Great Start to 2024

What an amazing first week!  In recent weeks there has been a buzz around the college as jobs get done, teachers set up rooms, and the staff attend their annual six day training block in preparation for the year ahead.  Then, come Tuesday morning – BOOM! – thousands of people arrived and over 650 students head into classrooms – ready to catch up with all their mates, share stories from the holidays and start familiarising themselves with new teachers and learning environments.  It was energising to see the students, parents, families and little siblings engaging in the hive of activity around the place.  Welcome back everyone – its great to get another exciting year of learning, fun and friendships underway!

Learning First

I love showing people around our classrooms and playgrounds.  I have spent considerable time in classrooms this week and each and every class I have visited has been focussed on routines and learning.  Prep Green were explaining the College Expectations to me yesterday morning, 6B were focussed on math fact fluency, 11/12 Legal Studies were engaged in “beyond reasonable doubt”, and year 10 were learning how the periodic table functioned with Mr Storey.  Our College has an amazing buzz for the start of the school year, and everyone is hitting the ground running.  It is wonderful to have all our people back at school, and I already know that we are going to have a fantastic year in 2024 as we “Think Big, Act Boldly, Serve Others”.

Staff Update

We are fully staffed at OLSCC for 2024, and may I say that we aren't just staffed - we have an excellent team on board!  In case you see some unfamiliar faces around the classrooms, below are listed our new staff and those whose roles have changed for this year.   

Our new staff for 2024 are:

• Miss Kaitlin Stanton - Year 1S
• Miss Louise Pevy - Middle Leader Primary + Year 3PT
• Mr Lyndon Vince - Humanities + Business
• Miss Sophie Boon - Maths + Biology + Science
• Mr Michael Du Preez - Design Technology
• Mr Zachary Storey - HPE + Science
• Miss Laura Richter - Maths + Science

Staff changing roles include:

• Please see Middle Leadership Roles below
• Miss Sophie Twidale - Classroom music + Year 3PT
• Mrs Caitlin Fry - Year 7/8 English + Humanities
• Miss LaSharne Walkinshaw - Classroom School Officer
• Mrs Kathy Morgan - Full time Prep Red
• Mrs Jacqueline Jenkinson - Part-time Teacher Librarian Tues/Wed/Thurs
• Mr Dean Garside - 0.5 Careers Development Practitioner, 0.5 Teacher
• Mrs Melanie Henry - 0.4 4HT only this year (Thu/Fri) + lifesaving relief teacher!

In 2023 we also designed and recruited our new College Leadership Team through realigning the Middle Leadership Structure at the College. The roles of the various members of the Leadership Team are outlined below, and you can expect to hear more from our Middle Leaders as they celebrate their respective progress in the College.

2024-2027 Strategic Plan Launch

Attached to this newsletter is an invitation to attend the launch of the College's new Strategic Plan and commencement mass, and early next week parents will also receive an invitation to the official launch. Both of these events will take place on Monday 5 February, as we share our vision for the future as well as the actions that will underpin our ongoing success. I ask everyone to consider attending one of these events and being informed and engaged in the progress of the College.  The daytime event will include our 2024 commencement mass, a very beautiful mass, especially for the Prep and Year 12 students and their familes, and the late afternoon event will be a smaller, more formal occasion in the PAC which will be followed by canapes and refreshments in the Middle Years Plaza.  I look forward to seeing many of you there!

Outside of School Hours Care (OSHC)

The process of opening our OSHC at OLSCC is coming along nicely.  Yesterday we began advertising for the staff who will work for Toowoomba Catholic Kindergartens and Care (TCKC), operating on our site.  A letter is attached including the link to registration for your child, which must be done before your child can access this service.  I will continue to keep you informed as we get closer to announcing the date! If you know of any suitable staff, please pass on the details in this newsletter, on the TCS  website, or SEEK.  Exciting times!

Library Opening Times Changing

Starting in week 3, the opening times of the Library will change at OLSCC.  As always it will be open for students to access during lunch breaks at the College, and all through the day to  support their learning.  However, before and after school the purpose of the library will change, as will the times.  The library will be open from 8:30 to 8:50am, as well as 3:10-3:30pm daily for:

• library borrowing
• reading
• completion of homework
• study groups
• printing
• laptop and IT support

Students not in the library for these reasons will be asked to leave.  This means that additional outside of school hours supervision of students will not be staffed by the College as it has been in the past.  Students should arrive at the College around 8:30am daily, though certainly not before 8:15am, and must be collected from the College by 3:30pm.  I understand this may disrupt some arrangements for families, so please prioritise making new arrangements for your child's care before 8:30am and after 3:30pm. In coming weeks, the OSHC will provide excellent service for our 12 years and under students outside of school hours.   The library will continue to be open from 8:00am until 4:00pm in week 2 and begin new hours starting on 5 February 2024.

How to start the year well

There are a lot of conversations in our College with students about how to start the year well.  Below are a few key tips from me:

1. Get into it. Sign up for a choir, a club, a sporting team and make some new friends.  One at school, one in the community. There are fantastic options for everyone in Dalby!
2. Get onto it.  Don't waste time catching up on your learning later on.  Get ahead and start study now!
3. Get onboard.  Staff and students are all on the same team here at OLSCC.  Follow the expectations and focus on having a great time!
4. Get support.  Growing up sucks sometimes.  Luckily for our students, we have 83 staff here every day that are all passionate about working with young people.  When things aren't going your way, please just reach out to your favourite adult at the College for support, and if you can't identify a favourite adult, our Counsellor Mrs Ballantyne and our 3 Assistant Principals are there to support you.

Have an awesome year everyone - can't wait to play on the new prep playground next week!

Mr Peter Cuskelly

Principal