Our Core Business

At Our Lady of the Southern Cross College, we pride ourselves on our core business, which is growing great people. We grow great people through the holistic education we provide, and the environment in which this education is provided. This is seen and heard in our walkways and playgrounds, the classrooms and science labs, and it’s what makes our College a fantastic place to learn, play and work. Last Friday at assembly, I shared that this is strongly founded on the reliance for everyone to follow the College expectations. 

Our College expectations are simple. Learn and Allow Others to Learn; Be Safe; Be Respectful; Be Responsible.

These are not aspirational expectations, though neither do we expect everyone to be perfect. Unfortunately, some students have begun to think that these expectations aren’t required all day, every day. The following of these expectations is critical in shaping who we are as a community. 

Please remind your children of the importance of these expectations in their day-to-day interactions and actions. They are basic foundations upon which we can grow great people, and in enrolling at OLSCC you and your child are agreeing to meet these expectations as a core responsibility. It’s just the start of why OLSCC is such a great place to learn, play and work everyday.

Enrolment Strategy 2025

Our enrolments for 2025 are looking very healthy. We have offered 70 places in Prep for next year, which is remarkably close to full. We have a few spaces left in some year levels for 2025, while others remain full with waiting lists. It’s important to note that our timetable for 2025 does not include a third class of Year 7 students, as we have done at times in the past. Accordingly, there will be very few spaces available for students who wish to come to OLSCC in Year 7.

Our sustainable enrolment strategy is to grow the College to three streams starting in the Early Years, and gradually progressing to the Senior Years over time. We have found from past experience that expanding due to interest on an annual basis in Year 7 is not financially viable, and doesn't result in improved learning outcomes or learning culture within the year level. 

Our year levels with 3 classes next year will be Prep, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 8.  I am predicting approximately 692 students for the 2025 academic year, and we are looking to firm up offers for places at OLSCC in 2025 before the September holidays.

While many classes are full, we have shifts in enrolments like all schools. I encourage all prospective enrolments to ensure that enrolment forms and documentation is complete and accurate so that we may progress to interveiw and then offering of places or placement on the waiting list. This process ensures that there is fairness and equity in allocating places, though there are always priorities for the offering of places. These decisions are not made lightly and depend on many factors including: siblings currently enrolled at the College, families relocating from other catholic schools, students enrolling from small schools surrounding Dalby. 

If you would like to discuss enrolment at the College, please contact our enrolment officer (07 4672 4111 or email dalby@twb.catholic.edu.au) for more information regarding the process.  

Staffing for 2025

It’s that time of the year where we have done much of the strategic work in oragnising the teaching roster for 2025, and now begins the exciting process of recruitment. Over the next few months you will see a variety of jobs being advertised on Seek, TCS website and Facebook. Some of these vacancies will be to replace staff that are moving to new adventures, some will be for new roles in the timetable, some for additional needs of year levels and subjects, and some because of growth. As mentioned above, we are predicting over 690 students at OLSCC next year, and I look forward to enacting another great team for ongoing success.  

I would like to announce that Mr David De Costa Silva has made the decision to retire at the end of the 2024 academic year. Since joining the College in 2022 David has been a welcome addition to our team with many areas of expertise including Visual Arts, REE, and our resident assembly photographer! David is an avid artist with many talents and he brings the joy and expertise of the Visual At into his classroom daily. We thank David for the commitment to our College and wish him all the best for a successful transition to retirement, as well as continued success in the classroom for the remainder of the year.

Long Way from Finished!!

Attendance at school is important. Continuity in learning is attained when student attendance is 93% or better. This is a very reasonable target for our students and the vast majority of our students reach this target comfortably. Of course, we understand that circumstances arise where students can't be at school, though the goal should remain to attain at least 93% attendance - which still allows students 15 days away from the College for unexpected circumstances such as sickness. 

Due to these unforeseen circumstances, our eligibility criteria target is a low standard of 85%. This excludes school-approved absences such as school sport, carnivals, camps, retreats, eisteddfods and performances. A student at 85% is away from school around 30 days a year on total. That's 6 full weeks out of 40 weeks not at school.

Continuing to focus on learning and maintaining consistent school attendance is indeed crucial for students. I encourage all families to continue to emphasise showing up to school consistently as there is still plenty of learning left this year.

Peter Cuskelly

Principal