WHAT A FABULOUS YEAR!

When I look back over 2024 so many great moments come to mind, so much has happened this year for us to be proud of and celebrate. Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting classrooms around our College for UP Day. Our young people have grown so much this year, learnt so much and are so ready for all the challenges and new learnings that await them in 2025. Our staff have again gone above and beyond to create safe and engaging classes that inspire our learners to give their best and strive to meet their potential. I am grateful for being a part of this vibrant and caring OLSCC community. Enjoy your quality time over the Christmas and New Year break it is well earned by all, students, staff and parents. Merry Christmas.

OLSCC Christmas Carols

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the College Christmas Carols – this simple event is to bring our community together and to celebrate the season of Christmas. Although we had a last-minute location change (which worked really well) it was a great evening of fellowship and singing. Thanks to all our students and teachers especially our music teachers, Miss Sophie Twidale and Miss Amie Stolz for their hard work in the lead up. Thanks also the FACE volunteers who cooked the delicious BBQ. The evening also raises funds for Yes Arusha as we contribute $3000 a year to the educating a student in Haradali, Africa each year. 

Report Cards

On Monday Semester 2 Report Cards were published to Sentral for Parents (Parent Portal) and students can also view these on Sentral for Student Portal. After the large amount of changes in Semester 1 there were minimal changes this semester. One slight improvement to Year 7-8 Reports was the inclusion of the individual subjects that fall under Humanities, Arts and Technologies. In Year 7 and 8 they may not cover all of these subjects each semester but those that were delivered were included under the overall Subject title. This video can help you access reports via Sentral for Parents https://youtu.be/8tuVVtE02ow

Mini Vinnies

Thank you for donations towards our Mini Vinnies Christmas Appeal. Each year your generosity is overwhelming as we dig deep to help out those who need it most this Christmas. Your donations will be used by our local St Vincent de Paul to create hampers to brighten someone’s Christmas. 

EdLead 2025

This week from Monday to Wednesday our Prefects and Mr Tim Lincoln attended the EdLead 2025 Conference with other young leaders from Edmund Rice Schools throughout Queensland. It was hosted at Nudgee College and was a gathering of over 60 students from 13 schools.

The students who attended wrote of the experience:

“On the 2nd of December the Prefect team travelled down to Brisbane to attend the 2025 Ed Lead conference. This retreat involved a variety of activities consisting of leadership skills, networking with other leaders as well as a spiritual dive. We were also lucky enough to be spoken to from a variety of special guest, who told us their stories and how they have grown as individuals from the power of leadership. This opportunity has given us multiple ideas that we can implement within our College to grow our College spirit and build a strong lasting legacy. One of the key takeaways the group has been left with is that leadership is not about what you do or say, but instead how you make them feel. From this camp not only were we able to grow as people but further extend our leadership qualities and skills.”

Leaving at the End of 2024

If your child is finishing schooling with us at the end of 2024, please be aware that your access to Parent Portal will also conclude at the end of Term 4 2024. It is important that you download any report cards saved on the portal that you may need for future reference.

2025 Key dates

If you are like me and like to prepare your calendar for the next year ahead of time these dates might help you out.

Pupil Free Days – staff involved in professional learning no students at the College

• 28 January – Tuesday
• 22 April – Tuesday
• 14 July – Monday
• 1 August – Friday
• 5 September - Friday

Term dates

• Term 1 - 29 January Wednesday – 4 April Friday
• Term 2 – 23 April Wednesday – 27 June Friday
• Term 3 – 15 July Tuesday – 19 September Friday
• Term 4 – 7 October Tuesday – 5 December Friday

Final Days

• Year 12 Final Day – 21 November Friday
• Year 10 and 11 Final day – 28 November Friday
• Prep – Year 9 Final day – 5 December Friday

Important dates – currently set unlikely to change

• 3 February Monday – Commencement Mass
• 4-5 February Tuesday and Wednesday – College Photos
• 12 March – 24 March NAPLAN test window
• 21 March Friday – Year 12 Formal

Where To Find The Organisational Info For 2025?

As mentioned earlier in my newsletter article I love to plan ahead, to assist families with preparedness for 2025 we have three essential places to look for information.

SENTRAL FOR PARENT PORTAL – for existing families – here you will find documents such as class lists, booklists, forms and other essential information for your child

COLLEGE WEBSITE – for all families new and existing – here you will find essential back to school information about uniforms and booklists and links to our College Newsletter and Facebook posts

WEEK 10 NEWSLETTER – this newsletter is an essential read for all families (new and existing) it contains important information pertaining to 2025 academic year

Student Timetables 2025

Students in Year 5 - 12 2025 were emailed their v1.0 of their 2025 timetables this week. They can access this through their school email account. As the staff are updated we will continue to update student timetables. Timetables will be updated on Sentral for Parents and Students after the 13 January, until this time email is the way we communicate these. We believe it improves wellbeing for our students to provide this information once it is available so we will keep them updated in the new year. 

NAPLAN 2025

NAPLAN for students in Year 3, 5, 7, and 9 will be from 12 - 24 March 2025. NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular school curriculum. NAPLAN is not a test that children can prepare for in the same way they might prepare for an end of unit test. NAPLAN tests skills that develop and improve over time. These are skills that should be continuously developed throughout the year and not just in the lead-up to NAPLAN.

I encourage Parents to learn more and see the types of questions and related functionalities available in the NAPLAN Online assessment at www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site. The College provides all necessary equipment, pencils, erasers and headphones for these tests to occur.

Christmas Church Services

Our College community and the wider Dalby community is blessed with many religious and spiritual denominations. We encourage you to embrace the meaning and spirit of Christmas and attend a church service with your family this Christmas. I encourage you to connect with your local church via Facebook for times for all Christmas services. Times currently available to us from our area are:

St Joseph’s Catholic Church Dalby – Christmas Eve 6pm & Christmas Day 9am

Our Lady Help of Christians Bell – Christmas Day 7am

Immaculate Conception Jandowae – Christmas Eve 6pm

St John’s Anglican Church Dalby – Christmas Eve 5pm, 7pm, 11pm & Christmas Day 8am

Dalby Christian Family Church (Pratten St, Dalby) – Christmas Eve 6pm

Cate Brennan

Deputy Principal Religious Education