**UPDATE**

So far one very kind family has offered a donation as well as physical help but this is not really enough to save the Prep Tunnel. If you can assist in anyway, please email Mrs Morgan as soon as possible. If we can't get some input, we may see the end of the Prep Tunnel.

One of the longstanding features in the Prep playgrounds is the big cement tunnel and dirt mound that is easily visible from Nicholson Street. The tunnel is particularly enjoyed by our Prep students as they can get up high and they love to run up and over the top. Recently, the retaining walls that supported the soil on either side of the entrance to the tunnel on both ends had to be removed due to rotten timbers. This much loved item in the playground has now become a safety concern as the soil is collapsing around the ends of the tunnel and the feature is looking a little unloved. We would like to put a call out to parents, particularly anyone with building know-how to volunteer to give our tunnel a bit of a facelift. This may include replacing the retaining walls that were removed and also updating the protective tubing that prevents injury on the edges on the cement ends on the tunnel. Perhaps the part of the cement that can been seen could do with a groovy paint job. The softfall at the entrances to the tunnel also needs some maintenance. Our Preppies would love to see their favourite tunnel updated and improved so here's a chance to give something to our College and make a stamp on something that our Prep students enjoy at school.

If you think you can help, please contact the College via Mrs Kathy Morgan on Kathy.Morgan@twb.catholic.edu.au

STUDENT FREE DAYS 2021 (Teacher Professional Development Days)

UNIFORM DAYS 2021 (Throughout the year these days may change for one off occasions)

Leadership Forum

This week, I spent 3 days at the Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools Leadership Forum, which is a termly event.  We focussed on the strategic direction of both Secondary and Primary Principal Associations, leadership in our communities, and yesterday engaged in learning regarding Religious Education Curriculum and the ways of teaching that result in best learning for our students.  One of the highlights of the week was the discussion regarding the College’s Catholic Worldview.  This strongly aligns with the College’s strategic focus in 2021 on the Religious Education Strategy.

A “worldview” is simply defined as “a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world” (Oxford Languages).  It is important to recognise that everyone has a different worldview based on their upbringing, education, life experiences, religious beliefs, political alignment, and general perspective on life.  Whilst many people have similar worldviews, it is critical to be respectful and considerate of the worldview of others at all times.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to work through the worldview of Toowoomba Catholic Schools in regard to religious formation and education and consider how this flows through to our leadership team, staff, students and wider community. I also took the time to consider our families and reflect on the wide variety of worldviews that are present in our College. 

The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC Framing Paper) outlines that “Religious Education needs to recontextualise so that students can engage in open dialogue between the Catholic tradition and their personal experiences and contemporary culture”.  This means that our teaching of religion is strongly based on teaching the messages of the Bible and connecting these messages to modern day life.  In this manner, students of all ages can understand the message and continue to develop as people aligned to the Christian values that we instil in all our children.  This is respectfully inclusive of students from all belief backgrounds, though taught in the Catholic tradition.  It’s about encountering our faith through discussion, open dialogue, questioning and talking through the difficult issues that students face. 

In our Living Your Faith program and in the Religious Education Strategy work of the College, worldviews are critically important.  They allow us to determine where students are in their formation and use the teachings of the Bible and our Catholic faith to continue growing great people.  In reflecting, we seek to develop the religious literacy of students in light of the Catholic Christian tradition, so that they might participate critically and authentically in contemporary culture. As Pope Francis states “When somebody has an answer for every question, it is a sign that they are not on the right road” (n41. Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate 2018).

Staffing Update

We wish Mrs Karla Knight and her husband, Brendan,  all the best as they prepare to welcome their baby into the world.  Mrs Knight will finish the term with year 4KT, and from Term 2 Mrs Melanie Henry will work with Mrs Tresillian in this class. We warmly thank Mrs Knight for her dedication to learning at OLSCC and look forward to meeting the new bub!

Mrs Melanie Henry’s role in Prep Red will be dearly missed and we are currently sourcing an excellent teacher to fill this role and begin transitioning with Mrs Kathy Morgan. Students in Prep Red will receive a letter via email when this appointment has been confirmed. 

We are continuing to source a suitable replacement for Mrs Maxine Hetherington in the Senior Years.  Mrs Hetherington is working with Mrs Cesari and Mr Peeck to continue the learning for the students until the end of the term.  We are continuing to interview this afternoon and next week to ensure we have the best teacher possible. 

Mr Matt Hodge is acting principal at St Joseph’s Tara for the last 4 weeks of term as both a means of support for our Diocesan schools, and to support his ongoing development.  Early next week we will be finalising Mr Hodge’s replacement and beginning the transition. 

Canberra Tour Cancelled

Considering ongoing uncertainty regarding interstate travel, and the considerable financial loss to families should border closures occur prior to or during camp, I have decided to cancel the Year 7 Canberra Tour 2021.  Mr Cullen and Middle Years teachers will be exploring alternative options to support student learning regarding civics and citizenship within the state.  More details with be made available to Year 7 students and families as arrangements are made.   

Peter Cuskelly

Principal

As we enter the second week of Lent may we take time for prayer and reflection.  Lent culminates in Holy Week and the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. Lent is a time to reflect on our relationship with God and when we are encouraged to take up practices that help us to become aware of and to be responsive to the needs of others. The three traditional practices of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These allow us to re-focus, leading to a greater awareness of God and a conversion of the heart. 

Each of us is invited during Lent into a dedicated and focused time when we commit to resting in God’s love, to simply be with God in prayer and do something for others. 

How will you be God’s hope, his treasure, and his glory in our community? 

God of mystery, you lead us on life’s journey to places of sacred encounter.   

Here your presence transforms our lives to see the wonders of your glory. 

Open our ears that we might hear your voice calling us to follow Jesus our way, our truth and our life.   

Amen 

St Joseph’s  

Our links with St Joseph’s Parish are an important part of College Life.  Classes attend Mass and visit the Church throughout the year.  This year the parish celebrates 100 years since our current Church’s opening.  This milestone is being marked in several ways, with the collection of historical information, a 2021 calendar including historical photos from the past 100 years and future events.  We look forward to supporting this celebration wherever possible this year.  I encourage families of the College to follow the St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Dalby Facebook page to keep in touch with parish life.  Sacramental programs, Reconciliation (November- Year 2 students), Confirmation and Communion (following year to Reconciliation – March/April/May) are coordinator through the parish.  Information in regards to the current Confirmation and Communion Program intake are included later in this newsletter.  Each month we assist as a College with the Youth-led Mass at Saturday 6pm Mass – if you would like to know more about this please contact me directly through the College. 

LYF @ OLSCC – RELIGIOUS EDUCATION STRATEGY 

Last week staff set goals for their own professional development in the Religious Education Strategy.  These were focused around our teaching of Scripture with our classes.  To continue and further our work in this area as a College, next week 4 teachers will be trained as RES coaches.  These coaches will work on their own ability to deliver effective RE Curriculum that engages our students and develops their religious literacy. 

NAPLAN  

In 2021 we will conduct NAPLAN Online with our students in Year 3, 5, 7 & 9.  NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular school curriculum.  NAPLAN is not a test that children can prepare for in the same way they might prepare for an end of term test. NAPLAN tests skills that develop and improve over time. These are skills that should be continuously developed throughout the year and not just in the lead-up to NAPLAN. 

The best way to get your child ready for NAPLAN is to continue to develop literacy and numeracy skills.  A flyer has been emailed home to parents of students in Year 3, 5, 7 & 9 with information regarding NAPLAN and the online version.  Teachers will, through their curriculum delivery, ensure students are familiar with the types of questions in the test, skills needed and will provide appropriate support and guidance.   

I encourage Parents to learn more and see the types of questions and related functionalities available in the NAPLAN Online assessment at www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site.  If you would like to discuss NAPLAN further, please contact your child’s core teacher or myself.  Each fortnight leading to NAPLAN we will include general NAPLAN information in the College Newsletter.   

STUDENT PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES 

In 2020 we adjusted the format of our traditional Parent Teacher Interviews towards student-led conferences.  This positive work will be continued this year.  All our work at the College focuses on student progress and the purpose of these meetings is to discuss this progress. As drivers of their learning, students will lead these conferences, with support from their teachers.  They will discuss what they are learning and the steps they need to take in order to progress.  The focus of these conferences is not reporting overall grades, levels or achievement.  One of the outcomes from these conferences should be students feeling empowered about their next steps in learning and the partnership of home and the College being strengthened.  These formal conferences will be allocated for Prep to Year 4 in Week 9 of this term and Year 5-12 in Week 1 of Term 2.  More details on times of conferences, how and when to book these interviews will be emailed home to parents in coming weeks.  Also, a reminder, parents can arrange appointments to meet with their child’s teacher at any stage throughout the year and we encourage you to do so if you have any pressing concerns or updates for your teacher.  These are best coordinated directly with the teacher or through the College office.   

Cate Brennan

Deputy Principal Religious Education

At Our Lady of the Southern Cross College, we hold a strong belief that all students are valued individuals who are capable of finding success at home, at school and in our community. Much of that success is dependent on the child being able to identify and regulate their emotions and behaviours. To facilitate the development of these skills in a consistent manner across the Early Years sector, OLSCC delivers a curriculum called The Zones of Regulation across all classes from Prep to Year 4.

You may have heard your child refer to this as “the Zones”, a curriculum geared towards helping ALL students gain skills in consciously identifying their emotions and regulating their actions, which in turn leads to increased control and problem-solving abilities. Using a cognitive behaviour approach, the learning activities are designed to help students recognise when they are in different states called “zones”, with each of the four zones represented by a different colour. Students engage in activities to learn how to use strategies or tools to stay in a zone or move from one zone to a more desirable zone. To assist with learning how to self-regulate, the lessons also teach students how to read others’ facial expressions and recognise a broader range of emotions, perspectives and how others see and react to their behaviour. This includes specific lessons on calming techniques, as well as thinking strategies to identify the size of a problem – is it a big or a little issue?

If you haven’t heard your child talk about the zones at home – ask them about it tonight! You may find some tips that could help you at home as well!

Katrina Walton

Assistant Principal Early Years

At the Senior Years Swimming Carnival two weeks ago, Year 12 student and Prefect Jennifer Nothdurft dominated the pool to break a massive six records including two free style records, one record for each stroke and also broke her own 2020 record for the 200 metre individual medley. She slashed a whopping 3.63 seconds off the 50 metre butterfly event which is her preferred storke and obviously one where she has recently excelled. Jennifer easily won her age group at the Carnival and has set herself some fantastic goals for the rest of the season.

Jennifer has been a swimmer since she was little and can't imagine her life without her training. She dedicates herself to nine training sessions a week with coach Darren from the Dalby pool. Jennifer gets up four times a week to train from 5am and then dives in on Saturday's at 6am. She also trains another three afternoons a week and swims at swimming club for the Dalby Dolphins.

When asked what she attributes her great success this year to, Jennifer says she has really worked hard with coach Darren who is new to the Dalby pool and says her training intensity has really stepped up and her attention to technique has helped her to start faster.

Jennifer attended the Queensland State Sprint Championships earlier this month for club swimming representing her team, the Dalby Dolphins and came 12th in the state for the 50 metres butterfly and achieved a further two top 20 results. 

Following on from her incredible success at the College carnival, Jennifer is now focusing on her next meet at the Darling Downs trials next Tuesday. From there she hopes to make the team and then attend the State Championships later in March where she would love some top 10 finishes and a finals berth in her favourite event, the butterfly. We wish Jennifer every success with her upcoming swim meets and congratulate her on her hard work and success as a swimmer. Well done!

For all the details on Jennifer's records, please see Mr Lincoln's Sport Report.

Swimming Carnival Results

Records

Jennifer Nothdurft

Open Girls 100m Freestyle 1:04.75 (Jamie Bailey 2006, 1:06.95)

Open Girls 50m Freestyle 29.63 (Jamie Bailey 2006, 31.77)

Open Girls 50m Backstroke 37.13 (Kirsty Bailey 2008, 37.60)

Open Girls 200m Individual Medley 2:43.35 (Jennifer Nothdurft 2019, 2:49.10)

Open Girls 50m Breaststroke 40.34 (Kirsty Bailey 2008, 42.80)

Open Girls 50m Butterfly 31.85 (Jamie Bailey 2006, 35.28)

Boys 200m Individual Medley

1^st Brock Sankey, 2^nd Thomas Calver, 3^rd Alex Nothdurft

Girls 200m Individual Medley

1^st Jennifer Nothdurft, 2^nd Clare Griffiths, 3^rd Carla Nobbs, 4^th Abby Marshall

Staff / Captains Relay

1^st MacKillop, 2^nd Rice, 3^rd McAuley, 4^th Nolan

All Age Relay

1^st Nolan, 2^nd MacKillop, 3^rd McAuley, 4^th Rice

Boys Belly Flop Competition

1^st Hugh Clarke, 2^nd Hunter James, 3^rd Clancy Biggar

Girls Bomb Dive Competition

1^st Abby Marshall, 2^nd Dakota Wilson, 3^rd Maggie Laffy

Bunya District Swimming Trials

Congratulations to the following students who have been selected in the Bunya District Team to attend the Darling Downs Swimming Trials in Gatton next week; Macie Allen, Ava Boland, Charlotte Colquhoun, Lainey Geiger, Isabelle Manley, Gemma Sullivan, Innes Dellit, Hugo Fraser, Lachlan Fraser, Lucas Galligan, Myles Gilliland, Ethan Koehler, Hayden Koehler, Bobby Machin, Louie Machin, Archie Stephens, Mac Stirling.

Record Breaker

Girls Under 9 50m Backstroke

Isabelle Manley 48.42sec

QCIS Swimming Carnival

The College will be attending the Queensland Combined Independent Schools Swimming Carnival on Monday 15 March at the Milne Bay Pool in Toowoomba. This will be the College’s first QCIS event and will compete against Downlands College, Concordia College, Toowoomba Christian College, Toowoomba Anglican School and Scots Warwick. Students have been notified this week if they have been selected to swim at this event.

Bunya District Netball Trials

Any Girls born in 2009 or 2010 who wish to attend Bunya District Netball Trials need to sign on via the Sports Notice Board. The trials will be held on Tuesday 16 March. Separate Under 11 and Under 12 Teams will be selected. Depending on numbers a school trial may need to be held before the Bunya District Trials.

Bunya District Rugby League Trials

Any Boys born in 2009 or 2010 who wish to attend Bunya District Rugby League Trials need to sign on via the Sports Notice Board. The trials will be held on Tuesday 16 March. Separate Under 11 and Under 12 Teams will be selected. Depending on numbers a school trial may need to be held before the Bunya District Trials.

Bunya District Cricket Trials

Any Boys or Girls born in 2009 or 2010 who wish to attend Bunya District Cricket Trials need to sign on via the Sports Notice Board. The trials will be held on Wednesday 10 March at Dalby Christian College. Depending on numbers a school trial may need to be held before the Bunya District Trials.

QISSN Netball

Congratulations to the following girls who have been selected to represent the College at the Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball Carnival in Brisbane over the June / July Holidays. The team is currently playing the Ladies A Grade competition on a Tuesday night at the PCYC and will attend the Mercy Shield in Roma, later this term.

2021 Team – Claudia Child, Hannah Pattison, Maddi Hayes, Maggie Laffy, Abby Marshall, Lily Schloss, Maddy Pascoe, Claire Harth, Charlotte Wood, Mackenzie Wedrat.

Shadow Players – Shawnee King, Chloe Donaldson

Touch Football

Trials will be held later this term to select an Under 15 Boys Team to attend the SWQ and QLD All Schools Carnivals held later in Semester 2. Interested students need to register their interest with Mr Lincoln or Mr Grayson.

Cricket

The Open Boys Cricket Team were narrowly defeated by Dalby Christian College last Friday in a 20/20 match. The team batted first and made 65, before the Christian College passed the score in the 17^th over. Another game will be held against Dalby SHS later in the term.  

Darling Downs Under 12 AFL Trials

Any Boys or Girls who would like to attend Darling Downs Under 12 AFL Trials in Toowoomba on March 18 need to see Mr Lincoln for more information. There will be no Bunya District trial this year in AFL so students will need to be of a high standard to be directly nominated to the Darling Downs Trials.

Darling Downs Cluster 1 Trials

Congratulations to students selected in Darling Downs Teams after trials held in Toowoomba.

U15 Girls Volleyball

Tiffany Ham

Under 18 Boys Touch Football

Bailey Skinner, Michael MacDonald, Dylan Nobbs, Brock Sankey

Open Boys Water Polo

Clancy Biggar, Toby Harms, Bailey Martin

Students Named as Darling Downs Shadow Players

Under 15 Girls Volleyball

Bella Buckley

Under 15 Girls Touch Football

Carla Nobbs

Under 18 Girls Touch Football

Claudia Child, Maggie Laffy

Under 18 Boys Touch Football

Tim Mauch

Inner Downs Cluster 2 Trials

Congratulations to students selected in Inner Downs Teams after trials held at Highfields this week.

Under 18 Rugby League

Hunter James, Hugh Clarke, Brayden Falvey, Wil Brady, Lyhkan King Togia

Under 15 Rugby League

Dan O’Callaghan, Lyucian King Togia

Under 18 Netball

Claudia Child, Hannah Pattison, Abby Marshall, Chloe Donaldson

Under 15 Netball

Maddy Pascoe, Hannah Taylor, Tiffany Ham

Under 15 Basketball

Jacob Utz

Under 16 Soccer

Angus Cronin

Darling Downs Cluster 2 Trials

Students will directly nominate to Darling Downs Trials held in March for the following sports;

Under 15 Boys and Girls AFL, Hockey, Squash, Girls Under 16 Rugby Sevens, Boys Under 18 Rugby Union and Girls Under 15 and Under 18 Rugby League. Students interested in attending any of the above trials need to sign on via the Sports Notice Board. Students will need to be of a high playing standard to attend the trials.

Tim Lincoln

Middle Leader Sport

SBA Sign up for Brayden

Congratulations to Brayden Falvey Year 11 who has commenced his School Based Apprenticeship at Stag Machinery Group. The College thanks Stag and Mr Noel Baines for affording Brayden this wonderful opportunity. Brayden will commence his Certificate III in Engineering – Mechanical Trade (Diesel Fitting) and work two days a week while still completing his school load to obtain his QCE at the end of Year 12. I look forward to seeing Brayden grow throughout the next two years to become a top apprentice in his trade.

Work Experience

Year 10 students will be completing work experience this year in Week 8 of Term 2 and it is very important that students are starting to consider their placements now. Students who are completing a School Based Apprenticeship can go to their workplace for the week however they must gain approval from their employer. Further students in an SBA should only be expecting to be paid for their agreed workday however this is up to the employer. Students in School Based Traineeships must speak with Mrs Baxter about completing their traineeship in the workplace first.

As part of the work experience program, students are expected to organise the initial contact with an employer. Parents are encouraged to have their child contact an employer and express their interest in a specific career option that they may be considering. This is a valuable skill that is required for students to have a successful transfer in to the workplace environment.

Parents will receive a letter next week about work experience with the dates attached. Anyone wishing to attend the Australian Defence Force in Oakey must meet with Mrs Baxter as soon as possible as this is a lengthy process. All Year 10 students are required to meet with Mrs Baxter during Term 1 to discuss their options and can go to the College office and book their time. I would encourage them to do this as soon as possible.

Dalby BEST Meeting dates for 2021

The first of the Dalby Business Industry Dinners is on Friday, 14 May and students from our College are invited. This program is for employers to promote their business to students and to highlight to them the skills needed to work in certain industries. Check out the flyer for more details or contact me to discuss further.

Libby Baxter

Careers Development Practitioner

Libby.Baxter@twb.catholi.edu.au

Visual Art 7 – 12

Our students have been busy in the Art Room, honing their creative faculties and developing new skills in art making. Year 9-10 have been focussed on the skills of printmaking while years 7 and 8 are learning about the elements of Art and Design through experimental artworks. This week we begin creating unique assemblage sculptures so look out for those on display in the Art Room display windows over coming weeks. Last week some year 7’s were at school while some were at the swimming carnival. We had a creative arts experience of service to others through the production of greetings and celebration cards using collage techniques with some interesting interpretations of theme!

Drama has hit the ground running this year with the Year 11 students. Last week we took an excursion to Brisbane to watch the play Our Town for assessment and the students absolutely loved it. We got to see how Drama is used to tell stories and share the human experience. This week instead of going out we had a guest speaker come in and talk to us about Indigenous storytelling and the important role it plays in Indigenous culture. He kindly gave us some of his own stories as a gift for the students to use as inspiration as they begin to devise their own stories for their Dramatic concept.

Glistening Deepwater

Middle Leader Culture

The College is gearing up to enter teams in the 2021 Optiminds Challenge. Optiminds is an inclusive team challenge that empowers participants to think, create and communicate. Teams of 4-7 people are required to solve demanding, open-ended challenges from one of the following areas:

• Language Literature
• Science Engineering
• Social Sciences

Whilst the opportunity is open to all ages, teams will be nominated in the division that matches the oldest participant in each team.  Divisions are as follows:

• Division 1 – up to Year 6
• Division 2 – up to Year 9
• Division 3 – up to Year 12

At OLSCC, students from Years 1-12 are invited to participate.

Students selected in teams will be required to work on challenges for a six week period from July 19. This six week period will involve meetings and practise sessions organised outside of school hours, with days and times negotiated by each team and their manager. This commitment of time is likely to intensify as the event draws closer. All participants must be available to present their team challenge solution on The Challenge Day in Toowoomba on Sunday August 29.

In preparation for this, Mrs Walton will be offering an Optiminds Critical and Creative Thinking Club during Term 2 on Wednesday afternoons, 3.15-4:00pm. Parents and caregivers of students who wish to participate in Optiminds should register their interest by completing this form online by Monday, March 15. An individual form is required for each student.

OPTIMINDS EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FORM

Team selections will be finalised mid Term 2. Thankyou to the many wonderful staff who have volunteered to manage teams during the Challenge period. This has enabled us to be able to offer this opportunity to our students.

Pancake day is celebration of Shrove Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday is always the day before Lent and is seen as the last opportunity to use up eggs and fats before embarking on the Lenten fast. Making pancakes are the perfect way of using up these ingredients and for us at OLSCC, it also promotes the idea of community spirit sharing and coming together over a meal before the start of lent.

This year saw a bit of a competitive house spirit introduced into the idea of pancake Tuesdays with houses competing to see who could distribute the most pancakes to fellow house mates and the school community. Each house was given an equal amount of batter to work with and coloured to represent each house's colours. Student brought in their own toppings and items such as advertising to give their pancakes a competitive edge.

It was good to see such a wide range of students from Years 5-12 pitching in early on the Tuesday morning to help prepare and sell their pancakes. People wanting a pancake could receive one free of charge on the day, and our generous community also donated $425 towards Project Compassion.

Final pancake totals were:

1. Rice 249 
2. McAuley 213
3. MacKillop 194
4. Nolan 178

The internet can be a wonderous learning and interactive playground for kids. They can use it to research school reports, communicate with teachers and other kids, and play interactive games. However, like all environments online access also comes with its risks such as, inappropriate content, cyberbullying and online predators. Although blocking objectional material may be an effective way to teach your kids safe and responsible behaviour online, it is practically impossible to censor every piece of information your child comes across when venturing online. A perhaps more efficient way of safeguarding your family is to promote and encourage some family expectations around usage. Some helpful ideas include:

1. Never post or trade personal pictures.
2. Never reveal personal information such as addresses, phone numbers or school name.
3. Use only screen names and do not share passwords (other than with parents).
4. Never respond to a threatening email, message, post or text.
5. Always tell a parent or other trusted adult about any communication or conversation that they felt was scary or hurtful.
6. Follow the family rules (and those set by your internet service provider).
7. Keep devices in a common area where you can watch and monitor its use – not in individual bedrooms.
8. Bookmark your child’s favourite sites for easy access.
9. Monitor your credit card and phone bills for unfamiliar account charges.
10. Find out if any online protection is offered by your child’s school / friends’ homes or any place where kids could use a computer without your supervision.
11. Spend time online together to teach your child appropriate online behaviour.

For more information:

Bravehearts introduces a new podcast for parents. Their first instalment is a four-part series about internet safety. Your hosts Carol Ronken and Mathew Sinclair interview some of Australia’s most highly esteemed thought leaders in internet safety to provide parents with the most up to date and useful information. You can access it here: The Parent's Podcast by Bravehearts • A podcast on Anchor

Still hungry for more resources? Why not pop by the E-Safety commission here: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

Luke Holmes

College Counsellor

Even though we are nearly five weeks into Term 1, we are still getting to know our new staff including Mr Brad Grayson who is a teacher of Maths in the Senior Years. Mr Grayson grew up and went to school in Warwick and once graduated, we moved to Toowoomba to do his teaching degree. During his last two years of study, Mr Grayson worked at Toowoomba Grammar School as a boarding supervisor. Mr Grayson predominantly teaches Mathematics and hopes he can showcase the importance of Maths in every day life. When asked about his first few weeks in Dalby and at OLSCC, he replied, "The school and wider community have been extremely welcoming, and I am thoroughly enjoying my time here. Recently, I have signed up to play for the Dalby Diehards in the TRL competition."

The College P & F is excited to announce that Madonna King, an accomplished author and past student of the College will be returning to the school to present to families on subjects such as raising children, dealing with social media, body positivity, anxiety and resilience and many more topics.  Madonna is excited to be returning to the school to meet parents and is especially keen to discuss her new book 'Ten-ager'. Madonna's visit will be happening on Friday evening, 12 March from 6 to 7.30pm in the Performing Arts Centre (PAC). More details will be published in the next Newsletter but please make sure you save this date as Madonna is an inspiring author. 

Please contact Megan Cartwright for details or to reserve a seat. This will be a Covid safe event.

0457 496 460/ mcart178@gmail.com

During the restrictions of Covid in 2020, the Windsor Hotel continued with it's weekly community raffles but without the volunteers from sports and community clubs around the region coming in and selling tickets. Usually, local clubs can nominate volunteers to come into the Windsor and sell the tickets and then accept a donation from the proceeds. The accumulation of the proceeds from these raffles has now been distributed to local schools to use for sporting or cultural events and our Business Manager, Mrs Kuruilaca was at the Windsor Wednesday last Tuesday to accept a checque for $500. Manager of the Windsor, Col Hunt was on hand to present the cheques to representatives of our local schools and we thank him and the Windsor for their support of our students. It is yet to be decided how the donation will be used.