Week 2 Term 2 2024

Message from the Principal

This week I spoke at length at our High Achievers Awards Ceremony about the importance of raising those around us up and not being a person who takes away the dignity of others. This is a common theme in scripture as seen in Thessalonians. As Christians we are entrusted with the care of others, the imperative to ensure that we provide opportunities and promote the gifts and talents of others. As a community, Woodlawn students are encouraged to be the best versions of themselves and to care for others in the community including staff and students. These themes run through our Home Groups, our classes, and times when we gather together. I was reading through the Home Group reports for our Year 12 students and these sentiments were clearly expressed by many of the Home Groups. The majority of our senior students are noted for building relationships and connections with our younger students. The affirmations from teachers clearly demonstrate that there is a culture of inclusivity that is developing in these pastoral groups. Please contact your students' Home Group teacher if you have any concerns or information that needs sharing. They are the only teachers that every student sees each day of the week. 

The foundations of our community include trust, inclusion and standing together ie showing up. Thanks to all of our families who attended ANZAC Marches around the region. This proud tradition has been a hallmark of Woodlawn’s commitment to commemorating and recognising the ANZACs. The Day offers us an opportunity to recognise in our brothers and sisters, the high ideals of companionship, integrity, and the peace that they sought to uphold and protect, so that the world might be a better place. We also remember the many students who fought in different theatres of war. Peacekeeper forces are also acknowledged with a sign of respect for their service.

Service to our community is also recognised through the energies of our parent body. This week we adopted a new Constitution that has established the old P and F as a new model of representation. The School Community Forum’s Constitution was adopted with a new governing body elected. Kara Parrish is the new Chairperson, Grant Stewart: Secretary, Emma Cronin: Treasurer and Rose Smith: Parent Assembly Representative. We farewelled and thanked outgoing office bearers Leanne Copeland, Rebecca Prodger and Louise Marshall for their tireless dedication to supporting the College. I would encourage families to consider joining this group as together you can make a difference.

The RFL process is well documented at the College. This is a snapshot of students' commitment to learning and the demonstration of positive learning behaviours. Today we announced the top RFL recipients in the College. We commend these students for their dedication and for consistently being the best versions of themselves.

Looking forward:

• School Reviews Process. We will be contacting parents to meet with reviewers in Week 1 of next term. The ACER Review is a 4-day program with an external reviewer. The link to this document indicates the Domains that will be discussed on this day.  
  

• Mission Review. This review examines the catholicity of the College. Reviewers will be looking for evidence of the way we integrate our faith into all aspects of College life. This will include Worship, Service, Community, Tradition, Evangelisation and Witness. Please join us at the next review evening. These reviews aim to form our 3-year Strategic Plan and we need your feedback to be an integral feature of the process. 
  
  
• Formal Committee gathering: 15th May at the Sherwood Hotel. Year 12 parents are invited to join us for refreshments and to begin the planning for the ‘night of nights’.
  
  
• Student Free Days (as published last term)
  May 29, 2024 Staff Proclaim
  June 7, 2024 Staff Development Day - completion of the review process.

We wish all of our mothers a Happy Mothers Day. It is significant that this day falls in the ‘month of Mary’. Just like Mary we should thank our mothers for being selfless, for their compassion, and for the hope they bring into our lives. 

Please contact the College if there is anything we can do to ensure that your family's time here enables your child to ‘live life to the full’.

Regards,
Annette Reen
Principal 2024

Message from the Assistant Principal - Learning & Teaching

Greetings Woodlawn Families,

As we step into Term 2 of the 2024 academic year, I extend a warm welcome back to each of you. I hope this term brings renewed energy and enthusiasm for learning and growth.

Academic Excellence Assembly Recap:
This past week, we had the pleasure of hosting a special Awards Ceremony to honour the exceptional talents and achievements of our students. It was a joyous occasion where we celebrated the outstanding performances in assessments. One of the highlights was the presentation of the Eagle Award, a commendation by the P&F to recognise academic excellence. I'm delighted to congratulate Toby Conlan (Year 7) and Shivam Raval (Year 12) as the deserving recipients of this award. Toby's remarkable diorama capturing the essence of the Jenolan Caves showcased not only precision but also creativity in Geography. At the same time, Shivam's perfect score in the Half-Yearly Ancient History examination reflects his dedication and thorough preparation.

We also recognised Emily Eyre for her remarkable achievement in winning the NSW Young Geographer Award. Her outstanding Senior Geography Project from last year stood out among competitors statewide, earning her first place in the prestigious competition. Emily's accomplishment is a testament to her hard work and dedication.

Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Survey Reminder:
I'd like to remind families about the 2024 'Tell Them From Me Survey,' which provides a valuable platform for parents, students, and staff to share feedback and shape our school's future strategic plan. Your insights are invaluable to us, and we appreciate your participation in this anonymous survey. The survey takes approximately twenty minutes to complete, and parents can access it using the following URL: http://tellthemfromme.com/woodlawn2024

Assessment Support for Years 7-10:
To aid our students in their assessment preparations, we continue to use the established dedicated assessment hubs on Google Classroom for Years 7-10. Here, you'll find assessment calendars, task notifications, and revision guides. All students have been invited to join, and we kindly request families ensure their children can access these resources. Additionally, please note that for assessments falling within examination weeks, a separate timetable will be provided closer to the date. Term 2 Assessment Calendars will be added to these Google Classrooms over the coming week.

Year 11 Examination Update:
Our Year 11 students have recently completed their first round of major senior assessment tasks with commendable diligence and organisation. I encourage them to leverage the feedback they will receive from their teachers to enhance their understanding and set academic goals as they progress toward Year 12.

Monday Afternoon Homework Centre:
Every Monday afternoon in the library, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., teachers make themselves available to support students with homework, assessments, and exam preparation. All students are welcome to access this support session at any time. There is no need to pre-book; just turn up. Students will need to be collected by parents at 4:30 p.m.

Thank you for your continued support as we strive to enhance the educational experience for your daughters and sons at Woodlawn.

Matthew Bailey
Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching
matthew.bailey@lism.catholic.edu.au

Message from the Assistant Principal - Mission

May is the month of Mary
St John’s is a Marist school and thus we have a close connection to Mary. 

The Society of Mary began in 1816, the vision of a group of young seminarians in the French city of Lyon. This was during the aftermath of the French Revolution when the Church was in turmoil. Inspired by the example of Mary, these first Marists looked to the early Church in order to learn and face the challenges of their present age.

One of the seminarians, Father Jean-Claude Colin, a diocesan priest sent to a small country parish in Cerdon, was determined to see this dream become a reality. He quietly worked on a vision and a rule for this new congregation.  By 1824, he obtained permission from the local Bishop for the small band of Marist priests to go about preaching in the isolated villages in the mountains. He became the first superior of the Marist Fathers and the founder of the Society of Mary. 

The three Marist virtues are humility, simplicity, and modesty. We encourage our students to walk in the way of Mary and emulate these.  The spiritual ideal was to put themselves, like Mary, at the service of the Church through work that was discreet and hidden, yet generous and dynamic.

Anzac Day ceremony
Following the College’s outstanding participation in the many ANZAC Day marches in our local area, we held our own ceremony when we returned from the holidays. We were blessed to have Mr Ken Jolley join us. As a veteran of service in Malaya and Vietnam, he spoke to us of his experiences in an honest and heartfelt way. We are grateful to Mr Jolley for so generously giving of his time and giving us a personal perspective of war.

Think U Know
On Wednesday our Year 7 students attended a presentation with our local Youth Engagement Officer titled Think U Know. This is an evidence-based education program led by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), delivered nationally in partnership with police and industry partners to prevent online child sexual exploitation. The presentation focused on four areas: online challenges; what the law says; getting help, and staying safe. The students asked lots of questions which indicated this was an area of interest and perhaps something that could be followed up at home. Here is a link to the Think U Know website for more information.

Compass outage
Compass is having a scheduled system maintenance from Friday 10th May at 6.00 pm until Sunday 12th May at 5.00pm. There will be no access available during this time.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me on 66262627 or fiona.fennamore@lism.catholic.edu.au.

Kind regards,

Fiona Fennamore
Assistant Principal Mission

Message from the Leader of Pastoral Care

Welcome to Term 2,

I would like to begin by saying sincere thanks to all those families who are genuinely working in partnership with our Pastoral Care team. I am privileged to work alongside such a professional and dedicated team of Year Coordinators. Each one of them are the people who make a significant difference in the lives of your young people as they journey through High School. They know them, care about them, and are accompanying them, with generosity and at times, a challenge to those that require it.

This time of adolescence is one of significant growth, the deep desire to become my own person, and at times this tension plays out. We can see some young people find the daily expectations that are described in our school rules, not as an opportunity to have clearly defined boundaries that allow all to exist equally, but a type of chokehold to hold them back. But at the end of the day, the rules are there to support all students.

This brings me to the Winter Uniform. Many thanks to all those families that are supporting their children in presenting to school with their Winter uniform in the required manner. They look really presentable and polished.

A couple of key things to be aware of:

• All shirts are tucked in, both boys and girls.
• Both girls and boys need a school tie
• The winter uniform has a school jumper, or a vest, and the College Blazer is available to be worn as the weather gets cooler.
• Sports Tracksuit jackets are NOT to be worn with the regular winter uniform, only with the sports uniform.

We are all aware that at times, particularly with this wet weather, the correct uniform might not be worn on the right day. When this occurs, please assist your children by writing a note explaining the reason why they are not in the correct uniform. The student is then required to take this note to their Year Coordinator to have it sighted and their school planner stamped to acknowledge they have an explanation for being in the incorrect uniform that day. Unfortunately for those students who continue to be out of the correct uniform, with no note, a lunchtime detention will be issued.

To assist with the particulars of the winter uniform we have provided the table of specifics below.

Please remember that we work together to assist your young person in their development towards young adulthood.

Have a great fortnight,

Karen Davies
Leader of Pastoral Care

Message from the Leader of Evangelisation

Street Retreat 2024
This week, Year 11 students were given information about Street Retreat 2024 which will see students from Woodlawn and Parish secondary schools join together in Brisbane later in the year.

This experience will expose students to social injustice, and equip, form and empower them to return to their Parish communities with a passion for social justice; awakening a greater sense of the call of Jesus Christ to serve the poor. Places for this year's annual Street Retreat are capped at 4 Woodlawn Students (2 male & 2 female). The allocation of students from each school will vary. To ensure a fairness of selection in schools and to assist in the organisation of the event, an application process must be followed.

I invite you to have a conversation with your child about social justice opportunities available at the College.

Senior Ministry Group
Each Thursday at St John’s, our College Youth Minister Natasha Wotherspoon, runs a Senior Youth Ministry Group for students in Years 10-12. All students are welcome to join in the fun and faith. We have a healthy number of students participating in weekly discussions, laughter, music, craft, scripture, prayer, and games. If your child is interested in joining a Ministry group (Junior Years 7-8, Senior Years 10-12) they can make contact via kallie.deegan@lism.catholic.edu.au, or keep an eye on the Daily Bulletin for when the groups are on each week.

Kallie Deegan
Leader of Evangelisation
kallie.deegan@lism.catholic.edu.au

Year 7 Immunisations

School Vaccination Program

Year 7 Immunisation will occur at the College on Thursday, 6 June. If you would like your student to receive the vaccination please scan the QR Code provided to register. Forms are also available in SSO to complete and return prior to the date.

Keeping your child up to date with routine vaccinations helps to protect them from serious preventable diseases such as meningococcal, whooping cough, tetanus, and cancers that are caused by HPV (human papillomavirus).

As part of the NSW School Vaccination Program, students in Year 7 are offered free vaccines for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (dTpa) and human papillomavirus (HPV). In Year 10, students are offered the meningococcal ACWY vaccine. 

Parental consent is required for your child to receive routine vaccinations at school. If your child is in Year 7 or Year 10 this year, you can now provide this consent through the online consent portal by clicking login with a ‘Service NSW Account’. 

Read a step-by-step guide on how to provide consent online. Translated guides are available in Arabic, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese.

From February 2023, children in year 7 will now only need one dose of HPV vaccination. This change has been endorsed by ATAGI based on evidence showing that one dose provides the same level of protection against HPV as two doses. 

If you have already consented to your child receiving two doses of the HPV vaccine, they will only receive one dose.

If your child previously missed their second dose of the HPV vaccine, they are now considered fully vaccinated and do not require a second dose.

A small number of students who are immunocompromised are still recommended to receive a three-dose course of the HPV vaccine. If your child is immunocompromised, please discuss their immunisation needs with their GP. 

If your child misses a school vaccination clinic, you can speak to your local GP or pharmacist about catching up on these vaccinations.

For more information on school vaccinations, visit: health.nsw.gov.au/schoolvaccination

Student Voice

Our SRC is a combination of students from various friendship groups and year levels. We have certainly bonded since our gathering at the end of Term 1 and look forward to representing the views of our students. 

As members of the SRC we meet fortnightly and some of the key issues from this week's meeting include:

• Student uniforms. We are concerned that some students are wearing the hoodies on days other than Wednesday. The concern is that we have a collective responsibility to follow the rules and those students who don’t follow the rules are jeopardising the hoodies being worn by everyone. On the whole, we have been noting the majority of students are maintaining the standards. This is something that we are serious about.
  
  
• St John’s Day and the Cross Country will be on separate days following a submission by Jaya and Hamish to the College Leadership Team. Our captains attended the meeting and spoke at length about building the culture through Home Group Touch competition to be finalised at St John’s Day. 
  
  
• We are campaigning for a new toilet block in the main area. This request has been heard and we were told that quotes are now being organised.
  
  
• We are looking at supporting the First XIII when they play Mount St Pat’s. This will be at lunchtime next week.
  
  
• The organisation of SRC members being linked to Base Class Reader meetings was finalised with 2 senior members of the SRC. Not only does this mean we will be peer mentors, but it is also a chance to hear what our younger students feel about the College and what is happening in their worlds.

We thank Elliott for introducing 2 of our Year 11 SRC members.
Interview Questions: Noah Vakararawa and Oliver Walker

Why did you want to become a leader?
Noah - I thought I had more to offer, becoming a good influence on others rather than doing things I shouldn't be. I also attended the GOAT Retreat in Year 10 and learned that there are many ways to help in our community and it is my responsibility to give back.

Olly - I want to become a leader to help the upcoming students in the Woodlawn community in their sport, academic and leadership endeavours. This is something I really only started to think about this year and I was lucky enough to be voted in by my peers. 

Why do you like being a leader?
Noah - I like mixing with different groups of people and sharing ideas. I love sharing my ideas with people who have others' best interests at heart. It is a chance to have students' viewpoints heard.

Olly -  I like being able to connect and build relationships with fellow students at Woodlawn to share our thoughts and ideas to help benefit the Woodlawn community.

What would you say to younger students about being a leader?

Noah - I would recommend students to get into leadership roles sooner rather than later, these leadership roles help in so many ways pushing you out of your comfort zone as well as mixing with different people in many year groups.

Olly - I would highly recommend taking up a leadership position here at the college. It helps improve leadership skills that can be used later in life. It is also a way to show others the traditions of the College and to show that we all can make a difference.

Noah - Once I am done at school I would like to learn more about sports and body science which will then help me with my goals of playing high levels of Rugby League.

Olly - At this stage in my high school journey I'm not sure what I would like to do afterwards yet, but I'm hoping in the next year and a half I'll find the right path for myself.

If you could ask the Principal any question, what would it be?

Noah - What is your favourite tradition here at the college?

Mrs Reen - My favourite traditions here at the College have to be St John's Day as well as the Cambodia Immersion.

Olly - What do you enjoy most about the SRC?

Mrs Reen - I enjoy the energy, passion, chats as well as the fellowship. This allows the students to know their voice is important.

That's a rap for this week’s report.

Attendance

Going on a Family Holiday/Family Event?
Less than 10 days: Please notify the school that your student will be absent via the Compass Absence feature or email lisjc-studentservices@lism.catholic.edu.au 
More than 10 days: Complete Form 01 Extended Leave Notification.

Does your student compete or attend Elite Sport programs?
Also include talented identification programs run by the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation.
Complete Form 05 Exemption from Attendance General.

Dose your student attend Elite Arts Programs?
Accredited Elite Arts programs are defined as an opportunity for a student to participate in an event or program that is beyond the gifted and talented opportunities that the Diocese offers.
Complete Form 05 Exemption from Attendance General.

Late Arrival
Students arriving after 8.55 am, need to enter via the Student Service Office. Please submit late arrivals via the Compass Submit Attendance Note feature. 

Early Departure
Please use the Compass Submit Attendance Note feature to notify of early departure. The Student Service Office cannot guarantee your student to be ready for an early departure without adequate notification.

Drop-Off and Pick-Up Zone
Reminder the drop-off and pick-up zone is located between the school and the ovals at the back of the school. Please do not collect your student from the front entrance due to safety reasons.

Instructions for entering details into Compass to submit absence/ late arrival/ early departure (alternatively see attached pdf for instructions)

• Log into your Compass account

• Click on the +Shortcuts symbol at the bottom of the page

• Select Submit Attendance Note

• Select Reason

• Add Details/Comments

• Select the date and time that your child will be collected or absent

• Select the End date as the date or time your child will be returning to school (or 3.15pm if they are not returning to school that day)
• Select Potentially Affected Sessions 

• Hit Add Attendance Note at the bottom of the page.

Lost Property
Lost Property is located outside the Student Services Office. Please clearly label all items that are brought or worn to school.

Student Services Office
Lisjc-studentservices@lism.catholic.edu.au
6626 2629

School Photos

Thursday 23 May & Friday 24 May

Please find attached the instructions for ordering school photos.

Canteen News

Flexischools orders has a cut-off time of 9.00am.

The cash free way to pay! - REGISTER NOW
Paying for lunches is now safer and hassle free. With cashless cards there's no need for students to bring cash to school.

The College has Flexischools to allow students to pay at the Canteen using their existing student ID card. Paying for lunches and items at recess or lunch is now safer and hassle free. With cashless cards there's no need for students to bring cash to school. Parents can set daily spending limits and view transactions online. Parents can also top-up funds at any time.

The Canteen has introduced a Fast-Track line for students who have pre-ordered to collect their lunches, making it much easier and quicker for students.

We encourage all students to register. This will allow for those days when your student may have forgotten their homemade lunches.

Please follow the link below to register now:

Uniform Shop

The Woodlawn Uniform Shop is proudly managed by P&C Uniforms.
To ensure you have an easy and pleasant experience while ordering uniforms, we encourage you to order online ahead of time for easy click-and-collect in store. 

Uniform Shop Opening Hours:
Time: Monday 8.00am - 9.30am & Wednesday 11.00am - 2.00pm
Where: Colin Centre
Order Online: www.sjcwuniformshop.com.au 
Book a fitting: www.sjcwuniformshop.com.au/bts-appointments

Second Hand Uniform Shop Opening Hours:
Time: 11.00am - 2.00pm
When: Every Wednesday
Where: Colin Centre 

Leanne Copeland
Uniform Shop Convenor
0407 739 237 

Community News