From the Principal

Newsletter 16 2022

Dear Members of the St Andrews College Community,

Welcome back to Term 4. It promises to be a wonderful Term of learning and growth. The Higher School Certificate started Week 1, we have the Year 7 2023 Orientation Day Week 3 and associated Information Evening, we have Year 8, 9, and 10 Camps and Year 7 Day coming up in Week 5. Our Year 12 Retreat is scheduled for Week 4 and it promises to be a significant opportunity for growth and reflection. Significant planning has gone into all of these opportunities and I thank the teaching and administration staff for their efforts to provide the best opportunities for our student group. We have had a great deal of success recently in both Soccer and Futsal and they were celebrated at Assembly today. The Australian Mathematics Competition had the greatest participation we have had and the results were excellent. Student writing entries continue to be submitted and provide significant breadth and depth to both challenge and entice our student body. Keep up the good work, keep putting your hand up for opportunities, keep challenging yourself.

‘It’s All About Learning’

Gospel Reflection: Luke 18:9-14

Jesus tells the parable of the proud Pharisee who prayed from his self-importance and the tax collector who prayed humbly.

Background on the Gospel Reading

The second parable that Jesus tells in Luke 18 addresses attitude in prayer. In contrasting the prayer of the Pharisee with the prayer of the tax collector, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray in humility before God. Jesus again surprises his listeners by showing the tax collector as the example of faith, rather than the Pharisee. Remember that Pharisees were members of a sect of Judaism active in Jesus' time. They taught an oral interpretation of the Law of Moses as the basis for Jewish piety. If anyone would be a model for prayer, a Pharisee was a likely candidate. In contrast, Jesus offers the tax collector as a model for prayer. Tax collectors were collaborators with the Roman authorities in a system that allowed the tax collectors to line their own pockets by charging in excess of the defined taxes. Yet, in this parable, Jesus offers the humility of the tax collector as a model for the prayer of a disciple. The parable reminds us that when we pray, we must remember our need for God in our lives. If we are too full of ourselves, there is too little room for God's grace to work in us.

What’s Been Happening in the Holidays?:

• We held both online and in person tutorials for some of the Higher School Certificate subjects.
• We had four new mobile classrooms delivered during the holiday break. They will be renovated both internally and externally before coming online. After this happens we will renovate internally and externally the older mobile classrooms. We aim to have all of this completed before the end of the year.
• We had some concreting completed behind the Hall on the Junior Campus and we are waiting for the weather to improve to complete the job by constructing another concrete area for our Buses in the car Park on the Junior Campus.

Diocese of Parramatta Charity Golf Day:

It was a pleasure to team with a group of fathers from St Andrews College for the Diocesan Charity Golf Day at Richmond Golf Club. It was the 37th year that the event had been run and we certainly dodged a bullet with the weather. The day raised just over $15,000, a terrific result. The team of Mr Alan Ison (Cooper Year 10/Ruby Year 8), Mr Byron Brasier (Holley Year 11), Mr Mark Bylsma (Ava Year 9) and I recorded 15 birdies to win the event. It is the lowest score in the history of the event. We also had a teaching staff team of Mr Leaves, Mr Carlos, Mr Wills and Mr Mihaljevic who performed very well on the day.

Congratulations Benjamine Afu Year 12:

On 17th September 2022, Ben flew to England for Her Majesty the late Queen Elizabeth II funeral. During the event, he played at two  ceremonies in London and Windsor. In London, he had the opportunity to serve in the Royal Guard of the King of Tonga (Tupou VI). In Windsor, he was asked to play in the British Grenadiers Band, so he had the opportunity to wear the British Grenadiers uniform. This trip was a trip of a lifetime for him. He represented his home country (Tonga), the country where he grew up (Australia), and his school (St Andrews College). Ben joined the Australian Military Band to continue his career as a musician. Ben made up the words we see below and they typify his life attitude and have made him the young man he is today. 

"Don't give up on your dreams, Keep pushing through no matter what the costs are and go above and beyond".

Futsal Gala Days:

Congratulations to all the students and staff involved in the Futsal Gal Days this week. Your individual and group performances were a credit to yourselves and the College. The Junior Girls Team won the event and all other teams finished high on the ladder. Most importantly though the attitude, behaviour, and sportsmanship was evident in all of our students. Well done.

Enrolment for Year 11 2023 NOW OPEN

Year 7 2023 already has a significant waiting list

Fidem in Christo

Dr Stephen Kennaugh
Principal