I trust that everyone is thoroughly enjoying the cold toes and misty mornings that come with this time of year. Just a reminder that it is the time of year to buy a new laundry marker and mark all of your child’s clothes to save digging through the lost property every week!

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS)

What an amazing morning!  Mrs Jenkinson estimates that we had around 400 young people in the PAC on Wednesday for NSS, whilst I was fortunate enough to be invited to read for the Dalby Library NSS to a crowd of around 100 children.  “Alpacas in Maracas” was an excellent choice of text and it was delightful to be a part of over one million children reading Matt Cosgrove’s book at the same time!  Thank you again to Mrs Jenkinson for organising NSS for our College yet again, and to all families who engaged wherever they read.  Learning to read well is a must for our children to flourish in the 21^st Century and this is one small way we can celebrate and enjoy reading.

https://www.facebook.com/westerndownslibraries/videos/586003018475845/

Lockdown and Fire Drills

At least 4 times a year we have either a lockdown or fire drill so we are best prepared should an emergency arise at the College.  This week we had a lockdown drill. A real lockdown may be called in the case of any situation where people are at risk from anything other than fire.  This includes snakes, feral dogs, traffic incidents, chemical spills, police action on College grounds, sudden onset of extreme weather event or aggressive people on the College grounds.  Our primary role during this event is to ensure that we maintain safety for all those on the College grounds, and our process worked very well although as always, we have found some additional ways to improve. 

One of these is to clarify with our community what they should do if they arrive at the school during a fire drill or lockdown procedure.  You will know! – the alarm is very noisy…

• If you arrive at the College during a FIRE – either leave the grounds immediately and get yourself to safety, or go to the emergency assembly point which is on the oval.  Immediately report to the nearest member of the College Leadership Team.
• If you arrive during a LOCKDOWN – you will not be able to get into any rooms and the phones will all shut down, so trying to enter the College or phone the office will not be possible.  You are to immediately remove yourself to a place of safety, which would be a considerable distance from the College.  

Principal’s Leadership Forum @ Dalby

Next week we are honoured to be hosting the Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools Leadership Forum, as well as hosting some sessions including the clergy of the Diocese.  We are able to show off our great town, as well as support local businesses with our custom throughout the period.  On Friday we will host at the College and all Principals and Diocesan leaders will tour the College from 9:00-9:45am.  If you see the visitors in town next week, please make them welcome!

Eisteddfod Preparations

I have seen quite a few classes in their preparations for the Eisteddfod this week and I must say, there looks to be some excellent performances coming up in Week 8 (Wed 5 June – Friday 9 June).  We will be sending home the schedule next week so that parents and families can plan some time to see their children perform!  We also have many individual performances throughout the Eisteddfod from various students at the College.  Be sure to support this great opportunity celebrating performing arts in our town.

Staff Changes

We are currently recruiting to replace Mrs Tanuja Vakade who has accepted a position at St Patrick’s Marist College, Sydney and Mr Atesh Prasad who has accepted a position at another Diocesan College, St Josephs in Toowoomba.  We wish them both well for their new endeavours, and thank Mrs Vakade for her time at the College where she has been such a dedicated teacher and colleague in our community.  Interviews for these positions are taking place next week with replacements likely to begin in term 3.  It is likely that students will have interim teachers for the remainder of this term to continue their learning until a permanent solution can be put in place. Letters will go home to impacted families once details of replacements have been finalised.

Purposeful Life

When we think of well-being we tend to think of objects or activities that make ourselves feel good.  Recently I have been investigating what really makes for a person living a purposeful life as well as gaining happiness and satisfaction from their day to day interactions.  While we often think that our own well-being and happiness is about us, the reality is that our happiness comes from serving others, as well as through transcendence.  A recent TED talk encouraged us to focus on four areas to achieve a meaningful existence, rather than focusing on what makes us happy, which tends to centre around selfish instant gratification.  These four areas are:

1. Belonging – relationships where you are valued for who you are intrinsically and where you value others as well
2. Purpose – Using your strengths to serve others
3. Transcendence – Transcendence is when yourself fades away and you feel connected to a higher reality
4. Storytelling – we create our own stories – future and past. You can edit, interpret and retell your story, even whilst being constrained by facts

Mostly, it centres on us being in control of our well-being, and not relying on others to validate all we do in order to feel satisfied with our lives, progress, happiness and success.

Pete Cuskelly

Principal