Year 12 Graduation

We move into a period of the year when we witness the fruits of our dedicated efforts as students, staff and parents. At the same time, we give thanks for all that has comforted, gifted and challenged us. 

On Thursday 30 November we gather in the Barrie Holmes Stadium for our whole College Thanksgiving Mass. At this celebration of Mass, an event which is the source and summit of our Christian lives, we celebrate and give thanks to God for the many gifts and blessings we have received throughout this school year. We remember our successes and our struggles, our joys and our sorrows. We come with grateful hearts and spirits to meet our gracious God in Word and Sacrament. 

End of Year Mass
All members of the College community are encouraged to attend the End of Year Mass this Thursday 30 November in the Barrie Holmes Stadium at 11.00am.

Advent & Giving to others
With Advent beginning this Sunday, the Giving Tree has now been placed in the front office. Advent is the season of preparation for Christmas as we ready our hearts and homes for the birth of Christ.

Gifts can be placed under the Giving Tree before the end of term and a presentation will take place at the end of term to local agencies AC Care, St Vincent dePaul and the Salvation Army. In all classes, students will be discussing ways to share the joy of Christmas with others and the Giving Tree is one way we can do this. We encourage families to consider purchasing a gift to place under the tree to be distributed to those in need in our local community.

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

Congratulations to the following year 6/7 students who were members of the winning SAPSASA cricket and tennis teams last week in Adelaide.

Division 2 Cricket (equal first)

• Harry Fisher
• Mitchell Harrold
• Jack Domaschenz
• Liam Turley
• Noah Sims
• Hamish Case 
• Mitchell Cornolo 

Division 2 Tennis

• Emily Jolley
• Tess Kenseley

This evening we welcome our 2018 Year 6’s into our Middle School with our annual Treasure Hunt and Information Evening. The event will begin at 6:15pm in the Moorak Courtyard for the Treasure Hunt, followed by the Information Session in the PRC Lecture theatre at 7pm. The event is a wonderful opportunity for the Year 5 students and parents to visit the Moorak building, which hosts the Year 6 classrooms. It’s also a great chance for Students to meet the year 6 2018 Classroom teachers.

Year 10 student Molly Watson and Year 11 student Jordyn Adams have been selected into the 2018 U/17 South Australian Netball Team. The girls will represent South Australia in Adelaide from the 17 April – 22 April.

Molly and Jordyn, both participants of the High Performance Sports Program, have been rewarded for their commitment and hard work.

This is Molly’s second year representing SA in the U/17 team, and with this experience this year she has felt more confident and is looking forward to gaining more experience as a top age player. Molly has been selected as a GK, GD, WD.

Jordyn Adams is looking forward to competing at a National level against some quality players and playing with some good friends. She is very keen to learn from some highly experienced coaches. Jordyn has been selected as WD, GD and C.

Both girls participated in 8 trials in Adelaide, with the team being announced via netball SA website on Monday evening.

The national competition acts as a trial for selection into the 17 and under SASI squad.

Molly currently plays for Garville in Adelaide and Jordyn plays for South Gambier.

For more information about the BYOD program, obtaining free Microsoft Office software and device options, please visit the Portal@TWC help site here. It is a wonderful resource prepared and curated by our committed ICT Support Team.

Regular Opening Hours:

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

School Holiday Opening Hours:

• Thursday 14 December 1:00pm - 5.00pm

Reopening:

• Tuesday 23 January 9:00am - 1:00pm & 1.30pm -4:00pm 
• Wednesday 24 January 9:00 - 1:00pm & 1.30pm-4:00pm
• Thursday 25 January 8:00am - 1:00pm & 2:00pm-4:00pm
• Saturday 27 January 9:00am - 12:00pm
• Monday 28 January  8:00am - 12:00pm

Normal hours resume from Tuesday 29 January

• Tuesday 8:00am - 12:00pm
• Thursday 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Click here to enlarge

Click here to enlarge

Did you know the Parish has its own Facebook page? Check it out, ‘like’ and ‘follow’ it here.

Monday - Lyn Wilson
Tuesday - Cassie Edwards
Wednesday - Marg Egan and Marlene Dean
Thursday - TBA
Friday -  Kate Pohlner

Wednesday 29 November

• 2018 Year 6 Treasure Hunt and Information Evening, from 6.15pm
• College Board Meeting, 7.30pm, Board Room

Thursday 30 November

• End of Year Mass, 11.00am, Barrie Holmes Stadium
• Junior School Disco, Lunchtime, Barrie Holmes Stadium

Friday 1 December

• Junior School Assembly, 'Blessing of the Cribs', 2.15pm, Barrie Holmes Stadium
• Last day for Year 11 students

Sunday 3 December

• First Sunday of Advent
• Family Mass, 11.00am, St Paul's Church

Tuesday 5 December

• Year 5 Graduation Assembly, 9.15am, Barrie Holmes Stadium
• Middle School Awards Ceremony, 1.30pm, Barrie Holmes Stadium
• Year 9 Hospitality Excursion
• Year 5 End of Year Celebration, Valley Lake

Wednesday 6 December

• Carols in the Church, 6.30pm, Saint Paul's Church
• Australian Catholic Youth Festival, Sydney

Thursday 7 December

• 2018 Year 11 Orientation (until Friday)

Friday 8 December

• Last Day for Year 10 Students

The Titans Basketball group have arrived in California! They enjoyed their first day checking out the sights in Santa Monica and head off to Seattle tonight. The journey began in the early hours of Monday morning, where the group left Mount Gambier by bus, to begin their epic 26 day adventure. 35 students along with 11 staff and parents have embarked on a sporting and cultural exchange of a lifetime that will see them travel the West Coast of the USA - visiting Washington, California & Hawaii! Follow their journey via their blog here and follow our Facebook and Instagram page for regular updates.

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 have been posted. We welcome Middle School families to attend this event.

The Power of Gratitude for making life happier

With the festive season upon us, it is probably pertinent to remember the skill of gratitude which is one of the best virtues and integral to happiness. Cultivating gratitude in our children, is teaching them much more than a polite, “thank-you”. We’re helping them develop a strength that will positively affect their mental health and wellbeing over a lifetime. It’s that powerful.  Just like we insist upon those good manners, then  sincere gratitude can  become a part of their everyday life  too. It’s worth persevering.

Student Exchange Australia New Zealand is looking for a volunteer host family for a 17 year old French boy who is currently attending Tenison Woods College. He has a curious and enthusiastic personality and his interests include sport, music and meeting new people. He would love to experience new activities and simply be part of a family’s daily life. We are looking for a family until May 2018.

If you can help, please phone Sara at the Student Exchange Office: 1300 135 331.

Please be advised construction works have commenced on a sewer main upgrade at the intersection of White Avenue and Tollner Road, Mount Gambier. These works will continue 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.

Year 6 HPSP Student Hamish Case has been selected in the Under 12 State Cricket Team. The event will be held between Friday 5 and Saturday 13 January 2018 in Barooga, NSW.

Hamish comments: “I’m very excited about my selection” I’m really looking forward to travelling with my close friend and team mates to Melbourne then to NSW, and then my family will meet me over there.”

Hamish travelled to Adelaide where he attended 6 trials to be selected in the final 13 players. He has been selected as an all-rounder, batting 6 or 7 in the team.

We wish Hamish every success at this event.

Good luck to all of our students competing in the Pacific School Games in Adelaide this Friday!

This Friday 1 December at 2:00pm, Fr Dean will be blessing mangers or cribs belonging to students in the Junior School. As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, we pause to bless the cribs from our nativity scenes. The practice of creating cribs was begun by Saint Francis of Assisi as a means to express the message of Christmas. All cribs (and mangers) will be placed in our homes and classrooms this Christmas time to remind us of the birth of a tiny baby born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. Students in Reception – Year 5 are welcome to bring cribs or mangers from home and place them in the space provided in the Barrie Holmes Stadium before assembly begins on Friday. They can then be collected at the end of assembly.

On Wednesday 22 November, the Tenison Woods College Big Band had the privilege of visiting the James Morrison Academy (JMA).

The visit began with an extensive and extremely insightful tour of the campus, given by ex-scholar and former member of the TWC Big Band, Charlotte Marsh. The tour showcased the many rehearsal spaces, study and practice rooms that are available to the students at the Academy.

To conclude the tour, the students sat-in on a JMA rehearsal. Every student studying at the Academy is required to sing in the choir. This is designed to improve their ability to hear the pitch of notes, while putting them out of their comfort zone and getting them to try something new. The choir performed two pieces before changing over to the Big Band.

Within the Academy there are four Big Bands, each being named after their lead trumpet player. The bands are comprised of first, second, third and fourth year students at the academy. This is designed to help the students’ progress faster and learn from the older students.

All the TWC Big Band members thoroughly enjoyed the excursion, with some members hoping to later study at the Academy.

Georgia Mustey | Year 11 

Right now at EFM Health Clubs - Join now and enjoy the benefits of becoming a healthier you. Join now and pay nothing until January 1 2018, which means you get the rest of November and December for free! 

For more information, visit: www.efm.net.au or call in to discuss your membership. 

Jenny McPhail  |  EFM Health Club Mount Gambier

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