By Mr Stuart Ralph, Principal

Vinnies Sleepout

Recently, our St Brendan-Shaw College Vinnies group braved the cold to participate in the Vinnies Sleepout. The night marked the conclusion of our Vinnies winter appeal, People Plus Paws. I would like to thank all families for their generous donations of essential items that will assist individuals within our community.

Formation Opportunities

An important part of our Mission as a Catholic community is providing a mechanism where our students can unpack and explore what it means to be servant leaders. I would particularly like to thank Mr Gerry Peters, Ms Lynda Beavan and Fr Stephen Smith for the work they do leading our students.

All Are Welcome

As a College community, we celebrate being part of the Roman Catholic Church, but we are also ‘catholic’; with a little ‘c’ the word ‘catholic’ means universal. It indicates something whole and entire, bringing various parts into unity. The Church is catholic – universal – in the most common sense of that word: she is meant for all people. With this in mind, I invite all members of our community to feel welcome at any of our weekend Masses.

I take this opportunity to share last Sunday’s Gospel, a parable from Matthew. As a leader and member of a community, I regularly reflect on instances where individuals may feel they are worse off simply because someone has been given the same opportunity or outcome as a result of their circumstance. Earlier this year, I shared with the community my thoughts about equality and equity.

“Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognises that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome”.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus told his disciples this parable, "The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the workers a salary of a silver coin for the day and sent them to his vineyard.

"He went out again at about nine in the morning, and seeing others idle in the square, he said to them: 'You, too, go to my vineyard and I will pay you what is just.' So they went.

"The owner went out at midday and again at three in the afternoon, and he did the same. Finally he went out at the last working hour - it was the eleventh - and he saw others standing there. So he said to them: 'Why do you stay idle the whole day?' They answered: 'Because no one has hired us.' The master said: 'Go and work in my vineyard.'

"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager: 'Call the workers and pay them their wage, beginning with the last and ending with the first.' Those who had come to work at the eleventh hour turned up and were given a denarius each (a silver coin). When it was the turn of the first, they thought they would receive more. But they, too, received a denarius each. So, on receiving it, they began to grumble against the landowner.

"They said: 'These last hardly worked an hour, yet you have treated them the same as us who have endured the day's burden and heat.' The owner said to one of them: 'Friend, I have not been unjust to you. Did we not agree on a denarius a day? So take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last the same as I give to you. Don't I have the right to do as I please with my money? Why are you envious when I am kind?'

"So will it be: the last will be first, the first will be last."

RSAC Tassie Hawks Cup

Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to watch our Year 9/10 footballers play in the Tassie Hawks Cup in Launceston. Unfortunately, the boys were defeated by both St Virgil’s College, Hobart and Prospect High School, Launceston. Our young men made us proud, relishing the opportunity to play at UTAS stadium and have their game streamed live on TV. Well done to Mr Kurt Byard for the work he has done with our students.

Year 7 2024 Department of Education Schools Taster Day

We look forward to our final week of term. On Tuesday, 26 September, 35 Grade 6 students from the Department of Education primary schools will join us for a taster day and will have their first opportunity to experience St Brendan-Shaw College as they prepare for 2024. We look forward to welcoming them into our community.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Stuart Ralph
Principal

“Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

– Martin Luther King Jr

Best of luck to Udayjot Sandhu and Hamish Rootes, who are representing Tasmania this week in the Under 14 Boys side at the National School Futsal Championships held in Brisbane!

By Mrs Kelly Allen, Teaching and Learning Leader – Humanities and Social Science

Australian History Competition

Earlier this year, back in May, a selection of Year 8 students entered the Australian History Competition. It had the motto: "Helping today’s students assess a changing world for tomorrow", and its founding goal is to ensure history remains relevant to the school curriculum. The competition paper is based on the Australian Curriculum - History for Years 7 and 8. The goal is to foster engagement in the subject of History and reward students’ interest in History. Students had 45 minutes to answer 50 multiple-choice questions. These are based on a range of historical sources and questions to focus on testing students' analytical and interpretive skills rather than relying on prior knowledge. For this reason, the competition is accessible to students of all levels, providing a great opportunity for them to engage as well as excel. On offer were prizes for the winning students from each year group to recognise their achievements, including a $250 prize for the National Champions of each year level. The College had a number of students who did particularly well, and we'd like to acknowledge them. Levi Allen, Charlie Allen, Jasmine Hurley and Ethan Storer attained a Merit, Mara Hofmann attained a Credit, Theodore Powell and Baltimore Heald achieved a Distinction, and Sophie Jeeves attained a High Distinction. Well done to all of our students who participated.

Australian Geography Competition

Earlier in the Year, at the start of May, students from 7A and 7B participated in the Australian Geography Competition. The Competition is delivered online and students have 35 minutes to answer multiple-choice and cloze questions based on the content of the Australian Curriculum: Geography. The questions test both geographical knowledge and skills. There are a range of prizes on offer. The highest-scoring geography student in each Year level in Australia, in each State and in the combined Territories (ACT, NT and the External Territories) receive a book prize and award certificate; first in Australia also receives a medal. The following students attained Credits: Georgia Maloney, Zac Goodwin, and Flynn Mitchell. Nickolas Papas achieved a Distinction. Congratulations to all participants!

Our Outdoor Education class participated in a thrilling abseiling adventure at Mt Roland recently. The students exuded confidence and demonstrated their finely tuned skills, which they had honed over the course of several weeks. We are grateful to the dedicated staff at Camp Clayton for providing the students with this unforgettable and exciting experience.

On Friday night, the Vinnies group braved the cold and windy weather to participate in the Vinnies Sleepout. The SBSC Sleepout, similar to the Vinnies CEO Sleepout, is organised by St Vincent de Paul to raise awareness about homelessness.

The St Vincent De Paul food van joined us at the College, and generously provided warm soup for our students and shared stories about their experiences in assisting people within our community.

The highlight of the evening was a life-sized Monopoly-style game called the Game of Life, which gave insights into the challenges faced by those living on the poverty line in Australia.

The night also marked the conclusion of the SBSC Vinnies winter appeal, People Plus Paws. Over five weeks, the Vinnies group has been collecting donations of essential items for people and their pets. Some of these items include blankets, dried or canned food for pets, beanies, and jumpers.

We thank everyone who has generously donated to support Vinnies and the good work they do in our community!

The changeover to summer uniform occurs at the beginning of Term 4. Now is a great time to check summer uniform garments for fit and condition.

Please note that St Brendan-Shaw College Uniform Shop will close for the term break on Thursday 28 September 4.00pm and will be open at the following times:

Term Break Opening Hours

Thursday 12 October – 9.00am to 3.00pm

** Now Closed Monday 16 October ** 

The Uniform Shop will return to normal opening hours on Tuesday 17 October.

Regular Trading Hours

Throughout the school term, our regular opening hours are:

Tuesday 8.00am – 4.00pm

Thursday 8.00am – 4.00pm

Uniform Shop Online

You are welcome to purchase from the online uniform shop at your convenience and your order will be filled when the store is next open. Log onto www.midford.com.au using passphrase SBSC505.

By Mr Sam O'Keeffe, Sports Coordinator

Soccer

On Friday 15 September, 70 students made their way to Meercroft Park to participate in the Devonport Junior Soccer 6-A-Side gala day. All students had a fantastic day in sunny but windy conditions. The College was incredibly successful on the day taking out the honours in the following year levels:

• Grade 7 Girls - Winners
• Grade 7 Boys - Winners
• Grade 8 Girls - Winners
• Grade 8 Boys Winners
• Grade 9 Boys - Runners Up
• Grade 10 Boys - Winners
• Grade 9/10 Girls - Winners

Thank you to Mr Mackie and Mr Allan for all their assistance throughout the day.

Touch Football

Over the last two weeks, students have had the opportunity to sign up for the Devonport Touch Football Association High School roster, which will commence in Term 4. This roster is played on Thursday afternoons and will begin on Thursday, 19 October, and finish on Thursday, 30 November. Students can put their own teams together and need a minimum of seven players in their team to enter, but eight would be fantastic. Sign-up sheets can be found in the school gym during recess and lunch. 

By Mr Steven Ryan, Teaching and Learning Leader - Health & PE

The Schools Triathlon Challenge will be conducted on Thursday 23 November at the Bluff precinct and is open for all students from Years 7-12.  The event is about challenging yourself.  It's not about winning, but getting in and having a go. You can enter as an individual, get a team together and do a leg each, or do both the team and individual events.   

Anyone entering from the College must collect an entry form from Mr O'Keeffe, or enter by using the sign up form below. Payment is to be made to the Caritas Front Office by Friday 20 October (Week 1 of Term 1).  Should you have any questions or require further information, please read the sign-up process below or please contact Mr O'Keeffe. Further information can be found at the event website:https://schoolstriathlonchallenge.com

Triathalon Sign-Up Process

Below is a sign-up form for the School Sports Tasmania Triathlon Challenge held on Thursday 23 November. Students who wish to enter into this event either as part of a team, individual or both need to fill this form out using their school email. 

The cost of this event is $25. For further information or to sign up, please access the Google Form by clicking the button below.