More often than not I am reminded of the outstanding community that we have at Wollemi. One such occasion was the first meeting of the Wollemi 25th Anniversary Committee last week. A group of parents and staff met to discuss ways to mark this milestone in the life of the school. A number of ideas are already taking shape, including a Gala Dinner and a Spring Fair to take place during the second half of the year. I was particularly impressed with the confidence our committee showed, that many other parents will be eager to help as soon as concrete needs are identified. I am so grateful to be a part of this marvellous community.

On March 6, we had an Open Day with more than 100 RSVPs. Our Marketing team turned up in full and did an outstandingly professional job. Our student guides were once again remarkable in presenting the school to interested families. A special thank you to Peter W, our School Captain, who presented to prospective parents for the first time; a definite improvement over listening to the Headmaster! It was evident on the day why we are facing such enrolment pressures, with waiting lists growing every week, especially in Primary. Currently, our main enrollment opportunities are in Year 2 2025, so if you have any family, friends or neighbours interested, please encourage them to act now and not delay.

Yesterday we hosted a team of seminarians and young priests from the Parramatta Dioceses for a St Joseph’s Day celebration that included a talk to the Year 10 boys on vocation, as well as the traditional Year 12 vs Holy Spirit Seminary (and Fr Felix). Sadly, our boys were beaten by 4. However, they took defeat in their stride and finished the day sharing lunch with our guests and showing what upstanding characters they are.

Congratulations to all our Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 boys on completing the NAPLAN examinations over the last two weeks. An outstanding effort all around. A big thank you also to Mr Jacobson, Mr Burfitt, Mr Baxter and the IT team for successfully navigating through the complexities of such a significant examination. I am looking forward to sharing the results with you later in the year.

You may have noticed that the NSW Government is currently running a campaign called “Every Minute Counts”. Aligned with this initiative, we aim to encourage and support consistent attendance to foster not only academic growth but also social, physical, and emotional well-being. Additionally, it's vital to also minimise tardiness and early departures whenever possible. To this end, we will be introducing next term some changes to the Admin period in Secondary, as well as the end of school day in Primary. These changes will better allow us to support our students and families, and I hope to soon send you specific information in this regard.

A special injunction to encourage your son(s) to live the upcoming Holy Week as befits the occasion. We have all made a solid effort to live Lent very well in preparation. However, this year’s Holy Week falls within rather than at the end of the term. At school, we will remind our students before and after to not allow these days to pass by as another long weekend, rather than a celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I encourage all our families to do the same at home.

Finally, we offer our condolences to the Fakhry Family, on the recent passing of Antonio Singson, father to Ruth and Pierre Fakhry, grandfather to Elias in 10G,  Francis in 5G and Markus in 3B; and the Ruhl Family, on the recent passing of Peter Ruhl,  father to Eric and Teresa, grandfather to Dominic in 5B and Joseph in 2B;  And congratulations to Gerard Weber, Head of Middle School on the birth of his son Luke Joseph.

James Ramos, Headmaster

Happy Feast Day of St Joseph! In many countries, it is celebrated as Father’s Day. St Josemaria liked to call him our Father and Lord. He described him with these words:

“I see him as a strong young man, perhaps a few years older than our Lady, but in the prime of his life and work. We know that he was not well-to-do: he was just a worker, like so many millions of people throughout the world. He worked at the same demanding and humble job which God chose for himself when he took our flesh and came to live just like the rest of us for thirty years. Scripture tells us St Joseph was a craftsman. The Gospels give us a picture of Joseph as a remarkably sound man who was in no way frightened or shy of life. On the contrary, he faced up to problems, dealt with difficult situations and showed responsibility and initiative in whatever he was asked to do”. (Christ is Passing By, no. 40)

All the families of Wollemi are under his protection: he will help us to take care of Jesus and Mary and to sanctify our work and study.

Have a very fruitful Holy Week, living again the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord with the help of Our Lady. Happy Easter!

Fr Felix, Chaplain 

Welcome to Wollemi Harmony Week - the celebration that recognises our diversity and brings together Australians from many different cultures. During this week,  our boys will recognise and embrace our different cultural backgrounds and think deeply about all of the wonderful things that this diversity brings to our school and our community. We will conclude the week of celebrations with a variety of small group activities on Friday, after lunch.

Primary Lunchtime Programs

A new initiative in primary launched in Week 7 saw over 50 boys participating in Lunchtime Programs run by generous and well-organised Year 9 and Year 10 students. As part of their Community Service program, the secondary students are coordinating 3 clubs - Lego Club, Drawing Club and Drama Club with Coding Club being led by eager Year 5 boys. If the first session is anything to go by, these programs are destined to be valuable and enjoyable additions to Primary lunchtime activities. The programs continue until the end of Term 1 (with new and exciting programs to be launched in Term 2). 

Although many clubs are already full, we do invite other students to sign up for our range of programs beginning in Term 2. Please contact Mr Baxter for more information. 

The last few weeks of term one are swiftly drawing near. For the majority of our students, this could be seen as an end to the beginning of what was hopefully a victorious and refreshing start to the school year. These first 11 weeks in term 1 are a very important moment as they can prescribe the way we work ourselves over the year ahead. It provides a hallmark from which we can judge our standing thus far and thereby attempt to make adjustments in our efforts and in our goals.

In an effort to motivate you, I would like to share a brief anecdote from my time in year 11. I began the year, as usual, setting goals and doing homework. But as always, procrastinating and often sluggish when it came to my studies. Rather than going above and beyond what was expected of me, I did only what was required (the bare minimum really). As a result, when it came to that time when assessments rolled around the corner and were suddenly imposed on me, I found myself behind the other boys in my class and unprepared for assessments. When the assessments came back marked by teachers, I was devastated. I knew that I had scored far below my capabilities. And while shaming, this event was exactly the kick up the backside that I needed to realise that I wasn't doing as I should, I wasn't putting in the man hours and doing what was expected of me. Consequently, I talked to my mentor, reviewed my work ethic and locked in. By the end of term two, I was much improved. My marks were back where they should be and I was all the better for it. The moral of the story is, to review how you have started this year, and revise your goals if needed.

Next week is also the start of Holy Week. I hope that every one of us has had a productive Lenten season in preparation for Easter. And if not, no worries. We still have one more week to make amends and commit to our Lenten resolutions. I know it's a bit early, but I wish you all a Happy Easter!

Peter W., School Captain

Congratulations to the following boys who participated in the CSDA public speaking competition this year:

Year 7: Charlie Buhagiar and Elijah Baird

Year 8: Dominic Sheary and Jagath Kiran

Year 10: Luke Yassa

Seniors: Dhanvin Menon and Matthias Soriano

Jagath made it all the way to the Sydney-wide grand final where he was very unlucky not to gain aplace. However, what makes coaches – in any pursuit – happy is not necessarily the results but the way in which the players, or in this case public speakers, actively put their advice into practice. And that is what defined the boys’ performances for me this year: they took the advice I gave them and put it into practice. In particular, Jagath’s improvement from his first attempt at school four weeks ago to his performance in the grand final was simply jaw-dropping.

I’m already looking forward to working with a larger group of students next year!

Brett Wright

Well done boys! 

Happy reading,

Justin Lockley

On Friday, March 9th, our Year 9 Commerce students had a Zoom session with the Reserve Bank of Australia. The session covered the basics of economics, the role of economists, and real-world applications of economic principles. Thanks to the Reserve Bank for this valuable insight into the practical side of economics.

Luke Dominici, HSIE Teacher 

On Saturday 16th of March, the Year 5 Father and Son duos made the beautiful trek to Camp Yarramundi, tucked away in the scenic Hawkesbury area. After a quick meet and greet of old friends, we started the day in the best way possible. Mass. We then quickly headed to the various activities throughout the day in our groups. These activities included the rock climbing wall, alpine rescue and basketball/soccer.

After dinner, Paul McFarlane ran a great talk for the dads while I talked to the boys and then took them for a bushwalk down to the river. The energy was phenomenal!

We then had our traditional Rosary by campfire, with Mr Breen doing a great job (again) of leading the prayers. The marshmallows over the fire was a nice way to end the night for the boys!

Then it was time for the dads BBQ catch up..or was it? The aroma of the BBQ must've awoken the boys from their slumber, with many of the boys making their way to consume part of our BBQ. As they say, sharing is caring! After some very questionable singing (shouting doesn't count) from the dads, we all hit the hay in preparation for the next day.

Following a quick breakfast, we had Mass which included some beautiful songs played on guitar by Mr Portugal and sung by the sons and their dads. We ended the day the best way possible - a swim and a BBQ! It was quite possibly one of the best camps I had ever been too!

Thank you to Mr Johnson, Mr James, Mr Breen, Mr Dodd and the ever present Mrs Reid for organising the camp. A big thank you to the class parents for their expert input into camp. Thank you to Mr Baxter, Mr Uyeda and Mr Williamson for dropping in to say hello and the biggest thank you to the dads and their sons! It was an experience that will live long in the memory!

Sam Tu'ipulotu,  Year 5 Dad

Math Clinic has started very strongly, with a turnout of around 7-12 students per session, which is pleasing to see!

Remember: Math Clinic runs in D01 every Monday and Thursday at lunch. Don’t wait till the week before an assessment task. If you have a question regarding the content you are learning in class in a given week then pop in and ask – you don’t have to stay for the whole of lunch.

Keep up the good work gentlemen, and hope to see more of you in the coming weeks.

John Abi-Elias, Head of Maths

Soar. Glide. Fly.

On Wednesday, the Yr 11 physics students travelled to Penrith iFLY. We were joined by Mr Johnson and Fr Felix. When we got there we had a presentation about the facility itself, the history of wind tunnels and sky diving. The wind tunnel is powered by 4 huge, 450-horsepower fans that are not below the wind tunnel but above. The air goes down the sides of the building and is then redirected to go under the wind tunnel. 

We were shown a demonstration where the instructor put many different balls into the chamber and we’d see which ones lifted off the ground first and last. The instructor also showed us what happens when you spray water in the wind tunnel. It looked absolutely amazing but it’s a bit hard to explain. It was similar to what you’d expect to see if you spray water in space, with zero gravity. The little droplets just floated around in the air. He then got into the tunnel to show off his skills. I asked him how long he’s been a flying instructor and he told me that he has been doing it for over 10 years. He was a pro. Spinning, turning, flipping, whirling, flying around he looked like a snowflake gracefully twirling. Up, down, up down. It’s sickening just thinking about how dizzy he would have been from the amount of spins and flips that he did. 

A highlight on the college calendar in Term 1 is the Feast Day of St. Joseph Basketball match between the Holy Spirit Seminarians from the Parramatta Diocese, including Fr. Felix, and our Year 12 students. This year's fixture lived up to expectations, delivering a thrilling contest!

The match commenced with the visiting team taking an early lead, showcasing their remarkable teamwork and skill — a testament to their prior experience playing together. Despite the lead, our Year 12 students demonstrated remarkable resilience, refusing to let the gap widen, fighting back with sheer skill and determination.

At halftime, the Holy Spirit Seminarians maintained a slim lead. The second half proved to be just as exciting as the first, with both teams displaying incredible intensity and sportsmanship. Midway through the term, our Year 12s mounted a spirited comeback, managing to edge ahead by two points.

Although the lead seemed promising, it wasn't quite enough in the end, as the visitors ultimately emerged victorious. Nevertheless, it was an epic encounter that left a lasting impression on our student and teacher spectators. A huge thank you to our visitors for their graciousness in engaging with our students, delivering an enlightening talk to Year 10, and then participating in the thrilling basketball game with Year 12.

Special recognition is also due to Mr Bernie James, our referee, who gave up his lunch break to officiate the match.

We all look forward to welcoming back the Holy Spirit seminarians, next year!

Scott Williamson,  Deputy Headmaster

An invitation to Wollemi and Montgrove Dads.

Wollemi would like to extend an invitation to our Wollemi and Montgrove fathers to join us at a Dad's Night on Friday 5 April 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.  

This term,  the Wollemi and Montgrove Dad's Night will be enjoying a Potluck Dinner, feel free to bring a plate to share. 

To RSVP, kindly complete this form. We hope you can join us and catch up on the night.

Congratulations to Gerard Weber, Head of Middle School on the birth of his son,  Luke Joseph. 

Please pray for our sick Wollemi family and friends:

 Amelia Acasio, grandmother to Peyton Bernacer (8B) and Angelo Bernacer (6B); Louise Cotter, Grandmother to Chase Kerin (9B);  Joseph Valladores, father to Jose  (8G); Vince Sammut, grandfather to  Lucas in 10G; Mary Powell, Mother of Jacob (3B); Christopher Bonanno, uncle to Jacob Powell (3B),  Gerard (11B) & Gabriel (9B) Karam, Isaiah (2B) and Michael Roberts (3G); Igor Mileusnic, uncle to Hugo Giles (5B); Alex Borg, grandfather to Nicholas Cassar (6B).  Joanne Pang, mother to Ian Chia in 4G;  Benjie Santiago, father to Aryel (Class of 2020); Emmanuel Hanna, brother to George (7G) Victor Sciberras, father to Marianne and Carmel Spiteri, grandfather to Justin in Year 8B;   Mariano Valladores, father to Ela and Will O'Neill,  grandfather to Michael in 9B and John-Paul in 4B; Nikita D'Souza, Michael Carrington (PARED Maintenance)'s girlfriend.

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

Antonio Singson, father to Ruth and Pierre Fakhry, grandfather to Elias in 10G,  Francis in 5G and Markus in 3B; Peter Ruhl,  father to Eric and Teresa, grandfather to Dominic in 5B and Joseph in 2B; Victor Tuballa, father to Victor and Sarah, grandfather to Alexander in 6B; Pricilla Yabut, grandmother to Achilles in 10B and Alexander in 9G. 

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

It has been great to see an increased number of students coming to daily Mass at School, so that our chapel is almost full everyday.  Parents are welcome to attend Mass with their sons, either on the set day in Primary or on any day their Secondary sons choose to attend. Unfortunately, as the space in the chapel is very limited, we are unable to offer daily Mass to parents as a regular alternative to their local parishes. We also ask that any parents attending Holy Mass please sign in at the Front Office.

Start of School Day 

Classes commence at 8:40 am each day. All boys are expected to be at school before this time.

Supervision for students will be provided at the school from 8:15 am each day. Students will not be admitted to the school until this time. 

End of the School Day

The school will conclude for ALL students at 3:25 pm. 

Late to School

If your son is late to school, he is required to sign in at the Front Office BEFORE moving to class. 

Early Leave

If your son needs to leave school early due to an appointment, parents/guardians must notify the College either by submitting an Early Departure Student Daybook in the Parent Portal.  Before leaving campus, your son must report to the Front Office to sign out. If you are collecting your son from the College, he is to be collected from the Front Office and not the classroom or other school areas.

Absence from School 

If your son is absent from school, we ask you to complete the form “Wollemi Absentee Form” from the Parental Portal on Engage PRIOR to the commencement of the school day. 

Morning Drop off and Afternoon Pick up reminders

As we approach the last 3 weeks of term, please be mindful of the carline procedures listed below:

• Morning drop off - Morning supervision before class begins at 8.15 am. Students are not permitted on school grounds before this time, unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.

• Students arriving after 8.40 am are to stop via the front office to have their names marked off the roll.

• Afternoon pick up - if you arrive early and park in the carline, please do not disembark your car. Your son/s will walk to your car.

• For efficiency and flow of the carline, please remind your son to be ‘on the look out’ for your car. While not compulsory, to assist teachers on carline duty, place your surname printed on an  A4 piece of paper on the passenger side windscreen.

• Please ensure your son is aware of any changes to your afternoon pick up routine.

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.

Information for parents and students

Students who require a School Opal card or travel pass but have not yet applied need to apply or update their details as soon as possible.

In the Opal network, students should travel with a Child/Youth Opal card until they receive their valid School Opal card. If outside Greater Sydney, parents should contact their local bus operator to discuss their travel needs.

New Student Opal cards (including new Term Bus Passes) will be sent to the student’s nominated postal address within two weeks of their application being approved.

Students living in rural and regional areas will receive their travel pass from their nominated transport operator. It may be issued via their school or be sent directly to them at home. Note: some rural and regional operators do not issue travel passes. Students/parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.

Terms of Use

Students using School Opal cards must tap on and tap off in line with the Opal terms of use.

This includes travel within the approved times between 6.30am and 7.00pm from Monday to Friday on school days only. Students must use their child/youth Opal for any travel outside these times.

All students are required to comply with the Student code of conduct. The code of conduct aims to ensure the safety and well-being of school children and other passengers. It is important that parents ensure their child is aware of this, as failure to comply with the code of conduct can result in a suspension from travel.

Congratulations to Joel Leggatt, Elijah Leggatt, Ethan Lemoncito, Artold Cabillan, and Lucas Lombardo who have qualified to be part of the Hills Zone Swimming Team to compete at CIS (Primary) and AICES (Secondary) in weeks 9 and 10 of this term.

We wish these boys all the best! I am sure you will make Wollemi College proud.

Adam Bayliss,  Sportsmaster

Aloha Wollemi Families,

It is an exciting time to be an athlete in primary.  Recently we had 5 athletes represent our school at Hills Zone Football trials.  One of whom was selected to the team, and another was selected as a shadow player.  Congratulations to:

• Joel Leggatt (5G) 
• Wojciech Biliniewicz (5B) - Shadow Player

This week, we will be sending a team of Year 5’s and 6’s to represent our school at the Hills Zone Touch Football Gala Day.  We are very excited to show the rest of Hills Zone what great footy players we have here at Wollemi College.  

Mr Tu’ipulotu has also been working hard with our futsal players and Mr Berryman has been preparing our basketball athletes for an upcoming tournament in May.  

In addition, we are collecting nominations for Hills Zone Triathlon, which will be held on Thursday 4th April at Penrith International Regatta Centre. Nominations are due by the end of this week.  

Year 3/4 will be all team events, and will consist of 1k run, 3k cycle, and 500m run.  

Year 5/6 can be submitted as teams or individuals, and consists of 200m swim, 5k cycle, and 2k run.  

Very excited for all of our athletes, and looking forward to continuing to grow representative sport here in primary!

Dustin Uyeda, Head  PDHPE ( Primary)

Congratulations to our teams that made it to the Semifinals (16 out of 23 teams).

 

2B family picnic got cancelled because of the wet weather earlier.

We will reschedule one soon. But we managed to have a few families come by our place instead, as we needed help to consume the sausage sizzle we had prepared.

Marianne and Erik Deveza 2B Classparents 

Year 6 families came together and enjoyed a wonderful picnic at Nepean River on Sunday10th March. Thank you to everyone who attended. It was great to see everyone!

Sarah & Victor Tuballa 6B and  Anishka and Frank Perera 6G

Some pics from our Yr5 Mums Coffee Catch-Ups last month.

We hosted 2 events to cater for all mums, one during the day and one in the evening option. Keeping things simple and conducive to good conversations, the mums had a great time catching up, we hope to see those who couldn't make it next time.

Christine Lay 5G and Catherine Dodd 5B

Wollemi College Fitting Range on Fridays from 1.30 pm - 4.00 pm Appointments Only 

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 can make their uniform fitting appointments through our online appointment system by using the below link.

https://midford.as.me/WollemiCollege

 All ordering and sales of Wollemi uniforms are online Orders can be collected from the College or delivered to your home address ( free delivery for orders over $50). To place an order online, go to www.Midford.com.au and enter the school passphrase: Wollemi1999 when you log in.

Wollemi Uniform requirements

Please RSVP using this formby Tuesday 19 March.  Payments can be made online by Wednesday 20 March at the latest.

Children’s Sacraments 2024 

Sacrament of Reconciliation: Thursday 21st March 6.00pm 

Sessions: 11th February (Registration & 1st Session) 18th, 25th February; 3rd, 10th,  17th March 

First Communion: Sunday 2nd June (Feast of Corpus Christi) 10 am 

Sessions: 7th April (Registration & 1st Session) 14th, 21st, 28th April; 5th, 12th, 19th,  26th May, (26th being for Rehearsal) 

Reconciliation: TBA 

Confirmation: Sunday 3rd November 10:00am (Or Sunday 10th November) 

Sessions: 21st July (Registration & 1st Session), 28th July; 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th August;  1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th September; (6th October – mid holidays), 13th, 20th, 27th  October (27th being for Rehearsal) 

Eligibility: 

For the Sacrament of Reconciliation, children should be 8 years old and above and have received the Sacrament of Baptism. 

For the Sacrament of First Holy Communion, children should be 8 years old and above and should have received the Sacrament of Baptism & Reconciliation. 

For Sacrament of Confirmation children should be in Year 6 and above and have received the Sacrament of Baptism, Reconciliation & First Holy Communion. 

Please provide a copy of your relevant certificates at registration or email a copy to the parish. 

Further details will be provided at registration. Registration is after the Sunday 10 am Mass (Around 11:15 am) in the Parish Hall. You can call the Parish office on 4721 4080  or email parish@stjosephskingswood.org for further information. 

Office hours: Tues & Thurs 9am to 2pm & Fri 9am to 1pm.

Join the Zumba dance workout for Mums every Wednesday, 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm at the Multi-Purpose Hall!  

See the flyer or visit https://www.zumba.com/p/Mildred-Yap/2105634 to know more details.