4 March 2016

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates

2016

Gilroy on the Go

Student of the Month

Congratulations to Keiffer Moroney, Jaimee Gray, Madison Greenaway and Taneisha Girgenti who received Student of the Month awards for February. Each student receives a $10 voucher from the tuckshop and a certificate.

Lions Youth of the Year Quest

Monique Martino

Every year, selected Gilroy students are entered in the Lion's Youth of the Year Quest. The Lion's Quest is a great opportunity for students to improve their public speaking abilities and enhance their confidence speaking in front of a large group.

This year, Lachlan Castles, Mikaela Stokes and Jordan Friday represented our school in the 2016 Lion's Youth of the Year Quest.

The first round of the quest was held on Tuesday, 1 March, where the students competed against each other and had to take part in an interview, two impromptu questions and a prepared speech.

Jordan was awarded the Public Speaking award and the Overall Winner award for the night and will be moving onto the next round which is to be held on Saturday, 19 March.

We would like to congratulate all three students on their efforts for this year's quest and wish Jordan all the best in the upcoming rounds.

Academic Support

Students taking advantage of Academic Support offered at Gilroy Santa Maria College.

Year 7 Camp Lake Tinaroo

Matthew Giliberto
Year 7/8 Coordinator

Year 7 recently travelled to Lake Tinaroo for their annual Camp. Students and staff had a great time and participated in some wonderful and exciting activities. Enjoy some of their memories.

From the Principal

Dear Gilroy Santa Maria College Community

I write this newsletter very much from the sidelines as I have been away from school for last two weeks due to a knee operation and complications from it. While I have been away the school has run very smoothly due to the great leadership skills of our admin team here at Gilroy. I thank them very much for the extra duties and tasks they have had to pick up in my absence.

Congratulations to all students who participated in the Interschool Swimming Carnival last Tuesday evening. I'm told the behaviour and spirit in the stands was terrific as was our participation levels. A huge thank you to Mr Ian Schifilliti, who organised a great carnival and much appreciation to all our staff and parents who helped on the night.

Thanks to all parents, students and staff who sent in suggestions for our School Improvement Plan. There were some great ideas from all members of our College community and I greatly appreciate the time people gave to reply.

A reminder that a Term 1 Interim Report Card will be mailed out on Friday and should arrive at homes early next week. Please note that this report card is designed to give parents an indication of how their child has started the school year. There is no grade for the various subjects but instead a rating for each subject for your child's behaviour and effort. The next reporting phase for the year will be a Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews in Week 6 of Term 2. At this time more assessment will have been completed and the grades so far can be discussed. Following this there will be a more comprehensive Report Card at the end of Term 2 and at the end of Term 4. As mentioned previously, underpinning the slight changes to our reporting calendar is our pledge to contact parents if we are concerned about your child's progress and/or behaviour.

A big welcome to Father Vitalis Oguh to our College community. Father Vitalis is a new priest to the Ingham district and will be assisting Father Damian in their important work throughout the local parishes.

God Bless

John Nuttall
College Principal

From the Assistant Principal (Religious Education)

Christine Timms

Last Thursday, Gilroy hosted a 'Just Leadership Day' facilitated by Caritas Australia representative Susan Bentley. Students were given the opportunity to meet with other schools from within the diocese to build their awareness of social justice issues and join in group discussion about what it means to be a leader.

Lachlan Castles, Mikaela Stokes, Madison Tantalo, Caitlin Whittaker, Rachel Carr, Emma Panzenbock, Tina Paton and Samantha Russo developed great leadership skills taking on the role of leading discussions in small groups consisting of primary students from Our Lady of Lourdes, St Peter's and St Michael's from Palm Island.

They learnt the importance of the role of prominent people in the world of social justice and the values they display, essential for living a life of dignity, projects developed by caritas to help communities around the world and the qualities needed to be a great leader.

Congratulations to our students who did a marvelous job representing our school and for showing the qualities of great leaders.

God Bless
Christine

From the Acting Assistant Principal (Administration & Curriculum)

Joan Devietti

As we approach the end of week six, students should be well into assessment and preparing for exams. The interim report should arrive early next week and will indicate if students, at this stage, are working hard. Please ring or email teachers if you have any concerns.

I would like to encourage students to take advantage of the school's Academic Support Program available at lunch times and after school to ensure that they achieve their best results. With exams only two weeks away students should be increasing their study efforts.

While most students have been punctual, there are an increasing number who are arriving late. The school day begins at 8:30am with Homeroom where important notices relating to meetings and events are given. We understand that appointments do take place before school, but we kindly ask that if your child will be arriving late that you either phone the school or write a note in their diary.

Exams will begin on Thursday 17 March and finish on Wednesday 23 March. This exam timetable will be available on the school website and student intranet next week. Students will also receive a hard copy. Please be reminded that medical certificates are required if students are unable to complete an exam on the schedule day. Term one will conclude with an Easter Liturgy and Cross Country on Thursday 24 March. Please note that it is expected that all students are at school each and every day until the Easter break. Holidays start on Good Friday 25 March.

This week our Art students are away on camp at Paluma from Wednesday 2 – Friday 4 March. We hope that they enjoy the creative setting and are artistically inspired with their major projects.

From the Assistant Principal (Pastoral Care)

Peter Groundwater

Week 6 is already upon us and talk has turned to the dreaded "exam" word. Now is a good time for students to get their priorities into order and map out what their study plan will look like over the coming weeks. While there still needs to be a balance in all students' lives, there also needs to be a concerted effort to ensure that drafts are submitted and appropriate amounts of study are devoted to each subject.

Next term, Luke McKenna from 'Unleashing Personal Potential' will be spending two days with our Year 7's and Year 10's around the idea of a "Growth Mindset" and how we can all improve if we work hard. Later in the year, Luke will also be attending our Year 11 Leadership Camp. We are very fortunate to have Luke on board and his experience in the educational sector as a Deputy Principal will only add to his data driven approach to this important topic.

Over the coming weeks students will be investing a lot of time into an idea that we like to call, Gilroy Television (GTV). GTV is an exciting look at the world of news journalism from within our school and we are hoping to unearth the next Karl Stefanovic or Tracy Grimshaw amongst our many talented students. GTV will appear regularly on our Facebook page as well as on the TV in the front reception area. As they say in Television … Stay tuned!

Finally, the Gilroy Netball and Rugby League teams will be heading off to Charters Towers this weekend to pit our skills against Mr Dan McShea's Columba College as well as a host of other schools. We wish teachers and students all the best for this carnival.

Careers

Nancy Douglas

The Australian Defence Force Recruiting Officers will be visiting the College on Friday 4 March during 2nd lunch break in the Function Room. Please contact Mrs Douglas for further information.

Counsellor

Megan McQuade

We have reached the point in the term where students are going to be under pressure to complete assessment tasks and prepare for exams. It is common at this time for children and young people to experience a heightened level of anxiety and stress. Below is some information about confidence building and a link to useful resources.

Children and Anxiety

• Self-doubt and lack of confidence hold more kids back than any other factor.
• Real confidence-building is the most important skill you can develop as a parent.
• Children with healthy self-esteem and self-confidence learn more, achieve more, have more friends and are generally happier than those with low levels of confidence.
• Self-esteem and confidence building is more than developing children's capabilities as very competent children can be filled with self-doubts. You need to tackle children's lack of confidence on a number of different levels - what they think, how they feel and what they do.
• The head, heart and hands approach shows parents how to tackle confidence-building on three different levels.

Learn more by visiting the http://www.parentingideas.com.au/ website.

Sport

Ian Schifilliti

Open Rugby League:

In Rugby League news, the Open league team performed very well last Saturday at the inaugural Matty Bowen 9's carnival held at Abergowrie. Playing 3 games over the course of the day in hot and humid conditions, Gilroy went down to Ignatius Park by 28 - 0 in their first game of the day before bouncing back to defeat Pimlico 16 -10. The third and final game against a combined Shalom and St Anthony's team ended in a 4 all draw. Stand out performers on the day were Joshua Bona, Matthew Spina and Wesley Gangemi in the forwards whilst Jayden Torrisi and Jack Paton never stopped trying all day. The Matty Bowen 9's has provided the first opportunity for our Open Gilroy Rugby League Team to apply what we have been working on at training in a game setting for 2015.

Whilst the results on the day did not all go Gilroy's way, it has shown what needs to be worked on before our next competitive games. With this in mind it is important that all players interested in playing Rugby League must attend training each Monday at 3:15pm - 4:15pm held by Mr Schifilliti and Mr Dezolt. If the effort that the boys demonstrated at the Matty Bowen 9's is any indicator the signs are positive for future success on our build up to competing in the Confraternity Shield later in the year.

Gilroy's next tournament that the open team will participate is in the Columba Catholic Secondary Schools carnival held on Saturday 5 March. Any parents that can help with team management for this event can contact Mr Schifilliti at the school. All help in organising our Open Gilroy Rugby League team would be greatly appreciated by the Gilroy staff.

Interhouse Swimming Carnival:

The Interhouse sporting competition for 2016 has started with a huge splash with the Rice Bulls taking out the title of champion swimming house at last Friday's Swimming Carnival. This is now three interhouse swimming championships in a row for Rice, and house captains Megan Altadonna and Nicholas Bonassi were euphoric at the result. "We are just so proud of the team and everyone's participation today. It was by filling all possible races through nominations that helped Rice get over the line to become inter house swimming champions for the third straight year".

In hot and humid conditions, competitors from Rice, McAuley and O'Meara enjoyed a great day of spirited swimming competition. One new record was set and many personal bests were achieved throughout the carnival as swimmers from every house gave their all in the quest for swimming's top prize.

Lachlan Napier broke a long standing record for the 16 years 50m Freestyle. All students are to be commended for their great spirit and their fantastic level of behaviour throughout the day.

Age champions for the carnival were:

Under 13 - Trinity Reinaudo (Rice) - Lex Manning (Rice)
Under 14 - Cheylsea Molloy (McAuley) - Ethan Costabeber (Rice)
Under 15 - Tina Paton (O'Meara) - Kimo Srb (Rice)
Under 16 - Chelsea Lynch (McAuley) - Lachlan Napier (O'Meara)
Open Age - Emma Russo (Rice) - Jack Paton (O'Meara)

Records:

Lachlan Napier 16 Years Boys 50 m Freestyle Time: 28.56 Secs

Shield Winners:

Overall - Rice House
Junior Boys - Rice House
Junior Girls - Rice House
Senior Boys - O'Meara House
Senior Girls - Rice House
Spirit Trophy - McAuley House

Herbert River Secondary School Representatives:

It has been a busy Term 1 for Herbert River Secondary School Sporting Teams with Herbert River Teams being selected to then trial for North Queensland Region teams. Gilroy Santa Maria has been well represented in these Herbert River Secondary School teams with students being selected for the following teams:

Northern Region Volleyball and Rugby Union trials were held Monday the 22 February in Townsville, whilst Northern Region Rugby League, Netball and Squash trials for Open and Under 15 age groups were conducted on Wednesday 2 March. All of these students are to be commended not only for their sporting prowess in making these teams but their exemplary behaviour and sportsmanship shown throughout these trials. Well done and we wish these students the best of luck at their respective trials.

Finally, Open Age Boys and Girls Herbert River Touch Football trials are on Monday 7 March, therefore Gilroy is looking for any parent/guardian volunteers who may be interested in coaching a Gilroy team or perhaps even help organise an Open Boys and Girls Herbert River Touch Football team to participate in the Northern Region Trials on Wednesday 16 March. Please Contact Ian Schifilliti at the administration office or email ischifilliti@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au if willing and able to help.

North Queensland representatives

Congratulations to Trinity Reinaudo (Girls Under 12 North Queensland Swimming) and Shantelle Teichmann (Open Girls North Queensland Secondary Schools Softball) for selection to the North Queensland teams for their respective sports. All the training and hard work has resulted in selection to these teams and from all of us here at Gilroy Santa Maria we wish you the best of luck at your state competition events.

Inter school Swimming Carnival:

The Inter school swimming carnival was held last Tuesday night with Abergowrie, Gilroy and Ingham State High School battling out for the right to be named Herbert River and Districts Champion swimming school for 2016. All Gilroy swimmers swam valiantly on the night, with vocal support from their fellow students but all four interschool swimming divisions were eventually taken out by Ingham State High School. The night was not without success for Gilroy Santa Maria with Cheylsea Molloy taking out the 14 Years Girls Age Champion award. Well done Cheylsea and another well done and big thank you must go to all the teachers and parents who helped out on the night along with the many Herbert River Swimming Club volunteers who officiated and catered for this event.

A final thank you and congratulations goes to all the Gilroy students who represented Gilroy Santa Maria College on the night by swimming for our school. It was really great to see students willing to compete and represent Gilroy, despite in some cases, not having the swimming experience or prowess of their opponents. This is such an admirable quality that we as parents, teachers and friends of students within our school community should be fostering and encouraging. This starts with students' accountability and acknowledgement of representing our school in not only sporting events, but every time Gilroy students wear our uniform. As role models for our students not only should we look to encourage students to represent our school when specifically chosen to do so, but encourage the concept of resilience. Resilience being that regardless of the result when our students represent our school, the important thing is that they stood up and were counted on when their school and their peers required. This is a value that Gilroy Santa Maria wants to be known for, yet we as a school community need to develop. Our next opportunity to develop this quality will be at the Inter House Cross Country, Thursday 24 March.

ACADEMIC SUPPORT

Academic Support will be offered for students after school MONDAY, TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY from 3:00-4:00pm.

Monday: Support will be available in the Library, senior Sciences in L1 and at the Trade Training Centre.
Tuesday: Support will be available in the Art Room for the Arts (Art, Creative Art, Drama etc).
Wednesday: Support will be available in the Library and the Indigenous Tutoring program will also continue.

Lunch time support is still available Monday – Friday in the Library.

Students can use this time to:

• Complete homework
• Work on assessment
• Gain subject specific tutoring

with up to 3 teachers from various faculties present for student support.

Students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this very generous donation of precious teacher time.

Library

Petrina Coco

Book Fair Coming Soon

School Fees

Ros Giuliano
Business Manager

School Fees are due by March 11. Thank you to those that have already paid.

In addition to the family fee discounts, parents/carers with a means tested Australian Government Health Care or Pensioner Concession Card may be eligible to receive 70% discount to tuition fees.

Families without these cards who are experiencing financial difficulty should speak with the school Principal to apply for special consideration.

School Social - Superheroes

P&F News

Tammy Castles

Gruelling Games

2016 GSM Gruelling Games is on again 21 May!

Get your teams ready!

All ages and all fitness levels can and encouraged to compete.

Annual General Meeting

Reminder that the Parents and Friends Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 9 March at 5:30pm in the Parents and Friends Room (Old Graphics Room).

Tuckshop Roster

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR 2016!!

Please note: The lunch times this year are as follows:

1st Lunch – 11:15am
2nd Lunch – 1:20pm finish 2:05pm
Start time is preferably 9:00am until when you are available.
Thank you and we look forward to seeing you all again this year.
If there is any query in regards to this roster or you are unavailable please contact
Sandra Benedetto Home [4776 5321] Jodie Lino Home [4776 5718]

What's Happening in the Parish

Parish Contacts

Parish Priest: Father Damian McGrath
Associate Pastor: Father Vitalis Oguh
Parish Secretary: Pauline Pennisi
Assistant and RE Co-ordinator: Chella Cantatore
Pastoral Care: Sister Nina Barra
Mail: PO Box 375, Ingham Q 4850 Phone: 4776 2600 Fax: 4776 5199
Web: www.inghamcatholic.com Email: parishoffice@inghamcatholic.com
Office Hours: 9am to 12pm Monday to Friday, 1pm to 3pm Monday to Thursday

Father Damian McGrath
Parish Priest
Ingham Region Catholic Parishes

Stations of the Cross

There will be Stations of the Cross each Friday during Lent at 9.30am in Canossa Home and at St Patrick's at 5.30pm.

St Patrick's Day Morning Tea

The Women's Group will be hosting a morning tea on St Patrick's Day 17 March 2016 in Mercy Hall following the St Patrick's Feast Day Mass at 9.00am in the church. Tickets, at $12 each, will be available from the Parish Office as from this Monday 29 February. Donations towards the Cent Sale on that day would be greatly appreciated and can be left at the parish office by 7 March. If anyone is able to bake/make food for the morning tea, these can be left at Mercy Hall on the day from 8.00am. If any ladies are able to help on that day, but unable to attend the Women's Group next meeting, please contact Jeanette Cockburn on 0447 720 740 or email at a.c.glass@bigpond.net.au

Upcoming Events

• St Patrick's Day Morning Tea—Mercy Hall—Thursday 17 March
• Catholic Debutante Ball—Saturday 23 April
• Mission Trip Inquiry Night—Wednesday 27 April
• Relay for Life - 28/29 May

Advertising with Schoolzine

Would you like to advertise in our new Schoolzine eNewsletter? Currently, Dion Guthrie the Advertising and Sales Manager is working diligently to source family friendly advertising sponsors. Schoolzine will then rebate quarterly 20% of revenue back to the school.

If you are interested in advertising either contact the school office or feel free to email Dion any questions, suggestions or advertising enquiries.

Dion Guthrie email: dion.guthrie@schoolzine.com.au
P 07 5450 2710 / MB 0416 890 824