Social media platforms continue to present risks for users.  A platform that we know some people are using is Omegle. The following information comes from their website (and I draw parents’ attention to the last sentence of the first paragraph).

“Omegle (oh·meg·ull) is a great way to meet new friends. When you use Omegle, we pick someone else at random and let you talk one-on-one. To help you stay safe, chats are anonymous unless you tell someone who you are (not suggested!), and you can stop a chat at any time. Predators have been known to use Omegle, so please be careful.

If you prefer, you can add your interests, and Omegle will look for someone who's into some of the same things as you instead of someone completely random.”

To add to the risk, Omegle has a video platform.  Directly underneath a statement about how the video stream is ‘monitored’, there are “18+” “Adult” and “Unmoderated Section” links.

The College is revising the Concerns, Compliments & Complaints procedures to embed feedback practices.  The current version is available on our website. It makes reference to a link on the website that will allow you to make a complaint, lodge a concern, or share a compliment.  The link is found in the “Contact” section under the “About” tab on the homepage of the College website.  I have received compliments related to the students who travelled to Parliament House with Mrs Shearer to present their work on Reconciliation, noting: “The depth of content and maturity with which they explored a complex idea were evident throughout all of their presentations.  I would also like to acknowledge the demeanor of your students throughout the day. They are to be commended for their polite and positive attitudes.” Similar feedback came for the students that Sandra Farr took to compete in the Maths Relay last Friday.

It is with sadness that I share the news of the death of a Colleague and friend, Adrian Drane.  Until his illness led him to relinquish these responsibilities, Adrian was Principal of Marist Regional College, President of the Catholic Principals’ Association of Tasmania, and Deputy President of the Tasmanian Branch of Catholic Secondary Principals Austalia. 

Eternal rest grant onto him O Lord and may Perpetual Light shine upon him,  may he rest in peace. 

Please keep his family in your prayers.

I will keep you in my prayers!

Frank Pisano

Reconciliation Tasmania Youth Speakout in Hobart

Last week at this time eleven Year 9 students were on their way to Hobart.  Their first stop was to visit an exhibition "Tense Past" of Tasmanian history at the Tasmanian Museum. The focus for the day was to join other schools to give to share their ideas about reconciliation with the politicians at Parliament House and the Governor, Her Excellency, Professor the Honourable Kate Warner AC at Government House.

Six students gave speeches at Parliament House and three students gave speeches at Government House. The Premier, the Leader of the Opposition and of the Greens along with many other politicians listened to the voice of youth on the topic of reconciliation in Tasmania. Afterwards students met the politicians who congratulated them on their speeches

Students had prepared their speeches after studying Aboriginal Spirituality in Religion. Their speeches, poems and artwork were on the topic of how honouring truth brings reconciliation. The students were given the opportunity to share their ideas through a Reconciliation Tasmania initiative.  These students have worked very hard and have been well rewarded. They were excellent leaders and ambassadors for our College.

Margaret Shearer

Students who attended:
Sasha Sherry, Kiah Miller and Madi Smith spoke at Government House.
Ruby Hardwicke, Grace Johnson, Chloe Hollingsworth, Catherine Greenhill and Ruby Skirving spoke at Parliament House. 
Brady Forth and Janelle Jeffrey also attended.

Congratulations to Baxter Tu who was 1 of 2 Devonport boys selected to represent Tasmania in the under 13 age group in the upcoming Football Federation Australia National Boys Championships held in Coffs Harbour from 30th September. 

Twelve amazing people will be shaving their heads tomorrow (Friday) for the World's Greatest Shave - please join with us to congratulate them for putting themselves forward for such a worthy cause:

• Mrs. Cheryl Sheehan
• Mr. Gavin Hicks
• Maximus Farrell
• Nic Corker
• Mackenzie Chugg
• Imogen Hamilton
• Abbey Willett
• Oscar Allen
• Tim Wood
• Max Sharp
• Jack Trimper
• Emily Crowden - not shaving but cutting off her beautiful long locks.

At the time of printing our team has reached a total of $6580. We would love to reach $7000 so please assist us to get there by clicking the link:

https://secure.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/registrant/TeamFundraisingPage.aspx?Referrer=%26Referrer%3ddirect%252fnone&TeamID=115848

Otherwise feel free to reach out to the individuals participating so they can give you their own direct link.

Lisa Robertson

On Thursday the 12th of September 87 students boarded the buses to head to Launceston for the NSATIS Athletics Carnival. This is a big day for our College students who catch the bus at 7.30am and do not return to the College until 7pm after a full day of competing. The sun was shining and all the students were nervous about their events but very keen to get out and compete against other schools. The Carnival was a fantastic day for all involved and our students did a fantastic job representing the College and themselves very well. Everyone competed so well and some students even surprised themselves with their results which was great.

We did have some notable finishes throughout the day and we would like to congratulate the following students on being NSATIS Champions for their events:

U13 1500m Champion - Oliver Sims

U14 1500m Champion and new NSATIS record holder - Tom Winkel

U15 400m Champion - Catherine Greenhill

We would also like to thank Mr Everard, Mr Byard and Mrs Van Essen for all their assistance on the day as well as our sports leaders who came along and marshaled events.

Sam Okeeffe