News

Lenten Season and Project Compassion – Love your neighbour
Classes, year levels and staff groups throughout the school continue to prepare for Easter and the resurrection of Jesus through Lenten observances, class prayers, reflections on the Stations of the Cross and liturgies.

The school’s commitment to fundraising for Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion Campaign has been one rich expression of our community’s desire to "Love your neighbour” and assist those in need. The money raised will be a concrete expression of our support for people less fortunate than us. I thank parents for their support of this Catholic charity during the period of Lent and I trust our contributions will help many so that they will have doors of learning opened for them.

Reflecting on our identity as Catholic School
I invite you to participate in a research project which explores the Catholic identity of our school. We hope that as many students, parents and staff as possible might participate in this project by completing some online surveys about the religious identity of our school. 

The College was involved in the initial pilot project for Catholic Education South Australia (CESA) five years ago and we have accepted the invitation for Tenison Woods College to be involved once again in this project to ascertain our growth and evolved understandings as a College community.

The project involves a number of Catholic schools across Australia and is being conducted in partnership with the Catholic University in Leuven, Belgium. This is a great opportunity for our school to explore the options available to us in regards the religious identity of our school. The aim of the project is to help us better understand how our Catholic identity is expressed within our school community and to develop strategies for moving forward in this critical area of school life.

Students in Years 5 - 12 will also participate in the project by completing similar online surveys that have been carefully designed to be age and language appropriate. Students involved will be supported by the College staff, and dates and times for the surveys will be organised to minimise the impact on teaching and learning programs. Inclusion of students will add a significant dimension to this project.

Further information is available from APRIM Michelle Coote at cootm@tenison.catholic.edu.au or myself, and please feel free to make contact with us if you have any questions in relation to this project.

Parent Representatives R - 9 Meetings
We are finalising the list of parent representatives for each class and look forward to gathering with them to discuss how they can support staff in building community. Correspondence is being issued to parent representatives specifically indicating that we will gather representatives on either Monday 20 March at 9:00am or 2:30pm. Both meetings will occur in our staff room.        

Staffing News
We welcome Joe Prosperi Porta, a regular relieving teacher in the College community, who will be taking Micki Greenham’s classes for four weeks while she is on long service leave and enjoying the wonders of travel.

Laura Herbert will join the counselling team, working Fridays. Laura also works with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), so we look forward to benefitting from her vast experience in the area of counselling and social work.

We also welcome Eoin Mcilduff, who will replace Nicole Wewer as Year 6 teacher for the remainder of Term 1.  Eoin will work Monday – Thursday (.8), alongside Nick Patzel (.2).  As we welcome Eoin we also wish Nicole all the best for her recovery, and return to good health.

Parents stepping up – Wellbeing and Resilience
I am delighted to see parents taking up the Wellbeing and Resilience course offered by our community on Tuesday evenings, so that they can practise and reinforce skills at home. 

This free parent ResilienceWerks course is offered as a result of our partnership with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and our aspiration to implement the PERMA+ model across our College community.

The next one-and-a-half-hour session will be held on 21 March, then 28 March and finally 4 April. 

Board Annual General Meeting
I remind parents and carers of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Tenison Woods College Board, which will be held Wednesday 22 March at 7:30pm in the Pam Ronan Centre. Please see further details here.

Parish Picnic
Come and enjoy a fun afternoon at the Parish on Sunday 2 April, with a range of activities for children from 12:00pm.   

Parent Access Module
I am delighted with the deliberate and focused efforts of teaching staff in utilising the SIMON learning management system to plan, celebrate and record student learning. Parents are also using the parent access module (PAM); and looking to build strong collaborative relationships with teachers.

Parish Planned Giving Rebate
I remind families that parents contributing to the St Paul’s Planned Giving may claim a rebate from Tuition Fees of 50% of their contribution up to a maximum claim of $750. Official Parish receipts are to be presented to the Business Manager after 30 June 2017 for a deduction to be made.

God Bless,

David Mezinec | Principal

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