By Mr Kort Goodman - Principal

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students

Welcome back to Term 3. I hope that you all had a relaxing break and are ready for another jam-packed term full of learning and activity. I would like to acknowledge that we are very aware a number of our families continue to experience hardship due to the ongoing drought. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to these families, and I encourage you to please come and speak to me if there is anything that we can do to support you during this time.

Toowoomba Catholic Schools Excellence Awards 

This year the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Diocese will again present excellence awards to staff. These awards are to recognise those members of the TCS community who lead, create and/or provide the support needed to create exemplary places of learning where every student experiences academic success and comes to know and experience the loving presence of Jesus. These people may be teachers, school leaders, work in an office or volunteer their time. The awards are in 10 categories across the three areas of excellence in teaching and learning, excellence in leadership and excellence in education support.

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the following staff of Assumption College Warwick have been nominated in the following categories.

Excellence in Teaching and Learning;

Miss Carly Cooper - Excellence in teaching and learning: early career teacher.

Mr Mark Baker - Excellence in teaching and learning: secondary expert teacher.

Excellence in Leadership

Mr Piers Dudin - Emerging leader

Excellence in Education Support

Mrs Jenny Gillespie – Excellence in teaching and learning support

Mr Scott Clegg – Excellence in Administration, finance and facilities support

We congratulate these staff members on their nomination and thank them for their continued outstanding contribution to the Assumption College Community.

Assumption College Community Expectations:

A reminder of the expectations we have of our students including; wearing their uniform perfectly both inside and outside of the College grounds, attending school every day, participating in all College events, striving for their best academically and demonstrating respectful behaviour and using their manners on all occasions. Furthermore, our students understand that it is not appropriate to use foul language, intimidate or bully others or to be aggressive and/or argumentative when corrected for inappropriate behaviour. We thank our parents for their continued support in reinforcing these expectations with your children.

Changes in Student Leadership Structure 

In response to the introduction of the new Queensland Senior Schooling system we have restructured our student leadership program. This restructure will allow our Year 12 students to undertake a mentoring role of the Year 11 leaders in term 3 while completing their studies and preparing for their final exams. The Year 12 students will then relinquish their leadership responsibilities at the start of term 4 when they will start their final external exams. We believe that this is in the best interest of the students and this system is being implemented this year.

Currently the Year 11 students who have nominated for leadership positions are engaged in the process of leadership selection which includes; completing a nomination form, preparing and presenting a speech to the College students and staff, involvement in leadership activities on camp and participating in an interview either with myself and Mrs Hardy or their pastoral leader. The announcement of the College Leaders will occur at the end of this week at the Year 11 camp and the House Leaders on the Tuesday of week two. Following these announcements, the College Senior Leadership Induction Mass will take place at the beginning of week three. We wish the students who have nominated for positions the best of luck and thank them for their willingness to undertake these positions.

Staffing Term 3

We have had several changes to our staffing over the break. Mr and Mrs Frattini have left our College with Mr Frattini taking on a Principal role in Ayr, Mrs Karen Upton has moved to Biloela where her husband currently works, Mrs Sarah Worth has sought other employment opportunities in Warwick and Mrs Fraser will soon going on maternity leave. I would like to thank these wonderful people for their outstanding service to the Assumption College community. We wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

The recruitment of a replacement Deputy Principal has begun with a person to be appointed for the beginning of 2020. Until that time the staff members who were acting in the respective positions whilst I was in Belgium and on leave will continue in these roles until the end of 2019. I thank these people for their willingness to continue on in these roles for the remainder of 2019.

Acting Deputy Principal – Mrs Anna Hardy

Acting Assistant Principal Curriculum – Ms Eliza Harris

Acting Program Leader Senior Schooling – Mrs Kristy Searson

Acting Curriculum Leader Arts – Miss Rebecca Bastion

In addition, we welcome Miss Amy Parker who will be taking on Mrs Fraser's classes and school officers Mrs Tracey Patrick and Ms Jillian Johnson. We also welcome back Miss Jess Lawrence. We wish them all the best, knowing that they will enjoy their time with us.

Prayer for Rain

Almighty and everlasting God you have given us this earth to care for and delight in.

Look with mercy on our need for rain for our parched land.

We pray that life giving rain will soon fall.

We pray to those suffering from the severity of this drought – people working on the land, and those in business who depend on farming and grazing for their livelihoods.

Father, help them to know your love and care and to bring their burdens to you.

Guide all those who are seeking to provide help and bring healing in the midst of so much pain.

We ask these things through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Have a lovely week.

Kort

 

By Mrs Anna Hardy, Acting Deputy Principal

Welcome to Term 3!  It is a timely reminder to all our students and their families about our Pastoral processes at the College.  We expect that students will come to school prepared for all of their lessons.  The College has a class preparation process that outlines the minimum requirements for each class. 

STUDENT MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR CLASSES

For each lesson, the students are required to have the following items:

• IPad/Laptop – fully charged at the beginning of each day.
• The notebook for the subject that they are attending.
• Diary - An academic diary not a personal diary. Needs to be neat and tidy as per subject exercise books.
• A pencil case with the following items – lead pencils, eraser, blue/black, red pens, glue, scissors, sharpener, calculator, ruler.
• Subject specific textbook.
• Appropriate safety equipment for specific subjects, i.e glasses/aprons
• Appropriate clothing and equipment for Physical Education.

If students fail to bring the minimum requirements to a lesson the following process occurs:

• Once the student attends a class without their required materials 3 times in a term then they are provided with a class preparation form that they complete in their own time – they get the form signed by their parent and then present the completed form to the classroom teacher at the beginning of the next lesson, prior to being allowed to enter the class. If a student fails to show up with the form completed and signed, then this is an indication that the student is not willing to meet the requirements to be in that class and they will be relocated.
• Once a student completes a class preparation plan they do not get 3 chances again for that subject – if they forget their materials again then they simply get given another form to complete.
• If a student has to complete three class preparation forms in a term for the same subject, then they are obviously not willing to meet the requirements to be in that class and they are to be relocated and follow the relocation process.

We appreciate the support that families provide us in our pastoral processes and if you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us via the College office.  The student's PC teacher is the first point of contact for students and families.  Also, the Pastoral Leaders are always willing to discuss your child’s pastoral care and wellbeing. They can be also be contacted via the College office or through email.

Matt Bruton – Rice House – matt.bruton@twb.catholic.edu.au

Robert Bell – McAuley House – Robert.bell@twb.catholic.edu.au

Phillip Yates – Romero House – Phillip.yates@twb.catholic.edu.au

Julie Collins – Donovan House – Julie.collins@twb.catholic.edu.au  

By Ms Eliza Harris - Acting Assistant Principal - Curriculum 

As Term Three commences in its usual busy fashion I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all students to take some time and reflect on the successes and challenges of Semester One. These reflections should shape the formation of academic and personal goals for Semester Two designed to push each student to reach their potential.

Parent Teacher Interviews:

A reminder that Parent Teacher Interviews take place next Tuesday afternoon, 23rd July and I encourage all parents to make these bookings with your student’s teachers. These conversations are an integral component of successful school-home partnerships and are incredibly important in ensuring we as a College are supporting the individual needs of all students. Should you be unable to attend interviews during these scheduled hours, please feel free to contact your student’s teachers to arrange a mutually appropriate time.

Senior Subject Information Night:

Wednesday 24th July is the final Senior Information Night for Grade 10 students entering Grade 11 in 2020. This session is the third in a series of information evenings designed to thoroughly prepare both students and parents for the senior phase of learning within the new QCE system. The session will commence at 6pm, in rooms 811-812 and is an interactive evening allowing both students and parents to liaise directly with Curriculum Leaders, Senior Teachers, our Careers Co-Ordinator and industry representatives who are available to answer all questions regarding school-based apprenticeships and other vocational pathways. This is an important evening in preparing students and parents for our SET Plan interview process which takes place later this term. The constraints of the new QCE system emphasise the importance of personalised learning pathways for all students and this evening is designed to ensure parents and students are able to access personalised guidance from a variety of critical stakeholders.There will be tea, coffee and light refreshments provided and the evening should conclude at 7pm.

By Mrs Carol Sharp, APRE

Curriculum News

On Friday, July 26^th our Year 7 will be participating in an excursion to our local parish church. The purpose of this excursion is to improve their understanding not only of our local church history, but of how the structure and layout of the church reflects Christian belief and facilitates the rituals Christians participate in. This excursion is critical to the successful completion of their assessment for this term, an information brochure about St. Mary’s Parish Church.               

Real Talk

At the end of last term our Year 7 and 9 students participated in the Real Talk discussions, focusing on an age-appropriate message about relationships. If you have any feedback you would like to provide me with regarding these talks and your child’s reaction to them, please feel free to contact me either by email on carol.sharp@twb.catholic.edu.au or by phone on (07) 4660 4000.

Mass and Liturgies

This term is a very busy term for school masses and liturgies with some significant events on the calendar.

Leadership Induction Mass: On Monday, July 29^th at 9.30am our Year 11 students will be inducted as leaders of the school. Similar to the induction mass at the beginning of the year, this mass is designed to mark the start of the journey for our Year 11 students’ final year at school. Parents of our Year 11 students are invited to attend and an invitation from the Principal will be forthcoming.

Feast Day Mass: On Thursday, August 15^th we will be holding our annual feast day mass to celebrate Our Lady of the Assumption. This mass will begin at 9.30am and will also be a joint mass with St. Mary’s Primary School.

Opening and Blessing of New Buildings: On Thursday, August 22^nd the Most Reverend Bishop Robert McGuckin will join us to preside over an official blessing ceremony for our new and refurbished buildings. This liturgy will happen in the new Assumption College Sports Hall and will include a range of invited guests include the Executive Director of Catholic Education, Dr Pat Coughlan.

Prayer – St Francis of Assisi

Dear Lord, help me to live each day quietly, easily.

To lean upon your strength truthfully, restfully.

To wait for the unfolding of your will patiently, serenely.

To meet others peacefully, joyfully.

To face tomorrow confidently, courageously.

Amen.

By Mrs Alison Porter, Program Leader Careers and Vocational Education

Noteworthy Items

• The Warwick Careers Market is running from 11am to 3pm, Monday 22nd July, at the Warwick State High School Hall
• Year 10 students are preparing for senior subject choices and work experience
• Reminder that university and other tertiary institutions are in full swing with open days for prospective students in 2020 and these are great for information for Year 12 students
• Date claimer: Tertiary Studies Expo and Qld Work and Skills Expo in Brisbane, 20th and 21st of July.

Congratulations!

The College would like to offer it’s ‘congratulations’ to those students who were signed up at the end of last term into school-based apprenticeships and traineeships. These students are Joseph Hume, Kyarnee King-Taylor, Hayden Fuhrman-Luck, Holly Roche, Brock Grassens and Kyle Harrison. We would also like to thank the local businesses that have provided these opportunities; Cassel’s Automotive, Domino’s Pizza, First Choice Chiropractic, Collins Food Ltd, West Talgai Grazing and Laney’s Garages & Patios.

We would also like to congratulate Chris Henderson and Clare Ramsey on the completion of their school-based traineeships.

Year 10 Work Experience

Year 10 students can complete work experience this year in the last week of Term 3 (17th to 21st of September). Year 10 classes will not run in that week in the hope that all students attend work experience. The aim of such work experience is to give students the opportunity to develop their employability skills and their understanding of the world of work and career pathways. Students should now be approaching organisations to secure their placement for the work experience week. Year 10 students should organise their work experience placement and return the agreement form by week 5 of this term.

Year 10 SET (Senior Education & Training) Plans

We are currently working with Year 10 students around career and study options, including the options and subject selection for Years 11 & 12. Part of this process is the Senior Subject Information evening on Wednesday 24th of July. This will be followed up with the development of Year 10 students’ Senior Education and Training (SET) Plans. The Department of Education and Training requires that all schools in Queensland develop a SET Plan with each Year 10 student. These SET plans map students’ learning and career pathways.

The purpose of a SET plan is to help students:
• set and achieve their learning goals after Year 10
• include flexible and co-ordinated pathway options in their course of senior study
• think about their education, training and career options after Year 12 and make decisions about their learning pathways
• structure their learning around their abilities, interests and ambitions
• communicate with their parents, teachers and career guidance officers about their learning pathways and post-school plans.” (www.qcaa.qld.edu.au)

Parents are encouraged to be involved in their child’s SET Plan. Letters will be sent home in coming weeks regarding times to meet with College staff and your child regarding their SET Plan.

Aspire To Health (Year 10 Students)

The Department of Employment, Small Business and Training is again working in collaboration with Griffith University, University of Southern Queensland and The University of Queensland Rural Clinical School to offer the Aspire to Health program to students. This is a one-day program held at the Warwick Hospital on the 22nd of August and offers participating students workshops and information sessions about careers in the health industry. There are very limited positions available for Year 10 students with a strong interest in a career in the health sector. Students interested in attending should see me as soon as possible to secure their place in the program.

Warwick Careers Expo

Year 10 and 12 students have been invited to attend the Warwick Careers Expo as a school group from 12-1pm on Monday 22nd July. A bus has been organised to take students to Warwick State High School where students can meet with local employers and institutions to gain information about career and study options. Parents can join their students or take them at any other time. A letter has been sent home with students and those students wishing to attend the expo with the College group need to return their permission form to the College office prior to Monday.

By Mrs Julie Collins - Program Leader Sport

Bill Turner Cup & Bill Turner Trophy

The Bill Turner Cup and Bill Turner Trophy are school football competitions. Around 850 school teams from NSW, Qld, ACT and Victoria participate each year, with all players 15 years and under in 2019.The comp is a knockout format with early round matches starting in Term 1 each year.

Our girls football team has been playing in the Bill Turner Trophy, which is the competition for girls. Our girls had progressed through to the fourth round of the competition and on Tuesday 16/07/2019, we travelled to Toowoomba to play the semi-final for the Darling Downs – Brisbane West area, against Glennie.

Being nervous and excited, our girls took the field with some trepidation. Straight from the get-go, our girls pressured the opposition and pressed high. We played the first half with great vigour and never gave up. This ongoing pressure resulted in a goal to Denika Murray, very late in the first half. The half time break came and the girls were pumped to continue on. During the second half the Glennie girls made a comeback and levelled the score. We continued to play forward with attacking football, but to no avail. We missed a scoring opportunity from a penalty and the score was locked at 1 all at full time. We re-grouped and went back into battle for the 15 minutes of extra time. With plenty of end to end football, we were unlucky not to convert one of our opportunities and with our backline holding strong, the extra time saw no goals for either team. On to penalty shootout we went. Unfortunately we missed a couple of penalties and the Glennie girls came away victors on the day, 3-1 on penalties.

Hard to pick, as all of our players showed great quality across all positions on the field, but we have awarded the player of the match to our goalie, Lillian Jessen, who showed great courage and valour defending our goal even after suffering an injury from landing awkwardly whilst protecting her turf.

Congratulations to this group of young ladies, on progressing to this stage of the competition and also on the way they conducted themselves on and off the field. The ladies should be proud of themselves. Their effort has paved the way for our female football program and it has helped make the future of football at Assumption College look very promising.

Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball

This year’s QISSN carnival – 64 teams hosted by Shalom College, Bundaberg, was another great success for the College, both on and off the court. The girls (Amy Harrison, Sophie Otten, Taylah Hoffman, Kaitlin Thorne, Caitlin Skaines, Jasmine Olzard, Olivia Smith and Lillie Clarke) began with a tough draw on day one, and we came away with three close losses (STMC 12 – 14, Xavier Catholic College 14 – 17, Ryan Catholic College 11 – 17). St Thomas More went on to play in the Division 5 Grand Final, an indicator of the strength of the pool we were in. We were up bright and early on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, having wins against St Mary’s Ipswich, Mercy College, and Marist College Emerald, and a one-point loss against St Michael’s, which was an absolute cracker of a game. Having the support of the Confro rugby league team really boosted the girls against Marist, resulting in one of our best victories (23 – 16). We were able to return the favour for the boys’ game against St Edmund’s Christian College, which they won 18 – 10. The girls gave their tired legs some beach therapy at Woodgate on Tuesday afternoon, and we also enjoyed a barbeque dinner with the Confro team on Wednesday night. Player of the match honours over the first three days were shared by Sophie Otten, Amy Harrison and Caitlin Skaines.

Finals began on Thursday, with every game being a must-win in order to secure top spot in our division. We exploded out of the blocks against Gilroy Santa Maria, resulting in an impressive 28 – 4 win, only to come up against St Michael’s again in the semi-finals. Once again, the game came down to the very last seconds, and we were the unlucky victims of the clock, going down 16 – 15 in a virtual replay of our first game against them. This result put us in the play-off for 3^rd and 4^th in Division 6 on Friday. The game was everything a grand final should be, with a strong start from us being slowly pegged back by St Luke’s Anglican College Bundaberg. Early in the second half it looked like they might have had the home ground advantage, but our girls kept their heads up and it was goal for goal until full-time, ending in a draw. The extra three minutes each way was nerve racking for coaches and spectators alike, and Taylah Hoffman (injured earlier) was almost bouncing around on her one good leg. Finally, with a one-point buffer, time was up, and the girls were out of their feet, but ecstatic with the 21 – 20 scoreline. Player of the match for the final three games was again awarded to Sophie and Caitlin. Caitlin was also the recipient of the MVP award for our team for the carnival, as well as being recognised as an up and coming talent through selection in the QISSN Rising Stars team. A huge congratulations goes to all eight girls for achieving 3^rd place in Division 6, and for their impressive skills and attitude across the whole week. Thanks too, to the spectators for their support and positivity on the sideline.

By Mrs Mary-Anne Driver 

Welcome to term 3 in the library.

Our Jumpers and Jazz display.  This year the theme is connect.  We make connections in many different ways at Assumption.

Everyone at school was invited to write or draw how/why they feel connected.  The responses have been linked together to make one long chain, just as we are joined together through our school community.

Some very thoughtful responses have been sent back including teachers, friends, participation in religion and other subjects, extracurricular activities, sport and lunch time ??(hanging with friends).

The connections you make through relationships, places, and social activities can build a safety net for your physical and mental health. Healthy connections  are known to lower levels of anxiety and depression, and raise self-esteem. (https://headtohealth.gov.au/meaningful-life/connectedness)

Thanks to the students who have also had fun construction the chain and assembling the display.

By Mr Scott Clegg - Business Manager 

School Fees

Term 3 School Fees accounts will be forwarded shortly. If you haven’t received your copy by 26th July 2019, please contact the college office. School Fees are due 30th August 2019 unless you have a Direct Debit or other payment arrangement with the college.

Tuckshop

Please note on Monday 29th July there will be NO TUCKSHOP. All students will need to bring their own lunches. 

School Musical - Legally Blonde

Our College musical, Legally Blonde JR is fast approaching. Our students and staff are about to embark on the final weeks of rehearsals and we are very excited to showcase our hard work to the community. I would like to thank our families in advance for their support. In addition, over the holidays many of our staff gave up their time to construct the technical components for our show.  A big thank you to Kate Cullen who has been painting our sets and props as well as Mandy Goodman, Alannah Johnson, Amanda Stevens, Mary-Anne Driver and Rebecca Butler who were sewing costumes. On a side note I now know how to overlock very well!

Tickets for the Assumption College Musical "Legally Blonde" are on sale now. Musical performances will be held on Thursday 8th August, Friday 9th August and Saturday 10th August. Please click the link below to purchase online: 

Year 10 Digital Technologies - School Musical Designs

During Term 2 the Year 10 Digital Technologies students learnt about photoshop with their assessment task creating advertising materials for musical.  The students met with the Musical’s director Mrs Kristy Searson to gain an idea about what was required for the musical.  The students then created, posters, tickets, and flyers for the musical meeting the legal obligations required.  Below is a collection of designs that the students have created.