From The Principal
Dear parents
One of the important functions of the Parents and Friends Association is to engage and strengthen our community of parents, as well as to fundraise and make decisions regarding how these funds contribute to, especially the annual monetary contribution that is made by all families. Recently, the P&F hosted the bi-annual Quiz night held in the Community Centre. On behalf of all parents, I would like us to acknowledge the members of the committee for their tireless efforts:
• Callie Sterrett
• Sandra Fedele
• Silvana Cohen
• Kate Trainor
During the night, a very special donation was part of the silent auction, a book called ‘Forever 18’. Year 10 student Alisha Connor’s brother, Lucas Connors graduated at AvÐÔ°® Christi in 2016, and died on 30 March 2017 on his 18th birthday after being struck down by an aggressive form of cancer, osteosarcoma. His mum Suz has written his biography entitled ’18 Forever’ as a tribute to Lucas. All of us at AvÐÔ°® will remember Lucas very fondly, his intelligence and sense of humour influenced all who came into contact with him, remembered as a fine young man. If you would like to purchase this wonderful book, I provide the link: http://bit.ly/BalboaPress
In addition, I wish to thank all those who donated many prizes. In particular, we are grateful for the generosity of the following sponsors:
Jones Ballard Property Group
Gage Roads Brewing Co
Mash Brewing Co
Hewitt Studios Photography
The Dojo Martial Arts & Fitness
BusWest
Endota Day Spa Fremantle
SEQTA
Remondis Australia
Catalytic IT
Karma Lodge Rottnest
Diving Frontiers
Jenny Franklin Enterprises (JFE)
New Norcia
Allure Limousines
McCorkell Constructions
Roving Enterprises
AvÐÔ°®ion Australia
Melville City Council
Southern Taxation Services
Kardinya Bottle shop
Hairfree Centre & SkinLux
Steve Hall Plumbing & Gas
YogaZoo
Il Ciao Italian Restaurant
6PR
Tupperware - Gael House
Captain Cook Cruises
Tony Ale’s Fruit & Veg
Nunzio’s Italian Restaurant
Bliss by Z Custom Cakes
Willis CKA Risk Solutions
Bunnings O’Connor
Surfing WA Surf School
Connors Family
FairBridge Village
Suzanne Bailey
Zodium Lifestyle Boutique
Market Gallery Picture Framing
Catholic Youth Ministry (CYM)
Car Care Bullcreek
Top Solutions
The Left Bank
Slater Gartrell Sporting
Aroma Cafe Kardinya
Consent2Go
SkinCity Skin Centre
Silver Sponge Hand Car Wash
The Sushi Master
Floral Image
Trees Adventure Lanes Poole
Western Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO)
AvÐÔ°® Communication
At the recent P&F meeting, parents requested the return of the fortnightly e-News, which I am happy to re-commence with the circulation of this issue. AvÐÔ°® Christi is such a busy school, it is important we update you on a regular basis.
After a rain-soaked week, we experienced a bright, sunny day for our Athletics Carnival. I was delighted to chat to many parents who came along to enjoy the competition on the day.
Also hosting 20 Principals for a Catholic Secondary Principals’ meeting, it was also terrific to showcase our carnival and students last Friday. Congratulations to Merici House on winning the Shield, but the real winners were all the students who entered into the spirit of the day.
Year 8 and Year 11 Retreats, the Beagle Bay Immersion experiences, ‘Animal Farm’ Drama Production, Catholic Performing Arts Festival events, the Inter-House Athletics Carnival, AvÐÔ°® sporting activities almost on a daily basis, Languages Week, Science Week….the list goes on! Students are offered a myriad of extra-curricular activities to enhance and support their learning experiences at the College, and the last month was no exception. Hosting more than 60 bands for the Catholic Performing Arts Festival in our James Nestor Auditorium, I commend the Arts students, and their parents who dropped them off and picked them up afterwards, and for their selfless assistance in so many ways during the 5 evenings this competition was held.
Our Year 8/9 boys AFL football team had a great win last week in their Inter-district semi-final, turning the tables on CBC Fremantle who beat us in the qualifying rounds. The final score was 4.9 33 to 1.3 9. With Prendiville beating Clontarf, we will move on to play the grand final of the Eagles Cup against Prendiville. I wish coach Geoff Cantwell and his team all the best!
Our school community will commence the school day on Wednesday 15 August with the Feast of the Assumption Mass held in the Community Centre. On 15 August the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Assumption of Our Lady when according to our faith, the Holy Mother, "having completed her course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory".
Although defined as an article of faith by Pope Pius XII just over half a century ago, the Assumption of Our Lady into heaven has been accepted from back to the earliest of Christian times.
The Assumption signals the end of Mary's earthly life and marks her return to heaven to be reunited with Jesus. While the bodies of both Jesus and Mary are now in heaven, there is a difference between the Assumption and the Resurrection. Where Jesus arose from the tomb and ascended into heaven by his own power, Mary's body was taken up to heaven by the power of her Son. For this reason, we use different words to describe each event. One is the Ascension of Christ and the other, the Assumption of Mary.
It is also a ‘holy day of obligation’. In the Catholic Church, holy days of obligation (also called holydays, holidays, or days of obligation) are days on which the faithful are expected to attend Mass, and engage in rest from work and recreation, according to the Third Commandment.
All parents and friends are welcome to join us for Mass to commence at 8.45am in the Community Centre.
Staff at AvÐÔ°® Christi College attend professional development workshops over the course of Semester One and Semester Two after school. We offer a range of professional learning experiences across a number of domains – Catholic identity, Teaching and Learning, Digital Learning, and Accountability. An additional pupil free day is provided to all staff in Catholic schools as a token for all the extra-curricular activities, camps and retreats, which are coordinated and run by our staff. As a result, we have two pupil free days providing the community with an extended long weekend, mid-Term 3. This also assists our senior students to relax and review prior to preparing for Trial WACE and Year 11 examinations commencing all too soon.
With two short weeks coming up, I hope you all have a wonderful break next weekend.
Best wishes and God bless
Caroline Payne
Principal