14 September 2022

TCE Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Year 12 Graduation Recognition Liturgy

Our ATSI students recently attended the annual TCE Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Year 12 Graduation Recognition Liturgy 2022 in Townsville. The day began with the first ever Blak Excellence Aspiration event that showcased the stories of First Nations people in our community. Our students were able to speak with mentors throughout this session and listen to stories about what life can offer in the future.

Following this, they attended the Graduation Liturgy at Sacred Heart Cathedral. During the ceremony, all students were presented with their certificates and their graduation sashes. Kaylee Hillyard was recognised for her efforts as a significant Indigenous student within our College by being nominated for the Student of the Year category.

Congratulations to all students on their achievements.

Here is the live stream of the event https://youtu.be/Ga8kyrcrh5o

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What's Happening

Important Dates

Essential Emails

From the Principal - Kevin Barnes

Dear Families,

I truly thank everyone who attended Gilroy On Show, as we were delighted that almost 400 people attended the evening and took part in the evening’s activities.  We really appreciated the opportunity to show families what our College provides for students, and our staff were able to answer questions about subjects offered across all curriculum areas.  This year we decided to incorporate the Year 10 Senior Pathways and Subject Information Session and the Year 6 Information Session into the night’s activities.  Both sessions were very well attended by parents and students, and I trust you found the information and advice helpful and timely as we work towards next year. 

Gilroy On Show is a major occasion on our school calendar and is an event which requires all staff and P&F members to play their part to make the evening a reality.  I sincerely thank everyone for their contributions, support and energy in making the evening a huge success.  I received many messages of thanks and congratulations from parents, community leaders and politicians on the quality and value of the evening.  It is always nice to know our efforts and commitment are appreciated.  Thank you to all.

Our Reflective Practices Day (student free day) last Friday was a very informative and productive day of professional development for our staff.  The focus of the day was to ensure that teaching staff are well informed about initiatives and consistent practices we are implementing across all curriculum areas and all year levels of the school. 

Last week, Father's Day was our opportunity to acknowledge, thank and remember the fathers and male role models who have touched and continue to enrich our lives. The role of father figures in the lives of our children cannot be underestimated, especially for the young men in our College. Male role models bring a unique quality to families, our College and our community. I see this as an ideal opportunity to encourage more males to become involved in the life of Gilroy Santa Maria College as your perspective is greatly appreciated and welcomed.

Last week, our College was involved in Verification as we are in year 4 of the 5 year school renewal cycle.  The verification process involved the TCEO orange service team attending an intensive two day visit to rate our College against the Ten Characteristics of Effective Catholic Schools. The verifiers spent time visiting classrooms, conversing with the school community, Board members, Fr Damian, parents, staff and students to discuss, inspect and observe practices and evidence of the school’s operational processes.

Learnings and recommendations from the verification process will be considered as we now prepare for Validation, which is the next step where we set the future School Renewal Strategic Plan for 2024 to 2028.

We now await the written Verification Report against the 10 Characteristics of Effective Catholic Schools, which are listed below:

1. The School Improvement Agenda
2. Catholic Identity
3. School – Parents – Church – Community Partnership
4. A Learning Culture
5. Strategic Resourcing
6. A Data Informed Practice
7. Effective Pedagogy
8. Learning & Teaching
9. A Coherent Curriculum
10. Professional Teaching Community

As the school holidays are upon us, I encourage staff and students to enjoy some down time, spend time doing the things you may not always have time for and spend quality time with family and friends, but most importantly be aware of your own safety and well-being over the holidays.

I look forward to seeing everyone back at school, ready to start Term 4 on Tuesday 4 October.

God bless
Kevin Barnes

Prayer

Recently, we celebrated Father’s Day. Happy Father’s Day to all who have significant roles in the lives of our students. We hope you had a great day!

From Matt Schrodter -Assistant Principal Pastoral

Dear Families,

Coming up to the end of term and exams is a busy time for all at the College, however, we still have some engaging days coming up for students giving them a chance to destress and have some fun. The Forrest Beach Fun Run is on again on the last day of term and students and staff have been working on ways to make this more enjoyable for all.  I look forward to seeing how it goes.

Recently our senior Leaders for 2023 were selected and the quality of the Leadership interviews has been fantastic again this year. From the quality of responses and the ideas provided by students in the interviews, I am looking forward to working with next year’s leaders and watching them grow and make a difference to the College. These roles will be more defined, giving each leader more responsibility which the leaders have all been happy about.

Unfortunately, social media has become such an integral part of a student’s life that it can cause anxiety and lower self-esteem. Modern teens are learning to do most of their communication whilst looking at a screen instead of another person. Whilst doing this, they are missing out on very critical social skills. Quite often when dealing with these issues at the College, students will admit that they would not say the things they write online to another student’s face.

This can affect their digital reputation; friendships, relationships and even future job prospects are all at risk. As a parent, it is very important that you are aware of what picture they are painting of themselves online.

Once images or comments are posted online they can be difficult to remove. Images and words can be misinterpreted and altered as they are easily and quickly shared around. Privacy settings on social media sites need to be managed in order to protect your child’s digital reputation.

There are some great articles about social media and school age students and how to manage this on our “SCHOOL TV” webpage. I have added a link below for this.

https://gilroysm.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/social-media-and-digital-reputation

 School TV can be accessed by going to the Gilroy Santa Maria Homepage and clicking the link at the top of the website or by going through/Parents/School TV/ Then clicking the “click here” icon. Or if you follow the below link.

https://gilroysm.catholic.schooltv.me/

God bless
Matthew Schrodter

From the Business Manager –Ros Giuliano

Invoices for Term 3 fees and levies have been emailed to all parents. If you have not received them, please check your spam emails or contact the office.  If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Payments were due Friday 12 August 2022.

In accordance with the mission, values and ethos of our school, we remain committed to providing an education to all of students regardless of their financial circumstances.

BPAY is our preferred method of payment. The details are on the family statement.  You can also pay weekly, fortnightly, monthly or by term by Payway, direct debit, credit card, cash or cheque.

As always, if you have any questions or queries, please contact the Principal or myself to discuss the matter. The sooner you make contact the sooner we can work together for a solution.

Ros Giuliano
rgiuliano@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au

R U OK?

Thursday 8 September Gilroy participated in the annual National Day of Action when we reminded Australians to ask, ‘are you OK?’, and to start a meaningful conversation whenever they spot the signs that someone they care about might be struggling with life.

This year our message was: "Ask R U OK? No qualifications needed" ... because a conversation could change a life. To highlight awareness about the importance of asking someone if they are OK, Gilroy ran the following events:
- Thursday was a free dress day with students asked to wear something yellow to show their support for R U OK? Day.  Students were asked to bring a dollar or two to donate to a mental health charity.
- free R U OK? cupcakes were given out at the dining room at first lunch break.
- messages placed around the school to encourage everyone to think about others at all times.
- the much anticipated release of Gilroy's R U OK? Day superhero movie, "The Zac Panther". It was a blockbuster!

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Careers

Career Opportunities:

Looking for a part-time job? Looking for an Apprenticeship?  GSM WEBSITE

Work Placement:

Year 11 & 12 Work placement students need to arrange their Term 4 work placement by the end of Term 3 (16th September). This means all workplace agreements must be returned. Agreement forms must be collected from Mrs Sartor.

During Term 4, Year 12 students have the opportunity to attend work placement/ work whilst External Exams are scheduled.

This is outlined in the information letter sent to families and students.

If students need assistance in arranging a work placement, they are to see Mrs Sartor as soon as possible.

Attention Year 10 families:

Senior Schooling Information documents can be found here:
https://www.gilroysm.catholic.edu.au/enrolment/senior-schooling-information/

Sport News

Cricket:

Our Under 15's Cricket Team travelled to Mackay, recently, to compete in the Secondary Schools Mega Regional final.

Overall, Gilroy finished with 1 win and 1 loss. The first game was against eventual winners, St Augustine’s College from Cairns. Gilroy lost the toss, and bowled first on an overcast day in Mackay. St Augustine’s posted 152, which was a strong total, and proved too hard to chase.

In the second game against Proserpine State High School, Gilroy won the toss and batted first. An unbeaten 232 run partnership from Brandon Hamilton-Kaurila and Pierce Carrara led the team to victory. The job was not done, however, all players contributed well with the ball to keep Proserpine to a modest total of 130.

Athletics:

Recently, nine Gilroy students made their way down to Townsville to compete in the North Queensland Athletics Trials. 

Competition was fierce however, each and everyone of our students represented their college and region valiantly. Special mention must go to students who won events on the day.

Adam Di Bella: 1st in Discus & Shot Put 
Laura Poggio: 1st in 800 metres 
Nathan Venturato: 1st in 1500 metres and 800 metres

Jaidyn Spina

Extra Curricular Activities

Tuckshop

Needed: More Helpers.  Please see the Roster below.

Start time for helpers is preferably 8:30am – 11:30am or until when you are available.
If there is any query in regards to this roster or you are unavailable please contact
Sandra Benedetto [0427 765 321] - Jodie Lino [0407 904 918]

What's Happening in the Parish

St Patrick’s, Ingham
Saturday Vigil: 6.00pm
Sunday: 8.30am and 7.00pm

St Peter’s, Halifax
Sunday: 7.00am

Canossa Chapel, Trebonne
Sunday: 10.00am

St Teresa’s, Abergowrie
Sunday: 10.00am

INGHAM REGION CATHOLIC PARISHES NEWSLETTER:

https://inghamcatholic.com/category/newsletter/

Father Damian McGrath
Parish Priest
Ingham Region Catholic Parishes

Around the District

QUEENSLAND STORIES

Ingham Performance

7.00pm
Friday 11 November 2022
Ingham Shire Hall

TICKETS
All tickets are $15
Children 12 and under are free
BOOK NOW
Tickets are also available at the door on the night.

Upcoming Events: