Principal's Message

Fr Charbel Dib from Harris Park, Sydney explained the uniqueness of the Maronite journey to Christmas in an article he wrote in 2020 for Catholic Outlook. I share with you some key elements from his article below:

Much like the season of Advent in the Roman Catholic Calendar, the Maronite journey to Christmas is a distinct season within our liturgical cycle that aims to prepare the faithful to welcome the birth of the Messiah. Officially known as the “Season of the Glorious Birth of our Lord” or the “Season of Announcements”, the journey goes for six Sundays and focusses on the announcement to Zechariah, the Annunciation to Mary, Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, Birth of John the Baptist, Revelation to Joseph and the Genealogy of Jesus.

These six stops provide us with an opportunity to follow the Christmas narrative as it is told in the opening chapters St Luke’s and St Matthew’s Gospel. Focusing on “The Announcements of the Lord that will make the universe rejoice” (Entrance Hymn from the Annunciation Liturgy) and through the Epistle, Gospel, hymns and prayers of the liturgy, we journey as a community through the events which occurred leading up to Jesus’ birth.

One thing that is really unique in our Maronite tradition is that Para-liturgical way in which pray the Christmas Novena from 15 to 23 December. The novena is prayed with the Blessed Sacrament exposed and with all the incense you would expect from an Eastern Church celebration. Hymns and prayers are sung that really bring to life the Syriac Antiochene heritage of the Maronite Church.

The birth of Our Lord gives us the chance to look at the Child Jesus and know, that the God of all creation, the King of Kings, took on flesh out of a great love for us. We can know that through this great mystery we can share in God’s divine life and love. It is because of this hope that we are able to look forward with hope.

Beautiful words from Fr Charbel! I take this opportunity to wish all staff, students and families a blessed Christmas, a safe holiday and a happy new year filled with good health and joy.

I look forward to 2023 when, with God’s grace, we continue to grow our Antonine Community. I thank all staff, students and families for supporting the College. Especially I thank the Antonine Sisters as it was through their Mission and their hard work that we have this wonderful College today.

- Ms Joanne Bacash

PAM UPDATE - IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO PARENTS

You will have received an SMS regarding the PAM update on 16th January. From the 16th January your PAM account will no longer be active and you will need to create a new PAM account. You can do this by following the instructions in the email you will receive the week of the 16th (look out for it in your Spam or Junk mail)

In the meantime we are asking all parents to ensure their email address is current. More info here: bit.ly/PAMupdate23

Antonine College Awards Evening – Wednesday 30 November 2022

The Antonine College Awards evening on Wednesday 30 November presented a fantastic opportunity to acknowledge student successes and achievements at Antonine College in 2022.

During the Awards Evening the following two presentations from former students of the College were delivered for the assembled audience:

• Ms Vanessa Fakhry, College Alumni of 2011 delivered an address talking about her life at Antonine College and the work that she now does as an engineer for BHP in Queensland. Click to watch Vanessa's presentation
• Mr Jawad Abou-Zeid, College Alumni of 2008 provided a visual presentation about his work in creating Teeth of Wheels, a mobile dentist unit and his voluntary dental work in Lebanon over the last few years. Click to watch Jawad's presentation

Both presenters provided great inspiration for our assembled students, parents and staff.

Click here to read more

Click here for photos

- Mr Robert Fomiatti

Cedar Campus Deputy Principal's Message

It’s hard to believe it is already the end of the school year. We have had a very busy and productive year. The children have worked very conscientiously and are to be congratulated on their efforts. I thank all the parents who have contributed to our community in so many ways, in particular our Parents and Friends Committee, your efforts and support are appreciated by all of us. Thank you to the staff who have worked tirelessly and sacrificed their own time all year to ensure the best programs are offered to the children.

It is with sadness that we farewell staff and students who will move on to new challenges and possibilities in 2023. We wish them all the best and send forth our love and support. In particular, I would like to acknowledge Ms Natasha Skinner and Ms Marisa Vecchio who will be leaving Cedar Campus:

Finally, I wish all families a relaxing and enjoyable holiday as we look forward to an enthusiastic return to school next year.

We have not commenced 2023 class groupings and structures. All staff will be involved in the process, to ensure that all children are placed in the best learning environment to meet their needs. In the allocation of students to the classes the teachers consider the following factors in the decision-making process:

• A balanced distribution of student abilities and gender across all classes
• The needs of individual students, these include social, intellectual, emotional and physical
• Student relationships and friendship networks
• Students are allocated to a class not a teacher

It is not possible to request a particular staff member as your child’s teacher; this is the school’s decision. You will be informed which class your child is in and the name of their teacher during the summer break.

Thank you to all parents and students who attended the Foundation Years Orientation Day. It was a great success; the morning went well, and all new students were excited and looking forward to 2023. If there were any families that were not able to attend the orientation day, please contact the office to arrange bus transportation and foundation packs.

During the same day our Year 6 students took part in their transition day at St Joseph Campus. It was a great opportunity for the children to become familiar with their new environment and prepare themselves into the next phase of their schooling. I believe these transition days are beneficial and helps ease any anxiety students may have been feeling about the changes they will experience in moving to year 7. Thank you to all the St Joseph staff that were involved, for their support and guidance.

So, as we look forward to the long summer days, I’d like to thank you for your support throughout the year. I wish you every grace and blessing for this coming Christmas period and pray that the spirit of joy and promise seen, heard and felt in the newborn baby in Bethlehem lives in your own hearts at this special time.

I look forward to seeing you in the new year.

- Mr Abraham Diab

Learning and Wellbeing

End of Semester Reports

The end of Semester Reports will be released on Thursday December 15. Our reports aim to provide clear communication to students and their families about achievement and progress against the Victorian Curriculum and Religious Education Framework.

Please view the short presentation below that was created and communicated at the end of semester 1 to assist you in unpacking the different parts of your child’s report.

Congratulations to students and staff for the opportunities provided throughout the semester for learning and teaching.

Students in Year 7-11 who have achieved an average of 80% and above across all their assessments throughout Semester 2 will receive a certificate at the beginning of the 2023 school year.

- Ms Ria Coffey

Booklists 2023

Please see the College website for the 2023 booklists. It is really important that families prepare for the new school year with the materials listed in the booklists.

https://bit.ly/2023Booklists

Please see the link below to order resources for 2023 from Campion. https://order.campion.com.au/#resourceListListView?code=C5F58284

VCE students will also require Edrolo resources - there is a separate Payment Portal for Edrolo resources at VCE. See information below:

https://app.hubspot.com/documents/6991068/view/452949461?accessId=a63c96

- Ms Ria Coffey

Digital Technology @ Antonine College

Please see the link to our College Handbook for Digital Technology:

https://bit.ly/AntonineDigHandbook22

Just a reminder to families that students beginning Year 5 will require an iPad that they use to enhance their learning until the end of Year 8 and students beginning Year 9 will require a Macbook Laptop that they use until the end of Year 12. The specifications and information regarding our use of technology is recorded in the Handbook.

At the start of the 2023 school year all students and families will be requested to sign the ICT Acceptable Usage Policy. We do this annually as we believe it is important to regularly review this information and to have a discussion about online safety at school and at home.

- Ms Ria Coffey

Year level Handbooks

Please view the year level handbooks available on our College website:

https://www.antonine.catholic.edu.au/learning-teaching/saint-joseph-campus

These include information for each year level including subject offerings and events and activities planned for the year.

- Ms Ria Coffey

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Matrix

We have recently worked with our teachers and students to develop a School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Matrix using our Wellbeing for Learning Pedagogical Framework and the Pillars of Success: Enable, Connect, Engage, Faith. We are hoping that this Matrix can be used to support our students to make positive decisions about their learning and wellbeing and the learning and wellbeing of other students. We aimed to use inclusive language, appropriate for students from F-12 and make it clear and explicit the wellbeing and learning expectations from within the pillars of Enable, Connect, Engage, Faith.

We would appreciate feedback from families, if you could offer any suggestions, please complete the following form: Feedback on the SWPBS Matrix

- Ms Ria Coffey

College Policies

In preparation for the 2023 school year, I encourage all families to make themselves familiar with the College policies. It is very important that you and your child are fully informed regarding standards related to appropriate behaviour for a safe and productive school year. Please feel free to review the College policies on our website:

https://www.antonine.catholic.edu.au/college/antonine-college/policies.

College Uniform

I remind all families of their responsibility to ensure that students have the correct uniform as set out in the College Student Dress Code which is available on the website https://www.antonine.catholic.edu.au/enrolment-information/uniform.

Families through the enrolment process agree to adhere to the College Student Dress Code.

Please ensure uniform is purchased and ready for the beginning of the school year.

Antonine College Instrumental Program

Please see this link to learn more about our Instrumental Program:

https://www.antonine.catholic.edu.au/learning-teaching/instrumental-program

If you would like your child to learn an instrument (including the addition of traditional Middle Eastern Instruments in 2023 e.g. the Qanun or the Ney) please fill in this Instrumental form before the commencement of term 1

After School Care

Just a reminder that Camp Australia offers After School Care at Cedar Campus for primary aged students. They also offer school holiday programs. Please click here for more information: https://www.antonine.catholic.edu.au/enrolment-information/outside-school-hours-care-oshc

Cedar Campus Christmas Carols

On Thursday 8th December, the Antonine Cedar community came together to sing carols and praises at our Christmas Carols Assembly. It was a beautiful afternoon spent altogether. We were astounded by the amount of parents and friends who took time out of their day to support the school and the children. We are very grateful for all the efforts.

Teachers, students and families were treated to an instrumental version of 'Jingle Bells', the Year 6's rocked around the Christmas tree, foundation retold the nativity story with 'Away in a Manger', the Year 1's showed us how Santa wears his shorts and sang 'Happy Birthday to Jesus', the Year 2's told us what they hear, the glee club performed how 'We need a Little Christmas', 'All I Want for Christmas' was carolled by the Year 3's, the three kings were introduced by the Year 4's, 'Christmas Clap' was rapped by the Year 5's, the Arabic choir gave us a beautiful Christmas melody and the afternoon finished with the children singing 'We Wish you a Merry Christmas' to their wonderful family and friends.

Thank you once again to our amazing school community and we wish you all a very blessed Merry Christmas and a glorious New Year!

Click here for photos

- Ms Tanya Khattar

Foundation Orientation

With open arms we welcomed our new Foundation students for 2023. They all had beautiful smiles on their faces, ready to meet other children and their teachers, and to become familiar with what school will be like for them next year. The children had the opportunity to become involved in developmental play and to interact with other children. They all sat on the mat and listened to a story and joined in when they could. Then each child created the main character of the story in a fun cutting and pasting activity. After that, we all sang some songs before the children said goodbye to their new friends, until next time. We look forward to seeing them again and are very excited about 2023!

Click here for photos

- Ms Barbara Siddiqui and Ms Vicki Tsarouhas

Cedar Magazine

Throughout the semester, some advanced writers from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 participated in making a magazine. We met every Tuesday with Ms Mori in the library. Before we started to write, we worked out who was doing what. Everyone chose to write about different things. Once we worked that out, we started to write articles and make competitions. We really enjoyed writing and it paid off once we got to see the final product. It was the best experience ever!

- Abiel Jreich 5B

Year 5 & 6 Extension Mathematics: Design and Engineering Challenge

Some of the top mathematicians in Years 5 and 6 have found out this term that maths is not only about tests and worksheets… it’s also about creativity, design, and collaboration. After inquiring into 3D shapes to see which shapes are the strongest and most durable, the students began experimenting with building towers out of recycled paper and tape. They initially measured the strength of their towers by piling books on top, reaching over 10 books! The final challenge was to build the tallest tower possible that can hold a can of food on top of it for 10 seconds, using the fewest sheets of paper. Even though one of the towers was not successful in the end, all students used excellent strategies and worked very well as a team.

Click here for photos

- Ms Mori Milholland

Year 5 Beach Experience

The students in Year 5 enjoyed a day at Port Melbourne with Life Saver's Victoria. They were involved in five different activities run by qualified lifeguards aiming to equip them with practical and engaging water safety, lifesaving and emergency response skills.

Click here for photos

- Ms Tanya Khattar

Year 6 Play - A Christmas Carol

In 6C this term, for Literacy, we read a couple of Christmas scripts and discussed the concept of Reader's Theatre. The students were enthusiastic and enjoyed reading them so I proposed we do a Christmas play for the end of the year. They thoroughly enjoyed the story "A Christmas Carol" and chose to perform this. The students practiced their lines at home and once a week, we worked through some drama techniques to develop their performance skills. Tia and Samatha painted the backdrop which was unbelievably good. The students performed two shows in the Atrium. All year levels and 6C parents attended. The students did an amazing job. The audience loved it and I was extremely proud of their efforts and the outcome.

Click here for photos

- Mrs Anna Stradiot-Gatto

Year 6 Transition Mass

2022 began as a year of uncertainty with the past 2 years weighing us down. With the guidance of our Lord and through such strong perseverance, our Year 6 students made it to their transition mass without a hitch! It was a beautiful mass celebrated by our Parish priest Monsignor Joseph Takchi. The students were graceful and reverent, setting the perfect tone for our final gathering here together as a Year 6 cohort.

It’s always bittersweet saying goodbye to someone and its especially hard saying it to a group of people who you’ve accomplished so much with. Some students are taking the next chapter of their education together and others are parting ways. I say with great confidence that both students and teachers will all have a special bond for life. Many tears and laughter were shared this year and it will not be a year easily forgotten.

Congratulations to the Year 6 class of 2022. May God continue to bless you in all your endeavours next year and well beyond.

Click here for photos

- Ms Tanya Khattar

Jersey Day

In celebration of Christmas and the end of school year. The Last day of term students celebrated by wearing their favorite sporting Jersey at St. Jospeh Campus (AFL, soccer, Basketball). To partake in this event a gold coin donation was required. All money raised will be used to assist with the payment of the freight to Lebanon which also assists families in need from Iraq and Syria.

- Mr Emile Fakhry

Year 7 Orientation

On Friday 9^th December, the staff at St Joseph welcomed students for the Year 7 Orientation. Students participated in a set of rotational activities, as well as a school tour. The Music workshops channelled students’ inner musicians as they used boom whackers to create a musical piece. In the science labs, students investigated the chemical reactions of candy canes when places in various liquids. On the basketball courts, students played a range of team-based sports. Lastly, the art room was filled with students drawing aspects that have shaped their identity. Overall, the day was filled with excitement and optimism as students prepare for their transition to secondary school. Thank you to all the teachers who offered their time to help make the day successful.

Click for more photos

- Ms Ayesha Guido

Year 9 Final Assembly and Reflection

This year in Year 9, we were fortunate enough to have a full year of school onsite without many interruptions from COVID. At the beginning of the year, we were introduced to our teachers and classes and quickly settled in. Our classes have become like a family to us, with everyone being so supportive and kind to one another as well as involved in their learning journey. The teachers have offered immense support especially throughout exam period where stress levels ran high. Teachers found strategies of how to communicate information learnt in class to students in an enjoyable manner so that they will remain attentive in their classes. Camp was an outstanding highlight for us being able to bond with our peers and participate in many camp like activities such as, canoeing, ziplining and a disco bingo night! Staying up late, eating snacks and laughing in our cabins were definitely memories we’ll forever cherish. Another dominant highlight was that Year 9’s were able to participate in the Year 9 Production Showcase. Through our elective groups, students were able to create props for our play, ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,’ as well as rehearse dances for the dance items that were performed prior to the play. Everyone was very encouraging and we all shared many laughs together. This year’s year 9 theme was, ‘Bridges,’ and we can confidently state that the year 9’s this year have definitely stepped it up and built their own ‘bridges,’ their own connections with their classes, teachers and self-discovery.

-Tahlya Mardini and Rawan Gudo

Lookahead

During the last week of school the VCE students were able to experience ‘Lookahead week’. This gives the current Year 10 students going into Year 11 and current Year 11 students going into Year 12, the opportunity to have a little taste tester for what the next year of VCE may bring. In an assembly to farewell 2022, the new Year 11 students were given an insight into how the VCE works, including school assessed coursework, scored work and the wellbeing support being offered through the school. Students were encouraged to use the holiday period to prepare for next year, as well as reset, rest and renew in an effort to ensure that they continue to focus on their wellbeing as well as their school work.

During the lookahead week, It was lovely to hear the excited voices in the Senior School corridor. Teachers met their new classes and expectations for each subject were communicated. After the initial excitement of new lockers, new subjects and navigating the senior school classrooms, students got down to work. This gave students a headstart on their studies and the new subjects they will focus on next year. Most subjects would have covered one or two of the key knowledge dot points set in by the individual subject study designs, all good preparation for a smooth start in 2023.

We welcome our new Year 11’s and admire the fortitude of our students who are heading into their final year at the college. We congratulate all VCE students on their focus and commitment in 2022 and look forward to seeing them all back again in 2023.

- Mrs Maureen Vitetta and Mrs Fran Cometti

Upcoming Dates:

16 January: PAM update - please look out for an email of instructions to create a new PAM account

30 January: Foundation - Year 6 Testing (no classes)

30 January: Year 7 & VCE Classes Commence

31 January: Foundation - Year 6 Testing (no classes)

31 January: Year 7-12 Classes

1 February: Year F - 6 Classes Commence

9 February: Feast of St Maroun Opening School Liturgy

20 February: St Joseph Campus Student Photos

22 February: Cedar Campus Student Photos

Rejoice and Be Glad! (Psalm 118:24) - 2022 College Theme