Reading Progress

Since Week 6 of Term 2, we have seen spectacular individual progress of students in Reading at OLSCC.  This was showcased to the members of Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office, including my supervisor, Mr John Coman who commended the great work happening in our classrooms as well as the impact the changes in instruction have made in the learning of students.  Mrs Irwin, Mr Gillespie and I looked over the data of every student in the primary school this week and there is plenty to celebrate due to the commitment of students and staff alike! Teaching a child to be literate is the greatest academic gift we can give and I was super proud last week when I had a teacher in tears telling me about the progress of one of her students – the energy invested by our great staff is admirable!

U12 Girls Rugby League

Yesterday, a few of our girls played in a combined Dalby u/12s Girls Rugby League team against a combined Charleville and Cunnamulla side that are on tour to play games in Dalby, Toowoomba, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.  It was a great spectacle at the Dalby Leagues Club as we narrowly went down in a high scoring match.  A huge thanks to the girls who played along with Lachlan Sankey, Ryan Welsh, Sam Welsh, Jack Welsh and Deb Welsh who all contributed to create a great opportunity for our girls to have a great game!

Also a great deal of thanks to Mrs Bryers and Eboni Frid along with their super helpers Georgia Ryan, Jamie Cooper, Taylah Hoeffler and Sarah Staheli, who without any assistance from their male counterparts, cooked a beautiful BBQ breakfast for our visitors to make them feel ever so welcomed and valued.

In a time where we are recreating the way we live our faith in our College, it was so refreshing to see such a simple act of kindness enacted by these great women to help others for no reward. 

Due to media constraints on students not from our College, we are unable to print the Dalby team photo however, if you would like to see it, please email me. 

ICAS Spelling

Congratulations to these students who achieved merits, credits and distinctions in the ICAS Spelling test that was held earlier this term. Absent from the photo were Fallon Baxter - Merit, Claire Davison - Merit, Charlise Conn - Distinction, Aloysius Va'a - Merit.

From left: Allie Hobson - Distinction, Zane Stirling - Distinction, Isabel Johnston - Credit, Stella Cleary - Credit, Aaron Cleary - credit, Hayden Koehler - Merit and Jack Gibson - Merit.

Peter Cuskelly

Principal

This week we celebrate the feast of Mary, Our Lady of the Southern Cross, with a whole College Mass on Friday at 2:00pm. All are welcome to join us at this occasion.  Students will also take part in fun activities across Prep – Year 12 on this day. 

 We pray to Mary for her wisdom to guide us each day:   

Mary, you are the Mother of Jesus, our Lord 

Guide us Mary, so that we might be a witness to your Son, Jesus, in the power of His Spirit. 

Mary, teach me to be attentive to the voice of God in our lives, 

Living lives of service in truth, joy and peace.   

Amen 

Interesting Fact about the Catholic Church

We educate 777000 school children in the Catholic Sector. 

(facts compiled by Rev Dr Richard Leonard SJ) 

Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum 

Throughout this term, our College will be implementing the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum with students in Prep- Year 10. The curriculum is based on principles of best practice in child safety education and centres around three key messages: Recognise, React and Report.  

It is important that the key safety messages of the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum: Recognise, React and Report are reinforced, both at school and home. I encourage you, wherever possible, to talk with your child about safety to help them stay safe now and in the future. 

Information about the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum can be found at www.education.qld.gov.au/child-safety-curriculum or see your child’s class teacher. 

St Joseph's Parish Reconciliation

The sacrament of Reconciliation will be celebrated at St Joseph's during the week beginning 19 November 2018.  The Sacramental Program of preparation will begin with a group meeting on Thursday 11 October at 7:00pm.  

Who is eligible?  Children who  

• Have been baptised, and  
• Are currently in year 2 or above. 

If you would like to enrol your child in this Sacramental Program please contact St Joseph's Parish with your child's name and parent/guardian contact details, 46624011 or dalbyparish@twb.catholic.edu.au  or Cate Brennan via OLSCC Office.   Enrolment forms and payment will need to be completed at the information night. If your child was not baptised in St Joseph’s, please bring to the Information meeting: 

a copy of the baptismal certificate or an extract which can be requested from the Parish where your child was baptised.   

Cate Brennan

Assistant Principal Mission

Junior

Touch Football

Year 5/6 students interested in representing the College at the SWQ and QLD All Schools Carnivals next term, please sign up and collect letters via the Sports Notice Board.

Athletics

Darling Downs 1500m Race Results

Under 10 Boys – Chris Banks 10^th

Under 10 Girls – Carla Nobbs 6^th

Under 11 Girls – Gabby Banks 3^rd

Congratulations to Xavier Gibson (pictured right) who won the Under 10 Boys Long Jump on Tuesday with a jump of 4.42m. Xavier will now attend the State Championships in Cairns in October. A full list of results will be in next week’s newsletter.

Senior

QLD All Schools Touch Football Carnival

Version 2 of the QLD All Schools Touch Football Draw has been released and placed on the Sports Notice Board. This will most likely change in the next few weeks. At this stage all games are on Thursday Friday and Saturday (October 11-14) with finals only on Sunday.

Netball

Congratulations to the Girls who competed at the Senior Vicki Wilson Cup Competition in Toowoomba on Sunday. The team finished third overall narrowly missing a spot in the Darling Downs Finals. Game results are listed below. Thanks to Mrs Appleton, Mrs Cesari and Mrs Pascoe for their efforts with the team this year.

Loss to Fairholme B 13-15

Win vs Dalby SHS 29-3

Win vs Chinchilla SHS 16-11

Win vs St Ursula’s B 17-15

Loss to St Joseph’s 12-17

Win vs St Saviours 24-12

Win vs Pittsworth SHS 13-10

Water Polo

Any boys or girls interested in attending Darling Downs Water Polo Trials for 2019 please see Mr Lincoln for more information. Students must be born between 2002 – 2006 and be enrolled at school next year.

Triathlon

Any Boys or Girls interested in attending Darling Downs Triathlon Trials for 2019 please see Mr Lincoln for more information. Students must be born between 2002 – 2006 and be enrolled at school next year.

Rugby Sevens

Unfortunately the Scots Warwick Rugby Union Competition has been capped with a limited number of teams per division. At this stage only our U16 Boys have been guaranteed entry. We are hoping that all our others teams will be allocated into the main draw ASAP. If this does not occur the College will organise some other games for our teams to compete in later this term.

Homework - a polarizing topic

I was interested to talk with a teacher this week regarding a class activity that fell flat on its face. Students were asked to look up three facts on the historical figure who is the focus for their upcoming assessment task. Simple enough request we can all agree.

This action could have been completed on the student’s mobile phone – if they have one of course – or any other device that has access to the internet. I just completed the task, locating and recording my three facts utilizing one search and one site. Less than three minutes to complete the task and write down my responses.

In preparing to write this piece I also did some research about the place of homework in the modern schooling era. There is so much information both for and against, that a valid argument can be raised for either side. That is not what this article is about however, it is about our attitude towards education and ownership of learning.

Getting back to the three-minute task, there was time to complete the task, there are any number of access points for students to use devices and there is the simple fact they were asked to do it. The outcome in the lesson was that none that is right NONE of the students had completed the task.

The other side of this was that I had spoken with the teacher only an hour or two earlier to congratulate them on the annotated exemplar assessment response that had been prepared for the same class. In my estimation at least three hours work minimum.

At the end of the day we will all have our own opinion on the amount of work a student needs to do outside of class. However, it is important, to look forward to the trends in senior education. Students will be asked for greater individual efforts with less teacher input. Maybe we should promote the idea that our young people can be asked to do something and simply complete it.

Steve Gillespie

(Acting) AP Teaching and Learning

Last week, eight students from the College travelled to Maryborough for the Fraser Coast Interschool Equestrian Competition hosted by Riverside Christian College and attended by 250 riders from across South East and Central Queensland.

Emily Griffiths, Clare Girffiths, Jorja Ellis, Anna Lilburne, Lucy Reed, Heidi Reed, Emma Reed and Millie Turner competed in dressage, jumping, western dressage, extreme trail and dry pattern, formal ridden classes and sporting events over the three days and we are pleased to report that all riders scored placings in the various events; a huge achievement considering some of the classes had over 25 entrants. All students posted some personal best achievements and enjoyed the competition which provided opportunities for experience in many different and new disciplines. 

One of the highlights of the competition was the March Past on Saturday morning with all the riders from all the schools riding in their teams around the Maryborough Showgrounds. The spectacle of so many horses and riders all looking their best and representing their respective schools was something our students will remember and were certainly proud to be a part of. 

Congratualtions to all riders on great sportsmanship and effort in representing the College at such a big event.

We have had an incredible response from local businesses for sponsorship of our up coming Saints Race Day. This unique and stylish event coordinated by the College P&F Saints Races Committee is being held on Saturday, 1 September at Bunya Park Race Course, Dalby. Thanks to our generous sponsors, your race day experience is set to be one to remember.

Shine Lawyers have sponsored the Saints Marquee which will include a seat for you and your friends at a table of 10 and a delicious Ploughman's Lunch sponsored by Urban Paddock. The marquee will provide a stunning location for you to enjoy your lunch plus the company of racegoers with all the track side action right alongside.

Tickets for the Shine Lawyers Saints Marquee are available from The Shop, Dalby and the College Office for $40/head or a table of 10 for $350 so be sure to secure your table now.

General admission to Bunya Park with access to the HEQ Viewing Deck are also available for $25 per head. General admission will allow you access to all areas on course however no allocated seating or catering is included with GA tickets.

Golding Air Conditioning and Heating are sponsoring the bar for all refreshments while Milli and Robe have sponsored all the Fashions on the Field. Racegoers are invited to stay on into the evening for entertainment from the Live Band, Solitary Man, sponsored by the Criterion Hotel.

There will be a live auction throughout the day of some fantastic prizes donated by Nev and Kartina Walton, Dr Lotte Verhoef, Wild River Concreting and Ray White.

We would also like to thank the Dalby Herald and SNAP Printing for their sponsorship of all our advertising and marketing material. 

Thank you also to our Silver and Bronze sponsors who have generously donated to our Saints Race Day. 

Dr Jodi Richardson and guest presenter Martine Oglethorpe will be hosting a webinar via the Parenting Ideas Website on Thursday, 13 September at 7.30pm on the topic of 'Managing video games and the next digital craze'.

There will be another free Webinar on Monday, 29 October at 7.30pm on 'Developing Emotional Intelligence in Children hosted by Dr Jodi Richardson with guest presenter and psychologist Michael Hawton.

All Parenting Ideas Webinars are available to College parents for free using the vouchers provided with the College's Parenting Ideas Membership otherwise these webinars would cost $37. 

If you would like more information on how to access the College voucher to attend these webinars for free, please email sarah.lilburne@twb.catholic.edu.au

UNIFROM SHOP NEWS

Please note, there has been an increase in the uniform prices which will be effective from 1 September 2018. Click on the link button for the new price list.

TUCKSHOP ROSTER

WE NEED YOUR HELP

St Joseph’s Catholic Church has accepted a proposal from Dalby State School to provide parking in the Church carpark and at the IONA grounds for a gold coin donation.  All money raised will go to Drought Angels.

Volunteers would be appreciated to assist with donation collection and guidance to parking areas at both venues.  

Parking will be manned from 7am to 11am – Any helped would be greatly appreciated.  Just call in and she the volunteer at the Edward St entrance at IONA or the Church Car Park and they will assist.

UNIVERSITY OPEN DAYS

University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich  Saturday, 1 September 10am to 1pm

University of Southern Queensland, Springfield   Friday, 7 September 3pm to 7pm

STUDENT PROTECTION CONTACTS FOR OUR LADY OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS COLLEGE

Please contact these officers via the College Office or in person.

Mr Peter Cuskelly, Principal

Mrs Melissa Irwin, Director of Teaching and Learning, Student Services

Mr Luke Holmes, College Counsellor

Mr Nicholas Blauw, Teacher

STUDENT PROTECTION CONTACTS APPOINTED BY THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL AUTHORITY TOOWOOMBA

Peter Simpson, Student Protection Officer

Barbara Woods, Student Protection Officer