The main focus for the Science Faculty in 2019 is the introduction of our new Stage 6 Syllabuses. There has been a change of syllabus for all Stage 6 Science courses and the current Year 12 cohort will be the first to sit for Higher School Certificate Examinations assessing the new courses. For Science teachers this has meant writing new teaching programs, locating and writing new resources, as well as designing rich assessment tasks. Some of the new courses, particularly Chemistry and Physics, are more rigorous than those they replaced, and are organised around key concepts rather than themes. Whereas the previous Chemistry course included units titled “Production of Materials” and “Chemical Monitoring and Management”, Modules in the new course include “Equilibrium” and “Organic Chemistry”, reflecting this organisation.

As was the case for the Year 11 courses, the Year 12 courses include a Depth Study component. Students must complete 15 hours of Depth Study as part of the Year 12 course. These hours can be divided up so that students may end up completing a number of short depth studies, but one of the Depth Studies must form the basis of an assessment task. For instance, Chemistry students were set the task of designing an investigation to determine the acid content of a household substance by titration. They then carried out the investigation and collected results. The assessment task associated with the Depth Study involved processing the results of the investigation and answering questions about the titration they carried out.

For students currently in Year 12, the thought of being part of the first cohort to sit for the new examinations can be a little daunting. It is important to remember that all students in the State will be in the same situation. Resources to assist students in their preparation, such as sample examination questions, are being developed and teachers have been sharing these with students as they have become available. We encourage the girls to become confident by engaging with all opportunities for familiarisation.

Another important focus for the Science Faculty currently is the Year 10 Student Research Project. In this mandatory component of the Stage 5 Science course, students have the opportunity to design and report on a Science investigation aimed at solving a problem of their choice. Year 10 students submitted their plan last Friday. This often proves to be the most challenging part of the project as students struggle to come up with a problem to investigate. Over the next couple of weeks, the plans will be returned and teachers will assist students to refine these. Students will be able to use some class time to work on their project. As far as possible they should complete the practical work at school, although we understand that this may not be possible for all investigations.

There will, of course, be many other things that will keep us engaged this term. The Science Faculty looks forward to continuing to ignite in our students a passion for Science.

Ms Pascale Warnant
Leader of Learning - Science

What is UAC?

The Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) is the central office that receives and processes applications for admission to most undergraduate degrees, advanced diploma and diploma courses at participating tertiary institutions, mostly in NSW and ACT. UAC is a valuable resource for all students in Years 10 to 12, providing details for exploring options and making an informed decision about their future tertiary study.

For Year 10 students and parents, UAC provides guidelines to help make informed decisions for course selection in senior school.You can read the guidelines and download a copy of Steps to Uni for Year 10 Students (All Year 10 students will receive a print copy of this during the course selection process) here:

https://www.uac.edu.au/future-applicants/year-10-students

For Year 11 and 12 students and parents, UAC is a one-stop shop for university applications as it allows students to explore, research and apply for university courses; list their preferences when it comes to courses; apply for different offer rounds; and apply for assistance and access schemes.

The girls can check the various University Open Days they are interested in and put the dates in their diaries. They are encouraged to visit the universities in groups, or with their parents, to find out about courses and see what each campus is like.

This year UAC applications have opened earlier to provide students and schools more time to prepare, gather documentation and respond, particularly in relation to assistance and access schemes. These access and scholarship programs are now open for current Year 12 students to apply and you can read more at the links here:

• Schools Recommendation Schemes (SRS) are one way institutions make early offers of undergraduate admission to Year 12 students.
• Educational Access Schemes(EAS) aim to help students, whose education has been negatively affected during Year 11 and/or Year 12 (or equivalent), receive an offer to university.
• Equity Scholarships are awarded to students from low socio-economic backgrounds, particularly those who receive Centrelink income support payments.

Year 12 students have received their UAC books this week and are starting the process of making their UAC applications. Many of the girls have met with me about their options and we will continue to research interests and possibilities as the term progresses.

This year, OLMC will be welcoming a student from France through the organisation NACEL. OLMC has welcomed French exchange students for quite a few years now.

OLMC is looking for a family who might be interested in hosting the French student for 4 Weeks from 27 July – 24 August 2019. The student will be attending normal lessons at the College. The French student is here to improve her English and immerse herself in the Australian culture and lifestyle of her Australian Host Family.

Families that are interested in hosting will receive:

• A Coles voucher $100 per week of hosting (i.e. 4 weeks = $400)
• 2019/2020 digital copy of the Entertainment Book - https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/

To register your interest in hosting or if you have any queries, please contact Mrs Sheila Ibarra soon as possible.

Mrs Sheila Ibarra
Leader of Learning, LOTE

We welcome you to OLMC’S Musical Production of The Wizard of Oz, in honour of our 130^th Anniversary year!

This Musical is a pivotal event in the 130-year celebration of OLMC’s history and an exceptional way to engage the wider school community. Whilst creating a dynamic atmosphere on the nights of the show, it further highlights the many talents of the girls. It provides the students of OLMC an opportunity to showcase their outstanding capabilities in the Drama, Music, Dance and Visual Arts department. The Musical gives the girls an opportunity to extend their talents across a wider range of the Creative and Performing departments as well as provide the school community with a stronger sense of connection and support. An immense amount of hard work by the diligent cast and staff has been put into the show, with rehearsals every Wednesday and Friday afternoon, in order to give justice to L. Frank Baum’s famous ‘The Wizard of Oz’.

We invite you to “follow the yellow brick road” into the Edith Angel Hall where this Musical will be staged. This extravagant event will be showcased on 3 nights - Tuesday 4 June, Wednesday 5 June and Thursday 6 June. So come along to support and witness the numerous talents OLMC has to offer!

Tickets are now on sale, so be sure to get them fast! It will be a fantastic night filled with excitement and wonder, as you too will be on this journey with Dorothy.  Tickets are $20 on the floor and $25 in the mezzanine, so be sure to invite your family and friends along for the show.

CLICK HEREto purchase your tickets!

Kallista Pudun (Year 12)
CAPA Leader

Plain English Speaking Competition

On Tuesday last week, two of our best Year 10 speakers travelled to William Clarke College to participate in the Plain English Speaking competition. Sabrina Catania and Veronica Chacty were competing against students up to Year 12, so the challenge was significant. Both girls prepared and presented very well but were not chosen to progress to the Regional Final. Despite this, both learned much from the experience and with their talent, are sure to taste success in the future. Well done to both Sabrina and Veronica.

Parramatta Eisteddfod

This weekend marks the beginning of seven weeks of the Parramatta Eisteddfod. With approximately eighty OLMC girls involved, there are certain to be many events where our students will shine, just as they have in the past. We have eight girls competing in the 11 and 12 years Prepared Speaking event on Saturday: Pragya Aggarwal, Mikayla Alphonse, Mikayla Bayeh, Trinity Bird, Grace Boktor, Maddison Starkey and Ivana Stefanovski, all of Year 7, as well as Shriya Bandary of Year 8. On Sunday, it will be the turn of Anahat Singh (Year 9), Manya Aggarwal, and Sarneet Kalsi (Year 10) and Rachael Bailey, Renuga Inpakumar and Tara Wall (Year 11). These girls will be competing in the 15 and 16 years Prepared Speaking section. In addition, Tia Monga of Year 7 will be competing in her division of Prepared Reading.

We wish all these girls the best of luck in their respective events.

Mr Christopher Ostrowski
Public Speaking Co-ordinator

Twitter

OLMC Sport is now on Twitter, so join in the conversation @OLMCsport

Sport Singlets

The numbered sport singlets are now available to purchase from the uniform shop

If you are considering playing for OLMC in the following sports, you will be required to buy a singlet:

• AFL
• Aquathon and Triathlon (running leg)
• Athletics
• Basketball (Gala Days and Saturdays)
• Cross Country
• European Handball
• Ultimate Frisbee
• Oz Tag
• Touch Football (Gala Days and Wednesdays)

Students will also need either OLMC PE/Sport shorts or bike shorts to compete in. The new tracksuit will also be needed in the cooler months.

Saturday Soccer shirts are also available for purchase.

PDSSSC Cross Country

The PDSSSC Cross Country was held at Jamison Park, Penrith on Friday 3 May. The OLMC team consisted of Arabella Gittany, Mia Fogolin, Niamh Nolan, Mikayla Saleh, Lucie Francis, Ainslie McNally, Sophie Assad, Megan Keller, Emily Duque Herrera, Sofia Polson, Zsofia Varga-Strike, Jasmin Kennett, Charlotte Johns, Chanelle Maikhael, Katherine Baker, Kiana Napernikova, Rachel French, Hana Lhotka, Michelle Pribadi, Alexandra Zito, Tahlia Lake, Amelia Assaad and Summer Giddings. The girls ran well and encouraged each other throughout the day. The 12s and 13s were the final age groups to run, but couldn’t beat the rain. The girls are to be commended on their attitude and behaviour during the day.

Congratulations to Lucie Francis and Summer Giddings for winning their divisions. They now progress to the NSWCCC Championships in June. Well done to all the girls on their great performances!

A big thank you must go to Mrs Bushell and Ms Brewer for all their help on the day. 

PDSSSC Teams Tennis

OLMC competed at the PDSSSC Teams Tennis Championships at Blacktown on Tuesday 30 April for only the second time since its inception. The team consisted of Mila Purkovic, Charlize Cipri, Angelene Lu and Catherine Yue. All the girls played a Singles match and then teamed up to play 2 doubles matches against both Cerdon and Marion. OLMC dominated the day only losing 1 match in a tiebreaker and only a handful of games overall. The girls all played exceptionally well and will now progress to compete at the NSWCCC Team Tennis Championships in Bathurst in July. Well done girls and good luck!

Saturday Soccer

Here are the results from Round 1:

OLMC 1 were defeated by Ravenswood, 3 - 1

OLMC 2 were defeated by Ascham, 9 - 0

Our new OLMC Soccer uniform was on display for Round 2 and the girls looked great. Here are the results:

OLMC 1 defeated Roseville, 5 - 2

OLMC 2 were defeated by Danebank, 1 - 0

Saturday Netball

The Umpire Development Program commenced on Saturday. I wish our new umpires the best of luck over the next 5 weeks.

Its Crazy Hair and Sock Day on May 18 to help raise money for the Kids Cancer Project. There will be prizes for Best Dressed Individual and Group. Please support this day and donate what you can.

You can view the draw and all results here - http://erna.nsw.netball.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/draw.aspx?

OLMC College Athletics Carnival – Friday 31 May 2019

The College Athletics Carnival will be at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Warm Up Arena. The Carnival provides a wonderful opportunity for staff and students to participate in a range of track and field events, whilst enthusiastically supporting their House. The students are encouraged to show their House Spirit by dressing up in their House colours and cheering on their House.

ALL STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND THE CARNIVAL AS THIS IS A COMPULSORY EVENT.

Students will be transported by bus to and from the College to the venue at Homebush. All students are expected to be at the College by 8.00am. Students will assemble in their Homerooms in readiness to board buses. At the conclusion of the Carnival, students will board buses at approximately 2.15pm to return to the College by 3.00pm. Students will be dismissed at 3.20pm.

Students who wish to be considered for selection in the PDSSSC Athletics Carnival will need to have registered their entry via the entry form that has been emailed to all students. Students competing in the Javelin will need to register and be on the first bus leaving the College. Once at the venue, participants are to go straight to this event, as it will take place from 8.45am before the remainder of the Carnival.

Students who compete in Spikes must wear 7mm spikes.

Click here for the entry form. Entries close on Friday 24 May 2019.

Students do not need to sign up for 100m, 200m, 400m or 800m Walk. Students must sign up if they wish to compete in the field events.

The Carnival layout will be a Traditional Carnival and students will need to listen to announcements to assemble for their events. Students are encouraged to have adequate water, food and sun protection.

No student is to bring their notebook to school on the day. Parents are welcome to attend the Carnival. A canteen will be available at the venue, however, students are encouraged to bring their own food.

If for any reason your daughter is unable to attend the Athletics Carnival, please advise Student Centre (9683 3300) by 8.20am. A Medical Certificate is required for all absences. All absences will be followed up. In the case of wet weather, the Carnival will still go ahead as it is a wet weather track. In case of extreme weather conditions, a final decision will be made on the morning of the Carnival.

Mr Stuart Guthrie
Sport Co-ordinator

The stopwatches, warning bells and palm cards are out – yes, the CSDA Competition is underway for 2019! Rounds One and Two have been completed, our OLMC teams debating at Mount St Benedict College and Gilroy Catholic College respectively. Both weeks saw our teams come out on the right side of the ledger, with 8 wins from 12 debates in Round One and 7 wins from 10 debates in Round Two. Our 7A, 8B, 9B, 10B and Senior Open A teams are thus far undefeated in the competition and will look to continue their winning streak this week at our first home debate for the season.

There have been some challenging debate topics thrown up at the girls in the opening two rounds, ranging from the superficialities of reality TV to weightier considerations of individual freedoms and the collective good, and then everything in between! This week our Year 7s and 8s will be broadly debating the topic of activism, whilst our Year 9s and 10s will be wrestling with the topic that everyone loves to hate – social media. Our more seasoned campaigners? Well, the senior teams know by now to expect anything, but with a Federal Election less than a week away, they could well be immersed in a politically charged topic come Friday evening.

With our first home debate this week it’s all hands-on-deck as we host the teams from Marist Sisters’ College Woolwich. So far we have had a wonderfully supportive parent contingent at our debates, but we would love to see more students, parents and friends of our College community on Friday night supporting our committed and talented debaters. If you have a spare hour or two, come along for a thought-provoking evening.

Special mention from Round One must be made of Year 11 debater Georgia Khattar, who has taken up debating as a co-curricular for the first time in 2019. Yes, Round One was her first debate ever, and she showed incredible courage and tenacity from the outset (ably supported by her wonderful Year 11 peers).

I will leave you this week with a quote, one by which all debaters worth their salt abide:

“ it is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it! “

Melissa Riley
Debating Coordinator

Mother’s Day Stall for Candela, Peru

Many thanks to the students who purchased handicrafts made with love by the women of Candela, Peru. We were able to raise $1,500 which has been sent directly to the Sisters of Mercy working alongside the local women and will be used to fund additional education and medical resources and equipment.

New College Badges

Houses are continuing to receive their new College badges which are a special gift to each of the staff and students in our 130^th year, symbolising our connection to our rich Mercy heritage.

The most recent House to receive their badges was Doyle House.

Mother Daughter Mass

The Mother Daughter Mass was a lovely celebration of mothers and all the special women in our lives. It was wonderful to welcome Fr Walter Fogarty back from his walking pilgrimage just in time to lead us through the Mass.

The P&F put on a delicious afternoon tea which was enjoyed by all. Special thanks to Mrs Patricia Samios, P&F Social Co-Ordinator, and her daughter Deanna (Year 11) who worked tirelessly in the kitchen preparing the platters of slice, cakes and tortes.

Thank you to Mr Paul Witney, Mrs Sharon Eldridge and all of the musicians and choir who provided lovely music which was moving, relevant and added to the feel of the Mass. Thank you also goes to the many students who assisted in preparing the liturgy - setting the space, reading, serving, handing out booklets and flowers and participating in the offertory procession of gifts..

It is after an event such as this, I sit back and really appreciate the wonderful place that is OLMC. What a community of generous, loving and committed people. Thank you all for making the afternoon such a beautiful celebration of love and faith sharing.

Year 12 Retreat

Year 12 are currently away on their Retreat at Stanwell Tops. We wish them well and look forward to hearing about their experiences when they return.

Mercy Works

Mercy Works are now located in the Convent and their close proximity to the College means that we can foster a positive and strong relationship with them.

On 8 May, Kingsley Edwards and Lauren Stariha (ex-student) from Mercy Works, came to interview five Year 11 students. They were interested in finding out the way that youth today look at and view news and current affairs. The five girls were very responsive and gave Kingsley and Lauren some great ideas and tips on ways that students access and use online information.

Thank you to Lily Tambrchi, Stephanie Arulthasan, Olana Lal, Yvette Roque and Jessica D’Souza.

Mercy Youth Awards

The annual Mercy Foundation’s Mercy Youth Awards in Photography are now open. All students have been invited to participate in this competition.

Mercy Foundation is a special work of the Sisters of Mercy, North Sydney, who focus on the eradication of homelessness and access to affordable housing.

The theme of the competition for 2019 is What does Home mean to you?.

Click here for more details

Earthkin

Earthkin is a special work of the Sisters of Mercy, Parramatta and is a network committed to loving, reverencing and celebrating the Earth Community. They are hosting the next meeting in Parramatta on 25 May.

Click here for more details.

Mrs Gabby Scanlon
Director of Mission (Acting)

On Wednesday 8 May Year 8 set off to The Collaroy Centre to embark on their 3 day Camp experience. Nestled in bushland and perched on a hill overlooking the ocean, Collaroy was a picturesque location for the students to participate in outdoor activities and a leadership workshop run by Y-Lead.

The workshop was designed to empower the students in Year 8 with the idea that their leadership journey begins now. Through a series of team-based activities that build strong relationships and positive group dynamics, students explored the fundamentals of leadership and how they can be used to maximise their High School experience. As a group, students in the workshop identified future aims for their grade – to be loyal, supportive and encouraging of each other – aims we will further focus on back at school.

Through the outdoor activities, students embraced their courageous and adventurous side, tackling activities which pushed them outside their comfort zone. This part of the camp further developed Year 8’s leadership skills and cohort identity, as they encouraged each other to face their fears, celebrated with their peers and took pride in their personal achievements.

Year 8 Camp was a chance for students to recognise that every person has their own unique passions, strengths and abilities; it is now up to Year 8 to use this experience as a way to create a positive difference within their grade and wider community.

Mrs Webb
Stanley House Leader

Alexis Chang (Kavanagh 3) – I loved meeting new people and challenging myself to try new things. The high ropes was my favourite activity.

Shriya Bhandary (Kavanagh 4) – The drop pole was my favourite. I did it 3 times! The teachers and students were very encouraging, helping me to overcome my fears.

Isobel Cassin (McAuley 1) – All the activities took my out of my comfort zone. They made me try things I wouldn’t normally take part in. Abseiling and laser tag were my favourite activities – especially laser tag – it was a good chance to develop team bonding.

Kindness

When you hear the name Charles Darwin, you probably recall the quote “survival of the fittest”, and conjure up images of competition and selfishness, two traits which are not synonymous with kindness. However, in his book 'Descent of Man', Darwin argues that we are a deeply social and caring species and that even stronger than the instinct of self-preservation is our propensity toward sympathy, which he viewed as instinctual and evolved.

Current research supports this idea (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20451313). Science has now shown that devoting resources to others, rather than accumulating possessions, brings about lasting well-being because kindness can promote gratitude. When you are kind to others it can heighten the sense of your own good fortune. Kindness promotes understanding and compassion, leading to a sense of connectedness with others. This, in turn, promotes the sense that we are more similar than dissimilar in our experiences.

If you would like to initiate conversations with your children about how to facilitate random acts of kindness into your day, you could print off the attached calendar. Or alternatively, the following organisations are dedicated to promoting kindness: https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/ and https://kindness.org/

Reference: Ouweneel E, Le Blanc PM, Schaufeli WB. On being grateful and kind: results of two randomized controlled trials on study-related emotions and academic engagement. J Psychol. 2014 Jan-Feb;148(1):37-60.

Random Acts of Kindness 2019 Calendar

Mrs Sandra Portela
Senior School Counsellor