By Mr Simon Fleming - Principal

I am pleased to announce that Mr James Cloney will take on the role of Acting Mathematics Curriculum Leader for Semester 2. Mr Cloney has been with us this term and he is keen to take on the added responsibility of coordinating and leading learning in the department. As many of you may have read in the newspapers, we are facing a chronic shortage of teachers particularly in the Mathematics and Science areas. Mr Connelly is currently unwell and is likely not to return this term. We are advertising for a full-time teacher of Mathematics and Science.

Teachers are currently working towards Semester one reporting. This includes the assessment, grading and writing of reports which will be available to parents at the end of term. Parent/Teacher interviews will take place on Monday 19^th July. Year 12 have just completed academic interviews and established their learning goals which will see them through to the end of unit 4. Year 11 have begun unit 2 and we look forward to previewing the data from unit 1 results. Their academic interviews will take place in early Term 3. 

The staff professional development this week was led by Mr Chris Gabbett, Principal of Mary Mackillop College in Toowoomba. Chris completed his Masters of Education by researching the topic, ‘What do we mean when we say Charism and is it even important?'. Chris provided an overview of the Catholic Education tradition and its historical context in Australia. Some of the key points in Chris’ presentation was that Catholic schools need to re – appraise what identity and belonging means in our schools and that we need to contemporise our charism to respond to the culture that we want to establish in our schools. An interesting point raised was the need to blend the twin pillars of making Jesus known and academic excellence. Chris went on to state; ‘At all levels, Catholic education seeks to enable the full dignity of the person via a search for excellence. This is achieved by adhering to five regulative principles:

• Preferential option for the poor and weak
• Academic knowledge for service
• Education for the Common Good
• Formation in solidarity and community
• Education informed by Faith

As a college we will be working towards how well we have or can adopt these principles.

Kind Regards,

Simon

By Mrs Anna Hardy, Deputy Principal

I talk a lot with students about the word ‘respect’ and how it features in our way at the College.  How we respect our friends, our teachers, other staff members and the environment that we have at the College.  The value of respect underpins our College rules, behaviour management policy and along with Wisdom, Compassion, Justice and Generosity we thrive to be a safe, caring environment where each student can reach their potential both academically, spiritually, culturally and through sport.

Unfortunately, I am writing about respect today to inform parents of the lack of respect shown around the College grounds in terms of property.  We are so fortunate to have beautiful school grounds with almost all brand-new facilities.  But recently there has been a spate of vandalism around the school.  It ranges from drawing on classroom walls with permanent markers, removing bark and plants from the gardens, to destroying property, toilets and damaging the infrastructure in the change rooms.  Unfortunately, this all costs valuable resources to repair that could be spent elsewhere in the College. 

Please support us in our endeavours to keep permanent markers, liquid white out and chewing gum at home and having conversations that reinforce the value of respect. 

Finally, the term will finish with two opportunities for students to get involved in College life; the Athletics Carnival 22^nd June and Founder’s Day 25^th June.  It is important that students are attending school up to and including the last day of term.  These two events will be fun days where student involvement is paramount. 

By Mr Michael Simpson - Assistant Principal - Curriculum 

Assessment Policy

Assessment drafts

Assumption College has a long history of not accepting mediocrity when it comes to assessment. We encourage all learners to submit their best possible effort in the first instances. It is a time when teachers can provide students with structured feedback, so that a learner can take that feedback and make the piece stronger as they iteratively make process towards the final submission. It is not just a matter of completing a draft or just the final submission, there is a whole process of improving progress. Please encourage your child to submit their best work during the drafting phase of an assessment task.

Final Submission

As with the drafts, mediocrity is not option. We have expectations that 100% of students will submit a final copy of an assignment, to an appropriate standard, on or before the due date. This includes students who have planned leave. It is their responsibility to arrange an alternative submission date before the final due date. If a student is sick for any reason, then parents of junior students are required to have a letter from their parents or a medical certificate, and apply for an extension. For senior students, the College is bound by QCAA protocols and, therefore; medical certificates are essential.

Academic Detentions

Any student who fails to meet the requirements of the College’s assessment policy, may be subjected to an after school academic detention. These will occur on Tuesday afternoons, from 3.00pm to 4.00pm. If your child falls into this category, then you will be notified by the classroom teacher, and a letter sent home outlining the procedure. The College would like to thank parents for their continued support of high expectations for academic success.

By Mrs Carol Sharp, APRE

End of Semester

There are two weeks left until the school holidays and they are definitely a busy two weeks. By now we have finished the last of our year level masses and all students have had the opportunity to walk down to St. Mary’s Church and join in mass with the parishioners. This initiative will continue next semester.

Pastoral Liturgies: The Donovan 5 and McAuley 5 pastoral care classes will be participating in the final pastoral liturgy for the semester. Next semester we start the rotation again with a new pastoral liturgy and a new theme.

The RE Classroom: Of course, we continue to gather evidence of learning in RE classes and use this evidence to make judgements about student achievement. Teachers are, as you read this, busily preparing reports that will provide you with insight into your student’s learning and how they can improve next semester.

The final weeks of school will see students begin to engage with term 3 work. Students should not be absent from school if at all possible. In situations where absence is unavoidable, please ensure your student keeps up to date with the work placed on Canvas.

Founders’ Day: And finally, we have our Founders’ Day (see below).

A very busy end of term for both students and staff in the area of RE and mission and identity.

Founders’ Day

On the last day of Term 2, we will be celebrating our first ever Founders’ Day. The main purpose of Founders’ Day is to celebrate and connect with our history as a College. We do this by focusing (as the name suggests) on the charism of our Founders and the values that they represent. The day also helps us to develop positive relationships and encourage greater student attendance and participation on the last day of term.

The day will involve a reflection on the life and values of Catherine McAuley and Edmund Rice and how they reflect the Marian tradition of Assumption College. There will also be a liturgical celebration, a talent quest competition for the students as well as novelty games and activities in the afternoon. The school will also supply a BBQ lunch on the day. Currently our staff and school leaders, along with some other volunteers, are busily organising the day. We would like to ask for your support by encouraging attendance on the final day of school. It’s days like this that allow students to form meaningful connections with their school community and that can only have positive impacts on both their wellbeing and their learning.

As Founders Day will be a celebration for the students, there will be Cultural Evenings in Terms 3 and 4 for our parents and guardians to attend. 

Prayer

In keeping with the theme of the busy-ness of the final two weeks of terms, I have found a prayer that reminds us to take the small moments of time offered to us rather than always rushing ahead to the next thing on the list.

PRAYER FOR BUSY PEOPLE 

SLOW ME DOWN, LORD

Slow me down, Lord, Slow me down!

Ease the pounding of my heart 

By the quieting of my mind.

Give me amid the confusion of my day

The calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles

With soothing mysic of the singing stream

The lives in my memory. 

Help me to know the magical restoring power of sleep. 

Teach me the art of taking a minute vacations, 

Of slowing down to look at a flower, 

To chat with a friend, to pat a dog, 

To read a few lines from a good book.

Remind me each day of the fable

Of the Hare and the Tortoise, 

That I may know that the race is not always to the swift -

There is more to life than increasing speed. 

Let me look upward into the branches of the flowing oak

And know that it is great and strong 

because it grew slowly and well. 

Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me

To send my roots deep into the soil of life's enduring values

That I may grow towards the stars of my great destiny. 

Amen. 

by Miss Denise Ryan - Chaplain

Happy week 8 everyone. We are certainly on the downhill run now with exams and assessment. This can make life a little harder at the moment, as it may feel like the workload just keeps piling up and as soon as one piece of assessment is done there seems to be three more. This can have a negative effect on how we then view the world and make us feel alone and isolated. However there are many different and effective ways we can use to tackle this rut that our students and even we, may find ourselves in.

A little stress can be a good thing: it can be the motivational push that we need to get things done in our lives.

• Remember to breathe
• Setting aside a couple of minutes to just stop and take a few deep breathes and refocus our thoughts.
• Eat, sleep and exercise well
• Pulling all-nighters, surviving on energy drinks, and lack of movement can increase symptoms of anxiety and effects our body and brain performance.
• Set realistic goals
• It is important that we all set realistic goals in our lives as this helps to keep on track and allow for realistic time frames as well.
• This means putting in the hours and studying and pushing yourself to do a little better each time.
• Not just doing the work in class and forgetting about it until the night before the exam or the assignment is due.
• Don’t do it alone
• Ask for help, talk to a friend, but you are never alone, there is always someone who will be going through the same stress of assessment as well. Meet up with peers and study together.
• Pace yourself through the panic
• Panicking before, during or even after an exam is common among students. If you experience it at any point, take six deep breaths, hydrate yourself, and then go back the problem at hand, being sure to break it down into several, manageable chunks. Remember that there is usually a rational solution to every problem, even if you can't see it at first glance.
• Believe in yourself
• When being faced with any challenges whether it be new or not, we often forget to look back and see how far we have come and how capable we are of achieving many things. Instead of thinking at 2am “If I don’t get an A/B I am a failure and dumb.” Try thinking “Whatever I get I know I have done the best of my ability I will be proud of myself and value how much I have already achieved. You can do this!”
• Ask for help
• If you feel like you are struggling and just can’t understand ask for help, it is not a shameful thing to do. Ask for help, there are plenty of teachers and support staff who are here to help and want you to achieve your goals. They are here to help you become the best version of you. Even if it is just to sit and talk about what is on going in your mind, so you can get it out and move on instead of bottling it up in your head while you are trying to study.

The great paper plane competition is well underway with the final category of the competition taking place on Monday 14^th June at first break. This category is the great race, which will be spilt into two rounds the distance round and speed round. The leader board is very tight at the moment with a tie for first and second and third extremely close behind. The first two categories were Model Plane and Stunt Plane, these two events were judged on the design of the plane, originality, backstory, and wow factor of the stunts.  We would like to thank our Guest Judges Mrs Fleming, Miss Wijeooriya and our student Judge Kaitlyn Newley.  These two events have been fantastic to see the cool and wacky designs the students have come up with.  There are plenty of photos so far of our entrants.

Have a great week!

By Mrs Alison Porter, Program Leader Student Pathways

Open Rugby League

By Miss Carly Cooper

This week the Darling Downs Rugby League semi-final was held in Warwick. Assumption played a competitive St Joseph’s College for the first time since the Mercy Shield early in the year. The boys were disciplined well in the first half remaining patient whilst the scoreboard progressively ticked over. The boys were leading 16 - nil at half time. The second half saw St Joseph’s get off to a firing start hitting back with early points. Matt Higgins, Tom Ramsey and Martin Bell lead the charge up the middle and were consistent throughout the game. The final scored resulted in Assumption defeating St Joseph’s 20 - 10. The boys look forward to the quarter finals next week. Details are yet to be confirmed for this game.

“A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” – Mary Lou Retton

By Miss Jaime Slattery

Bill Turner Cup and Trophy:

The ACW Boys progressed through to the third round of the Bill Turner Cup, Area 3 Darling Downs/Brisbane West, where we hosted Harristown SHS on Monday at Queens Park. The Boys played very well and thanks to a great header into the goal by Cooper March off a beautiful ball by Riley Butler, we finished the first half 1-1. From the starting whistle in the second half HSHS were on the attack and found another gear. The end result saw ACW defeated by HSHS 5-1. A fantastic effort by all throughout the rounds.

The ACW Girls are undefeated and have also progressed through to the third round of the Bill Turner Trophy, Area 3 Darling Downs/Brisbane West. We were lucky enough to host The Glennie School on Thursday afternoon at Queens Park. The girls were in fantastic form and were lucky to get off to a quick start, finishing the first half 2-1. At the beginning of the second half Glennie fought back desperate for another goal but ACW fought harder and managed to secure the win 5-2! Laura Schiewe was perfection as keeper and our goal scorers; Denika Murray and Chloe Gaske were unstoppable. An astounding effort by our girls who are already asking who they are playing next. Stay tuned!

We are very proud of both teams' sportsmanship and admirable efforts throughout the term. It is wonderful to see such strong bonds and friendships forming between teammates.  

Representative Sport:

Well done to Cooper Rhodes on his selection in the Darling Downs Hockey team, and to Lachlan Corney who made shadow. Cooper will be travelling to compete with his team at States in the following week. Good luck and enjoy!

Bronco’s Cup:

Netball by Mrs Kait Peters - We had a fantastic day out at Goondiwindi for Broncos Cup with the weather being very kind to us for most of the day. Our C Grade team had a cracker of a day finishing off undefeated after all 5 games, they are keeping their fingers crossed to make it into the grand final next week. Our B Grade team had an almost as successful day winning 4 games, drawing 2 games and only losing 1 game in the dying seconds. Our A Grade team were the youngest in their pool and while they fought tooth and nail only came away with 1 win and 4 losses but left as motivated as ever for next week. All teams are looking forward to an awesome finals round in Stanthorpe next Wednesday and we wish them the best of luck.

Rugby League by Mr Tom Duggan and Mr Chris Cook.

The Assumption College A Grade Rugby League team travelled to Goondiwindi with a very capable team. The boys started the morning with a solid win over St Texwood with Cooper Morton, Alex Shadlow, Harrison Boal and Jesse Scanlan having a strong game. The Boys then went on to have a tough game against Stanthorpe State High School where we were riddled with injuries so much so that we were down to 12 players. The boys hung tough but went on to lose this match. Straight afterwards the boys showed grit and managed to draw against Clifton. Our last game saw us go against an Allora and Killarney combined side which was very tough with only 14 players and already playing 3 tough games. The boys played well but ended up going down 4 tries to 3. Overall it was a great day of footy and all boys did their school proud. We wish them luck next week at Stanthorpe where they will take on Warwick State High and Goondiwindi State High.

The Assumption College B Grade Rugby League team were hyped and ready for a big day of footy in Goondiwindi. Their first game saw them defeat St Texwood, an awesome effort by the boys. They then faced off against a combined team consisting of students from Allora, Killarney and Clifton. Again, they got the win and it was a decent game by all involved. The team played very well, with solid efforts by all and clear improvements with their combinations and team cohesion throughout the day.

All teams will progress through to finals in Stanthorpe on 16 June 2021. Best of luck to all!

ACW Touch Football:

A great big thank you to all involved in the ACW teams this season. A gallant effort by our students to make it through to semi-finals. I hope you all enjoyed the season and for now you deserve a hard-earned break.

ACW Athletics Carnival:

Our Athletics Carnival returns in 2021 and it will be fantastic to see our athletes and participants running the track once more. Pre-events will run on Monday 21 June, with our carnival to be held on the 22 June at Briggs Oval, SCOTS PGC College. Due to the carnival running over one day only the HPE classes have been completing Javelin at school, with 7 and 8 HPE completing Long Jump and Triple Jump also. Students will be dropped off at Briggs Oval and collected at completion of the carnival, they are also asked to bring their own food, drink, sunscreen and warm clothes. More information will be given to students on Assembly and in upcoming House Meetings with their House Leaders. Spectators are most welcome to come along and cheer on our houses and students. We look forward to seeing you for our last school carnival of the year.

By Mrs Mary-Anne Driver 

During the last two weeks we have seen an increase in study at lunchtimes as assignments were due.  Our photocopiers are getting a work out too. We are all appreciating our warm space as well.

We thank Mrs Porter and Mrs Bacon for the displays they put up for careers week – the mystery teacher display was very popular.

Our STEM activity last week was building a catapult – the students had to follow the instructions and  specifications and then adjust the lever length and height to get the pom pom into the cup target.  We did have pom poms going in every direction during the adjustment phase!

Mrs Wooding and Mrs Driver attended the National Educational Summit in Brisbane last week and have come back with lots of new and interesting ideas  – we will keep you updated as our planning for the new library continues. 

By Mrs Jenny Gillespie

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