Principal's Pen
Saints Race Day
What a great day was had by all at the Saints Race Day on Saturday. A massive thank you must go out to all of the Saints Race Day committee members who worked tirelessly to create such a beautiful setting for our 400 strong crowd to unite and enjoy a wonderful social day. There was great enthusiasm in supporting the raffles, auctions, social banter and the dance floor on the day and I now understand the hype behind the greatness of this day and the community which it supports. This was a very proud day for me as the Principal of this amazing College, though I feel I need to brush up on my bike riding skills before next year! If you would like to see some more photos from the day, hop over to the College Facebook page where a few of the snaps have been shared.
Queensland Core Skills Test
Our Year 12 cohort completed their QCS test on Tuesday and Wednesday. I was very proud that all Year 12 students were in attendance, whether completing QCS or not, to support their peers and create a sense of comraderie during a testing time. This is testament to the leadership of our amazing group of Seniors in 2018 and we wish them all the best on their results from their testing this week!
Enrolment – The time is NOW!
We are currently confirming our staffing structure for 2019. Whilst we have had many 2019 enrolments already, we require everyone applying for enrolment at our College to make their intentions clear over the next 2 weeks so our predictions can be accurate to meet the educational needs of our students next year. Most critical are our 2019 Prep enrolments. We have almost filled 2 classes for next year and need to make decisions on whether to cap our intake or open another class. This decision will be made over the coming holidays based on the enrolments we have. If you are aware of anyone who has not yet enrolled, it is urgent they register their intent with the office to ensure that there will be a place available for them in 2019. Likewise, if you are aware of others wishing to begin their education at OLSCC in 2019 in any year level, the same courtesy will mean that we can plan accordingly and won’t need to turn anyone away.
Senior Schooling
The College timetable is being configured currently to align with the lines we currently have in draft. The Senior school subject selections will take place prior to the upcoming holidays to ensure students have their timetable for next year by the time they return for Term 4. This has been a challenging process as we look at the configuration of the timetable to cater for all year levels at the College, and despite some technical issues earlier on, we are very confident with our current draft which caters for the needs of all students, especially our current Year 11 students who will continue with the OP system as we transition to the new ATAR and QCE systems.
2019 Student Fee Structure
We are making minor changes to our student fee structure that aligns with the changes made by the Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools and to better align with the structure of the College from 2019. This means fees will be organised by 3 brackets, Early Years (Prep – Year 4), Middle Years (Years 5-8) and Senior Years (9-12). This essentially means that the fees will gradually increase throughout your child’s education rather than have a significant jump from Junior to Senior. It will also mean that the Capital Levy will be applied at an individual level rather than at a family level, though this will be offset by a variance to the discount rate for families, also aligned to the direction of the Diocese. There will be consultation with the board regarding the updates and then further details will be sent to families.
The College has also developed a Scholarship and Concession Guideline which will allow us to make more purposeful consideration of the concessions and scholarships made for our families. While our preferential option for the poor and our Catholic values always guide us in looking after families in need, it also creates the opportunity to reward our high achieving students and families to receive scholarships to support them in continuing their education at OLSCC. In 2019 some students will be invited to apply for scholarships for excellence in attitude and achievement in the following aspects: religious life of the College or Parish; academia; and either culture or sport. If you are currently on a concession, details of the new process will be communicated to you early next term.
