Newsletter 1 2021

Dear Members of the St Andrews College Community,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a safe holiday. Welcome back for the 2021 school year. It is a year that promises to be one of hope and expand on the many opportunities we provide at St Andrews College. I am looking forward to catching up with new parents at our Year 7 Meet and Greet Night on Monday the 15th February and let them know that their sons and daughters have made a very positive and productive start to the school year. With the expansion of our Accelerated classes this year I am excited to see how enthusiastic the Year 10 students are completing their senior courses. It opens up many opportunities and that is our goal. Have a wonderful year everyone.

‘It’s All About Learning’

A New Years Reflection:

The Epiphany – Will you take another road?

The Epiphany story, as the Christmas story, shows us how God comes to us in Jesus without overpowering us but dwells among us and loves through us. Today’s message contradicts hyper-patriotism, the ‘othering’ of foreigners, and any attempt to fit God into narrow religious categories. We are challenged today to transcend blind ethnocentrism, exceptionalism, and expand our horizons to at last become citizens of the world. The word ‘epiphany’ means the manifestation of God who is a God of peace and social justice; a God centred on the world and the cosmos.

Pope Francis constantly calls us to develop a ‘culture of encounter’ which includes all people and all Creation. A genuine encounter cannot leave us as we are as occurred with the Magi. They could not return to their old ways and take things for granted. Herod’s response to the Magi mirrors our culture and the church where a focus on the individual and the expedient, makes us see the other as foreign and threatening. It prevents the kind of response of the Samaritan who, as Pope Francis writes in Let Us Dream, let himself be struck by what he sees and is changed because ‘he stops, pulls up, acts, enters into the world of the wounded man, throws himself into the situation, in the other’s suffering, and so creates a new future.’

In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis invites us to see how COVID-19 demonstrates our intimate connectedness which requires establishing networks of solidarity at all levels of our lives. As we approach 2021, we are invited again to look for ‘epiphanies’ or manifestations of God among us and do things differently as we shake ourselves out of our status quo and beyond the limits of our comfortable relationships and thought patterns. We are challenged to see traces of God’s presence everywhere - particularly in places and people easily overlooked-the margins. The call is to expand our horizons and see ourselves as sisters and brothers in the world. Daring to step out of our comfort zones, going beyond the familiar and safe, looking at our sisters and brothers and sharing their experience and befriending them makes a ‘culture of encounter’ possible. It involves entering the life of ‘the other’ whether as individuals, communities, a church or a nation. It means, as Pope Francis says, moving to the world’s margins and peripheries which may be as near as the next street or distant parts of the world. Wherever it is, we need to expand our horizons and boundaries of concern towards people that God choose to make a home amongst – ‘the least among us’.

The Magi took another road!!

God’s presence is found in engaging compassionately and sharing with others, and protecting and defending the least. We cannot be content with our ‘faith’ if it does not touch suffering people and ‘the least’ among us. We cannot be content when our church leaders make decisions based on the dollar and remain silent when Indigenous people call for a voice in this land, when asylum seekers languish in detention centres for years, when women voices are ignored, or when our government spends on military hardware rather than social welfare. The One who attracted the Magi also attracted Samaritan adulterers, immoral prostitutes, greasy tax collectors, despised Roman soldiers, and ostracised lepers – and he would pay the price for that.

We have choices. We can respond to the broadness of God of mercy or contain God within the bounds of our doctrines and imagination. The magi chose another road. They chose to do things differently – to be ‘about the things of God’ - the things close to God’s heart. As we begin another year, we might listen to those seekers, especially young people, who want more than what conventional and ritualised religion can offer. God is bigger than any ritual or tradition and is always waiting to encounter us anew, somewhere beyond our expectations.

Epiphany is any time when God appears in surprising places and pushes against our constructed realities. It may surprise us in the places and people where we might meet God. It may surprise God when we courageously show up in places and situations and be with people because we have taken another road.

The pandemic is opening our eyes, helping us to recognise the centrality of relationships in our lives and the importance of community, revealing the intrinsic interconnectedness of all things. We can make the foolish claim that tenderness triumphs and that love wins. We have a choice.

We can begin to imagine a new way of being together on this planet. We have seen that many people have made that choice already by their courageous actions to provide health and pastoral care during this pandemic; who have dedicated themselves to protect the elderly, prisoners, those in care facilities, refugees and asylum seekers from Covid-19 infection; when people have tried to be creative and bring beauty into deserted streets and dark corners by playing music solo from balconies or on Zoom. These and many other such actions nourish us and give rise to a new way of being together.

Epiphany calls us to wake up – to grow up and to return home as the Magi did ‘by another way, to remember that God is for everyone and may we hold our doors open as wide as possible to,

(Excerpts from Epiphany 2021; Compiled by Claude Mostowik msc, Director. Missionaries of the Sacred Justice and Peace Centre Convenor, Pax Christi Australia [NSW] President, Pax Christi Australia)

A Prayer for the New Year

May God make your year a happy one!

Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain,

But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes;

Not by making your path easy,

But by making you sturdy to travel any path;

Not by taking hardships from you,

But by taking fear from your heart;

Not by granting you unbroken sunshine,

But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;

Not by making your life always pleasant,

But by showing you when people and their causes need you the most,

And by making you anxious to be there to help.

God’s love, peace, hope, and joy to you for the year ahead!

— St. Thomas à Becket (1118 or 1120—1170)

HSC 2020 High Achievers Assembly:

I commend the HSC students and their achievements. With many students gaining early entry into University we have much to celebrate. I would like to commend:

• Owen Walker for achieving fourth place in the State in Mathematics Standard 1. 
• The outstanding History Extension results with Hashwitaa Maynoor making the Merit List. All E4’s and 3’s in the Course.
• The outstanding Visual Arts results with Maheka Karunaratne making the Merit List and no student under a Band 5 result.
• Legal Studies Merit Lists for Joshua Hewitt and Rachel Khalil.
• Society and Culture Merit List for Phoebe Bibon and Mikayla Garland.
• Merit List for Jerica Cabanit in Design and Technology and Industrial Technology.
• Mathematics Standard 1 being 8.75 marks above State Average.
• Science Extension well above State Average.
• All VET Exams well above State Average.
• Onstage Nomination for Chloe Leibeck in Drama
• Art Express Nominations for Nathan Capulong and Oliver Kozak for their Major Works.

I am happy to announce that our Stage 6 Visual Art students were part of the ARTiculate online exhibition. The ARTiculate online 2020 gallery is now up and running. Here’s the link-

https://www.parra.catholic.edu.au/2020Articulate

The Assembly was live streamed due to COVID restrictions and has been placed on the College Website and on Youtube. While I am proud of the hard work put into the results I am even more proud of the young men and women our graduating students are. They are well placed to make significant contributions to our society.

New Staff 2021:

Due to the College increasing in student numbers so rapidly we have had to employ a number of new staff. I am pleased to introduce you to a group of wonderful teachers.

Congratulations to Ms Hicks

Ms Hicks has been nominated to be on a NESA Education Committee Teacher Expert Network which is a testament to her standing in the education sector. We are fortunate to have Ms Hicks on staff.

Student Leadership in Action:

Congratulations to Zaran Mortimer of Year 8 who showed wonderful initiative in putting forward to NSW Parliament on behalf of the people of Western Sydney in relation to access to sporting programs for people in the Blacktown area. Mr Stephen Bali MP State Member for Blacktown has contacted Zaran and offered his congratulations as well. If you would like to view Zaran’s Recorded Speech please see the link attached.

I really enjoy reporting on the great work our students do both inside and outside of the school context so please forward me any stories you have so I can share them with the community.

Student Leaders Initiatives:

Our Year 10 2021 school leaders have put forward a proposal for a girls tie to be introduced into the Junior College as part of the Winter Uniform. It was a very professional proposal that the student leaders should be very proud of. We will consult the parent body before proceeding with f=urther direction. Whatever way we decide to go I would like to commend our Student Leaders on bringing forward this initiative and encourage them to continue their initiatives.

Gratitude Week- Another Student Leadership Initiative:

Thank you to our Student Leaders who initiated many activities to focus on and highlight what we should be grateful for. From our Bells for class being converted to songs of thanks, to reflection activities and banners they did a wonderful job. Both longitudinal and cross sectorial research supports the link between and focus on gratitude and wellbeing and our student leaders are leading the way. Well done. 

Year 7 2021 Allwell Testing:

Students who were not present for the Orientation Day will be participating in a catch up opportunity. We are currently assessing the results of the tests that occurred on the Orientation Day and these will be shared with parents. The results will be used to add to the data we already have from student applications to inform teachers of areas of student strength as well as areas to focus on for growth. Parents will then receive the results for discussion with their child.

Enrolment for Year 7 2022 NOW OPEN

If you have a friend or family member looking to enrol for Year 7 2022 (students currently in Year 5) please contact the Office ASAP for an enrolment pack to avoid disappointment. We have a substantial waiting list already for Year 7 2021. Positions have almost filled so please be quick to enrol.