Welcome to 2023. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a restful break. Judging by our students, it must have been a good one, as they all look well-rested and ready to go for the year ahead.

At the start of 2023, we welcome a number of new staff, whom you will have an opportunity to meet at our first Key Parent Function this Thursday 9 February. I would like to make a special mention of Mr. Rogan Jacobson who joins the School’s Executive as our new Director of Teaching and Learning, and our new Chaplain, Fr Felix Navarro, who has spent many years at both Redfield and Tangara and joins us now after a brief period at our brother schools in Melbourne.

We also welcome more than 61 new students and their families to Wollemi, including 34 boys who graduated from Montgrove, as well as a whole new stream in Year 7. This constitutes the highest rate of growth of any of the Pared schools. As I pointed to the boys during our first assembly last week, we are no longer the smallest of the Pared schools in Sydney. Well done us!

This year will also be the last of the ‘growth years’ for Wollemi. We will continue growing in a variety of ways, but this year is the last of the single-stream years, with our current Year 6 and Year 12 cohorts. In 2024 we will have reached our full complement of classes. It will then be the start of the ‘consolidation period’ in the history of Wollemi College. With this comes the responsibility to ‘finish this period well’ and start consolidating what sort of school we want Wollemi to be, building on our already very high standard.

This latter consideration ushers our overarching focus for the year: working towards a Culture of Excellence. One of our strategic pillars is Personal Excellence. This alludes primarily to student application and achievement, mainly in the academic realm. A Culture of Excellence extends ‘horizontally’ to include the other pillars of our Strategic Plan: excellence in Character Development, Faith, and Service to Society. It also extends ‘vertically’. We want our students to be the best version of themselves that they can be; in order to achieve that, our staff and most importantly, our parents, also need to be the very best they can be. 

During Term 1 we are encouraging the boys to seek excellence by striving towards their PB, or Personal Best. As with so many other things, their success will be greatly affected by our own example as teachers and parents, as we also strive towards a daily PB in each and every task.

For a few weeks in Term 1, we are hosting three Spanish exchange students from Irabia, Pamplona; Ignacio, Alvarro, and Marcos who have come back with 3 of our Year 11 students: Peter W., Petelo D., and Eshvaak M after a few weeks' stay with them.  Please make them feel welcome.   Congratulations to Ecar and Robert Centeno on the recent birth of their son, Benedict brother to Hayden in 10B and Joseph in 9G.

James Ramos, Headmaster

A heartfelt welcome to 2023! It is wonderful to see many happy faces walk, or in some cases, bolt through the front gates ready to take on a new year of learning, growing in character and unity! 

I begin the year with a feel-good story. For many years, the staff at Wollemi have encouraged our boys to embrace and support the spirit of service through their school, family, and community - a message that is shared between school and home. Service to others, at the primary level, is an easy concept to encourage because Wollemi boys generally want to do what is right for others. On Friday, last week, on just the third day of school, a Year 3 boy, Joseph R, saw that a new Year 2 student was upset, in tears and walking around the playground on his own. Instead of continuing to play with his friends, he approached the Year 2 student and checked on his welfare. After Joseph exhausted all of his strategies to cheer up the little guy, he walked with him to find a teacher. We were able to get to the bottom of the issue and helped the Yr 2 student smile again! While this behaviour and care for others have always been consistent with Joseph’s nature, if he was not around at the time to help the boy, I can say with certainty, there would have been another Wollemi student looking beyond himself. Well done, Joseph! 

Welcome students, staff, and parents of Wollemi to 2023. A special warm welcome to the new students, families, and teachers. Earlier this week, we received a seminar from Dave Brebner, a man who demolished through the great obstacle of having Tourette’s Syndrome. One of the points he mentioned is highly applicable when in new environments.

Be insulated, not isolated.

Brebner was an electrical engineer, who was familiar with the concept of insulation, but he applied it to life. Surrounding - insulating yourself with good people, will allow you to keep yourself at your best. Good friends will support you when you need it. Good friends will tell you to stop when you need it. Especially for the new students, surround yourself with these types of friends. Be insulated, not isolated.

However, we should allow some time for ourselves. There should be time to ourselves, which we can dedicate to prayer, self-reflection, or self-study. Although this is not isolation, it is solitude. There is a fine line between solitude and isolation. Henry Cloud, a renowned self-help author, said, “There is a difference between solitude and isolation. One is connected and one isn't. Solitude replenishes, isolation diminishes.” Solitude connects you to God, and to yourself, and prepares you to be connected to others. Isolation, on the other hand, is never replenishing. 

For the new students, the relationships you build now will usually last the longest. Another point which Brebner mentions is that there is a common saying for romantic relationships which states that ‘opposites attract’. This isn’t exactly the case for friendships. Standard friendships are usually built on some common ground, whether it be the sport you play or the music you listen to. The bonds formed on the common ground are very strong. But to find people with that common ground, we must not isolate, and once obtaining those friends, insulate.

Sourav, Souresh, Vice Captain

Hi everyone, my name is Rogan Jacobson and I’m the new Director of Teaching and Learning here at Wollemi College. I thought I’d tell you a little bit about myself. 

I’m a father of three with two daughters and a son. I am married to an incredible Canadian Aussie called Claire with an amazing dog called Stella. I love my job teaching young people and I’ve done it for many years, mainly working in English faculties. I am lucky enough to have worked with many of the excellent teachers here at Wollemi when I was a teacher in Redfield. I have also worked at schools from the mountains to the sea here in New South Wales. 

Before my life as a teacher, I was in the national and international media, making radio, newspapers, magazines, TV shows, and websites in Australia, North America, and Europe (where I lived for almost a decade). I tried my hand at academia and presented papers at some conferences overseas, but kept falling back into media work - which for me was a lot more fun. 

I have rarely felt the kind of welcoming warmth I felt when I first came to Wollemi last year and every day since has made me feel that, not only if I made the right decision to come here, but it’s a decision perhaps I should’ve made many many years ago. Please come up and see me anytime – I share an office with Mr. James Burfitt on the top floor of D-Block. Photos of me tend to break cameras, so here's a pic of Stella instead!

Rogan Jacobson, Director of Teaching and Learning

To view the Staff Directory, kindly click on this link.

Our first KPF for 2023 will be on Thursday 9 February, commencing at 7:30 pm. This KPF will be at the College. The KPF will outline Wollemi’s vision and strategic priorities for the year. It will also provide you with the opportunity to hear from your son’s teacher regarding the academic and pastoral initiatives and procedures for the year. 

Parents are asked to meet in the COLA at the start of the evening for registration.  

Please find below the program for the evening:

 Kindly complete the form to register your attendance by clicking on this link. We look forward to seeing you all at the College on Thursday 9 February.

 Year 2, 3 & 7 families are asked to bring a plate to share for Supper. Thank you.

An invitation to Wollemi Dads.

Wollemi would like to extend an invitation to our Wollemi fathers to join us at a Dads’ Night, the first one for 2023  will be on Friday the 17 March at 6 pm here at Wollemi.

This night will be an opportunity for dads to come together and enjoy a meal, beer, and one another's company.  A plate of something to share would be most welcome, to RSVP, kindly complete the form here.

I hope to meet you in person and catch up on the night.

James Ramos, Headmaster

Please pray for our sick Wollemi family and friends:

Crispin Costelo, father to Michelle and Hector Mabborang, grandfather to Hayden in 8B; Victor Sciberras, father to Marianne and Carmel Spiteri, grandfather to Justin in Year 7B; Louise Varas, mother to Sebastian in 3B;  Mariano Valladores, father to Ela and Will O'Neill,  grandfather to Michael in 9B and John-Paul in 4B; Jacob Kuruvilla (Wollemi Staff); Amelia Acasio,  grandmother to Peyton (7B) and Angelo (5G); John Cassar, grandfather to Nicholas Cassar (6B);  Emmanuel Hanna, brother to George (6B).

Please pray for the soul of the recently deceased and the family left behind:

John Cotter, father to Tylie and Geoff Kerin, grandfather to Chase in 8G; Douglas Kerr, father to Nadine and Mark Brown, grandfather to Grady in 11B; Thresiamma Kurian,  mother to Sajamma and Bennichen Anthony, grandmother to  Abel in 9B; Charles Tabone, father to Joe and Joanna, grandfather to Noah in Year 12; Patricia Tight,  grandmother to Jacky and Warren Ward, great grandmother to Tobias Ward in 3B; Charlie Makhlouf, brother-in-law to Lydia and Tony Elias,  uncle to Fouad (10B)  and Emmanuel (3G).

_{If you would like to add any intentions to the Prayer Board, please send them to admin@wollemi.nsw.edu.au.  Kindly notify admin@wollemi.nsw.edu.au when your intentions can be removed.} 

Congratulations Ecar and Robert Centeno on the recent birth of their son, Benedict brother to Hayden in 10B and Joseph in 9G.

The safety and well-being of our students are of paramount importance at Wollemi.  As you would appreciate, with the commencement of a new school term, and the continued growth of the school population, the volume of traffic in and around the College has increased during afternoon pick-up. As a result of this, we have taken some measures to improve the parking at the College with the expansion of the overflow car park (this project will be completed by the end of Week 2). To help ensure the effective flow of traffic and the safety of our Wollemi community, I take this opportunity to remind you of the College’s pick-up procedures.  

Main Carpark (inside the College)

1.     Entry into the school is via the second gate only.

2.    Students are only to be collected in the green pick-up area (see diagram above) 

3.    The curb by the buildings is set down and pick up only (noted in green) – no parking

·           Do not alight from the right-hand side of cars in the set-down lane.  Please be especially vigilant that children ONLY alight on the left.

4.   Please do not double park in the set-down lane but wait for space to be available on the curb.

5.    Please remain in your vehicle until your son arrives. 

6.   To ensure traffic flow and maximize space, when waiting in the carline to collect your son/s, please make sure you move to the front of the line or fill any empty space available along the pickup area. 

Please watch for young students crossing on the pedestrian crossing from the school veranda entrance to the carpark.

Overflow car park (outside the school)

7. Students are only to be collected in the green pickup area (see diagram above) 

8. Please Park only in the designated parking bays - as noted in yellow on the diagram  

IMPORTANT NOTES

Please ensure your son knows which carpark he will be picked up from in the afternoon. 

To further assist with the flow of traffic and to reduce parent wait time in the car line, please remind your son/s that they must be watchful at this time for the approach of your vehicle on Gipps Rd so that they can be ready for collection.

We hope that these measures will help allow traffic within the College to flow more effectively and reduce traffic congestion whilst ensuring student safety.  We appreciate that the afternoon pickup period can be busy, and we ask that we continue to be patient and courteous to each other. 

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Please be aware that the school zone times around Penrith Valley School (across Kurrambee School) have recently changed to 8:00-9:30 am AND 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm. The speed limit for this area is 40 km/hr on school days. 

The well-being and safety of all our Wollemi Community are of primary importance.  Traffic around the School can be quite busy, and, unfortunately,  only get busier - especially in the afternoons.

I thank parents for their continued patience in this regard and would ask that we all continue to show courtesy and care to one another on our roads. This is especially important around schools as students can be unpredictable. The last thing we all want is for any of our students or family members to be injured. 

A current area of concern is our overflow car park. We are currently reviewing it in terms of its flow and setup - with the hope of making a number of upgrades. In the interim, we would ask:

1. Cars do not double park 
2. Students making their way to parked cars do so by walking around the white bollards on the outside of the carpark and do not cross the area in front of the pedestrian gate. 

Students will be briefed about these changes this week and we will have an increased staff presence in this area to help direct students. Thank you in advance for your help with this. 

The school gates will be opened at 8:15 am and students are not allowed onto the school premises before this time unless there are co-curricular commitments. If you are dropping your child/ren off before 8.15 am, please remind them that they are to stay outside the gates until it is opened. 

A reminder that when collecting your child/ren parents can either:

• Park their car in the outside car park and walk into the school/pedestrian gate to pick up their child
• Use the car line process where your child will come to the car. 

To help with the flow of the carline and traffic in the area we kindly ask that: 

• If you are using the car line, we ask parents to not exit the car.
• Please collect your child/children from 3.25 pm and 3.45 pm when Teacher supervision ends.
•  Reminder parents NOT to park along Gipps Rd in the afternoon as it causes congestion and risks the safety of our students.

ABSENCES

If your child is absent from school an Engage absence form must be completed first thing in the morning. It is a legal requirement to provide an absence note no more than 7 days after the last day of the absence.  Absences will remain as unexplained absences if a note is not received or is received more than 7 days after the last day of the absence.

Instructions on how to complete an absence form can be found below. 

How to Complete an Absence Form on Engage

Please find below some simple instructions on how to complete an absence form. 

• Select the heading Daybook and select "Pupil Daybook"
• Click on "add new entry"
• If your child is COVID positive or a close contact select: "01b Covid POSITIVE or ISOLATION Status" from the drop-down menu
• If your child is absent for any other reason, arriving late or leaving early please select: "01 Absent, Late or Early Departure Note" from the drop-down menu 
• Then click on the "add new entry" button to the right. It will bring up the form for you to complete
• Select which of your children is away in the left column and press the -> arrow button in the middle, so that the selected name goes from the left column to the right. If you select the double arrow it will move all your children's names to the right column if you need to do an absence form for all of them for the same reason. 
• Once you have completed the form make sure that you click "save and close" at the bottom of the page when completed (not "save") 
• You also have the ability to upload a doctor's certificate, if applicable.

Click on the links below to complete the relevant forms in Engage.  You will find these links under Announcements on the top right-hand side of this newsletter. 

● To update your contact details

● Submit an Absentee Form

● Submit an Extended Leave Form(for holidays, weddings, etc.)

● Submit an Exemption From School Form (for external activities, medical appointments, funerals etc.)

For more information on using the Engage Parent Portal please go to our Parent Portal Resource Site

Normal Trading Hours are Fridays from 1 pm to 4:30 pm

Email: wollemi@midford.com.au Website: https://www.midford.com.au/school-shops-online     school passphrase: Wollemi1999

P: 02 8857 4959   E: wollemi@midford.com.au

Please Note: This is for Fittings & Try On Service Only. No sales or orders will be placed on-site - all orders will be placed online only.

All families are able to make their own uniform-fitting appointments through our online appointment system by using the below link. https://midford.as.me/WollemiCollege