Newsletter 3 2021

Dear Members of the St Andrews College Community,

As we move closer to Easter it is fitting that our Year 11 students enter a time of Retreat next week. It  is a time to reflect on their relationship with God. I am looking forward to visiting the Retreat at Kiah Ridge to witness how the group is engaging with the program. I have been delighted with the work that I have been shown by staff in relation to our Year 7 learning. I am noticing an improved focus on learning, work ethic and expectation across the College. Keep up the good work everyone.

‘It’s All About Learning’

Lenten Reflection:

Glow With Easter Joy

In Evangelii Gaudium Pope Francis is quoted;

“There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter. I realize of course that joy is not expressed the same way at all times in life, especially at moments of great difficulty. Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved. I understand the grief of people who have to endure great suffering, yet slowly but surely we all have to let the joy of faith slowly revive as a quiet yet firm trust, even amid the greatest distress: “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is…But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning". 

Sometimes our lives can resemble Lent without Easter or for others Easter without Lent. Finding a balance between these two arms of the Paschal Mystery is important. Lent is a recognition that we often find ourselves doing selfish things, living in anger or fear or resentment or self-absorption.

Easter joy is being freed from our narrowness and self-absorption. Faith, hope and peace - the opposite of fear, despair and anxiety - is born as a flicker of light, a whispered voice which gives us a personal assurance that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved.

Lent isn’t about a prolonged time of spiritual mourning - a kind of self-obsessed journey into our interior darkness. Self-reflection is part of it, but not the whole of it. The point of Lent is that we become transfigured people, a resurrected people, and a people who live in the light rather than the darkness. The journey to our heart, our inner selves, is not meant to be soul destroying, but soul reviving.

Lent is not just a personal journey, but a communal one, a group gathered on the mountain and were, as a community, transfigured. We become transfigured people together, as community, as church, listening to the voice of Jesus, as we listen to his words, spoken to each and every one of us, into the individual circumstances of each of our lives today.

However we hear Jesus addressing our lives, he is calling all of us into transfiguration this Lent. Jesus is calling us to glow with Easter joy and hope through the grace and love God is offering us in this very moment.

Congratulations to our Boys First Grade Basketball Team:

Congratulations on being Minor Premiers in the Metropolitan Catholic Schools Competition and Runners-Up. The boys had a wonderful season also finishing Runners-Up in the PDSSSC Gala Day and are looking forward to the upcoming Combined Catholic Colleges Tournament. The boys played with great spirit, sportsmanship and pride. Thank you to Ms Pett and Mr Alata for coaching the team.

Public Speaking:

Congratulations to the students who were successful in the auditions process and represented the College this evening at the CSDA Public Speaking. At the time of printing we do not have the results. I look forward to listening to some interesting and diverse speeches.

Year 11 Geography Excursion:

Great to see our Geography students able to get the excursion experiences once again with the Biophysical Interactions Excursion to Forestville.

Sporting Successes:

• Congratulations to the Basketball and Volleyball Teams and the coaches in the PDSSSC Competition with a clean sweep of all six games v St Columba’s Springwood. To go with the win the coaches relayed to me that all students demonstrated a high degree of sportsmanship. Great to hear.
• We wish Cooper Ison (Year 9/SRC) all the best for the Combined Catholic Colleges  Golf Competition next week at Macquarie Links Golf Club.
• Congratulations to John Paul Donevski (Year 11) on being the top try scorer for Penrith Panthers in the Harold Matthews  Rugby League Cup. 

Year 5 Primary School Visits:

At the time of printing I have visited Year 5 at St Andrews Primary School, Our Lady of Lourdes Seven Hills and St Bernadette's Lalor Park. I take a couple of ex students to talk about their experiences at St Andrews College. I really enjoy hearing the way our student representatives speak about their experience at the College. They do us proud in this, and many ways. I will be visiting St Patrick’s Blacktown, St John Vianney’s Doonside, St Michael’s Blacktown, St Francis of Assisi Glendenning, Mary Immaculate Quakers Hills, and Good Shepherd Plumpton in the coming weeks. We still have some places available for Year  7 and 11 2022, and we are open now for enrolments for Year 7 and 11 2023.

Enrolment for Year 7 and 11 2022 and 2023 NOW OPEN

If you have a friend or family member looking to enrol for Year 7 and 11 2022 and 2023 (students currently in Year 5 and 6) please contact the Office ASAP for an enrolment pack to avoid disappointment. We do not have many positions left for Year 7 2022 at present so please be quick to enrol.