Winter holidays are almost upon us and I trust everyone is looking forward to a break before jumping into the last half of the year! Already this year we have had so much success at the College and we are very excited to reap the rewards of the hard work the staff, students, parents and community have invested in 2021 already.   It has been a pleasure to be reviewing the Academic Reports and seeing the wonderful achievement of so many students.  It has also been an opportune time to again consider ways we can adapt our teaching to enhance the learning of many of our students who are not achieving at a level that they are satisfied with. 

During next term, we see the Year 12 students complete their Internal Assessment 3 (IA3) before beginning the journey to their External Assessment Examination Block in Term 4.  This is the first cohort who has completed the full array of Year 12 assessment due to the interruptions of COVID in 2020, so this continues to be exciting times for us.  In addition we are eagerly awaiting the release of the 2021 NAPLAN data to celebrate our many improvements since our last NAPLAN assessments in 2019.  Of particular interest is our writing data, which we expect great improvements in considering our focussed work with 'Write That Essay' over the past 2 years.

I hope all the students and their families have a refreshing holiday period and are ready for Term 2 to commence on Monday 12 July. We are the only Diocesan school/college to return on this date due to our offline pupil free day on 26 March.

Great Moments:

Year 4 Jondaryan Woolshed Camp

P&F working bee to fix up Prep “Back Playground”

USQ Open Day and Tour

Year 2 Pioneer Park Excursion

1500m events

Open Rugby League Victory in Gio Cup semi-final vs Assumption College Warwick (40-4)

Year 10 Work Experience

Year 11 Camp @ QCCC Brookfield

Student Reports

Twice a year we provide Academic Reports to families regarding student progress and Overall Achievement against the appropriate curriculum.   We also include information about Application to Learning, Attitude to Learning, the Cohort Distribution of grades in the class (if there are more than 15 students enrolled in the subject/class) and Attendance.  It is very important that parents/carers and students take the time to work through the Academic Report to determine areas of strength as well as areas of greater focus for the future. 

I am very proud of the quality of our reports at OLSCC and the effort that teachers invest in communicating so clearly with our community regarding individual student progress.  I trust that families find great value in this high standard of reporting and can have open and honest discussions with their children to support future learning. Please be sure to read Mrs Brennan’s section in this newsletter as it explains the details of the Academic Reports in far greater detail – including the early release of digital reports.

Staffing Update

This week we welcomed Miss Siobhan Houghton as our new School Officer – Organisation and Finance.  Siobhan was raised in Northern England, though has lived in Dalby for a few years working in hospitality administration.  She’s had a very intense week coming to learn and know all the systems and processes at the College and is really enjoying her role.  Please make sure you stop and say hi to Miss Houghton if you see her around the College.

Next Friday we say farewell to Mr Dave Kavney as he settles into retirement.  Mr Kavney has been an invaluable member of the grounds staff for the past 2 years and our students, staff, hedges and trees will be missing his positive attitude around the place next term.  We have made some changes to the structure of the grounds staff at the College and are expecting our advertisements for these 2 new roles to be advertised shortly on Seek. 

We also welcome Miss Hayley Kidd to the staff at the start of next semester.  Miss Kidd is a specialist Agriculture and Agricultural Science teacher who has the qualifications and expertise to develop our Agribusiness Pathways Program into the future.  Miss Kidd will begin teaching next semester as well as preparing the Ag Precinct for even better things in 2022. 

Sadly, Mrs Michelle Garside has resigned from the College as our Music and Performing Arts teacher in order to explore new business opportunities.  Mrs Garside has been a part of the OLSCC way for many years and has made considerable change in The Arts for our Early Years and Middle Years students.  We wish her all the best for a prosperous future! We are currently advertising to fill this position.  

Have a wonderful end to the term and I look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday, 12 July!

Peter Cuskelly

Principal