It has been an amazing week watching our Seniors complete their journey in faith and knowledge, culminating in their Graduation Mass this morning. This fine group of young men and women were able to have family at the mass in the MPC, and it was quite uplifting to see many of our community coming back onto the College grounds. 

As we sadly say farewell to 45 graduates, we also acknowledge that 21 of these have completed the entirety of their education at OLSCC.  This is a considerable aspect of what makes OLSCC feel so much like a family, not just a school or college. On Wednesday, the Prep students accompanied the Seniors to the College Awards Ceremony and today we saw the graduates and their prep photos side-by-side as they entered the MPC.  It is wonderful to think of everyone who has contributed to the development of these students throughout their time at OLSCC. 

Tonight, we complete their journey with the Year 12 Valedictory Dinner and we simply cannot wait to make the final farewell a very memorable occasion. Amongst the graduates, we have many of the last siblings from their families.  We wish all of our graduates and their families the warmest regards as they transition into new stages of their life.

For all the images and results from our College Awards Ceremony held on Wednesday, please head to our website or click here.

Peter Cuskelly

Principal

Well what a week filled with emotion.  We are so proud of all the efforts of our students and staff this year and these were recognised and celebrated this week at our Awards of Excellence.  Today we stopped to join with Year 12 families to farewell our graduating class of 2020.  This amazing group of young men and women have brought such joy, many laughs and a few grey hairs to our College both this year, as seniors, and throughout their thirteen years here.  We pray for our graduates. 

In the spirit of God’s love, we pray for each of you, Year 12’s, as life leads you on a new path.  

May God’s spirit continue to renew in you the call to act justly, to love mercy and walk humbly with God who lies at the heart of all you do.    

May our God of love continue to bless you and may Jesus live in your hearts forever.    

Amen 

Mini Vinnies Christmas Appeal 

Donations for our annual Mini Vinnies Christmas Appeal are needed by Wednesday, 25 November so we can present to St Vincent de Paul at our Christmas Carols.  Christmas is a difficult time for families within our community and this is one way we can assist St Vincent de Paul to support them. If you have not already done so, we would really appreciate some more donations, and particularly, washing baskets to hold the donations in. These are not costly and go to a very good local cause. Your generosity each year with this appeal is wonderful and we look forward to presenting numerous hampers again this year. 

Christmas Carols 

Our Christmas Carols is fast approaching, so organise your family and friends for a great night. 

The P & F will again run the BBQ and drinks stand.  All BBQ orders must be pre-purchased using the Flexischools app.  It is so easy – Go to the FOOD section as you would to order normal tuckshop but slide across to Christmas Carol BBQ.   

Then all orders can be placed under any of your children’s names (all orders under one name is easiest).  On the night you just come forward with your child’s name and your food will be received.  Drinks will be available for purchase on the night and a small bar will be operating.  All money raised goes to YES Arusha to sponsor our two African students.  We will also have battery powered candles for sale and we encourage families to bring glow sticks too.  There will be limited bench seating on the oval so bring your picnic blanket and camping chairs to enjoy the night.  We encourage all year levels to attend and join in the singing.   

To comply with COVID restrictions one member of all families should sign in on arrival using our QR Code and their mobile phone.  There will be multiple sign in points on arrival at the Main Oval.  We encourage families to enter on foot from the Pavilion/Prep end of the College; around the MPC following the driveway; or even cut across the oval from Russell Street.   

Cate Brennan

Deputy Principal Religious Education 

This week we celebrated many wonderful things about our College. Our awards ceremony on Wednesday celebrated excellence in a variety of aspects of College life. Did every student get an award? No. These are highly valued, well respected awards of EXCELLENCE, not prizes of participation. Will some students be disappointed? Yes. And that is a perfectly natural reaction. The great part about it is that this very disappointment provides our children with an opening to be great 'bucket fillers'. It gives them an opportunity to take joy in and congratulate others on their success. Is that easy? No! It is difficult, it takes explicit practice and it is something we work on consistently in our classrooms. This ability to enjoy another’s good fortune provides a building block for an emotionally mature future, resulting in successful relationships. It would be reckless of us to rob our children of such an opportunity.

Occasions such as these also offer wonderful goal setting scenarios for our students. The awards have clearly defined criteria that are transparent to the students. A focus on our College learning dispositions and learning pit have seen some students achieve beyond what they had dreamed possible, creating a whole new ‘habit of mind’ for them. How powerful is that? Author Steven Pressfield sums it up beautifully when he says:

“The difference between an amateur and a professional is in their habits. An amateur has amateur habits. A professional has professional habits. We can never free ourselves from habit. But we can replace bad habits with good ones”.

The Year 4’s have been learning how to write a persuasive essay with Mr Paffey over the past few weeks. They have been using the WTE (Write That Essay) program to support and scaffold their writing. They have been very busy creating their own cereal boxes using persuasive techniques.

Kartina Walton

Assistant Principal Early Years

Regretfully, the Early Years Nativity Play for 2020 has had to be cancelled. Because of the large number of students involved, COVID-19 restrictions would not allow us to rehearse as a choir or perform with families and community groups in attendance. On the bright side, this gives us the opportunity to be exceptionally organized for next year!

Michelle Garside

Early Years Arts Teacher

Early Years Swimming Carnival

Year 1-3 students born in 2014, 2013, 2012 will attend the Early Years Swimming Carnival on Friday, 27 November at the Dalby Aquatic Centre. Under the Covid safe plan in place at the venue, no parents or spectators will be able to attend. The canteen at the pool will also be unavailable on the day. Students will travel on the College Coach leaving at 8.50am. Students will be back at school before the second lunch break. Swim shirts are optional for all races. Students will be watching and be marshalled from the grandstand so they will be in the shade most of the morning. Students may wear their house colours on the day.

Brisbane Broncos Visit

This week the Year 6 cohort had two separate visits from the Brisbane Broncos Development staff. Daren Burns who is a regular visitor to the College ran a leadership session on Thursday morning before Michael Devere and Wayne Weeks ran a on-field session for the students on Thursday afternoon.

QISSN Netball

Training has begun for the 2021 QISSN Netball Team on a Wednesday morning from 7.00am – 8.00am at the PCYC. Training will continue until Wednesday 25 November and is open to any Year 8-11 students. Currently, 16 girls have been attending training with the team of ten players to be finalised early next year.

QISSRL Rugby League

Training has begun for the 2021 Confraternity Shield Team on a Thursday morning from 7.00am – 8.00am on the main oval. Training will continue until Thursday 26 November and is open to any boys turning 16 or older in 2021. Currently 29 boys have been attending training with the team of 21 players to be finalised early next year.

Cricket

Congratulations to the Boys Cricket Team which has recorded two victories in the past week. Thanks to Mr Milford for coaching the boys.

Game 1

OLSCC 4-166 off 20 Overs

Matt Cuskelly 53*, Clancy Biggar 32, Isaac Halling 12

Dalby SHS 86

Pat Boland 3 wickets, Sam Gillespie 2 wickets

Game 2

OLSCC 5/154

Isaac Halling 41, Sam Gillespie 25, Pat Boland 24

Dalby CC 80

Lachlan Sankey with a Hat trick 3-1 off 4 deliveries

Volleyball

The Year 7 Girls Volleyball Team will play against Dalby SHS next Wednesday. The team has been training weekly during all of Semester 2 and will head into the 2021 year well prepared for regional and state championships.

Rugby Sevens

SWQ Rugby Sevens Results

Under 15 Boys

Semi Final

OLSCC defeated Highfields SSC 25-19

Grand Final

OLSCC defeated St Mary’s College 19-15

Fantastic effort from the Under 15 Boys to win this competition. The boys had not beaten either Highfields or St Mary’s all season but played fantastic Rugby when it counted most to win the competition. The team was 15-0 down against St Mary’s in the final but scored 19 unanswered points to claim victory. Thanks to Mr Fraser for his efforts with the team this season.

Under 18 Boys

Semi Final

TAS defeated OLSCC 32-30

Thanks to Mr Milford and Mr Routley for managing the boys this season.

Under 15 Girls Division 1

Semi Final

Fairholme College defeated OLSCC 26-0

End of Season Game

OLSCC defeated TAS 32-30

Under 13 Girls

TAS defeated OLSCC 15-14

This was a fantastic effort from our Under 13 Girls as it was the first competitive game the majority of the team had played. Thanks to Mr Garside for his dedication to the Girls Sevens this season.

Return of Sporting Uniforms

As the end of the year is fast approaching, I am making an urgent request for the return of any sporting uniforms that may be still outstanding. Please return them ASAP. Replacement bills will be issued to students with uniforms not returned by Friday, 27 November. This includes Under 15 Girls Touch Football Singlets and Boys and Girls Rugby Sevens.

Sports Dates February 2021

Tim Lincoln

Middle Leader Sport

The College would like to congratulate the following students who have completed Vocational Education and Training during this academic year. These students generally need to attend TAFE one day a week as well as complete an academic load at school. These students have all earned a minimum of 4 QCE credits and Lyhkan achieved eight credits towards his QCE.

Lyhkan King Togia Certificate IV in Crime and Justice through TAFe South West

Tim Mauch Certificate II in Production Horticulture TAFE South West

Alexandra (Lexie) Lee Certificate II in Animal Studies

Harrison Quinlan Certificate II in Engineering TAFE

Jared Ellis Certificate II in Automotive Underbody

We would also like to again acknowledge the two students who received awards on Wednesday for School Based Traineeship and Vocational Education. These were Amy Walker who won the School Based Trainee Award for her completion of a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education at Beck Street Kindergarten and also Jasmine Houlder who completed a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education at Dalby Kids Club. Amy is pictured with Ros Boland from Beck Street and Jasmine is pictured with Sandra  Hoopert and Elisha Pedler from Dalby Kids Club. 

Libby Baxter

Careers Development Practitioner

Students who have been learning Vocal and Instrumental Music throughout the year will be performing at an End of Year Cultural Concert in the MPC on Wednesday, 2 December commencing at 5.30pm. Mr Dore's Piano students, Mrs Baxter's Instrumental students, Miss Berwick's Vocal students and the Performing Arts students of Mrs Garside and Mr Thacker will all be gathering to entertain with the skills they have learned throughout the year. There has been minimal opportunity for these students to gain some performance experience so we hope they can brush of their nerves and hit the notes in Wednesday of Week 9. Please come along and support them.

Mr Thacker

Middle Leader The Arts and Culture

You may have seen some promotion on Facebook of the OLSCC CUlture Club which is a recently formed group of parents who are keen to promote Art, Music and Culture at our school. On Saturday, 14 November, we hosted a sausage sizzle at Bunnings and we are very pleased to let you know we made over $700. We would like to thank all the parents, and Mr Thacker, our wonderful music teacher, who donated items and/or their time to make this fundraiser a success. A special 'thank you' goes to Foodworks for donating 10 kg of sausages and PUMA service station for donating ice bags to keep everything cool on such a hot day! A huge thank you must also go to all the students who helped out with the sausage sizzle and represented our College exceptionally. We felt supported by our community who came to buy a sausage, a cold drink or tried their luck in our raffle on the day! One lucky person made $50 out of a $2 ticket! 

The main aim of the fundraiser this time was to get our name out for other parents and the community to know that we value The Arts and Culture at OLSCC and we would like to promote this. Hopefully it will inspire those who are passionate about The Arts to join this vibrant and fun group and if you are reading this article, that must be YOU!. If you do feel inspired and excited, please flick Megan Cartwright or Lotte Verhoef a message on Facebook messenger (they can be found under their names as mentioned above) or as an alternative call Megan on 0457 496 460. 

Remember, the more supporters we have, the more change we can achieve!

We hope to hear from you soon ! 

Lotte Verhoef

Each year, the Year 8’s host a prayer gathering dedicated to the work of YES Arusha. This year we will be following COVID safe protocols and live streaming the event for parents and our school community.

YES Arusha is a non-for-profit organisation started by Lachlan Miller in 2011, after he saw a need for a quality education for children deeply affected by extreme poverty in Arusha, Tanzania. Our Lady of the Southern Cross Collage has a close relationship with the YES Arusha organisation, in fact our Middle Years teacher, Mr. Steve Gillespie is on the YES Arusha board. Donations from the annual Year 8 prayer gathering contribute to the education of two boys Barack and Kelvin. We feel we have come to know these boys having watched them grow and excel. Supporting them to complete their education is our Year 8 legacy.

Last week, Lachlan Miller visited our classroom and shared with us updated stories about the Haradali school and a very special video message for us from Kelvin and Baraka. The heart of the message has touched us, the idea that while things such as cars, phones, houses can all be taken away from us, our knowledge and learning cannot. Our learning becomes a part of us and travels with us throughout our lives. We feel inspired by these words.

Our Year 8 Goal is to raise approx. $3000 which will help provide accommodation and school materials for these boys.  

The prayer gathering will be held in Week 9 and details of the Live Stream will be published soon.

Our College Statement highlights Catholic Social Teachings, through the ongoing commitment of our Year 8 cohort we can bring these essential ideas together. This long-term involvement with educating the poor and marginalised aligns with the building of “Human Dignity” through the empowerment and “Stewardship of Creation” recognising that we are all created in the image of God. It teaches our young people through “Solidarity” the ways in which we can stand together and give someone on another continent the wherewithal to make life decisions through the gift of education, “Subsidiarity.” Together we are showing our care for “Community and the Common Good” with in the global village.

We have made a difference and continue to do so. Lachlan Miller founder of the NGO YES Arusha has continued the personal link he made with the College Community a decade ago. In a recent visit he spoke with students ranging from Year 2 to Year 11. See his thoughts below on a legacy left by the Year 8 class of 2011. This legacy has been nurtured and continued through the hard work and dedication of Year 8 classes and their teachers. Over the years the fundraising techniques have evolved and this year is no exception. From humble begins as a pop-up market and car wash our end of year celebration has become the Christmas Carols.

You may be impressed with achievement of our Year 8’s in the story below.

“In 2011, the Year 8 cohort of OLSCC heard the story of Kelvin and Baraka, two young boys in Tanzania who were living in extreme poverty and had no access to education. This group of Dalby students set themselves a task of raising enough money to fund Kelvin and Baraka’s education. Their fundraising efforts were a huge success, and they would inspire consecutive Year 8 classes to do the same. Not only did they fund Kelvin and Baraka’s education, but they were able to fund them to board as well.

With the help of the OLSCC students, Kelvin and Baraka joined Haradali Primary School, a high-quality independent boarding school in Arusha, Tanzania. Kelvin was seven years old at the time and settled easily into school, but Baraka was 10 years old and found it challenging to be in Prep class with kids half his age. But they both showed an amazing motivation and drive to learn. They were eventually allowed to skip grades and catch up with their peers, from Grade 1 to Grade 3, then Grade 5 to Grade 7. It was Kelvin who had the natural academic knack, but Baraka refused to let his little brother move ahead of him.

Today, Kelvin and Baraka are in Form 4 (the equivalent of Year 10), and they are 16 and 19 years old respectively. They’ve grown into mature and intelligent young men with optimistic plans for their lives after school. Kelvin hopes to work in International Business, while Baraka plans to work in the Tourism sector ­– both admirable pursuits that would not have been possible without this education.

The OLSCC student community continues to support Kelvin and Baraka and keeps up to date on their incredible journey. “

If you would like to help the Year 8’s continue this wonderful legacy, please make a donation towards Kelvin and Baraka’s continuing education. We will be raising funds at the Christmas Carols.

Steve Gillespie

This week, our Middle School Year 7 Art students are completing their final artwork for the year. The last splashes of paint, colour from pencils, and highlights of charcoal are added to their canvases before we hang up our artists aprons for one last time. It is always so wonderful to see imagination and planning come together in such creative ways. Well done!

Mrs Patterson

Mrs Twidale's Year 5 students created an impressive artwork for NAIDOC Week which was made up the map of Australia and is now hanging on the wall on the end of Blue Block. Mrs Twidale printed out all the individually numbered sheets and each student coloured their sheet using traditional indigenous ochre colours and these were then all fitted together to make up the finished map. The students were very proud of their collaborative work and were keen to show it off to everyone as they recognise the importance of the NAIDOC week celebrations around Australia.

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.