The highly anticipated Book Week Parade was held on Thursday and the costumes were once again, something to marvel over. The dedication and creativity of costumes made to match children's favourite book characters is a highlight for everyone. Staff also put in a huge effort to look like they stepped directly from the pages of a treasured story. There are many gorgeous photos for you to enjoy from the day. Congratulations to those students who won a prize and huge thank you goes to our wonderful Library staff; Mrs Jenkinson, Mrs Allen and Mrs Cuskelly who hosted the parade and handed out prizes. They looked pretty cool too!

NAPLAN School Reports

We are excited to have received our school reports for the overall achievements of our students in NAPLAN for 2021.  We had previously made the commitment to transition to the full online package for this year, and despite expecting some teething issues with technology, our results are very good.  Our trends in particular areas of all participating year levels show that our students are achieving better than they ever have in NAPLAN, some the best since 2009, some the best since 2015, and some that still require further work.  I am extremely proud of the work of our staff and students in focussing on the building blocks of their literacy and numeracy over the past few years.  Although it is evident that our students are achieving better and better every year, standardised assessments such as NAPLAN allow us to celebrate the great progress our College is making. 

This year we are only below the Qld State Mean in 4/20 areas, a great improvement from 18 out of 20 areas in 2018.  This means that we are above (and in many cases well above) the QLD State Mean for 16/20, or 80% of NAPLAN areas. 

We are awaiting the printed copies of student reports, which will be promptly sent out to all families as soon as they are delivered to us.  Following that, access will also be given to the online reports for families.

This kind of change does not come without a significant amount of effort by teachers, school officers, learning support teachers, parents and our students themselves.  Please make sure you give a shout out to someone who supports your child with their literacy and numeracy next time you get a chance.

QCIS Today

I am attending QCIS Athletics at Downland College with over 60 athletes from OLSCC today.  This great opportunity allows our students to compete and test themselves against other highly acclaimed co-ed schools and colleges in our area. Whilst ribbons, trophies and accolades are grand, the main purpose of our involvement in QCIS is to develop the understanding that doing your best for yourself, your mates and your College is something that should be cherished.  The collective sense of team at these events means that every little contribution, be it a fourth or first, a sprint or a jump, every little bit allows us to play our part in building success.  It is only from this kind of wholistic contribution that we can begin to reap the rewards in later years.  I can’t wait to cheer along with our team as we give our best today and further build our College spirit, our College pride, and bring the students from the Downs together for a whole lot of fun. 

Staffing Changes

Mrs Elizabeth Kuruilaca: Mrs Kuruilaca has been our Business Manager since 2016.  She has overseen many changes at the College and the Diocese in her time and has done a wonderful job in ensuring the presentation, facilities and the financial status of the College have been maintained.  Mrs Kuruilaca finished her work at OLSCC last Friday, though she will be missed, we wish her all the best in her future, and thank her for her legacy at OLSCC.

Mr Andrew Peterson: Mr Peterson has been working at the College for over 2 years as our groundsman. Mr Peterson has been instrumental in many facility upgrades at the College, including the procurement of the College Coach and all the facilities you will see changing before your eyes over the coming 12 months.  Mr Petersen has accepted a position in Murgon and will be moving there with his family.  We wish Mr Peterson all the best in Murgon!

It is important to note that prior to the holidays we will be advertising many positions at the College in readiness for 2022.  This will align with the release of our draft timetable which will be further refined as the year progresses.  We have the majority of the 2022 timetable completed, though this relies on finalising our teaching team for 2022.  Before the next newsletter, we will be announcing some changes for the 2022 team prior to the jobs being listed. 

Middle Years Plaza

The works have begun in the Middle Years Plaza, and, although a little messy, it is great to see the changes taking place.  While there has been some noise with the demolition works taking place, teachers and students have reported that there has been little impact on their learning.  This is great to hear!  Please see the photos attached to see the mess before the clean up begins!

Peter Cuskelly

Principal

Hours before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, Pope Francis expressed his hope for the peace and safety of the country’s citizens. During his Angelus address on 15 August, the Pope said “I join in the unanimous concern for the situation in Afghanistan. I ask all of you to pray with me to the God of peace so that the clamour of weapons might cease, and solutions can be found at the table of dialogue.” 

Dear Heavenly Father, 

We pray for the small group of believers in the country, that they find strength, wisdom and peace in God’s promises. 

We pray for the displaced, for God’s protection and provision over them in their journeys. 

We pray for the women and for their protection. 

We pray for the sick, that the healthcare system will not collapse 

We pray that the country will not be a haven for extremists. 

We pray especially for the Afghans who have no choice but to stay. 

In you God we trust. 

Amen 

OUR LADY OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS DAY 

Next Wednesday, 1 September, we will celebrate Our Lady of the Southern Cross’ feast day.  Our Lady of the Southern Cross is the title given to Mary the Mother of Jesus.  On this day we will begin our celebrations at 12:15pm with Mass in the MPC.  After Mass we will have a P-12 afternoon tea picnic on the oval where we cheer on the events postponed from the Athletics Carnival.  These events will begin at 2:00pm and include the All Age Relay, the Tresillian and Gillespie Gifts and the Teacher/Student Relay.  

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES 

Student Led Conferences are planned for Week 9 of this term. We will use Sentral for Parent Portal to book these times for all year levels.  A letter was emailed home on Monday in regards to the interview schedules and ‘how to book’ instructions.  It is important that students attend their conferences with their parents, as the name indicates the student will lead these conversations about their progress and learning with their teacher’s support.  

NAPLAN 

This week the College received access online to our School and Student Summary Report.  We are pleased with student progress after our initial look at this data.  Over the next few weeks we will spend time as a staff drilling down into the data to establish trends and areas of success and growth in the data.  We will then use the data to assist with future planning for continued improvement for our students.  Individual Student Reports will be posted as hard copies to our school in late August to early September.  As soon as we received these reports, we will notify parents and send them home with students.   

VOLUNTEERING AT THE COLLEGE 

Volunteer packages may be collected from the College Office.   It is important that all volunteers at our College have completed the necessary induction module and accompanying form, and return it to the College Office before volunteering.  This is an annual induction and must be completed each year.  The Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools have developed an online induction module for volunteers and services providers that sets out our expectations and commitment to student safety.  The induction video titled 'Volunteers and Visiting Service Providers Induction Module’ must be viewed by all volunteers and is available on the Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools website https://www.twb.catholic.edu.au/work-and-learn-with-us/volunteers-and-visiting-service-providers/.   

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 signing 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.   

DANIEL MORCOMBE CHILD SAFETY CURRICULUM 

Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum - Report  

Over the next few weeks we will deliver the final key message of the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum: report. This means that when children or young people have been in a situation that is unsafe that they are taught to report what has happened to an adult. Even if a child has been able to make themselves safe, it is vital that they still report what has happened. Adults need to know about unsafe situations so that some action can be taken to help the child be safe again or ensure it doesn’t happen again.   

Students involved in the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum will be encouraged to make a list of adult safety helpers. These are adults the children and young people nominate whom they can talk to when they are feeling unsafe or have experienced an unsafe situation or feel they are at risk of something that may cause them harm. This list will include a selection of adults who live in and outside the home.  

Report also includes telling an adult about unsafe or inappropriate incidents which may occur when children or young people are online. This might occur when surfing the net or using social media sites like Facebook and twitter, and can include cyberbullying, viewing or receiving inappropriate images or messages or communicating with unknown contacts.  

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

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

Cate Brennan

Deputy Principal Religious Education

QCAA Invigilators for external assessment

The QCAA appoints members of the Queensland community to observe and report on the administration of external assessment sessions at secondary schools and approved assessment venues throughout Queensland.

Invigilators play an important role in promoting public confidence in the new Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) system and ensuring that proper and fair administrative procedures are implemented. Information Applications from Queensland community members for invigilator roles are now open.

Role summary Invigilators are required to:

• attend allocated assessment sessions at assessment venues
• observe and report on the administration of assessments and the collection, counting and packing of materials at the end of assessments.

Eligibility:  To be eligible to apply for a QCAA invigilator role, community members must:

• hold a blue card or an exemption card
• be at least 18 years of age
• be eligible to work in Australia
• have photographic identification
• have a personal email address
• have a mobile phone
• have access to a computer, the internet and a printer Memo
• supply names and contact details of two referees.

Note: Before applying, community members should read the Position description: Invigilators and Invigilator frequently asked questions available at www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/assessment/external-assessment/qcaa-invigilators

Eligible applicants will need to submit their applications via the Assessor Jobs app in the QCAA Portal (www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/logins/qcaa-portal/landing-page)

For any further information, please email eainvigilators@qcaa.qld.edu.au or phone (07) 3074 7574.

Matt Hodge

Assistant Principal Senior Years

In Year 11 Food and Nutrition the class has been researching how the protein needs of our future global population can be fulfilled. We have covered some interesting topics including entomophagy (the human consumption of insects as a food source) and the generation of synthetic protein. Did you know that 1/3 of our global population include insects as a regular part of their diet! Today in class, students, and some special guests (Mr Cullen, Mr Hodge and Mr Cuskelly) tasted some insect delicacies. On the menu was cricket flour corn chips, brownie and biscuits plus salted mealworms and barbequed crickets.

The consensus is still out on whether this will become mainstream but who knows what the future holds. Chirp! Chirp!

Simone Forbes

Senior Years Teacher

Behavioural Expectations

Last week, Peter Cuskelly and I met with the Year 7 and Year 8 students to restate our position on the behavioural standards expected at the College. This week, I also visited every  Year 5 and Year 6 classroom for a similar reason. At these meetings, we clarified what is and what is not considered appropriate behaviour and reminded students of their obligation to report behaviours that do not fit with our values.

We are in the business of growing great people in a calm and respectful learning environment, and as such, we must hold students accountable for their behavioural choices. At times, this involves working more closely with some students who need their choices to be realigned to meet our standards.

Students sometimes tell me that they fear reporting negative behaviours as in their minds it will make the matter worse. Despite this not being reflected in reality, some students do fear that this may occur and it can be a paralysing feeling. Unfortunately, not reporting negative behaviours only serves to condone the behaviour itself and the students exhibiting these behaviours are sadly encouraged to continue. What is important to focus on is the whole student body is an incredibly powerful force. If the collective group of students acted appropriately to call out their peers and their behavioural choices, it would go a long way to stamping out the low-level niggling behaviours that can fester over time. Students working together with staff can continue to make our College a safe and respectful learning environment for all.

Reporting

If your child has experienced any negative behaviours at the College, it is vital that these matters be reported to staff so that appropriate responses can be undertaken to resolve situations in a timely manner. Below are the appropriate steps in reporting behaviours:

The best practice is for your child to report incidents to the nearest staff member so that the matter can be quickly and efficiently resolved. Alternative methods can include reporting to Luke Holmes (College Counsellor), Jodie Biggar (Middle Leader Middle Years) or myself.

Middle Years Plaza

Construction is now well underway on the Middle Years Plaza upgrade. It has been great to hear the students buzzing about the works and watching the machinery during their breaks. Some classes have even been using the action outside as inspiration for classroom work in determining the area of spaces or talking about technology in real world applications.

Book Week

It was great to see so many students participating in the Book Week celebrations, especially in Year 5 and Year 6. It was lovely to see the creativity and excitement around some of the costumes and the overall promotion of reading among students.

The BookFace competition closes today, so don’t forget to get your entries in if you or your child wants to participate. Winners will be announced at the Middle Years Assembly. Below are some of the entries for this year.

Craig Cullen

Assistant Principal Middle Years

It’s “enrolment season” across the Early Years, with interviews in full swing for placement in 2022. Whilst interviews are scheduled for all year levels across the Early Years, a huge majority of these are for incoming Prep students in 2022. I am always so excited to meet these new students and learn a bit more about them. Many of the children are already participating in our highly regarded transition program, Shooting Stars, with Mrs Morrison and Mrs O’Shea. This forms the first part of a rigorous transition process for our students, allowing them to become familiar with the routines and physical environment of our College, as well as focusing on important early literacy and numeracy skills that give the children a great springboard into formal learning in Prep next year.

The enrolment process is always a terrific time of reflection around “the OLSCC way” of preparing our students to be great learners. Our College learning dispositions are now firmly embedded into the language and mindset of our students as they continue to explore how to be creative, curious, independent, motivated, optimistic, persistent and resilient in learning and in life. These dispositions assist our students as they move through the Learning Pit, facing challenges head on. The Learning Pit acknowledges that students come to new situations with a multitude of different feelings. Some are excited, some are nervous, some are scared, some can’t wait for the challenge, and at some point, all of us need to jump into the pit and get started, children and adults alike! Sometimes, that can require hard work. We don’t avoid that – we embrace it as we strategise ways to get out of the pit, bumping up the learning. I often ask the students why I couldn’t just jump over the pit, after all, it doesn’t look that far. As the students regularly tell me “Well you COULD, Mrs Walton, but no real learning happens if you do that!” What a great culture of learning we are building here at OLSCC.

Preparations are in full swing across the College for our next round of Student Led Conferences that will occur in Week 9. This format aligns with our Visible Learning goal of developing assessment capable learners. What does that mean? Simply, it means that students take greater ownership of their learning and can identify:

• What they are learning
• How they are going in their learning journey
• What they need to do next to continue their learning

Students across the Early Years are busy reflecting on their current learning and choosing evidence to share at the conference to show their ‘glow’ (what I already know) and ‘grow’ (what my next goals are).

If you have a need to discuss something privately with the teacher, please arrange an alternative time to meet as the focus on these conferences is on students leading an explanation of their learning. They can’t wait to share this with you!

Katrina Walton

Assistant Principal Early Years

SWQ Touch Football

The SWQ Swans Primary and Secondary All Schools Touch Football Carnival will be held on Sunday 17 October in Toowoomba. Primary school teams are currently being organised for this event and the QLD Primary All Schools Carnival at Cleveland in November.

QLD Secondary All Schools Touch Football

Version 4 of the QLD Secondary All Schools Touch Football Draw has been passed onto our Under 15 and Under 18 Teams. At this point the draw has been kind to the College, with the Under 15 Teams having games only on Thursday 8 October and Friday 9 October (no Wednesday games). The Under 18 Mixed Team has games on Friday 9 October and Saturday 10 October.

Darling Downs Trials

Any students interested in attending Darling Downs Under 15 Boys Cricket or Under 14 Futsal Trials need to see Mr Lincoln for more information.

Rugby Sevens

QCIS Girls Carnival

A great afternoon was held at Downlands College last Friday for the Inaugural QCIS Girls Sevens. This was an opportunity for some of our girls to play their first games of competition Sevens and provided valuable match practice for the Scots College Carnival next weekend. Thanks to Mrs Biggar, Mr Garside and Mr Gillespie for coaching our teams.

Under 13 Girls

Loss to Scots Warwick

Win vs Toowoomba Anglican School

Loss to Downlands College

Semi Final

Loss to Scots Warwick

Under 15 Girls

Loss to Downlands College 1

Win vs Downlands College 2

Loss to Toowoomba Anglican School

Semi Final

Loss to Toowoomba Anglican School

Under 18 Girls

Loss to Downlands College 1

Win vs Downlands College 2

Loss to Scots Warwick

Semi Final

Loss to Scots Warwick

Scots College Warwick Sevens Carnival

Saturday 4 September

Under 13, Under 15, Boys and Girls Teams and Under 18 Girls  

This is a spectator free carnival. Students will travel to Warwick on the College Coach leaving at 6.15am and will return by 5.30pm. All teams will have three or four games on the day.

Tim Lincoln

Middle Leader Sport

Pathway Meetings

Many of Year 12 students have already completed their QTAC applications and over the next two weeks, I will be concluding the Year 12 Pathway meetings. Students are encouraged to make an appointment with me so that they can either complete their QTAC applications or commence preparing for job applications. The College would like to make sure that our students have a good resume, any references that they may need and run through interview techniques and employment sites. This is an exciting and challenging time for our students, so we are looking forward to preparing them and supporting them through this journey.

School Based Apprenticeship and Traineeships

Congratulations to our latest students signup, Lachlan Hart who is in Year 10 and has undertaken a Certificate III in Sports Turf Management. Lachlan is our first student to undertake a certificate in this field, and it is very exciting to see this positive result arise from Lachie’s work experience earlier in the year. Lachlan is seen here with Natalie Spencer of Golden West Apprenticeships and Brendan Ott of Dalby Golf Club where Lachlan will be employed. Over the next couple of newsletters, we will be highlighting some of the signups that are occurring over the next few weeks. It has been an incredibly exciting time for our students as they continue to secure opportunities that will help them realise their career pathway options.

Libby Baxter

Careers Development Practitioner

Congratulations to our Optiminds teams who have really drawn on the College Learning Dispositions as they enter the final days of preparing their challenge response. Showing terrific resilience, they have adapted their entry to be in the form of a video and will also present their spontaneous challenge this way. We are super excited to present our responses after weeks of preparation! Many thanks to our teachers Joelyn Smith and Jacinta Willocks who have given so generously of their time to create this opportunity for our students.

Last week, we welcomed our new Instrumental Music Instructor, Mr Stew Sloan and he comes to us having worked for three years in schools in Western Queensland. Mr Sloan lives in Meringandan and is a specialist playing and teaching Brass, Woodwind and Percussion instruments and regularly plays an a band. Mr Sloan said he looks forward to igniting a passion for music amongst our students and really likes working with students in smaller rural schools. Mr Sloan hopes to further develop the Brass, Woodwind and Percussion program at the College and plans on working towards forming a concert band. Outside of music and school, Mr Sloan is an avid Rugby League and Cricket fan and enjoys tinkering with old cars.

Last Friday, Mr Sloan performed to some of the younger students and their excitement was evident as her created a song using a loop machine while he played several instruments and sang all at one time. Check out the clip below!

Wow! What an awesome community of readers we have here at OLSCC! An enormous amount of books have been read and we have far exceeded our fundraising target. We have currently raised a MASSIVE $4,652 and still have several days of activity to come! Thankyou so much to our community for supporting this wonderful cause.

Please see below for positions vacant at OLSCC. Alternately, you can visit the Toowoomba Catholic Schools website for more information. Click here.