Term 2, Week 1, Newsletter - Thurs 4 May 2017

Written on the 4 May 2017 by Rostrevor College

 

From the Principal

Mr Damian Messer
Principal

Welcome

Although the weather is starting to turn, and the mornings have begun to be covered in chill, it was with much pleasure that we welcomed back all of our young men in winter uniform to begin our term. The way in which they present themselves each day is something that we and they continue to show great pride in. I hope that all who had opportunity to take time in the holiday found it rewarding, and we look forward to another productive and busy term. I take this opportunity to wish all of our co-curricular teams good luck this weekend and a special good-luck to the music boys in Mt Gambier.

Staffing

This term we have a few additions to our staffing, as well as some minor replacement contracts to cover some of our staff who are taking some well-earned leave. Details of this can be viewed below:

Academic

Timothy Baccanello, PE & Science Faculty
Peter Terminello, English Faculty
Chris Holden, Maths & Science Faculty

New Contract Staff ESO

Nicholas Plumb, ESO Classroom Support
Leanne Pease, ESO JY Classroom Support

Staff Returning from Leave

Jessica Coro
Greg Osman

Staff Taking Leave

Jeff Fischer
Jenny Leydon
Carlos Delgado

Position of Responsibility Appointments

Michael Vickery Acting Head of Co-Curricular

Year 12 Retreats

During the last week of Term 1, I had the privilege of attending the 6 Year 12 House Retreats. The calibre of the engagement, intensity of conversation and expression of spirituality at all groups was definitely wonderful to see. We can be very proud that we are sending out such a fine group of young men in to the big wide world at the end of this year. They had a balanced approach but the endearing feature that I continue to see was commitment and service to others.

Music Support Group Wine & Cheese Night / Generations in Jazz

Last Saturday our talented students performed for the Rostrevor community in preparation for the annual Generations in Jazz competition that will be held in Mt Gambier this weekend. It was a great night show casing the hard work of our students, as well as that of our dedicated staff who support them in realising their music potential. Congratulations to all involved, it was a wonderful family event and fundraiser.

National Volunteers' Week

National Volunteers' Week commences next Monday 08 May. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our hard-working volunteers who continue to give up their time in support of the Rostrevor Community.

Parents' & Friends' Meeting - Become a Member of the P&F Association

The first meeting for Term 2 is scheduled for next Tuesday 09 May at 7:00pm in the College MY/SY Staff Room. All community members are welcome to attend.

The Parents' and Friends' (P&F) Association is a voluntary organisation consisting of parents from all year levels and members of the wider community. It's an exciting opportunity to host and organise events, and it's a great opportunity to meet the school staff and make new friends, whilst being a part of the Parents' & Friends' Association which helps raise funds for your son's facilities at the school.

If you are interested in contributing to the work of the P&F, I encourage you to make contact with them via the College website or by accessing this link: http://www.rostrevor.sa.edu.au/form-builder/form/index/form/8355

Junior Years Open Morning

Our first Junior Years Open Morning is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 16 May from 9am. The Junior Campus will be open for visitors to view the facilities. If you know of anyone who may be interested, please get them to register via the College website so that we can begin our conversations about future enrolment.

Yours in Edmund
Damian Messer
Principal


 

 

From Leadership

Mr Frank Ranaldo
Deputy Principal

Welcome back - Term 1 was long for all of us; hopefully students and families have had an opportunity during the holiday break to reflect and discuss the content of their son's report. As students return for Term 2, Pastoral Care teachers (Years 7-12) will conduct an 'Academic Reflection' with their students. This reflection allows students to consider strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which can influence their performance. As part of this process, students are required to set some goals and to develop an action plan for the next term. Hopefully the content of the analysis and the overall process is discussed at home. Parents are welcome to contact their son's Pastoral Care teacher should they have any questions.

Parent-Student-Teacher Interview Evenings

The information provided to you about your son's progress on the Term 1 Report may be discussed in greater detail at our Parent-Student-Teacher Interview Evenings.
On the Monday prior to students commencing Term 2, Years 7-12 teachers had the opportunity to meet with boarding families to discuss their sons' academic progress. While the number of boarding families in attendance was lower than last year, it was great to see those who were able to attend.

Interview dates for day students, as previously published, are as follows:

  • Wednesday 10 May (surnames A-L) (bookings close at 9.00am on Tuesday 9

  • Thursday 18 May (surnames M-Z) (bookings close at 9.00am on Wednesday 17 May)

Please be sure to book your appointments; we look forward to seeing you.

Edmund Rice Day

One of the main celebrations of our traditions is the Feast Day of Blessed Edmund Rice (Friday 5 May). This is a celebration of the life of the founder of our schools, Irishman Edmund Rice, who became a holy man through the great work of providing schooling to uneducated boys and young men, particularly the poor and disadvantaged. Through the order he founded, the Christian Brother schools were established all over the world, including many in Australia. Thirty-four of these schools now continue under the banner of Edmund Rice Education Australia, the body that now carries on the founder's work, and of which we are all a part.

The depths of poverty in our world remind all of us who live comfortable lives that we must take action to help others. Edmund Rice Day is a time when we come together to celebrate and central to our celebration is fundraising. The College community will celebrate Edmund Rice Day with mass in Purton Hall followed by what we refer to as Unfair Day activities which are organised by our House groups.

NAPLAN

Next week, all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will participate in the NAPLAN testing. While it is important that students try their best, we certainly don't want students to feel stressed about undertaking these assessments. The hype surrounding the availability of this data from the My Schools website and how some are interpreting this data hasn't helped.

NAPLAN results, together with other school-based data, including teacher observations, provide important information about what each student can do and is used at Rostrevor to support teaching and learning programs. The analysis of a variety of data provides us with the opportunity to evaluate teaching practices and in some cases focus on areas where deficits may be apparent. We are also able to evaluate assessment strategies and the nature of assessment tasks. More importantly, this allows us to identify students who require support, whether that is offered by the subject teacher, by the use of literacy or numeracy programs or by support staff.
The NAPLAN is simply a snapshot and the interpretation needs to be made in context rather than how it is reported on the My Schools website. At Rostrevor, we don't believe that one form of testing can truly measure the achievement and efforts of our students and effectively reveal the rich learning experiences that Rostrevor provides.

Regards,
Frank Ranaldo
Deputy Principal


 

 

Br John Ahern
APRIM

So the holidays are over and term two has begun and I guess the thought that lingers is what did Easter mean to me this year. We can all ask ourselves this question. The gospels for the Sundays of Easter present Jesus in a multiplicity of disguises:  the gardener who spoke gently to a grieving Mary Magdalene, the "apparition" who startled the disciples locked away in fear, the barbecue chef cooking breakfast on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the sheepfold gatekeeper opening the door to rich and energetic life, the insightful stranger accompanying the disciples on the road to Emmaus.  I suggest that this is the Gospel writers' way of making the point that Jesus is very much alive in the ordinariness of our daily living.  The Risen Jesus is alive and well, and present to us in everyone we encounter and everything we experience.  While we are not always conscious of his presence, we can all point to times when we have sensed his presence acutely.  We've probably all had an experience similar to that of the two disciples walking the road to Emmaus.

This last story is my favourite. Two disciples are walking along the road from Jerusalem after the events of the first Easter; they are sad, depressed that all they had hoped for seemed lost after Jesus's crucifixion and death. Jesus himself appears on the road and walks with them but they don't recognise him. He explains what has happened and puts in the context of scripture and then stops for the night with them and breaks bread; they then recognise him. We too can still meet Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

Just before Easter we had the Year 12 retreats. Each House attended a different venue and shared about issues that are close to them, listened to others, celebrated a liturgy and gave affirmation to each other. The reports from all retreats were outstanding and I congratulate all, both staff and students, for their involvement.

Regards
Br John Ahern


 

 

Junior Years

Mr Geoff Aufderheide
Director - Junior Campus

Welcome back for Term 2. I trust you have all enjoyed your term holiday break and that you are refreshed and reinvigorated for the next 9 weeks. Given our end of term 3-week student holiday break mid-year, we have a shorter than normal Term 2. It'll no doubt be busy!

House Sports Term 1:

At the end of each term we ask our Student Leaders to organise and facilitate a sports event for boys to participate in with their House groups. The end of Term 1 sees us annually run our House European Handball Competition and this was highly successful this year. Our Student Leaders ran a 'come and try' session each Recess time to invite our Reception Year 2 students out to learn how to play the game. This also serves as an opportunity for our older leaders to engage and build positive relationships with their younger peers. Lunch breaks saw our leaders host Inter-House competitions for the Year 3 6 students and there was great competitive spirit on display.

Our Student Leaders did a fine job in completely organising, umpiring and scoring the games for the week and I can report they learned a lot about themselves and their own leadership styles. During games, they were often confronted with having to make some tough umpires calls, had to make quick decisions under pressure and dealt with people who had concerns or questions. As 10-12 year old boys they did a fantastic job and I wish to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge and thank them for their efforts the Junior Campus students greatly appreciated your time and effort. Well done boys!

National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)

Next week will see Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students across Australia participate in the annual NAPLAN testing. NAPLAN tests the types of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. The tests cover skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy. The results of these tests will be available between mid-August and mid-September later this year and they provide, for parents, a guide as to what the boys know and have achieved in the areas covered. For staff, the results provide us with valuable data that informs and directs our planning for individuals, small groups and the whole student cohort.

Our focus is to ensure the boys experience the tests with a minimum of fuss and disturbance to their regular routine. When parents ask how they can support their sons before and during the testing, we offer the following advice:

Remember that NAPLAN is not a test students can 'prepare' for - the best preparation for the test is regular literacy and numeracy exposure and practice;

  • Whilst performing well in NAPLAN tests is desired by some, the focus for each student should be to do their very best;

  • It is important to ensure the boys have a good breakfast on the day of the test, that they have had plenty to drink and a good night's sleep the night before.

  • We wish our boys every success; in particular, our Year 3 boys as they sit this type of testing for the very first time in their lives!

Winter Co-Curricular Commences

This week most of our Winter Co-Curricular teams kick off their seasons. In advance, I'd like to offer our thanks to all those willing people who have put their hand up to coach, run a boundary or take on the role of team manager. The boys gain great value from your dedication and support and our program would not be the success it is without your continued support.

Kind Regards,
Geoff Aufderheide


 

 

Senior Years Co-Curricular News

Mr Michael Vickery
Head of Gurr House, Acting Head of Co-Curricular

Term 2 Winter Co-Curricular

This weekend marks the first round of winter co-curricular competition, coupled with Generations in Jazz where our musicians will get the chance to showcase their talents against the best in the state. On this basis, a big thank you needs to go out to all boys and their families, as well as the coaches for their efforts in the lead up to the first round of competition this Saturday. I know many boys are eager to pursue their personal best and continue the sporting and musical traditions that have long been a part of Rostrevor College.

Fixtures Information

All programs have been provided to coaches and are available on the Rostrevor College website, along with weekly maps that will be updated each Wednesday if your son is playing at an away venue.

Students are reminded to check their emails or the notice boards outside of my office to see which team they have been selected in as there is often movement of players between teams where A and B divisions exist.

Co-Curricular Requirements

I would like to remind all boys who have nominated to play a sport, that attendance at both training and games is compulsory and coaches must be made aware of reasons for absences well before Friday each week, as it is often problematic to find replacement players at the last minute. If you are unsure of who your son's coach is, please contact me either via email or phone.

Please consider introducing yourself to your son's coach and offering to be of assistance on game day to transport boarders, keep the time, score, act as goal umpire or linesman, as I am certain all coaches and the boys will appreciate your assistance.

In other Co-Curricular News:

AFL Academy member Darcy Fogarty was awarded the Benn Mitchell Medal for the player who best represented the values of the program, as voted by his peers.

Year 9 Soccer team performed admirably in the EREA Soccer tournament in Brisbane in the last week of Term 1, finishing second in a Year 10 Group. Rostrevor's best player in the final as judged by the opposing team was Luke Frangakis (9 Gurr).

If your son, be he a current or past scholar, has made any significant achievement in an activity outside of the College, please pass this on to me via email to mvickery@rostrevor.sa.edu.au or by phone, so that I can include his achievements in the weekly newsletter.

Regards
Michael Vickery


 

   

Co-Curricular Results

No Results due to Holidays

 

 

 


Author:Rostrevor College

A CATHOLIC BOYS' DAY AND BOARDING COLLEGE IN THE EDMUND RICE TRADITION RECEPTION TO YEAR 12

Glen Stuart Rd Woodforde Sa 5072 Australia