By Mrs Liisa Hammond, Principal

Gospel
John 16: 15 – 20 – The Assumption of Jesus

This is an important point in our Easter journey. Before Jesus ascends into heaven, he tasks his disciples with the mission to spread the “… Good News to all creation.” It is the moment that the disciples transition from Discipleship into Apostleship. It is a significant moment in the Disciples' lives as they move from being followers of Jesus to proactive agents who speak with the authority of Jesus. Of course, this is a massively daunting promotion that comes with it – what we may, in modern times, call imposter syndrome. Thankfully, we anticipate the coming of Pentecost Sunday.

At this time of year, our Year 12s are moving to the ‘Omega’ stage of their formal educational journey. A time of transition – that has been thirteen years in the making. Whilst we are counselling and guiding our Year 12s about their assessment results, QCE achievements, ATAR predictions and Apprenticeship/Trainee applications, we must never forget at the heart of what we wish for every one of our young people: a full and flourishing life. One that is grounded in a quiet confidence that will ensure they will always be successful no matter where their life’s journey takes them. The idea of moving from Disciple to Apostle is similar to the journey from Child to Adult and Student to Graduand. It is an exciting yet daunting time when we draw upon the foundation built for us, and by us, so that we can step confidently into our future.

Richard Coe 

On a significant note, we announced on Monday, May 13, 2024, that Mr Richard Coe, our esteemed CL: Arts and Performance, has been appointed as the Deputy Principal at Mary MacKillop Catholic College, Toowoomba. Richard's departure at the end of this term will mark a new chapter in our school's journey.

Richard will finish with us at the end of this term and commence his new position in Term 3.

I will speak more of his achievements in the short six months he has been with us when we make our farewell; however, for now, we congratulate him and his family on his new appointment.

Thank you, Mrs Merrill Ryan 

Our recent Advisory Council Meeting provided an opportunity to reflect on the invaluable contributions of Mrs Merrill Ryan, a longstanding member of our Advisory Council. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Merrill for her unwavering guidance and support during my time as Principal at Assumption College. Her role as a critical friend, challenging us with thought-provoking questions and offering well-considered advice, has been instrumental in our growth and development.

Thank you, Merrill!

May our Mother Mary grant her blessings upon our College Community. 

By Mrs Anna Hardy, Assistant Principal Curriculum 

Year 12 Essential English and Maths – Common Internal Assessment

Year 12 Essential English and Essential Mathematics students are presently preparing to undertake their Common Internal Assessment (CIA) in the ensuing three-week phase, i.e. during Weeks 5-7. The students' final results in Essential English or Essential Mathematics shall be determined based on their achievements in four internal assessments across Units 3 and 4. While schools develop three of these assessments, the fourth one, i.e. the CIA, is developed by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) and marked by schools. It is noteworthy that the upcoming exams will be common for all students studying Essential English and Essential Mathematics in Queensland. We extend our best wishes to all the students for their upcoming assessments. 

Year 11 Subject Changes

In view of the academic progress of Year 11 students, it is important to note that they are scheduled to complete Unit 1 by Friday 17 May, 2024. If any students intend to change their subject, they need to consult their Pastoral Academic Leader first. Thereafter, they shall be directed to either the Careers Development Practitioner (Mrs Porter), Director of Teaching and Learning, Mrs Natalie Bennett or by me as the Deputy Principal - Curriculum and organisation for further guidance. Please note that such a change must be made as soon as possible, as Unit 2 has begun.

Year 12 Reports and Academic Interviews 

The reports of Year 12 students, based on their IA1 and IA2 results, shall be dispatched in Week 6. These reports shall be discussed in the upcoming Academic Interviews scheduled for all Year 12 students from Friday 24 May, to Thursday 13 June, 2024. These interviews are of paramount significance as they enable the students and their parents to deliberate upon ways to improve their results, track their academic goals, assess QCE eligibility, and consider future pathways.

QCE

It is pertinent to note that the College is offering numerous micro-credentialling courses over the next few terms. Some of these courses shall be mandated for students who are at risk of not receiving a QCE. In the case of students who have received a failing grade in their recent report card, they are being closely monitored and provided with additional support to ensure that their grades improve and are mitigated, so as not to jeopardise their QCE points.

Year 10 Information Semester 2 Subject Selection.

Year 10 students will receive communication about the selection of their Maths and English courses for Semester 2. Semester 2 will be tailored to the Senior Pathway of the Year 10 students. Accordingly, Short Courses in Literacy and Numeracy shall be offered for students intending to pursue vocational pathways and Literature and Maths Methods, will also be offered for students wishing to taste these subjects before subject selection for Year 11.

By Mrs Julie Collins, Assistant Principal Pastoral and Wellbeing 

Parenting and Partnerships with Schools

Last newsletter, I wrote briefly about resilience. When parents and caregivers are working hard to build resilience at home, it creates a support network with the school and increased chances of success for your children.

Parenting is hard and constant and when you are tired it is easy to want to have a break. Unfortunately, this is not an option! It is not a job from which you can take leave if you want to raise children who can successfully function in our society.

A great site you might find helpful from the Australian Parenting Website is raisingchildren.net.au. The site offers expansive information, videos, support, and links.

Check out the link below so you can be armed with information when your next issue arrives as it inevitably will!

Wellbeing

There have been many wellbeing activities students have been involved in so far this year.

Quiet Achievers

Year 7    Libby Fraser – being responsible for her own learning and inspiring

      her peers.

Year 8    Will Waugh – participating fully in group activities during class time.

Year 9    Lily Sanders – for her efforts in improving her class work.

Year 10  Harry Fraser – for doing the extra cleaning up after Mother’s Day 

By Mr Scott Clegg, Business Manager 

Update on our College Uniform Supplier

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

We understand the importance of keeping our community informed and we are committed to providing you with the latest information as it becomes available. We take this opportunity to provide you with an update on the information that was promised in our previous communication.

Our College is constantly working to improve and enhance the educational experience for our students, and we are excited to share our progress with you. After a thorough review process, the College has decided to change to a new supplier for the College uniform. In consultation with the Parents and Friends Association (P&F), the new supplier will be The School Locker.

As of 13 May 2024, The School Locker will offer the Assumption College uniform (including our College Sports Uniform) for sale through their online platform and in person at Danny Lyons Sports store in Palmerin Street, Warwick. Please refer to the attached flyer for further details and access to the required information.

We will continue to seek feedback from our P&F as we look to improve the fit of the existing uniforms and as we investigate options for a soft-shell jacket as a replacement for the existing spray jacket, which will be phased out by the end of 2024.

Our College Parents and Friends (P&F) Association meets at our College, and the next meeting is scheduled for 6pm on Monday, 13 May 2024. All members of the College community are welcome to attend these meetings.

We are grateful for the support of our parents and caregivers, and we value the contributions that you make to our College. If you have any queries regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact the College office on 4660 4000.

Scott Clegg
Business Manager

By Mrs Alison Porter, Career Development Practitioner 

Date Claimer: Year 10 Work Experience Block

Our College runs a Careers program that aims to prepare students for their senior phase of learning and assist students in making decisions around career and education pathways. As part of the Careers program, we offer Year 10 students the opportunity to participate in a week of work experience. This year, the work experience block program will run in Term 2, Week 9, Monday 10 June to Friday 14 June 2024. Students have been advised their work experience packs were due last Friday, 10 May 2024. If there are any Year 10 students yet to return their work experience forms, please do so ASAP or see the Careers Office if they are requiring assistance.

New School Based Apprentice!

Congratulations to Harry Marshall who has recently signed up to a School Based Apprenticeship in Carpentry. Well done, Harry, and we wish you all the best for your apprenticeship.

Coming Soon: Warwick Careers Expo

It is that time of year again that our College is gearing up to host the annual Warwick Careers Expo on Tuesday, 16 July 2024. Local and district secondary schools are invited to this, and we are expecting many students from Years 10, 11 and 12 to attend.
Following on from last years success of over 30+ exhibitors and over 400+ students from schools all over Warwick, we are excited to again be hosting this event at our College in Locke Street, Warwick. Members of the public are also welcome to attend.

By Mr Thomas Duggan, Sports Coordinator  

Netball Team

Congratulations to our u13 and u15 Netball teams who travelled to Toowoomba for the first round of fixtures against St Ursula’s College. The u13 team had a narrow loss but played very well as a team. Meanwhile the u15 team had a strong win. These teams will now continue to play games on Thursday evenings for the remainder of the term. 

Confro Team

Congratulations to the Assumption College Confro team who played St Mary’s College Toowoomba in the second round of the DD NRL Trophy Schoolboys Competition. The result of this match finished as a 14-14 draw. It was a great game of footy and a resilient second half by the Assumption College team after trailing 14-6. Well done to Toby Spiller for his man of the match performance.

Open Girls Netball

The Open Girls netball team continues their preparation for QISSN through their participation in the Open Warwick Women’s competition. The girls have been very competitive in all of their matches so far with a mixture of wins and losses thus far. Best of luck for your upcoming matches.

Rugby League Team Selection

Congratulations to Noah Locke and Jesse Samin for their selection in the DD u12 Rugby League team. Best of luck at the State Championships.

By Mr Richard Coe, Curriculum Leader 

Expanding ACW Art Gallery 

It has been such a pleasure to see the development of Assumption College staff corridors into an ever-evolving art gallery, celebrating the talents and creativity of our fantastic art students. With the support of Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Cullen has been able to curate some wonderful work for us to enjoy and marvel at. The following images show Year 10 post-impressionism experiments and Senior ‘Black Square’ experiments inspired by Malevich.

Culinary Adventures in Year 9 Food Technology

Senior Music Class Band bring a bit of ‘magic’ to Awards Assembly

After their triumphant turn at the ACW Variety Showcase, the senior music class band were at it again during the recent Awards Assembly. Performing ‘Magic’ by Pilot (and more recently Selena Gomez) Sam Shaw, Josh Gale, Chloe Harmer, Wyatt Fretwell, James Wooding and Guthrie Douglas played brilliantly, receiving warm acclaim from the Assumption College community including guests who had come to see the ceremony. Special mention must go to Ziggy Gibson on keys who (literally) threw himself into the skat/dance break in the middle of song to great cheers of astonishment and adoration from the crowd!

It has been so exciting to see the fantastic music ensembles in assemblies this year – we are truly blessed to have so much talent at the College but also that we have the dedicated staff (in this case, Miss Sathumi Wijesooriya) to help nurture and support this. A big thank you also must go to Mr. Abraham Fern who always does such a fantastic job in setting up and running the sound.

Wearable Art - Svenja

We were delighted to be visited by internationally renowned wearable art practitioner ‘Svenja’ last month. The College are busy designing, cutting, and experimenting with designs for their own wearable art, which will be on display at this year's Jumpers and Jazz festival. Svenja spent two hours with a small group of keen artists and craft-makers – all new to the concept of ‘wearable art’. Mrs. Kate Cullen and Mrs. Donna Williams are taking a lead on this bold and innovative project and Mr. Coe thanks them for their hard work and creative input.

Woman in Black Theatre Visit

Assumption College students were thrilled by an outstanding production at QPAC
On Wednesday, 9 May, 49 Assumption College students from Years 7-11 along with Mr Coe, Mr Pringle and Miss Wijesooriya made the journey to The Playhouse Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane to watch the West End phenomenon The Woman In Black by Susan Hill, adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatrat.

Expectations were high as we enjoyed the scenic drive down through the ‘gap’ and stopped off for chips and chocolate at Aratula services! Students were wondering if the production would indeed be ‘scary’ as had been publicized and how would they tell a ghost story with just two actors? As the students took their seat in the beautiful and comfortable Playhouse Theatre, you could feel the buzz of tension in the air and then the lights slowly went down….

The next two hours had our group completely entranced and enraptured. Funny, touching, scary – this production had it all. With outstanding performances from both John Waters and Daniel McPherson and a quite ingenious production direction and design, it actually ‘overdelivered’ for us all and the applause at the end was wild in its enthusiasm.

On the way home I collected some of the responses from our students:
Pippa (Year 8): "thrilling, scary but fun"
Ella (Year 9): "I have no words – and you know that’s a first!"
Michaela (Year 8): "I wish I could see it again as I spent half the time hiding behind my hands or closing my eyes!"
Amber (Year 8): "scary but incredible – the buckets got me!"
Emily (Year 9): "the lighting was incredible – so clever"
Sam (Year 9): "so terrifying it’s good"
Avianna/Montana (Year 11): "creepy, scary but also sad. To do it with just two actors was some achievement."

Overall, the trip to Brisbane was well worth the effort. The students behaved impeccably and are excited about the next trip! Let’s just hope they were able to get to sleep after this terrifying ordeal.

Coming Up 

Wednesday 5 June 2024 – ‘Beauty and the Beast’ theatre visit: QPAC – Booked out. 

Thursday 18 July 2024– Saturday 28 July: Jumpers and Jazz in July, 2024. Musical performances, wearable art exhibition, Potters’ soup night, and tree decoration.

Thursday 15 August – Sunday 18 August 2024: Queensland Catholic Schools and Colleges Music Festival; Concert Band entered

Wednesday 2 October 2024: Theatre trip to ‘Wicked’, QPAC – letters coming soon

To be announced: (watch this space!)

Rodeo 2024
School Production 2025

By Mrs Amanda McCosker, College Chaplain 

Exam and Assessment time

What a busy few weeks we have had this term! I know we are coming into the exam and assessment end of the term and I trust that everyone is tackling each task to the best of their ability. Remember, all you can do is try your best; your worth is not defined by the mark on a test. 

Do it for Dolly Day 

On Wednesday of Week 4, many of our students added blue to their uniforms to help us recognise 'Do it for Dolly Day'. As well as their blue ribbons and socks, the students also had the opportunity to write a message of appreciation or kindness onto a blue butterfly, which will be delivered to their recipients this week. It was so lovely to see so many students get involved in this important day by simply being kind to each other.

Mother’s Day Breakfast 

On Friday 10 May, 2024, we held our annual Mother’s Day breakfast and many students braved the cool weather to come and share a lovely breakfast with their Mum, Grandma or other important family member. It is nice to take the time to pause and show our appreciation for the person who gives so much to us. I hope all the Mums enjoyed a relaxing Mother’s Day and were spoilt by their family. 

By Ms Mary-Ann Driver, Teacher Librarian

Everyone Welcome

As the weather gets cooler, we see more students entering the library and enjoying our space. We welcome everyone to come in and enjoy some activities as they warm up. Chess is always popular, as well as UNO and Jenga, and a real brain-snapping game called Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza. There are also a few new additions to our game shelf that still need to be played! We hope some brave students will help us test them out soon.

Our resident Lego builder is embarking on his next masterpiece, and we can't wait to share the journey with you. Keep an eye out for the exciting progression photos over the next few weeks.

Open Day Display

Despite the gloomy weather on Open Day, the Assumption Hall was bustling with activity! We thoroughly enjoyed meeting new faces at our Open Day display, and we would like to acknowledge Patrick, who stayed after school and helped spread the word about the fun things we do in the library.

We would also like to extend our thanks to Bridie, who helped set up and pack up, and to all the students who were part of our presentation. From photos of fun activities to student artwork and 3D prints, we could not have made such a fun and joyful display without our students' input.

Thank you everyone!