The Laura Geitz Cup was a highly-contested netball competition held on 17  February and involved 20 U15 teams in 2 divisions from Toowoomba, Lockyer, Stanthorpe, Warwick, Pittsworth, Oakey, Clifton and Dalby.

The OLSCC team of students from Yr 7 – 9, had a very successful day, finishing second place in Division 2.

 The team consisted of Izzy Tanks, Lily Schloss and Molly Hartwig shooting the goals, Maddison Pascoe, Georgia Bumstead and Hannah Patterson attacking in the centre third, and Mackenzie Wedrat, Chloe Donaldson and Claudia Child defending.

The competition was fierce and the girls played so well that they lost only to Stanthorpe SHS who went on to win Division 2.

Big thanks to the girls for their competitive but friendly play, parents and other family who supported them, Mrs O’Brien and Ms O’Reilly for Match Day coaching and Miss Crow for the team’s organization and preparation.

A special thanks to Gabby Parker for her umpiring skills and Kiara Parker for scoring the games.

Congratulations also to Gabby, who umpired so well that she impressed the supervising umpires enough to be chosen to umpire the Division 1 Grand Final. A great accomplishment!

Game Results

Round 1

OLSCC (16) won against Scots College (8)

Stanthorpe SHS (11) won against OLSCC (10)

OLSCC (7) won against Mary MacKillop College(5)

OLSCC (26) won against Clifton (1)

Round 2

OLSCC (14) won against St Joseph’s College (3)

OLSCC (10) won against Concordia College (3)

OLSCC (13) won against St Saviour’s College(2)

Final

Stanthorpe SHS (11) won against OLSCC (6)

Pleasing 2018 OP Results

After we proudly showcased our 2018 OP1-5 students at last week’s Commencement and Academic Assembly, in the Courier Mail on Sunday the OP results across the state were compared based on the percentage of students receiving an OP score, and then the percentage of OP eligible students receiving OP 1-5.  The data was obviously the same as presented at the Academic Assembly last week, including that 74.36% of our 2018 Year 12 cohort received an OP Score, while 20.69% of those eligible, received an OP Score between 1 and 5. According to the algorithm applied by the Courier Mail, we are ranked at 126 out of the 378 Queensland high schools who have 10 or more OP eligible students.  This is a great result, and ranks us as the second highest secondary school in the Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba, only behind Downlands College with a ranking of 96. A great achievement by students, staff and families alike!

Faith Development @ OLSCC

In Years 7-12, students all study Religious Education (Years 7-10), Religious Education and Ethics (Years 11/12) and Study of Religion (Yr 12) at the same time.  This morning I took the opportunity to walk through many of these classrooms and it was inspiring to see the engagement of students and staff alike in the Religious domain.  It really brings home the importance of our faith at the College, and the Implementation of the LYF (Living Your Faith) program is certainly bringing our faith, and its impact on us as wonderful people, as we travel through this life together.

Ricoh Case Study

Ricoh, the suppliers of our interactive panels in classrooms, visited with all of their company partners to develop the foundation of their case study, and see the interaction between technology and teaching and learning last Tuesday.  They are currently developing a written case study and will be back in coming months to create a video regarding the successful and entrepreneurial introduction to our Digital Enhancement of the Curriculum platform.  I look forward to sharing this with the community as soon as it is complete.

Leadership Forum

Next week I will be attending the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Leadership Forum in Toowoomba focussed on aligning the direction of the College with that of the Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools in the best interests of the students.  Key aspects of the week include: strategic planning of all aspects of the Diocese (Teaching and Learning, Office of the Executive Director, Formation and Identity, Information Technology, Human Resources, Staffing, Facilities and Finance); the TCS Numeracy Strategy, Assessment and reporting practices; Anti-discrimination processes; Performance and development; Principal capability development and much more.  I will have plenty to report back on my return, and value this outstanding learning opportunity provided to all Diocesan principals to enhance the collective capabilities of our Colleges.

I ask everyone to continue thinking of our fellow Australians suffering the impact of flood, fire and drought. Thanks also to all of those who selflessly donated to get those in north west Queensland back on their feet.  Continue your prayers for them as they continue through the clean-up, and into moving on beyond the devastation into the future.

Peter Cuskelly

Principal

A huge thanks to the College community that dug deep and brought in donations for the North Qld Flood Appeal.  We donated $1395 to St Vincent de Paul Qld for distribution.  We continue to keep those affected in our prayers and consider other ways we can continue to support these fellow Queenslanders.  

Dear Lord, 

Please show Your mercy and compassion towards all those affected by the rain in North QLD.   

Fill your people with generosity and kindness, reach out to others, and be the hands of Jesus to those in need. 

Be with those in the affected in the days, months and years ahead, give them strength and determination to rebuild. 

We place our prayer in your loving hands, in the name of Jesus.

Amen. 

 LYF @ OLSCC – Religious Education and Faith Development 

The direct teaching and learning aspect of the LYF Program is Religious Education, the coming to know and understand the Christian faith through our Catholic Tradition.  We do this regularly with our College through RE lessons.  Every year level has a minimum of 2.5 hours of Religion instruction each week. 

Religious Education / Faith Development is the acquisition of knowledge and understanding of Christian faith and life in the Catholic tradition. This journey allows the development and application of attitudes, values and skills 

The goals of each component will be explored in future newsletters.  If you would like to discuss any of these in more detail or you have ideas you would like to contribute contact any of our teachers or myself cate.brennan@twb.catholic.edu.au . 

Cate Brennan

Deputy Principal Mission

Gratitude: The Things You Find on a Learning Walk

Each week in my calendar, I schedule Learning Walks. These walks are an opportunity for me to visit classrooms and catch up with students as they are engaged in their learning. One thing that has been very clear is the extra work that our Senior Years teachers are putting in to ensure that our students can engage in some exciting learning experiences. These have ranged from dissections, design and building projects and enhancing their curriculum delivery with the use of our new digital screens. All this is in addition to our continued curriculum development across Years 9 - 12. Gratitude is one of our five key ingredients to success in the Senior Years, and I am deeply appreciative of all the extra time our teachers have been dedicating to ensure our students have engaging and innovative learning experiences. I know that our Senior Years students are very fortunate to have such a great team of teachers guiding them through these crucial years of their schooling.

Academic Success Interviews

Throughout the term, I will be holding Academic Success Interviews with our Year 11 and 12 students. These interviews are part of our academic success tracking in the Senior Years and will focus on post-school options, how each student is travelling in their subjects, and identifying any target areas for improvement. Students will have a follow-up interview during Term 3. Year 10 students will also have their first Academic Success Interview in Term 3 as they finalise their SET planning and subject selection.

Senior Years Assembly

This week we held the first Senior Years Assembly in the plaza area. It was the first time that we have been able to use the newly installed outdoor television. Parents are most welcome to join us for this assembly. The next one will be held on Monday 18 March at 2.30pm.

Matt Hodge

Assistant Principal Senior Years

We are into Week 4 of Term 1 and the realities of school life are starting to become apparent. It is important that we take stock of the first few weeks of the year. How is your child handling the changes thrust upon them? There are a number of students new to the College; starting at a new school has its ups and downs. The Year 7 classes have been taken from a one teacher home room model to multiple teachers in multiple locations. How are these students coping? Take some time to talk with your child and gauge their levels of comfort and concern.

It is amazing how technology has swept through the College. The role out of the 1 to 1 laptop program has been a great success. Have a discussion with your child about the use of technology in the class room. Check out the learning platform CANVAS; students have a digital classroom that they can take anywhere. Congratulations to our staff some of whom have created extraordinary resources for students in a relatively compact time frame.

I am enjoying my interactions with both students and parents within the College and out in the community. The feedback being delivered is helping to inform our actions into the future. It is vitally important for us to take the opportunity to have discussions which create the development of a positive growth mindset. Our perception of a problem is the start of finding a solution. If we continue to create open lines of communication, we will find ourselves developing a solutions-based culture.

Spending time visiting class rooms has been very rewarding. The introduction of Visible Learning strategies is gaining momentum. The basis of this way of working is in giving students clear understanding of the work they are to undertake and how they will know if they have had success. Our aim is for students to be able to answer the following questions. Try these when you ask that age old question, “what did you do at school today?”

• What are you learning at the moment in _______________? (select a subject)
• How well are you doing?
• How do you know?
• How can you improve?
• Where do you go for help?

It is our aim that all students will be able to develop this conversation with out hesitation. I am really hoping they don’t replay with the age old answer, “nothing.”

Congratulations to all the students involved in co-curricular activities at the moment. A special mention to our Laura Geitz netballers who finished 2^nd in their division last Sunday. Thanks to Mrs O’Brien and Ms O’Reilly for their efforts on the day and for Miss Crow’s work with the girls leading up to the carnival.

Check out some of images of our Middle Years students engaged in their learning including Year 5 students reading their novel, 'Deltora Quest' and some of the inspirational messages from Mrs Carter's Year 5 students to the people of North Queensland who were ravaged by the recent floods.

I’m looking forward to Week 5; I am hoping, so are you.

Steve Gillespie

Acting Assistant Principal Middle Years

Congratulations to the first ever recipients of our brand-new Early Years Excellence Awards. These awards will be presented whenever we have a specific Early Years Assembly and are in recognition of excellence related to academic learnings, learning dispositions or other parts of the school curriculum. These new awards, by their very nature, do not simply replace the old Student of the Week Awards. The focus is on excellence, and as such, each award will provide targeted, specific feedback to that student. There is not an expectation that every child in every class will receive the award at some time, nor that there is a regular number of awards given on any day.  

Early Years Assembly currently takes place on a monthly basis. As we had our first assembly this week, the next time we will come together will be:-  

Week 8 

Monday March 18 

2.30-3.00pm 

Performing Arts Centre  

(Please enter via side door) 

We would really love to see parents join us regularly for this assembly, to help celebrate the wonderful things that are happening in the Early Years, and to keep up to date with what is happening around the school. I look forward to seeing many of you there for our next assembly! 

Musical  

Unfortunately, due to the developing nature of the demands of the College musical for 2019, a change to the eligibility of student participation has been identified. Students in the Middle and Senior Years will be invited to participate, however after lengthy consideration of the script and the rehearsal schedule it was decided that the level of expectation placed on the Early Years students would be detrimental to their academic progress and wellbeing. As such, Early Years students will be unable to participate in the 2019 College musical. We are hoping that forward planning will allow us to engage in future musicals that would have a greater opportunity for the younger students to participate. 

Please see our Photo Gallery from the Early Years sector.

Captions: Kristen Bennie in a guided reading session, Hard at work in 4C, Snack Attack in 4J and all the Early Years Excellence Awards winners from Week 4.

Katrina Walton

Assistant Principal Early Years

Junior

Bunya District Swimming Trials

Congratulations to all students who competed at the Bunya District Swimming Trials this morning. Selected students will now attend the Darling Downs Trials in Gatton on 6 March.

Bunya District Basketball Trials

Any boys or girls turning 11 or 12 this year who wish to attend Bunya District Basketball Trials, please sign on via the Sports Notice Board. Trials will be held on Tuesday 26 February.

Bunya District AFL Trials

Any boys or girls born 2007 – 2009 who wish to attend Bunya District AFL Trials, please sign on via the Sports Notice Board. Trials will be held on Monday 4 March.

Senior

Darling Downs Cluster 1 Trials

Congratulations to the following students selected in Darling Downs Teams following trials earlier this week.

U15 Boys Touch Football

Bailey Skinner, Tim Mauch Michael MacDonald

18 Boys Touch Football

Lachlan Wilkins, Ky Kirtley

18 Girls Touch Football

Charlotte Crothers

18 Boys Tennis

Ben Forbes

Cricket

DDSWQ Competition Round 1

Chinchilla SHS 5/ 153 defeated OLSCC 8/94

Chinchilla got off to a great start with the bat, with one of their openers scoring 100 runs with some power hitting. Our boys tried hard in very hot conditions. Ky Kirtley and Jonty MacDougall were great in the field. The OLSCC run chase never got going and at one stage, the boys were 8/40. Pat Boland opened the innings scoring 23 before Josh Hart 37* and Dusty Brown 13* rescued the innings. The team has a bye next week before a game against Oakey SHS in Week 6. Thanks to the Dalby Cricket Club for the use if their facilities for the game today.

Inner Downs Cluster 2 Trials

Inner Downs Cluster 2 Trials will be held on Wednesday, 27 February at Highfields. Sports include Under 15 and Open Netball, Basketball and Soccer. Travel will be via private transport. Students need to sign on via the Sports Notice Board.

Darling Downs Cluster 2 Trials  

Darling Downs Trials will be held later this Term in Under 15 Boys and Girls AFL, Under 15 and Open Rugby Union, Golf and Open Hockey. Students interested in attending these trials need to sign up via the Sports Notice Board.

Tim Lincoln

Sports Coordinator

The P&F had its first meeting of the year this week and we are trying hard to keep up with all the positive changes within the school. We work with a passionate and dedicated group of parents who want the best for our school and students. We feel our role as P&F is one of engaging community and creating connections. We understand that not everybody has the opportunity to come to the meetings, but are still keen to get involved with the school. We welcome you to send us an email at Dalby.PandF@twb.catholic.edu.au and briefly let us know how you would like to help.  

Here is a short summary of some of the things discussed at the meeting: 

Please save the date for our first working bee for the year on Saturday 16 March. A great way for those parent to get involved who cannot make it to the meetings. 

Our next P&F meeting is Tuesday, 12 March and we will be putting nominations in for the P&F committee of 2019, whom will be elected during the AGM on Tuesday 26 March. These are worthwhile meetings to join so you can get a say in the direction the P&F will be heading this year. 

"Recycling is in the air": after we obtained support from teachers at the end of last year, we are about to roll out a new bin system in all classrooms in the next few weeks. Rubbish will be separated in 'general waste', 'recycling' and 'compost' within the classroom. Some of the teachers couldn't wait for the new system to be implemented and have already started!

Keep your ear out for some chicken noises near the senior school as a whole bunch will be arriving early next week now the new chook pen is practically ready to go (final touches on Friday-read more in the Dalby Herald about this). 

The P&F are proud to support the school's musical 'The Wiz', which is planned for 26 and 27 July this year. We will keep you posted about the details of this support. 

Unfortunately our welcome BBQ did not eventuate at the start of the year. We are looking instead to close off the first term with a gathering for parents. 

SAVE THE DATE: 

Tuesday 12 March  P&F meeting

Saturday 16 March  Working bee

Tuesday 26 March AGM 

What a fantastic start to the year for STEM with students in Year 3 and 4 already on Ms Joyce’s doorstep wanting to start planning and preparing projects. An excited bunch of Year 4 boys have plans for a ‘robot wars’ project – how cool! The Year 3’s are smashing it out in the gardens around the College already – bringing back life to the gardens outside Prep and preparing garden beds for Year 2 students to work in – these guys are already brainstorming garden projects for STEM Fair as well.

Rumblings have been heard about plans for herb gardens, packaging projects, composting and worms, scarecrow design competitions already in the pipelines!  

STEM Fair will be Tuesday 13 August and part of National Science Week again this year.

We had such a marvellous STEM Fair last year with 100% participation from Prep to Year 6 students and a growing number of students entering projects across range of subjects and topics in the 7-12years - we’d like to top it bigger and better this year!

Did you know that you can very easy make a yummy and healthy snack with a toothpick? 

Choose from the following combinations and hold together with a toothpick (compostable!). Also nice as nibbles with your glass of wine or beer on a relaxing Sunday afternoon.  

-cube of cheese, half slice of ham rolled up and a piece of gherkin

- small mozzarella ball in the middle, flanked by some basil, then half a cherry tomato on each side

- piece of salami, half sun-dried tomato, small piece of roasted capsicum (from a jar) and a pitted (black) olive

The combinations are endless so give different variations a shot!

Enjoy!

The Bell Art Exhibition is coming up on Saturday 23 February. The Gala Opening and Presentation Evening is from 7pm at Bell Memorial Public Hall on Wallace Street. Viewing times continue from Monday 25 February to Saturday 2 March. The following students have entries lodged:

Lyjah King-Togia, Cody Raub, Aleksandr Dzidic, Lucy Scott, Paityn Darr, Pippa Smith, Ella Ramage, Sadie Gibson, Uriah Jocson, William Brannock, Mia Stirling, Olivia Nolan, Bently Hockins, Zia Haylock, Benjamin Barwick, Lexi Garvey, Harry Felsch, Claire Liang, William Bryant, Zeb Hoefler, Jack Cuskelly, Lillianah Conlan, Lexi Bruce, Charlee Walker, Olivia Hiesler, Phoenix McArthur, Sienna Sims, Jack-Jack Bond, Hudson Faulkner, Ethan Koehler, Myles Gilliland, Tilly Ryan, Lucinda Conn, Louie Machin, Jack Twidale, Tom Clarke, Millie Boundy, Lucy Reed, Indi Wilson, Arabella Stirling, Jacinda Smith, Ryan Elder, Noah Cook, Abby Garvey, George Morgan, Lilly McGowan, Jensen Partridge, Orla Lacariatre, Zane Stirling, Archie Martin, Luke Griffiths, Charlotte Caldwell, Luke Elder, Nate Trcka, Regus Ross, Quinten Child, Marlee Carpenter, Scarlett Woitowitz, Claire Brown, Emelia Turner, Joab Jacobson, Judd Alderton, Isabel Johnston, Rohan Cartwright, Dakota Wilson, Mackenzie Wedrat, Lily Schloss, Imogen Mittelstadt, Clare Boland, Abby Wilkins, Perry Anne Pacio, Brock Sankey, Hayden Dohery, Cooper Woitowitz, Riley Woitowitz, Georgia Bumstead, Spencer Harth, Ty Clapperton, Hugh Clarke, Nicholas Zimmerman, Shawnee King, Hannah Pattison, Toby Harms, Trent Young, Alyssa Ferguson, Claudia Henderson, Clare Griffiths, Mel Rose Bondco, Chloe Donaldson, Bonnie McKay, Tayla Woodward, Claudia Child, Jorja Ellis, Emmason McIlveen, Beau Radke, Jade Alderton, Charlotte Kelly, Anna Lilburne, Vivi Vadasz, Brooke Webb, Ashley Dean, Ellie Stephen and Mikayla Leahy.

Check out some of the photos we took this morning at the set up of the exhibition.

Best of luck to all exhibiting artists!

The Art Gallery of New South Wales invites budding artists between the ages of 5 and 18 to submit a portrait for the Young Archie 2019 competition.

The portrait must be of a person who is special to you – someone who is known to you and who knows you and plays a significant role in your life.

There are four age categories:

• 5-8 year olds
• 9-12 year olds
• 13-15 year olds
• 16-18 year olds
  
  To be considered for selection, an entrant must comply with all entry instructions and conditions. This includes size to be from A4 to A3 on paper.

About your portrait

We prefer that the portrait is ‘painted from life’ and that your subject has a sitting for their portrait, like with the Archibald Prize. You may also create the portrait from memory or take your own photograph to use for reference.

Due no later than Week 5, Friday 1 March (in the morning) so that 10 paintings can be selected, entry forms compiled and artwork mailed.

Parenting can be a tough job but also really rewarding. Talking to a Parentline counsellor can help you navigate difficult parenting dilemmas. There's not one rule book for parenting! Everyone’s life circumstances are different. At times, family life can be moving along well. At others, there may be challenges which push you and your child to your limits.

How talking to a Parentline counsellor can help?

• Be listened to by a qualified counsellor outside of the situation
• Tune into your needs right now as a parent (as well as your child’s)
• Work out your strategies for making meaningful change
• Get information and resources about children and parenting
• Access individually paced over-the-phone parenting skills training
• Understand your family dynamics more clearly

What happens when you call?  Deciding to talk to someone about your family can be a big step.

• You can ask for a male or female counsellor
• Your strengths will be recognised, with respect and understanding
• You can speak with the same counsellor for ongoing support
• You can call if you're a parent, step parent, grandparent, guardian or carer
• You'll be asked what you want to talk about and what you most need from the call
• Counselling is confidential unless you or someone else is at risk of harm 

Parentline offers counselling and support via

• Phone 1300 301 300 from 8am to 10pm 7days a week
• Email counsellor@parentline.com.au
• WebChat from 8am to 9pm 7days a week

Visit Parentline for more information about their counselling and support services and view their extensive resources.

Article (amended) sourced from Kids Helpline How parentline can help you 3/1/19.

Luke Holmes

College Counsellor

The Australian Defence Force are holding a number of information sessions in the next few weeks. Please see the dates below;

13 March - ADF Careers Information Session 6pm @City Golf Club

18 March - Officer Information Session 6pm @ Milne Bay Training Depot

4 April - ADFA Future Leaders Information Session 6pm @ Burke and Wills Hotel

ADF Gap Year - Applications open 4 March

The College has registered for the Containers for Change refund scheme so anyone wishing to donate to the College can do so using our Scheme ID. Simply drop off your containers at any refund or drop off point and include our College Scheme ID to ensure the 10 cent per container refund is deposited directly to our school account.

You can click on the link below to find out more about drop off and refund points and which containers are eligible for refund.

Click on the image for our College Scheme ID number which you must quote when dropping off or exchanging containers.