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HALLOWEEN – THE CHRISTIAN CONNECTION
Halloween is growing in popularity but its roots are lost on most people. It is observed on 31 October, the "een" or "eve" of All Hallows Day (All Saints Day) on 1 November.
“Hallow‟ occurs in the Lord's Prayer – "hallowed be thy name" (may God's name be held holy) – so to celebrate Halloween without connecting it to All Saints Day would be like celebrating Christmas Eve without a Christmas Day.
If you take away the Saints from Halloween, along with our Christian beliefs about the dignity and destiny of human beings, then all you have left is a pre-Christian Celtic celebration held at the end of summer in the northern hemisphere. As days shorten and winter nights lengthen, the spirits (goblins and ghouls) have more dark time to be mischievous and haunt. The pagans appeased them with treats so as not to suffer their tricks. The “trick or treat” tradition comes from people disguising themselves as evil spirits, both to fool them into leaving them alone, as well as to steal the treats left by people to appease the evil spirits. Halloween, like Christmas, is becoming very commercial. As a result, we do not even come close to thinking of it in terms of faith and religion.
ALL SAINTS AND ALL SOULS DAYS
As we move into the month of November we especially remember All Saints Day (1 November) and All Souls Day (2 November). Although we celebrate the Feast Days of the well known Saints it is not possible to know all the names of those who have given their lives in the service of God. Many of these could be our family or friends.
All families are invited to attend Masses in their local Parishes on these special days and pray for their lost loved ones.
INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS’ DAY
This day is celebrated worldwide on the first Friday in October – however, due to holidays in Australia we celebrate it on the last Friday in October. The Staff at John Therry Catholic College are professionals who work hard in their endeavours to improve the learning outcomes for their classes. Collegiality and co-operation between the staff, students and families is encouraged and we expect all students to be working to their best.
Having high and achievable expectations can have a positive influence over what the students achieve. At times students may complain about the work load or quality expected, but this is the hard work and training that leads to an improved result and therefore improved life chances after school. At John Therry we are preparing the students for a successful life – not simply a HSC result.
I trust that most students would appreciate the efforts of their teachers and I ask them to spend a few moments and wish their teachers a Happy World Teachers Day today.
These excited, Youth Ministry Leaders were presented with their badges from the out-going 2020 Leaders during their Pastoral period in front of Year 10. They bring lots of great ideas and are keen to continue to build 'Youth Ministry' at John Therry Catholic College in the upcoming year.
Jayden Cook
Sio Inosesio
Sophie Anderson
Chantel Gill
Jasmine Lopez
Jessica Garner
Sokowa Parker
Ashleigh Murphy
Grace Diaz
Rainer Smith
Elise Farrant
Leyla Boustani
SPORT REPORT TERM 4
Round 1 Week 3 VS Magdalene Catholic College
Today saw us return to the MISA Competition for the first time since Term 1. The excitement from students and staff was electric! This week we faced tough competition in Magdalene. This term saw some restrictions enforced on the competition, with teams restricted to stage grouping (year 7 + 8 and year 9 + 10). All teams demonstrated a fantastic effort and played with great sportsmanship. This term is a bit shorter than terms 1-3, with many of our competing schools finishing the term at different dates. Our teams have four more rounds to play before the Finals/ Interzone finals on the 1st of December. Good luck to all teams and coaches, keep training and working hard each week.
|
SPORT |
Coach |
WINNING SCHOOL |
SCORE |
Report |
|
7-8 Girls Softball |
Mr. Webb |
MAG |
0-9 |
A disappointing start to the season saw the girls go down against a more experienced team. The girls tried hard batting first, and putting themselves in a good position with bases loaded. Unfortunately we were 2 batters down and the third went down which saw the girls not score in the first innings. The more experienced team took full advantage of this unfortunate start and ended up storming home 9-0. Highlight and MVP of the game was Gabriella Klarich catching a high ball in the outfield. Well done girls. MVP - Gabriella Klarich |
|
9-10 Girls Volleyball |
Mrs. Pellegrino |
MAG |
0-2 |
A slow first set saw the JT girls being dominated. The 2nd set was a different story. Although the girls lost they demonstrated great teamwork and communication with only a loss of 2 points in the 2nd set.
|
|
9-10 Boys Volleyball |
Mr. Williamson |
JT |
2 - 0 |
Convincing victory in our first game back. The quality of skills gained during the two weeks of trials led to good movement and teamwork. Never seriously challenged and looking hard to beat. Still room for improvement especially around shot execution and spiking. MVP Sio Inesio |
|
7-8 Girls AFL |
Mrs. Stanley |
MAG |
17-26 |
Despite the result, we had a fantastic start to the season. With many of the girls playing their first game, we were extremely competitive and had more opportunities than Magdalene at goal - we need to work on our accuracy. Great leadership today from Alexis Paulo who led from experience. MVP - Achel Malek - outstanding defence! |
|
7-8 Boys AFL |
Mr. Geribo |
JT |
46-20 |
The boys met Round 1 with enthusiasm and dominated possession early with their intensity around the ball. All players are keen to improve and their skills and match awareness got better the longer the game went on. A dominant display and a great start to the competition. MVP - Coby Hilton |
|
9-10 Mixed Frisbee |
Mr. Bodeker |
JT |
29-0 |
Today we played Magdalene beating them with flying colours 29-0. JT came out strong in the first half with every female getting on the score sheet within the first 15 minutes. There were strong individual performances which led to an outstanding team performance. The weather held out nicely for a first week of MISA, John Therry can’t wait to get back out there and win the title! MVP - Jayden Cook |
|
9-10 Boys indoor Cricket |
Mr. Chapman |
JT |
70-27 |
A dominant display from the John Therry boys who played at a high level throughout the match. We batted first and steadily accumulated our 70 runs before bowling consistently to keep Magdalene to 27. Good performance overall and great display of teamwork. |
|
7-8 Boys Oztag |
Mr. McGrath |
JT |
12-4 |
A great start to the MISA year with a convincing win against Magdalene in round one. The boys played well as a team even though it was their first game playing together. A shout out to Jaecob Solberg for his solid defence and Riley Oitmann for his efforts in attack. MVP - Cohan Timmer |
|
7-8 Girls Oztag |
Mr. Tran |
MAG |
2-5 |
With the whole of JT singing Bon Jovi- ‘Livin on a Prayer’ all day for the storm clouds to dissipate, we were blessed with the clouds moving off over the horizon. The first game for the ladies did not go as planned with a 5-2 loss to Magdalene. Great heart and courage was shown throughout the game, with the girls slowly gelling and putting on 2 tries. MVP goes to Lily Short who controlled the middle of the field like Cameron Smith or Ali Brigginshaw. Special mention to Bridget Shearer and Erin Murtz, both with strong games in a losing team. With the sky being the limit and many players demanding better from themselves, the future is bright. MVP: Lily Short |
SPORTS ASSEMBLY CANCELLED
Our Annual Sports assembly was scheduled to be held in Week 9, unfortunately due to all the event cancellations as a result of COVID-19, the formal assembly has also been cancelled. Students who have participated in MISA or DIO events and who received John Therry Carnival Age Champions will be acknowledged in year meetings this term.
Help needed - We are looking for a parent/carer to assist the Sports Faculty in washing and drying the JT MISA uniforms each week and bringing them back to school. Staff are happy to drop the MISA kits off on a Tuesday after sport if you are in the Rosemeadow area. JT offers a reimbursement for this. If you are interested in helping us out or need further details, please contact Ms Leach.
* If you have any sporting news you would like to share with our community, please contact Ms Leach at leachg01@dow.catholic.edu.au
Regards
Ms Leach