The start of a new school year brings with it the excitement of meeting new staff and this year we have welcomed new teachers and school officers to our community. Last week was a busy week with many inductions and we were pleased to be able to meet and get to know our new staff before all the students arrived back on Wednesday.

In the Senior School we welcomed Ms Glistening Deepwater, Miss Harriet Nicholson, Miss Tamara Creeley, Mr Wayne Dunbrack and Mr Brad Grayson while in the Middle Years we welcomed Mr Daniel Cross and Miss Lucy Price. Mrs Jo Cuskelly has taken up the role of Library Assistant while Mrs Courtney Geiger, Mrs Ros Boland and Mrs Yolande Brand will join the School Officer team working across many year levels. 

This week we will be introducing our Arts and Culture team as well as Mr Wayne Dunbrack who is the Middle Leader of Senior Years and in the weeks to come we will introduce our other new staff members.

Mr Dunbrack comes to us with a wealth of experience in Maths and Science and is really keen to motivate the students to achieve their best in these subjects. In his last role, Mr Dunbrack was the Senior Years Curriculum Leader at St Mary's School in Kingaroy and specialised in Physics and Maths but he has a real passion for the Senior Sciences. Originally from Canada, Mr Dunbrack moved to Australia in 1970 and first lived in Western Australia.  He then taught in a prison school in NSW before moving to Cairns and has been a Queenslander now for 23 years. He spent 10 years as the Head of the Science Department at Corinda State High School in Brisbane and is now really pleased to be working at our College and living in Dalby. In his spare time, Mr Dunbrack likes to play chess and has played in some overseas online chess competitions. He also likes to take long walks and has completed hikes of 200km to 600km. So far, Mr Dunbrack thinks Dalby is a lovely town, he says our College has brilliant staff and great students and he is looking forward to spending the next few years here.

Miss Tamara Creeley is the Drama and HASS teacher and she is hoping to inspire a passion in her students in both of these subject areas. Miss Creeley graduated from the University of Queensland last year and is excitied to be in her first teaching position. When asked what she thinks of Dalby, she said, "I love the people. The community has been very welcoming and the staff and students at OLSCC have been the absolute best." In her spare time, Miss Creeley enjoys sewing and making her own clothes.

Ms Glistening Deepwater is the Visual Art teacher and Middle Leader of Culture and she is looking forward to inspiring our up and coming artists to be bountiful in their creativity and to really enjoy their art-making. Ms Deepwater has lived in and around Cairns for the past 27 years and her last teaching job was at Mount Garnet State School where she taught a multi-age upper primary class. She had Art in every subject area with them! Ms Deepwater is a Bachelor of Creative Industries and Master of Teaching and Learning and earned both these degrees at James Cook University. When asked about her hobbies, Ms Deepwater says she loves to make things from the fleece of wooly animals. She can spin, weave, knit and crochet when time permits and also loves to keep exotic aquarium fish and aquatic plants. She also loves gardening, reading and dancing. When asked about her first few weeks in Dalby, Ms Deepwater said, "I love how friendly and helpful everyone is here in Dalby, and I love the big big sky!"

Miss Harriet Nicholson is the Music teacher and she would love students to just love learning about and listening to music! Miss Nicholsoin went to the Conservatorium of Music and has a Bachelor of Music. She then went on to do her Masters of Secondary Teaching all while she did private violin and viola tutoring. We are really fortunate as Miss Nicholson LOVES playing netball! She plays semi-professionally in the Queensland Sapphire and Ruby Series and in the last 6 years, she has been a part of the Wildcats team, but now will play for the Panthers. So far, Miss Nicholson says everyone has been so welcoming and friendly. "It feels like I’ve lived here for years! The staff are always there to check in and see what I need help with or just for a chat, and the students are so respectful," she said. "The only negative is that Dalby does not have a Kmart… yet!"