In his Ash Wednesday homily, Pope Francis said that Lent is a time to look inward at our true selves and to share our deepest desires, worries, and weaknesses with the Lord in prayer.
In a world where “everything has to be exposed, shown off, and fed to the gossip mill of the moment,” the Lord is inviting us to “remove the masks we so often wear” and to see ourselves as we truly are in the sight of God.
“Let us acknowledge what we are: dust loved by God. And thanks to him, we will be reborn from the ashes of sin to new life in Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit”.
In our own Ash Wednesday Liturgy, members of our staff distributed ashes by making a small cross on the foreheads of our community members providing a visible reminder of the call to live simply this Lent.
This Lenten season may we keep our value of compassion front and centre in all of our dealings with each other and may we have the courage to look and the courage to act.
Foundation Year 7 Father- Daughter Breakfast
On Tuesday we decided to take the opportunity to celebrate Shrove Tuesday by having pancakes as the feature food at the annual Foundation Year 7 Father-Daughter Breakfast. It was fabulous to host 200 fathers and daughters in the Sophia Centre, as Sr Suzette Clark rsc provided some insights into Project Raise the Roof, our major fundraising project for this year. Some of the distressing facts she shared included:
- There are approximately 50 million people in slavery throughout the world today – more than at any other time in human history.
- 1 in 4 are children.
- 54% are women.
- 27.6 million are in forced labour.
- 41,000 are in Australia.
During her address, Sr Suzette stated several times that having a safe place to live is a basic human right. As a follow up activity fathers and daughters were asked by Chiara and Anabelle (our 2024 Mission Captains) to reflect on Sr Suzette’s address and write on a prepared fabric “roof tile” to produce a word or phrase that makes a safe home. These “tiles” have been pinned to our “House of Compassion” that will be constructed during the year.
The Year 11 students enjoyed a wonderful evening at their Semi-Formal last Friday night. I would like to congratulate our students and their partners on their presentation and conduct during the evening. Thank you to Ms Lennon, Year 11 Pastoral Leader, for organising the event and the Year 11 Homeroom Teachers, Ms Crawford, Ms Cawood, Ms Robertson, Ms Owens, Ms Garrahy and Mr McAlister, for their assistance with supervision.
In Faith and Love,
Sharon Volp
MSM Year 7 Parents and Caregivers - Bookings closing soon for the 2024 P&F "Welcome to MSM" event on Friday 23 February from 6 – 7.30pm at the College. This event is open to Mt St Michael's College 2024 Year 7 parents and caregivers. Tickets are $25 per person includes grazing table and a complimentary drink in your very own MSM reusable stemless wine glass. Bookings close this Tuesday, 20 February at 10am.
Enrichment and extension co-curricular activities provide opportunities for students to explore their interests, develop their skills, and challenge themselves beyond classroom curriculum. Involvement in these activities also enhance students' motivation, engagement, and self-esteem, as well as fostering social and emotional learning.
Science and Engineering Challenge
Earlier this week, twenty-three Year 10 students set out to QUT to compete in the annual Science and Engineering Challenge. Over the day, each group of students participated in two challenges, accumulating points for successful completion of the tasks. The tasks all focused on current Science and Engineering issues such as providing the lowest cost electricity to a city, designing effective fish traps, scheduling jobs to cause the least stress in employees, using coding to confound communications and designing an earthquake proof building and an efficient wind turbine.
By lunchtime, the MSM team were placed first in the competition. Building on the success of the morning, the students involved in creating a model glider that was propelled by an electronic launcher placed first in both the morning and afternoon sessions, and to their delight, received a prize bag from Boeing, the sponsors of the event. These results set the girls up well for the finale of the day, the testing of the bridge, worth double points. A tense wait occurred as the scores were announced and that the MSM team placed first, winning a Champion School award for the challenge. The teamwork, effort and commitment of the team is to be commended and the first place well deserved.
Thank you to Mr Robertson and Mrs Simpson who supported our students on the day at QUT.
Music Soiree 1
Music is a form of art that can enrich the lives of students in many ways and foster a sense of community as they learn to appreciate different genres and styles of music. The students who performed in the first Soiree for the year, exuded confidence and delivered on entertainment.
The concert was a harmonious blend of achievement and artistry, featuring seniors completing Music assessments alongside students showcasing their co-curricular endeavours. Channelling her inner Catherine Howard, Lilly M opened the concert dramatically with an artistic and humorous performance of "Get Down" from the musical "Six," which tells the story of the six wives of Henry VIII. A dynamic duo of Adelaide M and Ruby O mesmerized the audience with their presentation of "Snow" by Red Hot Chilli Peppers, showcasing their co-curricular prowess. Adelaide M continued with the poignant "Dog Days Are Over," while Alyssa S delivered "Anything Can Happen" with flair and humour. Ruby O’D presented a stirring improvised response to Lady Gaga’s "Always Remember Us This Way" on Viola, and Sophie G impressed with her jazzy rendition of "Valentine" by Laufey. Bridget L's rendition of "Show Me" from My Fair Lady, offered a delightful throwback to the golden age of Music Theatre. Closing the concert on a high note was Music Captain Celeste M, with a stunning Spanish-style Guitar performance of "Bolero" by Julián Arcas.
The concert was a testament to the incredible talent within our community, showcasing the dedication, hard work, and passion of each performer. Thank you to Mrs Townsley and our music tutors for their ongoing commitment to our music program.
This week we welcomed Misuzu Kaneko into our Japanese classes. Misuzu is a university student from Gifu Prefecture in Japan and is volunteering her time for three weeks to help students improve their Japanese. Arigatou from all of us.
Valentine’s Day at MSM
Thanks to an unusual confluence of events, Wednesday 14 February marked both Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday. Because Ash Wednesday is traditionally a day of solemn fasting and reflection, this year MSM celebrated Valentine’s Day Eve. On Tuesday 13 February, our campus was awash with hues of pink and purple, as our students donated a gold coin to Project Raise the Roof to dress in the colours of love. At lunchtime, our Year 10 students decorated lockers with uplifting messages of love and ran a very popular Valentine’s Eve market, raising funds for Project Raise the Roof.
Project Compassion Fundraisers at MSM
MSM supported Caritas’ Project Compassion campaign with two fundraisers to mark the commencement of Lent. On Shrove Tuesday, our Year 12 students thoroughly enjoyed cooking a pancake feast for our community, and on Ash Wednesday, students and staff purchased a simple rice meal from the Kaf, in solidarity with those who do not have enough to eat.
Ash Wednesday and the Commencement of Lent 2024
Our community opened the season of Lent with a beautiful Ash Wednesday Liturgy. Christians around the world don ashes on this day as a reminder of Lent’s call to live more simply in solidarity with the poor and oppressed. I would like to share this simple prayer that we used to close our liturgy on Wednesday:
Help me to challenge my perceptions of others and of myself. May I see all people as you do.
God be in my heart.
Help me to heal my relationships so that I can restore trust and dignity, and mend what has been broken.
God help me to listen.
Help me to make time for others. Quieten and slow my pace. Teach me to listen and be present.
God bless my hands.
Help me to reach out to all who are hurting, forgotten, silenced and oppressed.
As I travel through this Lenten season, may justice and generosity be my guides.
The Anniversary of the Apology to the Stolen Generations
Tuesday 13 February marked the anniversary of the national Apology to the Stolen Generations. To mark this occasion, five students from MSM accompanied me to All Hallows’ School to reflect on the significance of this apology, and to pray for reconciliation and healing. This day provided a wonderful opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from Catholic Schools to connect and reflect, and we are grateful to All Hallows’ for hosting this important event.
Assessment Calendars
Semester 1, Unit 1 and Units 3 & 4 Assessment Calendars have been released in Student Café this week. These calendars provide an overview of all assessment for the upcoming semester, and it is important that all students use these documents to organise their time and resources to ensure all assessment tasks are completed to the best of their ability.
Students and parents can access their bespoke assessment calendars through Student Café and Parent Lounge using the following steps:
Year 11 Information Evening
I would like to extend my thanks to the students, parents and caregivers who joined us for the Year 11 Information evening last week. I would also like to thank Mrs Ellen Kean and Ms Olivia Lennon for so generously giving of their time to address the cohort. We trust that you found this evening informative. Year 11 students were all given a copy of the slides presented. Students who were unable to attend need to collect their copy of the information from Ms Lennon.
Contacting Teaching Staff
Parents are encouraged to contact either homeroom teachers for pastoral matters or subject teachers for curriculum matters at any time throughout the year should concerns arise. For matters pertaining to what is occurring in the classroom, the subject teacher is the best person to contact in the first instance, as they are in the classrooms with students. Homeroom and subject teacher contact details are all available in Parent Lounge. Please go to Student Details > Email Class Teachers > Select the teacher’s name that you want to email.
MSM Maths Space
Students in Years 10 – 12 are welcome to engage with MSM Math Space sessions, designed to support their mathematical understanding. Sessions will run every Tuesday and Friday morning from 7:45 – 8:15am in I01. These sessions will be facilitated by MSM Mathematics teachers.
These sessions are an opportunity for students to engage in their independent practise whilst in the company of a Mathematics expert should they need some assistance. We encourage all students to embrace this opportunity to engage in a learning environment, where queries are welcomed, problems are solved, and fundamental concepts are solidified.
Breakfast Club
Breakfast Club is another valuable resource available to all students in Years 7-10. Held between 8:00am – 8:20am on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays in A11, Breakfast Club offers dedicated home study assistance, assignment support and organisational guidance.
The MSM Learning Assistants are committed to providing tailored support to help students excel academically. In addition, there will be Mathematics teachers available to assist on Tuesday and Friday mornings should students need some additional support in nurturing their mathematical acumen.
We encourage all students to take advantage of this opportunity to enhance their learning experience and reach their full potential. Join us at Breakfast Club and start your day with the support you need for academic success.
QCE Review
Introduced in 2019, the QCE system aims to deliver high quality senior secondary curriculum and assessment that prepares students for a range of post-school pathways.
In 2023, the QCAA engaged the University of Melbourne’s Assessment and Evaluation Research Centre to conduct an independent evaluation of the new Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) system and its processes.
The University of Melbourne is evaluating the effectiveness of the QCE system to ensure it meets the needs of students, teachers, and other stakeholders now and in the future.
In the first phase of the evaluation, the research team wants to hear from school leaders, teachers, past students, parents, and other community members. All stakeholders are invited to complete a short survey that is open until Thursday 29 February 2024. To access the survey, please click on the QR code in the image below or access it via the website: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/sta8
For more information, please contact qce-evaluation@unimelb.edu.au
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
MISSIONS OF ST VINCENT
YEAR 11 SOR & RE EXCURSION
Year 11 students visited the Kadampa Buddhist Meditation Centre, St George's Greek Orthodox Church and The Brisbane Synagogue to enhance their learning in Religion and Ethics and Study of Religion. They respectfully listened to informative and passionate leaders from each community, enjoyed the rich sensory experiences associated with each location and demonstrated curiosity in the thoughtfulness of the questions they posed. What a stimulating start to their senior religion courses!
"Our Heart, Our Stories"
Our Year 11 students hosted The Pay it Forward Markets as a way to “pay forward” the privilege of having their Semi-Formal. Students from Years 7 – 12 enjoyed Lob-a-choc, ice-cream, treats and sausage sizzle stalls and the ever-popular Pie the Teacher. All funds raised will go to the Colleges’ 2024 fundraising initiative ‘Project Raise the Roof’.
This year's Music Camp at QCCC Brookfield was a captivating experience for our talented student musicians. All the Co-curricular Music groups are preparing for the MusicFest1 Concert on Thursday 2 May with the country and western theme of “Three Chords and the Truth”. With a scent of eucalyptus in the air, the students refined their skills with the guidance of esteemed guest musicians and dedicated tutors. In addition to their regular groups, they sang in a massed choir played musicianship games, and explored new percussion instruments. This year, we introduced combined orchestra items, providing an opportunity for collaborative performances that added a new dimension to our musical endeavours. The collective passion and dedication of our students were evident, showcasing progress, increased confidence, and a genuine love for music. Adding a refreshing twist to the routine, students also enjoyed time in the pool between rehearsals if they weren’t in Study Hall.
As we reflect on the success of this Music Camp, heartfelt thanks to all contributors, especially MSM Music Tutors Dr Michal Rosiak, Ms Alice Buckingham, Mr Zac Moynihan, Mrs Donna Langford, Mrs Kaitlin Littlewood, Mr Joel Woods, Mr Mitch Fairlie, Ms Elinor Hillock, and Ms Jerica Lau, as well as special guest tutors Dr Anthony Young, and Ms Kate Tyson. Thank you also to MSM staff Mrs Statham and Mrs Atkins for overall support, and Mrs Bellett, Mrs Parsons, Mrs McLaughlin, Mrs Devenish-Meares and Mrs Desailly for overnight supervision. Here's to another year of musical growth, camaraderie, and memorable moments!
P&F EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS | Is 2024 the year for you to get involved? The MSM P&F Association is seeking nominations for roles of President and Treasurer. Our P&F supports the College Leadership Team and our students and provides a vital role in bringing our community together.
To read more and to download a nomination form, please visit the College website - https://www.msm.qld.edu.au/our-community/parents-and-friends.
For more information contact Paula Ovenden, Community Engagement Officer - povenden@msm.qld.edu.au.
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
67 Elimatta Drive
Ashgrove, QLD 4060
Australia
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