Being a part of a Prep to Year 12 College is special, and a blessing that we often take for granted. Over the past few weeks, I have seen many examples of this that I would like to celebrate.

Our Prep-Year 4 Retreats on Friday Week 4! These retreats were developed and conducted by our Year 11 Students around this year’s Catholic Education Week theme Communities of Faith, Hope and Love. Watching our younger and older students interact is such a blessing and I think they both learn from each other during these times.

Girls Rugby 7s hosted in Dalby. It was great to see our three teams playing in the Independent Girls Rugby Sevens Competition play in Dalby on Friday 2 August. On the sideline cheering them on, were many families from our College community and also past students and families. This show of support really spurs on our players to play their best throughout the afternoon. 

Netball Queensland Netball Gala Day for Years 4-6. The College took 4 teams to this carnival – one Year 6 team, one Year 5 team and two Year 4 teams.  At this event, senior students with a talent in Netball from Year 9-12, were taken to support the staff and four teams who attended this carnival.  These students were critical to the smooth running of our teams on this day as they umpired our games, ran drills and warm up sessions, motivated and guided the younger students and then helped coach from the sideline. 

MacKillop Day. Organised and led by our MacKillop leaders and senior students, this fun celebration highlights that leaders are in all year levels.  Watching the care and interaction between our students across year levels reminds me that role models are not always the oldest people in our midst, they are those around us who guide, support and encourage us. On MacKillop Day there were many role models ensuring that all students of MacKillop house felt valued and involved in the lunch time activities. 

Early Years lunchtime touch started this term. This initiative was developed by Year 4 students to create a more organised lunchtime touch competition. The younger students have recruited Year 12 boys to assist them with this initiative. The comradery of this activity is wonderful to see.

Science Week activities held this week. This week, demonstrations by our College staff, have engaged students to allow them to explore the world of Science. 

Laying of Turf in our Early Years Playground. In Praxis, our Year 10 and Year 12 students laid turf in one of the bare spots in our Early Years playground. Praxis is all about the impact we can have as individuals for the betterment of others, and this was a great example of doing something for others without any direct benefit in return. 

Learning Discussions Term 3

Learning Discussions will be offered in Week 7 with your child’s teacher/s.

• 10 minute discussions will be for parents and teachers (students optional)
• Open Two-way Discussion - The first question teachers will ask in this discussion is what you, the parent, would like to discuss about your child as a learner. This is to open the dialogue and ensure it is a ‘discussion’ not an ‘interview’. This two-sided conversation is to discuss your learner’s progress so far this year and opportunities for growth.
• Time has been allocated for all staff P-12 from 3:30pm-5:30pm on Thursday Week 7. Teachers will then allocate an additional hour around their own commitments throughout the week. These times will all be shown on the Parent Portal booking platform.
• Optional Learning Discussions

These are not compulsory for parents and if you have been communicating with your teacher about your child’s progress you may not feel it is necessary to attend these. We have allocated particular times for these formal Learning Discussions. For our teachers in Year 7-12, that teach multiple classes and students, we ask that you consider which teacher/s you wish to have a discussion with and prioritise booking with these. If you have teachers for multiple subjects, one time will be used to cover all subject questions. A letter detailing bookings for these discussions was sent via email to all families and posted on Parent Portal. Bookings opened Friday 2 August at 4:00pm and will remain open until 9:00am on Monday 19 August. 

COLLEGE EVENTS

We love it when families join us for College events. Our next big College Event is Our Lady of the Southern Cross Day. On this day we join as a whole College for our prayer celebration at 12:30pm in the MPC. Our 2025 Prefects will be announced at this prayer celebration, followed by an afternoon of whole college athletic events on the Main Oval. These events include All Age Relay, the Tresillian and Gillespie Gifts. This is a great afternoon to join us to celebrate the magic that is our Prep – Year 12 College community.

Grandparents are so special, and we celebrate them as a College on Grandparent’s Day. This year, Grandparent’s Day will be held on Friday 13 September. Official activities will commence at 9:30am with our prayer celebration in the MPC, grandparents are welcome to mingle after drop off from 8:30am for a casual cuppa in the Middle Years Plaza.  After prayer, grandparents will head to classroom visits to see the exciting ways and concepts our students have been learning in 2024. 

If you are new to our College family in 2024 you may not be aware of another big occasion we have in Term 4, our College Awards of Excellence Ceremony. Held during the Year 12’s last days here at the College, it celebrates and acknowledges excellence in all four domains of our College; Academia, Spirituality, Sport and Arts. Awards are presented to students in all year levels as we celebrate our rich College life. At the conclusion of the Awards, we farewell our Year 12 students as a P-12 community and they exit and ring the journey bell. This ceremony will be on 13 November beginning at 9:15am. Parents will be notified via Parent Portal at the commencement of Term 4 if your child is receiving an award. Teachers have already commenced their work on Award nomination and over the coming weeks I will feature the criteria for our Awards in our newsletter.

GRANDPARENT’S DAY – the finer details

Grandparents can be defined in many ways; a parent of one’s father or mother, they are also extended family or even dear family friends who fill the role of mentor and loved one in our lives. We extend an invitation for all Grandparents of our College students (Prep to Year 12) to join us on our annual Grandparent’s Day, Friday 13 September.

The day will flow:
8:30-9:15am - Morning Cuppa offered to grandparents in MY Plaza after drop off
9:15-9:30 - Grandparents and Students move into the MPC
9:30-10:00 - Prayer Celebration
10:00-11:30 Classroom visits - Grandparents asked to go with older students first then they can accompany them to the next one….then the next one….then the next one and so on.
So we can arrange seating we ask all grandparents to RSVP to this event by Monday 9 September using the QR Code below or this link

GRANDPARENT'S DAY RSVP

WHY DO WE HAVE PUPIL-FREE DAYS?

Are you curious why we have Pupil-Free Days? These days are extremely important for our staff to gather and to be lifelong learners themselves.  The Toowoomba Catholic Schools office designates each year which days these will be taken on and over the course of year we have 10 Pupil free days allocated. Five of these occur outside of the school terms either in the week before students start in Term 1 or after school in the form of extended professional learning sessions until 7:30pm. The other five occur during the school term, one at the commencement of Term 1, Term 2 and Term 3, one aligned to Catholic Education Week and the other a Friday usually in late August or early September. On these days the staff collaborate and engage in professional learning aligned to directions set by Toowoomba Catholic School Office as well as annual goals and priorities as set by the College each year. Some of these occur here at the College whilst others occur at different locations like last Friday’s Bishops Inservice Day which was held at St Mary’s College Toowoomba. The dates for Pupil-Free Days for 2025 are:

Week 0 – 21 January – 24 January (before students commence)

Tuesday 28 January

Tuesday 22 April

Monday 14 July

Friday 1 August

Friday 5 September

Biblical Garden update

We have been busy over the last few weeks in the Biblical garden. We have refreshed the plants in the native garden adding more flowering shrubs to the area. Our order of 21 roses arrived and have been planted out.  In designing our garden space, research was explored on plants from biblical times and locations; and plants that hold significant religious symbolism and significance. Roses whilst not named specifically in the text of the bible, the Christian symbolism of the rose is significant as they reference beauty, divine love, purity and life. Red roses often represent Christ’s sacrificial love and the blood he shed on the cross. In Christian iconography, roses frequently appear in religious art, stained glass windows and illuminated manuscripts. The roses we have chosen for our garden are a multitude of colours, fragrances and many are named after values and icons we strive to emulate. Just some of the roses we have included are:

• Gift of grace
• Joy of life
• Pope John Paul II
• Mary MacKillop
• Catherine McAuley
• Peace
• The Children’s Rose

DATE CLAIMERS – Term 3 and beyond

30 August - Pupil Free Day – Staff Professional Development

2 September – Our Lady of the Southern Cross Day Celebrations

13 September – Grandparent’s Day Celebrations & Last day of Term 3

30 September – First day of Term 4 (10-week term)

7 October – King’s Birthday holiday

21 October – 12 November – Year 12 External Exams

13 November – College Awards of Excellence Ceremony

15 November – Year 12 Graduation Mass

2 December – College Christmas Carols (twilight)

5 December – Early Years Nativity Play (during school day)

6 December – last day of Term 4 (10-week term)

Cate Brennan

Deputy Principal Religious Education