NEWS
Each year, students studying VCAL undertake a range of projects, both minor and major as part of their ‘Personal Development Skills’ topic. In 2019, the VCAL students at Marymede Catholic College continue the trend of leaving long-lasting legacies for future students by helping convert two Garden Beds outside the Prep House into brand new sandpits which will be used for play by the Prep cohort each day.
Students gathered on a Friday morning in March and immediately got to work, removing existing dirt and plants before lining the pits with plastic and filling with new sand. The VCAL Team will also have a hand in the addition of steps at each sandpit to allow our Preps easier access.
"It was great to see our class working together and communicating with one another to ge tthe job done." recalls Tayla, a member of the Year 11 VCAL Team. "It was a pretty warm day, so working in the heat was tricky but this was a really enjoyable project and our VCAL Class loved seeing the younger students happy and excited to recieve their Sandpits".
The VCAL Classes visited the Prep House a week after the project's conclusion to formally present the Sandpits to the Prep students who had prepared some thank you certificates for each student!
We thank the VCAL students for their asisstance on this project and commend them on their commitment to embracing the Kindergarten - Year 12 Community that is Marymede Catholic College!
Congratulations to Bianca Cramond (Year 5) featured in a recent edition of the Whittlesea Leader having been announced as the winner of Whittlesea Council's 'Don't Park in the Blue Spot' competition!
Way to go Bianca!
Article Courtesy of: Margot Taylor @ Whittlesea Leader
Congratulation's to Andrew Fu (Class of 2018 - St. Mary's College for the Deaf) who was recently awarded the inaugural Film Excellence Prize for the Secondary School category at the 2019 CEM Visual Arts Exhibition! This is the first time that a St. Mary's College for the Deaf student has won an award at the exhibition.
Congratualtions Andrew!
In this edition of 'Meet the Teacher' we speak with Ms. Marie O'Brien, a member of our Secondary Teaching Team and Head of the Calthorpe Resource Cenre.
Name: Marie O'Brien - Teacher/Head of Calthorpe Resource Centre - Marie.OBrien@marymede.vic.edu.au
What is your role at the College?
In 2019 I am teaching Textiles in addition to holding the role of Head of the Calthorpe Resource Centre.
Tell us about an interesting project or topic that you are currently running with one of your classes?
In my Year 9 Textiles class, we are placing a partiocular focus on ensuring that students gain extensive practical and academic skills which would encourage them to embrace the subject of Textiles and continue studying the subject across Years 10-12.
What is the most rewarding aspect of being a Teacher?
I love to watch how young people develop into young adults - able to function well in today’s complex and rapidly changing world of work and play.
Fast Five:
Favourite Food: Asian Food
Favourite Movie/TV Show: The Handmaid's Tale
Hidden Talent/Hobby or Something We May Not Know About You: I love to grow native plants and restore micro environments to a healthy state
Favourite Sporting Team/Athlete: The Jamaican Olympic Bobsled Team that was portrayed in the film “Cool Runnings”.
If You Could Pick Any 3 People as Dinner Guests, Who Would They Be and Why?:
1. Nelson Mandela: To discuss his vision of how South Africa should have become vs how it has developed today;
2. Charles II of Scotland: I am a direct descendent so am curious about his life, both personally and politically. Could he have avoided losing his head? Would ha have done thing differently?
3. William Barak: To ask him why the photograph that I took of his gravesite at Coranderrk was the only one taken that day that didn’t turn out.
2019 OPEN DAY @ MARYMEDE CATHOLIC COLLEGE
Date: Sunday March 31
Time: 11.00am - 2.00pm
- Tours
- Activities and Workshops
- Showbags
- Free Sausage Sizzle from 11.00am onwards
The Mathetmatics Team at Marymede are excited to offer the following Maths support sessions to students in Years 7-12 throughout 2019:
Year 7 - 9
Venue -- VC119
Thursday -- 7.30 am -- 8.20 am
For regular attendance to this session, students have to email Mr. Lindsay Cooper Lindsay.cooper@marymede.vic.edu.au and register interest.
Wednesday -- 3.30 pm -- 4.30 pm
This is a walk-in session.
Years 10 – 12 A.K.A. 40+ Club
During the past five years, Maths help from 7:30am until 8:20am has been available in House 6, increasing to five days per week in 2018 with Mr Cooper, Mr Baldwin, Ms Delzoppo and Mr VanWyngaarden. On Wednesday afternoon's the same option was available with Mr Vin and Mr Thompson.
In 2019 help will again be available five days per week.
Venue - VC119
Monday - Friday Mornings - 7.30 am - 8.20 am
Wednesday Afternoon - 3.30 pm - 4.30 pm
There will be some other important expectations to be part of this club:
The rationale of the offer is to enable students to learn to live the day to day school and study lives that are commensurate with the behaviours of a student who gains a study score of 40 or more in one or more subjects. At the very least, fulfilling such study expectations should lead to the student entering the examination centre at the end of the year with greater confidence and knowing they have all they could have during their 2019 studies.
- Students MUST register with a formal email request to Mr Cooper (Lindsay.cooper@marymede.vic.edu.au)that is CCd so that both parent and student are copied into the email and Mr Cooper's response.
- Students MUST finalise an agreed tripartite schedule that is signed by student, parent and Mr Cooper on behalf of Marymede.
- Students MUST consistently exhibit excellent studentship traits across all of their subjects, or be at risk of having their access to the 40PLUS Club restricted.
- Students MUST attend regularly at least once per week on the nominated day(s) of the week in the original registration email.
- Mobile phone use will be limited to before entry and after exit from VC 119. The same applies to inappropriate / invalid use of their lap top devices.
- In the event of an expected absence due to a rare and legitimate excuse an email to Mr Cooper is required on the day (or prior) of the absence.
In late 2018, 10 students from the Creative Writing Program at Marymede Catholic College paid their respects to the victims of the Black Saturday fires by publishing a book of poetry titled “Poetic Voices from Black Saturday”.
Led by Secondary Staff member John Milides, the Creative Writing Program here at the College invited students with a strong passion and interest in English to participate in a series of workshops throughout 2018.
With an aspiration to become authors serving our community, the group decided to study the tragedy of the Black Saturday bushfires which ravaged through areas of Kinglake, Kilmore, Wandong, St. Andrews, Strathewen, Narbithong, Eaglehawke, Flowerdale, Beechworth and Marysville on February 7, 2009.
The young writers would focus on creating a voice for the victims and aimed for their pieces to have a social purpose and benefit. Giving voice through literature and poetry to those people in our community who either lost their lives or suffered as a result of the natural disaster.
Mr Milides reflects on the groups journey and the final outcome – “As their teacher, and their first reader, I am most impressed by the poetry produced by these fine young poets. Their writing is full of pathos, emotion, pain and compassion. The poetry redeems the victims by taking their personal tragedies and turning them into a communal sharing of pain and its aftermath.”
On Sunday February 10, Marymede Catholic College will participate at the Kinglake Ranges Combined Churches Black Saturday 10th Anniversary Memorial Service, which will be held at St Peter’s Church and will be led by Father Ruwan. Our young Authors will offer a book to each family attending the memorial service together with a cross that Fr Ruwan will bless at the church.
If you would like to order a copy of ‘Poetic Voices from Black Saturday’ please email news@marymede.vic.edu.au
POETIC VOICES FROM BLACK SATURDAY
ISBN 978 – 0 – 6484652 – 0 - 1
AUTHORS:
Jane Babu
Dimitris Bachos
Cecilia Bingham
Deakin Constable
Chloe Falzon
Kristen Lando
Shante Pisani
Mannat Thakur
Samuel Vermeulen
Grace Wake
EDITOR:
Mr. John Milides
Mr Milides with our Authors
In this edition of 'Meet the Teacher' we speak with Ms. Toni Dicello, a member of Marymede Early Learning Centre (3 and 4 Year Old Kindergarten).
Name: Toni Dicello – Early Childhood Teacher – toni.dicello@marymede.vic.edu.au
What is your role at the College?
In 2019 I am teaching one of our 4 Year Old Kindergarten Groups at Marymede Early Learning Centre.
Tell us about an interesting project or topic that you are currently running with one of your classes?
To commence the Kindergarten year, Naomi, the ELC staff and I are working towards creating an engaging and inspiring learning space for our kindergartners to explore.
Our team are in constant discussion of how we can continuously extend our children’s learning and we find using project based learning enables us to holistically integrate numeracy, literacy, science and technology into the program. As many of our families have holidayed by the beach, we thought it would be meaningful to begin the year with an inquiry into marine life and the ocean as an ecosystem.
Within our specialists classes and indoor/outdoor programs, our young protagonists will have the opportunity to create their own ocean ecosystem, experiment with salt water density, explore ocean currents and develop an awareness of the impact human activity has on our oceans.
What is the most rewarding aspect of being a Teacher?
Without doubt, the most rewarding aspect of being an Early Childhood Teacher is having a direct impact on children’s learning and later life success.
Fast Five:
Favourite Food: Chocolate
Favourite Movie/TV Show: Movie: Cry Freedom; TV Show: Friends
Hidden Talent/Hobby or Something We May Not Know About You: One of my hobbies is Creative Writing!
Favourite Sporting Team/Athlete: Essendon Bombers
If You Could Pick Any 3 People as Dinner Guests, Who Would They Be and Why?:
1. Noam Chomsky
2. Leo Tolstoy
3. William Shakespeare
Some of the greatest literary and philosophical thinkers in one room would be extremely inspiring and make for some interesting conversation.
In this edition of 'Meet the Teacher' we speak with Ms. Carola Scatizzi, a member of our Primary Teaching Team..
Name: Carola Scatizzi – Primary Italian Teacher – carola.scatizzi@marymede.vic.edu.au
What is your role at the College?
In 2019 I will be teaching Italian from Prep all the way to Year 6.
Tell us about an interesting project or topic that you are currently running with one of your classes?
During our Italian lessons, students will be involved in a variety of dynamic language learning experiences such as role plays, games, songs and stories within a stimulating learning environment.
Our lessons will focus on a range of themes and topics including greetings, family, markets, food, weather, transport, housing, school, emotions, hobbies and life in Italy.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Being a language teacher, the most rewarding aspect of teaching is hearing students communicate with each other in the language being taught and observing them applying their language skills and knowledge to other key learning areas such as Arts, Literacy, Numeracy and PE.
Fast Five:
Favourite Food: PPG - Pasta, Pizza, Gelato!
Favourite Movie/TV Show: The Goonies
Hidden Talent or Something We May Not Know About You: I am currently learning Auslan.
Favourite Sporting Team/Athlete: Stefanos Tsitsipas (Tennis player)
If You Could Pick Any 3 People as Dinner Guests, Who Would They Be and Why?:
1. Niccolo’ Ammaniti: He’s my favourite Italian author
2. Yotam Ottolenghi: He’ll be cooking dinner
3. Jack Johnson: He’s one of my favourite singers
