Friday, 18 September - PUPIL FREE DAY

Tuesday, 6 October - Term 4 commences

Wednesday 7 to 31 October - Art is Escapsim - Art Show @ Gallery 107 Dalby

Tuesday, 13 October - P & F Meeting

Thursday, 15 October - Come and Try Day

Enrolment – Urgent!

Our 2021 classes of Year 1, Year 2 and Year 10 are either full or only have very few positions available.  In addition, I would strongly encourage anyone anticipating enrolling in Prep to have their enrolment paperwork complete and submitted by close of business on Monday, 3 August, the application deadline. Based on our current numbers, it will be unlikely that any positions will be available in Prep after this closing date, whether the family has siblings at the College or not. I cannot stress this strongly enough as I would hate to see one of our current families unable to enrol their child because they have not submitted their enrolment in a timely manner.  Mrs Walton will be interviewing and offering positions based on the applications received on or before 3 August.  Not all Prep applicants will be offered positions as we have exceeded our current capacity already.  Thereafter, all late submissions will be placed on a waiting list in case vacancies become available in the new year.  As we have structured a 2 stream model in the Early Years, we will not make composite classes or create a third class in a year level simply because we have an additional few students. 

Behaviour Reminder

In recent weeks we have seen a shift in the behaviour of some students at the College. There have been examples of poor language choice, physical misconduct including fighting and a lot of misuse of mobile phones.  I ask all parents to have a discussion with their child about what behaviour they see at the College and remind them of our 4 College Expectations:

• Learn and allow others to learn
• Be Respectful
• Be responsible
• Be safe

I often reflect with children who have made poor choices to consider whether their actions have made the College a better place today.  I encourage all students to reflect on this everyday to remind them to continue in their efforts in making our College, our community and society a better place to be in.

Planning for 2021

We are busy preparing for the 2021 academic year and have drafted many versions of the Senior Years timetable as well as the staffing matrix.  The Year 11 subject selection for 2021 is not far away and we look forward to having all of our teaching and learning organisation complete by the end of this term.  Keep an eye out for any news from your sector Assistant Principals throughout this term as we will have various opportunities for parents to engage with the College regarding changes in the Middle Years, subject selection, transition to schooling, SET planning (current Year 10s) and much more.  It is an exciting time for our students and I look forward to seeing you at one of these events in the near future.

Pupil Free Dates for 2020 + School dates for 2021

For the benefit of your family’s planning for the remainder of this year and for next, please take note of the following dates for the remainder of the year, as well as the term dates for 2021.

Also please note that it is possible that State Schools may finish a few days earlier than usual due to the impacts of Coronavirus.  If you are looking to book holidays in the first week of summer holidays, please make sure you do so before the decision is made.

2021 Term Dates for Students

* Finish date for Prep-Year 9 students.  Year 10 & 11 finish on Friday, 26 November.  Year 12 finish on Friday, 19 November.

Additional details for the 2021 calendar including pupil free days, public holidays and other dates of importance will be communicated later in the year.

Tom and Gerard – A Visit from the Seminary

What a privilege it was to be visted by Tom Popovic and Gerard Lai from the Holy Spirit Seminary this week.  These upstanding gentlemen worked with the majority of students leading them through a variety of prayers, explaining their pathway to priesthood and answering the questions from the students regarding their faith and vocation.  

Peter Cuskelly

Principal 

Hope is this week’s character strength.  So, this week we pray for hope in this time of uncertainty and need in our world:  

For generosity of spirit. 
For hope in times of despair. 
For light in the darkness. 

Gracious and Loving God, 
You are our comforter and our hope. 
Hear our prayers as we come before you. 
Strengthen us in this time of need. 
Inspire us to acts of solidarity and generosity 
and give us hope of a brighter future. 

Amen  

Catholic Education Week 

Traditionally this week we would celebrate Catholic Education Week.  This week although we are not officially celebrating this occasion, we do celebrate some staff for their contribution to Catholic Education. 

For 25 years of service to Catholic Education we congratulate Mrs Jacqueline Jenkinson and Mrs Katrina Walton. 

For their nomination for Spirit of Catholic Education Awards we congratulate Ms Jacinta Willocks and Mrs Katrina Walton. 

We thank these staff and all those who work tirelessly in our Catholic schools to educate the heads and hearts of our students.    

Parent Portal – change of use 

Our use of current Parent Portal will end at the end of 2020 as we move to our new system Sentral.  In preparation for this change, you may like to download your digital copies of student report cards before your access is removed.  Report cards from before 2020 will not be uploaded to the ‘new’ parent portal.  2020 Report Cards will be uploaded and be available in 2021 but will not be uploaded this year.   

Re-Creation 

We have once again commenced Re-Creation activities for students in Years 7-12.  Re-Creation options were sent out to students in the last week of Term 2 and they chose their preferred option based on personal interest and availability.  Group sizes are limited depending on activity, venue and staff ratios.  Once a student has signed up to an activity they must complete this activity for the full term.  This term there are only 7 Fridays.  Students begin activities at 1:50pm and return to the College to be dismissed at 3:10pm.  All groups ensure they are back by this time so students can transition to home easily.  There are so many great opportunities for students to re-energise at the end of the week through Re-Creation, make sure you discuss your child’s option with them to hear about the fun activity they have chosen to participate in.   

Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum - Recognise  

Last week we started to implement the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum. The first key safety message of the curriculum is recognise. Recognise is about being aware of your environment.  

Children, young people and adults can all learn to take notice of what is happening around them to help keep themselves safe. Everyone can use clues, such as the things we see, hear, smell or feel to help protect us from harm and keep ourselves safe. Clues can be simple things that warn us about a danger, e.g. hearing a fire alarm or seeing smoke, that prompt us to react. We can also use clues to prepare for potentially unsafe situations, e.g. if we are walking alone at night, then we try to use a well-lit route and avoid secluded lanes or parks.  

When we recognise that there might be a safety problem we can take steps to move away or reduce the risk or develop strategies that can help keep us safe. For instance, if you are in a busy environment such as the Ekka or a local event where there are big crowds, you might consider what you and your child could do if you became separated. Strategies could include: going to a highly visible pre-determined meeting spot; writing your phone number on a card and placing it in your child’s pocket; identifying who your child could approach if they become lost, e.g. police, staff at a booth.  

Information about the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum can be found at www.education.qld.gov.au/child-safety-curriculum. 

Seminarian Visit 

Last week we were joined at the College by Thomas Popovis (3rd year) and Gerard Lai (4th year) visiting Seminarians from Holy Spirit Seminary, Banyo.  They were spending the week in our parish of St Joseph’s for pastoral experience in their formation towards the ministry of priesthood. These inspiring young men immersed themselves in our College community, visiting classes, speaking to students, praying with students and even joining the staff touch football team.  We thank them for their visit and fellowship throughout the week. 

Biblical Garden 
Alongside the refurbishment of classrooms into our College Chapel is the creation of a biblical garden out the side of this space.  Currently this space is a blank canvas for us to create a space where all can quietly reflect and pray.  Over the next few months we will continue to update you with our ideas and developments of this garden and would love, when the need arises, to have parent and student input and assistance in creating something beautiful.  

Cate Brennan

Deputy Principal Religious Education

Hygiene in Practical Subjects
Our teachers who lead the learning in our practical subject areas continue to ensure that the hygiene measures that are in place continue to meet the COVID guidelines set by Queensland Government. In most areas, this has required a change in procedures. Student shave been advised of the following changes:

INTAD
Students will now only wear an apron when painting their projects. This means that they need to take care when using the equipment in the workshop. Students may bring a shirt to change in to for the lesson to protect their College uniform.

Visual Art
Aprons will no longer be supplied by the College. All students in Years 7-12 are required to bring in an art shirt to place over the top of their uniform. These art shirts must be taken home and washed after each lesson. Students who fail to bring in an art shirt each lesson will be unable to use paints etc in the lesson.

In all practical subject areas (INTAD, Science, Food Technology, Sport, Culture and Visual Art) we continue to ensure that all equipment is cleaned in accordance with the set guidelines. Students are encouraged to sanitise their hands each lesson.

Student Drivers
I have recently received a number of requests for students to drive their own vehicles to their Recreation activities on a Friday afternoon. Please note that permission for this to occur will not be granted from the College. Students will return from their activities in plenty of time to depart at 3.10pm.

Year 12 Final Assessment for General Subjects
By the time of the next newsletter, our Year 12 cohort would have completed all internal assessment for their general subjects. This means that, for these subjects, only the external examinations remain. In Weeks 9 and 10, students will sit mock exams to provide an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the examination format, timing and types of questions. For Applied and Applied (Essential) subjects, student continue to have internal assessment for the remainder of the year. Best of luck to the Year 12 cohort as they finalise the remainder of their internal assessment!

Matt Hodge

Assistant Principal Senior Years

Students have been busy this week during Ag Science as they got some hands on practical activities underway as well as enjoying a visit from an industry representative from Sunpork Farms.

Year 9 and 10 Ag Science students have been learning about animal production in particular dairy cattle, poultry and pigs so welcoming Rob Martyn from Sunpork Farms was a fantastic opportunity for a face to face presentation from the operations manager of one of the leading piggeries in Australia. Rob has visited the College before for Careers in Action Week and again his presentation and information on the piggery industry and Western Downs' Tong Park was excellent. Rob outlined the operations at Tong Park from farrowing, breeding, feeding and growing out the pigs and also staff training and career opportunities within the Sunpork Farms organisation. Rob spoke about the intensive piggery industry and what a typical day looks like at Tong Park. He spoke to the students about all the different types of roles that his employers undertake to ensure the smooth running of the piggery. We thank Rob for giving his time to provide an informative session for our Ag students.

The Year 12 Ag students have planted out some Condamine wheat for their practical trials which particularly focus on the effect of planting depth, spacing and fertiliser on plant growth. With some recent rain, the moisture content in the soil will hopefully cause a successful trial with some effective data collected.

Annie Belonogoff

Senior Years Middle Leader and Teacher 

Let’s celebrate the cultural and religious diversity of our College!

Our Year 12 Religion and Ethics group is aiming to live the Catholic Social Teachings by building relationships across the rich diversity of our College and wider community through our shared love of food and stories.

We would love to hear from any of our College families who would be happy to share their favourite cultural recipes for a College Cookbook. The purpose of the Cookbook is to highlight favourite foods from the wide range of cultures which make up the rich fabric in our school.

If you would like to share a recipe that is significant in your culture, please feel free to email them to either:

Sam Cullen

DALcullens@twb.catholic.edu.au

Or

Bree Tanks

DALtanksb@twb.catholic.edu.au

We would dieally like to have recipes in by the end of next week.

Science Tutorials

Any student who wishes to complete some catch up or extension work in Science is encouraged to attend the lunch time tutorials in the Science Lab with Mr Cullen. These sessions are not limited to student in Mr Cullen’s class. Upcoming dates in August for tutorial sessions are as follows:

Uniform

A reminder to all families regarding the uniform policy during these cooler months. A breakdown of the uniform standard is available in your child’s diary. Please ensure all aspects of the policy are upheld. 

Canberra Tour – Update

Year 6 parents have been notified via email of an update regarding the 2020 Canberra Tour. Please access this communication. If you have any follow up questions, please do not hesitate in contacting me at the office.

Craig Cullen

Assistant Principal Middle Years

Mr Thacker has prepared another video for us this week on what has been happening in The Arts and Culture at OLSCC. Mr Thacker does a fantastic job with these videos and it is really fantastic to see students developing their love for music and singing both during their private lessons and in class time. Check out Mac Stirling from Year 6 who wowed his classmates with his own composition on the guitar. Look out, OLSCC's Got Talent!

We are pleased to announce that Mrs Jane Cruickshank (Teacher, Year 4C) has been granted approval for Long Service Leave for Term 4. During this time, Mrs Kristen Bennie will assume full time responsibility for Year 4C and Mrs Danielle Hemmings will assume full time responsibility for Year 3HB. We wish Mrs Cruickshank a restful and restorative period of leave and thank Mrs Bennie and Mrs Hemmings for taking on additional responsibilities to ensure a seamless continuation of learning for all students.

As our enrolment period is drawing to a close on August 3, I wish to remind our community that enrolment applications for ALL prospective Prep students for 2021 are essential. This includes siblings of students currently enrolled at the College.

Current indicators are that applications for Prep 2021 are likely to exceed available positions. This means that prospective students who miss out on a position will be placed on a waiting list. It is important to note that having a family member currently enrolled at Our Lady of the Southern Cross College does not guarantee entry for Prep if the application is not received during the enrolment period. It is highly likely that late applications will not be accepted unless the student is transferring from a Catholic school in another town.

In order to avoid disappointment, I encourage any families with children eligible for Prep 2021 to complete an enrolment application as a matter of priority. Please note that current Prep students do not require re-enrolment for Year 1. Prep is the first formal year of school, and as such, the current enrolment carries through to Year 1 next year.

Shooting Stars

We are excited to announce that the Shooting Stars Pre-Prep transition program will begin from Week 5, August 10, although this will operate under changed conditions in order to comply with our COVID safe procedures. Prospective students may attend on EITHER the Monday session OR the Thursday session (not both), which will operate from 9:30am-11:30am. Whilst all families who have returned enrolment forms will receive further information in the next few days, parents and caregivers may ring the College office from Monday, 3 August, to book in to Shooting Stars.

Katrina Walton

Assistant Principal Early Years

There have been many queries about the Performing Arts lessons held on Fridays, so I thought I’d clarify the main lesson content. The focus skills are:

• developing singing skills
• reading and writing music
• reading and speaking with expression and confidence
• articulation
• using a microphone
• dramatic performance

Students will be learning in groups of 4 for half an hour.  Any year level from Prep to Year 6 is welcome.

I have a few vacancies left for lessons in Performing Arts, so if your child is interested, contact the College Office and we will send a form home. For more information, email me at Michelle.Garside@twb.catholic.edu.au

Michelle Garside

Classroom Teacher

Inter House Athletics Carnival

• The Inter House Athletics Carnival will go ahead in Week 5
• Students have nominated for events during classes this week
• 1500m races will be held for students in the Under 12-Open age groups on Wednesday, 5 August
• The Prep – Under 11 Carnival is on Wednesday 12 August
• The Under 12 – Open Carnival is on Thursday / Friday 13-14 August
• Students may wear House colours for these carnivals, however their attire needs to be sun-safe and adequate footwear needs to be worn
• Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 restrictions, no spectators can be in attendance
• We are looking at filming some events and uploading them to the College social media pages
• All normal College expectations around behaviour and tuckshop procedures will apply
• The final events of the carnival will be the boys and girls gift races
• Age champion presentations will occur at a later date
• A small number of programs will be made available at the office on Tuesday 11 August

Athletics Events Cancelled in 2020

• Primary School Ball Games Carnival
• Primary Captains / Staff Relay
• Secondary Captains / Staff Relay
• Secondary Circular Relay
• All Age Relay

Rugby League

Darling Downs Rugby League Competition Round 1

Under 13

OLSCC defeated Harristown SHS 28-24

Tries – Eli Harth 2, Braithen Crothers, Travis Tia, Bronson Barnett

Conversions – Bronson Barnett 4

Under 15

OLSCC defeated Harristown SHS 58-10

Tries –Toby Harms 3, Joe Gillett 3, Bailey Rathmell 2, Bailey Skinner, Lyhkan King-Togia, Bailey Brennan, Hugh Gleeson

Conversions – Joe Gillett 5

Under 18

OLSCC defeated Harristown SHS 30-14

Tries –Brayden Hughes 3, Lachlan Wilkins, Michael MacDonald, Cooper Woitowitz

Conversions – Brayden Falvey 3

Round 2 Wednesday 5 August

Under 13 – OLSCC vs Dalby SHS 4pm

Under 15 – OLSCC vs Assumption College Warwick in Warwick 5pm

Under 18 - OLSCC vs Dalby SHS 5pm

Round 3 Wednesday 12 August

Under 13 – OLSCC vs St Mary’s at Dalby League Grounds 4pm

Under 15 – OLSCC vs Wilsonton SHS at Dalby League Grounds 5pm

Under 18 – Bye

Touch Football

The SWQ All Schools Carnival has been cancelled for 2020. The QLD All Schools Carnival held at Whites Hill in Brisbane is going ahead as planned. Numbers are still short in the Under 15 Boys team. Any boys interested in playing, please see Mr Gillespie or Mr Lincoln ASAP. More information about the carnival will be available later in the term but no spectators will be permitted at the fields.

QLD Touch Football Q Performance Academy

The College has booked in the Q Academy on Monday afternoons for six 6 weeks starting on 3 August. This will be run by QLD Touch and will be a great opportunity to learn and refine some of the higher level of skills in Touch Football. This will be for 12 -16 year old students with the cost being $100 for the six sessions. Any students interested in being part of the program need to see Mr Lincoln. 

Tennis

Best of luck to Ben Forbes, Pat Kelly, Hayden Taylor and Harry Coman who will represent the College at the Darling Downs Teams Schools Challenge in Toowoomba next Friday.

Netball

Congratulations to Carla Nobbs, Monique Smith, Leila Boland, Maleah Pattison and Heidi Reed who have been selected in the Bunya District Under 12 Netball Team to attend Darling Downs Trials next week.

Tim Lincoln

Middle Leader Sport

No it's not part of a competition, it's just a weekly friendly game of dodgeball for all Middle Years students. Some of the Year 12 students did a survey and realised that many of the Middle Years students didn't have an opportunity to participate in physical activity during Covid-19 so we decided to run the game to increase their physical activity in these tough restricted times. We also focus on building a strong sense of community in the Middle Years and the school through this activity.

Dodgeball will run every Monday and Wednesday at second lunch, for the next two weeks. We've decided to invite Year 5-6 on Monday at second lunch and Year 7-8 on Wednesday as we had a massive amount of kids yesterday. Judging by this short clip, everyone had loads of fun.

Sam Gillespie

Prefect

Due to COVID, our Kids' Lit Quiz was postponed from the original date in March at Ipswich Girls Grammar and went virtual on Friday 24 July from the College Library. OLSCC had two teams compete in the reading quiz against other schools in the Brisbane region and was open to students aged 10 - 13. Team number 1 consisted of four grade six students including Charlise Conn, Jack Gibson, Chaarvi Mishra and Matilda Paffey. They finished 2nd out of 13 teams and also won round 6 which sees them all receiving a book prize. Team number 2 consisted of three grade fives and one grade six student including Keira Bryant, Molly Gibson, Zane Stirling and Penelope Cartwright and they finished 8th out of 13 teams. Well done to all these students for embracing the love of reading.

Team 1 - Charlise, Chaarvi, Matilda and Jack

Team 2 - Keira, Molly, Zane and Penelope

Melinda Crow 

Middle Years Teacher

The Children’s Book Council of Australia have revised their dates for Book Week 2020 to 17 – 23 October.

We will endeavor to hold our Dress-Up Parade on Thursday 22 October. More information to come closer to the date.

Queensland Road Safety Week is fast approaching on 24 to 28 August and is still going ahead despite COVID-19. Things may look at little different this year for Road Safety Week but we must continue to observe the importance of being safe on our raods. As many of our Year 11 and 12 students become learner drivers and then P Plate drivers, we are sharing this flyer provided by the PCYC to alert all drivers on a few simple facts. There are a number of things to consider as a P Plate driver and with statistics showing P Plate drivers are six times more likely to have a crash, we want to make sure we do all we can to protect them from becoming one of these statistics. Check it out.

Medication Collection

Any medications that are kept at the College Office for your child's use at school must be collected and signed for by a parent after 3.00pm on Friday, 4 December.

2021 Medications

Any students who require medication to be administered whilst at school will need to bring their child's medication, administration for medication forms and 2021 Medical Action Plans (e.g. Asthma, Anaphylaxis, and Diabetes) in to the College Office by Monday, 18 January 2021.

If you have any queries regarding this, please contact Tracey Boland at the Office on 4672 4111.