Welcome back to OLSCC for a fantastic Term 4! We have a wonderful term planned, full of learning, assessment, transition and events for the community.  It is really important that families and students keep in touch with communication from the College, particularly the newsletter, so they have a confident understanding of what is occurring across the College and things that will impact their children and families as we prepare for transition into the 2022 school year. A fine example of this is the 2022 OLSCC Family Calendar in the article above which you can download and print out for easy reference and is also available on our website.  This calendar has been kindly prepared by Mrs Bryers to outline key dates so that parents can arrange their holidays, time off work, and care for their children throughout next year.  We trust this will support families in preparing for 2022 and meet some of the uncertainty that families face. 

There is much happening in the Office in regard to planning for 2022.  We continue to strategically plan for our future prosperity, and are currently working hard at ensuring that we have the best teachers for our students.  I am very pleased with how we are progressing, and I am satisfied that we are beginning to establish the long-term subjects that will be taught in our Senior years.  This means that we will not be offering online subjects in the same manner as 2021 as we have the capability to teach all subjects on our lines face-to-face.  Please keep an eye out over coming weeks for draft timetables and key dates for your students if they are entering Years 11 and 12 in 2022. 

At this time, please keep in your prayers many of our Year 12 students as they enter their External Assessments from Friday 22 October.  This is a stressful time where they strive to achieve their best and gain the appropriate results to advance into their desired profession.  In 2021, it was an OLSCC student who received the highest ATAR in Dalby and considering that teachers are continually learning and improving their practice, we continue to see students well prepared for this time. 

Over the next few weeks we will be seeing continued disruption of the College due to the upgrading of the fire hydrant system and also the construction and landscaping of the Middle Years Plaza.  I am excited that we are able to enhance the safety of our community in the event of a fire and I am very thankful that those doing the work are considerate of our College.  Our disruptions to learning have been minimal and the majority of noisy work has been completed over weekends or after hours.  At present, we expect the entire project to reach practical completion by 17 November, which will allow our students and community a couple of week’s use before the holidays begin.  In the meantime, there will be disruptions to the College carparks as well as the ovals and learning areas.  Please be careful and safe as you move around the College, refrain from using the College grounds outside of school hours, and remain outside of any areas that are taped off.  We thank you for continuing to keep our students, staff and contractors safe.

Enrolments for 2022 and Beyond

Over recent years we have seen an increase in student numbers at OLSCC, with many of our enrolments coming from other schools in Dalby.  Over the past few weeks I have been looking at a variety of data including academic data, NAPLAN data, attendance data, wellbeing data and behavioural data.  What this data shows us is very clear: Students who start their learning at OLSCC achieve, behave and feel better in the long term than those that transition midway through their education.  It is very obvious from all the data that the best time to start your child’s education at OLSCC is in Prep. It’s that simple. Starting your child at OLSCC in Prep also means that your family becomes part of our community earlier, and you don’t have to worry about all the issues involved in transition. 

It is at this time of the year when many people are looking at which school is best for their child’s education.  Below are some key points you may wish to share with your friends if they are asking about OLSCC:

• The best time to transition your child to OLSCC in is Prep, or by the start Year 5 (at the latest).
• Many of our cohorts are nearing capacity, so there is no guarantee of enrolment at any stage. 
• It is never wise to wait until crisis point to transition your child to another school. 
• We maintain high standards and expectations regarding behaviour, attitude and commitment to learning.  If transferring from another school, you will be required to demonstrate that your child is committed to the values and ethos of our College through their behaviour and learning history.
• We have relatively low class sizes and offer an expansive range of senior subjects based on our size.  Despite some rumours getting around town, all of our offered senior subjects are delivered face-to-face.  Some students may choose to engage in a language or specialised subject, and we can cater for that with online learning, though all of the offered subjects are being delivered face to face in 2022.
• Our goal is to grow great people and we have a wonderful OLSCC community in which we can do that, whilst also providing some outstanding opportunities in academia, spiritualty, sport and culture.