Two weeks to finish Easter with Pentecost Sunday! May the Holy Spirit become our best friend!

And two more weeks of May to keep showing our affection to our Mother in Heaven!

In Wollemi we have the tradition of visiting a shrine of Our Lady on pilgrimage, to put in her hands all the intentions of our families… and to bring her flowers! Hopefully, we will have our Shrine in Wollemi ready before the end of May!

I hope all of our incredible Wollemi mums and mums’ mums were celebrated and treated like royalty on their very special and well-deserved day of recognition! I would like to dedicate this newsletter piece to my mum and the mums of Wollemi.

Week 4. That’s halfway through the 9 week term. Whilst being the shortest term, ‘Term 2 is quite an eventful one, with the Year 12’s mid year exams, Cross Country, and soon coming, Athletics Carnival, but because of its short duration Term 2 doesn’t get treated with the same value as the other terms.

Term 2 is easily the least appreciated term in a school year. Term 1 is the new beginning. Term 3 is the beginning of the second half or semester. And Term 4 is the finale. All three of those terms play the important role of setting up a good start, making sure you don’t slow down, and finishing strong. I find Term 2 also holds the major role of checking if you have maintained your good start and improving it.

Congratulations to Lucas Ison (Year 10) who was presented with the Wollemi Man Award at our Secondary Assembly in Week 2 of this term. 

Lucas was awarded this accolade for his continued servant leadership and dedicated service he has demonstrated towards the School and his peers. Lucas freely volunteered his time, when many were in bed enjoying a public holiday sleep in, to represent the College at the recent St Mary’s RSL Anzac Day Dawn service. At the Cross Country Carnivals in Week 2, he offered his services to be the ‘official’ photographer for the day for both the Primary and Secondary Carnivals on a moment's notice. He even went a step further to curate and edit the shots taken! Lucas has demonstrated what true leadership and service are. It does not come from a badge on your shirt or an official title but rather from within.  Well done Lucas. 

Lucas will receive a Certificate of Recognition, 25 House Points for his House and a $20 gift voucher courtesy of Caddens Woolworths. 

Congratulations once again Lucas.

Wollemi School Captain Steve J. represented Wollemi at the Penrith City Council Secondary School Leaders Reception, where he was recognised for his outstanding leadership as School Captain for 2023. Great job Steve!

As part of their study into Earth's resources, Year 7 have completed experiments ranging from measuring water produced via transpiration from trees and electricity generation via a hand generator, to testing the water holding capacity of a range of soils as pictured below. 

For several years Year 7 students that have undertaken Science honours have attempted the national crystal growing competition with varying success (from participation to First Place in Australia). Last year's cohort was no exception, producing our highest proportion of Finalist crystals yet, the placing before national ranks. As part of this process, students were required to grow a crystal throughout Term 2, sacrificing at least two lunchtimes each week to tend to their saturated solutions and slow growing Alum crystals. 

Our Finalist Ranking students from last year were:

Reuven Esteban

Jonathan Joseph

Midhvanraghu Krishvi

Jacob Reynolds

Jeremy Song 

Below are our participants pictured just after a well earned pizza party

Year 7 (21 students) has made a mammoth task of trying to print six different relief stamps for Mother’s Day. Periods 5 and 6, on a sunny day, birds chirping, lawns vibrating from the construction beyond the eerie nook was year 7 on a mission to make a Mother’s Day present.

Using 6 different foam stamps the students made symbols of what their mom meant to them. Many of them made unique prints their moms could only know, others made stamps to show their moms how they feel about them, and others made a creative mess their teacher could never understand.

The day turned into a conveyor belt of creativity, as they pushed and studiously tried to finish their unique gift for the moms of 2023. With love in their hearts and the anxious inevitability of the deadline bell, they left the classroom with a smile, exhaustion, and a mess their teacher had to clean up.

One student, a boy who cannot be named said “I don’t even know how we actually got through this”. These boys grow up so fast, proud, and determined they ran out of the school gates. with a gift for the ages. 

Year 11 have started working their way through quantitative chemistry this term and have quickly realised that they are now reaching for their calculators as often as they are beakers. As part of their study into the mole concept and molarity, they have each produced primary standard solutions (solutions of accurately known concentration) and did so on their first try - well, most of them.

While Organic Chemistry (carbon-based chemistry) is known for its sheer amount of content, it also produces some of the most unique and rewarding experiments. In the last fortnight, we successfully performed two of my personal favourites. 

The first was to use Tollen's reagent to identify and contrast aldehydes and ketones, which we used to produce silver-plated beakers. The second is esterification, the process of combining alcohols with carboxylic Acids (like vinegar), to produce Esters (a class of chemicals known particularly for their flavour and scent profiles). We are in the process of purifying our esters currently, but they already smell correct, ranging from PVA glue to apricots. 

On Monday 15 May, we were blessed to have over 60 mums and a handful of grandmothers join us at the College for our Mother’s Day Mass and Morning Tea. It was so wonderful to host these amazing ladies at the College and recognise the rich contributions they make to the lives of our young men and their families.

The celebrations began with a Mass led by Father Felix. During our mass, Father Felix gave a beautiful blessing to all our mothers and grandmothers present. This was followed by a delicious morning tea with lots of goodies and sweet treats. It was so great to hear the vibrant conversation and laughter that filled the room. I know a number of mums who enjoyed the photos of the staff with their mothers, as well as the lovely messages posted up by boys that adorned the walls of the room.

The Mother's Day stall run by an army of year 6 Parents last Friday 12 May, has successfully raised $1,815.  Thank you for all your support. 

Funds raised as a result of this Year 6 initiative will go towards their gift to the College

On the 6th of April, Camp Yarramundi hosted the Year 3 Father-Son camp! Surrounded by the beauty of nature, the boys and their fathers were excited to be spending some important time amongst mates and dads for what proved to be a wonderful weekend.

The father-son duos were put to the test with the tricky Alpine Rescue, where teams had to work in tandem in order to save their 'patient' (which was a large barrel) and reach their safety point. Whilst no team was able to reach the desired destination, a lot of fun and laughs were had.

The 'Giant Swing' was the highlight for most of the boys, with many reaching the top for the terrifying freefall and some boys being brave enough to strap up and have a go. A highlight of this activity was the willingness of everyone to help each other get ready, with Joseph Sukkar happily helping many of the boys gear up.

The Young Healthy Minds Forum is an annual event that takes place at the Australian International College where our students had the opportunity to develop their own personal opinions and ideas on improving mental wellbeing at our school.

This was the first time ever that we have participated in the Forum and it proved to be a huge success. Students from the SRC as well as a broad cross-section of secondary students from various social groups were selected to attend, so as to maximize the impact of the event in the playground. With such a strong and diverse range of personalities, transportation felt more like an episode of The Odd Couple than a school excursion! There was a mixture of anticipation and consternation about how well the group would work together.

Our Term 2 KPF for 2023 will be on Tuesday 30 May at Montgrove College commencing at 7:30 pm (with registration commencing at 7 pm). It will be held in the COLA at Montgrove College. This will be a joint KPF for all parents of Montgrove and Wollemi. 

We are blessed to have Trent Ray, founder of the CyberSafety Project, share with us some positive and concrete tips on how to raise young people who are responsible and empathetic users of technology.

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

A light supper will be served after the presentations. This will be a great opportunity to meet with other parents to enjoy one another’s company and fellowship.   

Please find below the program for the evening: 

KPF Term 2 Program 

7:00pm-7:30pm Registration in COLA 

7:30pm - 8:15pm   CyberSafety Project Presentation

8:15pm - 8:30pm Q & A

8:30pm - 9:00pm Supper

We would appreciate it if Years 4, 5 and Years 10 and 12 parents could please bring a plate to share.

Register your attendance here.

Congratulations to the following families on their new arrivals:

•  Ana & Brano Surkic on the birth of Nikoleta, sister to Rafael in 3B
• Kerrie-Anne and Stuart Sheary on the birth of Michael Leo, brother to Dominic in 7G.
• Joelene and Sean Reynolds on the birth of Gabriel, brother to Jacob in 8G and Toby in 4B
• Priya and  Vik Thakur on the birth of  Viraj, brother to Kairav in 5G and Nivaan in 2B
• Monica and Bernie James (Secondary Teacher and Mentor) on the birth of Joseph
• Joy and Jerome Capistrano (Secondary Teacher and Mentor)  on the birth of  Lucia

Please pray for our sick Wollemi family and friends:

Ella Muema,mother to Michael in 10G and Patrick in 5G; Joseph Valladores,father to Jose in 7B; Fr Andrew Fornal, Parish priest of St Joseph's Kingswood, Wilson Filamor,father to Joel and Charisse Filamor, grandfather to Lorenzo 11B;Benjie Santiago,father to Aryel (Class of 2020); Emmanuel Hanna,brother to George (6B) 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; Amelia Acasio, grandmother to Peyton (7B) and Angelo (5G); John Cassar,grandfather to Nicholas Cassar (6B).

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

Pared families have the opportunity to participate in a Holy Land pilgrimage organised by Terra Dei Tours in 2024. You should have all received an email during the Easter holidays about this proposed pilgrimage. Demand already has been strong so don't miss out on registering your interest by clicking here. More details can be found by clicking the pdf flyer below.

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.

Last Thursday was like any normal day for Wollemi College, but for the teachers and the graduating class of 2023, it was the day to earn bragging rights. It is tradition in Wollemi culture to have a Teachers vs Yr12s game once a term, and this term was no different, with a game of futsal to kick off the best of 3 series. To save the teachers from humiliation, I will refrain from mentioning the scoreline, but it was great to see the strong and friendly relationship between our teachers and students. Necessary banter was thrown around, and the sportsmanship on display was nothing short of expected. A big shoutout to Mr Ison for a splendid goalkeeping performance for the teachers, saving shot after shot, and preventing the scoreline from breaking the double-digit barrier. Overall, the day was a great success (especially for the students) and we can’t wait to see the rivalry on the basketball court very soon for game 2 of 3 in the series. 

 House spirit and unity are such an important part of life at Wollemi. On Tuesday this week,  it was so great to celebrate our House Champions for Term 1 - Echuca - and to publicly acknowledge their achievements. The Wollemi House competition recognises all aspects of endeavour with boys being awarded house points for their contributions and efforts in a range of areas from sport to classroom application and achievements, behaviour and House competitions.  

Echuca boys in Years 2-12 enjoyed a can of drink and a well-deserved sausage sizzle - a welcome treat on a cooler autumn day. 

A big thank you to Simon Quinn, Echuca House Captain, and all the senior Echuca students who helped on the day to set up, cook and run this celebration. It is very much appreciated and ensured the smooth running of the event.  

Congratulations once again to all the Echuca boys. We wish all Houses the best of luck for the Term 2 House Competition. 

On the ninth of May a team of the current year six’s which included Viani Devine, Jesse Jordan, Francis Maklouf, Tristan Harrowell, Niko Bastak, George Matar, Daniel White, Ignatius Soriano, Elijah Baird, Matthew Chivinda, Thomas Portelli, George Hanna, Charlie Buhagiar, Benjamin Grus and Nicholas Cassar traveled to Jamison Park for the annual AFL Paul Kelly Cup. At 9:30 all the teams made their way to the synthetic grass where they explained the rules of the game. The Paul Kelly Cup is a day of AFL competition between Penrith schools and a few Blue Mountains schools.

On the day there were three boys' pools and one girl's pool of five teams who competed against each other the team that won the most would into the semi-finals and the best second-place team with the best point differential went into the semi-finals.

'Effort' is a word that best describes what we witnessed from so many of our Primary boys at the Cross Country. Regardless of whether they finished at the front, in the middle of the pack, or at the back, every boy who participated in the Primary Cross Country should be commended for the effort that they put in. In the weeks prior to the Cross Country, I witnessed many of the Primary classes getting practice before the big day. This certainly helped! 

Well done to Mr. Baxter for leading a fantastic assortment of games to go with our Cross Country. It really amplified the carnival feel and there was a buzz around the place for staff, students, and parents to see. 

Thank you to the parents who were able to come and support their son. This support definitely helped with the effort that they showed. 

We had many great runners on the day and a couple of really tight races. Congratulations to the following boys who won their race.

7 Years - Raymond Abi Khalil

8/9 Years - Kirbie Amituanai

10 Years - Oscar Baird

11 Years - Julien Mojica

12/13 Years - Thomas Portelli

Firstly, a big thank you to a number of Year 10 and 11 students who assisted in the running of both the Primary and Secondary carnivals. Without your help, it would not have been possible for both days to run as smoothly as they did. Well done and thanks again. 

Secondly, there were some outstanding performances in the Secondary Cross Country with some super tight finishes and some races that were won by a country mile. Congratulations to all the boys who qualified to represent Wollemi College at the Hills Zone Cross Country next week. In particular, to these boys who won their races.

12 Years - Klim Drozd

13 Years - Royal Rinto

14 Years - Augustine Phua

15 Years - Micah Armour

16 Years - Koshin Kandregula

17 Years - Giovany Nohra

18 Years - Noah Tabone

Congratulations to all students who qualified for the Hills Zone Cross Country to be run at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre next week. We wish these boys all the best!

8s/9s

Kirbie Amituanai, Brody Mojica, Elijah Leggatt, Jude Reyes, Wojciech Biliniewicz, Matthew White

10s

Oscar Baird, Joel Leggatt, Dominic Noone, Samuel De Meo, Wesley Bawden, John-Paul O’Neill

11s

Julien Mojica, Arus Gurung, Deklan Sultana, Daniel Vella, Elias Chaghouri, Emilio Lugod

12s

Thomas Portelli, Sime Simat, Viani Devine, Nikola Bastac, Charlie Buhagiar,AJ Olandres

12s (Secondary)

Klim Drozd, Javier Ramos, Benjamin King, Noah Mendoza, Shannon Dphena

13s

Royal Rinto, Alexander Magat, Romeo Kottatis, Aadi Jain, Christian Mariano, Zara Igbojiaku

14s

Augustine Phua, Brett Sequeria, Moses Justin, Jacob Jordan, Achilles Magat, Jake Brown

15s

Micah Armour, Michael Vella, Nirvan Gurung, Filipo Devine, Joseph Wiggins, Michael Muema

16s

Koshin Kandregula, Jonah Armour, Gabriel Vulcik, Gerard Karam,Matthais Soriano

17s

Peter Wiggins, Augustine Ruhl, Aiden Cook, Alexander McLoughlin, Zack Milosev, Sean Cross

18s

Noah Tabone

Ordering online couldn’t be simpler.

1. Go to https://www.midford.com.au/school-shops-online  

2. Select Wollemi College from the online School Shops tab.

3. New users to click the ‘Register New Account’ button.

4. Start the registration process by selecting Wollemi College from the drop-down menu and add the

unique school pass phrase - Wollemi unique passphrase: Wollemi1999

5. Add your personal information, and create a username and password.

6. Order the items you need, select pick up from the school, or option of home delivery.

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

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

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