Newsletter 15 2021

Dear Members of the St Andrews College Community,

Thank you for a very productive Term 3. As a community we have demonstrated resilience, support for others, focus and care. It is a testament to your character and the wonderful community we have. Year 12 and 11 have completed their final assessment tasks in their respective courses and as a whole have demonstrated that during the Term they have focused well on their studies. I have sent out a letter to all parents and students outlining the road map towards a return to school next Term. If you have any questions please let me know. As we move into the holiday period I thank you for your support and wish you all a restful, happy, and safe holiday. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your families.

‘It’s All About Learning’

Reflection: The Problem of Suffering and God

How focused are we, and rightly so, on the pandemic that is all consuming our nation and the world at this time. For much of last year I truly felt that there was nothing else happening, floods, wars, fires, poverty, war – the tragedy of the life we are familiar with beyond Covid-19. The neighbours, friends and community members who died from the diseases we are familiar with, heart, cancer, flu/influenza seemed to drop from the radar as surging numbers of worldwide COVID deaths and tragically death by suicide swamped us.

As the sick learned to live with their new or rapidly growing illnesses out of the limelight and the diaspora who continue to wrestle with their fight for homelands and safety, the rest of the world was gripped by fear at the terrifying speed of the fast-moving pandemic, Covid-19. This infectious virus has created an avalanche of feelings: panic, fear, anger, sadness, confusion and despair.

Sometimes it feels like a horror movie, leaving even the most faith-filled people asking, why this is happening and where is God in all of this? These are the two most repeated questions no matter what human catastrophe takes place, be it the ravages of fires or floods, hurricanes or hunger, the death of millions from a pandemic or one child from cancer. It is a challenge, no matter whom the God of our understanding, or our belief system might be.

The Catholic word for the problem of suffering is ‘theodicy’, whether this suffering is from illness or natural disasters or if it is as a result of ‘moral evil’ – suffering due to the actions of individuals or nations, the question of how God can ‘let’ this happen will always be uttered. If we leave aside theological distinctions, the question continues. Why? If God is all-powerful, God can prevent suffering. But God does not prevent suffering. Therefore, God is either not all-powerful or not all loving, which is it?

The most honest answer to the question of why the Covid-19 virus is killing thousands of people, why infectious diseases ravage humanity, why do the people of Afghanistan have to endure such atrocities, and why there is suffering at all is: We don’t know. This is the most honest and accurate answer. Life and death, illnesses and the current virus are part of the natural world and in some way contribute to life. The response, when speaking to someone who has lost a friend or family member, who cannot hold the hand of a dying loved one, who cannot attend a funeral, who cannot get home from overseas, is not helpful or compassionate, despite it being true.

The mystery of suffering is unanswerable, so where can the believer go in times like this? For the Christian and perhaps even for others the answer might be Jesus.

• Firstly - Jesus gave us miracles – mirari – to be amazed. They do not happen every day; if they did, we wouldn’t wonder or be amazed! Miracles are rare so we continue to hope.
• Secondly – Jesus invites us to be in partnership with Him. Thomas Aquinas said that God wants to involve us in “his causality” giving us the opportunity to be part of the joy and privilege of sharing in His work of healing. The many professionals and volunteers and those on the front line in so many capacities, including us in our day to day activity are all the hands, feet, eyes, ears and voice of God, whether we recognise it or not.
• Thirdly –The God of the Bible showed us that life is not easy, that we have to live with suffering, enormous suffering at times as we read throughout the Old Testament. Suffering reaches the major figures, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Daniel to name but a few and in the New Testament Peter, James, John and the central person Jesus who dies in agony after a life of hardship. What is the message? Our agony connects us to the saving life of Christ
• Fourthly and finally – Suffering tends to give rise to love. Acts of kindness and generosity, compassion and gratitude seem to triumph in the shadow of suffering. Our actions connect us even if our experiences do not. We can all remember a person who helped us when we were suffering. Who helped you?

In these frightening times when no one really has the answer, sharing how we feel with Jesus can be comforting because we know He is divine and human and has experienced all things. Jesus, we are told was “moved with pity” by the suffering that surrounded Him. We too are called to respond to those in our families, our neighbourhood, our communities and to the cries of our brothers and sisters in every war torn, disaster affected corner of the world. In the physical absence of Jesus, we are called to be the listening ear and the person who takes action for each other. It is through our connections, our shared and our lived experiences that we can begin to tackle the why together.

Engagement and Development Activities during the Pandemic:

There are many initiatives that we are offering during the online learning period. It is exciting to see that some are student lead while others have teachers taking the lead. We will be placing these initiatives in a variety of media sources so please keep an eye out for them. Some will be placed on the College Electronic Notice Boards, others the College Website, the College Facebook and Linkedin Pages, while others may be posted on Instagram, the Google Classroom and in the College Newsletter. Here are some of the many initiatives we are doing at present.

• Write a Book in a Day (yesterday). Working from 7.00-7.00pm
• iSTEM Challenge - Rube Goldberg Machines
• The Australian Esports High School League Competition
• Week 8 - SAClympiad (Science Olypiad St Andrews College version)
• Week 9 - SACttergories (Scattergoties St Andrews College version) - this gets very competitive 
• Week 10 - Hackazon (joint effort with Maths and TAS) Hack Lab High School which is a joint program with Deloitte
• Online Mindfulness. 4 sessions each week - 2 with our Senior Students (Monday Recess & Wednesday Lunch) & 2 with our Junior Students (Tuesday Recess & Thursday Lunch). 
• Pandemic Portrait Competition: CAPA is running the 'Pandemic Portraits' Art Competition. Entries closed yesterday.During this difficult time many are faced with challenges, however continue to share their light with others, these are called 'silent heroes'. This competition is a great opportunity to provide thanks and appreciation, to demonstrate Jesus’ message of love and gratitude towards these special people within our community during this lockdown. 
• SAC Talent Show
• 'Motivate Mondays' and 'Faith Fridays' - ongoing series of motivational and uplifting IG posts shared on the College Instagram account. 
• Student Prayer - Thursday afternoon where students are invited to share in a short Prayer where they can pray together as a community.
• Dance for Sport
• Book Week Activities
• Letter Writing to residents of Holy Family Retirement Village & Nursing Home/Blacktown Mt Druitt Hospitals
• Zest Week Activities (as part of a focus on Character Strengths)
• Indigenous Literacy Day activities
• Premier’s Reading Challenge
• RUOK Day Activities

Write a Book in a Day:

Congratulations to all the students who have completed their Books as part of the Write A Book In A Day competition. Thank you to all the teaching staff who assisted our students virtually or in person during the course of the project completion. Special thanks go to Mr Dewar who organised this opportunity and the following staff who assisted: Ms Kelly, Mrs Flaihan and Ms Hicks. 

Building Works:

The College Hall on the Senior Campus wall panelling and the addition of more Apple TV’s has been completed.

The Art classrooms on the Senior Campus will be completed for Day 1 Term 4.

The Hall Flooring on the Junior Campus is completed with the line marking done.

We look forward to sharing these wonderful facilities with the student body upon your return in Term 4.

Enrolment for Year 7 and 11 2023 

NOW OPEN