Term 2 Week 2 - Thursday 4th May 2023
Notes from the Principal
Many thanks to the parents who attended this term’s Parents and Carers Meeting on Tuesday evening. It was a well-attended meeting with a lovely camaraderie. At that meeting some parents requested some video footage of Mercy House in Dublin, the house that Catherine McAuley built. A link has been added to the prayer section of this week’s Weekly Review.
This week I would like to draw your attention to the tutoring program that takes place in the school library on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. You can read about it in the Need to Know section of this edition of The Weekly Review.
You will also note that the school athletics carnival is being held on Monday. This is always a day of great celebration for the entire school, and I know that both students and staff are looking forward to it. It is always wonderful to see students performing on the athletics field, and the cheers at the end are, of course, a highlight. You are warmly invited to attend this event to watch your daughter compete. Please pray for us to have fine weather and a fabulous day.
I hope you enjoy the week ahead!
Mary Refalo
Principal
News from the Assistant Principal
Students Owning Their Learning
I have recently been talking to students about the upcoming Semester 1 Report.
The first point I made was that the teacher fills in the grades for the outcomes and learning profiles but it is in fact the student who is responsible for the data entry in that it is their performance and effort that is being reported on.
At Catherine McAuley we have a very high percentage of our students who already realise that they are the authors and owners of their learning journey, including school reports.
The expectations we have of all our girls, if met, will lead them to be highly successful in learning. We expect them to always be:
- actively engaged in their learning. This means always keeping up to date, completing all tasks, always having the correct gear, being prepared to self advocate and ask questions if they are unsure of their understanding or what is expected of them.
- using teacher and peer feedback to improve their understanding. Making use of feedback can add an extra year to their learning growth. Feedback is far more useful than a grade or mark.
- respectful in their day to day interactions with their peers and teachers. When there are positive and healthy relationships in the classroom it is more conducive to being able to deeply engage with the content and thus gain a deeper understanding and ability to transfer this to real world situations.
- demonstrating a positive work ethic. This means accepting that at times it will be difficult but assuring oneself that with continued serious effort there will be a positive outcome.
Please continue to work with your daughter’s teachers in this spirit of growing our students as owners of their learning.
Michael Hall
Assistant Principal
Pray With Us
From The School Counsellor
Why Is Sleep So Important?
It is vital that we get into good healthy habits, especially good sleep patterns.
Sleep is crucial for your daughter’s wellbeing. It supports the healthy development of the body and mind. A lack of sleep has been shown to impact learning. Students become less attentive and motivated, have poor problem solving skills and judgement, increased irritability, reduced memory, impaired communication, they fall asleep in class, and process information more slowly. In addition, a lack of sleep will affect a person’s overall wellbeing; those who do not have enough sleep sometimes show a lack of empathy, difficulties waking up for school and sleeping in late on weekends to catch up, missing school, and an increase in anxiety and depressive symptoms. In Australia, the number of children and teenagers who are sleep-deprived is on the increase as a result of the lifestyles they experience.
The most important reason that our children and teenagers are not getting enough sleep is related to their excessive use of technology and social media. Late-night technology use is contributing to children and teenagers having problems falling asleep and having interrupted sleep patterns as they reply to their friends’ messages during the night. As with adults, every child is different in terms of how much sleep they need. Ideally, teenagers should get 8 - 10 hours of sleep a night. You may know that it takes them one hour for a child or teenager’s brain to rest enough to be able to fall asleep.
We talk a lot about sleep hygiene, the term used to describe good sleep habits. There is much evidence to suggest that this strategy can provide long term solutions to sleep difficulties. The Wellbeing Counsellors Team from CSPD have put together a list of helpful strategies and tips that you can find here.
The Black Dog Institute has created an app, named Sleep Ninja, which provides evidence based strategies to help sleep. Click here to access the app: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/sleep-ninja/id1667400428
If you continue to be concerned about your daughter’s sleep patterns, please visit your family GP.
For further assistance, feel free to contact the School Counsellors; Mrs Suzan Boulattouf (Mon-Fri) or Mrs Kathryn Rogers (Wed-Fri) on 02 9849 9100 during school hours.
Suzan Boulattouf
School Counsellor
News Articles
- Catherine McAuley Teacher Nominated For 2023 NSW VET Trainer/Teacher of the Year Award
- Catherine McAuley Has Three Students Nominated For The 2023 NSW VET In School Student Of The Year Award
- Senior Oztag Team Wins PDSSSC Grand Final
- Excellent Results At The PDSSSC Oztag Gala Day
- Recent Student Achievements
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:
PROJECT COMPASSION - Each year Catherine McAuley runs the Project Compassion fundraising campaign in partnership with Caritas Australia. Spanning through the six weeks of Lent each year, Project Compassion is an extraordinary, ongoing demonstration of the faith, love and generosity of communities, all in the name of justice and peace. This year Catherine McAuley raised $6,800!
Thank you to all the students, families and staff who donated to the campaign this year!
Need To Know
Upcoming Fortnight
Term 2 Week 3
- Year 12 Careers Expo
- Year 10 Teen Mental Health First Aid Session
- Year 9 Reflection Day
- Year 8 French In-School Activity
- PDSSSC Cross Country Carnival
- School Athletics Carnival
Term 2 Week 4
- Year 12 Pastoral Care Seminar
- Year 12 Legal Studies Excursion
- Year 12 Investigating Science & Physics Excursion
- Year 12 French Study Skills Day
- Year 10 Drama Captivate Workshop
- Year 10 Teen Mental First Aid Session
- Year 8 Parent and Student Learning Event
- Big Science Competition
- Kids' Lit Quiz