16 June 2016

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates

2016

Gilroy on the Go

Students of the Month - May

Students of the Month of May Award recipients: Emily Firth, Samuel Di Bartolo, Trinity Reinaudo and Joshua Spina.

Futsal – Interhouse Lunch Series Winners

Leo’s Club

Gilroy Leo’s Club Executive Committee 2016

President : Mikaela Stokes (insert), Secretary 1: Lachlan Castles, Treasurer: Zak Eriksen
Vice President : Jordan Friday, Public relations: Bavelin Gill and Secretary #2: Lara Berkley

The Gilroy Leo’s Club have been busy again this year and have raised $666.90 from selling icy cups and a St Patrick’s free dress day in term one. The club has recently donated $250 of this money to the Orange Sky Laundry which is a voluntary organisation that washes the clothes of the homeless in many large cities around Australia.

P&F Raffle Winners

William, Sandra and Nowell Tento won the Cowboys Season Tickets that were raffled by the P&F. The family is enjoying the experience and having a great time barracking for the Cowboys. Congratulations.

Vicki Wilson Success

Congratulations to the Gilroy Santa Maria College Open Netball team who have won the local round of the Vicki Wilson Cup Competition.

The first round of the annual competition between GSM and Ingham High was played on Wednesday, 1 June with Gilroy winning convincingly 32-20.

Round 2, played on Wednesday, 8 June, was a much closer game; however, Gilroy came out winners 28-24 sealing the competition.

The girls will now progress to the regional finals held next term in Townsville.

Round 3 of the competition will still be played this Wednesday and will see the GSM staff take on Ingham High Staff in the lead-up game.

Good luck staff and girls!

Gilroy Brings Home the WILMAR Old Boys Shield

Full-time in the WILMAR Old Boys Shield 24-12 to  Gilroy  over St Teresa's College, Abergowrie. It was a great game played in great spirit!

Subway Ingham Man of the Match went to Jayden Torrisi.

Both sides went away from the match with prize money which will go towards the costs for the QISSRL Confraternity Shield in Rockhampton in a few weeks. Thanks to all involved including Ref Jon-Luc Garlando and sponsors.

Special thanks to Stephen Skinner and the Ingham Brother’s Sport and Community Club for organising and hosting the event.

Name All Clothing and Items

Everyday Student Reception receives hats, jumpers, socks and many other items that have no name labels on them. These items are quite expensive and we would like to return them to their rightful owner. Please label all items to make finding the correct owner easy for all.

From the Principal

Dear Gilroy Santa Maria College Community

While it is still two years away, organisation and planning for the new senior assessment for Queensland schools is well underway. The new structure will come into effect in 2018 and therefore our current Yr 9 students will be the first group of students that will experience the new changes. These changes are quite significant and include the following features:

• The introduction of external assessment for every senior subject. Depending on the subject this external assessment will count for between 25%-50% of the subject and will be conducted at the same time for all Queensland students. The remaining assessment items will be designed by individual schools but approved by the Queensland Curriculum Assessment Authority.
• The results from all subjects will continue to contribute towards a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) and students wanting to attend university will be awarded an ATAR, a tertiary rank score used throughout Australia. This ATAR will mean the end of OP scores in Queensland schools.
• The QCS Test held in Yr 12 will also cease.

There are many other changes, many of which are still to be finalised. We at Gilroy are very much involved in the trial stages of the planning. We have teachers who are sending assessment items to be approved, some are training to assess other schools’ assessments and some are training to be markers for external assessment items. I’m confident that when the new senior assessment structures are rolled out we will be well prepared to implement these changes for the benefit of our students.

Next month, Yr 12 student Celine Aquilini will be attending World Youth Day in Krakow Poland. World Youth Day is held every three years and is a gathering of Catholic youth from all around the world. Celine will join other Catholic school students throughout the Diocese. It will provide wonderful spiritual formation and I’m sure our community joins me in wishing Celine a safe and faith-filled experience.

It was great to see our Firsts Netball and Rugby League Teams having successful preparations for their respective State QISSN and Confraternity Carnivals that they will be attending during the holidays. Our netball girls won their three game series against Ingham State High and our rugby league boys had a great win against Abergowrie last Friday afternoon in the Brothers Old Boys Cup. Good luck to our teams in Rockhampton and thank you to our staff for their coaching and organisation, their commitment is greatly appreciated.

I will be taking leave from Wednesday 15 June till Friday 22 July as I’m having a knee replacement. In my absence Peter Groundwater will be Acting Principal.

Regards

John Nuttall

From the Assistant Principal
(Religious Education)

Last week was the feast day of St Anthony. We all know him as the Patron Saint of lost articles and I’m sure we have all said a prayer to him at one time or another. He was a powerful preacher and teacher because he kept things simple for those who he spoke to.

A story that you might not know is that apparently while preaching to a crowd in Rimini, St Anthony was so fed up by their hardened hearts that he went to the town’s riverbanks and preached to the fish instead. Legend says that the townspeople thought they’d better listen to him too by the multitude of fish that showed up.

On Sunday July 17, the first weekend back after holidays, St Patrick’s Parish have organised a Walk-a-Thon for the Missionaries of the Poor Trip. This will start at 7:00am at Mercy Hall and travel to Victoria Mill and back. Tickets can be purchased prior to the event or on the morning. This is a great opportunity for everyone to support the students joining the trip, raise money and enjoy each other’s company and a well-earned brunch. All are welcome and we would love to see you there!

As we enter into the last weeks of the term and head towards a well-deserved break, I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and look forward to see you all next term.

Lord, we thank you for this term. For the challenges, the successes,
and the mistakes from which we have learnt.
Be with us as we spend time with family and friends.
Give us strength and courage to do what is right: to be witnesses of our faith.
Keep us safe in our activities; give us good rest and good fun.
Bring us back refreshed and ready for a new term.
We thank you for our classmates, teachers, parents and a community that cares for us.
May we always be conscious of you in our lives.
We make this prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

God Bless

Christine Timms

From the Acting Assistant Principal
(Administration & Curriculum)

Term 2 has been a busy and successful term. We are now heavily into our exams and students have been very well prepared and organised on a whole. Senior students have been on BLOCK Exams and a review of this privilege will occur after exams. Reports will be posted to Parents in Week 2 of Term 3.

Next week, week 11, will see the commencement, in earnest, of Term 3 work. It is essential that all students are at school as new and important concepts are being taught.

School resumes on Monday 11 July with Week 1 of Term 3 being a very busy week. All students will be on alternate programs for the majority of the week and parents will have received information regarding these activities.

Below is an overview of the alternate programs being conducted during the first week of Term 3.

I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday and look forward to all students returning safely.

Joan Devietti

From the Assistant Principal
(Pastoral Care)

Week 10 is upon us and as this newsletter goes out, students will be well and truly in the middle of their exams. A big congratulation goes out to the many Year 11 & 12 students who have really knuckled down in their studies leading up to the end of the term. For many students this has been a difficult time, while for others it has led to moments of extreme frustration and anxiety. I take my hat off to all of those students who have battled through these feelings and have come out the other side with a sense of achievement and satisfaction. Recently, I had some feedback from past students who indicated that while it was fantastic to receive heaps of support at Gilroy, unfortunately it was not what happened in the outside world, particularly at University. I suppose that the big message in all of this is that whatever we can do now to build our resilience and to create those good habits will no doubt help us all to deal with the many challenges that exist in life after Gilroy.

Speaking of congratulations, well done to the Gilroy Open Girl’s Netball Team who took out the Vicki Wilson series against Ingham High last week. Both games have been played at a frantic pace and if you are a Netball follower like myself, you would have enjoyed the excellent game play and sportsmanship that was displayed by both sides. The Boy’s Netball Team also managed to sneak a win over their male counterparts. When I asked one of the Gilroy boys how they had gone, he replied, “we smashed em, … 8 – 6”. When I looked over to the scoreboard I noticed that the score was actually 7 – 6. I think we might have to get this young man to define his meaning of ‘smashed’. I might leave that up to his English teachers. Training has now commenced for the Teacher’s team who are really talking their chances up in the final week of the Vicki Wilson series. There have been some bold claims from many players and as the official (self-appointed) Mentor and Inspirator for the Teacher’s team I am probably not as confident as our Boys’ Team were.

With holidays fast approaching I wish the Confraternity Rugby League Team and the QISSN Netball Team all the best at Rockhampton and may the entire student body and their families have a happy and very safe holiday break.

Peter Groundwater

GSM HOUSE CUP 2016

World Youth Day 2016

My name is Celine Aquilini and I have been a part of the Gilroy Santa Maria College community for many years and am one of the Vice School Captains for 2016. At the end of year nine I and my family moved to Townsville. This was a massive change for not only myself but for all of my family. Thankfully I was able to move home and back to Gilroy Santa Maria in the middle of year eleven. I can honestly say that I love to be back and still be a part of this wonderful school community. It is a school community which is filled with loving, kind and caring hearts. This school has had a wonderful impact on my growing up as a young Catholic and has taught me everything I know today, from working hard and trying my best, to caring for all and believing in myself. We have journeyed through many times together, from school fetes, gruelling games, discos and sporting events to times of hardship and sadness.

In September 2013 my eldest sister Amy was in a horrific quad bike accident and was immediately transferred to Townsville in a critical condition. Not long after, my family and I were soon told that my sister was given only hours to live and at this point our lives changed forever. All we had was our faith, our hope, our love and the kind support from everyone around us. A kind of faith, hope and love that I was taught from Gilroy Santa Maria College. Defying all odds my sister survived but there is no doubt that the prayers and support from her family, friends and the entire Ingham community helped her to stay strong and to fight the fight. Now three years on my sister is alive and improving in her overall health and our faith is stronger than ever. Today I am still hearing stories from students and teachers telling me that they would pray for my sister and my family on a daily basis. I can honestly say that the prayers and hope from the people around us not only helped my sister through her tough journey but my whole family as well.

From July 15 myself and pilgrims from Mount ISA, Townsville, Ayr and Charters Towers will travel to Krakow Poland to attend World Youth Day 2016. This is an event which was started 30 years ago by John Paul II and is a time where the youth of the world come together to know God better and to celebrate their faith. In today’s society being a practising Catholic isn’t like it was 30 or 40 years ago, it’s definitely not as accepted or as normal. It is important that we as young adults identify as Catholics and do not let go of our faith. As teenagers there will be many instances where we will question our faith and there will be many people who will have an influence in it also. It is our job to make sure we stick to our faith and are influencing people in the right ways. We can’t change what other people believe in but we can share our faith and our beliefs with others in hope that they follow. World Youth day will be a terrific experience where I hope that through this I can come back and share with our community my experiences and my faith. I ask that our school community pray for myself and all pilgrims throughout our journey in hope that we stay safe and open our minds to accept all that we are taught. I would like to say thank you to Gilroy Santa Maria College staff, students and parents for their generous support in making it possible for me to attend World Youth Day 2016.

Yours Sincerely,

Celine Aquilini

Gilroy P&F News

What a great community event – Gruelling Games 2016! Thank you to all parents, staff, students and friends who helped in any way to make this event awesome. A huge thanks to Chris and Tracey Castles for their vision, time and talents to make an enjoyable day for everyone. In future news we will have information regarding profits from events and what projects the P&F will be funding.

At our P&F Meeting 8 June we voted for:

P&F to Sponsor the Walkathon- P&F will pay for buses, drinks, and a sausage sizzle for students on walkathon day to encourage participation- no cost to families. Last Day of Term 3 – Make every day count.

Sponsorship to Celine Aquilini – delegate to World Youth Day 2016. Celine spoke to P&F meeting regarding WYD.

Our next event is Maraka in the Park in October

Please contact your P&F - we need you! We are looking for Co-ordinators -

• Volunteers
• Sausages stall
• Set up /seat deliverer

We are asking all parents and carers to think about “just one thing” they can help with in their children’s school. It may be 1 hour you can help on a stall or with setup- that is enough if everyone helps. What is your “one thing”?

Regards

Jane Bortolanza
Gilroy P&F Secretary 0417 648 984

Chess

Six Gilroy students, William Price, Ethan Fontana, Lex Manning, Aaron Marnes, Nina Laminero and Seth Shoubridge competed in the Chess competition in Townsville recently. Nina Laminero finished third in the Townsville region on the day as an individual player.

As a team, Gilroy placed sixth out of 28 teams.

Sports Report

Confraternity

With under 3 weeks to go before the Gilroy Open Rugby League team heads to Rockhampton to take part in the Confraternity shield, Gilroy played Abergowrie in the Old Boys Cup at Ingham Brothers last Friday night. All players performed well in the 24 -12 victory with Jayden Torrisi taking out the man of match ward for this game. This victory was a good reward for all the hard work these boys have put in over the last couple of weeks and should be a stepping stone to further success leading into the Confraternity shield starting on the 27 of June.

Netball

The first 2 rounds of the Vicki Wilson Cup Competition were recently held. The GSM Open Team convincingly won both their games against Ingham High 32- 22 & 28 -24 respectively. The girls played very well with excellent defence along with accurate shooting proving to be the key to their success over these first 2 games. A special mention goes to Hannah Maggiora and Emma Castles who both played exceptionally well during these games. Congratulations girls!

Athletics

The Gilroy Santa Maria Interschool athletics season will begin in week 11 with pre-events such as the 1500m, 800m and 400m to be held during 2nd breaks. All other events will be covered during our main Athletics Carnival to be held during Week 4 of Term 3 on Wednesday 3 and Friday 5 of August. Students are reminded to ensure they are listening to morning notices for event information. If parents wish to be involved as a spectator or help out in the running of any of these athletic events, please refer to the pre-event schedule below.

Monday 20 June: 2nd Break 800m Boys and Girls all ages
Wednesday 22 June: 2nd Break 1500m Boys and Girls all ages
Friday 25 June: 2nd Break until 2:55pm 400m Boys and Girls all ages

Other Sporting News

Gilroy Open and Under 15 Cricket Teams will be taking on Ingham State High School within the next 2 weeks as part of the state T20 cricket competition. A win in this game will take the boys on to the 2nd round against either Home Hill State High or Ignatius Park College. Best of luck to our cricketing teams.

Ian Schifilliti

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

Walk-a-thon for the Missionaries of the Poor

Walk with us to support the Missionaries of the Poor in their dedicated work amongst "the poorest of the poor".

Sunday July 17 at 7.00am sharp.

From Mercy Hall to Victoria Estate and back. Hot scrumptious brunch included.

Tickets are Adults $20 and Youth $15 and are available from The Parish Office, Firth's Lawyers, Sadleir’s Pharmacy, Duffy Bros and Gilroy Santa Maria College.

Upcoming Events

• Anointing Mass at Canossa, 16 June
• Walkathon for Missionaries of the Poor—17 July
• Young Vinnies Sleepout—July 29

Father Damian McGrath
Parish Priest
Ingham Region Catholic Parishes

District News

Walk-A-Thon

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