The roads and intersections around the College present a need for strict observance of road rules for safety.  An area of growing concern is the intersection of George and Percy Street.  Please park well back from the intersection if you are parking south of the intersection on Percy Street.  The law stipulates that you must be 10 meters from the intersection.  This is to allow vision south down Percy Street for cars exiting George Street.

Also, care should be taken as you drive, mindful that students vigilance when crossing roads can not be relied upon.

Things seem to be travelling smoothly at present.  The students have been very settled and I'm not seeing any evidence for concern.

This Thursday is Ascension Day, another feast that is measured as being 40 days from Easter.  Easter celebrates the ascension of Jesus to heaven 40 days after his resurrection.

The Senior Secondary College Ball takes place this weekend and our Year 11s and 12s are showing how light they are on their feet during dance practice sessions.  Once again, we do not have any arrivals' ceremony that people can gather to observe due to contact tracing requirements if we did hold one.  We will be live-streaming from inside the venue to allow family and friends to see them entering the ballroom.

The Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE) standards have been updated to no longer include the pathway planning standard in the requirements for a person to achieve the TCE.

Career education is widely recognised as an essential part of continuing student's engagement with learning and for students to successfully plan the courses they need for their future pathway. This was recognised by the updated Education Act 2016 requiring all Tasmanian schools to support young people to plan and stay engaged in education and training, including school principals issuing a transition statement to Year 10 students to confirm the student has developed and recorded their plans.

The change to the TCE standards does not change the obligations of schools under the Education Act 2016.  The change reduces duplication and reduces administration with schools no longer having to provide evidence of their pathway planning to TASC for students to achieve their TCE.

Career and course planning resources are available including:

• Careerify - a new career information website to help Years 9-12 learners with career decision making. Based on career development theory, it’s written for a youthful audience with useful articles that inform and guide them as they explore career options and the steps to take to get to where they want to go.
• myfuture - a national online career planning platform, available to students in Year 7-12 for students to identify interests and work values, and explore education, training and career pathways.

Next week is National Volunteer Week and I take this opportunity to thank all of those in our community who offer their time to help others and to especially thank those volunteers who help our students.  Many people help out with our various sporting teams and the like, but I would like to share the work of a dedicated group of men who generously give their time to work with some of our boys who learn in a more concrete way.  These volunteers from the Rotary Service Club spend time mentoring a group of lads who qualify to join as Rotary Assisted Transition Student, affectionately dubbed RATS.  Their work is valued by us and is helping students transition to the world of work.

May God bless you and keep you safe and happy.

Frank Pisano

Dear Parents

As we have received reports of head lice from students in Year 9 please take the opportunity to check your child's hair and continue to be vigilant in checking it on a regular basis. If lice or eggs are found please treat accordingly and remove all eggs before your child returns to school, and advise us at the college.  Head lice are experts at seeking out your child’s clean hair to start the cycle again. If you are unsure of how to treat head lice please contact your local Pharmacist for advice.  Further information can be found on the Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services web pages: https://www.education.tas.gov.au/parents-carers/parent-fact-sheets/headlice.
If head lice is found, students can return to school following one application of a recommended product.

Kim Walters
Deputy Principal - Pastoral Care

The May 50K

A team of SBSC staff are taking part in The May 50K. This fundraiser is close to many of our hearts as it seeks to raise funds for research into MS. If you would like to sponsor our workplace team, please go to https://www.themay50k.org/fundraisers/sbsc 

Having almost reached our initial fundraising target of $1000 in the first 10 days of May, we have now adjusted our goal to $2000.

A fact sheet is available here:

https://d2nqjh7h1uavry.cloudfront.net/87cf212836acac2c26d91d095f9ca459.pdf

Kim Walters
Deputy Principal: Pastoral Care

Raising environmental awareness through a cultural lesson on Japanese Furoshiki.

This week, Japanese classes from year 7 - 12 have been invited to join a zoom lesson with Akahane Sensei from the Japan Foundation Sydney.   She has shared with us the historical use of Japanese 'furoshiki'; cloth with a special design used for wrapping things or making bags to carry things.    We learnt about the decline in use due to the introduction  of plastic bags and how they have become popular again with growing environmental awareness.   The students learnt how to make a carry bag, a lunch box bag, a laptop bag and how to wrap a drink bottle.

Any piece of material can be cut into a square to use in this way.   Perhaps you would like to give it a try?

Natalie Cornish

The newest members of the Board... or an online chess tournament today.

On the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, 24th May, the Catholic Church in Australia will celebrate 200 Years of Catholic Education and entrust our Catholic school communities to the protection of Our Lady, Help of Christians.

Mary, Help of Christians, has been the official patroness of Australia since 1844. The early Church had a particular devotion to Mary because, without access to priests for many years, the main public expression of faith was the Rosary. In 1844 Australia’s three bishops requested the Pope to declare Mary the Mother of God under the title Mary, Help of Christians, as Australia’s patron saint. This was confirmed by the Holy See in 1852.

We extend an invitation to past and present staff members, students, parents and friends of Catholic Education Tasmania to participate in the celebration of this important Feast with the celebration of Mass by His Grace, Archbishop Julian Porteous. Mass will be celebrated at St Mary’s Cathedral, Hobart at 11:30 am.

We have also arranged for the Mass to be livestreamed and we encourage you to make this available to members of your school community and / or to share the link with staff and family members, via the Archdiocese of Hobart Youtube page.

Martin Tobin
Director: Catholic Identity & Evangelisation