Audiology Success

This week we had Associate Professor Joseph Kei, one of his PhD students and 7 Audiology students from University of Queensland providing free hearing screening for our Prep-Year 3 students, as well as many others.  This extraordinary collaboration between OLSCC and UQ has been running for many years now, and we highly value the results, additional diagnostic testing for students, and the formal reports which will be completed in Brisbane and forwarded to families in coming weeks.  The team from Audiology will also greatly benefit from their comprehensive experience in testing, reporting and diagnosing issues across a broad range of students.  We look forward to having the team back again in 2023!

2022 Preparations

We are currently refining the timetabling and staffing considerations that are required for a successful start in 2022. We have some critical year levels where we are on the borderline in numbers and would greatly appreciate our community’s assistance in spreading the word about enrolling for 2022.  This is especially important for students in Years 7 and Prep for next year, as it is likely that all spaces for these year levels will be allocated over the coming few weeks.  If you know anyone who is interested in OLSCC for their child’s future success, please invite them to call the Office, attend Come and Try Day on 3 August, and express their interest so they don’t miss out!

Welcome

I would like to welcome Mrs Hayley Kidd and Ms Vicki Murphy to our teaching staff this term.  Miss Kidd is starting as our specialist teacher in Ag Studies and Agricultural Science and will be working on getting our Ag Hub up to scratch before the end of the year.  Ms Murphy has begun as the 2J teacher for the remainder of the year as Mrs Joyce  takes some time to address some health issues.

Building Work

This semester we will have plenty of work being done at the College as we rectify our fire system across the whole College, construct our Middle Years Plaza, build our new Grounds and Coach Shed, and develop the Ag Hub to include an Ag Shed for all of our equipment.  We are currently striving to schedule the works to have the least impact on learning, though it is evident that there will be many room changes in order for this to occur.  We will plan for a celebration for our community at the end of the year when we all share these wonderful new spaces.

Peter Cuskelly

Principal 

Although NAIDOC week fell during the school holidays, here at OLSCC, we celebrated this through prayer, and by showing respect and pride in the achievements and culture of our First Peoples. This year, the theme for NAIDOC week was ‘Heal Country’. This calls for stronger measures to recognise, protect and maintain all aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples culture and heritage. 

 God of all wonder,  

We pause in the busyness of our days to listen deeply to the wisdom of this land and those who belong to it.  

May our minds be open to dialogue,  

May our hearts be open to transformation and  

May our hands do the work of reconciliation.  

We ask that the Spirit accompany us on our journey of healing on these lands, seas and waterways;  

We also ask the Spirit of peace be with all those who are living a life of fear, dispossession and distress.  

We make this prayer in the name of Jesus our brother and friend.  

Amen. 

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES 

Student Led Conferences are planned for Week 9 of this term.  Full details of dates and times for these will be released in coming weeks.  We will use Sentral for Parents Portal to book the times.  Parents are encouraged to contact class teachers  via email to make a time to discuss your child’s progress throughout the year. This is just one of the two formal occasions we host these. 

ATTENDANCE DATA IN STUDENT AND PARENT PORTAL ON REPORT CARDS 

Thank you to parents and students who have identified mistakes in their attendance data.  We are working through these and will update to ensure the accuracy of this platform.  Thank you for working with us on this new system’s implementation.  If you notice any anomalies with your child’s attendance data, please contact your AP or me so we can work further to ensure these official records are correct.  This data can be viewed via both the Parent and Student Portal, and we encourage this interaction with the system and our College to refine our processes in this system. 

COVID ACTION PLAN 

The COVID situation throughout Australia over our holiday break has highlighted the importance of the measures we take to protect ourselves and the health of others.  As a College, we are committed to maintaining the standards set in our COVID Action Plan.  I encourage parents to reread this action plan and accompanying document - 2021 COVID Impacted Changes for Parents, these are both available on our College Website. 

COVID and SIGNING IN  

As a College, we have always had a sign in system for all visitors to our campus, as we are required to collect this information.  With the introduction of the Qld Government QR Code, signing in at businesses and venues has now become the ‘new normal’.  We will continue to use our College system ‘Passtab’ for visitors to our campus throughout the general working day.  This system requires visitors to manually enter their details (some phone models will store this information) or use their College Quickpin when entering and exiting the College grounds; eg classroom volunteers, service providers and staff use this system.  In the case of special events, eg sports, art showcases, performance, and other community events outside of office hours, we will use the Qld Govt issued QR Code as our sign in register.  Thank you for your support in following our sign in processes.  As we ask parents to limit their time on campus at drop off there is no need to sign in at this time.   

ATHLETICS 

Well, the rain cut short the Athletics carnival on the last day of Term 2. Events scheduled for that day have been rescheduled to - 

Wednesday 14 July 1:35-3:10pm Field events final rounds Under 12 - Open were completed 

Wednesday 1 September – Whole College events, commencement time to be advised. 

DANIEL MORCOMBE CHILD SAFETY CURRICULUM 

Throughout this term, our College will be implementing the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum with students in Prep to Year 9.  The curriculum is based on principles of best practice in child safety education and centres around three key messages: Recognise, React and Report. Through a series of lessons, students will learn how to recognise, react and report when they are unsafe or find themselves in situations that can have a significant detrimental effect on their physical, psychological or emotional well-being. 

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. 

Cate Brennan

Deputy Principal Religious Education

Welcome back to Term 3!

Celebrating the C!

For a long period in Australian education, there has been a fixation on using a 15-pont scale (A+ - E-) when making judgments on student achievement in Prep to Year 10. The use of this scale has placed more value on an A result instead of highlighting the importance of the C result. The Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority (QCAA) outlines the importance of a C result, stating that “in Queensland, the [Australian Curriculum] achievement standard represents the C standard — a sound level of knowledge and understanding of the content, and application of skills.” The P–10 Australian Curriculum achievement standards describe what students typically are required to demonstrate at the end of each teaching and learning year. Therefore, when a C result appears on a student’s report card this means that the student is progressing towards the standard (Semester 1) or achieving the standard (Semester 2). This is something to be celebrated!

Students who are judged at the A or B standards are demonstrating their knowledge and skills at more discerning, effective, purposeful, and consistent levels beyond the achievement standard.

So, at this stage of the year let’s celebrate the C and use it to set academic goals for the remainder of the year.

Year 12 External Exam Preparation Program

The Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office will be offering the External Exam Preparation Program again this year to students attending Toowoomba Catholic Schools. This program seeks to bring together students from across the diocese in the common pursuit of excellence in academic achievement in their General External Exams. The program takes place in the second week of the September school holidays (from Sunday 26 September – Friday 1 October). The subjects offered this year will be:

English
Mathematics General
Mathematics Methods
Physics
Chemistry
Biology

We encourage all Year 12 students sitting General External Exams in these subjects to ensure that you have sent your expression of interest to Mr Hodge and mark this program in your family diary. It is an exceptional opportunity and one that complements and extends upon the learning covered in class across Unit 4.

Mobile Phones

As we start a new term, I want to take this opportunity to remind parents and students that all communication between parents and students during the school day should go through the office. Students should not be using phones throughout the school day. This can affect their ability to concentrate in class, develop their strategies for resilience and interact socially with their peers in a face-to-face environment. Occasionally, staff may request that student use their phones for learning purposes (to film performances, experiments, etc.), but this would be an exception rather than a common occurrence. Please encourage your child to avoid personal mobile phone use throughout the day.

Year 11 Camp Report

Year 11 Brookfield / Emu Gully Camp was a great experience for us to learn about leadership. We got to participate in many different leadership and teambuilding activities.

On the first day we got to do rock climbing and team problem solving games. These helped us to use our critical thinking skills to solve tough problems together. That night we participated in fun team building games with Mr Hodge, Mr Dunbrack and Mrs Forbes.

We worked with a group called yLead and were able to connect with all the people in our cohort and learn more about each other. We played team building games and did challenging exercises to strengthen our bonds with each other.

On the last night, we were surprised with a visit from a group of African musicians and singers. They played drums and sang with us. It was a great experience that let us feel connect as a group.

On the final day, we woke up at 5:45 and travelled to Emu Gully. Once there, we hopped off the bus and got straight into our activities. We crawled through a series of tunnels, clung to each other as we crossed a small bridge over a body of freezing water and then dived into the mud at the end of the day.

Overall, the camp was an amazing experience and allowed us to bond as a cohort. We got to go outside our comfort zones and learn lots of new things about leadership and about each other that will help us take up the role of leaders in our college community.
(Claudia Hendersen, Anna Lilburne, Jack Wallace McKay Richards  – Year 11 students)

Communication and Pastoral Concerns

Throughout the year, parents are encouraged to communicate with their child’s subject teachers as an initial point of contact for any pastoral or academic matters. For further matters, please contact me through the College Office or by email matthew.hodge@twb.catholic.edu.au

Matt Hodge

Assistant Principal Senior Years

Term 3 can be a mental challenge for some students. Half of the year has already passed, Semester One report cards have been distributed, but the “light at the end of the tunnel” aka the Christmas holidays are still a little too far away to help motivate the students and drive their study habits. Term 3 is about doing it for themselves, working hard, effectively managing their time and more importantly, continuing to establish good work habits that help pave the way to success. 

In speaking to students about their reports and how they were feeling at the end of the first semester, one thing came up time and time again. Our students do not manage their time efficiently. This is not necessarily something new. It is not the first time I have heard about students beginning to study for exams only a couple of days before it was scheduled or a student who was still finishing an assignment the day of its submission deadline. To assist in achieving success, our students need a shift in their mindset when it comes to assessment items, homework, and classwork.

The Tokyo Olympics commence in only one week. The athletes that are competing in Tokyo, or any other Olympic event for that matter, have not achieved success in their chosen sport by starting their training a few days before the selection trials or the morning of their event. They begin their journey years before and their rise to success did not come without challenge and effort. It is hard to succeed, and that goes for academic pursuits as well. In his book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell writes about the rise of successful people such as Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, and so forth. He analysed success stories and determined that to become a master of your craft, it would take at least 10,000 hours of focused effort. This is the minimum threshold of required to set a person apart from the rest of the world.

What can we learn from Michael Phelps? Well, when he was developing his skills in his younger years it was his hard work and strong work ethic that helped him to become successful. It was not easy. He was not born with some super-human ability, but he was driven to succeed. He was prepared to make sacrifices, to ignore distractions and to not make excuses to get better. He was accountable for his decisions/actions, and he certainly did not simply dive into the pool and magically become a swimming champion. He worked at it.

Middle Years students are not at the end of their journey towards success. They are not in the Champion Years; in fact, they are just at the beginning. Like success in the pool, academic success does not come without hard work, without a strong work ethic and without good study habits. Here are some tips for students to implementing this term to help foster good habits around study. To help accumulate their hours of focused effort.

It is important to remember that if your child is not satisfied with their study habits or their progress thus far this year, then it is important to reflect on this and make a positive change. This is the only way students can avoid making the same mistakes again this semester. It is important that we continue to support them through their educational journey and work hard to keep motivating students, especially those who are finding it challenging to motivate themselves. No one obtains success easily. Everyone must work hard to achieve and as the legendary football coach Vince Lombardi put it … the only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary.

I wish all students all the best for this semester.

Craig Cullen

Assistant Principal Middle Years

Across the three sectors in our College, students have been paying more attention to their disposal of plastic drink containers that can be cashed in via the Containers for Change program. Our grounds staff noticed a problem with students not using the correct bins for their rubbish which meant the men were having to sift rubbish out of containers in order to exchange them at the depot. Not a nice job!

Students are now helping with the collection of containers by being more aware and each sector is helping gather up the containers with a small competition going as to who can do the best job. This is measured by how much each sector can see in return for their container exchanges. Who will be the best recycle team in our College?

Here's some of Mr Cullen's Middle Years team doing their bit with Mr Peek, Mr Kavney and Mr Petersen at the end of last term. Keep up the good work!

How wonderful to see so many smiling faces back in classrooms on Monday. Something strange must happen in the mid-Year holidays as students always return exhibiting huge growth spurts!

This term, we farewell Ms Kristen Joyce as she takes some extended leave. We wish her a restful and restorative break and thank her for all she has contributed to both her class and across our sector this year. Year 2J have given a very warm welcome to Ms Vicki Murphy as she takes over the reins for the remainder of the year. Vicki is well known to our students as a regular relief teacher, so the transition has been very smooth for all.

We have much on offer this term across the Early Years, both inside the classroom and out! Elsewhere in this newsletter, you will see information about the MSReadathon that we are encouraging students to participate in during the month of August. This is such a great opportunity for our Early Years students to further their experience with literature in a fun way. The Camp Quality Cancer Education Project Team will be presenting a puppet show “The Caped Crusader” to our students on Tuesday, 10 August. We will have a significant presence at the community Delicious and Delightful Festival later in August, as well as a dramatic performance on site by the Shake N Stir Theatre Company. Optiminds teams are eagerly awaiting the release of the ‘challenge’ they will work on to present at the end of August. On top of all this, we welcome many new faces to our community as our Pre-Prep Transition program, Shooting Stars, begins next week!

In addition to these extra-curricular activities, teachers have continued to plan engaging lessons utilising high impact teaching strategies to deliver the curriculum. We look forward to a wonderful term ahead.

Katrina Walton

Assistant Principal Early Years

Our Come and Try Day for Term 3 is coming up soon! If you know anyone who has been wondering what a day is like here at Our Lady of the Southern Cross College, please encourage them to join us and try it out for themselves! Details are:

• Monday 2 August
• Open to any student who will be Year 1-12 in 2022
• Please register at the College Office on 4672 4111
• Come for an hour, a half a day, a full day – choose your own adventure!

Rugby League

Upcoming Under 18 Boys Rugby League Games

Wednesday 28 July

Darling Downs Schools Grand Final OLSCC vs Lockyer District SHS

5.30pm at Valleys Rugby League Grounds Toowoomba

Wednesday 11 August

Game 3 of the Berwick / McCullough Shield

OLSCC vs Dalby SHS 5.30pm at Dalby Leagues Club

Dalby Touch Football

Dalby Touch Football Fixtures resume next week for the Under 15 Boys and Girls and Under 18 Mixed Teams. All players have been emailed links to register for the season. All teams will have a few weeks preparation for the SWQ Swans All Schools Carnival on Sunday 8 August in Toowoomba.

Catholic Schools Netball and Touch Football Carnival

Congratulations to all students selected to attend the Catholic Schools Netball and Touch Football Carnival in Toowoomba on Thursday 29 July. From the Netball Carnival one or two teams will be elected to attend the QLD Primary Schools Cup Netball Carnival on the Gold Coast on the first weekend of the school holidays.

QISSRL / QISSN Netball and Rugby League Tour

Congratulations to all involved with the Confraternity Shield Rugby League and QISSN Netball Carnival held for the first few days of the school holidays until the covid lockdown hit. Both teams were progressing well in the competition – the Rugby League team were undefeated and in with a strong chance of winning the carnival. The Netball Team won 2/5 games but had winnable pool games scheduled for the Wednesday. Thanks to all staff, parents and sponsors for their commitment to these teams in 2021. Preparations have already begun for the 2022 Carnival in Mackay.

Confraternity Shield QISSRL Results

Game 1

OLSCC defeated Mt Maria College 20-6

Men of League Man of the Match – Brayden Falvey  

OLSCC Man on the Match – Hugh Clarke  

Game 2

OLSCC defeated St Patrick’s Gympie 36-6

Men of League Man of the Match – Lyhkan King Togia

OLSCC Man on the Match – Joe Gillette

Game 3

OLSCC defeated Gilroy Santa Maria College 14-6

Men of League Man of the Match – Wil Brady

OLSCC Man on the Match – Hunter James

The team finished 1^st in their pool and was one of only three undefeated teams heading into the quarter final stage of the competition.

QISSN Netball Results

Game 1

St Anthony’s Townsville defeated OLSCC 21-14

Game 2

All Souls Charters Towers defeated OLSCC 29-11

Game 3

OLSCC defeated Gilroy Santa Maria College 17-10

Game 4

Southern Cross Annandale defeated OLSCC 18-12

Game 5

OLSCC defeated St Mary’s Kingaroy 15-8

The team was placed 4^th in Pool H with remaining pool games against teams ranked third and sixth.

Claudia Child was announced as OLSCC Player of the Carnival at the Closing Ceremony.

Athletics Carnival

Points Update

Rice                  2228

McAuley            2039

Nolan                1891

MacKillop          1784

Record Breakers

Carla Nobbs

Under 13 Girls 1500m 5.42.50min (Hannah Hegedus, 2012 5.45min)

Under 13 Girls High Jump 1.47m (Kennedy Hall 2015, 1.46m)

Bailey Skinner

Boys Under 16 200m (Equal Record) 23.90sec – Cooper Woitowitz 2020

Boys Under 16 400m (Equal Record) 55.10sec – John McGrath 1989

Kelii Leahy

Open Boys Long Jump 5.87m (Lee Waters 2007, 5.79m)

The All-Age Relay, Gillespie and Tresillian Gift Races, Staff / Junior / Senior Captains Relay and the Circular Relay will be held in the afternoon session on Our Lady of the Southern Cross Day on Wednesday 1 September. Age Champions and Runners Up awards will be presented at College Assembly on Monday afternoon at 2.30pm.  

Age Group Results

Bunya District Athletics Carnival

The Bunya District Athletics Carnival will be held on Monday 26 July at Dalby Christian College. Students who have been selected to attend will be notified next week.

Inner Downs Athletics Carnival

The Inner Downs Athletics Carnival will be held on Tuesday 27 July at Dalby Christian College. Students who have nominated to compete will be given all paperwork next week.

QLD Combined Independent Schools Athletics Carnival

The QCIS Athletics Carnival will be held on Friday 6 August at Downlands College in Toowoomba. This is for students aged Under 10 – Open. Students who have been selected to represent the College at this event will be notified next week.

Tim Lincoln

Middle Leader Sport

DATE CLAIMER: Week 3 – Music, Art and Drama Showcase!

Wednesday 28^th July, 5.30 – 6.30pm. Parents and friends are warmly invited to our Whole College Art Exhibition, Music and Drama Group Performances. This event is accompanied by light refreshments in the PAC at OLSCC. We look forward to seeing you there!

Instrumental Music Program

Instrumental music students have once again attended a workshop with John Babbage from Topology Music, continuing their preparations to participate in the Dalby Delicious and Delightful Festival, Dalby Schools Stage Performance.

Lantern Decorating!

Dalby Delicious and Delightful Festival lantern parade participants across all grades will be decorating their lanterns with Mrs Walton and Ms Deepwater during week 2. Middle and senior years students who have purchased a lantern will attend the Art room during Lunch and afternoon tea on Tuesday to decorate their lantern.

Piano Tuition now available – Limited places!

The opportunity exists for 6 students to join our sought after tutor Damian Dore in the Instrumental Music Piano Program. Please email glistening.deepwater@twb.catholic.edu.au to express your interest and the relevant forms will be sent to you. Act quickly to avoid disappointment!

Glistening Deepwater

Middle Leader Culture

During the month of August, members of the OLSCC community are invited and encouraged to join us as we participate in the MS Readathon.

The MS Readathon inspires kids to read as much as they can, all for one incredible cause. The rules are simple. Read whatever you like, as much as you can, throughout the month of August. Best of all, by joining our quest, not only will you awaken a love of reading, you will also be encouraging kids helping kids. Funds raised from the MS Readathon will help fund vital support services, like the special MS Family Camps and Family Fun Days. These camps provide an opportunity for kids who have a parent living with multiple sclerosis to spend quality time with their family, learn more about multiple sclerosis and bond with other kids who are sharing their journey. MS Family Camps and Family Fun Days are in huge demand, and our input can help to make sure everyone who needs them can go.

Any members of our community (students, siblings, parents, friends) can register with our school via the following link:

https://www.msreadathon.org.au/join/ourladyofthesoutherncrosscollegedalby

Note: when you get to the ‘add school’ page, choose the option Our Lady of the Southern Cross College Dalby (no brackets). Other handy tips:

• Ignore any prompts to put in a code.
• If your screen freezes – click ‘skip’ and continue on!

If your child is already registered to participate, you are able to still join our school team! Follow the prompts on the MS Readathon website to do so as we would love to have a huge team!

Hearing is such an important sense we use to navigate our world on a daily basis and yet it is often taken for granted. However, hearing loss has been shown to produce adverse effects on the development of children’s speech, language, social and emotional skills and learning in the classroom. Unfortunately, most hearing loss in childhood is not observable and often goes undiagnosed.

This week, OLSCC has been working in partnership with the University of QLD as part of a five year project aimed at assessing hearing loss in children. Professor Joseph Kei and his team of audiologists have conducted screening tests for over 200 staff and students during their five day visit. This included testing for hearing sensitivity and also testing of the middle and inner ear functions.  Throughout the screening our participants have been assessed with the latest innovative technologies and in some cases, further diagnostic assessments have been completed. In the coming weeks the school will receive a full report of the audiologists findings, including recommendations for teachers to support any students found to have hearing concerns.  Parents will also be provided with a report of student results and follow up recommendations if a student presents with hearing loss. 

The  UQ Audiology team has provided a thorough and professional service for our students and I would like to thank parents who took up this opportunity to have their child/children screened. We look forward to having Professor Kei and his team join us again in the future.

UnderstandingHearingHealthInformationForParents.pdf

UnderstandingHearingHealthInformationForParents _pdf 807.59 KB

Earlier in the year, changes to parking in front of the Prep area came into effect, including 10 parks with 2 minute windows so that traffic congestion is avoided.

Disappointingly, these time restrictions are being tested, and at times, completely ignored by members of our community. Continuing this is likely to result in financial loss through traffic fines as this parking area will be actively patrolled by police and council to ensure it is used appropriately.

Simply adhering to the traffic rules will avoid unwanted intervention and fines.

As communicated previously, if parents wish to stop the car and walk into the College, they should park:

• Further along Nicholson Street in front of the staff carpark
• On the opposite side of Nicholson Street to the College
• Further along Nicholson Street in front of the Senior School (where there will soon be the new parks painted in). This is also a viable option for drop and go, as students can enter the College by following the cement path and heading towards the Early Years without having to cross a driveway or the road.

Arrivals

Micro Pants short leg 3XS, 2XS & XS

Sports Shorts Girls Med, Boys XS

Tip for taking care of your Uniform 

• When hanging Uniforms out in the sun, turn inside out.
• Do not take Jumper or Sports Polo off by the collar.
• Get your hats & backpack embroidered  with your surname.
• Do not leave wet in washing basket.

Clearance 

Scarfs  $25

OLSCC SOCK size 5-8, 9-12, 11-14 & 14-16 left  $6

Knitted Vests $49  Size 8 to 24 (Adult) size 10 SOLD OUT.