End of Year
As this is the final newsletter for 2021, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all members of the Penola Catholic College community a very safe, happy, and holy Christmas and summer holiday. For some in the community this time will include receiving VCE results and then confirming plans for 2022 at university or in another tertiary setting or commencing an apprenticeship or other employment. For students undertaking Units 3&4 VCE subjects, this time should include some form of preparation for the year of work ahead. It is important, however, that we enjoy the time shared with family and friends and that we express gratitude to our Lord for these gifts and blessings.

The year has been marked with great energy and success in many areas at the College. Congratulations to all students who committed themselves to their studies, to the co-curricular sporting and cultural activities available at the College and who were involved in some form of community service activity throughout the year. These are the students who will gain the most from their time at Penola Catholic College.  

On behalf of the wider school community, I would like to thank all staff (teaching and support) for their commitment, dedication, and enthusiasm for providing the best for all students. Rather than detail the challenges that all of us have faced living in the most locked down city in the world, I would like to focus on the resilience that all within the community have demonstrated throughout 2021. Clearly this Global Pandemic experience has been much worse in terms of the number of deaths in other countries throughout the world but the mental strain, stress, and anxiety that it has caused has been significant. Despite this, our students, staff, and families have done all that they can to provide support to one another and retain a true sense of community despite being physically apart for large periods of time.

This Advent, as we prepare for the Blessings of this Christmas Season, may I thank all Penola Catholic College parents for your support of the College throughout the year and for your partnership with us in the education of your sons and daughters. May Christ’s Peace and Joy be with each of you and with your loved ones.

One of the things that Mary MacKillop was fond of saying was “to never see a need without doing something about it.” Mary MacKillop saw a need for Catholic education for the poor. She tried to address this need by creating a religious order, the Josephite nuns, where they would go out to help the poor and help educate them and try to improve their situation and their life.

If you look at all of the great people within history, they have all had a significant effect upon society. Mary MacKillop is certainly one of these people. Mary battled many hardships throughout her life, her health, she was ostracised and even had a period of ex-communication from the Catholic Church. Throughout it all, she never lost faith in her own beliefs or her convictions that she was doing the right thing. Mary MacKillop is an outstanding example of leadership in action.

School Advisory Council Information Session
We have one vacancy arising on our School Advisory Council at the beginning of next year as one of our School Advisory Council members has resigned. An invitation is extended to parents to come along to an information session being held on the evening of Tuesday, 22 February for parents who are interested in the work of the School Advisory Council. The information session will provide an opportunity for parents who may be willing to offer their services as School Advisory Council members in this year or subsequent years, to gain an understanding of the governance of the College.

The information session will commence at 7.00pm in the Educational Resource Centre (Library) at the Broadmeadows campus followed by our February School Advisory Council meeting for those wishing to stay on.

Year 12 Graduation
Density limits have been abolished and, as a result, I have great delight in inviting all fully vaccinated Year 12 parents to our Graduation Mass and Ceremony on Friday, 26 November. Melbourne Archdiocesan Catholic Schools (MACS) have issued a directive that parents must be fully vaccinated as the Graduation is being held on site. Parents will need to scan into the Assembly and Sports Hall and there will be members of staff acting as COVID Marshalls to check the vaccination status of parents.

The Graduation will commence at 6.00pm in the Assembly and Sports Hall and we ask that students are present no later than 5.30pm. Limited parking will be available on site as there is a Calisthenics competition being held in the Performing Arts Centre at the same time. When parents drive through the gates at the Senior Campus they will need to turn left for the available parking and follow the directions of our staff who will assist with parking. Once the parking is full, parents arriving after this point will need to park in the surrounding streets.

2022 Year 7 Orientation Day
2022 Year 7 Orientation Day will occur on Friday 3 December. This will provide our incoming 2022 Year 7 students with an opportunity to meet their homeroom teacher as well as other students within their class.

2022 Year 7 Laptop Distribution Night
The Distribution of the Lenovo Yoga 11e Convertible Notebook for students commencing Year 7 in 2022 will take place on Tuesday 30 November for all new Year 7 students and their families.

The collection of the Notebook will take place as a drive thru.

Families are asked to drive their vehicle into the Broadmeadows Campus where you will be given the laptops through the car. As you enter through the gates you will be required to turn left and follow the directions of onsite staff. At no stage are families to be out of their vehicle. Drivers Licence ID or a current Health Care Card must be provided on collection.

College Awards Evening
On Tuesday 23 November we held our annual Awards Evening, in which students are recognized for their achievements and contributions throughout the year. It was heartening to see so many students receive recognition for their efforts and participation throughout the year. I congratulate all award recipients and I thank

Mr Ernie Pisani, Mrs Dianne Lee and the members of the organising committee for their work in ensuring the success of the evening. I would also like to thank our AV department, Mr Paolo Muccini and Mr Stanley Azarcon, for all their work in producing the Awards Night vodcast.

Headstart Program
This year we have decided to continue our successful Headstart program at the end of the year for four days for current Years 7-11 students. In effect this means that our current Years 7 - 11 students will commence their 2022 classes on Monday 29 November and finish on Thursday 2 December. The advantages to this program are that students can begin their 2022 classwork earlier, giving them additional time to learn their respective VCE and VCAL subjects or subjects for next year.

Student Free Days this Term
Friday 26 November is another Student Free Day. This will allow our Senior students (Years 9 - 11) a small break between finishing exams and commencing their Headstart program and allow our staff to have a Correction Day to finalise grades. For our Junior campus staff, this is time for correction and report writing of the end of year reports.

Farewell
In the next fortnight a number of staff members will be leaving the College. Mrs Anna Favrin has decided to retire after 23 years of fantastic service here at Penola Catholic College. Throughout her time, she has held the role as Head of Languages and Homestay Coordinator and been instrumental in the organisation of the Languages tours to France, Italy and Japan and hosting our sister schools as well. Anna has overseen the introduction of the CLIL program in Italian in 2013, Japanese in 2019 and French in 2020. She is a passionate advocate for Languages and the importance of learning Languages and was instrumental in establishing the first year Melbourne University Italian for our students.

Mr Ernie Pisani has made the decision to retire at the end of the year after 20 years of exemplary service at Penola Catholic College. He has been involved in Catholic Education for 42 years at three schools – St John’s College, Braybrook for 17 years, MacKillop College, Werribee for 5 years and the remainder of his time (20 years) here at Penola. Throughout his entire time within our community, he has held the role as Deputy Principal - Head of the Broadmeadows Campus and has worked loyally with Joe Favrin, Chris Blake, and Chris Caldow in their time as Principals of Penola. Words cannot accurately convey his immense contribution to our community, and we are forever in his debt. Ernie’s attention to detail is second to none and has ensured that student safety and wellbeing was paramount throughout his time.

Mr Ashley Mills has resigned after teaching Health and Physical Education for the past 17 years at the College. Ash has held a number of roles throughout his time including VCE Coordinator of Students, Senior Football Coach and Year Level Coordinator to name a few. Ash has been Appointed as Head of Student Wellbeing at Iona Catholic College for 2022 and we wish him well. Mrs Nola Francis has resigned after more than 13 years at Penola Catholic College. I would like to publicly thank Nola for her efforts as a Humanities and Religious Education teacher throughout this time and she has held the roles as Head of RE - Glenroy and Literacy Coach. Mrs Despina Eleftheriadis has resigned after 11 years here at Penola and has been appointed as a teacher at Marian College, Sunshine West. Despina has taught Religious Education, Global Politics, Business Management, and Information Technology throughout her time with us. We wish her well. Ms Katie Murray-Fawcett has been appointed as Deputy Principal – Student Wellbeing at Catholic Regional College Caroline Springs. Katie has been with us for 14 years in the role as English and Drama teacher as well as holding the roles as Year Level Coordinator and Coordinator of Students at Glenroy. We wish her well. Mrs Marnie Caldow leaves us after 4 years as she has made the decision to retire. Her support of our funded students and their families has been second to none and on behalf of the College I thank her for her contribution to Penola. Ms Anita Duhig has been appointed as NCCD Coordinator at Emmanuel College (Altona and Point Cook). Anita has been fantastic over the past 4 years here at Penola particularly in redesigning the NCCD system to make it much more teacher friendly.

A number of other staff members are leaving because they have gained positions in other schools or settings, or because their contracts have concluded. On behalf of the college community, I thank them for their work and efforts on behalf of our students. Best wishes to George Puckering, Tina Corso, Tony Regan, Daniel Milutinovic, Mary Nagle, Judy Matthews, Lena Nappa, Clare Moore, James Warren, Oscar Yildiz, Julian Verite, Charles Brain and Scolaighe Morison.

The following staff will be taking maternity leave during 2021 –Nellie Mimms, Evelyn Assaad, Stacey Noulas and Katherine Gayton. Mrs Gwen Prout and Ms Mary-Ann Masters are taking 12 months of leave and Ms Fran Pascalis re-joins us from maternity leave at the beginning of next year.

The Hume Whittlesea LLEN recognises and awards students excelling in vocational education. The HWLLEN Vocational Education Awards are proudly supported by Hume City Council, the City of Whittlesea, and the Hume and Whittlesea Youth Commitments, and celebrate student achievements in VCAL, VET and SBAT.

Click here to read the HWLLEN Vocational Education Award 2021 recipients for Penola Catholic College.