Subject Selection for Year 10 Going into Year 11 2023

As this exciting time approaches the College is holding our Subject Selection Information Evening on the 8th of June at 6pm on our Senior Campus.

We encourage all our Year 9 Accelerated Students and Year 10 Students to visit the subject selection website which holds all the information that will prepare them for the selection of their subject for the Preliminary Course in 2023.

Students can approach their class teachers, KLA Leaders of Learning, Ms May, Mrs Utoikamanu and Ms Kalifa with any questions at any time during the subject selection process.

Student Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent teacher conferences are an important part of your child’s learning journey at St Andrews College. It is a time where parents and students can enter into in-person discussion with their child’s classroom teacher. It is a perfect opportunity to build relationships within our community and receive helpful feedback about your child’s learning.

Our Year 7-10 Student Parent Teacher Conferences will be held over two sessions in Week 9 on Wednesday 22nd June and in Week 10 on Tuesday 28th June. Details of times and when bookings open will be provided to you via Compass News and email.

We encourage you to book in a time to speak with your child’s classroom teacher. These bookings can be made using the Compass App. If you have any questions about Compass or Compass Bookings please contact the College for us to assist you. We look forward to meeting with you on these evenings.

Josilin Kalifa
Assistant Principal - Teaching, Learning and Wellbeing

From Director of Faith, Mission & Learning

Jesuit Refugee Service - Food Collection Week 6-10 June

As a response from their Year 10 Faith-in-Action Workshop with Jesuit Refugee Service, students have called on  all families and staff of St Andrew's College to support the significant needs of those whom JRS helps on a daily basis.  https://aus.jrs.net/en/our-work-jrs-australia/ 

There is a food drive at St Andrew's from Monday 6 to Friday 10 June. Please see attached for the list of goods that are required. 

Year 10 students are calling on all of the community of St Andrew’s to bring one thing (maybe more) to donate next week to support the needs of refugees in Australia. This donation will really make a difference to someone's life.

We are so proud as a St Andrews College Community as “people for others.”        

At the end of the collection, on your behalf Mr Hoare and Mr Clarke will be delivering these groceries to JRS at Westmead, The need is real! Whatever you bring will be in someone's cupboard before we know it as the demand is enormous.

Jesus said, “Whatever you do the least of my brothers and sisters, that you do unto me.”

So let's do our best to fill the back room of the Sacred Space with food and help our brothers and sisters in need this week.

Thank you in advance for your support,

Year 10 Faith & Justice Students, Mr Hoare and Mr Clarke

Teamwork Week

Teamwork Week was held in Week 3 this Term - congratulations to our Student Leaders for their excellent work - in particular the Wellbeing Portfolio & Mr Frankham for his support & guidance. As always the daily prayers & songs set the mood and there were great challenges during the week. Our next Character Strength Week, “Love of Learning”, will be held in Week 8.

House Spirit

It was wonderful to see (& hear) the House Chants that occurred yesterday in preparation for next week’s Athletics Carnival. SInce we were unable to celebrate this year’s Swimming Carnival as a College, students are excited to finally show their House Spirit. Congratulations to our Senior & Junior House Captains for their enthusiasm and passion in leading their Houses, along with the Yr 12 Leaders. We wish all Houses all the best for the upcoming Athletics Carnival. 

House Cup - Points Update

The points update for the 2022 House Cup Competition for this week is:

Bennelong: 17, 320

Chang: 21, 889

Frances: 21, 412

Gould: 26, 884

Mrs Sue Cooper
Leader of Wellbeing and Learning

scooper@parra.catholic.edu.au

Hello everyone we are now at the halfway point of term 2, 

As always, students in year 9 are asked to strive to improve in different areas of their student life. It is always good to see our students at St Andrews doing good things and trying to be the best person they can be. I have again listed below what some areas to improve in are:

• Seeking feedback from your teachers to improve writing skills
• Attendance
• Lateness
• Receiving merits
• Attitude towards learning - not giving up, trying your best
• Doing something for the community and others - helping with school work, picking up rubbish, etc
• No uniform infringements
• No lunch or afternoon detentions

We want to make sure we are continually improving everything about ourselves during our time at St Andrews. Let’s make sure that we set ourselves some goals to make sure we can be the version of ourselves. 

UNIFORM EXPECTATIONS

Last fortnight I spoke with the whole of year 9 in regards to uniform expectations as I am starting to see some students who are not following the policy. If you need a reminder of what the uniform expectations are, look in your Learning Planner on pages 15A and 16A.

I wish to remind everyone again that the following needs to be done at all times or a red card will be issued:

• Blazers should be worn into Learning Group until their Learning Advisor sees them
• Blazers should be worn after period 6 and when leaving the College
• Non-St Andrews items such as beanies and hoodies SHOULD NOT be worn to school. 
• If a student cannot wear their sports uniform, they are required to wear their normal school uniform
• School jumpers cannot be worn over sports uniforms. A school sports jacket is required.
• Boys must have their facial hair shaved

I understand with the weather getting a lot colder students may want to keep extra warm. However, you need to comply with the school policy and not bring any hoodies or beanies. A black or navy scarf and gloves can be worn. 

NAPLAN

Congratulations to all year 9 students who have successfully completed their NAPLAN tests. Thank you to Mr Haras for organising the running of these sessions.

Student Accomplishments

Debating

Goodluck to those students in year 9 who are part of the debate team. Again it is good to see that we have students putting themselves forward and having the confidence to do something like this. 

Our year 9 debaters are:

• Elyscia Barret
• Alexandra Marasigan
• Isabelle Metcalfe
• Aditya Rawal
• Raphaella Thimiopolos-Wilson
• Alexandra Iskander

Keep up the good work

PDSSSC Sport Season 2

Congratulations to those who have been successful in making the Soccer and Netball teams for this term. Good luck, play hard and represent the school with pride.

CAPA Showcase

Congratulations to those students who were able to showcase their creative talents last Tuesday 24th June. It was very good to see what talent we have in year 9 and at St Andrews.

A big congratulations to Liana Banares who received an art prize pack for their selection as People's Choice Awards at the CAPA Showcase.What an amazing achievement!

Year 9 Reflection Day

Our year 9 reflection day is coming up in Week 8 June 17. This is a compulsory day for our students.

Off-campus/School Events Permission Slip

As reminded on Compass this week, you need to return this note to the office or myself ASAP. If you need another note, please see me in B1

Final Message

As we hit the second half of the term, let us make sure we continually show respect to those around us in the St Andrews community. Let us stay motivated and make sure to build a positive character. 

Mr Kharl Carlos
Leader of Wellbeing - Year 9

WELCOME - RESPECT - CONNECT - EMPOWER

On the 20th of May, 13 students visited St Francis - House of Welcome in Graville with Mrs Kemal and Mrs van Gestel. Leonie Dyer, the Community Engagement and Partnerships Manager at the House of Welcome informed our students with the confronting facts, statistics of Asylum Seekers and heartbreaking truths often experienced when seeking refuge. 

“An asylum seeker is a person looking for protection because they fear persecution, or they have experienced violence or human rights violations”. 

Students were then introduced to a lady (who we cannot identify), a highly qualified Doctor who once lived in Pakistan but had to leave her homeland due to terrifying corruption. She left everything behind, including family, as she feared for her life. After she had explained the very emotional story of her journey, we were moved to enforce our faith into action. 

Students formed small groups to formulate campaigns and survival kits to support/help asylum seekers in Australia, eventually coming together to collaborate and share these ideas with Leonie. 

In upcoming College assemblies, representatives from this group will be informing our community of the issues surrounding asylum seekers and what we can do to support ‘House of Welcome’ in order to help those in need. 

Shandel Kemal & Frances van Gestel

Over the last few years, St Andrew’s College has developed a strong reputation for its Creative and Performing Arts, from its well-known CAN Festivals starting in the early 2000s, showing that creative potential sparks within Greater Western Sydney. 

On May 24th, 2022, the Marayong school hosted its first CAPA night: a new event to the school, which aimed to support the arts and crafts of the Stage 5 CAPA students at SAC. The day presented a wide variety of crafts, including Visual Arts, Drama and Music.

4pm. The first stage of the night began: the Art Exhibition. The whole room turned from a library to an art gallery; in just minutes. Parents, students, teachers. They all flooded the atmosphere, revealing the high amount of popularity for the art expo. The SAC community (and members outside SAC) had an opportunity to wander around the art exhibition, admiring all the various shapes and forms of artworks created by our SAC students.

For the Year 9 Visual Arts students, a mini version of the Archibald Prize was hosted, which allowed the Year 9 students to present their talents in creating portrait paintings: artworks that reveal the identity and life of important people in their lives. For the Year 10 Visual Arts students , a whole collection of Suburbia artworks were presented publicly, which signified the Year 10 students’ connections and imaginations of important places in their lives. 

Colours, crowds and conversations. What an afternoon to begin with!

5pm. The second stage of the night began: the Music performances. The large audience gathered around in a wide circle, to view the compositions of their fellow peers from SAC (aka the Stage 4 and 5 Music students). Microphones were checked, auto-tuning was checked and confidence was checked. The Stage 4 and 5 Music students’  theory and practical work, in Music, came down to a moment, worth waiting for. 

Throughout the performances, the audience was taken down memory lane, as they listened to nostalgic tunes including “Iris” (by Goo Goo Dolls), “2002” (by Anne-Marie) and “I Feel It Coming” (by The Weeknd). After the constant nostalgia rides, the audience clapped and cheered in content, for the spectacular performances in the middle of the night!

Sounds, surprise and smiles. The event kept on ramping up with joy!

6pm. The third and final stage of the night began: the Drama performances. The audience moved from the Learning Centre, all the way to the Performing Arts block for an ending which would leave them coming back for more. Everybody gathered around the stage, willing to what performances and plots would await them. The Drama crew (aka the Stage 5 Drama students) knew what to do.

The event started off with a Year 9 miming scene, followed by Year 10 monologues (which were surprisingly relatable). The event’s ending performance left the audience laughing, gasping and fascinated in the short play of the Year 9 students! Emotion was definitely what brang the SAC community together in unity, because of the Drama performances.

Exaggerated, expressed, evoked. The finale certainly left the audience with a chuckle in their hearts!

After two disrupted years of lockdown, the school has been able to freely host a variety of events that allow for in-person gatherings, like the CAPA Showcase night, to occur in 2022.

Overall, the results of the CAPA Showcase night turned out to be spectacular. The event's popularity was high and so was the quality of the art forms shown, through Visual Arts, Music and Drama, by students at St Andrew’s College. 

Thank you to all the SAC community members that were involved in SAC’s first-ever CAPA Night! Whether you came as a guest, artist, performer, photographer or manager, your involvement is greatly appreciated!

The Learning Centre was packed full of excitement, as tons of students among the SAC community lined up to see the Junior CAPA Night Showcase in full-swing! Here are some of the students’ thoughts on the phenomenal showcase, from Sabrina Dutong (Year 7) and Clariz Dela Rosa (Year 8)!

Benjamin Reyes (Year 9)
SAC Media Team Photographer and Writer

SACART WEEK 6 

CAPA Showcase + People’s Choice Awards

On Tuesday 24th May, students from Year 9 and 10 Visual Arts showcased their artworks from their study in Visual Arts so far this year. Year 9s put on display their vibrant portraits of an influential person in their lives whilst Year 10s created  a vast variety of artworks in different mediums exploring the concept of ‘Suburbia’. Along with showcasing their artworks, students gained skills in writing artist statements to include with their citations which were displayed alongside the artworks. It was wonderful to be able to transform the Learning Centre into an exhibition space.

As part of the exhibition, there were two ‘People’s Choice Awards’ QR codes displayed. Students, staff, parents and guests were able to vote for their favourite artworks in Year 9 and Year 10. We are excited to make this part of the traditions at SAC and to encourage our students to feel proud and excited to show their hard work and dedication outside of the classroom. Though the awards are not an indicator of their grade or their efforts; it was a wonderful way to involve the audience and discuss with students back in the classroom the different roles of audiences and how this relationship operates in the art world. (Students learn this as the Conceptual Framework, part of the Visual Arts syllabus)

Our People’s Choice Award winners have been recognised at assembly this week and received certificates for their work.

We look forward to welcoming our community to future CAPA events. There will be another Art Exhibition in the year, where we will aim to showcase artworks from our Stage 4 students as well, in addition to a Senior Art Show.

A big thank you to the College Leadership Team, Visual Arts Teachers; Mrs Kemal and Miss Rivera, CAPA teachers and SAC teaching staff for their support of this event!

People’s Choice Awards

Year 9 Archibald - People’s Choice Winner Liana Celeste Banares Lola Norma	Year 10 Suburbia - People’s Choice Winner Aleina Hartono  A Springtime Walk in East Santorini

CAPA Showcase

HSC Work in Progress Night

We had another wonderful evening on Wednesday 1st June where students in Year 12 HSC Visual Arts class participated in the annual HSC Body of work Work in Progress Night. (WIP Night). Mrs Kemal, Year 12 class teacher has provided more details for the evening below. 

We thank our external markers who took the time to travel to SAC in order to provide valuable feedback to our students. Johnny Romeo, who has been working with our students as an artist in residence, shared his expertise as a contemporary practising artist. 

Students have been thriving under the guidance of Mrs Kemal and they are working tirelessly to complete their artworks to a high standard. A variety of concepts are explored this year and it’s been incredible to see the students’ growth.

We look forward to a HSC Visual Arts Showcase later in the year prior to the completion of the HSC Body of Works. The BOWs are due for hand in in Term 3, 29th August this year.

Year 7 ‘Oldenburg inspired Food Sculptures & Documented Forms’ 

Year 7 students completed their enlarged food sculptures and have recently explored a new expressive form, Documented Forms. Students practised Inquiry based learning, investigating curiosities throughout this collaborative project. The students questioned; How does the environment change the content of your artwork? How are they interrelated and what is their relationship? We then left the classroom to capture our work in site-specific locations using photography skills such as, rule of thirds, depth of field, shadows and perspective. 

Year 8 ‘Cubist artworks’

Year 8 artists have recently completed their Cubist artwork, students were to choose to fragment a childhood character or an instrument of their choice. These Junior artists learnt a variety of skills depending on the medium they chose to use for this task, whilst also learning how to document artmaking practice like a professional artist. They created an artwork that shows an understanding of Cubist form and composition, as well as their control in specific artmaking techniques to reflect the recognisable features of the art period in focus. 

Samantha Xavier	Allistaire Reyes	Heidi Kam
Nikki Gasendo	Catharina Purwadi	Samanta Cardona
Althea Marasigan	Joshua Contemplacion	Alyssa Sinbandhit

Year 8 ‘Surrealism’ 

Following on from Cubism, students have been introduced to our new art movement, Surrealism. It was an art movement that relied upon dreams, nightmares and images from the subconscious for its bizarre, unusual subject matter. We recently studied the artist Stefan Szaitsits who creates fascinating pencil drawings of child-like figures. Zsaitsits often combines the main figure with symbolic imagery which reflects an emotion, the results are surrealistic. They are faces that often hide behind something, faces that are overdrawn by eyes, faces overgrown by plants or pencil-strokes, faces sunken in sea and clouds, masked faces, lost faces. After analysing his work using the subjective and structural frames, we then created an artwork inspired by his style. 

Artworks in progress:

	Joshua Contemplacion
Cayden Landrigan	Achuil Makog	Samanta Cardona
Clariz Dela Rosa	Melissa Ghneim	Allistaire Reyes

Year 10 Suburbia 

Students have completed their Suburban Body of Works, each showcasing a range of skills depicting the same theme in a different perspective. Students have been researching, experimenting, evaluating/reflecting and creating since the end of last term. Students throughout this assessment had to demonstrate their understanding of Suburbia displaying high creativity, subtlety and originality. Students explored and communicated their unique ideas using intriguing subject matter, appropriate form, media and a range of techniques. Altogether, artists in the year 10 have exhibited in the CAPA showcase approximately 80 pieces in various forms; some traditional (drawing on paper, painting on canvas), some more contemporary (moving artworks using motion & works that involve more than just sight). 

Mikayla Balobalo	Mikayla Balobalo	Athieu Majok
Ella Calura	Ella Calura	Ella Calura
Jenille Calingao	Aleina Hartono
Noah Michael	Noah Michael	Noah Michael
Marcia Chua	Marcia Chua

Thursday representative sport

Unfortunately our soccer teams have experienced 2 washouts at the start of the season and are eagerly awaiting to play what is hoped to be their first game next week!

Our netball teams have been fortunate enough to play rounds 1 and 2, with the junior team playing their first game this week after a BYE in week 1.

We wish all teams the very best for this season and thank their coaches for their hard work training and preparing their respective teams for the competition. 

College Athletics Carnival

Our College Athletics Carnival is Friday 10th June and held on school grounds. If your son/daughter would like to nominate a distance for the PDSSSC Carnival in Javelin, 1500m, Triple jump or Discus, please email me kbrogan@parra.catholic.edu.au as these events are not run at our College carnival. These event distances/times must be competitive and verified by a student’s local Athletics club.

Unfortunately we will also be unable to run our 400 and 800m event. Any student who is a competitive runner in these events and wishes to nominate times for these events needs to also email me. Nominations are due by Friday 17th June.

Upcoming sport events:

• PDSSSC girls and boys Oz-tag gala day- Wednesday 27th June
• PDSSSC girls Netball gala day- Wednesday 20th July St Andrews will be entering a junior, intermediate and senior girls team. Thanks to Ms Goldie, Mrs Xuerub and Mrs McKechnie for your work coaching these teams in the lead up to the event.
• PDSSSC Dance competition- Monday 25th July. St Andrews is entering contemporary, jazz, cultural and solo performances. Thanks to Mrs Weaver for your hard work preparing our dance groups.
• PDSSSC Athletics Carnival (for students successful in meeting qualifying times/distances from our College carnival)- Friday 26th August

Student sporting successes

You may recall reading about Bianca Infante (of year 11) who was successful in qualifying for the NSWCCC open Volleyball. Bianca is competing next Friday at the NSW All Schools Quad Series Tournament. 

Bianca has also secured a spot in NSW State Team Squads for the divisions of Youth U17 and Junior u19, where she will compete in the National Championships occurring in July (Junior U/19) (Youth U/17) in Bendigo, Victoria. Last but not least, Bianca was invited to join the Australia National Junior Development Squad, where she is training amongst the best junior volleyball players in the nation. By joining this squad, Bianca is in contention of playing for Australia for international events and tournaments.

This is such a HUGE achievement for Bianca and St Andrews is very proud of you. We cannot wait to hear more about the results of these events! Congratulations Bianca.

Kayla Brogan
Leader of Learning Sport

Year 12 PDHPE

On Monday 23rd May, myself and Mr Frankham took our year 12 PDHPE classes to the ‘Big Day out’ in the CBD. 

The Big Day Out for HSC PDHPE brought together leading academics, industry experts and world recognised athletes to share their insights on the PDHPE syllabus with Year 12 HSC students. These included Rohan Browning, Olympic Semi Finalist & Australia’s Second Fastest 100m Runner, John Quinn, High Performance Coach and Doctor Tom Cross, Consultant Doctor to the Sydney Swans as well as experts from the University of sydney, Dementia Australia and the Heart Foundation.

This was the first time that St Andrews was fortunate enough to attend this valuable learning opportunity where students were offered a practical insight into their learning and a way to put their knowledge into practice, listening to those who work in industries relevant to our areas of study.

Here are some testimonials from some of our year 12 students about their thoughts on the day:

• “This was a very beneficial experience that allowed me to take this learning and apply it further in the classroom.”
• “Hearing an Olympian discuss his training and regimented program, especially talking about how he handles stress and pressure was very insightful.”
• “It summed up everything that we had been learning in class and linked concepts together.”
• “Those working in the industry provided us with a variety of examples that will benefit our writing.”
• “The industry knowledge that presenters brought allowed us to see how difficult concepts studied in class were applied to elite athletes and to discuss the future of sport and training.”

Year 11 Community and Family Studies

Year 11 CAFS students have been learning about observation as a primary research method. Students were assigned to the task of the ‘marshmallow challenge,’using 90cm of sticky tape, 90cm of string, 20 pieces of spaghetti and one marshmallow to build the tallest freestanding structure in 20 mins. Whilst some groups worked together under the pressure of time, other groups watched on and commented on areas of our learning such as leadership, group dynamics, conflict and the roles individuals adopted in groups. Here is what they created!

Mrs Kayla Brogan
Leader of Learning PDHPE (Junior Campus)

On Monday 30th May, Keya Pandya, Nikshay Nand and Abiel Santos attended the Cyber Academy Launch at Deloitte office in the City. Keya, Nikshay and Abiel took part in CEDP’s first Hackazon in collaboration with Deloitte last year which led to the Cyber Academy Launch this year. The aim of the Academy is to provide for selected students employment and tertiary education opportunities in this industry (Cyber Security) from 2023 onwards. 

Specialist Senior Manager in Cyber Attack and Response Pieter Westein from Deloitte ran the session on the day. He explained what he does in his day to day work as an ethical hacker for various companies. We then completed some CTF (capture the flag) challenges which required students to think outside the box and use investigative skills to find clues to complete the challenges.

After lunch, Pieter launched a final challenge in which Nikshay Nand was in the top three and his reward was an offer for a day at Deloitte to see how they operate on a daily basis. 

Ms Flaihan
Assistant Leader of Learning Science (acting)

The May Writing Competition has just concluded with yet another high-quality round of writing. Unlike last year, where original compositions were the majority of entries, classwork is being submitted across the various subject areas. The quality of writing occurring is once again at a high standard. With that in mind, the winners in the month of May are:

Year 7: Richard Tannous

Year 8: Ruby Ison

Year 9: Mackenzie Jones

Year 10: Athieu Majok

Year 11: Kritika Aryal

Each winner receives a $30 Teen gift voucher.

Our Honourable Mentions with quality submissions in the month of May are:

Tapan Padya (7), Aaron Geevarghese (8), Monica Luong (8), Tristan Fegradoe (8), Ben Reyes (9), Jelena Wong (9), Irish Raymundo (9), Monark Patel (10), Rayna Rao (10), Primaljeet Sandhu (10), Alessandra Bova (11), Max Preet (11). 

Below are some samples of writing from May. Fonts have not been altered to preserve the intentions and originality of the student work. Thank you to those who entered. I look forward to receiving your submissions for the next competition ending on June 30th. 

Extract from ‘Roots of 1908’ Kritika Aryal, Year 11.

It is the middle of winter. The distant sound of laughter and music fills up the streets of this small town. There are people rushing by, casually bumping into each other, exchanging small apologies as they walk. There are children throwing fits at their parents demanding toys they want from the store displays, completely oblivious to their parent’s lacking salaries which is is just enough to feed their

stomachs. There are the ‘important’ people who always walk as if they have somewhere to be. They carry grey, tinted briefcases and wear freshly polished shoes., and occasionally glance at their watch as they walk.

Then there are the people that no one really notices. These people slip out of their views never to be thought about again.

A young boy is walking on the street, shoulders slumped, and face grim. He walks, dragging his feet along, entirely immersed in his own world. He rarely laughed, and even when he did it became lost in a sea of sadness.

Walking on the other side of this young boy is a middle-aged woman. When she walks, the streets and her come to an understanding; as if the concrete is more than willing to rise in support of her soles.

She fights hard to ignore the little hole in her heart.

This young boy and woman are too engrossed in their thoughts to realize that they are heading in the same direction, to the same destination.

Another person joins this journey.

Extract from ‘Control’ by Max Preet, Year 11.

What was once a joyful sector, now transformed to a maze of streets. Polluted racket of automobiles and disheartened individuals echo down the long halls of metropolitan roads. The world seemed to grow cold, and though the sun was shining, the sky a bright blue, the colour seemed removed, except for the deep reds of propaganda posters scattered about. They branded someone in a black tuxedo, warily smoking a cigar, labelled with bold text denoting, ‘Control’. They polluted walls like insects, their meaning long lost in this cold, misery filled world. On the edge of a concealed street housing barren remnants of once wondrous complexes, an enshadowed structure stood. The Oldest House - a featureless structure of the brutalist style, its insides a labyrinth transposing at its whim. A blizzard of white paint coated the insides like Winter snow, heavily contrasted by dark blacks and melancholy greys. On the exterior the building spanned a similar height to those around it, just shy of 20 stories, homogeneously blending within the skyline. Yet on the inside, its scale knew no bounds. 

The home of the Federal Bureau of Control; an agency solely sworn to control lives. They had manufactured a fabricated world, placing it on a podium, force-feeding it to the common public. An unorthodox melody of deceiving lies puppeteering the working classes, stringing them along like leaves in the autumn winds. The black suits, they had herculean deposits of hatred for them, the common public; their simplicity in life, their abundance of joy, their fulfilment in selves. So the Bureau sought after what was the most tangible, their freedom. They ushered a wave of surrendering, subjecting them to a new way of life, one enslaved by restrictions and scrutiny. 

Extract from ‘Happy Puppet’ by Athieu Majok, Year 10.

Gold wired around the outskirts of the ceiling, draping the stage in saturations of red that contrasted the lonely abyss above. The audience opened into a sea of silence that blackened further into the abyss. Happy Puppet’s wooden figure pranced on stage, her fragile elbows and knees wobbled with every step. You see, Happy puppet isn't tied with any strings; but she dances. Happy puppet doesn’t have an audience or a script, not even a camera. Happy puppet is lonely but never alone, for something or someone watches out in the distance, she’ll never know. 

Act 1

Happy puppet sways amongst the empty crowd, her shadow as her guidance. Songs of silence take the stage, for only whimpers of air that escapes from the gaps of her wooden joints make noise. Happy Puppet begins her first act, the stage lights dim from the side. Her frail body toggles up and down as she pirouettes leaving no room for introduction. She mindlessly twirls, her fritted red skirt blooms in the luminescents, nothing will go wrong for Happy Puppet. Two large-scale mirrors enter from the sides, circling the brittle puppet. She curves to a stop before bowing to finish. Happy puppet locks her head to the side in confusion. Mumbling vibrates from the audience. The mirrors open like a gulf projecting multiple reflections of herself. Each reflection looked different, her mind sketched insecurities that replayed impulsively. The mirrors jittered before completely shattering into pieces. Happy puppet scrambled to the ground, snivelling into her arms as she shakely traced her way off the stage. Glass shards jabbed into her wooden soles as she avoided the sights of the mirrors. Nothing will go wrong for Happy Puppet, nothing ever does. 

Act 2

Happy puppet once again sways amongst the empty crowd, her shadow as her only guidance. Songs of silence take the stage,  for only left over glass settlements tugged into her foot tinkle. Happy Puppet begins her second act, the stage lights twitch to the sound of silence. Her thin body bounces cautiously, as she twirls. Nothing will go wrong for Happy Puppet, smile. Happy Puppet shines a smile, the crowd whisper’s beneath the black. Almost immediately objects fly from the abyss, name tags are being thrown onto stage simultaneously. Who are they for? Happy puppet takes a few steps back, her eyes jitter in fear. Smile. Happy puppet perks her lips in, obediently collecting the nametags off the ground, one by one the nametags pin into her thoughts. Ugly? Loner? Attention seeker? Failure? She drops everything, her mind pulsing as more name tags latch by her feet. Her feet splinter, as a flood of camera shutter erupts from the crowd. The lights flashed aggressively from the eyes of the crowd, Everyone’s watching. Nothing will go wrong for Happy Puppet, nothing ever does.

‘Not Meant to Be’ by Irish Raymundo, Year 9

Although you didn’t make it to the end of my book, I will always remember the pages you were in.

You were there for me. You always were. 

No matter if our situation was tough, if we stopped being friends or cut each other off, you always happen to be there.

I somehow always find myself back to you, or you do the same. Even if we seperated, there’s always a way one of us would come back to the other. 

In most cases, we didn’t treat each other well. One would start being quiet to the other, then we would go our own ways. Yet even though it happened so many times, we never seem to fully disappear from one’s life.

I see you sometimes, staring. Making direct eye-contact, my stomach always made a weird feeling. Whether it was only for a few seconds or for a long time, I couldn’t tell what the feeling was, if it were the emotion of fear, ecstasy, nervousness or some would say butterflies, I couldn’t make up what the feeling was.

I sometimes wanted to fully leave you. Seperate myself from you, but I can’t seem to make it happen, no matter how hard I try. Some would say it’s fate, destiny, some would say it’s a curse. I can’t say if you ever felt the same way, but I always happen to stare, I catch you doing it too.

We exchange small ‘ hello’s ‘ and ‘ hi’s ‘, yet I can’t seem to make a full conversation with you like how we used to. We used to be so close, I helped you with work whilst you always asked to call me. You seemed to always entertain me, even if we stay silent sometimes, you never failed to make me smile. 

Something about you always made me feel safe in a way, I don’t know if you felt the same. Others would say you seem terrifying to approach, whilst I see you as a friendly person. You were nice to me, not always, but we had our few exchanges.

I sometimes think if it’s the right thing to do, coming back again and again. No matter what the situation is, I seem to see one of us coming back. Although we are separated again, I wish that you would come back. 

Talk to me. I missed it. Not small hello’s, but actual conversations, whether it’s light hearted or deep.

I don’t think you’ll make it to the end of my book. But I’ll always remember the pages you were in. Every chapter, every sentence and every line. I will always remember.

Extract from ‘This is Reality’ by Sakina Ganiwalla, Year 9.

Just as much as I want to become a writer, an amazing writer who can let my imagination flow to the people around me, it’s just not possible when I have no imagination. Reality, studies, reputation, chores. They’re all getting in the way. I barely have any time to think about what story I want to write. What type of world I want everyone to see with me. What I could create with thousands of words. What I want to be. 

But then, at the end of the day, after a full day of work, I get to bring my guard down and let my subconscious finally take over. And let me tell you, my subconscious, it’s amazing. It holds so much more than I could ever imagine. It surprises me every night that I, someone who can’t even come up with something original when asked, can come up with a whole new world and characters with their own unique and complex personality in my dreams. 

But then, when I wake up, I’m slapped to reality, not being able to continue or finish off my quest properly. Most of the time, I can’t even remember what I dreamed about, and so I go through another bland day. 

But sometimes, just sometimes, I can remember the world my subconscious created. I can remember the characters I went on a trip with. I can remember the weird yet intriguing objects and species I met. And that’s one of the best feelings I can wake up to. The feeling of me being awake in reality, yet living and experiencing my imagination. Looking at every ordinary object around me, and turning it into something new. 

And when I run to my book and write down those words that have been stuck inside me, I feel light. I feel free. I feel…happy. I feel happiness that I’ve never felt with people. I feel relieved. So relieved that all those words, that all that imagination that was pent up in me, was able to freely flow out onto frail, thin white pages. Those pages could be torn easily, and yet they still carried my characters, my world that I carefully created. 

Poem by Tristan Fegradoe, Year 8.

The music has the power to sturr up different emotions,

The trees dance when the sun’s up,

They are full of happiness,

But when the music goes down, the world becomes quiet,

Darkness surrounds the world once the sun sets,

but instead of the quiet engulfing the world,

The sounds of the wild crickets, the wolves howling, the bears snoring, and the smell of moisture

Those noises are music to their ears.

The sun and the moon,

Each bringing about Life and Death,

It’s like they’re in a duet,

Both circling each other, waiting for the right moment to start the dance,

The music has the power to sturr up different emotions,

Whether it be sad or happy,

Light or dark,

The light of hope shines brightly always within you.

‘Review of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’ by Richard Tannous, Year 7.

I strongly believe that the best book of all time is Percy Jackson and the lightning thief. This book is amazing and can grab your attention from the first few pages. It is undoubtedly the best book for these three reasons, it is a very descriptive book, the multitude of characters are easily recognised and it has a well thought out storyline.

Percy Jackson is definitely a very descriptive book allowing it to ignite your imagination. In the book the use of figurative language allows the reader to imagine the fight scenes in the book. Doing so allows the reader to feel like they are in the moment of the book. This is shown during the fight with Ares. It described the movement of between the characters making the page feel very intense and having an exact picture in my head. This truly shows how good the book actually is.

When reading Percy Jackson the many characters in the book are easily recognised. The reason that the characters are easily recognised is because they are from Greek mythology. This fact helps the reader to understand a character’s potential or traits before they are shown, this allows the book to feel suspenseful. This is shown in the text when the character “Hades” was introduced. Knowing Hades as the God of the underworld with his pet “Cerberus” we got an understanding why Percy would venture there or what would occur there. The understanding of what a character's role is a crucial component of a good book.

The story line in a good book is crucial to its success, in Percy Jackson that element was nailed. Without a good storyline the book would not stay engaging and wouldn’t be action packed. Whilst reading I was engaged the entire time so much I got angry when I couldn’t read. The action between characters allowed the suspense to build easily and put you on your heels. In Percy Jackson the story line was full of plot twists like when Luke, the person that Percy thought was his friend actually was working with an evil God to kill Percy. The story line in Percy Jackson was above any other story line forcing the reader to think deeply in suspense.

In conclusion, Percy Jackson and the lightning thief is unquestionably the best book of all time. The language, storyline and characters were all crucial elements that elevated the book above the rest. The language was super imaginative and the storyline was the element that put everything in its place allowing the reader to try and follow along.

Discover ACU

Discover ACU is an opportunity to explore a study area of interest and give you an insight into the life of a university student at an ACU campus of your choice. 

Tailored to your study area of interest, these sessions will allow you to:

• participate in interactive workshops related to your degree of choice
• meet staff and current students
• explore your local ACU campus
• learn about industries and careers
• get helpful tips on preparing for university
• soak up the campus atmosphere.

You can choose a workshop from a range of study areas, which may include nursing, midwifery, paramedicine, education, physiotherapy, psychology, sports and exercise science and lots more. 

To sign up for the events that suit you, register using the links below.

Discover ACU – Blacktown Campus

Thursday 14 July

9.30am – 1pm

The Blacktown Campus event has a range of sessions available including:

• Arts
• Business
• Criminology
• Education
• Law
• Nursing
• Nutrition
• Sport and Exercise Science

Click here to register for the Blacktown Campus

Discover ACU – North Sydney Campus

Tuesday 5 July

9.30am – 1pm

The North Sydney Campus event has a wide range of sessions available including:

• Arts
• Biomedical Science
• Business
• Criminology
• Education
• Law
• Nursing
• Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Psychology
• Speech Pathology

Click to Register for the North Sydney Campus

Blacktown City Council HSC Lectures

Blacktown City Council will be running their popular HSC Study support program in June. These low cost HSC Lectures are delivered by HSC textbook authors and Head HSC Examination Markers to assist students with their HSC exam preparation.

HSC English Essay Writing Skills

Monday 6 June - 5.30pm - 7.30pm

Click here to register

HSC Biology Revision Lecture

Wednesday 15 June - 5.30pm - 7.30pm

Click here to register

Preparing for the Mathematics Standard 2 HSC Examination

Monday 20 June - 5.30pm - 7.30pm

Click here to register

HSC English Human Experiences Paper 1 Common Paper Standard and Advanced

Wednesday 22 June - 5.30pm - 7.30pm

Click here to register

All lectures cost $10.

Sydney Conservatorium of Music - Open Academy

Join Dr Narelle Yeo and professionals from the music theatre industry as they introduce students to the skills needed to be a great musical theatre performer. Students will have the opportunity to dance, act and sing in this hands-on workshop. The day aims to give students an experience of the fascinating, exciting, sometimes glamorous but always hard-working world of music theatre. 

Date: Saturday 18 June 

Time: 9am - 1pm

Cost: $150

Registrations: Click here to register

Sydney Conservatorium Portfolio and Audition Webinar

The Sydney Conservatorium of Music invites all students applying for Music degrees in 2023 to the upcoming Information Night. During the webinar students will receive tips on how to best prepare for an audition, how to create a portfolio and general information about music degrees offered at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. There will also be an opportunity for attendees to ask questions at the end of the presentation.

Date: Tuesday 7 June 

Time: 6.30pm - 7.15pm

Registrations: Click here to register

University of Tasmania

The University of Tasmania offers an accelerated Bachelor of Nursing and an accelerated Bachelor of Paramedicine at their Rozelle Campus. These courses can be completed in two years.  The University of Tasmania will be making early offers to their Bachelor of Nursing through their Schools Recommendation Program for 2023 entry.  Applications will open on 30 June.

Nursing Workshop

Nursing is the launch pad to a career in health. It will take graduates to places that they never thought possible. They could work in a huge range of areas including workplace safety, emergency medicine, and mental health, as well as make a real difference in the quality of life for the community.

This immersive workshop will provide Year 10, 11 and 12 students with an opportunity to explore real-world examples of research, study, and careers in Nursing.

They'll work alongside academics and researchers and experience hands-on activities, work through scenarios, and ask questions about career pathways and opportunities.

Applications to attend the workshop close Tuesday 7 June. Please check the website for details.

Nursing Workshop

Date: Thursday 14 July

Time: 8:45am – 3pm

Venue: Rozelle Campus, Sydney

Young Endeavour Youth Scheme

Applications for the 2022 Young Endeavour Youth Scheme are now open. This is an opportunity to join a crew of young Australians and embark on a life-changing journey – learning not only how to sail a square-rigged tall ship, but how to lead, support others and work together as a team. It’s a personal development opportunity unlike any other! If you’re aged 16-23 and ready to sail into the unknown, Young Endeavour is the adventure for you.

Successful applicants need to be prepared to face your fears, push themselves out of their comfort zone and discover how they rise to the challenges they face. By the end of the voyage you and your fellow youth crew will take command of the tall ship Young Endeavour and put your new skills to the test.

Students interested in the challenge are encouraged to visit the Young Endeavour website.