Getting Ready for 2019!

We are reflecting on yet another great year for our College and we are well into organising for yet another year of success in 2019.  There are a few critical items that I will share below to ensure that everyone is up to speed with some of the organisational issues as we prepare for 2019:

• Uniforms – please note that the joggers that are in the uniform are black.  I will be discussing the uniform with local shops to ensure that good quality black joggers are available in the new year.  As an alternative, black joggers are available readily at most good sports shops in Toowoomba, especially in January, as some schools in Toowoomba have the same policy. 
• School Sectors – The school will be organised and led in 3 sectors from 2019.  These are Early Years (P-4), Middle Years (5-8) and Senior Years (9-12).  Our classroom placement, diaries, College Leadership etc have been aligned to this structure and greater shifts will take place throughout the year (play spaces etc).
• College Calendar – It is filling fast and we barely have a day without anything on already.  The sports calendar is also almost finalised.  This will be available on SchoolZine by 14 January so you can plan ahead. You now have the ability to sync events from our College Calendar directly to your own calendar on your mobile device enabling you to schedule College events amongst your other activities.
• SchoolZine and SZapp – This is our primary communication method.  If you don’t have SchoolZine and SZapp, you will miss what is happening at the College.  Download it from your preferred app store or access it online via our website.
• School starts on 29 January for students and 22 January for teachers.  There are also additional pupil free days on the last days of Terms 1, 2 & 3, so be sure to sync or place these in your diary.
• To not impact learning, student attendance must be over 93%.  Students with attendance lower than this will be contacted in 2019, and those whose attendance is below 85% will need to consider their enrolment at the College.
• Book packages will be available for all students in the Early Years (P-4). These students will not receive a book list. Parents will pay a Book Pacakage levy at the College Office and students will receive books and stationery in the classroom throughout the year.
• Considerable changes have been made to book lists for 2019 and as such, costs for students books and stationary will be considerably less.  Book lists for all Middle Years (5-8) and Senior Years (9-12) will be sent out via SchoolZine and will also be available at the Dalby Newsagency.
• All other updates will be made through SchoolZine.

Junior School Swimming Carnival Tomorrow

The Junior School students are very excited about their swimming carnival tomorrow!  If you have the chance please come down to the pool between 9am and 12:30pm to cheer them on.  See you there! 

Rugby 7’s

What a year our teams are having in the Darling Downs Rugby 7’s competition.  The under 14 girls had a great season and learnt a tremendous amount, as well as surprising themselves with how much they have improved. This afternoon we see our boys under 14 and under 16 teams playing in the finals at Gold Park in Toowoomba.  Our games start at 4:40pm and both teams are in great form and condition as they strive for excellence this afternoon!  An update will be on Facebook later on this evening.

Laptop Information Session – Parents and Students

On Wednesday, 5 December we will be hosting multiple information sessions regarding the roll out of 1 to 1 laptops for all students in Years 7 to 12 in 2019. The first wil be on from 3:15 - 4:15pm and a repeated session from 6pm - 7pm.   There are many components to this program running successfully, and some very critical considerations regarding safe and responsible use of the laptops.  Please come along if you would like any more information and to clarify exactly what this will look like in 2019. 

Year 10 and 11 Students 

All the best to our Year 10 and 11 students as they finish their school year tomorrow.  I greatly look forward to spending more time with our Seniors in 2019 as our Year 12’s are the last of an educational era, and the Year 11’s the first of the next generation.  Thanks for a great year and we’ll see you raring and ready to go in January!

Peter Cuskelly

Principal