Link Up Term 3 Week 8 2024

Right to disconnect

At St Francis de Sales College we understand that parent/caregiver engagement goes hand in hand with student wellbeing and success and productive communication with parents/caregivers is an essential feature of a positive school culture.

Digital technologies have greatly assisted in this regard and the use of parent/caregiver information apps, social media (featuring information, highlights and achievements), school website, SEQTA and the use of email communication directly with staff is now routine.

We appreciate that parent/caregiver expectations of staff accessibility have evolved in the context of enhanced digital communication practices. While representing efficient modes of communication, the breadth of digital communication options can create ‘availability creep’ where school employees become more accessible in locations and at times of the day, weekends and during periods of leave when they should be able to disconnect from work. Indeed, recent laws have taken effect which provide school employees a right to disconnect.

In the interests of respecting the rights of our staff and recognising the importance of facilitating and promoting healthy communication, we are introducing the following as standard protocol during term time:

• Noting our staff spend a significant amount of their workday focussing on teaching or other activities applicable to their roles, staff will endeavour to respond to parent/caregiver communications requesting a response within 48 hours, or two working days, noting staff will discern whether an urgent matter requires a shorter response timeframe; and
• Parents/caregivers are encouraged to contact our main College Administration Office in the first instance for any general information.
• Also a reminder to notify the College of student absences, late arrivals or early departures via our website > Student Absences or call our Absentee Line on 8393 1001.

We ask that parents and caregivers be mindful and supportive of the above, and we look forward to continuing to engage in genuine partnership with you and your family.

Thank you for your understanding.

National Child Protection Week

This week is National Child Protection week, culminating with Safeguarding Sunday on 8 September, an initiative of the Catholic church. This year’s theme is every conversation matters. As educators our prime concern is for the safety and wellbeing of the young people in our care. Teachers and support staff have hundreds of conversations every day with young people, and we are instinctively aware that young people need a voice and agency.

At St Francis de Sales College, the care and protection of our students is our highest priority, and all staff are trained in child protection. There are several key documents that guide our work including Protective Practices for staff in their interactions with young people; Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect; and Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy (Archdiocese of Adelaide). In addition, all year levels for R-12 are taught the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum.

If ever you are concerned about the safety or wellbeing of your children at school, it is important that you contact us so that we can work together to address these concerns.

Staff Reflection Day

Whilst our students were taking a welcome break from school last Friday, our staff were engaged in a Reflection Day with the staff of Mercedes College and St Aloysius College. Our connecting point is that we are all schools that were started by the Sisters of Mercy. It was a fantastic day for our staff to connect with our Mercy charism more deeply. I have been really impressed on my return to St Francis de Sales College to witness the re-connection with our rich Mercy heritage, and it provides such a powerful link to our past as well as opening up possibilities for spiritual growth into the future. We owe a great deal to the Broken Hill Sisters of Mercy who opened our school in 1902. They provide a rich legacy and inspiration for us as we continue the work they started in building a faith and learning community that has at its centre the care for others. Thank you to parents and caregivers for supporting this opportunity for our staff by making alternative arrangements for your children. I know that this is not always an easy task.

Andrew Baker
Principal

RUOK? Day

On Thursday, we celebrated RUOK? Day, to inspire and empower our community to meaningfully connect with the people around them and start a conversation with those in their world who may be struggling.

Each Homeroom participated in age appropriate RUOK? Day activities designed to raise awareness about the monitoring your own mental health, as well as being attentive to the welfare of others.

There were recess and lunchtime activities across the College, and staff also had the opportunity to check in with one another over a shared morning tea.

Fundamental to the message of RUOK? Day is knowing what to do if a friend, family member or colleague doesn’t appear to be coping.

1. Ask
2. Listen with an open mind
3. Encourage action
4. Check in

Father’s Day Breakfast

Our Student Leaders replaced their textbooks for tongs to acknowledge the significant father and father figures in our College community at our Father’s Day Breakfast this week. This was a wonderful opportunity not just for fathers to gather with their child at school, but also to network with one another and build connections within our community.

Following breakfast, our leaders ran a short liturgy where we reflected on how our Heart Value of Wisdom is fostered within the relationship between father and child. We also heard some reflections from students expressing gratitude to their fathers and father figures for their love and support.

The gathering also provided us with an opportunity to relaunch the Fathering Project, with the first gathering of 2024 to occur following the Junior School Sports Day on Friday 8 November. If you are interested in developing connections with other fathers and father figures in our community, and strengthening the connection between you, your child, and their schooling, please join us. More information is available on our College website at > Parent Community.

Transition Events

Throughout Term 4, there will be several formal and informal transition events taking place across the College. All students within our community will spend some time focusing on transition in Pastoral Care lessons throughout Term 4.

Current Year 6 students and incoming Year 7 students will come together for a Transition Day on Friday 29 November. Whilst we have the benefit of having our entire student body on one campus, which makes for smooth transitions between year levels, we recognise that the move from Junior School to Senior School is significant. The Year 7 Transition Day, along with the Year 6 Moving Up Celebration on 3 December will be key milestones for our Year 6 students and their families.

Summer Uniform

As we begin to experience warmer weather and the beauty of spring, we are reminded that Term 4 and a return to the Summer Uniform is not far away. I encourage families to familiarise themselves with the Term 4 uniform requirements on our College website at > Uniform. A reminder also that College hats are compulsory and must be worn at break times in sunny areas throughout Term 4.

A reminder that winter uniform expectations are still in place for the remainder of Term 3. Students have been reminded that the blazer does not need to be worn in class or during break times, which will ensure the uniform is more comfortable on warmer days.

Best wishes to all as we move quickly toward the Term 3 break.

James Gill
Deputy Principal - Community and Wellbeing

As I write this article, I can see the sun shining out in the Mercy Courtyard and the temperature has risen to a very pleasant 27 degrees. The start of spring is an excellent opportunity to refresh and approach our daily pursuits with renewed energy and a brighter spring in our step. This is important as we head towards the end of Term 3 and students finalise their work and assessments prior to the upcoming term break.

Book Week

Book Week took place in Week 5, culminating in our Book Week Parades where students and staff had the opportunity to showcase some of their favourite book characters. Some of our talented Years 7-11 students also demonstrated their literary skills in a Write a Book in a Day competition. Of course, all the Book Week events and activities had the purpose of highlighting the importance of developing our literacy skills through reading, an excellent educational lesson and one we should all continue pursuing regularly within our day to day lives. 

Learning Reviews and Tours of Learning

A big thank you to all the parents/caregivers, staff and students who participated in the recent Years 7-12 Learning Reviews. Likewise, Junior School families will have an opportunity to attend R-6 Tour of Learning during Week 9 (Tuesday 17 September). These are significant events, providing a forum for staff, students and parents/caregivers to work side by side, celebrating achievements, identifying growth opportunities and setting goals to support students on their ongoing learning journeys. It has been pleasing to see our Years 7-12 students demonstrating their agency and ownership of their learning and, no doubt, the Junior School students will also engage enthusiastically and knowledgably in showcasing their learning next week.

Year 12 Students

Our Year 12’s are rapidly approaching the end of their school educational journey. In the last few weeks of Term 3 and the start of Term 4, these students will be busy engaging in trial exams and preparing for final assessments and exams. This time of year, requires an even more focused approach to classes, assessments and revision than the Year 12’s have already demonstrated. We wish our Year 12’s well during this significant phase of their final school year. To help create the right mindset and conditions for effective exam preparation and assessment completion, it is worth our Year 12 students considering the following:

• Ditch the distractions: Eliminate distractions, such as phones and social media during study and/or work sessions.
• Study/work in shorter, more frequent bursts: Allowing for "brain breaks" and processing time.
• Break down tasks and study materials into manageable chunks: Celebrate your learning and achievements along the way.
• Use visual aids: Like concept maps and to connect and process complex ideas.
• Sleep well: 8-10 hours per night is an important part of ensuring your brain can effectively retain and process the information you are revising.
• Reward yourself: Maintain a healthy balance of work and recreation.
• Start early: To help ensure your best, begin revising and finalising tasks well in advance.

Diverse Learning Opportunities

Over the last few weeks of Term 3 there is a wide range of learning activities taking place across the College, in and out of the classroom. Our musicians are gearing up for a busy end to the term including the R-7 Instrumental Music Showcase in Week 9 (Wednesday 18 September), the Catholic Schools Music Festival on Tuesday 24 September and a lunchtime Music Lunchbox performance on Wednesday Week 10. We wish them well with these endeavours. Our Year 8 students will be on camp in Week 9, and there is a range of sporting competitions and class excursions leading into the end of term. Our students are blessed to have a diverse choice of learning opportunities and as always, I encourage them to engage in these to the best of their ability and to treasure the knowledge, skills and capabilities they build through their participation.

Years 7-12 Interim Reports

All Years 7-12 students will receive Interim Reports and the end of Term 3 via SEQTA. Years 7-12 parents/caregivers are encouraged to continue to access SEQTA Engage as a way of staying in touch with your child’s learning: with timetables, lesson details, resources, feedback and grades readily available. Should parents/caregivers ever require support with SEQTA access or use, please contact the College and we will we happy to help!

2024 World Teachers’ Day

World Teachers’ Day will be celebrated in Australia early next term, 25 October. This is an excellent opportunity to celebrate and thank our wonderful St Francis de Sales teachers for the important role they have in our community and for the positive impact they have on the lives of our students and families. We take our ‘Hats off’ to our teachers, acknowledge the work they do in educating, inspiring and empowering our students and wish them a wonderful World Teachers’ Day.

Paul Wadsworth
Deputy Principal - Learning

As we come to the latter part of our Term 3, we take a moment to reflect on the many things we are grateful for and the wonderful things we have achieved as a community. The generosity and awareness of those who are in great need, is an element of our community that I am very impressed by and grateful for. This leads me into our Mercy Mission Appeal, which is soon coming to a close.

Can Sculpture Activity (Mercy Mission Appeal)

Our Appeal will run until Tuesday Week 10 (24 September), which is International Mercy Day. Families are encouraged to donate canned food items to the Appeal, which is able to be stored in baskets within each Homeroom (R-12).

On Tuesday 24 September (Lesson 1 and 2), each year level will gather for the can sculpture activity. Year levels will have the opportunity to use the donated cans to create a sculpture or some form of 3D artwork. As an additional incentive, points will be allocated to year levels, based on how well they fulfill the criteria that will be set for the activity. Given the nature of this activity, we ask that only canned items are donated.

As a College, we truly value your generosity and continued support of our Catholic Appeals. In the spirit of our Mercy charism focus this term, our Year 8 Reflection Day and Staff Reflection Day were both underpinned by our Mercy charism.

Year 8 Reflection Day

Student Reflection

"On Tuesday, Week 6, our Year 8 community went off to Adelaide for their Reflection Day. The day was run by two guest speakers in the Cathedral Hall. Sister Meredith Evans (a Mercy Sister) and Maddie Kelly (Old Scholar of St Aloysius College). They told us about the meaning of Mercy and how they have lived it through their lives. We started with a game which I really enjoyed. There were pieces of paper under our chairs, that had on them with unfinished sentences of quotes by Catherine McAuley. Our challenge was to find other people who had other parts of the quote and try to join them together into a sentence.  

We also had a little adventure, exploring the Catholic service and care agencies in the City, near Victoria Square. We learned a little bit more about every place we went to and were asked to think about the perspective of homeless people within the city and how they may be shown Mercy in their situation.   

Multiple things were incredibly interesting; we learned about Saints and other people who went out of their comfort zone to help those in need. Towards the end of our Reflection Day, we all put together gift packs. We put toiletry items into gift bags with a heartwarming message for families and people who aren’t able to afford everyday items, due to their circumstances.

The day helped us to understand our College’s Mercy focus and actually see the places that we fundraise for each term." Rache, Year 8 Student

Staff Reflection Day

Last week our staff attended a Staff Reflection Day, which was focused on our Mercy heritage and charism. For the very first time, we experienced a Staff Reflection Day combined with the staff from Mercedes College and St Aloysius College – the three Mercy Colleges in Adelaide. Over 430 people gathered in the Sports Centre at Mercedes College for a time of prayer, Mercy formation, and participation in activities that involved connection, service, and fun. The combined event is an initiative that we aim to continue on a regular basis over the coming years, to strengthen our Mercy links within our community. Our Youth Minister, Jade Pace, shares her reflection about the day:

“The Staff Reflection Day proved to be a lovely experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to meet new faces from both St Aloysius College and Mercedes College, as well as being able to connect with fellow staff members from St Francis de Sales. It was refreshing being able to step away from our usual campus environment and engage with other staff through the range of diverse activities provided. The chance to participate in activities that were distinct from our regular workday routines gave myself and all the staff a time that allowed reflection and a time to relax. Overall I found it to be a valuable day that provided a nice change of pace and an opportunity to learn more about each of our schools and our rich connection of Mercy charism”. Jade Pace, Youth Minister

R-2 Visits to Our Lady of Mercy Church

Over the last few weeks the R-2 community visited Our Lady of Mercy Church in Mount Barker, as a way of immersing themselves into the symbols and sacred items within the sacred space. I was impressed by the keen interest the students had in what they saw, and the very thoughtful questions they asked.

Vinnies Badge Day

Recently, a few members of the Faith-in-Action (FIA) Group assisted our local Mt Barker Vinnies Conference to raise money for Vinnies. They were assisted by Devan Chalmers, Sister Shiji and Tim Dornan. This was a fundraising and awareness raising activity for Vinnies, which was conducted in the main shopping centres near the main street of Mt Barker. Students collected donations for Vinnies in specifically designed Vinnies collection tins, giving the donator a sticker badge in return. This was a wonderful way for the FIA Group to put their 'Faith in Action' and support our local Vinnies Conference. In the two hour time frame that they did this, they raised $480 for Vinnies. Wonderful work! I sincerely thank Ashton Bell, Amelia De Luca, Caesi Deveney, Paige Evans, Giselle Gajjar, James Grubb, Charlotte Kelly, Chelsea Lancaster, Hudson Rogers and Sebastian Salazar.

Wishing you a productive and enjoyable last few weeks of Term 3.

Oreste Farrugia
APRIM

Hungry No More Program Reflection

I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my recent participation in the Hungry No More Program facilitated by The Uniting Church in Mount Barker. This initiative creates a safe and supportive space where individuals can gather for a meal without fear of judgment. Working alongside other volunteers, I had the privilege of serving meals and interacting with some amazing people. The experience has shown me the profound impact of offering support and connection to those facing challenges within our community.

If you would be interested in volunteering please email Oreste Farruigia at ofarrugia@stfrancis.catholic.edu.au

College Tours

This is another opportunity for the Parent Community Group (PCG) to get involved - supporting our College Tours.

We actively participate in creating a welcoming space for families who are making that important decision in choosing a new school and investing in their child's academic journey.

Recently, I met families and answered any questions they had about the College and my experience as a parent. We received such positive feedback regarding the PCG, around our purpose and the activities we run.

Our support also allows our incredible teachers to answer all those crucial academic questions!

If you would like to find out more about the PCG email pcg@stfrancis.catholic.edu.au.

Lia Hooper
Chair of the Parent Commmunity Group

Book Week Celebrations

The theme of this year's Book Week held in Week 5 of this term was Reading is Magic! We certainly enjoyed many inspiring activities across our R-6 community in celebrating all things books. Over the week, students enjoyed discovering the shortlisted books for 2024, and many classes participated in buddy activities and read and relax afternoons.

R-2 classes also welcomed parents and caregivers to come in to read stories to the students, which was a lovely time of connection for all involved. It was great to see some families enjoy the coffee morning on the Wednesday as well.

We finished the week off with one of our favourite traditions of the year, the Book Week Parade. This is always a fun and exciting event, and it was great to be joined by the Alive Early Learning students as well. All our students looked fantastic with their costumes, and there were some amazing and creative characters to see!

A special thank you goes to all the parents and caregivers for your terrific efforts in getting costumes ready for the day! It was a fantastic celebration to end a great week.

R-2 Visits to the Church

The Reception, Year 1 and 2 classes have all enjoyed visiting Our Lady of Mercy Church in Mount Barker over the last few weeks. The purpose of these visits was to experience the church as a special prayerful space. Students were able to have a close-up look at some of the symbols and features of the church such as the statues, altar, tabernacle, and stain glass windows, and discuss what these symbols mean. Sister Shiji and Oreste Farrugia spoke with the students about this sacred space and answered their wonderings about the church.

Alice Taylor
R-6 Director of Learning

2024 Write a Book in a Day

With a record number of students participating in this year’s Write a Book in a Day, an extra dose of excitement, creativity and imagination was evident as teams consisting of Year 7 through to Year 11 worked collaboratively to craft their masterpieces. Team names, including Celestial Racoons and Floating Fairies embraced with enthusiasm this year’s theme, Reading is Magic.

Judges are currently hard at work reviewing each story in their quest to determine the 2024 Book of the Year. With opening hooks as engaging as this, ‘his eyes were a mesmerising shimmering veridian…’ to ‘Delia runs around the library, grabbing books off shelves…stuffing them into her overall pockets…,’ their work is certainly cut out for them.

Winners to be announced early Term 4, meanwhile book covers and blurbs can be viewed in the English Gallery.

Nicole Elding
Learning Area Specialist - English

Stage 2 Trial Exams and Holiday Workshops

As we enter the final weeks of Term 3 and prepare for Term 4 we have provided Year 12 students and families with information regarding the final Friday of Week 2 and the College Graduation. However, prior to this is the Week 10 Trial Exams which will be held in F1. This is an opportunity for Year 12 students to complete a trial exam for feedback and revision purposes and students will still be working on all subjects during the week and come into the exam when it is on. 

We are also holding holiday workshops for different subjects and on Wednesday 3 October F1 will be open for study time from 11am-1pm for any student who would like support. 

Students attending in Week 1 of the holidays need to sign in with their teacher and for Week 2 we ask students to sign in at our main Administration Office. 

Ros Mattner
SACE Coordinator/11-12 Year Level Leader

South Australian Medical Imaging Work Experience

On Friday 2 August, Amelia (Milly) (Year 10) and Sienna (Year 11) were given the chance to tour the Medical Imaging department at Flinders Medical Centre with student facilitator, Michael Fuller. Both students had expressed an interest in pursuing a career in Medical Imaging and were hoping to find out more about what is involved to become a Radiographer. With 42 years’ experience in Medical Imaging, Michael provided the students with invaluable knowledge and insight into studying radiography and radiology at university, the different streams available within Medical Imaging and the practical skills required to support a successful career. At the end of our tour, Michael was so impressed with Milly and Sienna that he offered them both a day of work experience in the Medical Imaging department – an incredibly rare opportunity! Having this opportunity confirmed for both students that they wanted to pursue this career path, but still felt unsure about working in a hospital setting and preferred the idea of private practice.

Milly completed her work experience on Monday 26 August and Sienna on Monday 9 September. Both students spent the day working between the MRI and Emergency departments, shadowing the student facilitator and meeting staff and university students on placement. Milly even had the pleasure of meeting St Francis de Sales Old Scholar, 2014 graduate Laura Gherghetta, who is now working in the MRI department. During their work experience reflections, both students noted that having the chance to work in a hospital setting and speak to the staff about their own experiences has changed their perspective, and they both now hope to work in an Emergency Department one day.

This opportunity was only possible for these students because of a community connection and highlights how valuable our entire College community is in providing our students with diverse opportunities for learning.

Staff Career Journeys

As part of our Careers program, St Francis de Sales staff were encouraged to share their career journeys with us earlier this year. These stories would then be shared with our senior students to demonstrate that careers can evolve throughout the course of your life.

On Tuesday 10 September, our Year 9 and 10 cohorts had the pleasure of hearing from two of our Junior School teachers, Joanna Handforth and Travis Ireland, regarding their career journey. Joanna and Travis have had very unique and diverse pathways that have led them to teaching, demonstrating to students that even people with the same job may have taken very different paths to get there. Throughout their presentations, Joanna and Travis encouraged our students to see every experience presented to them as an opportunity to grow and learn.

We hope to hear more from our staff community regarding their career journeys and show our students the benefit of broadening their experiences through career exploration.

Katie Oliver
VET Coordinator

The opening line of The Beatles song All You Need Is Love, ‘There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done’, perfectly describes what we are all about in our very hard-working Music department.

On any given school day, you can hear joyful musical sounds resonating from the music classrooms, whether that be Year 6, 7 and 8’s playing guitars, drums and keyboards, the Year 3’s with their recorders, the Year 5’s with saxophones, flutes and clarinets, or percussion instruments being played by our enthusiastic Receptions, Year 1’s and 2’s or it might be from the 100 plus instrumental and voice students who are producing some amazing work with piano, drums, bass guitar, singing, saxophone, guitar, violin, cello and double bass… and not to mention our lunchtime concerts, rehearsals with bands, ensembles, vocal groups and choirs.

We are about giving each and every one of our valued students the opportunity to be able to immerse themselves in the joy of music during their first eight years of College life before they have the opportunity to be able to select music as an elective subject to continue into their more senior years.

In what will be a busy last couple of weeks in Music, Wednesday 18 September (Week 9) we will be holding our annual Instrumental Music Showcase which will see around 70 of our musicians perform to family and friends over two concerts where they will give a snapshot of what they have been up to this year. This year we are having to stage a third Instrumental Music Showcase, which will be in Term 4,  just for students of voice, as our overall numbers would create a marathon event if we brought all of the students together for one night.

Week 10, on Tuesday 24 September, our Festival Choir, under the direction of R-6 Music Teacher Nicole Moxham, will join other Catholic Schools and Colleges at the Adelaide Festival Theatre as part of the annual Catholic Schools Music Festival. This is always a fantastic experience for our students and their families and once again, we are certain that our Festival Choir will represent the College with great pride.

Our senior students have been working on a new unit focused on audio engineering. Each student has become an “expert” on specific areas (e.g. microphones, amps and speakers, leads and cables, sound systems) and have presented their research and new skills to the class. They have been experimenting with Equalization (balancing frequencies in sound) of voices and instruments. Their final assessment will be to set up and manage the sound for one of our College ensembles.

We have also had the privilege of having Lucas Pantano (as seen in photo), our Old Scholar (Class of 2021), complete some of his industry placement hours at the College as part of his tertiary studies at the Tabor Institute of Music. Lucas has been working with our ensembles at rehearsals, in class with student bands, supporting primary music lessons and presenting engaging presentations about looping!

If your child would like to join our Music family, we are now taking registrations of interest for Instrumental Music lessons, with only limited availabilities in some instruments. To register, please visit the following link and we will be in contact with you to make arrangements.

St Francis de Sales College | Music

…and to finish with another line from The Beatles’ classic song, All You Need Is Love, ‘Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung’…at St Francis de Sales College, music is for everyone!

Sarah Dodd, Nicole Moxham, Fern Cox and Aleks Bojanic
The Music Team

Senior Basketball – South East Experience

In Week 7 of this term our Basketball Academy teams travelled to the South East to participate in various basketball games and team building experiences. On the Monday we drove to Noorla Yo-Long campsite where the teams were tested at rock climbing and then worked on their teamwork and communication in a blindfolded maze activity. On the Tuesday the teams competed against Tenison Woods College in a Senior Girls game, an 8/9 Boys game and a 10/11 Boys game. The girls then joined the Mt Gambier Pioneers Academy for an NBL1 training session where they were able to see how a professional organisation runs, and the boys worked out at KT Hoops which is a purpose built facility aimed at improving fitness and skills. On the Wednesday we then participated in a joint academy training session with Tenison Woods College where Mark Billington (our Senior Coach) led various drills and activities before driving home. It was a fantastic trip and all students represented our College with pride.

Year 5 NRL Clinic

During Week 5 of this term our Year 5 students were involved in an NRL Tag Rugby Carnival. In the lead up to the day our Year 9 PE class planned a training session with the students and coached the teams throughout the carnival. It was a fantastic day and the Year 5 students all thoroughly enjoyed playing a new and exciting game. One of our girls’ teams also won the NRL Respect Award, which acknowledged their sportsmanship andexemplary behaviour.

Hills/Barker Lightning Carnival

Earlier this week we hosted the annual Hills/Barker Lightning Carnival. This is an event that encourages fun, participation and sportsmanship across AFL, Soccer, Netball and Basketball. Over the three days we had over 1200 students from local schools attend. We also had various groups of our students involved in a number of facets. On Monday our Year 10 PE students umpired the event, on Tuesday our Year 10 Basketball Academy students umpired the Basketball and on Wednesday our Year 11 PE students umpired, our Year 9 HPE students coached and our Year 6 students participated. It was an incredibly busy but incredibly rewarding few days and everyone had a fantastic time.

SAPSASA Representatives

In the second part of this term the following students in Year 5 and 6 were selected to represent the Barker District in the following sports. A huge congratulations to all.

Hockey – Beau Bockman, Archie Jones, Angus Jones

Athletics – Ellie Wray, Jett Beeching, Isobella Robinson, Ivielle Gador, Archie Peters, Jude Millard, Macie Snowden, Luke England, Paxton Newman, Walker Bubner

Nadia Honner
Learning Area Specialist - Health and Physical Education and Specialist Sport Coordinator

Our College is pleased to share that students will be able to access private Psychology services with Tom Parkin, Psychologist, from Term 3 onwards. This service adds to the existing range of Allied Health services families may access onsite. If you are interested in accessing private Psychology services with Tom at the College, please refer to the information below:

Visiting Psychologist
Tom Parkin (TD Psychology)

Availability
Mondays, during school hours

To make a booking
Please ring the office at TD Psychology to make a booking and discuss payment, referrals and any other matters.

Contact Details
Telephone: (08) 8269 1818
Email: tdpsych@bigpond.com

Office Hours
Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm

Payment
Invoicing is arranged through the TD Psychology office.

Costs
Therapy sessions: $234
Assessments: $1000

Rebates and Claiming
Parents/carers may be able to use a Mental Health Care Plan (please see your GP or Paediatrician to arrange) to claim some rebates.

Private Health funds may offer rebates – please contact your fund to confirm.

NDIS clients are billed through NDIS.

Melissa Symonds
Director of Equity and Inclusion