We can report today that Miss Jade Manteit and Mrs Jo Bradford both WON the awards they were nominated and short listed for at last night's Catholic Education Week Excellence Awards Ceremony in Toowoomba. Miss Manteit won the award for Early Career Teacher and Mrs Bradford won the award in the Teaching and Learning Support category. Congratulations to both these amazing ladies. Our College is lucky to have you.

Catholic Education Week

Our College has come together as a Catholic community this week to celebrate all the wonderful aspects of Catholic Education across Queensland.  Our mass on Monday was a timely reminder of the values of our College and the blessing we have received by being part of this community. 

On Wednesday evening, we were also able to celebrate some of our extra-curricular success.  Ms Deepwater coordinated our inaugural MAD Showcase, where Music, Arts and Drama (MAD) were on show for the whole community to come and enjoy. Thank you to everyone who was involved as a performer, artist or supporter on the evening.

We were also able to celebrate success in the sporting arena with our open boy’s Rugby League team defeating Lockyer District SHS 22-4 in order to win the Johnathan Thurston Cup.  It was a tough contest, though all involved were very proud of the victory and the recognition as Darling Downs Champions for 2021. 

Tonight, we celebrate the excellence of Catholic Education in the Toowoomba Diocese at the Excellence Awards.  Mrs Joanne Bradford and Miss Jade Manteit have both been nominated and shortlisted for excellence awards and we wish them all the best in their respective categories tonight. 

Tomorrow, our entire staff will be celebrating Catholic Education Week as well as learning together with Br Damien Price by focusing on the lives we live and how everyday moments can lead us to the transcendent. I truly value the learning we gain from Br Damien and cannot wait to reengage with him again tomorrow.

Welcome

On Monday we welcome Mrs Grace Macapagal (cleaner/janitor) and Mr Nathan Pretorius (facilities coordinator) to our staff.  We are very excited by the changes to the new structure at the College and look forward to seeing improved support services so that our College can continue being the best it can be.

I would also like to welcome many families who have started reading our newsletters as we progress to the enrolment period for 2022.  We have 22 students attending Come and Try day on Monday, with many more expressions of interest for enrolment in 2022.  We encourage anyone interested in attending OLSCC in 2022 to contact the College to ensure that we can cater for their child’s learning in the new year.  I am sure all of our new families will revel in the community that we have surrounding us at OLSCC.

New Grounds and Maintenance Shed & Middle Years Plaza

Our new grounds and maintenance shed is almost complete and it is looking wonderful! We had a big crane in last week to lift the roof on to the support structure and this week, things really began to take shape. We expect to have the works complete over the next week so we can begin using the facility very soon.  On Monday, we will be undertaking our start-up meeting for the Middle Years Plaza and fire hydrant upgrade, which will begin in the next few weeks.  After this start-up meeting, a letter will come home outlining the details and timelines of the work schedule as well as how the College is minimising distractions to student learning throughout the construction period.  

Broncos Dinner

Please see the attached flyer regarding the Broncos Dinner at the Leagues Club to raise funds for the continuing support of additional Rugby League development in Dalby.  Darren Burns does a great job working with our students around a  variety of topics, and he also makes community connections for us.   

Lastly, I would like to offer a huge congratulations to all students who have participated in Athletics Carnivals over the past few weeks, both at OLSCC and at the Christian College. Our students have performed their best, invested significant effort into preparation, attended training, and shown the values we are proud to be known for.  As a result, many events have been won, and many PB’s have been achieved.  I look forward to QCIS Athletics next Friday, where I expect to hear much of the same exceptionally positive feedback.

Happy Catholic Education Week!

Peter Cuskelly

Principal 

REFLECTION 

Catholic schools have long held that education should be directed not just towards personal enrichment for the individual student but also to community contribution. 

God of this brand-new day,  

You have filled the world with life through the gift of the Spirit.  

As we gather today to celebrate 175 years of Catholic Education in Queensland,  

We ask that you continue to pour out your Spirit upon us all,  

so that each one of us will be strengthened to take your Word into our world.  

We make this prayer in the name of Jesus our Lord. 

Amen 

MacKillop Feast Day 

Mary MacKillop Feast Day is held every August 8th, in honour of the revered Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. 

She was the first Saint of Australia, and her influence in the country has spread far and wide. She is recognised for her commitment to the poor, helping those who needed it the most in any way she could. 

This year MacKillop students will celebrate her on Friday 6th August. 

CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK 

We joined together as a College community on Monday with Mass to kick start Catholic Education Week.  We are one of 309 Catholic schools in Queensland and this week we celebrate and promote our distinctive mission and ethos.  Tomorrow (Friday) our teachers will spend the day reflecting on our Catholic identity and how we can work with our students to ensure we strive to live out our Christ values every day in all that we do.  The three values we focus on, enriched by the legacy of Catherine McAuley and Edmund Rice, are humanity, justice, and wisdom.   

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES 

Student led Conferences are planned for Week 9 of this term.  Full details of dates and times will be released in coming weeks.  We will use Sentral Parent Portal for parents to book conference times.  Parents are encouraged to contact class teachers  via email to make a time to discuss your child’s progress throughout the year, however the conferences are one of the two formal occasions we host parents with teachers in a face to face setting. 

COVID and SIGNING IN  

As a College we have always had a sign in system for all visitors to our campus, as we are required to collect this information anytime.  With the introduction of the Qld Government QR Code, sigining in at businesses and venues has now become the ‘new normal’.  We will continue to use our College system ‘Passtab’ for visitors to our campus throughout the general working day.  This system requires visitors to manually enter their details (some phone models will store this information) or use their College Quickpin when entering and exiting the College grounds; eg classroom volunteers, service providers and staff use this system.  In the case of special events, eg Sports, Art Showcases, Performance, and other Community events outside of office hours we will use the Qld Govt issued QR Code as our sign in register.  Thank you for your support in following our signing in processes.  As we ask parents to limit their time on campus at drop off there is no need to sign in at this time.   

DANIEL MORCOMBE CHILD SAFETY CURRICULUM 

Throughout this term, our College will be implementing the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum with students in Prep to Year 9.  The curriculum is based on principles of best practice in child safety education and centres around three key messages: Recognise, React and Report. Through a series of lessons, students will learn how to recognise, react and report when they are unsafe or find themselves in situations that can have a significant detrimental effect on their physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing. 

Our students have been learning to recognise if they are safe or unsafe in the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum. Our safety lessons will now be focusing on the second safety message: react. 

When children recognise that they are in an unsafe situation, we encourage them to think about what they could do to be safe again. They will have opportunities to think about ways to react using real-life scenarios. Our students will also learn that breaking the rules (e.g. saying no to an adult who is behaving inappropriately) is sometimes necessary so that they can become safe again.  

Please take the time to talk with your children about what they have been learning about safety and, in particular, the ways they could react if they are unsafe to make themselves safe again. Talking with your child about ways to stay safe will help them to develop life-long safety skills. 

Information about the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum can be found at www.education.qld.gov.au/child-safety-curriculum. 

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SURVEY 2021 – RADII 

Each family of the College should have received an email from Dr Jean Thompson, Research Manager at Research Australia Development and Innovation Institute.  This email contains a survey that is sent on behalf of the College to gather your views on the services we offer to the community.  The survey is both, confidential and anonymous. The responses are pooled and the aggregated data is sent in a report to the school. We use this data to assist us with our Annual Action Plan and strategic direction of the College to ensure we are offering a high standard of education.  We encourage all families to devote some time to this survey which takes approximately 20 minutes complete.  Access to the survey will close on 8 August 2021. 

Cate Brennan

Deputy Principal Religious Education

RACQ Sessions

This week we welcomed the team at RACQ who ran several sessions for our Years 10-12 students. The topics included financial literacy and driver awareness. These sessions were very informative and a positive learning experience for our students. We thank the RACQ Team for this opportunity, as these have been provided free-of-charge to the College.

University Open Days

We have made the decision to not proceed with the planned University Open Day visits this year. Due to the unpredictability of COVID, we believe that it is in best interests for our students not to attend. With important assessment occurring in the coming weeks, we need to mitigate any chances of students having to isolate. We hope that we will be able to run these opportunities next year.

In the interim, please continue to read Mrs Baxter’s section of the newsletter which lists the universities which will be running online (virtual) open days.

Study Skills – Deep Breaks

Author Cal Newport published a terrific book titled Deep Work: Rules for Success in a Distracted World. As we all know, distraction is a hurdle that all students face as they are preparing for examinations or writing assessment. While we advocate that students need to complete 1.5 – 2.5 hours per night in homework (subject load dependent), it is not beneficial to complete this work in huge chunks. In a further newsletter I will talk about strategies to address working through independent learning smartly. However, what if there was a way to manage a break in your study with minimal distraction? Cal Newport refers to this as Deep Breaks. The following is excellent guidance from a previously posted blog post by the author:

Deep work requires you to focus intensely on a demanding task. But few can maintain peak cognitive intensity for more than an hour or so without some sort of relief.

This relief is necessary.

Most types of breaks you might take in this situation will wrench your attention away from the task at hand and leave you with a thick slather of attention residue.

If you’re careful, however, it’s possible to take a so-called deep break which will allow your mind a chance to regroup and recharge without impeding your ability to quickly ramp back up your concentration.

Anyone who regularly succeeds in long deep work sessions is almost certainly someone skilled at deploying deep breaks to keep the session going without burning out or losing focus.

There’s no single description of what constitutes a deep break, but here are some useful ideas from my own experience:

• Deep breaks should not turn your attention to a target that might generate a professional or social obligation that you cannot completely fulfill during the break (e.g., glancing at an email inbox or social media feed).
• Deep breaks should not turn your attention to a target that your mind associates with time-consuming distraction rituals (e.g., many people have a set “cycle” of distracting web sites they visit when they surf that has become so ingrained that looking at one site sends their mind the message it’s time to look at them all).
• Deep breaks should not turn your attention to a related, but not quite the same, professional task (e.g., if you’re trying to write a report, and you turn your attention to quickly editing an unrelated report).
• Deep breaks should not turn your attention to a topic that is complicated, stressful and/or something that will sometime soon need a lot of your attention.
• Deep breaks should not usually last more than 10 – 15 minutes, with some exceptions, such as for meals.

Breaks that avoid the above warnings should probably be okay. For example, here are some of my standard deep break activities:

• Taking a short walk to get more water while trying to just observe my surroundings.
• Day dreaming about the good things that could come from succeeding with the deep work task at hand
• Summarising to myself what I already know about the task at hand and what I’m trying to accomplish.
• Reading a book chapter or magazine article that has nothing to do with the deep task at hand.
• Complete a household task or short errand.

Students are encouraged to develop independent study timetable to support the work they need to complete outside of school. I challenge students to minimise and manage their distraction and schedule in deep breaks as well.

Cal Newport: On Deep Breaks https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2016/09/14/on-deep-breaks/

Communication and Pastoral Concerns
Throughout the year, parents are encouraged to communicate with their child’s subject teachers as an initial point of contact for any pastoral or academic matters. For further matters, please contact me through the College Office or by email matthew.hodge@twb.catholic.edu.au

Matt Hodge

Assistant Principal Senior Years

Congratulations to our Early Years students who had artworks selected for display at the MAD Festival here at the College this week. Students had the opportunity to visit the display at lunchtimes and afternoon tea and vote for their favourite artpiece, and even participate in some art activities. We look forward to building on this showcase in the future!

Welcome to our littlest friends who are joining us this term in our Shooting Stars program. Mrs Morrison is having fun working on some transition activities to ensure our future Prep students are set up for success and are familiar with the physical environment of the College. This week some even got to have a look inside a “big” classroom.

Thankyou to those families who have signed up to participate in MS Readathon. Whilst this “officially” takes place during the month of August, many students have already been busy raising funds and reading a LOT of books! There are fantastic resources available on the MS Readathon site that will help keep your child engaged in these activities. Remember, any members of our community (students, siblings, parents, friends) can register with our school via the following link:

https://www.msreadathon.org.au/join/ourladyofthesoutherncrosscollegedalby

Katrina Walton

Assistant Principal Early Years

Rugby League

Darling Downs Under 18 Grand Final

OLSCC defeated Lockyer District SHS 22-4

A fantastic effort from the boys to go through the season undefeated winning the Jonathon Thurston Cup for the first time as a College. The 22-4 score line in a very hard-fought game was due to the controlled and patient football played especially in the second half, after the score was only 6-0 at halftime and 10-4 with nine minutes left in the game.

Final Game of the Season

Wednesday 11 August

Game 3 of the Berwick / McCullough Shield

OLSCC vs Dalby SHS 5.00pm at Dalby Leagues Club

The Under 13 Team will play a curtain raiser to this game vs Dalby SHS at 4.00pm

Touch Football

The College Under 15 and Under 18 Teams will attend the SWQ Swans All Schools Carnival on Sunday 8 August in Toowoomba. Draws for the day will be passed onto students next week.

Bunya District Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to all students who competed at the Bunya District Athletics Carnival. The College had a fantastic day winning the Overall Points Trophy and the Percentage Trophy based on school size and points gained. Other highlights included:

Record Breakers

Khoen Darr – Boys Under 10 1500m 5.44.84min – Old Record 5.44.88 in 2019

Isabelle Manley – Girls Under 9 800m 2.54.62min – Old Record 3.00.41 in 2015

Most Outstanding Female Athlete – Isabelle Manley

Multi Event Results

10 Boys – William Hemmings 3^rd

10 Girls – Charlotte Colquhoun 3^rd

11 Boys – Joshua Barwick 3^rd, William Barwick 6^th

11 Girls – Lucy Cusack 4^th

12 Boys – Lachlan Fraser 2^nd, Mac Stirling 4^th

12 Girls – Emmysen Crothers 2^nd, Miley Wilkins 7^th

Individual Age Champion Points

9 Girls – Isabelle Manley 1^st 28 Points

9 Boys – Felix Twidale 1^st 14 Points, Ben Barwick 2^nd 12 Points, Archie Stephens 3^rd 8 Points

12 Girls – Emmysen Crothers 1^st 22 Points

12 Boys – Ziggy Utz 2^nd 10 Points

Students selected in the Bunya District Team to attend the Darling Downs Trials on August 24:

Felix Twidale, Archie Stephens, Ben Barwick, Joshua Barwick, Lachlan Fraser, Khoen Darr, Archie Martin, Isabelle Manley, Emmysen Crothers and Gemma Sullivan.

Inner Downs Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to all students who competed at the Inner Downs Carnival on Tuesday. The following students finished in the first four places in events and met Darling Downs Qualifying standards for the trials on August 26-27. Students need to see Mr Lincoln if they wish to attend the Darling Downs Trials.

Girls – Chloe Manteit, Maddy Gater, Emma Lindsay, Violet Wilkie Boulus, Karlie Falvey, Carla Nobbs, Emily Griffiths, Hannah Taylor, Abby Marshall.

Boys – Tobin Smart, Bailey Skinner, Cooper Woitowitz, Michael MacDonald, Kelii Leahy.

QLD Combined Independent Schools Athletics Carnival

The QCIS Athletics Carnival will be held on Friday 6 August at Downlands College in Toowoomba. This is for students aged Under 10 – Open. Students who have been selected to represent the College at this event have been notified.  

Rugby Sevens

Upcoming Carnivals

QCIS Girls Carnivals

Under 13, Under 15, Under 18

Friday evenings 4.00pm – 7.30pm on August 13 and August 20

Venues TBC

Scots College Warwick Sevens Carnival

Saturday 4 September

Under 13, Under 15, Boys and Girls Teams and Under 18 Girls  

This is a spectator free carnival. Students will travel to Warwick on the College Coach.

Tim Lincoln

Middle Leader Sport

SBA SIGN UPS

We have had three more or our Senior students complete a sign up with their employer for a school based traineeship or apprenticeship. Congratulations to Morgan Allen who has signed up for a Certificate III in Carpentry with Chris Henry of GJ Gardner Homes Chinchilla/Dalby. Nicholas Zimmerman has commenced his Certificate III in Light Vehicle Technology as a school based apprentice with Johnson's Dalby Motor Group and he completed his sign up with Nicole McDougall. Gus Murphy from Dalby Mower Supplies has also recently complete a sign up with Blake Jacobson as he commences his Certificate III in Outdoor Power Equipment Technology. We thank our local business houses for taking on our trainees and we wish these students every success as they carry out their work towards qualification.

CAREERS EXPO

Last Friday, 23 July, the Dalby BEST Employment Group held the Dalby Careers Expo at the PCYC. Students from Year 8 to 12 attended throughout the day gaining valuable information on career pathway options. Events such as the Careers Expo are essential for students to be able to make contact with potential employers and Universities so that they can gain greater insight into their options. The students had very positive feedback on the range and quality of the presenters available.

Exhibitors included:

TAFE, QUT, USQ, Christian Heritage College, Griffith Uni, Southern Cross Uni, QTAC, Mort and Co, Napco, SUNPORK, FINDEX, Police, Qld Fire and Emergency Services, AURORA, BUSY at WORK, MRAEL (MAS) Employment, AIM BIG Employment, GOLDEN WEST, RACING QLD, DEFENCE RECRUITING, DISCO, Western Down Regional Council.

BEST Employment Dalby and the students from our College would like to thank all the presenters for their time and effort on the day. 

Libby Baxter

Careers Development Practitioner

University Open Days 2021

Following is the latest updated list for Open Days in 2021. These events continue to be updated as the universities navigate the COVID world. I strongly encourage students from Year 7 – 10 to attend at least one open day each year to help them gain a better understanding of what is available for them in this fast-changing world we live in. These days give students and parents a wonderful opportunity to chat to students and lecturers about courses and options and sometimes it might even help students make the decision about their pathway: Uni/Work/Trade.

Australian Catholic University

Saturday 7th August, 10am – 2pm

Campus tours available year-round; email ACU. 

Griffith University

Open Day – Sunday 8th August 

James Cook University

Information Webinar – Thursday 29th July

SAE Creative Media

Brisbane Campus – Sunday 8th August

University of Queensland

Open Day – Sunday 1st August

University of Southern Queensland

Ipswich and Springfield – Sunday 8th August

Toowoomba – Sunday 15th August

Virtual Open Day Access

Visit the USQ website for more information.

Libby Baxter

Careers Development Practitioner

This week saw students from across the College exhibit their fine art works for an audience of their peers in the PAC as part of our Music, Art, and Drama Showcase. On Wednesday afternoon, families and friends attended the exhibition and enjoyed hearing from students and teachers from our Music and Drama programs. The College would like to thank those students who performed for us throughout the week and acknowledge their commitment to Culture at OLSCC.

All students who performed or exhibited will be awarded house points for Culture, and those whose work earned the most peer votes will be acknowledged in an awards ceremony at the next Whole School Assembly. Congratulations to all who participated to help promote a vibrant Arts Culture at our College.

Here are just some of the artworks that were on display this week.

Glistening Deepwater

Middle Leader Culture

Learning to cope with Fear, Anger and Sadness

Emotional coping skills equip children and teenagers to handle life’s ups and downs

Feeling secure, loved, and valued is important. So is learning to express and manage strong emotions in appropriate, non-hurtful ways - all skills that can be learned with parents’ support.

Doing a Triple P – Positive Parenting Program is a great way to find out more about the importance of positive interactions, calm, consistent parenting, and setting a good example – all things that help increase children’s and teenagers’ emotional resilience. And best of all its FREE!

You can learn more by doing free Triple P Online or Teen Triple P Online in Queensland, or some other type of free Triple P, or reading about this hot parenting topic on the parent website: https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/qld-uken/get-started/hot-topics-about-raising-children-and-teenagers/coping-with-fear-anger-and-sadness/

Did you know?

PARENTLINE is a free counselling service for parents and carers offering support from 8am to 10 pm everyday over the phone, web or email.  They can offer one-off or on-going support to clients by taking a parent-centred and child-focused approach to meet the needs of children and improve family function.  For when parenting feel like it IS rocket science call PARENTLINE On 1300 30 1300.

Why not get in touch?

For more interesting topics on all things kids and parenting why not visit your College Counsellors chatter page at : https://sway.office.com/BC2uFXzJwZT2y5Vp?ref=Link

Luke Holmes

College Counsellor

Our Come and Try Day for Term 3 is coming up soon and we have been overwhelmed with registrations! If you know anyone who has been wondering what a day is like here at Our Lady of the Southern Cross College, please encourage them to join us and try it out for themselves! Details are:

• Monday August 2
• Open to any student who will be Yr 1-12 in 2022
• Please register at the College Office on 46724111
• Come for an hour, a half a day, a full day – choose your own adventure!

Nominations are now open for you to vote for our College for a Business Excellence Award for 2021 under the Education section. The Dalby Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosts the 24th Annual Business Excellence Awards which aim to recognise local businesses that strive for excellence. Nominations close on Friday, 20 August and forms can be found around town and also at the College Office front desk. 

With the increased popularity of Flexischools ordering at the Tuckshop, and students wanting something nice and hot in the winter time, Mrs Crump has been extremely busy and often finds it hard to have everything ready by 11.30am when lunch break begins. Since the retirement of Mrs Chalmers, Mrs Crump is now working solo and, apart from a few generous parent volunteers, is having to resort to student help to get tuckshop orders ready on time so students are not spending their lunch breaks waiting outside the Tuckshop for their orders.

Mrs Crump has recently had a fantastic group of Year 6 students helping out with preparing and packaging food before school in the morning and they have been a great help. Often staff give up their lunch time and spare lessons to help Mrs Crump but she would really like to see parents step up and offer to volunteer if possible. Even if you have only one or two hours to spare, Mrs Crump would be most grateful and our students and staff will not need to give up their time to ensure your child is fed on time and not wasting playtime standing outside the Tuckshop. The busiest days for Tuckshop are Wednesday, Thursday and of course Friday so if you aren't doing anything on one of those mornings, please find some time to volunteer where it is really needed. Your children will value the time you are giving to their school and most kids are pretty chuffed to see Mum or Dad behind the counter helping out.

Please drop into the Tuckshop for a chat about how you can help or email Mrs Crump at Kathy.crump@twb.catholic.edu.au

Save the Date

Prep – Yr4 Dress up Parade

Thursday 26 August

There are a number of school horse sport events coming up. Fraser Coast Interschool is on at Maryborough from 17 to 19 August. Permission will need to be sought from Assistant Principals for riders to enter, particularly those in Senior Years as this event clashes with some exam blocks. Nominations opened on Tuesday, 20th July so get in quickly if you would like to attend this event.

Jandowae Pony Club is hosting a School Horse Sports event on Friday, 10 September and the High School Percentile Cup Campdraft is being held again this year and the location is Dalby Showgrounds. If you are interested in attending either of these events, please contact Sarah Lilburne via email to discuss what is needed sarah.lilburne@twb.catholic.edu.au