Delagram 2nd August 2024

From the Principal

On Thursday 1st August, we celebrated our Semester One Academic Awards at the school. The following is an excerpt from the speech I made at these awards:
Some of you might not be strong in your schoolwork, and might struggle? That is ok, just like anything, we should be striving to be better tomorrow than we were today. You might be great at sport, or music, or public speaking, or being a great community advocate. That might be your strength and on a different day, we will celebrate that as well. But today is about our schoolwork and our report cards, and one of the awards that we are presenting today, is Application and Effort award. You don’t have to be excellent – you don’t have to be getting straight A’s. Ask yourself these questions:
 Are you organised;
 Are you trying?
 Are you behaving yourself in class?

There is no reason why every student cannot get this award? We can all be good at trying and being good people.
Some of you will get an academic award today, but could you do better? Have you reached your pinnacle or do you just have the attitude this is good enough? Given this Olympic season, we can reflect on our elite athletes. In sport, the difference between many of us is that we don’t do the extra training, individual preparation, make the personal sacrifices. The same goes with our academic work – if you are getting good grades, let’s do more – challenge your teachers, challenge the school to make it harder, push yourself further.

I also want to talk about judgement! I know that one of our collective student concerns at this school is the fear of being judged? How can we be great, if we are going to be held back because we are afraid of what people will think of us? Society is full of people judging – you think this is a problem just in this school – it is everywhere. Look at the Matilda’s Olympic campaign – they haven’t played well, but do they deserve the abuse that is coming their way from some media – no! They have done more to advance the cause of women’s sport, football and grow grassroots girls sport in our country than anyone else. We judge our athletes, our sporting teams all the time. What makes them great is that they ignore the noise, they reach for their goals, they maintain a personal fortitude and achieve brilliant results. We are not at the Olympics – but some of you today have worked hard for the award that you will receive, some of you have developed good relationships, communicated well with your teachers, do your homework and apply yourself in your assessments. You deserve this – this is not anyone else’s moment – this is your’s.

Congratulations to all students who received an award on Thursday.

YEAR 12
Good Luck to our Year 12 students who are sitting their trial exams from Monday 5th August to Friday
16th August. I also took the opportunity to sit down with the Year 12 cohort on Thursday 1st August
and discuss the following items:

 SRS and UAC Applications;
 Trial Exam Expectations;
 Graduation Week Arrangements;
 Formal Arrangements.

I would hope that our Year 12 students will provide a copy of this information to their parents.

PARENT EVENING
Could I please encourage all parents/guardians to peruse the note that I sent home with our
students last week and through compass. On these notes, it highlights significant dates that are
coming up including:

 Year 7 Parent Night – Tuesday 6th August;
 Successful Pathways Planning Night – Year 10 Students – Thursday 15th August
 Year 9 Subject Selection Night – Monday 26th August
 Year 8 Subject Selection Night – Tuesday 3rd September.
These are important evenings in the school life of our students, and we would hope that as many
parents as possible will join us.

Good Luck and God Bless.
Mr Glenn Carpenter

Assistant Principal

Academic Awards 
Congratulations to all our students for their academic achievements during Semester One. It was wonderful to see so many of our student receiving awards for their application and effort throughout Semester One at our recent awards ceremony. We were also blessed that so many parents and carers were able to be at school to see their child receive their awards.
Year 12 Trial HSC Examinations
Next week, our Year 12 students commence their Trial HSC Exams starting with English on Monday 5th August. Students have been emailed their own individual timetable and although students do not attend formal classes during this exam period when they don’t have exams, students still have access to the school library for study and exam preparation.
  Please join me in wishing our students every success in these exams.
Year 11 End of Preliminary Examinations
Year 11 students will be commencing their End of Preliminary exams in week 8 and 9. A timetable will be distributed to students soon. This means that students should be completing final assessment tasks and preparing for the exams by revising course content and reviewing past papers to get used to the style of questions that will be used.

Mrs Jenny Holgate
Assistant Principal

From the Religious Education Coordinator

A warm welcome back to all our students and staff as we embark on Term 3! This term promises to be filled with a variety of engaging and entertaining events that will enrich our school community over the next 10 weeks. 
As we settle back into the rhythm of school life, there are several key Mission dates and activities to look forward to.

Breakfast Club Changes
Our LSA Breakfast Club days have changed this term. Students can now enjoy a healthy start to their day on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 8:25 am to 8:45 am, upstairs. This is a great opportunity for students to connect with each other and begin their day with a nutritious meal. Thank you to Imogen Della Bosca for all her work behind the scenes to make this run for our students. 

Religion Class Liturgies
Our commitment to spiritual growth continues with Religion Class liturgies starting in Week 2. Students from Years 7 to 10 have the opportunity to participate in these special liturgies twice a term in our school Chapel. These gatherings are a time for reflection and connection, helping students deepen their understanding of faith in a communal setting.

Retreat Days for Spiritual and Personal Growth
We have enriching retreat days led by Lasallian Mission coming up for our Year 9 and 10 students, scheduled for mid-September. Additionally, Year 4, 5, and 6 students from St Patrick’s Lithgow, St Joseph’s Portland, and St Joseph's Oberon will join us for retreats hosted by our Year 9/10 CSYMI students during Week 5, 6 and 8. These retreats will focus on themes such as faith, building connections, leadership, and the Sacrament of Confirmation, offering a valuable opportunity for younger students to learn and grow in a supportive environment.

New Sacramental Program
We are thrilled to introduce our new Sacramental Program, which will commence in Week 4, under the guidance of Ms. Jackie Tse. This program is an excellent opportunity for our students to deepen their understanding of the Catholic faith and prepare for the sacraments.

Combined Mass for the Assumption of Mary
On August 15th, we will join with St Patrick’s School for a combined Mass to celebrate the Assumption of Mary. This special event underscores our shared faith and the importance of community worship.

Winter Sleep Out Night
Finally, we are excited to announce the Winter Sleep Out night for our students, an event that highlights the issue of homelessness and encourages empathy and understanding. Special thanks to Imogen Della Bosca and Harry Pottinger for their hard work in organising this event. The Winter Sleep Out will take place on Friday, August 16th, with more details and notes to be distributed in Week 3.

As we move through Term 3, we look forward to these events and many more, which promise to make this term both memorable and meaningful. Let's embrace these opportunities to learn, grow, and come together as a community.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all Year 12 students the very best in their Trial Examinations during Week 3 and 4. Remember to try your best and just breathe. 

Mrs Wilsmore-Smith
Religious Education Coordinator

Youth Minister

Welcome back to Term 3!
Over the Holiday break, I had the opportunity to attend RISE, the Diocesan Youth Festival that was held at the Goldfields in Bathurst. Over the three days many students across the Diocese joined together and were a part of many different activities and opportunities to build connections, reflect on their faith and to have a bit of fun. Over the few days some of the highlights for me were meeting so many different people from different places within our Diocese and getting to be a part of the music ministry team.  

We have a very busy term coming up, with many different events and activities for students to be a part of within our school community:

• The combined Assumption Mass with St Patricks
• Year 9 and 10 La Sallian Retreat days
• Year 4, 5 and 6 Retreats run by our Year 9/10 CSYMI students
• Youth Group Gatherings, our first one being on Friday of Week 4

This is just naming a few of the wonderful Religious opportunities that we have here over the next few weeks. 

Imogen Della Bosca
La Salle Youth Minister

Pastoral and Wellbeing Co-ordinator's

Welcome back to school for Semester Two! It was wonderful to see many of you at the parent teacher conferences on Tuesday night. Thank you for your engagement in your child’s learning, a strong home-school partnership is the foundation for student success. 

Important Wellbeing Update
I would like to congratulate Kerry Hogan on her appointment to Wellbeing Coordinator for Semester Two. Kerry is a wonderful addition to the wellbeing team and I am very much looking forward to working with her in the wellbeing space. Moving into semester two, we have restructured our school’s wellbeing allocation to move in line with the structure of other Diocesan schools. This will allow both Kerry and myself to work with all students in years 7-12, rather than having designated year groups to coordinate individually. This allows students some choice in who they would like to be supported by, as well as allowing serious issues to be attended to in a more timely manner. Parents, please feel free to contact Kerry, myself or both of us, should you have any concerns about your child’s wellbeing. 

HSC Trials
Next week, our year 12 students start their HSC trial exams. This can be an incredibly stressful period, so prioritising wellbeing during this time is imperative in ensuring students are able to perform at their best. Tips for prioritising wellbeing during the exam period include:

• Prioritise sleep by establishing a consistent bedtime routine, aiming for 7-9 hours per night to ensure your brain functions at its best. 

• Develop a balanced study schedule that includes regular breaks and varied study methods to avoid burnout. 

• Fuel your body with nutritious foods to keep energy levels stable and focus sharp.

• Incorporate stress management techniques such as deep breathing exercises, physical activity, or mindfulness practices to stay calm and centred. 

Year 12, there is no substitute for hard work. Academic success is the result of consistent effort over time. Making the choice to study and revise now, even when it’s tempting to procrastinate, will be beneficial to your overall results. Students who put in the hard work, do the extra past paper question, ask their teachers for more feedback and have their study notes in order, will find that it pays off. Good luck!

Moving forward into the next few weeks, parents please keep an eye out for notification of parent information and subject selection evenings. I am aware there are a number of these coming up. 

Please do not hesitate to contact Kerry or myself if you have any concerns about your child’s wellbeing.

Ms Tahni Isedale
Year 7-9 Pastoral Wellbeing

Charles Sturt University

2024 Open Days - Charles Sturt University

Open Day is a great opportunity to discover what life at Charles Sturt is all about. Be inspired by academic staff, explore facilities and accommodation on guided tours, and chat to current students about what studying at Charles Sturt is really like.

From information sessions and campus tours to free food, entertainment, and giveaways – there’s something for everyone.

All students, carers or teachers planning to attend will need to register individually to attend Open Day to be sure to receive the reminders and key event information in the lead up to the day. 

Be sure to book early to lock in your spot! 

Wagga Wagga                   Sunday 28^th July 10am – 2:30pm  

Port Macquarie                Sunday 4^th August 10am – 2:30pm  

Albury-Wodonga              Sunday 11^th August 10am – 1:30pm  

Bathurst                             Sunday 18^th August 10am – 2:30pm  

Orange                               Sunday 25^th August 10am – 12:30pm  

Book your spot below

https://study.csu.edu.au/why-charles-sturt/events/open-day?_

Library News

Celebrating Book Week 2024
The theme for the national, annual celebration of Australian children’s literature is ‘Reading is Magic’. We are celebrating Book Week to honour the authors and illustrators of Australian children’s literature and to also encourage the students of La Salle to engage with the library space and the fiction and nonfiction collections. We will be celebrating the week by running a range of book-related activities in the library at each lunchtime,with great prizes on offer. Some of these activities will include: guessing competitions, design activities and quizzes. Advertising of the events will be through Compass and the Library Google Classroom page and students should check these regularly for updates. 

Premier’s Reading Challenge
A reminder that the PRC will close on Friday, 23rd August. Students participating in the challenge must add all completed titles to their Person Reading Logs before this date to ensure that they will be issued with a certificate in Term 4. 

The team at PRC have also made some changes to the Book List.  The Term 3 PRC booklist is now live - 186 new books have been added. Students will now be able to add these books as PRC titles to their reading records on the student experience site and main site.
Please note: If students have previously added any of these new titles as choice books, they will need to manually remove them from their reading record and re-add them as PRC titles. 

You can access the booklist update via the excel document available for download - this document also contains the books added in the previous update.  

Olympic Display
Our new library display is in honour of the Games of the 33rd Olympiad, Paris 2024. We have incorporated a range of symbolic elements including some historical information and presented a range of texts relating to the games, different sports and the athletes who have competed. The Word of the Week is olympiad and has been included to help develop vocabulary around this event. A big thank you to Mrs Doohan for her wonderful creativity and to those students who assisted in cutting out the 100 flags we have used in the display! 

New Books
Each month we receive a delivery of new fiction and nonfiction titles for our collection. Some of the wonderful texts on offer this month are:

Return to Sender by Lauren Draper
After three years away, seventeen-year-old Brodie McKellon has returned to live with her eccentric grandmother above the last remaining Dead Letter Office - the place letters go when no one is left to claim them. Soon, Brodie is consumed by an unsolved mystery - the unclaimed letters of a group of teens who seemed to vanish many years ago. A gripping page turner for fans of the mystery/thriller genre. 

The Break-Up Artists by Adriana Mather
A funny and playful romance perfect for fans of Jenny Han's The Summer I Turned Pretty and The Kissing Booth. When it's your job to break-up bad relationships, there's only one rule. DON'T fall in love. Best friends August and Valentine have an unusual summer job. They are hired by parents to break up bad high school relationships.
Valentine (the brains of the operation) believes that they're making the world a little better, steering relationships off a cliff so the kids can someday find true love.
August doesn't believe in soul mates. In fact, he thinks the idea of falling head over heels is ridiculous. That is until he meets the one girl who changes everything - Ella.

Happy Reading,
Mrs Devine

Literacy at LaSalle

This term at La Salle, we are continuing the great work started on our literacy initiatives in Semester 1. The first day of Term 3 was a Professional Development Day for all staff and part of this time was spent engaging with our literacy focus areas for Semester 2. These include:

Stage 4: Paragraphing and Vocabulary 
Stage 6: Breaking Down Complex Tasks - Marking Criteria and Feedback

During the professional development time, staff further developed their understanding of the Three-Tiered Framework for Vocabulary Instruction and how it can be used to enhance the language of our students within their various Key Learning Areas. This framework will be used throughout the semester in a range of class activities and will also inform programming and assessment. The tiered framework has three distinct sections:

• Tier 1: Basic, everyday language
• Tier 2: General academic language
• Tier 3: Less common, more subject specific language
  
  Strategies that will be used to encourage vocabulary acquisition in our students will be based on the recommendations within the Guidance Report from the team at Evidence For Learning. This organisation focuses on evidence-informed practice to increase student learning and their recommendation is that targeted vocabulary instruction is to be provided in every subject. This aligns with our whole school disciplinary literacy approach which acknowledges the unique language requirements of each subject area.

Through explicitly teaching features of vocabulary and prioritising the teaching of Tier 2 and 3 words, we are helping students to access and use academic language. This will provide great benefits for their writing, particularly in building upon the wonderful work completed on paragraph writing in Semester 1. 

Teachers also had the opportunity to reflect on the area of feedback and how they approach this with their classes, especially with Stage 6 students. We examined NESA’s expectation that effective feedback is given to students which addresses their strengths and areas of improvement and the notion that students should be encouraged to take greater responsibility for their own learning. Research conducted globally indicates that students who receive high quality feedback can make up to an additional eight months progress over the course of a year. Staff were also given the opportunity to engage with information from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) which outlines the characteristics of effective feedback in three main areas including:

• Setting a goal
• Kinds of feedback
• Levels of feedback

Throughout the course of this semester, staff will engage with professional development which addresses these areas and the aim is to experiment with a range of feedback styles to ensure that both student and teacher can benefit from this important process.

Mrs Melissa Devine
Literacy Coach

Finance

SCHOOL FEES REMINDER
A quick reminder that our year is rolling on through and we are almost at the end of Term 2.
Due to our fee structure being set up as three payments over three terms, Instalments 1 and 2
should now be paid.

2024 Billing Dates:
Term 1 Billing date: 01/03/2024 and Instalment Due date: 15/03/2024
Term 2 Billing date: 10/05/2024 and Instalment Due date: 24/05/2024
Term 3 Billing date: 02/08/2024 and Instalment Due date: 16/08/2024
If you have not received your School Fee Statement via email, please contact the school
office to ensure that we have the correct email address on our system.

Just a reminder that payments can be made by the following payment options:
 Account balances can be accessed via Compass and payments can be made on the App.
 BPay Payment References are readily available on the Fee Statements.
 Direct Debit Forms are available at the school – just call or email to enquire.
 EFTPOS is available in person at the office or you are welcome to make payment over the phone.
 Centrepay Forms are available from ServiceNSW or call / email and we can arrange one to be sent.

Please don’t hesitate to contact the office by calling (02) 6354 5100 or by emailing the
school on lasallelithgow@bth.catholic.edu.au if you have any questions relating to your
account or if experiencing any difficulty so we can do our best to find a suitable solution.

Warm regards,
Narelle Lee

PCYC Safe Drivers course

This course counts towards 20 hours towards the participants log book, and they learn with professional driving instructors.
The Safer Drivers Course aims to provide learner drivers with the knowledge they need to reduce road risks and prevent accidents by becoming a safe driver. As an Accredited Provider of the transport for NSW Safer Drivers Course, PCYC NSW know that our students will complete the course with a greater of understanding of how to be a safe P-plate driver.Statistically, the first six months after receiving your provisional license are the most dangerous. New P-plate drivers can find it challenging on the roads without the support of an experienced instructor by their side. Our course equips young drivers with the tools they need to manage the transition to a full license.I have attached two tiles which can be used, or alternatively, if you can advertise hyperlinks, you can use this as well. PCYC Safer Drivers Course
I really appreciate any support in advertising this to our local kids and can be contacted on the below details if you need any further information. 

Karate Classes

We are a local karate school who have been operating for over 25 years with experienced, qualified instructors.
We provide fun, affordable karate classes for kids, teens and adults to develop fitness, determination, focus and self defence in a safe, welcoming environment.
Our karate school is a traditional school that follows the virtues of respect, peace and perseverance and helps to develop students in the dojo as well as in their daily lives.
We are offering a FREE trial lesson to all new students.

Kind regards,
Tamara Snow
Blue Mountains Karate Admin and Instructor

Phone: 0425 370 859
Email: info@karatensw.com.au
Website: karatensw.com.au
Facebook: chito ryu karate blue mountains

Canteen- Flexischools App

We have the flexischools app for your convenience order online - See the flyers below with instructions on how to order

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.