In our prayers 

We pray especially this week for Marg Callaghan who has been battling cancer for a number of years.  Marg has been a part of our College community since her childhood, as she was a student of St Columba’s.  Her connection deepened in her roles as mother of students attending the College, as beloved administration staff member in both St Mary’s and Our Lady of the Southern Cross offices and as grandmother of College students.  We hold Marg and her family in our prayers, may they feel the reassurance of God’s comforting embrace. 

Reflection After the Review 

Last weeks’ Quadrennial School Review was an excellent process where the staff, students and community were able to give feedback to the panel regarding what is working well at OLSCC, as well as suggestions for what the College could do better. It was rejuvenating to hear the majority of the feedback was positive as well as being directly related to the areas for improvement identified in the previous review from 2017.  On reflection, I see it as crucial to acknowledge the input from all aspects of our College community over the past 2 years in delivering improved learning environments and outcomes for our students.  This is always the key focus of any school/college and I am proud to be able to be the Principal of a community that is so dedicated to making teaching and learning a distinct priority.  To evidence the improvement we are keenly awaiting the finalisation of NAPLAN reports so we can see how our College has improved the learning outcomes for students, though it is clearly evident from the initial raw data (individual student responses) that we have significant gains.  This consolidates the Reading results of our students, as well as their general level of achievement indicated in report cards.  

In addition, the Religious Life of the College has also progressed significantly through the development and implementation of Living Your Faith (LYF).  Though there is still much to achieve in subsequent phases of LYF, the initial phase has shown a collective effort toward heightening our understanding of faith, recreation, our community, and of course the introduction of Praxis, where we enact our faith through service to others. 

For me personally, I couldn’t be prouder of our amazing College and all we stand for.  Over coming weeks you will come to see more of our new College Statement (attached) which outlines the areas of focus for our College as we continue on our continual renewal. There has been much progress over the past 18 months, sometimes at a frantic pace, though our feedback indicated that much of this needed to occur in the short term.  I thank and welcome all the contributors to this progress and from the feedback I am receiving this week from the Executive Leadership Team – CONGRATULATIONS! 

Now, in moving forward, we look forward to the finalised report, which will be made available on the website and which will be used to create our 2020-2023 Strategic Plan.  It is evident that there are some core areas of focus which will see us continue to improve for the benefit of our students and their preparedness to enter the world as active academic contributors, as well simply being good people. 

Leadership Forum 

The leadership forum in St George has been excellent thus far. The workshop on instructional leadership was excellent on Monday, along with a few learnings regarding recruitment and selection.  On Tuesday we learned of new initiatives, policies and projects which will be rolling out, including the new Student Information System which will drastically reduce the duplication of work and align education and administration, making our College far more efficient.  On Wednesday we focussed on the spiritual development of Principals, something that can be overlooked in the fast-paced world of education.  This has given us time to collectively determine where we are, how we are coping, and ways to think moving forward so we can be more like Jesus in the way we live. I look forward to more learning and collaboration over the rest of the week, as well as the benefit this learning will bring to our College. 

Visible Learning Lighthouse Schools Tour 

As part of our Visible Learning journey, our College has been invited to be part of a Toowoomba Catholic Schools Visible Learning Study Tour to Auckland, New Zealand, from Sunday August 25 – Wednesday August 28. The purpose of the tour is to experience and learn from Visible Learning in action in schools that have been working in this area for an extended period and are considered “exemplary” on a global scale. We are grateful to TCS for continuing to strengthen the support network and develop our practice amongst the Visible Learning Lighthouse Schools so that together we can achieve the goals of the project.  

Three members of the Leadership Team, Mr Peter Cuskelly, Mr Steve Gillespie and Mrs Katrina Walton will attend, along with two classroom teachers, Mrs Kristen Joyce and Mrs Bronwyn McArthur. We look forward to the sharing of knowledge and practice on their return as we continue our Visible Learning journey. 

New College Coach 

The tyranny of administration regarding the new coach is almost over and we look forward to it’s delivery on Monday, 19  August.  In valuing the arrival of the long awaited coach, we will be hosting a sausage sizzle and a tour of the coach on Monday from 3:00pm for the community. Please feel free to come along and have a sausage after looking over the new coach which will be directly used to enable far cheaper access for students to curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular experiences.  For individual events, costs will reduce by around 60-70% per individual, though will still be a user pays system for all trips outside of Dalby.  Please note however, that this coach is registered for these activities only, and as such is not a vehicle that is available for hire for other groups or for other purposes. It is possible however, as it is registered under TCS, that other schools in TCS may use the coach from time to time. 

General Permission Form 

Simply, attaining individual permissions for everyday items is a nightmare! On Friday we will send a note home which will include a 'General Permission Form'.  This form will grant permission for your child to attend common outings and excursions with optional tick boxes for you to tick off before signing.  This allows our staff to focus on delivering the learning experiences for students in place of chasing permissions. We ask that all families complete and return the form as promptly as possible, with the first students to hand the form in on Monday gaining the benefit of being the first group on the College Coach! The form will include various items that parents may or may not wish permit their students to engage, so please read and complete carefully before returning to the College.  Obviously, without this form completed, we will still need to send you individual paperwork whenever your child is due to travel.  

Have an amazing end to the week.

Peter Cuskelly

Principal