The Living Stories Western Sydney Writing Prize is a creative writing competition for residents of Western Sydney and the Wingecarribee Shire. This area is home to over 2.5 million Australians originating from 180 countries, speaking almost 100 different languages and residing in 14 local government areas. This year the prompt for this Western Sydney story and poetry prize was Things Unsaid.

In Terms 1 and 2, a range of students entered the competition, drawing inspiration, concepts and language features from their study of creative writing in English. Students wrote about a range of scenarios where stories, ideas and messages have often been hidden ‘beneath the surface’, using their creativity to ensure their compositions were imaginative and engaging.

We would like to congratulate the following students on their achievements in the competition:

• Kathryn Rendulic (Story) - Winner 13-15 for Parramatta and Overall Winner 13-15 for Western Sydney
• Alisha Katafono (Poetry) - Winner 10-12 for Cumberland
• Dana Aani (Poetry) – Winner 16-18 for Blacktown
• Cassandra Sastrillo (Poetry) – Highly Commended 16-18 for Blacktown
• Ella McGirr (Poetry) – Winner 16-18 for Parramatta
• Gemma Saap (Poetry) – Highly Commended 16-18 for Parramatta
• Preethi Raju (Story) – Winner 16-18 for Parramatta and Overall Winner 16-18 for Western Sydney.
• Valentine Giglio (Story) – Winner 16-18 for Fairfield
• Vidushi Trivedi (Poetry) – Winner 16-18 for The Hills
• Sophia Tapley (Story) – Highly Commended 16-18 for The Hills
• Chantelle Garingo (Poetry) – Winner 16-18 for Cumberland
• Michaela Magee (Story) – Winner 16-18 for Cumberland

An abridged excerpt from Chantelle Garingo’s poem, ‘Director’

Action!
Every day is a movie, a scene, a line -
The same chain of events begin and end and begin and end again,
Like a CD in a DVD player jammed in its own never-ending ‘play.’
From the moment I open my eyes in the morning,
To the moment they force themselves shut in the night,
I pretend.
I pretend to be who my father wants me to be,
The bright shining moon that orbits his Earth,
The mathematician, the engineer, the lawyer,
The daughter who closes her mouth.
I pretend to be who my mother wants me to be
The lighthouse that leads the sailors home,
The giver the teacher, the lover,
The daughter who doesn’t question her father’s control.
Cut! Quit messing up! Do it again!
Those words burn like embers infiltrating my skin,
A fire I couldn’t possibly put out now.
For an actress must lock away her own life
To perfectly embody the character she aims to play.
The director is an overbearing shadow
That follows me home with its head hung low.
They’re like an eternal eclipse
Gradually eating me alive,
Until my scorching hot rays of sun
Fade.
To.
Black.
It wasn’t until the premiere of my own movie,
In the violent silence of an empty cinema,
That I noticed an anomaly in the end credits that rolled.
My name was credited twice.
It was then that I realised the director was not in fact my father or my mother,
Nor my friends, peers or teachers.
It was always,
Always me that yelled, ‘Action!’

Judges’ Comments:

There is an urgency and clarity to the voice of the poet that speaks directly, leaping off the page. This is great, with a surprising ending, as well as lovely original images and phrases.

On the final day of Term 2, Year 11 English Advanced went to Riverside Theatre in Parramatta to watch a live performance of Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello. The play is centred around Iago, a soldier who is furious at his general, Othello, for overlooking him for a promotion, and his plot to take revenge against him. Iago convinces Othello that his wife is unfaithful, which drives Othello to be consumed by jealousy and madness, eventually leading to his ultimate downfall. 

The production, directed by Damien Ryan, created a wonderful modern production of the play, adding elements of modern technology such as Google searches and other background projections to allow a better understanding of the play. The cast was excellent and portrayed each character clearly, even adding some humour to tragic scenes. I found the actor’s portrayal of Iago in particular very insightful, revealing the many complex layers of him as a character. Overall, this was a great experience that has greatly enhanced my understanding of the play. 

Zsofia Varga-Strike
Year 11

We look forward to welcoming you to the OLMC Art & Design Showcase on Thursday, 18 August 2022. Featuring the Year 12 Design and Technology Major Design Projects, the HSC Visual Arts Body of Work as well as a range of works on display from Years 7-11 Visual Arts, Technology Mandatory and Design and Technology. The Showcase begins in the Ailsa Mackinnon Community Centre at 5.00pm and concludes at 8.00pm. There will be an Official Opening at 6.00pm and refreshments will be served between 5.00pm and 6.00pm.

Social media is a big part of the lives of our young people and society in general. Social media has its place and can provide a good avenue for staying in touch with family and friends. But like all forms of technology, it is imperative that young people and their families understand the various platforms. One way to stay informed is to make use of the resources provided by the safety commissioner.

TikTok has been discussed at length in the mainstream media, particularly with regard to the recent claims that TikTok collects 'excessive' amounts of data, raising alarm about the volume of information and its security. In order to assist our families to navigate this space, I encourage you to click here to find out more.

For additional information on apps and how to stay safe online please click here.

Ann-Marie Herd
Director of Student Wellbeing

Year 8 started Term 3 by heading off for a three-day camp at The Collaroy Centre. The theme was ‘Nurture to Grow’ and the aim was to develop students’ collaborative and leadership skills.

Matilda Webb (Year 8) wrote a student reflection that summed up the wonderful, but wet experience!

This term, Year 8 were lucky enough to have the opportunity to have two sessions with the group Y-Lead to help us develop our leadership skills as we move through our high school years. We learnt many new skills and various ways to push ourselves and help others around us.

One of the main things that resonated with me is how the impact of having a positive environment around us can improve our performance on different tasks. Being in a negative environment, full of chaos, pessimistic thoughts and comments can have a detrimental impact on the way we perform. We tested this through Jenga Chaos and Jenga Calm. Both aim to imitate how we interact with the environment around us. We found that as a grade, we almost tripled our performances in Jenga when we were surrounded by people who were supporting us.

The pouring rain, mud and puddles didn’t dampen our spirits. We managed to have a fun time pushing themselves outside of our comfort zone on the giant drop, vertical challenge, giant swing and other activities. For me, my two favourites were laser tag and the vertical challenge. I had so much fun running, hiding and slipping over in laser tag.

Overall, if I had to describe camp in three words, they would be:

• Muddy
• Fun
• Inspiring

Emotionally healthy, connected families don’t just happen. It takes intentional action. And that means deciding what’s truly important to us and choosing to live a life that reflects that. It’s about creating meaning by living out our values each and every day in the things we repeatedly do. Which is why family rituals are so important. They create a sense of belonging and unity within a family by creating opportunities for emotional connection, shared experiences, and enjoyment with one another. 

To find out more about why family rituals are important click below  

If parental expectations are too low, students may not strive to achieve their personal best. If parental expectations are too high, this can contribute to high levels of student stress. So how can parents find the right balance? Click here for ways to assist your daughter 

On Monday 8 August, we celebrated the feast of Australia’s first saint, St Mary MacKillop. Born in Melbourne in the 1800s, Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of St Joseph and worked tirelessly in South Australia educating the poor children and working hard to improve the living conditions of Australians. She was canonised in October 2010 in a ceremony held in Vatican City and became our first saint. The wonderful works done by Mary MacKillop are similar to those of Catherine McAuley, and as a community, we paused in the Chapel to remember her good works, her tireless efforts and her strong faith.

The Feast of the Assumption, or The Assumption, is the celebration on 15 August each year when we remember and celebrate Mary’s earthly body being raised into Heaven. This is a holy day of obligation for Catholics worldwide and some of the local parish Mass times have been included below. Please investigate your local parish if it is not included in this list. As a College community, we will be meeting in the Chapel at lunchtime where the Liturgy Leaders will run a prayer service. All staff and students are welcome to attend.

A group of representatives from Year 9 and 10 will be participating in the launch of WYD23. World Youth Day is a celebration of young Catholic people from around the world who will visit Portugal in 2023. The experience is one of great fun, faith formation and friendship and culminates in a Papal Mass. The experience is open to all students currently in Years 9 and 10, and further information will be sent out later this Term.

Gabby Scanlon
Director of Identity

If there were gold medals given out for Debating, our exceptional Year 8B team would be first in line. In the last fortnight, our girls won a tough semi-final against St Patrick’ College Campbelltown to proceed to the Grand Final for the second year in a row. A’ishah Ali, Lizzy Butler, Pia Goradia, Bianca Mina ad Celina Wassef, coached expertly by ex-DAPS Leader Lily Tambrchi, confronted Christian Brothers High School, Lewisham, for the ultimate prize, with the event being held at OLMC last Friday. The topic centred on whether the Commonwealth Games created positive relationships between participating nations, a topic where our girls had to argue the negative case.

Both teams were excellent in their arguments and were judged by a panel of three adjudicators. The closeness of the debate was reflected in a split decision but in the end, our girls were victorious. This has created a record of 19 consecutive winning debates over two years, something that will probably never be equaled. A huge congratulations to the girls and their coach for their amazing record.

Special mention must also go to those who organized hosting the Grand Finals at OLMC. CSDA found themselves without a venue just four days before the event but the organizational skills of Mrs Susan Giacomelli and English teacher Mr Gerard Altura ensured a most successful evening. Many other volunteers also played an important part in the proceedings: parents Mrs Ann Kumar, Mrs Melissa Rodewald, teacher Mrs Kathy Batten, DAPS Leaders Olivia Easton and Tijana Pavlovic and of course our numerous volunteers who acted as chairpersons, timekeepers and guides. Thank you to all of them for their contribution to a wonderful evening.

The new Intraschool Debating competition has proven to be very successful after just one week of competition. The level of preparation and performance has been exceptional, as good as our more experienced CSDA debaters. Thank you to the students who are coaching these teams. Thank you also to Mr Gerard Altura, Ms Naomi James, Mrs Jennifer Lee, Ms Cynthia Martins, Ms Amy Rowan, to our excellent DAPS Leaders, Olivia and Tijana and to Senior leaders Arlene Kumar and Freya Scothern, all of whom are assisting with adjudication. With five full weeks of debates to go, it will be exciting to see which teams qualify for the semi-finals in Term 4.

Christopher Ostrowski
Debating and Public Speaking Coordinator

Basketball

On the weekend, Lily Collimore competed in the Basketball NSW Junior Premier League State Championship. Lily plays in the U/14 Girls for the City of Sydney Basketball Association (Sydney Comets) and after being Premiers in the Metropolitan division of the Premier League they qualified for the State Championships. They travelled to Maitland and Newcastle where they went through the whole tournament undefeated, winning the final 71-52 and becoming the State Champions. Congratulations Lily!

Stuart Guthrie
Sports Coordinator

The Uniform Shop is open Monday to Thursday, from 8.00am–9.30am and 3.00pm–4.30pm on Monday and Wednesday (school days only).

Online purchases can be made via the Online Uniform Shop and all orders will be delivered to the Student Centre for collection by students.

Terms 2 and 3 - All girls are to wear the full winter uniform. 

Scarves

Scarves are now available and can be purchased online or via the shop.

Senior Cardigans and Junior Mercy pullovers

For those who have an allergy to wool, or prefer a non-wool knit, the uniform shop has limited stock of both senior and junior cotton blend cardigans and pullovers.  

Sale – NOT to be worn with current school uniform – previous discontinued style Black Tights for use outside of school. Limited sizes - Medium and XLarge, $5.00.  Can only be purchased by coming into the shop, not available online.

If you have any concerns regarding uniform items, please don't hesitate to contact the Uniform Shop on 8838 1275 or uniformshop@olmc.nsw.edu.au

The canteen is open before school from 7.30am and at Recess and Lunch

The College's canteen provider is Evette's Lunchbox.

Click here to view the Menu.

This is a call-out to our Mercy Mothers! It is a tradition that the P&F, together with the wonderful Mums in our community, serve breakfast to the many Dads, grandfathers, and special men in our girls’ lives who attend this event.

Please CLICK HERE if you are available to assist any time between 7.30am - 9.00am on Friday, 2 September. Your assistance would be appreciated.