Delagram 19th August 2024

From the Principal

It is hard to believe that we are already entering Week 5 of Term Three.

Congratulations should be extended to our Year 12 cohort who finished their HSC Trial exams last week. There may be a tendency to relax now that these exams have finished but that would be a mistake! There are many lessons that can be taken from these trial exams, and we need to support our students in making positive choices leading into their HSC exams which are eight weeks away.

Our Year 12 students should have developed study habits, timetabled study into their schedules and
developed confidence in their study strategies. Now is the time to consolidate these habits of
learning and intensify our focus on the HSC exams. Our seniors will have a chance in five weeks to
reflect on their educational journey, enjoy their graduation and soak up the end of their formal
schooling, but I urge our families to motivate and support our Year 12 students at all other times to
focus on maximising their performance and outcomes for their HSC exams.

Within the last two weeks, the Olympics has concluded and now that I am short of sporting
highlights to watch every evening, I am personally look forward to the start of the Paralympics. But
the Olympics has demonstrated the best and worst of humanity. One of the unsung medallists from
the Olympics, Jess Montag provided one of the very best sporting interviews that I have heard in my
lifetime. It is both inspirational and educational, and absolutely amazing after having just completed
the race walk. I have included excerpts of her interview below:

I had a lot of belief, I had a good feeling in this last week;
I felt significantly more pressure this year because in Tokyo there were no spectators;
Today, there were about 30 family members in ‘Team Jem’ t-shirts yelling my name.
And you want to do well for them because you know how excited they’ll be;
You want to show gratitude for the 15-year journey this has taken since Little Athletics;
But it’s a careful balance of wanting that medal but not needing it.
Its really, a nuanced difference.
So not needing it for your own self-worth, or feeling that people will love you;
but wanting it saying ‘yeah’, I’m willing to give this a crick and if it doesn’t happen;
the sun will rise tomorrow, but let’s give it a go.

This speaks of a grounded, resilient and balanced individual who understands and prioritises the
most important things in her life. When asked about how she could be an inspiration to young girls
around Australia, Jess continued by saying:

Play on is my message.
You know, I want them to know that this journey isn’t without its challenges, particularly around the
age of 16 and 17, I certainly questioned my place on the sporting field, and whether I wanted to take
it to this Olympic level.
But my message is, it doesn’t matter if you are doing sport for fun, in the backyard or with your
girlfriends or whether you want to take it to this Olympic medallist level, sport is about community
and a sense of belonging, making friends and looking after our physical and mental health, learning
amazing life skills like dedication and leadership, which are all such great things for the next
generation for women and girls.
So play on in your own way, whatever suits you, and yes we belong here.

This excerpt highlights the importance of physical activity, and the immense benefits that come with
physical activity. And whilst this is targeting young women, it is a message that we can all adopt.
Equally within Australia however, we have witnessed some unsavoury reactions to the Olympic
athletes, most notably the Break Dance athlete. Whilst I might not agree with Break Dancing being a
sport within the Olympic Games, I will most certainly support anyone that is selected to represent
this country whether that is the Olympic Games or any other sport/activity. The performance of
Rachael Gunn has certainly divided the nation, in what was a uniquely Australian representation in
breakdancing. But the prolonging and targeted attacks that have occurred since the Olympics are
undeserved and mask a critical issues that is experienced across society. It does nothing to support
our students being creative, taking a risk, working outside the box or trying something new. Because
what this has taught us is, that judgement and victimisation of others occurs not just in schools but
in all facets of our society. If we are going to allow our young people to try things, be innovative,
take risks, use their imagination, dream big, then we must be willing to support and stand by them
without this fear of judgement. I hope that our community of La Salle Academy will stand with us is
challenging these societal stereotypes.

God Bless.
Mr Glenn Carpenter

Assistant Principal

Atomi - A Whole School Resource for Study Skills
Students from Years 7 been introduced this week to the program ATOMI. The students have access to a wide range of materials that are designed to provide additional support for all of their core subjects. Teachers have been making use of these in some class activities but there is plenty of material students can access at any time.
The study skills cover a range of useful activities on topics including:
 Setting Goals and Growth Mindset
 Assessment and Study Techniques
 Memory and Learning
 Staying Productive and looking after yourself

We encourage you to have a conversation with your son/daughter about what they can access on the Atomi platform. Even very small amounts of time dedicated to some study and revision can have a significant impact on success in the classroom. We are keen to hear your feedback on this resource.
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.
Introduction to Welding Course
Some or our Year 10 students have been attending an Introduction to welding course at
Lithgow TAFE. This program is delivered by Regional Economic Development and RIEP/Training Services NSW under the Regional Investment Attraction Program, Targeted Workforce Development Scheme.

Mrs Jenny Holgate
Assistant Principal

From the Religious Education Coordinator

As we reflect on The Feast of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are reminded of the special role that Mary, the Mother of God, plays in our faith. The Feast of the Assumption celebrates Mary being taken up to heaven, body and soul, at the end of her earthly life. Today is truly significant as it highlights Mary's purity, her close relationship with God, and her role as a model of faith for all. Through Mary, we learn about the power of saying "yes" to God and trusting in His plan for our lives. As we continue our journey this term, let us try and keep the example of Mary in our hearts, striving to live out our faith with the same grace and devotion. 

On Monday we started our Sacramental Program with five students from La Salle Academy. Thank you to Ms Jackie Tse for leading the day and Miss Imogen Della Bosca for her assistance. Your support continues to help lay the foundation for spiritual growth of our young learners.

Today, our school community came together with St. Patrick's Primary School to celebrate the Assumption of Mary Feast Day Mass. We are incredibly proud of our students for their reverence during this significant celebration. A special thanks to Mr. Pearce and the Choir, Mrs. O'Regan, and Father Reynold for making the Mass such a memorable occasion. Certainly for me, the  highlight of the mass was the Year 2 students who beautifully sang and performed actions for our final hymn, "My Lighthouse” added a special touch to the occasion.

This Friday night, we will be holding our Vinnies Winter Appeal Sleep Out, an event that hopes to raise awareness to the issue of homelessness within our local community. Students will experience a small part of what it's like to sleep rough, and we hope this will deepen their understanding and compassion for those who are less fortunate. We will kick off the evening with Nachos for dinner, and in the morning, everyone will enjoy bacon and egg rolls for breakfast. I wish to extend my thanks in advance to Ms Imogen Della Bosca, Mr Harry Pottinger, Mrs Maree Wilsmore, and our staff who have volunteered their time to help throughout the night and morning. Your support makes this event possible and meaningful.

Looking forward, next week our Year 9 CSYMI students will be leading a special 'Hope, Understanding, and Compassion' retreat day for our Year 5 feeder schools. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to share their faith and values with younger peers, helping to build a strong, compassionate community. 

Additionally, our Year 9 and 10 students will be travelling to Orange for the RISE UP Conference, where they will join fellow CSYMI students from around the diocese. This event is a fantastic chance for our students to connect with others who share their faith and commitment to making a positive difference in the world.

Mrs Wilsmore-Smith
Religious Education Coordinator

Pastoral and Wellbeing Co-ordinator's

My name is Kerry Hogan and this term I have started my new role as Wellbeing Coordinator. I have been lucky enough to have worked at La Salle previously, and prior to that, I worked casually at St Patrick’s Primary School. I have been a part of this community for over five years, and it has made me proud to see the positive changes in our students throughout their schooling years. I am so happy to be back working at La Salle, and in this role as Wellbeing Coordinator, alongside Miss Tahni Isedale. My door is always open at the Wellbeing Hub, and it has been great to see students feeling comfortable to use this space. Parents, please feel free to reach out to me at the school should you have any concerns about your child’s wellbeing. 
Year 12
It has been a busy start to the school term with year 12 working hard on their HSC trial exams. It is important that the students reflect during this time on their study patterns and what has worked and what has not. This way they can best prepare themselves for the final HSC exams. Keep going, champions! You can do it!
Year 11
The Prelims are coming up very quickly. It is important that the year 11 students take the time to work out some good study habits that work specifically for them. Atomi has some great tips for this and also works as an amazing tool to study for specific subjects. My tip to the students is they can always screenshot important diagrams or summaries during the videos/lessons and add this to their study notes. 

Year 10
The next few weeks are an important time for our year 10’s as they will start to make some important decisions for their future. This can be overwhelming, and they may feel that there is a lot of pressure on them at this time. Please make sure that you have booked a parent/family meeting. These will be running in the evenings between the 19th - 28th of August. This will bring some more clarity to what their future plans are and how we can support them. 

Year 7-9

Some students have started receiving their assessment task notifications for this term. It is important that they stay on top of when assessment tasks are due, and that students are having open communication with their teachers, particularly if they are struggling to complete these tasks. Having a calendar on the fridge or in their room with the dates that the assessment tasks are due will help them to prioritise what task to do and when. 

During these busy periods the social and peer pressures of being in High School can be heightened. We are lucky to provide the students with help within the school environment, but also lean on our local community for workshops and help in this space. There is a Body Positive workshop coming up in Bathurst that looks to empower young women on overcoming negative thoughts on body image and the relationship with food. This is run by professionals in this space and is completely free! I have attached the flyer for more details and encourage involvement!

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

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! 

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
We are days away from celebrating Book Week and it is exciting to be able to share with you the finalised timeline of the activities that will be held in the library during recess and lunch during Week 5:

Monday 19/8: Design your ideal library OR Design a book cover
Students will be provided with a range of craft items and be challenged to use their creativity to represent their ideal library space or convey the thematic focus of a chosen novel. This can be a lengthy process, therefore this challenge will continue throughout the week.

Tuesday 20/8: Guess the Teacher’s Pet
In this guessing competition, students will see a range of photographs of animals reading a book. Students will need to use the clues in the books to try and guess which teacher owns the pet.

Wednesday 21/8:  Book Week Kahoot!
Students can join in a fun book quiz that will challenge their knowledge of genres, characters and more!

Friday 22/8: Book Swap
To conclude our Book Week celebrations, students are invited to bring in any unwanted books from home and swap them with their peers. The library will also be providing a range of fiction and non-fiction books to be included in the swap. This is a great opportunity for students to find new texts that will engage them to develop and maintain positive reading habits into the future!

There will be prizes awarded for each activity. 

Book Donations to Three Tree Lodge
This year, the library collection has undergone a restructure of its resources so that a more streamlined, modern and relevant collection of fiction and non-fiction books can be offered to our students for research and reading for pleasure. This has meant that we have been able to offer a number of quality books to organisations in need of donations. Last week, members of our staff visited Three Tree Lodge to present the donated items and spend time with the residents. I would like to extend my gratitude to Margaret Doohan, Edward Sheere, Imogen Della Bosca and Harry Pottinger for their efforts in sorting and delivering the donated books. Your help has been greatly appreciated!

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

One of our students has already completed the challenge and read the required 20 titles. Well done to Emily. H. in Year 7!

Happy Reading,
Mrs Devine

National Science Week

National Science Week 2024 Activities
(Monday 12th - Friday 16th August)
For 2024, the theme for National Science Week was Species Survival – More than just Conservation.
We share our world with many animal and plant species, each contributing to our rich biodiversity. Because
of this, we have a huge responsibility in protecting their long-term survival.
This year, National Science Week at La Salle Academy saw students engaging in three activities to explore
some of the critical challenges impacting Earth’s human, animal and plant habitation.
Activity 1: Species Reliance on Humans for Survival
Students viewed a YouTube presentation on ways humans attempt to replenish numbers of vulnerable or
endangered species so that they do not become extinct from exposure to toxins, disease, overharvesting,
invasive species, fire suppression and loss of dependent species. They answered questions on a worksheet
relating to this YouTube presentation and engaged with an online testing system to have their answers
marked automatically to receive immediate feedback.
Activity 2: Chemical Analysis of Whale Snot
A doctor can send our body fluids – such as blood or urine – to a clinical testing laboratory for analysis to test
for symptoms of illness, A vet can do the same for our pets. Whales are hard to collect the usual blood and
urine samples from because of their huge size and migration patterns, but can also be dangerous to be
around when conducting invasive health tests due to their heavy mass and powerful muscles. Collecting
whale snot by drone is an easier and safer way to access whale body fluids for analysis.
To determine the health of a whale, students chemically tested simulated whale snot for pH, the presence of
protein and glucose and observed snot colour.
Activity 3: Species Game: Conservation Crisis
Students worked as a team to set up a model ecosystem using a printed landscape as the game board to
which paper cut-out organisms could be added or removed. This ecosystem was then exposed to simulated
scenarios based on real-life examples with the potential to increase or decrease species biodiversity over
time. This activity was undertaken to provide a scientific model of species change within an ecosystem driven
by natural environmental conditions and human actions.

I’d like to thank the science teachers, Ms. Walker, Ms Plumb and Mrs. Griffiths for their involvement in the
planning and running of the activities with their science classes and to give a shout out to our laboratory
assistant, Mrs Doohan for putting a number of the resources for the activities together.

Thank you
J. MacKinnon
Science Co-ordinator

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ALL THINGS ATTENDANCE

It is law in NSW that all school age children must attend school every day that the school is open.
There is a direct relationship between learning success and excellent attendance

Did you know? Research shows that higher student attendance at school is associated, on
average with higher student achievement.
When you look at the chart below and see how the days add up when your child is not
attending school it can be quite surprising. You may think that when your child is having a
day off here or there doesn’t make a difference but really – it does!
Why is regular attendance at school important?
Attendance at school has so many benefits that being here everyday does count. When
your child attends school they:-
 Have fun
 Spend time with their peers
 Develop new skills
 Gain the necessary qualifications to finish school and go onto further education or
employment
 Experience new things
 Build confidence
 Have the best possible start in life
So as parents what can you do-
 Promote the importance of school
 Go to school events- Mass, Award presentations
 Get to know the teachers – Parent Teacher Interviews
 Read the school Delagram and know what’s happening at school
 Volunteer to help at school – maybe the canteen or sports events
 Ask about your child’s day
 Get involved in your child’s school – Parent Engagement Evenings, Information Evenings
 Be firm, send your child to school every school day including their birthday and the last day of term –
They can celebrate their birthday at school with their friends and the last day can be quite fun too

When it comes to attendance at school sometimes children need to stay at home.
OK reasons to stay at home-
 Sickness
 Specialist appointments out of town
 Natural disasters – when the school is closed – for us snow, fires and flooding
It’s NOT OK to skip school to-
 Shop
 Sleep in
 Finish an assignment
 Go on holidays
 Get a haircut/colour or nails
 Or because it’s your birthday
La Salle recognises and values the benefits of a positive home/school relationship and seeks to involve parents in developing positive patterns of attendance for all students. We hope you can support La Salle as we move forward and encourage regular school attendance for your child.

Mrs Kath Staines
Attendance Wellbeing Officer

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. 

Year 5 Taster Day

Leura Public School P&C Fundraiser

Leura Public School P&C are running their outdoor movie night again. After such a successful event last year we are hoping to make this year's event bigger.

 This is the link below to our ticket site 

https://www.trybooking.com/CQSMB

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.