for them to sleep. Would you mind taking three boys?" Our house has plenty of space and so it was not a great stretch to accommodate 3 boys as they wanted to stay together if it was possible! We gladly welcomed them home on the Friday afternoon with a quick walk around our local area followed by a gathering of items from the supermarket. They picked homemade hamburgers for dinner. We traded snacks after dinner sampling some super sour gumballs and cheese rice sticks. 

Saturday was a road trip along the south coast taking in the Seacliff Bridge, Shellharbour and into the Minnamurra Rainforest National Park where we encountered Lyre Birds. Berry Donut van was a necessary stop, not just for coffee but the iconic doughy treats. The overnight destination was Sussex Inlet as we knew we could get the boys up close to some Kangaroos. Night two dinner was a classic barbeque followed by toasting marshmellows over the fire pit.

On the Sunday we had access to a boat, sunny weather but an unwelcomed chilly breeze. We persisted and treated the 3 boys to fishing. Luck was not with us and no bites were had. Since the boys indicated they lived inland in Japan being by the ocean was an experience. Some ancient shell fossils were located in the rocks by the beach. We saw another mob of kangaroos before leaving Sussex and heading to Bendeela in Kangaroo Valley where we knew there would be wombats grazing at sunset. It was dark by the time we climbed the steep road out of the valley and returned home. Monday was the boys chance to see more wildlife at Sydney Zoo before their last night staying with us. This opportunity saw another fire pit and more marshmellows where the boys revealed they were training in Kendo. 

The experience of hosting three teenage boys with very minimal English was excellent! Google translate allowed instruction and explanation to bridge the language gap. The boys were extremely polite and grateful for our hospitality. I believe they will always look back on their experience to Australia as a great one. 

The Chipperfield Family

We had a great pleasure hosting Moa and Juri (Japanese students from Takayama Junior High School) from 4/8 to 8/8. We loved having the girls over. We became tourists in our own city visiting Luna Park, Opera House and taking the Ferry under the Harbour Bridge. We also did a day driving trip to Bombo Beach and Kiama Blow Hole. We relied on Google translate to communicate and had lots of laughs (things lost in translation ). We experienced Taiwanese Hotpot and Korean BBQ as a family as well. Overall an amazing experience. As first time hosters, we loved learning the Japanese culture and practised our Japanese with them. We look forward to doing it again next year. 

The Thornley Family

Hosting 3 students from Takayama, Japan was a real highlight for our family earlier this month. Sena, Yukari and Yuna were delightful and we thoroughly enjoyed introducing them to Sydney. The girls (aged 14 and 15) were keen to experience family life in Australia, to taste our cuisine, to improve their English and to see some tourist sights. Before they arrived, we were provided with a profile for each student that helped us to get to know them. The girls had been learning English at school, and were keen to practise their skills. Although our family do not speak Japanese, communication was not a problem. Sometimes we used google translate to help, but mostly the girls were excellent at communication. We visited the Blue Mountains and Cronulla Beach and the girls were also keen to go shopping. We made Origami together and played Uno. The girls came to church with us on Sunday and we met with friends on Saturday night who were also hosting Japanese students. The girls were very polite and wrote us beautiful messages of thanks before they left. We are very grateful for the opportunity to host the girls, and look forward to opportunities in the future to host other Japanese students.

The Ford Family

Our family recently hosted two Japanese students from Takayama High School, Japan. These boys were immediately warm and smiling as we met in the College quad and their eyes lit up as I handed them each their first Australian Tim Tam. Yuri and Yota were their names, two young teens that were kind, respectful and excited to experience our country.  We bonded over the simple things, ten pin bowling, burritos, Mario Kart and games of Uno. We made it a rule to call the colours in Japanese during the game.  We showed them our unique Australian animals at Featherdale Farm and their favourite was the koalas. They ‘wowed’ at the expanse of the Jamison valley, the three sisters and the scenic railway and they shopped for iconic Australian food such as Tim Tams, Byron Bay cookies, Smith chips and Australian honey. 

We also put on a good Aussie bbq complete with a fire pit and sparklers with another family that were also hosting students so they could share their experience together. The boys spoke what English they could and we thanked them in Japanese for their efforts.

It was a joy to share our home and show them the sights and in return share their joy and wonder at all things Australian. The morning they were to leave they gave us a hand written note in English expressing their gratitude for their time with us and left us with four beautiful origami cranes. We felt truly blessed to be a part the homestay program. 

The Hobbins Family