21 August 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Message:

By Mr Kort Goodman - Principal

Dear Parents

Two weeks ago, I spent the week in Charleville at the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Diocese Principal’s Gathering with Executive Director Dr Patrick Coughlan, Directors Mr Jim Midgley, Mr Lindsay Hawkins, Mr Kevin Berry, Mrs Patricia Richardson, Principals of the other schools of the Toowoomba Diocese and other Toowoomba Catholic Schools staff. Director of Teaching and Learning for the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Diocese Jim Midgley, summed up the focus of the week up as an opportunity to learn, reflect and plan, to be accountable and to share aspirational values and goals.

On the Tuesday, Executive Director Dr Patrick Coughlan and the Directors addressed the group. Dr Coughlan spoke passionately about three main points that were the focus of his dream for our Diocese.

Firstly, Dr Coughlan expressed his hope that the actions, values and symbols that make up the Catholic identity of our schools would become a product of our work and not the focus of our work. In achieving this aim our Catholic schools would be an exemplary place of spiritual life and Catholic faith where every student comes to know and experience the loving presence of Jesus in their lives. This is one of the two foundation pillars of the mission of the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Diocese.

Secondly, Dr Coughlan highlighted the need for all the educators in the Diocese to become visibly united in addressing our compelling moral purpose of providing the best educational opportunities for our students. Finally, Dr Coughlan drew special attention to having our educational programs exceed accountability standards to overcome student backgrounds and school contexts.

Mr Jim Midgley delivered the message to the assembled group that as a Diocese, “We need to deliver! Our time is now! It’s urgent! Good teaching and leadership by design – not by chance!” He went further to emphasise that our “task is to ensure that every child in our school is learning every day. We need to know as school leaders, that this is happening, to a very high standard every day, in every classroom, for every student.”

Dr Coughlan’s second and third points and Mr Midgley’s challenge are closely linked to the other foundational pillar of the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Diocese Mission, which is for all schools to be exemplary places of learning where every student experiences academic success.

As a College, we have been working extremely hard to meet the challenges that Dr Coughlan and Mr Midgley have outlined. Recently, educational consultant Dr Judy Smeed visited and met with the teaching staff to review our student outcome data from last year and the years prior and to share her knowledge on preparing for the implementation of the new senior system. At this meeting, our teachers reviewed and analysed the data before working together to discuss and agree upon some shared goals relating to improvements that can be made to our student outcome data.

In addition to this, we have also been working over the last 18 months on improving the opportunities for our students to learn each day in our classrooms. This has been achieved by explicitly clarifying in our planning and to the students, what the objective of each lesson is, and providing criteria for the students to gauge their level of success in meeting the learning objective for each lesson.

Furthermore, the staff of the College have begun the process of reviewing our current Vision and Mission Statements and developing our strategic plan for the next four years. In the near future, we will be providing details of a meeting time that will be held, in addition to our P&F meeting, to provide opportunities for our community members to be part of the development of our strategic plan. We look forward to the continued support of our families.

As a Catholic school the staff are committed to achieving the highest standards for all our students while recognising the importance of ensuring that the pastoral development of each child is centred on the teachings of Jesus.

This week we pray for support and guidance as we continue on our path of creating our strategic plan to maximise the faith and educational experiences for the students of our College.

Dear Lord
We are calling upon you for your divine guidance and help as we work to formulate our strategic plan.
We are grateful for your support to keep us on the right path.
We want the best for our students and we are sure that by keeping our hearts set on you, your infinite wisdom will show us the right way.
Thank you for hearing our prayer and staying by our side.
Amen

Have a lovely week

Kort

TERM 3 – 2017 Date Claimers

TERM 4 – 2017 Date Claimers

Pastoral Care News:

By Mr Craig Frattini, Deputy Principal

How to help kids when you think they are being bullied

by Michael Grose

Bullying is a word that’s wrapped in emotion. For many people bullying is associated with bad childhood memories. It’s been estimated that around 40 per cent of people have experienced some type of bullying in the past.

The ghosts from the past are never far away for parents and can sometimes influence the way we react to current circumstances, including when our own children experience difficulties in their relationships inside or outside school.

Bullying is an insidious behaviour that transgresses children’s natural right to feel safe and secure. It can adversely affect their learning, emotional wellbeing, sense of self and further peer relations.

Bullying takes many forms including physical and emotional abuse, intimidation, harassment and exclusion.

It now has a well-publicised cyber dimension, which has moved the goalposts for many kids. In the past, being at home was one way children could escape bullying behaviours they may have been experiencing. Cyberbullying now means that kids can’t avoid the bully like they once could.

Girls bully just as much as boys but they do it in less physical ways. While boys use physical intimidation or verbal abuse to wield power, girls are more likely to use exclusion or verbal sarcasm to assert themselves.

Bullying should not be confused with teasing, rejection, random acts of violence or physicality and conflict. Children will often tease or fight in short episodes but this bickering should not be equated with bullying.

What’s bullying about?

Bullying is about lack of power as one person is powerless to stop the teasing or physical abuse. Bullying is the selective, uninvited, repetitive oppression of one person by another person or group. It should not be tolerated (or practised) by the adults who inhabit a child’s world.

If you think your child or young person is being bullied, then handle them with care as many kids don’t want to admit that they are on the receiving end of bullying. Some kids keep bullying close to their chests so it helps to be on the lookout for warning signs such as items being stolen, a changed route to school and withdrawal from usual activities.

If your child is being bullied:

Remain calm: This can be very difficult as your emotions can easily escalate into anger. But your child needs you to remain unemotional so he or she can talk with you and feel safe.

Listen to her story: Children who are bullied need someone to believe their story. Take them seriously and avoid dismissing complaints as tell-tale. Use common sense to differentiate between bullying and random, nonselective antisocial acts that, while they may be distressing for your child, don’t amount to being bullied.

Deal with their feelings: A child who is bullied probably feels scared, angry and sad. While boys are more likely to act out and display anger, girls are more likely to ‘act in’, feeling sad and depressed. Recognise and validate their emotions. It’s normal to feel sad, scared or just plain confused.

Get the facts: Get a clear picture of what is happening, including who is involved, the frequency and what happens prior to any bullying. Get your child to be as specific as possible by asking good questions. An accurate picture will help you determine your next course of action.

Give them coping skills: With a clear picture you can start giving your child some help about how he or she might deal with bullying including using avoidance strategies, being more assertive and changing poor body language.

Get the school involved: Bullying is best handled when parents and teachers are involved together. Some parents tell me that schools can be reluctant to become involved however my experience is that schools take bullying very seriously. Most schools will go to great lengths to support and empower those on the receiving end while also looking for ways to change the behaviour of bullies. Approach your school through the appropriate channels, make yourself aware of your school’s anti-bullying procedures and programs and be willing to work within these guidelines.

Help build your child’s or young person’s support networks: Your child will need a group of friends to support them and insulate them against further social exclusion so look for practical ways to broaden friendship groups.

Build your child’s self-confidence: Nothing saps a child’s confidence like bullying so provide your children and young people with plenty of encouragement and loving support. Let them know through your words and treatment that they will get through this difficult period in their lives.

It’s worth remembering that children and young people who experience some form of bullying can come out stronger and more resourceful because they have experienced difficulties and now know they can overcome them. However, continuous, long-term bullying can have a long-term negative impact so it needs to be taken seriously. Children and young people need the adults in their lives to do all they can to make it stop.

APRE News:

By Mrs Kate Cullen, APRE

Social Justice Thought for the Week: (Migrant and Refugee Week – 21/27 August)

Message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, 2017.

On the occasion of the annual World Day of Migrants and Refugees, I feel compelled to draw attention to the reality of child migrants, especially the ones who are alone. In doing so I ask everyone to take care of the young, who in a threefold way are defenceless: they are children, they are foreigners, and they have no means to protect themselves. I ask everyone to help those who, for various reasons, are forced to live far from their homeland and are separated from their families….

Among migrants, children constitute the most vulnerable group, because as they face the life ahead of them, they are invisible and voiceless: their precarious situation deprives them of documentation, hiding them from the world’s eyes; the absence of adults to accompany them prevents their voices from being raised and heard. In this way, migrant children easily end up at the lowest levels of human degradation, where illegality and violence destroy the future of too many innocents, while the network of child abuse is difficult to break up.

Father’s Day Breakfast- Friday, September 1st

Each year to mark Father’s Day the College serves breakfast from 7:00 a.m. for fathers and their families out of the Home Ec rooms. We offer some cereal, fruit, tea and coffee, juice and toast. Hot food, BBQ sausages, bacon and eggs always goes quickly.

We would love to have you there to celebrate the important men in our student’s lives but also to have those conversations forming connection between families and the College. For catering purposes, we need information about numbers to help us out with preparation for the morning.

RSVP by Friday 25th August to ACW office on 4660 4000
or acwarwick@twb.catholic.edu.au
Father’s Day Breakfast
I will / will not be attending with my son/daughter.
Total No. attending …….…. Name: ………………………………..

Feast of the Assumption

It was great to have our community together to celebrate the Feast Day. Here are some of the photos from the morning mass.

‘Reflection’ from Patricia Thomas

Getting tired up with God takes everything we’ve got! Body, mind and spirit!

What does the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary mean for us?

It was a response to the horrible human carnage of two world wars and the horrors of concentration camps, to reaffirm the dignity of the human body and rekindle faith in the resurrection of the body. This feast affirms that our human bodies are not mere shells but created in God’s image and likeness.

The Church wanted to say something not only about the body of Mary, but about the body of all of us. The celebration of Mary's Assumption celebrates the dignity of every human being's bodily presence and history.

Thomas Merton wrote that the Assumption is not a glorification of a “mother Goddess,” but rather an expression of God’s love for humanity and a unique expression of God’s reverence for the body of those created in the divine image. If human nature is glorified in Mary, it is because God desires it to be glorified in every person. It is for this reason that Jesus became human flesh and dwelt among us in our world.

The physical body of Mary, like the glorified body of her risen Son, shares in the fullness of eternal life. Does this feast distance Mary from the rest of humanity, divinizing her? Far from it! Mary’s entry into heaven, her “crowning glory” like her Son before her, is also ours! Death is conquered and we are raised body and soul to the glory of heaven.

Death is not the end of the story.
Death does not end a relationship.
Life is changed not ended

PRAYER:

Beautiful Mary, Queen of the poor,
Your song of com¬passion gives us hope.
Show us ‘as it is in heaven’ here on earth.
Most Blessed Mother of God,
Pray for us!

Curriculum News:

By Ms Jen Smeed,, Assistant Principal—Curriculum

QCS:

Good luck to the OP eligible Year 12 students (and any elected OP ineligible students) who will sit the QCS tests next week (Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th August). These students have been working hard in preparation for these four papers. A reminder that students sitting the test must attend school on both days, students who are not sitting the test do not have to attend school on these days.

Year 11 QCS Practice:

Year 11 students will sit their first QCS trial on Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th October (the first and second days of next term). All OP eligible students need to be in attendance on these two days and have the required equipment. Further information will be sent home closer to the end of the term.

Senior Exam Block:

Exam block for Year 11 & 12 students will run from 5th - 8th September 2017. Whilst on exams our Year 11 &12 students have study leave, so they only need attend school when they have exams. The idea being that “study leave” means students have the opportunity to go home and study. We do hope that all students use this time effectively and wisely. For those students who choose to remain at school, the College library will be available as a study room, where students will sign in and out when they arrive/depart the College. If a student is not up-to-date with all assessment they will not be granted study leave. You will be contacted by the College if this applies to your son/daughter.

On the same topic, all Year 11 &12 students will shortly receive a copy of their exam timetable. There are only two exam sessions each day and we ask that students take care to ensure that they arrive to the exam at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the session. Along with timetables, students will also be provided with a copy of the exam procedures and they are to make sure they are familiar with these. Most of all, we wish all students good luck in preparing for, and completing their exams.

Subject Selection for 2018:

Year 11 2018: A reminder that the online subject selection link will close at 3 pm on Thursday 24th August. All selections need to have been submitted by this time.

Year 9 & 10 in 2018: The subject selection link has now closed. If you have not selected please see Ms Smeed as soon as possible.

If you have any issues or concerns with subject selection please do not hesitate to contact me at Jen.Smeed@twb.catholic.edu.au

Assessment Calendars:

A reminder that assessment calendars for all year levels are available on the College website under Curriculum / Assessment calendar. The calendar can be made year-specific by selecting the downward arrow in the top right corner next to ‘Agenda’, and ticking the appropriate year level. Students should have these links saved on their iPads as they are updated if/when assessment due dates are changed.

Extension Process:

As we move towards the end of the term please be mindful of the application for extension process.

Junior students - must complete the extension form, get their subject teacher to sign and negotiate a new due date and then they must get the Curriculum Leader of that subject to approve the extension.

Senior students - All senior student extensions still come through the Assistant Principal: Curriculum for approval.

Remember that extensions are for extenuating circumstances, extended illness (with medical certificate supplied in senior years), and family bereavement. Technological issues are not grounds for an extension as backing up electronic work is the student’s responsibility. Students can not apply on the due date for an extension (unless in extenuating circumstances) as they can email staff their assessment if they are not at school. Students must make every effort to get the assessment handed in on the due date.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any additional questions in regards to Curriculum at the College.

Careers News:

By Mrs Ali Porter, Careers

ASSUMPTION COLLEGE STUDENT PATHWAYS NEWS

Noteworthy items:

• Year 12 students can now make application through QTAC for tertiary study in 2018
• University Open Days are on NOW! Check the calendar of events at www.acwcareers.com
• Any students wanting to study a VET At School TAFE course in 2018 need to register their interest in their chosen course before September 11th
• More comprehensive and regular careers newsletters are available at www.acwcareers.com.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Tom Lloyd, Izabella Behr and Christopher Henderson on their recent sign ups into school-based traineeships and apprenticeships! Congratulations also to Abbey McDonnell and Chloe Stewart on the completion of their school-based traineeships!

VET At School

TAFE Queensland, South West (Warwick campus), is offering school students the opportunity to complete selected certificate courses as part of Year 11 or 12 school studies in 2018. Please see the list below of courses on offer at our local campus.

• Certificate II in Automotive Underbody Technology
• Certificate I in Construction
• Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care
• Certificate II in Health Support Services
• Certificate II in Hospitality
• Certificate II in Kitchen Operations
• Certificate II Rural Operations.

Details of these courses, including delivery and cost, are printed in the TAFE Queensland South West ‘TAFE At School’ 2018 Course Guide booklet. Students can get a copy of this at the college careers office or online at:

Courses are most suited to students studying Year 11 in 2018. Students who would like to study one of these courses next year will need to register their interest on the TAFE portal at the link below. Please note that registration will only be open until September 11th. All Year 10 students have been provided with registration details and an application code.

School-based Trainees & Apprentices

I am this week catching up with all school-based trainees and apprentices to check on progress and complete Term 3 monitoring of their traineeships and apprenticeships. In particular, focus will be on our Year 12 trainees and apprentices and their plans for 2018. Those students whose traineeship or apprenticeship will continue into 2018 will need to be taking steps to ensure that school-based arrangements are converted to full-time or part-time arrangements for the new year. Information regarding this will be provided to students in meetings this week.

Year 12 Sessions

Follow up sessions are being held this week with Year 12 students interested in tertiary application. Students looking at applying to university for 2018 have been asked to draft their tertiary course preferences and sessions are being held this week to check and discuss these. Other sessions are being held this week for students whose post-school goals are employment, training or apprenticeships. Information will be provided in these sessions to support students in these pathways.

Checking Learning Accounts

Year 12 students are currently being encouraged to check their learning accounts. Student learning accounts can be accessed at:

Year 10 Pathways Program & SET Plans

We have conducted the careers sessions scheduled for Year 10 students this term. These sessions involved looking at student’s options post Year 10. In particular, sessions have focussed on understanding The Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE), The Overall Position (OP), QCS Test and options for vocational training and apprenticeships and traineeships. In coming weeks Year 10 students will be preparing their Senior Education and Training (SET) Plans. Once completed, each student will have a SET Plan meeting with a college representative and parents will be invited to join these meetings. Year 10 SET Plan meetings will be held early in Term 4. More information regarding these meetings will be sent home to parents at the end of this term.

Becoming an Apprentice

Australian Apprenticeships Pathways can provide information to those looking for an apprenticeship. Visit this page on their website for a step-by-step guide to finding and securing an apprenticeship.

The Young Endeavour: 2017 Youth Development Voyages

The Young Endeavour undertakes around 20 voyages each year with 24 young Australians and nine specially trained Royal Australian Navy crew, usually for an eleven-day adventure at sea. The ballot is now open for applications, eligible Australians aged 16 – 23 can apply for Youth Development voyages sailing December 2017.

Australian Veterans’ Children Assistance Trust Scholarships

The scholarships are worth between $3000 and $5000 per year and may continue for up to four years. To be eligible to apply for AVCAT scholarship a student must be the child or grandchild of a person with operational service (as defined by the legislation) or three or more years continuous full-time other service, as a member of the Australian Navy, Army or Air Force. Students must be planning to enrol or be enrolled in tertiary education in Australia at an Australian university, TAFE or registered training organisation.

Sport News

By Mrs Julie Collins, Program Leader Sport

Sports Dates

Border District Athletics & Southern Downs Athletics

Congratulations to all students who attended either of these carnivals. Thank you for your co-operation with officials and the excellent behaviour displayed.

Congratulations to the following students on receiving medals on the day.

Flynn Donaldson Age Champion
Mary Higgins Age Champion
Caitlin Skaines Runner Up
Jackson Pitstock Age Champion
Kiah Murray Runner Up

NRL Competition

Assumption College vs Goondiwindi State High at Goondiwindi

Business News:

By Mr Scott Clegg, Business Manager.

School fees and Yr 8 & Yr 11 camp money is due this Friday 25th August. Any queries contact the Finance office on 4660 4000. Thank you

Position Vacant

Support is needed for 4 hours a week to ensure the tools and the shed for ITD is in working order for the students. This would be a paid position. Experience would be preferred. If you are interested, please contact Scott Clegg at the College.

General Notices:

Maths Challenge

On Wednesday the 9th August, nine Assumption College students competed in the Year 7/8 Mathematics Quiz at Warwick State High School.

The teams were:

Team 1: Maddy Goodwin, Mercedes Griffith and Frazer Roche.
Team 2: Taylah Eastwell, Kaitlyn Newley and Will Davis.
Team 3: Maddie Brown, Declan Clegg and Molly Cullen.

It was a fun afternoon and the students represented the school with distinction. Below is a picture of each of the teams.

All students deserve to be congratulated for their wonderful conduct and special mention needs to be made of the efforts of Team 1 who finished in the top two teams for the night and will now compete in Toowoomba in the next level of competition.

Bush Poetry Competition

On Saturday August 12, Year 7 student Emily Jones travelled to the Brisbane Exhibition to compete in the secondary schools bush poetry performance competition. This was Emily's first competition & she performed the poem 'The Trailer' by Blue the Shearer. Emily did a great job and received second place in her section. Congratulations to Emily & we hope you continue performing!

Academic Awards

Congratulations to the students who received Academic Awards at the Academic Assembly recently.

GOLD AWARD WINNERS

Fathers Day Breakfast

One Million Stars Project

Earlier this year, enthusiastic Assumption College students took time each week to weave stars as part of the “One Million Stars to End Violence” project.

The Government Media Release below gives an update as to the progress and success of this exciting project.

St Mary’s Catholic Parish:

Community News:

St Marys Trivia Night

Disability Action Week

Warwick West Spring Spectacular & Talent Quest

Convent Café

Careers in Disability Expo

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