SMC NEWS 2022 - Term 4, Week 9
Principal's Note
Dear Parents and Carers,
I would like to thank you as friends of the College for your support and willingness to journey with us this year. It has been a very busy year, a year where the school finally got back "on track" after a couple of years severely impacted by COVID. I sincerely hope we were able to meet your expectations as a College and look forward to spending 2023 together.
Our Presentation Night this year was an enormous success and I want to thank Tyhla Roper, Petra Barnes, Kirsty Eckhardt and Janine Thompson and the team for their painstaking work at bringing this celebration of student achievement to life. I felt that the performances of our many talented musicians and actors were a highlight of the evening. This was coupled with the superb and polished leading of the ceremony by our new student leaders. Thank you to all on a wonderful occasion.
The Presentation Night was preceded by the Year 12 Valedictory and Awards, also held in the Edmund Rice Cultural Centre. Congratulations to our Year 12 students and the Award Winners. We wish them all the very best in the coming weeks as they learn more about their ATAR's, SBAT's and other opportunities in their immediate future.
Congratulations and well done to the over 200 students who attended the Merit Trip last Friday, we hope you enjoyed the experience.
Please take care of yourselves and your family as you prepare to spend some quality time together in the coming weeks. Merry Christmas from St Mary's College!
Reflection
Christmas blessings
Cast your mind forward to Christmas Day.
A family gathers around their table for the traditional Christmas lunch (what does it look like in your family?) I'm constantly fascinated by the rituals and history that families build together. As parents, we work hard to hold on to these rituals because we understand our children will carry on these traditions in the future and I believe it creates meaning for us all.
Like most families, they’ve experienced their moments of unconditional love and crushing hurt. Like most homes, theirs has been visited by joy and tragedy, conflict and struggle, life and death. This Christmas day they not only carve pieces of chicken, beef or turkey, but they carve out a moment of time: to come together and realise that, all in all, they’re a blessing to one another and resolve to be more so, fully realising that the future will continue to be a mix of mystery and struggle.
Their Grace and Prayer boils down simply to this:
This is our family. This is who we are. Thank God we have one another.
Peace and Merry Christmas,
In Our Prayers
Old Boy, William "Reg" Logan passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family on 22nd November 2022, aged 91 years. Beloved Husband of Kathleen (dec'd). Dearly loved Father and Father-in-law of Maree and Heinz, Paul, Julie and Paul, Rod and Doreen, Gary and Kellie. Loving Pa to his 15 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. May he rest in peace.
Student Engagement
As we head into the summer holidays, I would like to thank the St Mary's families for their ongoing support and engagement with life here at the College. In our busy, busy worlds, I know how tricky it can be to be across everything and to stay in touch. This year, we have enjoyed the small success of our Parent Engagement Evenings and we will be continuing this in to 2023. Our first parent event will be for those parents starting their son/s in Year 7 in 2023 – highschool! How exciting! We will follow up through the year with speakers already booked to cover topics such as rites of passage for boys and their families, the impact of an increasing levels of sexualisation and some advice around drug and alcohol use for young people.
This week, we will be saying ‘goodbye’ to Mr Russell Craymer who is moving on to another position at Downlands College in 2023. Russell has been a steady and highly valued support for me and for the rest of the Student Engagement team. We are sad to see him go, but excited that he has an opportunity to share his skills and talents with another school community.
As families head in to the long break, we are aware that technology use can see a sharp increase. I have shared below some information from Safe on Social about another app that is currently trending. Please be aware of the very real dangers that your son might be facing online. They remind me of little children near a busy road – they have no idea how quickly they can move from ‘safety’ to ‘danger’. I know that it is challenging to keep up with everything that is happening in the digital world – I recommend this website to help with that: Blog | Safe on Social Media | Online Safety Education & Training
For now, I am looking forward to the holiday but by January, I’ll be looking forward to seeing your boys back at school for 2023. There is a lot of information on its way to families before the new school year begins – information about uniforms, lockers, classes, camps – so please keep an eye on your emails and make contact with the College if you have any questions.
What is Wizz?
Wizz – Make New Friends (2019) is a friend-finding chat app in the social media category focused on connecting strangers with common interests from all over the world. It allows users to find and meet new friends by scrolling through a live feed of other users to talk, and exchange pictures and videos; no option to use video calls.
Once two people agree to be friends, users can either freely directly message individuals or create a group chat where anyone can join them. User profiles, posts and bios are available for anyone to see.
Who is it suitable for?
The App store provides an age rating of 12+, whilst Wizz requires a minimum of 16+ for use.
Wizz gathers such data to put users of a similar age in the same feed. However, this is unreliable and misleading as the app has no authenticity or verification from its users to confirm their age or sex. This said, it allows users younger to create an account. Minors and adults frequently appear in the same space and can be connected if they accept each other’s friend requests. In turn, making it an unsafe virtual space for anyone under 18 years of age.
What are the potential dangers?
Whilst the app’s guidelines claim it prohibits sexual and violent content, it is evident that Group Chat conversations seem to directly violate their terms of service. The use of foul language is frequent and some users’ bio images are also sexually suggestive. The lack of censoring and the inability to use video calls can foster a perverse arena for catfishing and grooming between minors and adults or predators.
Users under the age of 18 have noticed these dangers and have commented that “The app is a hellhole for the spawns of maggots to slide into your DMs and attempt to swindle you for inappropriate things. Half the people I talk to on the app are catfishes and are not who they claim to be”.
Are there any parental controls available?
There are no parental controls available on Wizz. This and the very nature of uncensored digital communication is extremely dangerous for teens as this can foster inappropriate communication through opportunities for catfishing and grooming between minors and adults.
Final word
Parents must talk to their kids about the potential risks and dangers of posting personal information on Wizz and other social media apps in a way that empowers them. They need to feel safe speaking up and telling you what happened, so make sure your child knows that is always a safe space to speak up no matter the circumstances. Even if your kids do not use the app, it remains imperatively important to reinforce and teach appropriate and respectful communication and safely navigate such platforms.
Parents can discuss alternative social media apps that are more appropriate and safer for minors and explain the dangers for kids to interact with adults online and the risks of being friends with someone you’ve never met in person.
Mrs Samantha Parle, AP Student Engagement - parles@stmaryscollege.com
Stymie Message
Tuckshop Menu Week 9
The St Mary's College Tuckshop will be open on Wednesday and Thursday this week and closed Friday. Please see below menu options:
Wednesday & Thursday - Nachos and pastries (pies and sausages rolls)
Friday - Closed
Breakfast will still be available on Wednesday and Thursday.
Oustanding Results
Year 6 students Jonah Greenaway and Elijah Entwisle recently undertook their first practical exam on piano. I'm proud to report that both boys achieved a staggering 100% as their result! Congratulations boys on this exceptional achievement and keep up the great work.
Mr Benn Tracy, Director of Music - tracyb@stmaryscollege.com
From left to right: Jonah Greenaway and Elijah Entwisle
Movember Fundraising Efforts
Today is the last day to donate to our Movember campaign! Our goal was to raise $1,000.00.
Throughout the month, the 2023 leadership have organised three events to help collect donations:
- Inter-house Touch Football (Champions: Waterford)
- Inter-house Tug-o-War (Champions: Purcell)
- Paint-a-Stache event
St Mary's College raised a total of $451.90.
Currently, online we have raised $600.00 – which brings our combined total to $1,051.90.
Thank you all for your time, participation and encouragement throughout the month. Special mention to our four Mo-Bro's (Mr. Keogh, Mr. Reen, Mr. Grayson and Mr. Gregson) for growing their mo’s in the name of making a difference for men – in prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.
If you would still like to donate today, please click the following link: https://movember.com/m/14941681?mc=1
Mr Harrison Murphy
Notice Board
2024 Enrolments
Do you have family or friends considering St Mary's College? Are you hoping to enrol another son at St Mary's College? The closing date for 2024 enrolments is Easter, 2023.
