Canberra Camp

The White Ribbon of Respect
As a White Ribbon Ambassador I am delighted that Tenison Woods College leads the way for schools across Australia, who are breaking the silence on domestic violence. And in breaking the silence we are confronting the harsh reality of the situation in Australia.

The Statistics
Statistics paint the canvas poignantly and point to the epidemic nature of the problem:

• One woman per week is killed in Australia because of domestic violence.
• One in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by someone known to them.
• Women are most at risk of violence in the home and from men they know.
• The most common location for physical assaults of women to occur is in the home.
• 33.7% of women experienced violence since the age of 15 by a person known to them, and the most frequent category of perpetrators was male previous partners (ABS, 2013).

Locally, our Domestic Violence Support Service is providing crisis support to 15 families at risk at any one at any one time, with another 40 families being monitored due to domestic violence behaviours. 

Giving Tree and Community Christmas Lunch
As we approach the season of Advent, we turn our focus to the ways in which we can share the love and joy of Christmas with others in our community. Many classes will be cooking and making decorations for the Community Christmas Lunch to be held at the Mount Gambier City Hall on Christmas Day. If you are able to donate cooking items such as condensed milk, coconut, icing sugar, castor sugar, dried fruit (sultanas and apricots) or cocoa, your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

The Giving Tree will also be placed in the front office at the beginning of next week. Gifts and money collected under the tree will be shared between 3 local agencies: AC.Care, The Salvation Army and St Vincent De Paul. We strongly encourage families to have a discussion about what your family can do to share the love of Christmas with others. Students will also be discussing this in class across the entire College.

During the month of November, Tenison Woods College is going to be hosting a Nude Food awareness month.

Reception through to Year 5 Classes have been allocated a day, with the option of being involved in ordering a ‘Healthy Snack Box’ to enjoy at 12 o’clock fruit break. Available on the day will be a range of snacks for children to choose, including but not limited to: Fresh fruit chunks, vegetable sticks, mini fruit muffins, flatbread pinwheels with hummus and salad, crackers and cheese. Gluten free options will also be available.

How to become involved:
There will be a $5.00 cost to take part in the Healthy Snack Meal Deal. Permission Notes have been sent home, if you did not receive one, please contact the college on 8725 5455. In order to abide by the Food Safety standards, your child must bring a sanitised container with lid to school on their allocated day. This means your container needs to be clean and dried properly and washed in boiling, soapy water.

In addition to healthy food we are also going to be promoting a healthy world and in order to do that we want to have minimal packaging, we hope your child is excited to be a part of this special event.

Class allocations are as follows:
Monday 13 November – Reception Classes
Tuesday 14 November – Year 1 & 2 Classes
Wednesday 15 November – Year 3 & 4 Classes
Thursday 16 November – Year 5 Classes

Jen McCourt | Hospitality Teacher, SAKGP Co-ordinator, Home Economics Administration

Congratulations to Year 10 Student Ben Langford, who has been invited to perform at the 2017 Australian Music Examinations Board Showcase and Awards Ceremony. The event will be held at Elder Hall at the University of Adelaide on Sunday 3 December, 2017. Ben achieved outstanding results in his Grade 6 Saxophone Examination, and was selected to perform by recommendation from his examiner, as well as the Showcase's Performance Director. To have reached this standard is an outstanding achievement, and we wish Ben the best of luck for his performance.

On Wednesday 8 November the Year 6 cohort embarked on our annual trip to the Grampians retreat in Dunkeld. On arrival, we were introduced to the camp owners, Denis and Maree and given a tour of the campsite. We then split into our day groups and went to try our first activity. The four activities on offer were the giant swing, flying fox, archery and the low ropes. I think most students would agree that the giant swing was certainly a highlight of the retreat. There was no shortage of food available and by Thursday afternoon most were exclaiming “Are we really eating again?”. The first night of the camp we played Minute-To-Win-It games, these consisted of teams having to complete a task in a minute or less. The blue team came out victorious with Mr. Marshall leading them to fame. On the next night there was a talent show. The first score of ten for the night went to Alina Crispino, performing ‘Riptide’. This score allowed her to secure a joint second with Madi Smith singing ‘Lego House’. However, it was Jamish`s (Joel Day & Hamish Case) who took out the win with their ‘That’s not Hot’ Rap.  After the talent show, we headed down to the campfire to take on the reflector trail. It was a night walk in which groups shone their torches to follow reflectors and make their way back to the camp. Overall, the Year 6 camp was a huge success and we would like to thank staff, teachers and parent volunteers Sharon Adams, Liam Fielding, Kris Jarnevic, Laura Herbert and Megan Domaschenz for their assistance.

Sophie Wrightson and Phoebe Beare | Year 6 Students

Our students get free access to the Studiosity service, for after-hours, one-to-one help with homework and study questions.

Why use it?

• Feedback throughout the draft-writing process can help students become more confident and improve their own work.
• Increased confidence in school - 91% of students surveyed after using Studiosity said it made them feel more confident with their schoolwork.
• Better results - University research carried out in 2017 showed a correlation between students using Studiosity and receiving a higher GPA.

How does it work?
As soon as your child gets stuck on a question, in maths, physics, chemistry, biology, English and more, they can log in and get connected to a vetted Subject Specialist. After school, on weekends, and during holidays – Studiosity is always available to help.

Your child can also upload a draft essay or assignment any time, for useful and encouraging feedback on their work within 24 hours.

How can my child use it?
Find the Studiosity button in the School Portal and take a look with your child tonight, so you’ll know where it is right when you need it. 

Year 5 students Trae, Jacob, Seth and Jye enjoy their time at the ropes course at Noora-Yo-Long during their 2-day camp last week.

• Tuesday 8.00am - 12.00pm
• Thursday 1.00pm - 5.00pm

Monday - Cassie Edwards
Tuesday - Julieanne Teagle-Lillecrapp
Wednesday - Emily Hart
Thursday - Lyn Wilson
Friday - Kate Pohlner
 

Thursday 16 November

• Whole School Assembly, 12.00pm, Barrie Holmes Stadium
• Senior School Awards Rehearsal, 1:00pm (Year 12's encouraged to attend) 
• McAuley House Feast Day - shared lunch at 1.15pm in the MPR
• Poplars Cape Bridgewater Camp (until Friday)

Friday 17 November

• Junior School Assembly 2.15pm, Barrie Holmes Stadium
• SESSSA Festival of Sport in Penola 

Saturday 18 November

• Mount Gambier Christmas Parade

Monday 20 November

• Senior School Awards, 12.00pm, Barrie Holmes Stadium
• Year 3 swimming lessons (until Friday)
• Year 11 exams (until Friday)
• SAPSASA Cricket & Tennis Carnivals, Adelaide (until Friday)

Thursday 23 November

• SSSSA 8/9 Boys T20 Cricket Blast
• Year 12 Graduation, 6.30pm, The Barn Palais

Friday 24 November

• SSSSA Year 8/9 Tennis

Year 12 student Laura Turley and Year 11 student (and 2018 College Captain) Evangelia Wichmann have been selected as representatives of our Archdiocese at the upcoming Youth Festival in Sydney in December. This is an amazing opportunity for both students, with Laura chosen to receive communion at the alter from Archbishop Anthony Fisher, Archbishop of Sydney, along with a male representative. There will be one male and one female from each diocese represented at this final mass, in which close to 18,000 people will be in attendance. This is a huge honour for Laura and a great closing point to her journey at Tenison Woods College, particularly this year in her role as 2017 Faith Leader. We wish both girls an enjoyable and memorable experience at the festival and look forward to hearing all about it when they return.

Congratulations to all of the students who performed at the Music Showcase on Wednesday 1 November. It was an exceptional night of great performances, conversation, food and community. With performances from: The Big Band, Concert Band, Rock Bands, Concert Choir, Thunder Drum Corps, Woodwind Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, Senior Vocal Ensemble, Saxophone Quartet and Guitar Ensemble. The night provided a varied and exciting program. Thank you to all of the staff who worked so hard behind the scenes in preparing the students and organising the event, and thank you to all of the audience members who supported our students.

 Beth Creedy | Head of Music

The Middle School Awards will be held on Tuesday 5 December (Week 8) in the Barrie Holmes Stadium at the College. Please be aware that there has been a change of time for this event. Originally scheduled for 1.00pm, the awards will now take place at 1.30pm.

Letters for award recipients and Year 9 Graduates will be posted in due course. We welcome Middle School families to attend this event.

This year, the Senior School Awards will be held on Monday 20 November at 12.00pm in the Barrie Holmes Stadium. Award recipients have been notified and we invite all families of these students to attend the awards ceremony. The event is compulsory for all Year 10 and 11 students to attend. Year 12 award recipients will be expected to attend, and are also encouraged to come to tomorrow's rehearsal, Thursday 16 November at 1.00pm in the Barrie Holmes Stadium (following a whole school assembly).

A full list of 2018 key dates will follow soon, but to assist with planning I inform our College community of dates to commence the academic year:

• Tuesday 23 January 2018 - All Teaching Staff commence
• Thursday 25 January 2018 - Book collection day
• Friday 26 January 2018 - Australia Day Public Holiday
• Monday 29 January 2018 - Reception, Years 6, 8, 10,11, 12 commence term 1.
• Tuesday 30 January 2018 - All other students commence term 1.

You will note the staggered start to the commencement of the year for students. This approach will assist students in the identified year levels to complete the best possible transition processes with the relevant teaching and support staff.  We also look forward to preparing transition programs that will accentuate our relationship with parents and carers in the support of student learning and wellbeing.

David Mezinec | Principal

Fund My Neighbourhood gives you the opportunity to decide what projects are funded in our area. Two projects of interest to the Tenison Woods College Mount Gambier community are "Community Fitness Track", a bike and walking path that navigates the perimeter of the College, complemented by solar lighting, outdoor exercise stations and drinking facilities. The other titled "Solar Powered College Community" - where a student-lead team want to install solar panels at local churches. To register, vote, or find out more, click on the link below. Voting closes 5.00pm, Monday 20 November.

Click here to vote.

Please be advised that there will be construction works on a sewer main upgrade at the intersection of White Avenue and Tollner Road, Mount Gambier from 27 November through to 22 December 2017. As a part of these works there may be changes to traffic conditions to allow for the works to be safely undertaken. These changes include but are not limited to: Temporary closure of Tollner Road from Avey Road to White Avenue (local traffic from Avey Road direction only), and reduced traffic flow along White Avenue.

Motorist should expect delays and where possible, we would advise finding an alternate route for the period of works.

Please be patient during this time.

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Tenison Woods College
Shepherdson Road (PO Box 965)
Mount Gambier South Australia 5290

t: (08) 8725 5455 (Main Office)
f: (08) 8724 9303
t: (08) 8724 4650 (Senior School)
Absentee Line: (08) 8724 4659
OSHC Line: (08) 8724 4633

e: news@tenison.catholic.edu.au
w: www.tenison.catholic.edu.au