11 May 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Message:

By Mr Kort Goodman - Principal

Mother’s Day Mass

Today we joined with many of the wonderful mothers and grandmothers of the Assumption College community for our Mother’s Day Mass. Whilst, we acknowledge that we cannot ever thank our Mothers enough for the love and support they provide us, this is one small way that our College community can honour the contribution our mothers make in our lives.

Thank you to Father Franco for leading us this morning, Mrs Cullen for her efforts in organising the Mass, Mr Drew Schultz and the singers and musicians and the other members of the Assumption College community for their efforts in ensuring that this event is a success.

This week we pray for all of our mothers and grandmothers who play such an important role in our community.

A Prayer for our Mothers

Just as God gives to each rose a gentle touch of dew
and gives unto each evening sky the lovely sunset’s hue.
So may he give to you from his enduring love,
great happiness and hearts content
and blessings from above.
Amen.

Principal’s Conference

Last week I attended the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Term 2 Leadership Forum in Goondiwindi. This Leadership Forum involved the Principals from across the Toowoomba Diocese meeting with Executive Director Dr Patrick Coughlan and the Directors and Senior Education Leaders of the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Diocese.

The main focus of the leadership forum was the factors that allow for the continued development of collegiality or collective efficacy within our Diocese and schools, in order to realise our shared vision of excellence in teaching and learning being evident in every classroom.

Recent research highlights that collective efficacy is a critical factor that influences student achievement and it “refers to a staff’s shared belief that through their collective action, they can positively influence student outcomes” (Donohoo, 2017).

It is about reaching agreement on how we should be moving forward and a genuine willingness to openly and collaboratively share experiences, success, failures and learnings. (Killian, 2017)

“Educators with high efficacy show greater effort and persistence, a willingness to try new teaching approaches, set more challenging goals, and attend more closely to the needs of students who require extra assistance.” (Donohoo, 2017).

In our recent Quadrennial School Review it was noted that the staff of our College are committed to developing collective teacher efficacy. Furthermore, “teachers are keen to continue to improve their own teaching” and “by their active participation as co-learners with staff, the College Leadership Team demonstrate to the staff their own commitment to professional learning” (ACW Quadrennial School Review 2018).

As the members of our College community are aware, our teachers have been working very hard on improving the teaching and learning experiences in our classrooms. Through the implementation of “Visible Learning” and the “Year 7-9 Reading Improvement Strategy,” teachers are providing clarity for the students around the focus of the lesson and developing the student’s reading skills. We thank our teaching and support staff for their continued commitment to these initiatives.

NAPLAN Week

Next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday our Year 7 and 9 students will be involved in the annual NAPLAN tests. These tests provide a wide range of relevant data for the College to use in assisting to improve the educational experiences and learning of our students; provided that the data is accurate. With this in mind Mr Kirby, Mrs Hardy and I will speak to the Year 7 & 9 students on Monday to encourage them to give these tests their best possible shot. Striving to achieve to your personal best in all activities is something that we want all the students of Assumption College to do and we urge all of our parents to support us in this endeavour.

Assumption College Open Day

This afternoon we are hosting our annual Open Day from 3.30 – 5.30pm for all current and prospective families. The aim of the afternoon is to provide parents with an overview of the way the College endeavours to provide a holistic education for the students and to give students an opportunity to participate in a range of activities. In most communities, word of mouth is the most successful form of advertising for any school and as such, we thank our current and past families for their continued support of our College and encourage them to continue to share their positive experiences of Assumption College.

Have a lovely week

Kort

TERM 2 – 2018 DATE CLAIMERS

Pastoral Care News:

By Mr Craig Frattini, Deputy Principal

Parenting Ideas Insights

Mother’s Day Reflections
By Michael Grose

Mother’s Day is a time of recognition, celebration and reflection. With this in mind I asked the Parenting Ideas expert team members, who also happen to be awesome mums, to share their thoughts about parenting and mothering. I think you’ll love what they’ve written.

Kate Johnson

Parenting and teaching children on the autism spectrum

How many children do you have? What are their genders and ages?
I have four amazing children. Three boys aged 12, 6 and 3 and a girl aged 8.

What do you love about parenting?
I love seeing my children grow into their personalities and being part of helping them find their spark. I love the simple things, whether it is girl-time doing the shopping or chats at night on the bed with the younger ones about their day. I love seeing them push through and achieve things that they thought they couldn’t. One thing I am big on is being present and being there, whether it is at their school event days or cheering them on where possible from the sidelines. And I am a big fan of a warm hug.

Martine Oglethorpe

Technology, education and parenting

How many children do you have? What are their genders and ages?
I have five boys aged 17, 16, 14, 8 and 6 and I have a little girl who passed away at 5 months of age.

What lessons did you learn from your own mum?
My mum taught me the importance of family and of friends. To always make time for dinners, holidays and time spent with those you love. She taught me that nurturing our relationships throughout life will always give us the greatest rewards. She taught me how to entertain well, to always have extra food and drink and to always have my door open to others. She taught me the value of being generous and the importance of helping others in need. She taught me the importance of finding work that you enjoy and how this can enrich your role as a mother. And she taught me that being a mum is the most amazing gift you can be given. Sometimes it’s clouded by the most crushing of fear, but ultimately it offers us the greatest of joy.

Sharon Witt

Resilience and parenting adolescents

How many children do you have? What are their genders and ages?
I have two children. A daughter, almost 18, and a son, aged 21.

Best piece of mothering advice you’ve received?
The best piece of parenting advice I have received is to not stress too much. We are all doing the very best we can on any given day with what we have. Sometimes, we will be exhausted and if all we can manage for dinner is scrambled eggs on toast, then that’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up and certainly avoid the comparison trap. Don’t compare yourself to other parents and what they are doing. Remember, parenting is a full time gig, 24/7. Just do your best and make sure you look after yourself too.

Dr Jodi Richardson

Wellbeing and mental health

How many children do you have? What are their genders and ages?
I have two children: a 10-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl.

Best piece of mothering advice you can give others?
One of the most important ideas to teach our kids is that it’s completely natural to feel a whole range of feelings, that all feelings are okay and that all feelings are normal. It’s important for them to know that while feeling happy is wonderful, no-one feels happy all the time. Teach them to notice and name their feelings, to tolerate the discomfort of difficult feelings, to express their feelings in healthy ways and that, although some feelings feel hard

to bear, they always pass. All of these lessons are priceless. Our facial expressions, tone of voice and words all contribute to the empathy we share with our kids and are central to validating how they’re feeling. Whether we agree with them or not, our validation shows them that we get it and that we know it’s hard. Validation is a first step to helping them feel understood and able to begin winding back their emotional responses.

This is all great advice and wonderful reflections about parenting and being a mum from the Parenting Ideas team. This Mother’s Day, I invite you to reflect on what you enjoy about parenting; to think about the lessons you’ve learned from your own family of origin; to consider the great advice you’ve received along the way and to think about the learnings that you can share with others. It’s good to sit back, take stock and be grateful for what we have, what we’ve experienced and what we can share with others.

Michael Grose

Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s the author of 10 books for parents including Thriving! and the best-selling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It, and his latest release Spoonfed Generation: How to raise independent children.

APRE News:

By Mrs Kate Cullen, APRE

I hope as this newsletter goes out:

• The Justice Day on the 4th May organised by Mr Frattini, Mr Bruton and Mr Yates had students connecting to the legacy of Edmund Rice and Oscar Romero working for justice and liberation of others that is a part of our college history, pastoral system and faith story.
• The Senior Curriculum information night went well and if any parents of students have any questions regarding the religious curriculum for Year 11 and 12 they may ask staff, especially Mrs. Sharp or Mrs. Cullen regarding Study of Religion and Religion and Ethics.
• That our students (and staff) who attended the Year of Youth – Jesse Manubusan concert and celebration of the change youth can make in a faith community had a great day, and have been sharing the positives of this experience with others.
• Mothers, Grandparents and Carers have had an enjoyable celebration of their contribution to our lives at our Mass and Morning tea
• Open Day has gone well and families were able to learn more about the life of Assumption College including the Religious Life and Curriculum for our students.
• Pastoral Liturgies are an ongoing event with Rice House currently experiencing these led by their Pastoral Teacher or Father Franco, and later in term Romero House will begin to participate in these as well. These are a 15 minute liturgy celebrated in morning Pastoral time and an opportunity to reflect on the sow, nurture, grow…liberty focus for this year’s religious life of the College and have students consider how this relates to the College.

I thank everyone involved in these events, helping to shape the Catholic Culture of the College.

Looking ahead reminders:

• Real Talk 20th of June- Year 7 and 9 students will attend presentations on this day focusing on personal development. Information will be sent home to families to be familiar with the focus for these days.

Next term:

• Catholic Education Week is from the 30th July – 3rd of August. This will include the Acts of Mercy Day run by Donovan and McAuley House and a shared liturgy with St Mary’s Primary
• The Feast Day mass on the 15th of August
• Father’s Day afternoon BBQ on the 30th of August after school. More details to come but mark the event in your calendar.

A Prayer from St. Thomas Aquinas – patron of students.

Grant, O merciful God, that I may ardently desire,
prudently examine,
truthfully acknowledge, and perfectly accomplish what is pleasing to You,
for the praise and glory of Your Name.
Amen.

Curriculum News:

By Mrs Anna Hardy, Assistant Principal—Curriculum

NAPLAN

Next week our Year 7 and 9 students begin their NAPLAN test. A letter has been sent home outlining the schedule and what is required each day. We wish the Year 7 and 9 students good luck for these tests. The results of the NAPLAN testing will be sent home in the form of a report later in the year.

Parent-teacher Interviews

Thank-you to all the parents and guardians who attended the parent-teacher interviews. Please note that this is not the only time we welcome communication between parents and teachers. We encourage all teachers to keep the lines of communication open to parents throughout the term. Parents are also welcome to email or phone the teacher.

Assessment Calendars

Assessment calendars are now available through an icon on their desktop.

Tutorials

Tutorials have now begun on Thursday afternoons in Rooms 311/312 from 3:15-4:15pm. All students are more than welcome to attend.

Year 12 QCS

Last Tuesday the Year 12 QCS group attended a Mighty Minds QCS training day. This was a valuable experience and there will be a second workshop in week 11 of this term. It is expected that all students will be in attendance for this valuable preparation.

Resubmission process

The College implements a plan to ensure that all students strive to achieve their best. This means that when a student does not attempt to make the advised changes to their draft for the final submission, or when the standard of the assessment is sub-standard, the teacher will request that the student resubmits the assessment along with a lunchtime detention. The underlying belief of our teachers at our College is that assessment is not just about the mark at the end, but is about the learning inherent in completing the task. If the student does not complete a whole task, they may be missing integral skills in this learning. If your child is required to resubmit you will be contacted by the teacher by either a phone call or a letter home. The student cannot be graded on his/her resubmission but they will be expected to meet the minimum expectations of the task and give their best effort.

Semester Reports

Semester 1 Reports will be posted home during the last week of this term. Please ensure the College has the correct mailing address. Contact the office to make this change.

Careers News:

By Mrs Ali Porter, Careers

Noteworthy items:

• School-based traineeship in hospitality now available
• School-based traineeship in business now available.

Year 10 Careers

Year 10 students this term are participating in a series of Careers sessions. These sessions are covering pathways options including senior school, school subjects, vocational education, the ATAR and university and tertiary study. A session will also be held in coming weeks to prepare students for the work experience week that is being held in the last week of Term 3. In Careers sessions students will be encouraged to start approaching local businesses to request work experience in that week. Letters and information will be sent home with more details regarding this also.

Careers Newsletter

A much more in-depth careers newsletter is emailed on a weekly basis to students. This newsletter includes details of state-wide careers events and open days, as well as providing information about tertiary institutions and careers and pathways resources. If parents would like to view the extended careers newsletter it is also available on our school careers webpage via the link below.

Year 11 and 12 Pathways Sessions

Over coming weeks, students in Years 11 and 12 will be provided pathways information sessions. In these sessions, students will be provided information around current careers and tertiary education events and news. Students will also be provided with some general direction and resources regarding tertiary scholarships and study.

Upcoming Careers Events:

• Date claimer: Tertiary Studies Expo July 21st and 22nd
• Year 10 Work Experience week scheduled for the last week of Term 3
• Medicine at UQ Information Evening – May 23 and 24
• USQ Deadly Ways Indigenous Residential Camp – May 28th to 31st.

Sport News:

By Mrs Julie Collins, Program Leader Sport

Sports Dates

Bill Turner Cup & Trophy

Our College participated in the Bill Turner Cup and Trophy, which is one of the world’s largest Football (Soccer) competitions. Around 800 school teams from NSW, Qld, ACT and Victoria participate each year, with all players 15 years and under. This competition is a knockout format with our first round matches taking place at Stanthorpe on Thursday 26/04/2018. We entered one girls team in the Trophy competition and one boys team in the Cup competition.

Girls Team

The girls team played two matches, with the first being against St Joseph's School, Stanthorpe. The St Joey’s girls came out fast and put the pressure on us early. We tried our best but we were not able to keep them from scoring for long. They put a couple of goals on us early and they continued to dominate the play. A change in our formation for the second half bolstered our performance and we made some inroads in attack. Madeline “Maddy" Goodwin showed some extreme pace and put a nice goal in the back of the net for us. From that point on though, the St Joey’s team upped the ante and went on to defeat our ACW squad, 8 - 1. Strong performances from Kaitlyn Newley, Denika Murray, Sarah Hockings and Madeline Goodwin

Our second match was against Stanthorpe State High School. From the outset, the SSHS team proved to be a handful. They had size, pace and skill all around the park. Our girls were outgunned in most areas and SSHS went on to beat us convincingly 10 – 0. Strong performances from Kaitlyn Newley, Denika Murray, Caitlyn McMahon and Ella Briggs. A special mention too, to Juliana Cruda for her efforts in a sport which is new to her.

Our team should be proud of their efforts, for their first hit out this year as a squad and also their behaviour whilst at the tournament. Their commitment to each other and their resolve in not dropping their heads when they were behind, is a credit to them all.

Boys Team

It was a foggy day when Assumption College students left to participate in the annual Bill Turner Cup. Both teams where ready to show off the skills they have been developing over the last few months. The boys’ first game was a disappointment with Assumption College going down in the last minutes of the game to St Joseph’s Stanthorpe after leading most of the game. The second match played was a hard-fought draw against Stanthorpe State High with an excellent goal from Declan Clegg from the half-way line. The final game of the cup was against Warwick State High with the boys successfully winning the game 7 to 2. Notable mentions to Ethan L’Barrow, Zane Brown, Patrick Dromgold, Jacob Walters and Declan Clegg for all successfully scoring in the final game. A special thank you to Mr Scott Clegg and Mr Yates for helping to organising the teams for the day.

We look forward to many more competitive matches in the future, to allow our students to hone their football skills. We are looking for more football players to join us for training and playing, so if you are interested, please contact Mr Scott Clegg at the College.

Library News:

By Mrs Mary-Anne Driver

We are getting started with our Jumpers and Jazz planning. We have some students who can knit and crochet and are helping others. We are planning some button flowers too!

Games continue to be popular in the library with plenty of students enjoying the opportunity to socialize with a game of UNO, poker, chess and guess who.

We have been impressed with an online magazine we have discovered called ROOKIE. They publish writing, photography and other forms of artwork by and for teenagers. They have contributors and readers from all over the world. May’s theme is Growing Pains.

Some of the articles are:

A Realistic Guide to Self-Care – How to take care of yourself without face masks, a budget, or that much time.

Why Can’t I be you – Ananya Birla talking about mental health, navigating gender bias and giving back to the community

Getting over Embarrassment – start by saying these magic words.

There is also a video section with ‘Ask a grown man/Ask a grown woman’ giving good advice to teenage problems.

This would be a great spot to visit with your teenager!

General Notices:

Unleashing Personal Potential & 100% Attendance Awards

Congratulations to Assumption College Students that received Unleashing Personal Potential Awards and 100% Attendance Awards at assembly recently. Great effort!

School Improvement Survey

This year our school will be participating in a School Review and Improvement Survey managed by Research Australia Development and Innovation Institute (RADII). As well as school staff and students from Years 7 - 12, all parents are invited to participate in the survey. The survey provides valuable feedback for the future directions of our school.

It would be appreciated if parents could update their contact details prior to the 24 June 2018. This will ensure delivery to the correct parent email address.

On Monday the 30 July 2018, RADII will send all parents a personalised invitation to complete the survey online. If both parents' email addresses are on file at the school, the invitation will be sent to both parents. However, the survey will close once the first person has completed it. If you do not wish to complete the survey, simply delete it.

The survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. You can complete the survey from anywhere you have access to the internet. The survey will close on Sunday, 12 August 2018 for parents.

We encourage you to be very honest in your responses to the survey. All responses go directly to RADII so they are confidential and anonymous. When the surveys are completed, and responses aggregated by RADII, overall data is sent to us so that we can then share the findings with you.

Thank you.

Queensland Governor Visit

Joe Gordon and Mary Higgins joined with Assumption College Principal Kort Goodman in meeting His Excellency, the Honourable Governor of Queensland, Paul de Jersey AC on Saturday 21st April.

Student Council

Congratulations to Tori Abood and Rhys Jeffery on being selected on the Southern Downs Youth Council Program. Our student ambassadors travelled to Stanthorpe last week to participate in their next Youth Council meeting.

The youth council have been collaborating ideas in order to achieve the goal of making the Southern Downs a more active and fun place for the youth. By the end of the year, we aspire to leave a positive legacy. By Tori Abood

Assumption College Formal

Jesse Manibusan Day – Year of the Youth

Assumption College Students were lucky to have the opportunity to enjoy the Jesse Manibusan celebrations in Stanthorpe this week as part of Year of the Youth. At this event, local schools gathered to be entertained by Jesse Manibusan for the day. It was a lovely occasion for all who attended.

Found - Umbrellas

There were several umbrellas left at the College following the Formal. Please call into the office to pick up.

Electrical Safety

St Mary’s Catholic Parish:

Sacrament of Confirmation 15th June 2018
Please say the following prayer for our Candidates

Holy Spirit Prayer

Come, Holy Spirit.
Fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit
and there will be a new creation;
and you will renew the face of the earth.

Community News:

St Patricks Allora

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