Term 4 Week 7 - Thursday 24th November 2022

Notes from the Principal

Over the past weeks we have held school tours. The tours have been attended by a large number of families and their daughters, prospective students of Catherine McAuley who look forward to being part of our magnificent community. Visitors to our school (up to 80 during each tour) have commented on the grace, dignity and maturity of the Year 10 students who have accompanied them as tour guides. They have also been impressed by the focus of students in their classes and the dedication they have shown to their lessons. Thank you to all those involved.

Earlier in the week you will have received information about our Christmas Concert, a collaboration between students of Catherine McAuley and Parramatta Marist High School. This event promises to be lots of fun and we look forward to seeing you there.

Mary Refalo
Principal

News from the Assistant Principal

My new challenge in 2023
As you will have read, I am moving to the St John Paul II community in 2023. This wasn't an easy decision - predominantly due to the warm welcome I felt from the very first time I set foot on the Westmead Catholic Community site. The commitment and care shown by the leadership team, the teaching and support staff and the obvious dedication of the students have been nothing short of inspiring. I will take many things with me as I move on to this challenge next year but most importantly, I will take the beautiful Mercy charism in my heart. I thank each and every person in this strong, faith-filled community for their influence on me these past two years. 

It wouldn't be a Weekly Review article without some sort of neuro-science contribution to our understanding of how we learn. I'd like to share a few takeaways from what I have often cited as the book that has influenced my own learning, my teaching, my thinking about how schools work and, most definitely my career. The book is Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by Dr John Medina. Essentially Dr Medina lays out 12 principles for maximising the operating capability of our brain and, as you can imagine, much of what is written in the book translates quite directly to schooling - in particular effective study, optimal environments for learning and a plethora of 'tips' to get the most out of yourself. When thinking about school, some of the more directly related rules are:

Rule 1: Exercise. If we regularly move i.e low-intensity cardiorespiratory movement, we improve our oxygen-carrying capacity which in turn improves our short and long-term memory, and our ability to concentrate and problem-solve.

Rule 5 & 6: Repeat to remember. While this looks different for each of us, the key learning here is that you need to repeatedly expose yourself to information if you hope to transfer it from short-term to long-term memory. There are loads of ways to do this (flashcards, practice responses, regular dialogue with your classmates or teacher etc) but if you are any chance of remembering what you have learned, you need to repeat your exposure to the information.

Rule 7: Sleep. Sleep does a lot for our brains. I've written about the benefits of getting enough sleep and the detrimental effects of being 'under-slept'. Please aim for 8 to 9 hours per night. It will do more for your ability to learn than any 'study hack' or energy drink ever can.

Rule 8: Stress. This is a fine line - stress can be good or bad. You have to know yourself to push through the discomfort of taking on something challenging vs stressing yourself out to the point where you can't think properly. If you think you are getting stressed to a point that is no longer helpful, go for a short brisk walk - this will flood your brain with oxygen, removing stress hormones and resetting your ability to think clearly. Intentionally putting movement breaks into your study plan is a great way to keep unhelpful stress responses at bay.

Thank you again for all the support you have shown me over the past two years. - this is a wonderful community and I wish nothing but the best for all strong young Mercy girls for their future.

Jaie Skinner
Assistant Principal

Pray With Us

What Gifts Does The World Need?

Counsellor's Corner

Student’s Wellbeing During The Summer Holidays
As the school term draws to an end for this year, it is important for us to reflect on how hard many of the girls have worked during the term and the importance of enjoying the summer break to relax and recharge during the long holidays. These holidays can be a time to reconnect with family and friends, and for the girls to do just that. However, it is worth being aware that the long holidays can place additional pressure on families, as well as your daughter’s emotional wellbeing. Working families often find juggling work with home life over the holidays particularly difficult. Sit down as a family to find a balance between social activities, sleep and family time and make plans for fun days out to enjoy together.

It would be no surprise to hear that mental health continues to be among the top personal and national concerns for many young people in Australia. Keep the communication lines open with your daughters, monitor outings and help them do the things that will help support their emotional wellbeing such as social connections and regular physical activities.

If your daughter is needing mental health support over the summer holiday period, I have listed below some emergency contacts and supports:

Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800
Lifeline: 131114
Mental Health Access Line: 1800 011 511
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
Headspace: 1800650 890
Parent Line:  1300 1300 52
Dial 000 in a life-threatening emergency.

I would like to wish you and your family a very happy and safe Christmas. 

Suzan Boulattouf
School Counsellor

News Articles

• Mercy Student Leaders Unite
• Year 8 Students Build Paper Roller Coasters to Demonstrate Force Energy and Motion

This Week on Social Media

Follow Catherine McAuley Westmead on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for regular updates. One of the posts from this week is shown below:

AROUND THE CLASSROOMS - To finish their study on Shogunate Japan Year 8 History students of Mrs Nicolson dressed up last Thursday as Samurai. The students worked in groups to source their materials for the dress ups which were to replicate the features of Samurai armour.

Shogunate Japan was within Mediaeval times and as part of their study students have learned about the range of groups in society, including the Samurai, a special class of warriors who are still well known today.

Mrs Nicolson said that the students thoroughly enjoyed showing off their creativity and in the quiz afterwards the students were able to correctly name all the features and names of the armour.

To finish up the lesson the Year 8 students practised the skill of origami folding, a traditional Japanese craft. Students were encouraged to make designs that could be passed onto their families or members of the community as a gesture of appreciation and gratitude.

Need To Know

• School Awards Ceremony for Years 7 to 11

Upcoming Fortnight

Term 4 Week 8

• Years 9 & 10 French Excursion
• Year 9 STEM Club Excursion
• Year 9 Peer Mentoring Program
• Year 8 Maths Enrichment Day
• Year 7 PDHPE Excursion
• 2022 Mini Showcase
• School Morning Tour
  

Term 4 Week 9

• Years 7 - 11 Academic Awards Ceremony
• Catherine McAuley & Parramatta Marist Christmas Concert
• School Morning Tour

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