2 June 2016

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates

2016

Gilroy on the Go

Relay for Life:

On the weekend a group of Yr 12 students participated in the annual Relay for Life event at the Ingham Showgrounds to raise awareness and funds for the Cancer Council. Slogging it out over the 18 hour relay, students kept their morale's high, finishing at 8:00am Sunday morning. As part of the entertainment for the night, Jordan Friday performed two songs and impressed the crowds whilst Matthew Spina was put in charge of leading the course participants in a gruelling midnight gym session.

Over the last couple of weeks, our senior students, with the guidance of Mrs Timms, Ms Board and Mrs Squires, have been hard at work fundraising via a car wash, soft drink sales, Slave for a Day auction and raffle ticket sales. Thanks to these efforts we are proud to announce that over $1200 was raised.

On behalf of the Yr 12's I'd like to thank Mrs Timms, Ms Board and Mrs Squires for their generous donation of time and effort that they put in to making this happen.

Lachlan Castles

Indigenous Youth Development Program Camp:

Students from GSM joined other Year 7 – Year 9 students from the Diocese at a camp at Paluma over the weekend. Students and Staff had a wonderful time participating in cultural workshops – Art, Torres Strait Islander Dance, Aboriginal Dance and Art 360 Cre8ive.

Invitation to All Yr 10, 11 & 12's:

Results from Gruelling Games:

Men's Hotlap:

1. Matt Hutchinson
2. Harrison Reinaudo
3. Mark Hutchinson

Women's Hotlap:

1. Brittany Blanco
2. Karen Board
3. Katie Lahtinen

Boy's Hotlap:

1. Bailey Brown
2. Caleb Lahtinen
3. Uwen Putzka

Girl's Hotlap:

1. Dana Kaurila
2. Kelsey Robino
3. Kyra Giandomenico

The Biggest Team:

Terra Firma Fitness - $500 voucher courtesy of Tropixx Motel & Flames Restaurant.

The Best Dressed Cruise Team:

Hard Core Spunk Crew - $200 voucher courtesy of Tropixx Motel & Flames Restaurant.

Donation to the Library:

A big thank you to Denise Bonassi and family on their donation of a set of Roald Dahl books to the school library. Your generous donation is greatly appreciated.

Electro-technology Students:

Electro-technology students hard at work installing light switches. Electro-technology course provides students with an insight into the electro-technology discipline. Students learn basic skills including the safety processes required to work on-site, readying them for entry level roles or apprenticeships.

From the Principal

Dear Gilroy Santa Maria College Community

It was a huge week for the school recently when we hosted our Gilroy on Show and the Gilroy Gruelling Games. They were both great successes and showcased the wonderful facilities and grounds we enjoy here at Gilroy. I mentioned it previously but thanks again to our staff and students who were integral to Gilroy on Show and to Chris and Tracey Castles and our P&F who did an outstanding job organising our Gruelling Games.

It is worth noting that our Gruelling Games is well and truly gaining a foothold in the local competitors with competitors increasing from 280 in 2015 to 387 this year. Our aim is to make this an important event in the local calendar and its growth is testament to this. Note that many photos have been uploaded on to our Facebook page so please check them out.

Thanks to those parents and carers who attended our Parent/Teacher Interviews last Thursday. It was a positive evening and I thank our teaching staff for their preparation. These interviews play an important part in the relationship between home and school, a relationship that is vital to successful student outcomes.

Parents please be aware that Exam Week begins on Monday 13 June and concludes on Friday 17 June. The following week of school is a normal school week with Term 3 work commencing. It is important that students attend school this week so they don't miss out on the beginning of their new units of work.

This week we celebrate National Reconciliation Week. This important event celebrates the respectful relationships shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians. We are all invited to participate in our nation's reconciliation journey and I congratulate the example of our Indigenous and non-Indigenous students who always give witness to reconciliation through their excellent relationships, here at Gilroy.

Regards

John Nuttall

From the Assistant Principal
(Religious Education)

This term is certainly travelling fast. It is amazing how much we fit into our school lives and the hard work and commitment of staff and students.

Last Saturday night I supervised a group of Year 12 Students at Relay for Life. What great ambassadors they were for our school. Even in the early hours of the morning they were all prepared to put in an effort to keep our baton on the track. Walking around on the night is only a small part of what the students have been involved in over the past weeks. Through fundraising the students were able to raise $1200 for Cancer. We should be proud of their hard work and efforts. A special thank you should also go to Mrs Squires and Mr Spina for staying through the night and Mrs Martin and Ms Greeff who made a special guest appearance for the Candlelight Ceremony.

During the next several months a group of Gilroy Santa Maria and St Teresa's College students will start the process involved in the 'Missionaries of the Poor' trip to Naga City. They will be attending meetings and fundraising for the poor in the community they will be visiting. Please keep them in your prayers and keep an eye out in this space for events to support this worthwhile cause.

As we come towards the end of the term, students will be preparing for exams and the finishing of assessments. Let us keep them in our prayers.

God Bless
Christine Timms

From the Acting Assistant Principal
(Administration & Curriculum)

Our 'Gilroy on Show' event was a great success. Subject area displays and activities showcased the extensive educational program offered at Gilroy Santa Maria College and the parents and students enjoyed each activity.

Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews were held last week and it was excellent to see many taking advantage of the opportunity to work together to achieve the best results for students. As we approach closer to exams, students should be well underway with assessment and study.

I trust that students are taking advantage of the free tutoring offered at Gilroy in our library both during school at second lunch and after school. I have been hearing excellent reports from our teachers in regards to students' attitudes and effort towards their studies and hope this transpires into well-deserved achievements. If you have any concerns regarding your child/children's progress, please do not hesitate to contact their class teacher/pastoral care coordinator or myself to discuss how we can help to alleviate any issues.

Exam dates for Term 2 – Monday 13 June to Friday 17 June

The exam timetable for Term 2 is included in this newsletter. The exam timetable has also been emailed to students and parents and is available on the student intranet as well as the school website.

Students in Years 11 and 12 will be privileged with the option to stay at home to study if they do not have an exam. All senior students have been given the rules and guidelines for BLOCK EXAMS. These rules and guidelines are to be adhered to at all times. Administration will review this privilege after each exam period. Reports will be posted in Week 2 in Term 3.

Please read the assessment procedure guidelines in the student diary for absences during assessment and exams. Should a student miss an exam due to illness then the school must be notified by 8:30am on the day of their exam. A medical certificate needs to be obtained and given to student reception the first day back upon returning to school. Where the reason is other than medical, then permission must be granted by Admin prior to the assessment.

Parents are encouraged to read the student diary, which is a valuable source of information and advice. Please take note particularly of the Drafting guidelines on page xxi. Many questions often come up with parents about "drafts" and the answers are in these guidelines.

Joan Devietti

From the Assistant Principal
(Pastoral Care)

What an incredibly busy time we have all experienced since our last Newsletter. We have had football games, Gilroy on Show, the Dalrymple Gap Walk and the Gruelling Games. We have even had time to squeeze in the odd Futsal tournament or two during our lunch hours. It is amazing what we can achieve when we overcome those things in our lives that are holding us back and try and find a way to just get things done. A few weeks ago I was speaking to a student who was struggling to find a way forward in their academic studies. I knew this student had been working hard in a particular sporting area to make a representative team. I asked if there had ever been a setback in this dream and the student replied that the best time had been achieved last year and was not enough to make the team. I asked how this person felt at the time and the person was understandably shattered. At the moment, this person said that they also felt that the time that was achieved was the best they could do and they couldn't see how they could get any better or faster. Fast forward a little over 6 months and this person is now going a whole 2 seconds faster with the possibility of going even quicker. How is this possible?

We keep talking about this Growth Mindset stuff and how you can get better if you have the right attitude and are willing to work hard. Like the person I was just talking about, no matter who we are and what aspect of life we are dealing with, we all have the ability to improve in some way if we are willing to work at it. Last week a parent was telling me this amazing story about a person called Wilma Rudolph. Wilma Rudolph was born prematurely at 4.5 pounds (2.0 kg), and she was the 20th of twenty-two siblings. Her father, Ed, who obviously needed to buy a television, was a railway porter and her mother, Blanche, was a maid. At the age of four, Rudolph contracted infantile paralysis (caused by the polio virus). She recovered, but wore a brace on her left leg and foot (which had become twisted as a result) until she was nine. She was also required to wear an orthopaedic shoe for support of her foot for another two years. In addition, by the time she was twelve years old she had also survived further bouts of polio and scarlet fever. So what was so amazing about this sickly child, from a poor family who grew up with a twisted leg and foot? Incredibly Wilma Rudolph went on to become an American track and field superstar, who competed in the 100 and 200 meter sprints. Rudolph was considered the fastest woman in the world in the 1960s and competed in two Olympic Games. In the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games.

Like all of us, myself included, I could only imagine that there would have been many times in Wilma Rudolph's life where it would have been much easier to just give up. But somehow she just managed to literally put one foot in front of the other and made the absolute best of a very bad situation. When I think about you students who worked their butts off at Gilroy on Show, those who walked the Dalrymple Gap last Friday or those who made it around the Gruelling Games course last weekend, I can see in these people the type of qualities that would have brought a smile to Wilma Rudolph's face. They are having a go; they are competing in the game of life. And just like those footy players who played against Ryan last week and Columba on Monday, everyone survived the experience and somehow managed to drag themselves through a small window of pain so that they could enjoy that hard earned sausage at the bottom of the Dalrymple Gap, that Footy feast at MacDonald's Northshore or that passing grade in a difficult assignment.

As parents, we can always see the potential in our children and it is just up to these young adults to believe that they can improve with hard work and to understand that hard work is a good thing in our life and something that will bring success, if they can just keep putting that one foot in front of the other.

Peter Groundwater

GSM HOUSE CUP 2016

Defence Force Work Experience

Three of our Year 10 students, Tina Paton, Dana Puglisi and Jade Stevens gained a first-hand look at careers in the air force and army aviation when they toured RAAF Base Townsville recently.

Organised by the Defence Work Experience Program, the tour involved 19 students from seven local high schools viewing the wide range of careers available on base.

Geography Field Trip

The year 7B students recently completed a liveability and traffic survey in Ingham. This excursion gives the students the opportunity to experience field work as geographers.

Rostrum

Mickayla Liesenberg recently competed in the senior division of Rostrum, Voice of Youth public speaking competition in Townsville.

Contestants represented schools from the Burdekin, Ingham and Townsville.

According to the competition rules, contestants must deliver an eight-minute-long speech on a theme. Accordingly, Mickayla spoke on the theme, "The Big Picture". Following the long speech, she delivered a short-preparation speech of three minutes' duration. Mickayla spoke for 2:43 with passion and fluency.

From the Townsville contestant, one speaker will progress to the state finals in Brisbane. In this case, the winner was from Pimlico State High School. She will compete before an audience of hundreds in Brisbane in June.

Young Vinnies

Young Vinnies is a small group at our school that is run by Mrs Martin. Young Vinnies meet about once a fortnight. We visit the residents of the Aged Care homes and we also go and empty the donation bins behind Coles and beside the Vinnies centre in town.

During Volunteer's Week which was in the beginning of May, we made cakes and other sweets to bring in to the ladies who volunteer at the Vinnies Store for morning tea. They were really delighted to see us and we as students also enjoyed going to visit them and seeing big smiles on their faces as we walked through the doors of the Vinnies Centre.

If you are interested in joining the Young Vinnies Group or know someone who is, listen for the date of the next meeting in the morning notices and come and join us out for the next meeting.

Natalie Biasi

Winter Uniform

We are in the process of finalising a Boys Jumper, but unfortunately it doesn't look like it will be available for this winter. In the meantime it is recommended that boys wear a black, navy or the old royal blue jumper. This is only the case for boys. There is a girl's jumper available from Duffy's and Ingham Underages.

ACADEMIC SUPPORT

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

Tuckshop Roster

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR 2016!!

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

1st Lunch – 11:15am – 11:40am
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

St Anthony's Feast Day Celebrations

The Feast of St Anthony is being held at Bemerside on Sunday 12 June commencing with celebration of Mass at 11.00am. Procession and Rosary will commence at 2.30pm followed by the blessing of children and distribution of St Anthony Bread. Lunch will be available from 12 noon onwards. There will be a BBQ and fish stall, granita, cakes and sandwiches, canoli, tea/ coffees and cold refreshments. There will also be religious articles for sale, a cent sale stall, jumping castles for the children, musical entertainment by Double Dice and Andy and the group, and Wayne Newton's disco. The fireworks display will be at 7.00pm. The Committee is calling for volunteers to help set up and take down marquees and stalls. All people interested can contact Anthony Girgenti on 0408877328 or be at the church grounds in Bemerside by 8.30am on Sat 11 June. We are also looking for parishioners interested in joining our Committee. To keep this 90 year tradition going we need to have more people involved as it is the only celebration left of a Saint in the Townsville Diocese.

Upcoming Events

• Corpus Christi Procession, St Patrick's —29 May
• St Anthony's Feast Day Celebrations —12 June
• Anointing Mass at Canossa - 16 June
• Walkathon for Missionaries of the Poor—17 July

Father Damian McGrath
Parish Priest
Ingham Region Catholic Parishes

District News

Combined Secondary Schools Ball

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