Mercy Messenger - Term 1, Week 10 - 1st April 2022

May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Easter. I pray that this year’s Easter will bring you new faith, new hope and new goals – “May the joy of the Risen Christ be yours”.

What is Easter?

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus following his crucifixion. Easter represents rebirth and renewal, as we remember the death and resurrection of our Christ. Today at our school liturgy, I reminded the students that Easter is a time of reflection, redemption and hope. That they value time spent with family and friends over this Easter period.

I invite you all to take time in your very hectic lives to take the opportunity to attend one of the many Masses that are being offered throughout our local parish churches during Holy Week, the Easter Vigil on Saturday night or the Easter Sunday Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord. It is a time of renewal and awakening for all. I would also like to wish our community a safe and happy holiday.

I remind parents and students, that the first day of Term 2 is Tuesday 19 April.

Diocesan Principals’ Conference

Last week, I participated via Zoom in the Diocesan Leadership Conference. The conference was excellent, with speakers and workshops about: Trauma Responsive Communication, Formative Assessment and Catholic Identity Recontextualisation.

The conference was an excellent opportunity to talk with Principals from across the diocese and also with the Diocesan Leadership team.

College Cross Country

‘The five S’s of sports training are Stamina, Speed, Strength, Skill, and Spirit; but the greatest of these is Spirit.” - Ken Doherty.

Today, students participated in the College Inter-house Cross Country. It was wonderful to see such great attendance and participation from our students. I would like to thank all the staff involved in organising and supervising students during today’s event. It was great to see the students in their house colours, being active and enjoying the day. Congratulations to Midas House on winning the Cross Country.

Bishop’s Inservice Day Friday 1 April

A reminder that Friday 1 April is a Student Free day for all Catholic Primary and Secondary Colleges in the Mackay region. All staff from Mercy Colleges will join the St Patrick’s staff in attending a Zoom session hosted by Bishop Michael McCarthy DD, Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Rockhampton and other break out training sessions.

COVID-19 Update

St Patrick’s College wishes to advise you that, during the past fortnight, we have been notified of positive cases of COVID-19 in our college community.

St Patrick’s College regularly consults with the Catholic Education Office and relevant authorities and continues to follow the advice of Queensland Health regarding cleaning requirements.

Queensland Health has advised that no quarantine of students or staff is required.

As COVID-19 remains active in our community we ask you to continue to monitor your child’s/children’s health and if they develop any flu-like symptoms:

• Keep your child/children at home
• Seek a PCR or Rapid Antigen test where it is recommended and notify the school of positive results. Please be aware, a negative COVID test does not change the requirement to be symptom free to attend school.
• Follow the advice of Queensland Health

As we continue to navigate the pandemic, please remind your child/ren to:

• Maintain good hand hygiene at all times
• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the inside of their elbow and dispose of tissues in the bin immediately.
• Practice social distancing from others where possible
• Wear masks when required

We will continue to work closely with health authorities to keep our school community informed of any developments and advice. Thank you once again for your ongoing support.

Term 1 Interim Reports

Interim Reports, detailing the current progress of students, will be available through the Parent Lounge from Friday 1 April. 

The Term 1 interim report is provided mid-way through the semester as a guide to parents and students. Please note that formal assessment for these subjects may not have occurred at the time of printing of these reports. The report is an indicator of a student’s current level of academic performance and, depending upon work habits and application to the subject, students may exit at the end of the semester with a grade which is different to their current achievement. Clarification of details or concerns is best discussed with your child’s class teacher. 

Student Led Conferencing. 

Parents will be able to make interview times for Student Led Conferencing with their student's teacher.  The student is required to be present at the Conference with the teacher.

Thursday 28 April (week 2) - 3:30pm -7:30pm 

Access to make a booking will be available till Monday 25th April 3.00pm. Each interview will last for 7 minutes, with 3 minutes allocated to change. Interviews will take place in classrooms throughout the College and not the Hall. 

Interviews can be made through the Parent Lounge by clicking on the parent/teacher booking button. Parents have been issued with a Parent Lounge username and password, however, if you have a problem with logging on please contact the College Office.

NAPLAN Online Testing Practice Test

Year 7 and 9 students will be participating in practice tests prior to the formal NAPLAN testing. This is an excellent opportunity to fine tune any technical and logistical needs, as well as familiarise students and teachers with the online testing process. It is not an assessment of student ability and there will be no reporting of student results.

Year 7 and 9 students will be sitting the writing practice and omnibus practice In week 1 of term 2 on Wednesday and Thursday. Each practice test goes for 40 mins and will be conducted in their normal lesson.

Students will be using their own individual iPad and will require a set of earphones for the testing.

Parents and caregivers of students in these NAPLAN year levels will need to be aware of important information relating to privacy, which can be found on the NAPLAN Online Queensland website’s parent information page -https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan

 NAPLAN Online Testing
 
Week 4 in term 2, Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 May, all Year 7 & 9 students will be participating in NAPLAN testing. This is National testing in both Literacy  and Numeracy.

The assessments will be held immediately after Homeroom, in designated exam rooms on these three days. Students must be at school prior to the commencement of the test as there is very strict protocol regarding its administration.
 
NAPLAN Test Times:

Opportunities for absent students to complete the test will be made available to students in line with NAPLAN protocols.

If there are any questions or concerns from parents, please contact the college.

As part of the IT upgrade within the College our webpage has had to be updated. The new Mercy webpage will go live in the coming week. It will be found at the current address www.mercymackay.qld.edu.au. We appreciate your patience while these IT changes have been occurring.

School closes on Friday for the first holidays of the year and when it reopens, Easter will have been and, one could be tempted to think, gone without making a difference. We easily get into a rut with our faith, not realising just how deeply the presence of Jesus Christ has gone down into our being and transformed us to a new way of engaging with other people and our world. ‘Me, changed?’ I can hear you asking. Yes, let us look at the ways.

As Christians we believe:

That good can come out of bad. The power Jesus gave in defeating death is given to us. We are not defined or confined by the bad things that happen to us. We can turn them to good.

That prayer really makes a difference. The good desires I have for others can be offered to God and sent to surround and care for them – even if they are on the other side of the world.

That forgiveness is not only possible but desirable. When we hear stories of people who have forgiven those who have wronged them, we understand, we get it – even if we feel it might be beyond us.

That virtue is something for which we should work and strive. Yes, we want to be better because we believe we have been made for that.

These are the subtle ways, Jesus Christ is alive in you. Let yourself be surprised this Easter by recognising and appreciating the new divine life that is rising in your hearts.

Loving God, my faith can seem so ordinary at times that I think it has little effect on me. Let me realise how the Holy Spirit is alive within me allowing the life of Jesus to rise in my heart and in my life. I ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear me. Amen.

Our Mercy College Open Night will be held this Tuesday, 3rd May from 4:00pm - 7:30pm. We invite all families with a student in Year 7, 2023 to attend this evening. Students interested in applying for Years 8 - 10, 2023 are also most welcome to attend. Enrolments are now open.  Visit www.mercymackay.qld.edu.au and complete our online enrolment application today!

If you are interested in signing your year 7 and 8 child up for some extra maths extension, please see the flyer attached.

The 2022 Interhouse Cross Country was held today, with students making their way along the Bluewater Trail, starting at the Botanical Gardens and finishing at the Bluewater Lagoon.

Congratulations to Midas who have now taken out the Cross Country for the 9th year in a row with 480 points. See below for the full list of results:

1st - Midas - 480

2nd - Badila - 451

3rd - Oraya - 431

4th - Triton - 390

5th - Pindar - 301

6th - Argos - 245

Congratulations to the following students who have taken out the Age Champion awards:

Year 7 Boys - Zane Saye

Year 7 Girls - Jessica McLennan

Year 8 Boys - Lucas Boshoff

Year 8 Girls - Mackenzie Neilsen

Year 9 Boys - John Jones-Trifelly

Year 9 Girls - Gabby North

Year 10 Boys - Harrison Ziekenheiner

Year 10 Girls - Amy Goode

This year sees Mercy College and St Patrick’s College host the 2022 CQUniversity QISSN and CQUniversity Confraternity Carnivals, the pinnacle of secondary school netball and rugby league.  With over 120 teams with 1700 athletes, The CQUniversity Carnivals are expected to bring over 6000 visitors to Mackay for the weeklong event.

Plans are well underway for The CQUniversity Carnivals, with the opening ceremony on the 26th June set to be one to remember.  Thanks to Tania Attard and her creative vision, the school will be taking the opportunity to showcase the talent of some of the Mercy and St Pats cultural groups.

Of course, an event of this size will not be possible without the help of volunteers. We are holding a volunteer information and registration night on Wednesday 20th April in the Lecture Theatre at the CQUniversity City Campus from 5:30 to 6:30. We are seeking volunteers to help at both The CQUniversity Carnivals, from ball kids, canteen helpers, car park attendants and everything in between. All volunteers will receive a complimentary shirt which features a design by local artist Kerry Alexander and the indigenous design by St Patricks’ student Charli Bliss.

We would like to take this opportunity to announce and thank our CQUniversity Carnivals’ gold sponsors; Key Solutions Group, Mackay City Auto Group, Fergus Builders, Guardian, Tropical Exposure, Souths and Byrnes.  Their financial generosity has made hosting both The CQUniversity Carnivals achievable. We would also like to acknowledge Mackay Regional Council and BMA for their invaluable support. The best way our school community can thank businesses that support us, is by shopping local and supporting them. 
We are about to release the silver and bronze sponsorship packages.  If you know of any business that would like to get on board and support this event, please get them to contact either school campus or email confro2022@mercymackay.qld.edu.au and we will send them sponsorship package information. 

I am still seeking volunteers. If you are able to assist us this year, we would love to hear from you. Volunteer hours are from 9am until 2.30pm. Our busiest times are in the morning and serving the lunch break. Even if you can only come for a short time - it would be very much appreciated. Please remember all volunteers need to provide their COVID vaccination certificate.

If you are interested in helping out, please contact Margaret Floyd on 4969 4199 or email margaret_floyd@rok.catholic.edu.au.