Term 4 | The Way Newsletter | Friday 18 November 2022

On Tuesday night, we enjoyed seeing the Year 12 Class of 2022 come together for the last time in any official sense as we celebrated the Year 12 Formal.

It was a great opportunity to catch up with parents, see past students and enjoy our Graduates turn out in their shining best outfits. It was a beautiful night of sharing, laughter and just being together in a less stressful situation.

The Year 12 Formal is also a time that signals the year quickly coming to an end. Now I am not saying we are winding down; on the contrary we are in full steam mode: exam marking, reporting, music performances, Dukes expeditions, and a multitude of high-profile sporting events fill the calendar. On Wednesday night, we enjoyed the climax of the dance season with a magnificent dance concert. Everything from ballet, hip hop, jazz and modern expressive styles were brought alive to the stage. What was the common thing linking all of the dance genres was the fun and enjoyment the kids were having on the stage.

Today, the Dukes team venture out on their Silver Expedition. This is a big three-day hike that will test them all out and provide an opportunity for personal growth and teamwork. Thank you to all the teachers and staff who facilitate all these programs.

With the current community spikes in COVID and the tensions that this has brought in the past, there is growing confidence that we have ‘turned the corner’ and moved into a place where we have room to move once again. Let’s ensure that we continue to be mindful of other people so that no one is left behind.

Looking forward, we are preparing to celebrate the end of the year with a series of events culminating in an acknowledgment of Jesus. Let us not forget that Jesus is the central message of the Christmas season. Let us not forget to take time out and just ‘be with God’, enjoying the peace He brings even in the most hectic and challenging circumstances.

God Bless

A number of significant Australian data breaches and hacks have recently made the news, serving as a timely reminder of the importance of ensuring the security of all of our online accounts for both parents and students.

Setting robust, unique passwords is one way that we can help to secure accounts. Each account should use a unique password and, where possible, instead of using a single password, passphrases containing four or more unique words will help to improve the security of your accounts. If you struggle to keep track of all of your passwords, a number of reputable password managers can be used. The Australian Cyber Security Centre provides some useful information about creating strong passphrases at https://www.cyber.gov.au/acsc/view-all-content/publications/creating-strong-passphrases

Enabling multi-factor authentication on all of your accounts that feature this is a highly effective way of preventing unauthorised access. Multi-factor authentication involves the use of a password and some other form of validation such as the use of an authenticator app or code sent via SMS or email. More information about multi-factor authentication is available at https://www.cyber.gov.au/mfa

It’s important to help children understand the importance of cyber safety at home. The kids helpline provide some great suggestions and resources for kids and teenagers about the importance of cyber safety. These resources are available at https://kidshelpline.com.au/teens/issues/staying-safe-online

Mrs Megan Bennett
Director of ICT

Our end-of-year awards Celebration events are fast approaching.

Please mark the dates for your calendars. 

Tuesday 6 December
Years 3 to 6: 9.30am - 11.30am
Kindergarten to Year 2: 12.30pm

Wednesday 7 December
Senior School: 7pm

These events will have a limited capacity and will be available to watch via Livestream.  Award recipients families will receive an invitation to attend.

More details including students who will be receiving awards will be sent closer to the time.

The Year 9 Food Tech Class went to The Royal Botanic Gardens and it was a beautiful sunny day with an amazing view of the Sydney harbour bridge and the Sydney Opera house.

We got to experience and gain more knowledge on our first nations people and how they utilised their different plants, foods and raw materials around them while being sustainable. We got to taste the native flavours of kangaroo, lemon myrtle, and quandong with the wattleseed damper, and bush tomatoes seasoned with popcorn. We practised making jewellery using traditional basket-weaving methods.

After trying native foods, spices and Aboriginal history, we were given a tour of the Aboriginal gardens by an Aboriginal elder who gave us insight into how our indigenous people utilised the native flora while remaining sustainable. To conclude our wonderful day we took a stroll to farm cove where we had an amazing view of the Sydney Harbour bridge whilst eating our lunch. 

Written by Alana M, Cynthia S and Kelly M.

In Term 4 this year Thomas Hassall Anglican College is focusing on our graduate aim of compassion.

As part of this we are contributing again to St Mark’s Sadlier Hampers. These are distributed to families just before Christmas to help vulnerable people in the local community.

Earlier in the term, Year 9 heard from Kendall, one of the staff members from St Mark’s Anglican Church about how the hampers help vulnerable families such as those who are experiencing financial challenges, those who are looking after children in foster care and children with parents who are in prison. During Chapel in Week 2 the rest of the College heard from Beejai about how the hampers help the community and those who receive them.

Year 9 Helpers and the Year 12 social justice prefects have delivered hampers to PC classes and encouraged students to be generous. The Social Justice Prefects have also established a tally of how many items have been contributed (with a goal of 1500 items by 30 November).

A shopping list of the kinds of items that would be appreciated is included below. We are challenging our students to bring at least two to three items each. We really appreciate partnering with you and your children in this program as we bless our local community in the lead-up to Christmas.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Mr Michael Roper as the contact person for this project [email protected]

SADLEIR HAMPERS SHOPPING LIST IDEAS

Mr Michael Roper
Careers Advisor, HSC Plus Coordinator & Year 9 Advisor

Sizzling Ensemble Night

2019 was the last time we were able to host our Senior Ensembles Evening event, and last Thursday it was great to finally be able to showcase all of our amazing Senior ensembles on one night.

Each ensemble performed a 10-15 minute set of music to showcase a variety of repertoire they had worked on throughout the year, and every ensemble performed very well and entertained the audience. The ensembles included; Senior Concert Band, Senior Stage Band, Senior Vocal Group, Saxophone Quartet, Guitar Ensemble, Intermediate Stage Band and the Senior Strings Ensemble.

The evening also featured the very first appearance of Thomas Hassall Music Alumni – with a handful of graduated students returning to perform together with our current musicians. This was great to see, and all alumni thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to perform again with our ensembles. The Creative Arts Department will be expanding upon this idea in 2023 to continue to grow the community and offer more opportunities and experiences for students, families and friends to participate in music-making here at College. More information about this to be announced early in 2023.

Thank you also to all of the Creative Arts staff and AV team for making this a special event.

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles