It has been a historic week in our world with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and the proclamation of King Charles III. This afternoon’s Peace Liturgy provided an opportunity to reflect on other world events, both current and historic, through powerful imagery, poetry and music. We also heard from John’s Gospel:
Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave you; my peace I give to you.”
As a community that advocates for peace and justice I invite you to join in this prayer from our Liturgy today:
For the people of the world. May the Holy Spirit move within each of us, showing us the way to build peace in our hearts, in our homes and in our world.
As you read through this newsletter you can see that all aspects of life at MSM have remained busy until the end of the term. Congratulations to our students on your achievements during Term 3.
Our students participated in their final rounds of the Term 3 CaSSSA sport on Wednesday. For our Year 12 students this was their final round of CaSSSA. We had three teams who progressed to the Grand Final: Open A soccer, Open B Basketball and Intermediate A Touch Football.
Congratulations to the Year 12 students who concluded their “mock exams” today. This has been extremely important preparation for their external exams which commence in Week 4 of Term 4.
The Year 11 students completed their Unit 2 assessments on Thursday and commenced work on Unit 3 today. Students in Years 7-10 have also been engaged in various assessment tasks in recent weeks. Congratulations to all students who have worked diligently this term.
Staffing Updates
Sadly, we farewell four members of staff who competed their time at MSM this week.
- Ms Leanne Sorbello – Administration Senior Leadership Support
- Ms Natalie Hillcoat – Science Laboratory Assistant
- Ms Cara Coombe – Art Assistant
- Ms Huong Bui – Religion and English.
Next term we welcome back Ms Kate Sargent from her long service leave. Ms Jo Desailly will be on long service leave during Term 4. We wish her well as she enjoys this well-deserved break. We welcome Ms Josephine Garbellini who will be taking her classes. We also welcome Ms Lauren Holthouse to our Science and Mathematics departments.
Happy Holidays!
I would like to take this opportunity to wish our MSM Community a restful and re-energising break. I pray that you can find the time to take a break and enjoy some family time. I look forward to seeing everyone when school resumes on Tuesday 4 October.
In faith and love
Sharon Volp
Principal
Mt St Michael’s College is a high performing school. Why? Student outcomes drive teaching processes which leads to high performing teams and both teachers and students flourishing.
Congratulations to our following academic co-curricular enrichment groups that exemplify students flourishing:
- Recently, our two Year 9 Future Problem Solving teams competed to be a part of the National Finals. All year long, both of our teams have engaged in rigorous training. One of our teams has been chosen to participate in the National Finals in Melbourne from Thursday, October 13 to Sunday, October 16, 2022. Mrs Devenish - Meares is to be commended for her tireless coaching and mentoring of our teams. We wish Aisling, Rosie, Mia, and Summer all the best and we look forward to hearing their outcomes.
- Year 12 students, Sophie and Stephanie, who have recently competed in the EVATT competition, Australia’s most prestigious high school Model UN competition, engaging like-minded students in world affairs and issues through debating mock Security Council resolutions from the position of an assigned country. It is an empowering experience for students who are interested in international relations, politics, and world affairs. Sophie and Stephanie have made the National Finals in Adelaide in December.
- Japanese students recently took part in the Modern Language Teachers’ Association of Queensland’s Japanese Speech Contest. Congratulations to:
Year 9 students Evie – 1st place and Emile 3rd place and a Highly Commended to Breanna and Sophia
Year 11 student Lexie who was commended for her performance
Year 12 student Alice – 2nd place.
The end of Term 3 is always the time when students and staff alike are very much in need of their holidays. It is a time to recover and rejuvenate after a period of hard work, assessment and co-curricular events and engagement.
My hope is that your daughters take this time to connect with their family and friends in a meaningful way. Dr Michael Carr-Gregg states that “The ability to obtain, maintain and retain friendships is, according to all the childhood psychologists in the whole wide world, the greatest predictor of wellbeing. Having a rich repertoire of friends is a true indicator of whether your child is travelling ok.” Although we see evidence of innumerable ‘friends’ on social media, it is also important to nurture and promote the practice of in person friendship. Simple catch ups for a bite to eat, to go shopping or even walk the dog are healthy ways for young people to connect and strengthen their friendships and social confidence. I am hopeful that this break is an opportunity for the girls of MSM to boost their wellbeing through the gift of friendship.
Term 4 will be upon us very quickly with some major events such as the Student Leaders 2023 Commissioning, MSM Celebrates and Graduation Mass and Dinner. I would like to wish all of our students and their families a safe and restful break and I look forward to seeing all of our young women in Year 12 ready to embark on the final term of the year.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Graduation Liturgy
Ms Volp and myself were delighted to join Year 12 student, Miranda O’Connor and her family at the Cathedral for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Graduation Liturgy, presided by Archbishop Coleridge.
Our community celebrated the conclusion of Term 3 with a powerful liturgy for peace. In our preparations for the liturgy, students were invited to write their own prayer for peace on a hand painted luggage tag. These tags were tied to the branches of trees and displayed at the liturgy. As the prayer tags move in the springtime breeze, they symbolically release their prayers for peace. Here are a selection of the beautiful prayers composed by our students:
“I pray for peace across the world. May all who have been forced to flee their homes find safety and comfort wherever they are.”
“May all who are frightened find comfort and healing.”
“I pray for those who at this current moment are facing hard times. May they know that those hard times will get better.”
“O God of peace, at all times, in all ways, grant us the ability to imagine a world where your justice and peace are ever known. Amen.”
During our liturgy, Ms Volp blessed a newly acquired Ikon – a piece of religious art – depicting the Archangel Michael, after whom our College is named. The Archangel Michael is the patron saint of Kyiv, the capital city of the Ukraine. The Ikon was painted by Ukrainian artist Ivanka Demchuk, and took four months to arrive at the College because of severe disruptions to the Ukrainian Postal network. It will hang at MSM as a sign of our solidarity with all who seek peace.
“Loving God, author of peace,
We dedicate this Ikon to the people of the Ukraine.
We call upon the saints and the angels to encircle them today, protecting and supporting them.
Guide all who are lost in the horrors of conflict towards peace.
Open hearts and minds to new ways of being,
So that those who stand in defiance and anger may one day embrace.
May the protection of the Archangel Michael be with all who are suffering today.
In Faith and Love we pray,
Amen.”
Congratulations and well done to our Year 9 and 10 students for completing the inaugural MSM Welcome Walk. This event was a special opportunity for students to walk in solidarity with refugees and asylum seekers, acknowledging the many challenges and complexities that they face. As part of the experience, students had an opportunity to raise some funds for the Romero Centre, a Catholic agency that provides timely, culturally sensitive and tailored support to asylum seekers living in the Brisbane Community. As well as providing practical support such as food, assistance with housing and language classes, the Romero Centre also connects people with medical care, trauma counselling and promotes cultural pride and shared understanding. Thank you, Year 9 and 10 students for showing your generous hearts of justice through your care for displaced people.
As we approach the end of term, our Year 12 students are completing their mock examinations, finishing their university applications and preparing for their final term at the College.
Individual student reports for NAPLAN Online were distributed this week in Homerooms to all students in Year 7 and 9 who completed the testing this year. If parents are yet to see these results, I would encourage you to have a conversation with your daughter! All students did their very best and should be pleased with their individual results. A digital copy of this reports is also available in Parent Lounge.
I would like to wish our students all the very best for a well-deserved September break. I strongly encourage our Year 12 students to take time to rest in this upcoming holiday break, but also ensure that they continue with their focused reading or revision in preparation for their external examinations in Term 4. It is not expected that this reading or revision should take their entire holiday time but should be factored into their break. I also recommend that all students unplug from their devices, read a novel of their choice for enjoyment, get some fresh air and re-charge over the holiday break. I look forward to seeing all students back safe and sound at the College on Tuesday 4 October ready for their final term for 2022.
At MSM, we value the physical action of gathering as a community and celebrating the achievements of this proud school. Recently the middle school celebrated the successes of the Year 7 – 9 students at the Middle School Assembly.
The Year 8 and Year 9 Dance students performed strong choreographic work that was recently showcased at the MSM Arts Festival. The impressive Year 8 and 9 Art students’ sculptural works were also presented along with the remarkable work of the winners of The Brisbane Portrait Prize competition and The Independent Education Union Awards for Excellence in Art Design. Insights into the hard work of the Business and RE classes was also displayed. We thank Japanese guest, Yuri Sensei for bravely sharing her interests and love of Australian culture and the Japanese students, who taught us some interesting Japanese tongue twisters. We especially thank the Year 8 Semester 2 Homeroom Captains for hosting and leading this wonderful occasion.
Congratulations to our newest CaSSSA Champions, our 18yrs MSM Rugby 7's team. After dominating in the CaSSSA Rugby Gala Day at Shaw Park, in an event hosted by QRU, our strong and dedicated team wrapped up their season with a Stella performance undefeated for the day to bring home the Champions pennant. Congratulations to all players. Special mention to Holly who was named player of the tournament in the 18yrs division!
Year 9 Business students have been learning about the business life cycle, target markets and the strategic planning they must do for success. Students chose group members and a brand for the brand museum task and worked with the College’s Artistic Administrator, Ms Pettina Bateman, for advice on two occasions. This advice was used to make decisions on how to display their learning in the Library. Thank you to the Library Team (Mrs Mannion, Ms Bayley, Mrs Rose and Mrs Copeman-Hill) for their support and the Maintenance Team (Mr Gateley, Mr Donaldson, Mr Davidson and Mr Ahmet) for bringing materials to the library for our use.
Thank you to the MSM Students and College Staff who went along to check out the display of a variety of brand products that the Year 9 students have presented where you discovered their interpretations on well-known products, the brand’s vision, and factors affecting the brand and the target market!!
It is indeed an unforgettable collaboration with the Arts and Business learning areas within the MSM community!!
At a recent joy-filled celebration, recognising and encouraging the artistic talents of our youth, the Independent Education Union - QNT presented Awards to secondary students across the State for EXCELLENCE IN ART DESIGN. While Year 8 students Romilly and Eva were highly commended for their clever ceramic sculptural works, Year 10 students Anouk and Sophie received High Commendations for their thought-provoking acrylic paintings. A further special honour, the Harriet Hunter Memorial Award, for overall best piece of artwork, was presented to Anouk for her outstanding artwork, ‘BEWILDERING BEGINNINGS’. Congratulations to all award recipients.
During the month of August, Interact and Sisters Empowering Sisters collaborated to bring the MSM community the Think Pink Drive and we were inundated with donations! The generosity of our students and their families was outstanding to say the least and Share the Dignity and Days for Girls are very grateful for your efforts. While the Days for Girls donations will help out those in developing countries to manage their periods, the donations to Share the Dignity will be helping homeless people in Fortitude Valley who are experiencing period poverty. Interact and SES thank you for your generous donations and for making a difference. Next term, we will be announcing the winner of our raffle, open to all of those who donated, so watch this space!
Year 10 Preparatory Chemistry have been studying energy this term and this week investigated the energy contained in food by burning different types of chips and performing calorimetry calculations. A fun and engaging experiment for our students!
The Year 12 Visual Arts in Practice students have designed and constructed decorative mosaics. The project explored the concept of the critical eye and purposefully examined colour schemes and patterns that complement an interior space. Our students were so proud to showcase their artwork at the recent Spirit of the Arts Festival.
The Year 7 Visual Art Class participated in an authentic experience from an artist and audience perspective offered by an incursion at school. Each Year 7 class had a 3-hour workshop in two sessions of the normal school day. The incursion was led by Contemporary Visual Artist Sophie Munns.
Bio-Cultural Mapping (personal context) was the focus for the day, and students created concertina books using inks and objects found in nature to mark make. Munns introduced her practice with analysis of the meaning and context within her work. Munns demonstrated the concept development of her practice through media and techniques. Students produced wonderful photographic documentation of the objects and followed by a series of drawing and stylisation techniques in the concertina book to take home.
This term, Year 9 Religious Education classes have gained an understanding of the importance of Christian vocation in calling lay people to witness Jesus through their participation in the community. As part of developing their understanding, College Principal Ms Volp spoke to the students about her experience of faith and Church while growing up and as the leader of the MSM community. She generously answered the students’ questions on her priestly, prophetic and royal (kingly) roles in the leadership and governance of MSM as part of the wider Church.
History Club members explored the reliability of memory in eyewitness testimonies and primary source evidence. They tested their recall abilities by drawing a composite sketch with varied and interesting results. It was ultimately decided that the assumption that memory provides an accurate recording of experience, much like a video camera, is incorrect and that objective and corroborating evidence is always required.
P&F Meetings: Please check the Mt St Michael's College App for meeting update notifications.
Alumni Meetings: Please visit the MSM Alumni Association Facebook page for updates.
Meetings
AGM: Monday 7 November - 6pm
Please click here for information on 2022 meeting dates and to find out more about the MSM Parents and Friends Association.
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Nominations for our Parents and Friends Association 2023 Committee Executive positions are opening soon.
Term 1
Monday 31 January – Friday 1 April
Term 2
Wednesday 20 April – Friday 17 June
Term 3
Tuesday 12 July – Friday 16 September
Term 4
Tuesday 4 October – Friday 18 November (Year 12)
Tuesday 4 October – Friday 25 November (Years 7-11)
Term 1
Tuesday 24 January – Friday 31 March
Term 2
Monday 17 April – Friday 16 June
Term 3
Monday 10 July – Friday 15 September
Term 4
Tuesday 3 October – Friday 24 November (Years 7-11)
This is a permanent term time opportunity - 38 hours per week.
Attractive work hours for work/life balance - 6.30am to 2.36pm. For more information or to apply, visit https://www.msm.qld.edu.au/our-college/employment
Support the MSM Environment Group by donating your eligible containers! Bring your containers to school or use our scheme ID when returning to your local depot. Your donations will go towards funding our current and future environmental initiatives.
Mt St Michael's College scheme ID: C10333591
Mt St Michael’s College is pleased to bring to you the MSM Business Directory. Accessed through our website and APP, this online portal, profiles businesses and provides opportunities to connect with the wider MSM community to promote your services, sales and special offers.
Many business owners profiled in the MSM Business Directory are long-term friends of the College. They include current and past parents, local businesses and alumni who, together show a commitment to Mt St Michael’s College and support for MSM events, fundraisers and initiatives.
If you would like to be included in the online MSM Business Directory, simply email [email protected].
For more information please click here
Slow down!
The Brisbane City Council, in coordination with The Gap Ward Office, recently erected an additional 40 km/h school zone limit and traffic signs facing incoming traffic along Elimatta Drive and Aloomba Road following a request from Mt St Michael’s College to investigate the traffic management in the school vicinity. A safety project endorsed by Mt St Michael’s College’s Work Health and Safety (WHS) Committee.
In consideration for our neighbours, where possible please avoid leaving your motor running, especially when parked outside a home.
Mt St Michael's College - MSM News
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Ashgrove, QLD 4060
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