VOLUME XXXV No 6 11th May, 2018
DATES TO REMEMBER
FROM THE HEAD OF COLLEGE ANZAC DAY COMMEMORATIONS
MAY Mother’s Day
13th
School photographs K-6 JS
14
Naplan Yrs 3, 5, 7 & 9
th
15 – 17
P&F Mother’s Day Dinner
17
School photographs SS
22
Futsal NSW Regionals JS
22
Kindergarten 2019
23
th
nd rd
th
Half Yearly Exams Primary begins
28
ISA Cross Country Carnival SS
30
TIGS Football Comp JS
31
th st
st
Careers Expo Years 11&12
1
Leadership Assembly JS
6
ASISSA Cross Country JS
7
Queen’s Birthday – Public Holiday – School
11
Closed
th
nd
Information Morning: 9:30 – 11:00am
JUNE
th
th th th
th
Athletics Carnival SS
13
Athletics Carnival JS
15
Parish Trip departs
21
Parent/Teachers interviews JS K-4&6
26
Parent/Teachers interviews JS K-5
28
Half Yearly Reports to Parents JS
29
th st th th th
Term 2 ends for staff and students
Mrs E. Stefanou-Haag
ANZAC DAY COMMEMORATIONS DAWN SERVICE AT MAROUBRA
ANZAC DAY COMMEMORATIONS
EVZONES OF THE GREEK PRESIDENTIAL GUARD AT ST SPYRIDON CHURCH
K-12 NEWS NAPLAN This month the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) will be completed by students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. NAPLAN has the support of all State and Territory Education Ministers and will assess the literacy and numeracy skills of students across Australian schools. The results of the tests will provide important information to schools about what each student can do, and will be used to support teaching and learning programs. Parents will receive a report indicating their child’s level of achievement. Each student’s level of achievement will be reported against the national minimum standard. The NAPLAN tests will be conducted from 15th -17th May 2018. Tuesday 15th May Language Conventions (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) Writing Test Wednesday 16th May Reading Test Thursday 17th May Numeracy Test Additional information about NAPLAN can be found at http://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/parentcarer-support DANCE EXPERIENCE IN THE USA Over the Easter holiday break four of our students, Sia Manos (8S), Krissy Bourdaniotis (7M), Talia (7S) and Cara Diamond (5A) travelled to America to dance at Disneyland, Universal Studios and Hollywood Boulevard with the Janice Breen Performance Studio. From all the feedback they had an amazing experience.
UNIFORM SHOP TIMES Please note: uniform shop is closed during school holidays. Open every Wednesday during term from 8:30am to 10:00am and 2:30pm to 4:00pm.
P&F NEWS At the P&F this month it is all about our mothers. Mums are in everything we are doing.
Thursday, 17th May 2017 Mother’s Night Out is a major event for our team in terms of organising and fundraising. This year we have a lot of new plans to change it up a bit. It is not an event you want to miss! The P&F look forward to welcoming you to Cyren Bar Grill Seafood at Darling Harbour. MOTHER’S DAY STALLS We thank you once again for your support at the Annual Mother’s day stalls. The children enjoyed the opportunity to purchase lovely gifts for their mother’s, grandmothers, godmothers and significant mother figures.
There are still some seats left so hurry and reserve your spot before it is too late! Thank you to everyone who has purchased tickets or has contributed in some way. It promises to be a fun-filled, prize extravaganza evening as always! Please complete your ticket sales with Joanna 0419992027 by next Monday 14th at the very latest – there will be no sales at the door. ******* If any parent is interested in donating any last minute prizes to our raffles for the evening, or knows of a business that wishes to contribute, please contact Angela on 0407061940. ******* Please also refer to the newsletter and the College Facebook page for regular updates and announcements about forthcoming events. Desma Spyridopoulos P&F Assistant Secretary
We hope each of you have a safe, relaxing and enjoyable Mother’s Day this weekend with your families. Funds raised will be confirmed in the next newsletter.
JUNIOR SCHOOL REPORT JUNIOR SCHOOL REPORT Welcome back to Term 2 and to all the wonderful learning opportunities available to the students not only in academics but also the many sporting challenges. Welcome back Ellie (5I), Christian (3G) and Chloe (2C) Liaskos along with their parents Mr & Mrs Liaskos. Welcome to our newest members, Coco Vezos (5A) and her family. CONGRATULATIONS Our best wishes are extended to Mr & Mrs Bourtsouklis and Yianna (KC) on the birth of their daughter and sister Petra. May Christ bless them all with good health and long life. CLASS PHOTOS A reminder that Class photos will be taken on Monday 14th May. Children are to come dressed in Full School Uniform. Please ensure uniform is neat and pressed and shoes polished. Blazer must be worn. Girls to wear regulation school ribbon available from the Uniform Shop. K2019 INFORMATION MORNING An information morning will be held on Wednesday 23rd May for all those children enrolled to commence Kindergarten in 2019. If you have forgotten to enrol your child, please speak with Mrs Estelle Kerameas at the Junior School office by the 18th May. DEDICATION AND INSPIRATION On Tuesday April 3rd, Years Three to Six were fortunate to have our College Sport Captain, Nicholas Kollias come to speak with them about High Jump. Nicholas came to speak with the primary students about his ongoing training and experience in high jump. This came at an opportune time for our primary students, who for the first time this year were involved in High Jump training by Little Athletics.
Nicholas explained that throughout his schooling at St Spyridon, he was given countless opportunities to try new sports, including cricket, basketball and even shot put, but it wasn’t until he entered the high school that he found his passion for high jump. Nicholas shared with the students the time and effort he has put into his sport and mentioned the obstacles that he has faced along his journey. What he highlighted was that by trying and trying again, he found where his talent lie. The commitment to training lead to him strengthen his skills in high jump and, this lead to him achieving a 4th place in Australia for Junior Men’s High jump with a jump of 195cm – almost 10cm above his own height!
The winners of the competition will be announced on Wednesday 23rd May and can be viewed on the official website at www.write4fun.net. We wish our entrants the best of luck! Miss Bletsogiannis Curriculum Coordinator We thank Miss Bletsogiannis for coordinating this competition and all the teachers for equipping the students with a love of writing and the skills to write so well. A wonderful achievement for the College! Mrs A. Synesios Principal Junior School
The Primary students were proud of how far one of our very own students had come in athletics and Nicholas’ encouraging and motivating words were valued by all in attendance, especially one specific student, his buddy Gabriel Leondaris of Year 6. Gabriel shared fond memories with his teachers of Nicholas being his ‘buddy’ when he was in Kindergarten, reminiscing to his friends about how nice he was. Gabriel, who is a great athlete in his own right, was thrilled and proud to see his buddy and to see what he had achieved, saying “It’s amazing what you can do if you set your goal on one thing and then just focus on that.”
WRITE4FUN WRITING COMPETITION Write4Fun is proud to announce that St Spyridon College Junior School had 10 or more students successfully progress past the initial judging in the 2018 Schools Writing Competition. This year, the competition was held throughout primary and secondary schools within Australia and they received over 10,000 entries! St Spyridon College has been awarded a Certificate of Excellence for outstanding writing as less than 10% of schools showed this level of achievement.
SENIOR SCHOOL REPORT ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ Christ is Risen STAFF NEWS Welcome back to Mrs McCoy, Drama teacher, who returned from maternity leave. SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS Tuesday, 22nd May 2018 Each student will be given their own envelope – their name is printed on the envelope. IMPORTANT: Every student must return their envelope – even if not buying photos. The instructions to students/parents are on the envelopes and are self-explanatory. GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHIDIOCESE OF AUSTRALIA NATIONAL SCHOOLS EVENT 2018 The National Schools Event was held from Tuesday, 8th May till today, 11th May 2018. It was hosted by St John’s College, Melbourne. This 3 day event brought together all the Colleges across Australia under the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese banner to compete in various sports events and performing arts. For the students, this is a highlight of the school sports calendar, a real opportunity to network with their fellow peers through friendly competition with schools from across Australia. Congratulations to all of the students who attended along with Mr Meintanis, Ms O’Shea, Mr Kaldis, Mr Zafiropoulos, Mr Condous, Miss Flokis and Miss Savva. The full report will be in our next newsletter.
Mrs A. Katsogiannis Principal Senior School Deputy Head of College
GREEK COLUMN Αγαπητοί γονείς και φίλοι, Στην έκδοση αυτή θα σας κρατήσουμε συντροφιά με το γραπτό μαθήτριας της Γ΄ Λυκείου και συγκεκριμένα από το μάθημα των Προχωρημένων Ελληνικών. (Modern Greek Extension course) Το θέμα του γραπτού είναι σχετικό με το ένα από τα τρία βασικά θέματα του τμήματος αυτού, που είναι η αναζήτηση ταυτότητας. Καλά να περνάτε.
Ένας άλλος παράγοντας που μας επηρεάζει στην διαμόρφωση της ταυτότητάς μας, είναι οι φίλοι, αφού είναι στενά συνδεδεμένοι με το οικογενειακό μας περιβάλλον και είναι και αυτοί κάποια από τα πρότυπα μίμησης, που θα υιοθετήσουμε. Η θρησκεία φυσικά, παίζει σημαντικό ρόλο στη διαμόρφωση της προσωπικότητάς μας γιατί μας επηρεάζει βαθύτατα. Για παράδειγμα, ο Χριστιανισμός μας μαθαίνει να είμαστε ταπεινοί και πράοι ενώ άλλες θρησκείες σε οδηγούν στον φανατισμό και την βία.
κα Μ. Φαλέτα ΑΝΑΖΗΤΩΝΤΑΣ ΤΗΝ ΤΑΥΤΟΤΗΤΑ ΜΑΣ Κάποτε οι επιστήμονες πίστευαν ότι γεννιόμαστε σαν “taboula raza”, δηλαδή ότι το μυαλό μας μοιάζει σαν ένα άγραφο χαρτί, που πάνω του μπορούμε να γράψουμε τα πάντα. Όμως αυτό δεν ισχύει εντελώς γιατί κουβαλούμε πάντα το DNA μας, δηλαδή, την κληρονομικότητά μας. Κληρονομικότητα είναι όλα εκείνα τα στοιχεία που κουβαλάμε από τους προγόνους μας και δυστυχώς ή ευτυχώς μας επηρεάζουν. Φυσικά, πάλι λένε οι επιστήμονες ότι η κληρονομικότητα «ρίχνει τα χαρτιά, αλλά το περιβάλλον τα παίζει», δηλαδή, μπορεί να έχουμε στο DNA μας στοιχεία, τα οποία ανάλογα με το περιβάλλον θα εκδηλωθούν ή όχι. Αυτό συμβαίνει επειδή η οικογένεια είναι το πρώτο στοιχείο, που επηρεάζει και διαμορφώνει την ταυτότητά μας όχι μόνο με το DNA που μας έδωσε, αλλά και με την ανατροφή που μας δίνει, τις αρχές και τις αξίες που μας εμποτίζει. Μέσα από την οικογένεια κυρίως διαμορφώνουμε την ποιότητα, τα όνειρα, την αποφασιστικότητα ή την αδυναμία μας. Το παιδί μέχρι τα επτά του χρόνια έχει διαμορφώσει την προσωπικότητά του. Φυσικά, αυτή αλλάζει με τις εμπειρίες της ζωής, αλλά ο πυρήνας παραμένει ίδιος.
Ένας πολύ σημαντικός παράγοντας που συμβάλλει πολύ στην διαμόρφωση της προσωπικότητάς μας είναι και το σχολείο αφού εκεί ανακαλύπτουμε τα ταλέντα και τις ικανότητές μας. Ο δάσκαλος και ο καθηγητής είναι συνήθως πρότυπα μίμησης για τους μαθητές τους αφού λειτουργούν σαν «δεύτεροι» γονείς για τα παιδιά. Ο πιο αδιαμφισβήτητος όμως παράγοντας επιρροής είναι χωρίς δεύτερη σκέψη τα Μέσα Μαζικής Ενημέρωσης και κυρίως η τηλεόραση. Σε όλο τον κόσμο η τηλεόραση προβάλλει σαν πρότυπα επιτυχημένους νέους κυρίως ηθοποιούς και τραγουδιστές που χωρίς αξία και ηθική ζουν μια πολύ λαμπερή ζωή, γεμάτη πολυτέλεια και χλιδή. Τα νεαρά άτομα παρασύρονται από αυτά τα πρότυπα και νομίζουν ότι μπορούν και αυτοί άνετα και εύκολα να έχουν μια τέτοια ζωή ή αντίθετα, μη έχοντας αυτήν την ζωή, να ζουν με κατάθλιψη και χωρίς να βρίσκουν κανένα νόημα στην ζωή που ζουν. Ζούμε σε μια παγκοσμιοποιημένη κοινωνία που φιλοδοξεί να μας κάνει να μοιάζουμε όλοι μεταξύ μας. Σε μια τέτοια κοινωνία καλό θα είναι να είμαστε δυνατοί και να αναπτύσσουμε την προσωπικότητά μας χωρίς να μιμούμαστε άδεια πρότυπα, αλλά να είμαστε ο εαυτός μας με αξίες και ιδανικά. Fereniki Ghelis Year 11 (Modern Greek Year 12 Extension)
SPORTS COLUMN BOYS SPORTS
CIS CUP
St Andrews Cathedral School (SACS) boys football CUP 2018
In the round 2 CIS Cup clash v Moriah College the Open boys football team lost the game 2-1 and bowed out of the cup for 2018. Despite the loss, the team really played some of the best football they have played as a team. In the first half, the team had early opportunities, but unfortunately failed to take advantage and as so often happens your opposition capitalize on the break and against the run of play.
The schools Open Boys soccer team competed in the prized St Andrews Invitational tournament over the school holiday break. This two day football tournament is contested by 16 schools and is played over two days at Valentine Sport Park. Our boys were to use this opportunity to prepare for the upcoming ISA Football Season and for the Greek Orthodox National Schools Event. The team played three games on the opening day against St Aloysius College, Moriah College and Barker College. The boys played well to secure a first up win against St Aloysius winning 1-0; unfortunately the boys lost to both Barker and Moriah. On the second day the team played well to secure a hard fought draw against St Paul’s Grammar school and lost out 3-0 to St Aloysius in the last game. The lessons learnt from the tournament definitely helped the coaching team look at possible changes to how we play and definitely adds value to our season moving forward in trying to prepare the team for the ISA Competition.
Perhaps the changing point in the game was the second yellow card to Hesan Soufi, which left the team to play with 10 for all of the 2nd half and the last 10 minutes of the first half. What was encouraging was watching the team really step up and despite being down to 10 they still enjoyed very promising opportunities in front of goal. The team’s only goal came from a penalty in the dying minutes of the game scored by Emmanuel Tzanakes. Nathan Adam was as always a stand out player in the game and strong contributions from Marcos Hanna and George Stavrou from the bench really helped the team in the second half. Congratulations to the boys and their coach Mr Dane Ivanovic. ISA U16 BOYS FOOTBALL TRIALS 2018
I take this opportunity to congratulate all the boys for their effort and commend Mr Dane Ivanovic, Mr Magoulias and Mr Zafiropoulos for their support and encouragement of the team.
Good luck to Jordan Polyzos of year 10, who will be trialing for the ISA U16 Football representative team on Wednesday 8th May.
ISA BOYS FOOTBALL Saturday Sport
from each other and share in the opportunity to compete in organised sport.
The schools boy’s football teams competed in the round 1 football competition of the ISA against St Patrick’s College on the weekend.
I take this opportunity to thank Mrs Diavatiotis for hosting the planned games and now look forward to another opportunity to play on Wednesday 16th May at the school hall.
Traditionally, this trip is always a difficult one for the boys and this would be no different on Saturday with all teams losing other than the Open boys who secured a 1-1 draw. According to reports from their coach Dane Ivanovic, the boys were outstanding, maintaining shape and structure throughout the entire game.
The College will continue to pursue opportunities for joint collaboration between the campuses in sport, in an effort to support student skill development, closer ties between coaching staff and the ultimate goal of a shared sport sports programme.
Clearly, their efforts and their resilience inspired Dane, who echoed the very words, we hope to hear from all our coaches, which was that the team really ‘took responsibility’ in every aspect of the game. I congratulate all the boys, but I do need to commend the boys who stepped in to cover for the representative football players in William Georgas, Manny Giokas, George Andrianakos and Bill Avdalis. Their willingness to fill in and support the team really inspired this wonderful first round result. Although not the results we are looking for in most grades, there were many positives to take away from the weekend. The boys showed some very good attacking football and their playing shape and endurance were excellent. What we have asked the boys to use as the schools goal for season 2018 is to remember that each student must ‘take responsibility’. These two words are the boys’ teams slogan for the year. We are hopeful that this understanding together with the after school training at Heffron Playing fields, as well as morning training sessions will invariably have the desired impact of strengthening the school’s football programme even further.
BREAST CANCER FUNDRAISER 2018 On Saturday 12th May the School’s sports teams will be involved in trying to raise funds for breast cancer research. Our efforts are centered around a BBQ fundraiser at the grounds during the round 2 football fixtures versus St Andrews Cathedral School. We are looking for support from all families and the wider St Spyridon College community to help make this event a memorable one for the College. UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday 12th May Round 2 Boys Football fixtures at Chifley Reserve v St Andrews Cathedral School.
Saturday 12th May Football team Photo day.
Saturday 12th May Breast Cancer awareness at Chifley Reserve with a
JUNIOR SCHOOL FUTSAL On Thursday 3rd May the Senior schools, Junior boys and Junior girls futsal teams competed against the Junior Schools Senior teams in planned games at All Sorts. It was yet again another wonderful opportunity for the students to get together from the two campuses to learn
fundraising BBQ held at the playing fields from 8:00am onwards.
Cross Country training to continue every Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30am – 8:15am at School grounds.
GIRLS SPORT Saturday the 5th of May marked the commencement of the ISA Winter season. This year we have 8 Netball teams and 3 Girls Football teams. The girls had a positive start to the season with some wins and some competitive games. Please see below for the results:
TEAM OPEN A Netball OPEN A Football Open B Netball Open C Netball Intermediate Netball Junior A Netball Junior A Football Junior B Football Junior C Netball Junior D3 Netball Junior D4 Netball
OPPOSITION Blue Mountains Grammar School Barker College Oakhill College Oakhill College Chevalier College Redlands Central Coast Grammar School Central Coast Grammar School Chevalier College Chevalier College Chevalier College
Mr F. Kaldis - Boys Sport Ms K. O’Shea – Girls Sport
RESULT 4-33 LOSS 3-0 WIN 25-22 WIN 15-6 LOSS 24-31 LOSS 44-19 LOSS 8-1 LOSS 4-2 LOSS 31-11 LOSS 13- 7 WIN 10-7 LOSS
APRIL VACATION CARE The April School holidays were packed full of fun! Our children enjoyed a large variety experiences and activities such as sand art creations, excursion to see Sherlock Gnomes at the movies and Ice skating at Ice Zoo in Alexandria. An animal farm came to join us, the 9D cinema van was back again, we made emoji cookies and A LOT of slime too!
NEW FEE STRUCTURE GWC Community Services has revised their Outside School Hours Care fee structure, which will come into effect as of Term 2 (After School Care) and July Vacation Care. Fees will be as follows: After School Care - $25 booked care $27 casual care Vacation Care $63 booked care $68 casual care (extra $10 for excursions) Please note the increase in our vacation care fees incorporates a daily fee that is inclusive of all incursion and most excursion costs. As you are aware the Centre aims to provide activities and excursions that are unique, enjoyable and inclusive for all children attending our services. If you need any further information or have any concerns, please contact Patricia Doyle, Children’s Services Coordinator on 9516 2188 or 0410 505 524 or GWC Programs Manager, Maria Kladis on 9516 2188.
DIGITAL SIGN IN & OUT As of term 2 we will be introducing simple to use digital sign in and out system called QK Kiosk. You will now use an iPad for signing your child in and out of the service. You will use your mobile number to login to the system and then create a 4 number digital pin. The first time you log in the pin number will be ‘0000’ You simply click on the ‘sign in’ button or ‘sign out’. It will digitally stamp the time in/out. If you require someone else to pick up your children who are not on our system (i.e. on the enrolment form), you will need to give us with their name and number, we will create an account for them to be able to use the kiosk. Staff will be there to assist should you have any problems learning the new system.