St Thomas Aquinas College COLLEGE CHRONICLE 1st March 2018 2018 CALENDAR MON

TUES

WED

THURS

FRI

1 MARCH

2 MARCH

Yr 7 Boys Cricket

1p.m. Stations of the Cross Yr12 - Fed Square

5 MARCH

6 MARCH

7 MARCH

8 MARCH

FEAST OF ST THOMAS AQUINAS

9 MARCH 1p.m. Stations of the Cross

8:40AM Whole School Mass at Corpus Christi Church Whole School Activities 3:30PM P/T Interview (F - Gr3) 12 MARCH

13 MARCH 14 MARCH

LABOUR DAY HOLIDAY

19 MARCH

Uniform Shop open 8:00 - 10:30 a.m.

1p.m. Stations of the Cross

3:26PM P/T Interview (Gr4 - Gr6)

Secondary School Recollection Day

20 MARCH 21 MARCH

FEAST OF ST JOSEPH 3:30PM Secondary (SPOUSE) P/T 8:40AM Primary Mass Interviews College Chapel

15 MARCH 16 MARCH

22 MARCH 23 MARCH

Uniform Shop open 8:00 - 10:30 a.m.

1p.m. Stations of the Cross Gr3 - Gr6 8:40AM Primary Sports Carnival

12PM Secondary Mass College Chapel

1:30PM Primary Sports

2018 Term Dates Term 1 - Wednesday 31 January - Wednesday 28 March Term 2 - Tuesday 17 April - Friday 22 June Term 3 - Tuesday 17 July - Friday 21 September Term 4 - Monday 8 October - Friday 7 December

GENERAL NOTICES Reminder Students are expected to arrive by 8.25am ready for an 8.30am start. Anyone arriving after 8.30am is marked as late. The school day ends at 3.10pm. Parents are expected to be prompt in picking up their children.

ST THOMAS AQUINAS FEAST DAY CELEBRATION In celebrating the Feast of St Thomas Aquinas on Wednesday 7th March, there will be a whole school Mass at Corpus Christi Church. Parents are expected to organise their own transport for children to and from Corpus Christi Church. Mass will finish at 10:00 am. Students must be back at the school by 10:30 am. The following are some of the activities the students will be participating in relevant to their year level throughout the day: Inter-House sports events, Debating, Quiz Competitions, egg and spoon race, jumping castle, pony rides and bungee run. PIANO ENROLMENTS Contact Rita Garner on 0411 211 644 if you are interested in piano lessons for your child/ren. WIND & VIOLIN MUSIC LESSONS AT ST THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone, and Violin music lessons are available now at STAC. There are group lessons or private lessons available. Group lessons are $10 a week. Private lessons of 20min are $18, and 30min are $27 per week. Please call Sarah Considine if interested on Mob:0427885306. STAC P&F Dinner Auction committee The STAC P&F Dinner Auction committee have started organising for this year's event. We would really love some more people to join the committee. If you are able to help out or are just interested in hearing about what we do please call Monica Murnane on 0400 097 399. Our first meeting will be held on Friday 2 March at 2pm in the school boardroom. SECOND HAND UNIFORM SHOP & TEXT BOOK SHOP The second hand uniform & text book shop is open on Wednesdays 8:30AM to 9:30AM. Large range of uniforms, hats, shoes, jackets, blazers and text books are available. For uniform alterations and repairs, blazer re-braiding enquiries, please call Michelle at 0468438404. The second hand uniform shop needs some coat hangers, if anybody is willing to donate please contact Michelle. Mission Money During Lent each class is encouraged to bring money for the Missions. This year the money will go to the SSPX missions in Africa. Almsgiving as a Lenten sacrifice is a marvelous means of grace for our families and College, so please give generously. Let us storm Heaven with our sacrifices and penances for the sanctification of our families, College, priests, nuns and teachers. EASTER EGG GUESSING COMPETITION The Year 12’s annual Easter egg guessing competition has commenced. The cost is 50c per guess and the entries are taken outside the library at lunch times (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) BREAD RUN AVAILABLE Bread run available from a bakery in Warragul. Pick up on every Wednesday. Please contact Joseph Youngman on 04 7919 2245 if interested.

Fasting for Holy Communion Being a traditional Catholic school we proudly uphold the traditional practices of the Catholic Church and therefore have no wish to fall into the atrociously lax practices of the Novus Ordo movement. For this reason the priests expect all students to follow the three hour fast before Holy Communion. Parents and guardians are asked to support the school and priests in this important matter by providing a generous breakfast for their children on the day of their respective school Mass so that their children do not need to bring to school nor take a snack to eat at recess. With rare exceptions the weekly school Mass schedule is as below: Monday: Yr 11-12 VCE Students’ Mass Tuesday: Yr 7-10 Girls’ Mass Wednesday: Yr 7-10 Boys’ Mass Thursday: Primary school Mass

Friday Abstinence The law of the Church also requires that every Catholic perform penance every Friday of the year. This law of the Church has traditionally required all Catholics from 7 years upwards to abstain from eating meat every Friday of the year. This law has been significantly modified in the last 30 years to the point where the practice of Friday penance is almost extinct in Catholic circles. The current law of the Church still requires every Catholic to perform penance every Friday of the year but now allows individuals to substitute Friday abstinence with some other form of penance. As a result most Catholics do no penance at all and treat Friday as any other day of the week. For this reason STAC upholds the traditional Catholic practice of Friday abstinence from meat and asks all parents to support the school in this matter by providing for their children a meat free snack and lunch each Friday of the year.

MISSION MONEY COLLECTED SO FAR Below is a tally of the mission money collected so far. Thank you for the generosity, keep up the good work. Total: $281.00 Congratulations to Grade 4 class for their tremendous generosity this week : $144.30! PRIMARY Date

FR

FS

1O

28-Feb

3.85

30.75

10.15

1Z

2B

3C

4M

5P

5H

6

39.85

3.85

144.30

16.40

16.50

3.80

SECONDARY Date 28-Feb

7B

8B

3.85

9B

10B

11/12B

7G

8G

9G

10G

11/12G

3.85

Other

3.85

SECONDARY BOYS’ EFFORT AWARDS Congratulations to the following students nominated for the award this week: Year 7

Andre Elliott, Raphael Hayward, Julian Hovens, Benjamin Nivet, Charles Upston, Ethan Ward

Year 8

Isaac Braaksma, Martin McLeaan, Simon Taveira, Nicholas Telford, John Zaccari

Year 9/10

Luke Taveira, Daniel Pullen, Edward de Castella, Anthony Mitchell, Brendan Phillips, Joseph Pullen, Isaac Taveira, Liam McDonald, Mitchell Youngman, Stephen Sprowell

VCE

Paul Beckenham, Ignatius Ryan, Lachlan Sauze, Joseph Verleg, Ethan Sauze, Gerard Shields

PRIMARY NEWS - VIRTUE OF THE WEEK The Primary School is endeavouring to foster virtues in our students in line with the school's goal of forming the true and perfect Catholic. Each week we are concentrating on one virtue and encouraging each other to achieve its perfect practice. Each class will have a student nominated as champion of this virtue and will be given an award at the Primary School assembly on Mondays. Virtue of the week champions: Cheerfulness Term : 1

Week : 4

Foundation S

Marius Zaccari

Foundation R

Lucas Phillips

Gr 1 O’H

Molly Taveira

Gr 1 ZI

Leon Holden

Gr 2

Adam Khier

Gr 3

Annette MacDonald

Gr 4

Luca Attard

Gr 5G

Isabella Jones

Gr 5B

Mitchell MacDonald

Gr 6

William McLean

Teacher

MISS O’HEA

Congratulations to these students. SECONDARY GIRLS’ EFFORT AWARDS Congratulations to the following students nominated this week for politeness, classwork and co-operation with staff: Year 7/8

Jasmine Phillips, Holly Phillips, Imogen Colman, Anna Hardiman, Anne Ockerse, Lilian de Castella, Claire Sprowell, Mercedez Braaksma, Angela Kemmink

Year 9

Therese Hovens, Grace Elliott, Judith Beckenham, Angela Braaksma, Therese Ward, Victoria Holden, Sienna Sauze, Kiara Hayward

Year 10

Amelia Rayner, Helen Ockerse, Shonta Rayner, Charlotte Stevenage, Marie Bezzina, Jessica Kemmink, Ludwina Ockerse, Youanna Mosaad

VCE

Mikaela Hardiman, Gemma Ockerse, Isabelle Powell, Mary Braaksma, Cara Maguire

PRIMARY SCHOOL CAPTAINS & HOUSE CAPTAINS

Congratulations to the new Primary Captains and Vice-Captains Primary Captains: Sebastian Fahey, Josephine MacDonald

Vice-Captains: Laurence Ockerse, Mia Beckenham Primary House Captains Christiane Ryan, Xavier Taveira - Mannix Mia Beckenham, Jude Braaksma - Kolbe Evelyn Reincastle, Laurence Ockerse - Bosco Victoria Stevenage, Michael Hoy - MacKillop

Rosie’s Boutique Op Shop is offering half price on all ladies summer top to make way for autumn stock.

ON ALL LADIES SUMMER TOP

Rosie’s Boutique 61 Main Road, Garfield, Victoria 3814

St Thomas Aquinas College 1 Tynong Rd, P.O. Box 500, TYNONG VIC 3813 Phone: 03 5629 2500 Fax: 03 5629 1202 Email: [email protected] Web: www.stac.vic.edu.au

MARCH - The month of St Joseph The month of March has traditionally been dedicated to Saint Joseph. He was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Holy Scripture proclaims him as a ‘just man’, and the Church turns to him for his patronage and protection. Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Quamquam pluries in 1889 explains why we place so much trust in him: "Thus in giving Joseph the Blessed Virgin as spouse, God appointed him to be not only her life's companion, the witness of her maidenhood, the protector of her honour, but also, by virtue of the conjugal tie, a participator in her sublime dignity. And Joseph shines among all mankind by the most august dignity, since by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God and reputed as His father among men. Hence it came about that the Word of God was humbly subject to Joseph, that He obeyed him, and that He rendered to him all those offices that children are bound to render to their parents. From this two-fold dignity flowed the obligation which nature lays upon the head of families, so that Joseph became the guardian, the administrator, and the legal defender of the divine house whose chief he was. And during the whole course of his life he fulfilled those charges and those duties. … It is, then, natural and worthy that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to all the needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with his protection, he should now cover with the cloak of his heavenly patronage and defend the Church of Jesus Christ."

Joseph the Just Man The Church encourages us to be devoted to Joseph because he was a model in the heroic practice of all the virtues. The example of virtuous living that he gave in the exact fulfilment of the duties of his state of life is worthy of our reflection. Read the gospel and you will see his faith, hope and charity practiced under trying circumstances. He was prudent in caring for his wife and the child; he showed great leadership in protecting them and assisting them. He was religious in every sense, with that delicacy and sincerity of conscience that is proper to the saints of God. He was just in his dealings with God and man. He was conspicuous for his fortitude and courage. He was truly outstanding in the practice of virginal chastity. More: he protected and defended Mary's virtue in the time of courtship and all during their life together. They had made a promise of chastity, and because they were resolved to live it for God they were blessed above all others. While Mary inspired him to practice this virtue perfectly, he, as a real man, understood the profound meaning of her inspiration and how it came from a heart that was steeped in the love of God. Time and again the Church has made it clear that Joseph is not a saint for only a certain number of souls, but that he can help all men.