Delagram 20th October 2023

From the Principal

‘Our capacity for social relationships is sorely tried; there is a growing tendency to withdraw, to do it all by ourselves, to stop making an effort to encounter others and do things together’

Pope Francis 2021

This term, La Salle Academy has adopted our new Mobile Phone policy which has seen a visibility ban enforced from the start of the school day to the end. We have been delighted with the students adherence to these expectations and their willingness to forego their devices. Whilst some students still absentmindedly retrieve their phones, they have done so out of habit and not defiance. What was thought an impossible task of removing devices from students hands for a day, has had a remarkable impact on our social engagement and participation. There is a notable increase in discussions, differing activities, acceptance of others and focus within our classrooms. Our students are now making an effort, encountering others and doing things together. I would like to thank staff, students and their families for supporting this policy introduction.

Appointment of the Assistant Principal for 2024
Earlier last term, Ms Kathryn Bennett informed me that she will not be continuing in her role as the Assistant Principal at La Salle Academy. Ms Bennett holds a substantive teaching/leadership position at McKillop College, Bathurst and was seconded to La Salle Academy to assist the school at a time of significant change and transition. I am indebted to Ms Bennett’s knowledge, professionalism and passion whilst in this role. She has ingratiated herself with staff and students alike and is well respected by all stakeholders across our school community. Although Ms Bennett will have only been at La Salle Academy for one year, she will have made a lasting impact on the positive change and new directions that will benefit each and every student at our school.

Last week, the appointment of our new Assistant Principal for 2024 was made. Please join me in congratulating Mrs Jennifer (Jenny) Holgate, our current Middle Leader for TAS. Mrs Holgate has been an integral member of the school staff for the past 17 years and is intimately familiar with all our policies, procedures and systems. Importantly, Mrs Holgate has been a member of this community for a significant period of time and is invested in the new directions of La Salle Academy. Her knowledge of staff, students, the school and our wider community will hold Ms Holgate in good stead as she looks to carry on the great work of Mrs Bennett in 2023.

Term to date & Prayers
We have had a great start to Term Four, and there are many things to look forward to. Year 7 – 10 exams are fast approaching, Year 11 will be starting their HSC coursework shortly, Year 11 will be attending their retreat in two weeks and our new Senior leaders will be attending a student leadership conference in Sydney shortly.   Stay tuned to our newsletter and facebook pages for updates on everything that is happening at LSA.
Of course, I would ask that our community keeps our Year 12 group in their prayers as they continue to engage purposely with their HSC exams. I would also ask that we keep leaders from across the world in our prayers as we hope and pray that dialogue can be used to overcome some of the conflicts, pain and suffering that is being experienced by those around the world and here at home. I hope you all have a fantastic two weeks ahead.

Until next time Good Luck and God Bless
Mr Glenn Carpenter

Assistant Principal

Welcome back to Term 4

As we dive deeper into Term 4, I am pleased to provide you with updates on some crucial events and initiatives within our school community.

Junior Exams Coming Up in Weeks 5 and 6

For our junior students in Years 7-10, exams are just around the corner, scheduled to take place in Weeks 5 and 6 of this term. Notifications for these tasks will be distributed to students in the next week or two. These assessments are essential milestones for our students as they develop their study and time management skills. We aim to ensure our junior students are well-prepared to tackle these exams successfully. Teachers have been conducting revision sessions, offering study guides, and providing guidance on effective study techniques. All students also have access to ATOMI study skills modules and have been using time in Pastoral Care to review these. Parents, we encourage you to help us on our efforts by asking your son/daughters about their study at home and support your children during this critical period. For our students, remember that the effort you invest in your studies now will reap rewards in the future!

Year 12 2024 HSC Parent Information Night - Monday, November 6

While we celebrate the achievements of our Year 12 students whose HSC journey is almost complete, we must also turn our attention to the Year 12 class of 2024. We are delighted to invite you to our Year 12 HSC Parent Information Night on Monday, November 6. This event will serve as a valuable opportunity for parents to gain insight into the expectations and processes for the Higher School Certificate (HSC) in the coming year. You will learn about subject choices, HSC requirements, and the support structures in place to ensure the success of our Year 12 students. The evening will be in the Libray at begin at 6.00pm. We look forward to your active participation in this event and your continued support as we guide our Year 12 students through their final year of high school.

Teach Like a Champion Professional Development Day 

On the first day of Term 4, our teaching staff participated in a "Teach Like a Champion" Professional Development Day. The focus of this day was on continuing our review and development of systems and routines for student success in the classroom. Our educators gained valuable insights and practical strategies to enhance their teaching practices, creating an environment conducive to learning and student achievement. The implementation of these techniques is beginning to have a positive impact on the educational experience of our students in many classrooms just in a few short weeks. The strategies building on our ongoing work for increased student engagement and improved educational outcomes for all.  

Have a wonderful week!
Katie Bennett

From the REC

Ignite Conference
During the holidays Isabelle Youman, Violet Younger and Lorissa Collins attended the IGNITE conference in Sydney. They joined other students from across the Diocese, along with teachers and Youth Ministers. With the theme of WONDER, our students were led to some amazing experiences of worship, empowering talks, music and prayer.
The girls were wonderful ambassadors of our school and a pleasure to be with. (see the first picture below)

La Salle Art Competition
Enter our Easter Art Competition.
Create an initial sketch of your artwork based on one of the scriptures listed below. The best 3 entries in each category will receive a free lunch from the canteen and the opportunity to fully develop their artwork with Ms Cole during school time. You will also have a full day to work with well-known local artist Ted Lewis. (see the 2nd picture below)
At submission, each artwork must have the following information attached to the back of the artwork:

1. Artist’s full name
2. Artwork title
3. The scripture reference chosen
4. A brief written reflection on the artwork
   

All entries are to be submitted to Ms Redden by the end of Week 3.

This link will provide examples of past winning entries: https://issuu.com/diobxobs/docs/pdf_holy_week_and_easter_art_magazine_2022-compres

A Prayer for Peace in the Middle East

God of mercy and compassion, of grace and reconciliation,

pour your power upon all your children in the Middle East:

Jews, Muslims and Christians, Palestinians and Israelis.

Let hatred be turned into love, fear to trust, despair to hope,

oppression to freedom, occupation to liberation,

that violent encounters may be replaced by loving embraces,

and peace and justice could be experienced by all.

"Peace be within your walls. Peace be

within you.”

Amen

God Bless
Ms Belinda Redden

Year 7-9 Pastoral Care Co-ordinator

As we dive into Week 4 of Term 4, I am pleased to report that it has been an outstanding start to  Term 4 in regards to fostering positive behaviour and inclusivity in our school community. The dedication and effort from our students, teachers, and staff have truly been remarkable.
Our school's commitment to promoting positive behaviour and inclusivity continues to display fantastic results. In the classrooms, we continue to see a noticeable improvement in the respectful and considerate behaviour of our students. They've been actively participating in class activities, showing kindness towards their peers, and demonstrating excellent manners.
One of the most remarkable achievements has been the increase in peer support and inclusion. Our students have embraced the idea of supporting one another and ensuring that no one feels left out. This sense of unity and belonging is truly heartwarming and demonstrates the values we hold dear at La Salle. 

As we look ahead, there are a couple of exciting events on the horizon that I'd like to highlight:

Under 14’s and Open’s League Tag Day (Week 2)
Congratulations to our Under 14's and Open Girls League Tag teams who took part in the Bathurst League Tag High School Gala Day on Thursday, October 19th, at Jack Arrow Oval in Bathurst. Both teams exhibited remarkable sportsmanship and determination as they faced off against schools from across the region, leaving us all proud and impressed. A special thank you goes out to Mr. Picman for coaching the Under 14's team and  Lucia, who scored an incredible try during the second game. I would also like to give a well-deserved shout-out to Evie Whittaker, Sianna Aiaga, Lucia De Losa, Emma Rushworth, Jessica Gearside, and Jarah Cafe for their exceptional performances on the field. Your dedication, teamwork, and spirited play were an inspiration to us all.

Year 10 Peer Support Training Day 1 (Week 6)

This event is a crucial part of our commitment to building a supportive and inclusive school environment. All Year 10 students will undergo training to become peer mentors, helping our younger students transition smoothly into high school. It's a fantastic opportunity for our older students to develop leadership skills and for our younger students to receive guidance from those who have experienced what they're going through. We're looking forward to seeing the positive impact this will have on our school community.

Year 6 into 7 Transition Day 2 (Week 7)

The transition from primary school to high school is a significant milestone in every student's life, and we're here to make it as seamless as possible. Year 6 students will have the opportunity to spend Day 2 at La Salle, getting a greater taste of what life in high school is like. They will meet their future teachers, tour the facilities, and connect with Year 10 peer mentors who can provide invaluable insights and support.

I would like to express my gratitude to our students, teachers, and parents for the ongoing support and dedication to making our school an inclusive and positive learning environment this term. Together, we are shaping the future for our students and ensuring they have the best possible experience during their time at our school.

If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I am here to support you and your children in any way I can.

Wishing you all a wonderful fortnight ahead!

Positive reinforcement changes behaviour for the better, while criticism stabilises negative behaviours and blocks change.
Virginia H. Pearce

Mrs Wilsmore-Smith 
Year 7-9 Pastoral Welfare Coordinator

Year 10-12 Pastoral Care Co-ordinator

Welcome back to the final term of 2023. Goodness, where has the year gone? I hope that all families had a safe and restful holiday and the students are ready to focus on what will be a busy final term.

I cannot talk about the term ahead without referring to the final week of Term 3. In the last newsletter for the term, the names of our Year 12 Award recipients were published with a promise of photos to come. Contained in this edition are those photos with the award sponsors as well as a couple of photos from the Graduation Mass and Dinner. The recipients, again, were:

Lasallian Award: Nina Sheather

MacKillop Award: Grace Dean

DUX: Jed Simcoe

2^ND: Will Drengenberg

3^RD: Ava Nicholls

Energy Australia Award for School and Community Service: Imogen Della Bosca

ADF Long Tan Youth leadership and Teamwork: Jed Simcoe.

ADF Long Tan Future Innovators: Will Drengenberg.

Black Gold Motel: Consistent Effort: Sophie Lane

Ampol All-rounder: Nathan Marshall

University of Notre Dame Science: Jed Simcoe

LJ Hooker English Award: Will Drengenberg

LJ Hooker Maths Award: Jed Simcoe.

Zig Zag Motel and Frankie’s Restaurant Business Award Jed Simcoe

Zig Zag Motel and Frankie’s Restaurant Creativity in TAS Ava Nicholls

Zig Zag Motel and Frankie’s Restaurant Artistry in Creative Arts Nina Sheather

Lithgow Garden Club: Agriculture Vincent Rummery

Continued improvement– Jorja Bailey

Outstanding Achievement in Sport Awards: Jorja Bailey

Year 12 students are now midway through their HSC Exams, so we continue to keep them in our prayers.

Congratulations to our newly appointed Student Leaders for the remainder of 2023 and 2024. School Captains are Maddi Field and Jack Sheather, Vice Captains are Isabella Inzitari and Robert Hughan and Finn Marjoram holds the new title of Mission Captain. They are already meeting regularly and have a great vision for La Salle Academy. These five students will be attending the GRIP Leadership Conference in Sydney with Mr Carpenter and myself, next Thursday where they will have the chance to network with other young leaders and attend workshops to upskill them for their roles. They are beginning to plan some events for later this term, all of which will be advertised to students and parents. Following the success of the Trivia Night earlier in the year, there is a good chance you will be able to test your wits against others later in the term. Think “Christmas Trivia”.

Many of the Year 10 students are currently attending interviews with local employers, vying for potential apprenticeships. We wish them every success in their applications. If your child is successful in gaining a traineeship or apprenticeship or full-time employment, there are forms to be completed prior to your child signing out of LSA. Please contact me if you need a form.

The students are in the final process of their subject selection for the commencement of their Preliminary Studies in 2024. The new process for the subject selection went very smoothly this year and we are sure that students have made some very sensible choices.

Year 10 students will be sitting formal exams during Week 5. So if they tell you that they have no homework to do, you can remind them that they have study preparation for the exams!
Have a great couple of weeks.

Regards,
Mrs Bernadette Hicks
Pastoral Welfare Co-ordinator Years 10 – 12
Careers Adviser

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Sport News

Term 4 sport has started with several teams training for upcoming events. It has also started with some of our students performing very well in recent trials and events. 

Alexis Reid of year 9 recently competed in the National Taekwondo Titles. These were held in Perth over the holiday break and Alexis finished 1st in the country with a National Title!!!! Alexis competed in the 15-17 year old division and won all of her matches. Even more impressive is that Alexis is now ranked 19th in the world in this age bracket for her weight category. No doubt, Alexis has an amazing amount of potential in this sport and we look forward to her next achievement. Congratulations Alexis. 

Archie Morris and Kristian Scarlett also experienced some success in the holidays in their chosen sport of rugby league. Archie Morris along with Levi Deveigne, Kayden Beckett and Connor Miles all competed and represented group 10 in the first week of the holidays. Archie was chosen to become a member of the Western Rams Rugby League train on squad to compete in the Andrew Johns Cup. Archie has already begun a gruelling training program and we wish him luck to hopefully make the final squad. Kristian Scarlet of year 7 was also chosen and selected to become a Penrith Panther for the 2024 season. Kristian will be learning a lot about the game next year playing at a much higher level. Congratulations boys. 

Emma Rushworth of year 10 also had a successful holiday period on the rugby league field. Emma was successfully selected after trailing with the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Emma will now begin a gruelling preseason and of course learn a lot more about the game playing at this level. Even more impressive is that Emma trialled with Penrith only the week before and also had trials set up with both Cronulla and the Sydney Roosters. This only proves what a talent Emma is on the rugby league field. Congratulations Emma.

Indiana Lee of year 7 was successful in qualifying for the All Schools NSW Athletics Titles. These were held in homebush during the holidays where Indiana competed in the Javelin. She was not feeling well in the recent Diocesan Carnival and narrowly missed qualifying for the NSW CCC. However, at the AllSchools Indiana placed 3rd with a throw of 28.93m! This throw would have easily placed her first a few weeks ago in Dubbo. Congratulations Indianna. 

Macy Brown, Jarah Cafe and Gabby Dray along with their equine friends and more so their family support all attended Tamworth last week for the NSW Interschools Horse Extravaganza.
All 3 girls competed and represented LaSalle with distinction and were all happy with their results. Macy Brown did finish with an impressive first in the camp draft event. Congratulations to all girls on your achievements.

Tamworth interschools horse extravaganza-ISHE
Three students Macy Brown, Jarah Cafe and Gabrielle Dray along with 5 horses competed in show jumping, showing, sporting, working horse challenges and campdrafting over 5 days. The girls were very competitive coming home if a couple of ribbons. Gabrielle coming 7th in show jumping and Macy 1st in campdrafting.They were also involved in some night entertainment. As a team they raced other schools in a mug race. All students and parents had a great time, looking forward to next year.

By Tammy Brown

Our intermediate basketball team has been training before school to ready themselves for the upcoming NSW CCC Championships. The boys have been led under the watchful eye of Mr Devine and are looking very impressive. This week the boys played Lithgow High School in a warm up match to test their tactics and up their cohesion. The boys pressed for the first ¼ and were comfortably both infront and in charge of the game. This allowed the team to sit back and comfortably win the match but more importantly hold on and maintain their lead. 

A special mention to Zac Fitzpatrick, Jack Luka and Harry Luka who all have been successful in gaining a position in the NPL 2 and 3 Football league. This is a representative football competition and these are the only 3 boys that have successfully gained a position to play at this level across the Central West. Zac has successfully been signed with Hawkesbury in the NP3 whilst both Jack and Harry have signed with Nepean in the NP2. Congratulations boys. 

Finally, our u14 and opens League Tag team have been training hard. They competed in a Gala day facilitated by NSWRL in Bathurst on Thursday, 19th. The girls were very keen to represent LaSalle and show off their skills against schools from all over the Central West Region. Although results did not go our way, it is the first step towards building teams across this code. I do hope the girls can take away several learnings and look to self improvement. A huge thank you to both Mrs Wilsmore Smith and Mr Picman for their time in teaching and guiding these girls on the field. 

Regards
Mr Steve Carroll

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Crochet Club

Every week a group of students have been meeting to learn the art of crochet. We are hoping to make granny square blankets that we can donate to St Vincent de Paul.

Regards
Ms Belinda Redden

Breast Cancer Awareness Day

School Canteen

Just a reminder that students are still allowed to use their phones before 9am to purchase breakfast and preorder for recess and lunch. We also still have the flexischools app available to use as an online pre order for recess and lunch too.

 Please see the information below on how to register and order through flexischools.

We are still on the lookout for volunteers to help in the canteen. Any time you have available would be appreciated, even if its just once a month! Call the office on 6354 5100

Thankyou
Leanne 

Community Picnic Day Hosted by PCYC

Join us for a day of fun and adventure at Lithgow PCYC.There will be activities for the young and young at heart.
Children can enjoy FREE low ropes course, gymnastics, artists tent activities, parkour, judo, mini movers play area and more. There will be free lego to assemble and take home with you.
Mounted Police and the RFS are paying a visit.
There will be live music playing throughout the day with a great line up starting with - Boris Hunt Llounge Catz, John the Duck Keeghan and Goats can eat anything!
Plenty of food on hand with the famous Frankies Pizzas and Mountain High Pies or simply grab a coffee and see the Mounted Police, Emergency Services or visit the Community Gardens to improve your green thumb this upcoming summer. 

Skills Based Animation Workshop

Rock at the Con Poster

NDIS NSW and ACT Pathways to post school life

CEBD Community Charter

ZENN ABILITY

From the Finance Officer

2023 School Fees
Any family that does NOT receive their School Fee Statement via email is asked to contact the school office to ensure that the correct email address is listed in our system.

2023 Billing Dates
Term 1 billing date 03/03/2023 and instalment due date 17/03/2023
Term 2 billing date 05/05/2023 and instalment due date 19/05/2023
Term 3 billing date 28/07/2023 and instalment due date 11/08/2023
Please note that school fees are charged over the first three terms, therefore no school fee charge in Term 4.

Payment Arrangements
Families wishing to make a payment arrangement can contact the school office. Payment arrangements are made by Direct Debit. Payment plans of up to 52 weeks are available. Please obtain a copy of the Direct Debit Authority Form to set up a direct debit payment.

For your information:
Payments can be made by the following payment options:
Account balances can be accessed on Compass and payments can be made via the Compass app.
BPAY Payment references are printed on the statements.
Direct Debit Forms are available from the school office and a copy is attached below.
EFTPOS is available in the school office and  can be used for payments over the telephone.
Centrepay Forms are available from the CentreLink Office
Please do not hesitate to contact Mary Cassar, School Finance Officer, if you would like assistance with any matters in relation to school fees.

Mary Cassar

School Zones Reminder

A reminder to all our parents that school zones remain in place for the safety of our children and families. School zones operate on all gazetted school days, which are all the days the school is open, even pupil free days.