Term 4, Week 1, Newsletter - Thurs 19 October 2017

Written on the 19 October 2017 by Rostrevor College

From the Principal

Mr Damian Messer
Principal

Welcome Back

A big welcome back to everyone.  How time flies.  We are already at the beginning of Term 4 and it only seems like yesterday that we commenced our 2017 journey.  As we know, the closer we get towards the end of the school year, the number of events and tempo seem to increase significantly.  2017 will be no exception.  I encourage you to stay abreast of all our upcoming activities and events via the newsletter, website and College calendar and I encourage you to attend as many of them as you possibly can.

Our major focus must remain within the classroom.  I encourage all our students to continually reassess their goals, stay on-task and keep as up-to-date as possible to ensure they give themselves every chance of achieving academic success.  We especially wish our Year 12s well as they enter their last phase of learning.  On the staff front, I would like to take the opportunity to welcome back Lee-Anne Genner, Chris O'Brien and Deb Monaghan.  We also welcome Ravi Jain who replaces Neil McManus for the remainder of this school year.

As we wrapped up Term 3, I had the privilege of attending a number of events that were unable to be reported on.  Year 9 boys played in their State knockout final against Roma Mitchell High School and, although they tried valiantly, were Runners Up which is a significant effort.  Our Pedal Prix boys had their time to shine in the UniSA Australian HPV Super Series Race at Murray Bridge on Saturday 23 September.  Although the weather intervened and delayed the start of the event, our boys were resilient and performed very well.  I travelled to Paskeville as part of the Yorke Peninsula Field Days and met several of our parents.  It was great to have Rostrevor on show.   Our Senior Years Athletics Team stepped-out for the Achilles Cup at Santos Stadium on 28 September and put in a solid performance to come third.  Our Debating Team performed very well this year, getting through to the semi-finals against Nuriootpa High School.  And finally, our Junior Years AFL Breakfast saw our enthusiastic Junior Years' boys welcome their families to the event.  I would like to thank everyone who took part in supporting these events; it is asking people to go above and beyond and, as always, the Rostrevor community is up to the challenge.

Upcoming Events

Our College Presentation Night is upcoming on Monday 30 October 2017, commencing at 6.45pm at Influencers Community Church (Paradise Community Church), 57 Darley Rd, Paradise SA 5075.

Our Twilight Fair, here in The Valley on Friday 03 November 2017, will run from 4pm to 8pm.  Earlier this week the College issued a book of tickets to each family as part of our raffle.  These can be returned to the College in the lead-up to the event and until Wednesday 01 November 2017.  We look forward to this event being very successful and I encourage you to get involved where you can.

More information about both events is available in this newsletter.

Yours in Edmund
Damian Messer
Principal


From Leadership

Mr Frank Ranaldo
Deputy Principal 

Welcome Back

I would like to welcome everyone back for Term 4 and sincerely hope all families had an opportunity for some rest and relaxation. This wasn't the case for all students and staff as most Year 12 students spent time at the College with their teachers finalising tasks or preparing for examinations.

During this term we will be finalising student courses for 2018. This is an opportunity for students to reflect on an important aspect of achieving good results at school attitude. Your son's attitude and approach to school can make all the difference. The effort grade on your son's report will tell you something about his attitude to that subject or teacher. In the Senior Years, where we have subject pre-requisites, we will often be prepared to approve a subject based on effort grades if the pre-requisite has not been met. A student who achieves an A grade for effort tells us that he will be willing to try hard and persevere as opposed to the student who achieves a C grade for effort.

Presentation Night

Our Presentation Night will be held on Monday 30th October commencing at 6.45pm. This annual event is one of our community highlights when we recognise the achievements of those who have excelled.

Families are reminded that this is a compulsory event for all. Your son's Pastoral Care Teacher (Middle and Senior) or Class Teacher (Primary) will be located in the foyer of the Hall from about 6.30pm to mark the roll. Prize winners will also need to report to Mr Urbani (Middle and Senior) and Mr Degeorge (Primary). All award winners will be notified this week via email.

The event will conclude at 8.45pm which we feel is reasonable for all age groups.

We look forward to a memorable evening in celebration of each and every student's personal achievements throughout the year.

Farewell to Year 12s

Mr Michael Vickery and I addressed the Year 12 cohort at the end of last term regarding finalising school assessments, exams and conduct. As the year draws to an end, there are many important organisational matters that need to be attended to, including the return of text books, return or purchase of student iPads, etc. Parents of Year 12 students would have received a letter containing this information.

At the Social Justice Assembly next week we will farewell our Year 12 students. This will be a day of celebration for our Year 12s and yet embedded in all the celebration there will be the emotions of sadness and even grief for some. Sadness because we all take for granted the stable and predictable elements in our lives.

A great adventure awaits students of the Class of 2017 as they go from the safety of this controlled environment to one where they are far more at liberty to choose their own path. This is right and appropriate and a significant rite of passage in the Australian context. The joys of greater freedom and responsibility await them, and we know that Rostrevor has prepared them well to take on this challenge in their lives.

God bless.
Frank Ranaldo
Deputy Principal 


Junior Years

Mr Geoff Aufderheide
Director - Junior Campus

Dear Members of the Rostrevor Community,

Welcome back to Term 4 the one that traditionally is over in a flash!

21st Century Learning

As we commence Term 4, staff in the Junior Years will be trialling the use of Virtual Classrooms for each class. Our aim is to support and further develop student learning of a significant General Capability from the Australian Curriculum Information Communication Technology (ICT). General Capabilities within the Australian Curriculum are designed to add depth and richness to student learning in all learning areas. The ICT General Capability enables our boys to be more actively engaged in the 21st Century world they live in.

From the Australian Curriculum:

'To participate in a knowledge-based economy and to be empowered within a technologically sophisticated society now and into the future, students need the knowledge, skills and confidence to make ICT work for them at school, at home, at work and in their communities. Information and communication technologies are fast and automated, interactive and multimodal, and they support the rapid communication and representation of knowledge to many audiences and its adaptation in different contexts. They transform the ways that students think and learn and give them greater control over how, where and when they learn.

Students develop knowledge, skills and dispositions around ICT and its use, and the ability to transfer these across environments and applications. They learn to use ICT with confidence, care and consideration, understanding its possibilities, limitations and impact on individuals, groups and communities.'

I will communicate more details about this trial to parents and carers from the Junior Years, later this week. As with all trials, we will be seeking feedback toward the end of term about what works and what needs adjustment/modification.

Grandparents and Family Day

We are currently putting plans in place for one of our biggest events of the year our annual Grandparents and Family Day, to be held on the morning of Tuesday 7 November. This is, by far, our most attended event of the year and staff and students are busily preparing activities and presentations with the aim of sharing some of our learning and building positive relationships.

More information and a formal invitation will be made available closer to the event but please keep the date free.

Year 6 Canberra Tour 2017

In our last 'Prefect' newsletter of Term 3, Campus Captain, Charlie Crafter and Vice-Captain, Thomas Washbourne, wrote a report on our tour of Canberra.

I'd like to express, publicly, our thanks to the boys of Year 6 for their engagement throughout the trip and their respectful and positive behaviour. Each year that we attend the Nation's Capital, our boys are commended for their respectful manner and personal presentation and this year was no different.

I was also delighted to see that their knowledge and understanding of government and its systems and processes (built from the Unit of work on Civics and Citizenship taught in HASS lessons) was very good. This is a credit to their teachers, Mr Michael Monda and Mr Peter Terminello, who enabled our boys to gain the maximum from the experience whilst away.

I want to take the opportunity to firstly thank all parents and carers for their support of the tour and the boys. In addition, I would also like to thank Michael and Peter for their care and support of the boys whilst we were away their efforts were greatly appreciated by all.

One thing I would share (and this is a 'boy' thing!): When discussing the highlights of the tour upon our return, it was no surprise that flying home on Friday night, over a packed Adelaide Oval as the Crows took on Geelong in the Preliminary Final, was high on the list! Having spent four days in Sydney and Canberra and seeing so many new and exciting things, we thought it was somewhat 'typical' of our boys to rate anything to do with sport high on the list! Ah, Boys!!

Best wishes for the term ahead!

Kind regards,
Geoff Aufderheide
Director, Junior Campus


Senior Years Co-Curricular News

Mr Jeff Fischer
Head of Co-Curricular

9A and 2nd XI Cricket Coach Needed
Almost all of the coaches who assisted with Term 1 teams, play for Rostrevor Old Collegians who have entered the A1 Premier Grade for season 2017/18 on the back of a fantastic 2016/2017. Unfortunately, this has meant that my coaches are no longer able to take games due to their own commitments. Whilst I have endeavoured to replace some of these, I am still in need of a 9A cricket coach and would be happy to hear from anyone able to assist with these roles.

Sport Program: Middle and Senior years  sporting competitions begin this weekend. The program is available for access on the Rostrevor College website under Our School CoCurricular -Fixtures and Maps. The majority of teams have 6 weeks of competition with some senior teams concluding after less weeks and a number of teams provided a bye during exeat weekends and the Twilight Fair.

AWAY VENUES - When your son has a scheduled away match, he is required to seek a map to the ground which will be available on-line from the Rostrevor website under co-curricular. Schools do not always play on their actual grounds and therefore it is important to check where the match is being played.  I will endeavour to make these maps available by Wednesday of the upcoming weekend at the latest, but am reliant on the opposing school forwarding this information.

Expectations: The College continues to adopt the policy that students play for the school as their first priority, if the activity is offered by the school. Students are free to participate in activities outside of the College, as long as they do not interfere with their involvement in the College co-curricular program.  Students who have nominated for an activity are expected to attend all training sessions and games. Our nominations to SAAS are based on the number of students who select each activity and therefore it is inappropriate for a student to decide that he no longer wishes to do the activity or would prefer to do another, without the approval of the Head of Co-curricular.

Student Availability: Students are expected to make themselves available for all matches indicated in the program. Where a student does require exemption from a weekend fixture, he should ask his coach as early as possible, and by the Wednesday preceding the game, at the latest. If an unexpected illness or problem occurs on Friday night or Saturday morning, students must get a message to their coach to avoid consequences. All teachers are contactable via email and contact with outside coaches such as old scholars and parents should be discussed at training or games.

Uniforms: The school expects all students to be dressed appropriately for the activity they are undertaking. It is the parents' responsibility to ensure that their son(s) have and wear the correct uniform for both practice and matches. If you have any questions about what is expected, please contact the Uniform Shop.

Communication: Our Co-Curricular program is very extensive and occasionally things will not go entirely to plan. Please contact me if a problem arises and we can work to resolve the issue before it becomes a major concern. I will be equally happy to hear from you when things go well.

Cancellations: Middle and senior years training will be cancelled if the forecast temperature is 38 degrees or higher. Junior years training will be cancelled if the forecast temperature is 35 degrees or higher. Weekend games will be cancelled on the Friday if the forecast temperature is 38 degrees or higher.  All game cancellations are communicated through the Rostrevor College website under co-curricular.

In other Co-curricular News:

Year 11 Joel Size represented SA at the recent national cricket carnival and played against Year 10 Kyle Brazell and Year 9 Sam Rahaley, who were playing for the Australian XI. Not only did Kyle captain the U17 Australian team, but he scored an impressive 417 runs at an average of 59.57 to be named not only the leading run scorer of the tournament but also player of the tournament.
A number of Year 12 boys concluded their successful AFL seasons at school and state level by being recognised on the National Stage.  Harrison Petty played at the MCG in an U18 exhibition game before the AFL grand-final and then joined Darcy Fogarty at the National draft combine. Cameron Ball was invited to attend the SA AFL screening with AFL clubs showing interest in him as we approach the National draft to be held later this year.
Year 11 Luke Valente also played in an U17 exhibition game, played the day before the AFL grand-final and was presented, along with Year 10 Cameron Taheny, as members of the 2017/2018 AIS academy squad.
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 jfischer@rostrevor.sa.edu.au or by phone, so that I can include his achievements in the weekly newsletter.

Jeff Fischer
Head of Co-curricular Activities

 

 

 

 


Author:Rostrevor College

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

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