Santa Sophia Catholic College Newsletter

March Newsletter - Term 1, Week 6 2021

Welcome Address by Mark De Vries

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NEWS

Enrolments now open: please let your family/friends know

Building Update: Topping Out Ceremony

Recently, the construction of our school site reached a significant milestone - the completion of the roofing structure on the highest part of the building - and on Thursday 25 February, a Topping Out Ceremony was held to celebrate. The progress of the building is right on track for us to move in by Term 4 this year!

Read the article published in the Daily Telegraph here.

Conquering the first day of school

Sharing the excitement of the first day of school for our new Kindy and Year 7 students, our staff were ready and welcoming to ease the transition for both parents and students.

Read about it and watch the video highlights here.

Kindergarten Update:

by Mrs Finucane and Miss Fitzalan

You’re off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!” - Dr. Seuss, Oh The Places You’ll Go!

It seems like just yesterday that the Kindergarten children arrived at Santa Sophia for their very first day! There was a balloon arch, lots of photos and many excited little faces ready for big school. The Kindergarten children were so brave, even though their family could not come into the classroom with them this year (parents you were very brave too!). Nevertheless, the excited buzz of the first few weeks of Kindergarten has continued, and the children are now settled into their routines and love coming to school!

We start each day altogether with a prayer circle where we create a prayer space, pray to God and sing songs. We have many beautiful singers in Kindergarten! We have also had the opportunity to participate in our Opening School Mass in the church, as well as an Ash Wednesday Liturgy. The children are to be commended on the reverence shown during these times.  

Read the full update here.

Year 7 Reflection Day

After a week long Boot Camp, today, we invited our new Year 7 students to rest and reflect on their purpose and who they want to be through a Reflection Day. 

Read about it and watch the video highlight here.

Hands on with Medieval Europe

'How does the past influence the present?' Stage 4 History students are studying Medieval Europe, considering how medieval practices have shaped our society and whether the reintroduction of some of these practices would make our society a better place.

Read about it here.

Lent starts with Ash

Today was a big day in our College, as we entered into the season of Lent as a Catholic faith community - Ash Wednesday begins this season of Lent, a time for fasting, prayer and giving alms. Learn more about this special day here.

Year 1 take a trip into outer space

Year 1 had an awe-inspiring time today taking a trip into outer space. With thanks to Starr's Planetarium, we were lucky enough that the planetarium came to us!

Read about it here.

Swimming Carnival

The grey clouds couldn't rain on our parade at the Swimming Carnival last Wednesday 24 February. House against House, a jam-packed Lizard Lane and great tunes by DJ Magann. What an awesome day for our Santa Sophia community! 

See the highlights video and full photo gallery here.

Year 7 Camp

The full cohort of Year 7 students attended camp from February 25 to 26  and had so much fun making unforgettable memories as they begin their first year of high school together.  Hosted at the Sydney Academy of Sports in Narrabeen, the two days were jam packed with several different outdoor activities, including archery, kayaking, crate climbing and campfire cooking. 

View more photos from the Year 7 Camp shared on our Facebook page and below, a highlights video put together by teacher, Mr Tiglao.

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Message from Fr Carlos

Dear Friends in Christ,

I hope you all are well. We are delighted to be able to gather in significant numbers back again. We are truly blessed in that regard!

Ever since I have come to Our Lady of the Angels parish and have celebrated Mass at the College, I have appreciated the students' attention and devotion. This year, in addition to a number of scheduled Masses, both Fr Omar and I look forward to engaging with the students of Santa Sophia in various ways. We mean to be present and active in our ministry service among the students as they grow to maturity, both human and spiritual.

I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to the Lenten mission at Our Lady of the Angels parish, from Wednesday 24 through Sunday 28 March. The Immaculata Sisters will be coming from Tasmania to run the mission and there will be guest speakers and plenty of opportunities for personal and communal prayer. The mission will be a great help for us to get ready for Holy Week and Easter. More information on the mission will be forthcoming, but I just wanted to share the news so that you can mark your calendars. 

Additionally, as you might know, the Church has dedicated this year to St Joseph. On March 19, there will be a special Mass to celebrate the Saint and as well as an opportunity for married couples to renew their marriage vows. You are most welcome to attend!

Fr Carlos

If you would like to organise a time to meet with Fr Carlos you can make an appointment using the Parish Office number: 8883 4063

Weekend Mass Times:

Saturday: 5:30pm vigil

Sunday: 7:00am, 8:30am, 10:00am, 5:30pm

Wellbeing Update

by Mrs Anoushka Houseman 

It has been wonderful to welcome so many new students and families to our Santa Sophia community in all grades. Our gorgeous new Kindergarten students are loving big school and gradually getting used to the longer days filled with learning and fun. In Secondary, our Year 7 students participated in a 5 day "Boot Camp" to help them transition to high school and our new secondary students in other grades were supported in their transition by participating in an innovative and unique student onboarding program developed by our school through Canvas. We will continue to work with all these students face to face, as well as our returning students to help them feel connected and supported at school. Arlo, our school wellbeing dog, also made a special guest appearance to both campuses to welcome all students to our school. He certainly brought lots of smiles and happiness to both students and staff. He can't wait till he can visit more regularly once we move to our permanent premises in Box Hill!

This year we will also continue to use the Pulse wellbeing online program with our secondary students. Pulse is a tool for measuring the week-to-week wellbeing and engagement of our students. It tracks the wellbeing of individual students so that the school can respond to those who express a need. It also tracks anonymised student sentiment about their engagement with the school so the school can make changes based on student voice. Every Wednesday morning from now on during homeroom time, students will complete the Pulse wellbeing survey which only takes 1 -2 minutes. Any students requesting help will be followed up within the day. There is now also a new gratitude feature at the end of the survey which is an optional field for students who want to send a positive affirmation to another person (staff or student) as we know gratitude is a key component of happiness. Pulse is an important wellbeing initiative in our school and will provide vital data to us which will be reviewed regularly and used for planning and support.

Year 10 students have taken the leadership in promoting the values of Love and Charity by selling roses for Valentine's Day across the school. All proceeds went towards a Lenten charity. These students are to be commended for this initiative and a testament to them responding to the student leadership program run at the beginning of the term.

Parent Information Evening Replays

If you were unable to attend our recent Virtual Parent Information Evenings, please view the recorded replay by clicking one of the below links:

Kindy  |   Stage 1   |    Stage 4   |    Stage 5

Inside the Happy Families Parent Membership

REGISTER FOR YOUR FREE MEMBERSHIP HERE: 

https://members.happyfamilies.com.au/santa-sophia-catholic-college

1.  Quick tip: No Yelling:  Our Quick Tip videos are short snippets of Dr Justin explaining the most important principles of positive parenting.

Link

2. Archive: Taming Toddler Tantrums:

Toddlers and pre-schoolers are tiring. They wet the bed, have tantrums in supermarkets, refuse to eat good food (or any food for that matter), and generally say no to pretty much everything we ask them to do. Are they on a daily mission to make our lives hell?

Join Dr Justin Coulson for this live one-hour webinar as he unpacks the science and provides practical advice for parenting in the REAL world. You’ll leave this webinar with simple tools and techniques to help you confidently navigate the tumultuous toddler years.

Link

TERM DATES/EVENTS

Dates for your Diary:

Wednesday 3 March

- Open Day for Year 7 to 11 at Schofields Site

Wednesday 10 March

- Open Day for Kindergarten to Year 6 at Rouse Hill Site