Over the holidays, College Captain, Lytana King-Togia made his Australian Rugby Union debut playing for the Australian Barbarians against Samoa School Boys at Knox Grammar School in Sydney. 

In the week leading up to the test match, the Barbarians camp worked on their on and off field skills and for Lytana, he felt this time, getting to know his team mates, was one of the highlights of the whole experience. He took away so much from the highly respected coaches and enjoyed working on the team's three core values of brotherhood, hard work and good management. The team participated in a number of bonding activities and the success of that experience was made evident on the field.

Lytana played as blindside flanker and said he was very proud of his performance as well as his team members. The game got off to a quick start with Samoa leading 10 to nil after the first 10 minutes but the Barbarians held a narrow lead at half time and got some quick scores in the second half to beat Samoa 31 to 23. 

We are immensely proud of Lytana's achievement in making the Australian Barbarians side and congratulate him on his performance and the win against Samoa.

Welcome to Term 4

The weather has certainly sent us into a spin this week with soaring temps and strong winds to get the term underway.  We pray for rain this coming weekend to quench some of the thirst of our district and support our farmers with some moisture in the soil and water into tanks and dams.  With the increased heat of Term 4, the College staff will be more vigilant regarding students wearing hats so please ensure that your child packs their hat every day.

School Swimming

This term we are implementing further changes to the College swimming program.  It begins with a 2 week intensive for all Year 3 students, followed by a series of 4 weekly lessons for all students in Prep – Year 2.  The intent of the program is providing water safety and basic skills training for students in Prep - Year 2, whilst developing some basic swimming proficiency for students in Year 3.  It is important to note that the program is not designed to create the next team of Australian Swimmers, it is about teaching the basics for safety around water. All lessons will be taken by fully trained swimming coaches. Our local pool has some excellent coaches for students who wish to enhance their swimming capability beyond the basics.

A benefit of this adjustment is that swimming takes less time away from the curriculum, there are considerably better gains using professional coaches whilst maintaining a balance in costs without the need to pass on these costs to parents.

NAPLAN School Readiness Test

All of our school readiness testing went off without a hitch this week as we finalised the configuration and preparedness for our NAPLAN Online testing in 2020.  There are many challenges in this transition, especially regarding the writing task which will be completed digitally for all Year 5, 7 & 9 students from next year.  A huge thanks to all Year 2, 4, 6 and 8 students with their patience and efforts in this preparation, as well as Year 7, 8 & 9 students who went without their College laptops for 2 days while this took place.  Please note that this will not be the case next year as students in Year 7 & 9 will use their own devices while students in Year 3 & 5 will use the College trolley laptops.

2020 Year 7-12 Timetable

Our draft 2020 timetable is near and details regarding this will be released in Week 3, however it is inevitable that many changes will occur due to staffing and the impacts of a new enterprise bargaining agreement for our staff.  We have allocated roles and teaching loads, and student subject selections have been locked down according to the subject lines presented by Mr Hodge earlier in the year.  Due to significant increases in enrolments for Year 7, we will be making 3 Year 7 form classes rather than the traditional 2.

2020 Prep – Year 6 Structure

In 2020 we will run 15 classes for Prep to Year 6 and there will be no composite classes.  We will run 2 classes for every year level except for Year 6 which will have 3 classes.  A letter will be sent home before the end of the week explaining further details for parents.  Please note that teachers will be allocated to classes after the completion of class lists which will occur in the next fortnight.

College Awards

This year we will only have one Excellence Awards ceremony during Week 6 of this term.  This will include awards for Excellence across all important areas of our College, while participation and encouragement awards will be presented during sector assembly time on dates yet to be confirmed.  The Excellence Awards will now focus on what we do as a whole College, be more inclusive of all students from Prep – Year 12 and will target excellence is learning achievement, learning progress and living like Jesus.  A calendar with specific dates and times will be sent out on SchoolZine next week so you can organise your attendance for all of the critical events for the term.

I wish everyone a wonderful start to the term,

Pete Cuskelly

Principal

The Year 8 students had a great time at Camp Cooby during the last week of Term 3. They travelled with Mrs Biggar, Miss Willocks and Mr Gillespie on the new College Coach for three days of fun and activities.

On arrival at the turn off from the sealed road at the entrance to the venue, it was touch and go as to whether we would be able to turn in with the big bus. It was a tight squeeze but we were soon on our way. Luckily, as it would have been a mighty long walk, especially for some with big suitcases.

Students were set up in tents and stowed their gear away before getting down to the business of activities. Participation in a range of pursuits allowed everyone to show their strengths. We have some budding young archers, keen and skilled mountain bikers, dab hands at damper making and some mathematical geniuses that conquered the challenge of Leonardo’s Bridge.

Just as the sun was setting on the first day a vicious 5-minute storm threatened disaster as it ripped through the campsite blowing down a number of tents. The camp leaders jumped into action and within 15 minutes all was calm and dry again with the tents looking as good as new.

The students enjoyed a night walk and were introduced to an amazing app that allow the user to point their device towards a constellation and have it show on the screen with information. This was especially good that night as it was quite cloudy.

What a wonderful group of young people to take away. The feedback from the camp staff to the students on the way they worked and interacted together was extremely positive. We hope that the boys and girls came home with many stories about the adventures they had at Camp Cooby.

Mr Gillespie, Mrs Biggar and Miss Willocks

What an incredible year we have had so far with Culture and The Arts! This year has seen our fabulous students present the Musical, "The Wiz" to the College and Dalby community with a tremendous response from all those who came to the Great Hall to see our performances. It was a fantastic conclusion to the many hours of hard work from students in Year 5 - 12.

We had a very successful P - 12 Art Show in Week 9 of Term 3, The College Senior Choir performed at Our Lady of the Southern Cross Day, students sang and participated in the Delicious and Delightful Festival, many success stories came from the Dalby Vocal, Piano and Speech Eisteddfods and Year 9 and 10 One Act Plays happened along with the Vocal Concert also in Week 9 (this is to become a regular feature in our yearly calendar).

The Early Years Choir has a very busy Term 4 ahead of them as they represent the College at the Council Tree Lighting Festival and at the Count Us In Day with Dalby State School. A big thankyou to Michelle Garside, Luke Holmes, Damian Dore, Caine Wager, Jess Berwick and our amazing mums and dads for all their hard work with these activities.

Last term also saw the formation of our College Contemporary Vocal group. These students performed two shows at Delicious and Delightful Festival and entertained at the College Art Show along with Pat Kelly and Margot Gleeson. This term they will be performing at the Reclaim the Night on 25 October at Thomas Jack Park and at the Anglican Church Parish Dinner on 8 November. Details on these activities will be sent home very soon.

From this point forward we will be including a regular Cultural article in the weekly newsletter so that parents and the College community can keep informed with all that we are doing and book upcoming performances into your calendars.

Libby Baxter

Middle Leader Culture and The Arts

Phoenix McArthur entered the Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Photography Competition this year with the theme being Texture. 

His suite of photographs called The Beauty of Sea Life is a finalist in the Lower Primary (Years F–3) category of the ATOM Photo Comp 2019!

There was an overwhelming response to the competition this year and the ATOM panel of judges were very impressed with the finalists.

There is a finalist page at the ATOM Photo Comp website.

Student category winners will be announced at the 2019 SAE ATOM Awards Student Awards Presentation on Wednesday, 13 November. The event will be held at SAE Creative Media Institute, South Melbourne. 

Well done and best of luck, Phoenix.

Junior

Aquathlon

Any boys or girls turning 11 or 12 in 2020 (Born 2008 or 2009) who would like to participate in the Darling Downs Aquathlon Trials, please see Mr Lincoln for more information. An Aquathlon consists of a 1km run, 200m swim, followed by another 1km run. These trials will be held at the Dalby Aquatic Centre on Friday, 25 October (this is the day after the Year 6 Canberra Tour returns). Mrs Karla Knight will be attending with our students on the day.

Touch Football

Two Year 5 teams will compete in the SWQ Primary All Schools Touch Football Carnival in Dalby next Sunday, 20 October. Mrs Tresillian along with Lachie Wilkins and Sarah McQuaid will be coaching the boys team and Mrs Wilkins along with Claudia Child and Shawnee King will be with the girls team. A draw for the day will be passed onto students next week.

Senior

SWQ Rugby Sevens Series

Six College Teams will compete in the SWQ Sevens Series this term in Toowoomba. The College Coach will transport students to and from the venues each week. Please see below the draw for the next fortnight. Twelve boys in the Under 15 age group have been selected to play this week based on performances in the Darling Downs Schools Cup Rugby Competition and the Scots Sevens Carnival held last term. Trials to select an Under 15 Boys team for the remainder of the season will be held next week. All other age groups should be able to cater for all interested players.

Week 1

Tuesday 15 October

Thursday 17 October

Week 2

Tuesday 22 October

Thursday 24 October

Touch Football

Day 1 of the QLD All Schools Touch Football Carnival began in Brisbane yesterday. The Under 15 Boys team had a great day with 3 wins (11-3, 8-0 and 7-0). The Under 15 Girls Team had a draw and 2 close losses. Games continue on Thursday and Friday with finals starting on Saturday. The Under 18 Mixed team begin their games on Friday.

2020 Confraternity Shield Rugby League and Netball Carnivals

The 2020 QISSRL and QISSN Carnivals will be held in Brisbane in the first week of the June/ July holidays. The Rugby League Carnival is open to any boys turning 16 or older in 2020. The Netball Carnival in open to any girls in Years 9-12 in 2020. An initial meeting about these carnivals will be held on Monday, 14 October in the PAC at 6.00pm. Morning training for both of these teams will also begin in Week 2 as it is anticipated that playing numbers for both teams will be high next year.

Triathlon

Any boys or girls wishing to be a part of the Darling Downs Triathlon Team for 2020, please see Mr Lincoln for more information. This can involve any student turning 13 or older in 2020. Students must compete at the Oakey Triathlon on 10 October to be eligible for selection.

Tim Lincoln

Middle Leader Sport

Each week, for the remainder of their time at the College, some of our Year 12 students will be submitting thier own reflection on their time and experience as Senior students. This week we hear from Rory Ross and Laura May.

Tips

School is a place where you can develop skills, learn how to interact with people and become independent. The last years of high school are very fun and rewarding, however, it can be especially stressful if you aren’t organised or if you don’t put in the work required. These tips will hopefully give you some insight into how you should prepare and get through the remaining years of your schooling without the burden of stress. This might even apply to life outside school.

Number 1: You should always keep a positive mindset no matter what. I always tell myself to keep moving forward regardless of how overwhelmed I am with stuff and not to worry about things that may seem daunting as there are some things in life that you cannot control. Just do your best job and let life take you different places.

Number 2: Stay organised. The easiest way to stay ahead of your studies is to make sure you finish work early as this will relieve a lot of weight off your shoulders and keep your head above water.

Number 3: Have fun. Don’t dwell too much on work as this can have implications on your mental health. Enjoy your final years of school and hang out with your friends as this is a big part of developing your social skills. In Conclusion, work hard, stay positive and have fun and you will fly through school easily.

Rory Ross

Laura's Reflection

It feels strange to reflect on my time at Our Lady of the Southern Cross College. That implies that my time has come to an end, but I feel like I have so much more time left here. I came to Our Lady in Year 4, after I had just moved to Dalby. I can just remember how nervous and shy I was. I’ll admit, the journey wasn’t always fun – it was challenging, stressful and it made me questions a lot of things. I wouldn’t change a second of it though. Through the years, I’ve made amazing friends, been in musicals and theatre restaurants, taken academic trips and held multiple leadership roles. The best part was becoming College Captain, as it was my dream, so accomplishing that means the world to me. As I’ve grown at Our Lady, I’ve become more confident in my abilities. I am so grateful to the College for giving me the opportunity to become the person I am. Nervous and shy Year 4 Laura is so proud.

Laura May

The Year 10 cohort completed work experience at the end of Term 3. We have had very positive reports from all our local employers in regards to the work ethic and behaviour of our students. These types of experiences are invaluable in providing students with an insight into 'work'. Work experience allows students the opportunity to relate their school work to the workplace, gives an insight into the diversity of employers, prepares them for the demands and expectations of the working world and helps the students make more informed decisions about career pathways.

We had students working in many diverse areas including aged care, mechanics, building, film and advertising and nursing. Three of our boys attended Oakey Army Aviation Base for their work experience. Students will see copies of the employers reports soon and are required to hand in their completed work experience booklet.

Libby Baxter

From Kate and Tick (Dolly's Dream) 

"Earlier this year we asked you and the rest of our wonderful Dolly’s Dream community: what brings you to Dolly’s Dream?

It was bittersweet to hear that so many of you connected with Dolly’s story, and are here to support us.

We're here for you

We know that many of you have been affected by bullying, whether directly or through the kids in your life. We know you’re worried about what kids are up to online, and you want to know and understand more about the online world. That’s why we’ve launched our new Parent Hub, to help answer those burning questions you have about your kids’ online experiences.

The Dolly’s Dream Parent Hub has been designed as an educational site for parents looking to learn more about what kids are likely to see online. We cover topics such as bullying, stranger danger, porn, respectful relationships, and more.

We know that all parents – and styles of parenting – are different. Some are more tech-savvy than others. Some like to limit screen time. Our videos, fact sheets and articles have been created so you can have the confidence to tackle any online issues your kids may bring to you.

Our goal is to make your life easier and help your kids stay safe online."

It is now time to go online and claim your travel subsidy rebates for Semester 2. Details are below and you can click on the link to take you to the school transport website.