30 March 2017

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates

Gilroy on the Go

GSM Musical

Transition Program 2017

Invitation To The Gsm Class Of 85, 86, 87 Reunion- The Pioneers

Dear past students of the Gilroy Santa Maria College classes of 85,86 & 87 and teachers, please find attached an invitation to our up and coming reunion.

If you have any old photos to share, please email them to Marthe Regnaud- Noble- noblemarthe27@gmail.com . Also check out Marthe's Facebook Page because see has already posted heaps of old photos there.

If you cannot attend, feel free to send a message to the class and it will be read out on the night.

We look forward to your attendance of the reunion.

Regards,

Lawrence Di Bella
HCPSL Manager
PO Box 135
Ingham QLD 4850
Office phone- (07) 47761808
Home phone- (07) 47760258
Mobile- 0448084252
Email address- ldibella@hcpsl.com.au

From the Principal

Dear Gilroy Santa Maria College Community

As I write this article, our neighbours to the south are experiencing a harrowing cyclonic event, an event our region knows all too well. We hope and pray everyone stays safe and damage is minimised.

As Term 1 ends there a couple of events early next term that I would like to highlight. Firstly, the Catholic Debutante Ball is being held on Saturday 22 April. Congratulations to all our debutants and their partners. I know they will look terrific and it will be a wonderful night. Gilroy is running the bar on this evening, thanks to our P&F for organising this and to all our families who have volunteered to assist.

Our Yr 6 Transitions Days commence on Thursday 4 May. All children from State and Catholic schools in the district will be invited to attend these sessions, which are designed to showcase the subjects and facilities that they will experience here at Gilroy. The program is aimed at not only providing valuable education but also allowing students to become comfortable and excited to be at Gilroy. We had over sixty students attend last year’s program and was the major reason we had so many Yr 7 enrolments this year. If you know of any families and friends who have current Yr 6 students in our district, please encourage them to come to these sessions.

On Friday, we have a great day planned for all students. We start the day with our Easter Liturgy, followed by our Interhouse Cross Country. After lunch, we have some great novelty events planned such as Bubble Soccer, Plank Races, Obstacle Courses and many other fun activities. I really encourage parents/carers to ensure you send your child to school on this day and do not let them take the easy option of staying at home. We are trying to improve our “culture” around attendance at these types of events by promoting maximum participation and involvement. Having a positive attitude to these events can only be of benefit to our students individually.

As we do prepare for our holidays, we reflect on the religious significance that Holy Week represents. Easter is the greatest Feast in our Christian calendar, where we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Celebrate is always a strange word to describe the death of anyone but as Catholics we believe Easter represents the fulfilment of our faith and Jesus’ resurrection as the promise of new life.

I hope everyone has a safe and Holy Easter.

God Bless

John Nuttall
College Principal

Acknowledgement of Merit

We have recently introduced a new school management program called Compass. One the features of this program is the recording and therefore monitoring of student behaviour and effort. Staff have been inputting data since the beginning of the year and it’s great to see so many students doing some great things at school. Below is a list of students who have received at least three “Acknowledgment of Merits” during this this term. Congratulations to:

Principal’s Appraisal

Message from Townsville Catholic Education Office

This year is the 3rd year of John Nuttall's 4 year contract as Principal of Gilroy Santa Maria College. In line with Townsville Catholic Education Office procedures, an appraisal of John Nuttall’s performance in the role is carried out at this time. He has written a Self-Review as the first step in the appraisal process. In the Self-Review, he looks at his work with six aspects in mind: Faith and Mission, Education, Staff, Community, Strategic, and Organisational Dimension.

I am asking for your assistance in gathering some feedback from the staff and parent communities to assist him to continue to develop his leadership skills. You are invited to take part in this process by completing the electronic survey, which I have prepared in consultation with him and returning it by clicking on the SUBMIT button when complete.

If you could provide your responses to me by Friday April 7 2017, it would be appreciated. Anonymous contributions will not be considered. Click here to access link to Survey B - John Nuttall

Many thanks for your assistance and I look forward to receiving your input.

Laurence Hosking
Education Consultant
Townsville Catholic Education Office

From the Assistant Principal

(Religious Education)

As we travel through Lent, we are called upon to re-evaluate our lives and reflect on who we are and what direction our lives are taking. Sunday’s Gospel reading was the story of Jesus healing a man who had been blind from birth. This man was excluded and persecuted his whole life. With the recovery of his sight, he became ‘a worshipper of God’ and proceeded to proclaim the greatness of God to everyone who would listen. With the recovery of his sight, he is able to see clearly who Jesus was, the Son of God and what he was capable of. In today’s society, it is sometimes hard to see what is clearly in front of us. Through Lent, Jesus is there to show us what is truly important and lead on the right path.

Our students continue to support the Project Compassion Lenten Appeal with the school looking to raise well over our projected amount. If you would like to make a donation, you can by visiting:

Last week we came in our finest green on St Patrick’s Day to raise money for the Missionaries of the Poor. Thank you to all who supported the day and made donations that will go towards the Brothers in Manila completing the third level of the Apostolate.

Next year our school will be undertaking Catholic School Renewal. This process allows school communities to examine the way in which they work together so they can continue to develop and adapt their practices to better meet the needs of the children they serve. One aspect of this process will be the implementation of the Leuven Survey. This survey is a part of the Enhancing Catholic Schools Identity Project designed to assist schools to better understand how their catholic identity is expressed in work and practice and then support schools in their future development.

The survey will be conducted across each year level, staff, parents and school board. You can do the survey at any time before 14 May. Details for accessing the survey are as follows:

Click ‘To the Surveys’ box.
Click ‘New User’ box (only if this is the first time you are logging in).
Enter the general code Ghj654 (it is case sensitive). This code is used when you first go into the site.
'Select the group you belong to’ (Gilroy Santa Maria College).

We will also be holding a ‘Leuven Survey Parent Night’ at school next term. Everyone is invited to attend this night if they are having any difficulties accessing the survey, do not have access to the internet at home or just want to catch up with friends. A light supper, tea and coffee will be provided as well as a $200 Woolworths voucher raffled off for those who attend on the night.

As Term 1 comes to an end, I would like to wish you all a very safe and holy Easter break and look forward to seeing you refreshed and renewed next term.

Ordination Celebrations for Bishop-Elect Tim Harris

God bless
Christine Timms

From the Assistant Principal
(Administration & Curriculum)

Hello everyone,

As we approach the end of the Term 1, we start to look forward to our Easter break. We have had a busy and exciting term with lots that has happened. I would like to congratulate the effort and dedication that our students have had towards their exams. For those students who have put in the hard work; their results will be a reflection of this. Teachers will be asking students to record their results in the back of their diaries for parents to check. If there are any issues with how they have gone in their assessment, their teacher will contact the parent via phone or email.

Friday will be our last day of term. We will be starting the day off with an Easter Liturgy, followed by the running of our Inter house Cross Country competition. Students will then spend the afternoon playing activities. This is an excellent way to end the term and hope that students attend.

Term 2 starts on Tuesday 18 April. As explained in our last newsletter, we have some important events coming up next term –

• Wednesday 19 April - Years 7 and 9 Practice NAPLAN Testing
• Tuesday 9 – Thursday 11 April - Years 7 and 9 NAPLAN Tests
• Wednesday 24 May - Parent/Teacher/Student Meetings

Term 2 will also start our Year 6 Transition Program in week 3 where all students throughout the district will be invited to Gilroy. Students will spend part days exploring some of the exciting subjects on offer and also get to know our teachers, classrooms and other students in year 6. This is an exciting program and we hope that families will take advantage of this invaluable experience.

I hope that everyone has a well-rested break surrounded by family and friends. I look forward to starting back fresh with our staff and students in Term 2.

God Bless
Melissa Carr

From the Assistant Principal
(Pastoral Care)

God Bless
Peter Groundwater

Gilroy Santa Maria P&F News

Hello Everyone

We are calling for Volunteers to assist at the Catholic Debutante Ball please. In 2017, Gilroy Santa Maria College is running the bar.

We need:

Friday am

Help with bar setup

Saturday pm

2 security people
4-6 Bar staff
15 to 20 wait staff - including 2-4 waiters for official table

Volunteers are needed from 6pm on the evening.

Please reply to this by emailing c58.pandf@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au with your job preference. Closer to the night an email will be sent with information for volunteers.

We look forward to a great night for all the families involved

Jane Bortolanza
Gruelling Games

Careers

Congratulations – School Based Apprenticeship

Congratulations Lauryn Deambrogio on your recent sign up at Snippers for a Hairdressing School Based Apprenticeship.

Air Force Gap Year

Join the Air Force Gap Year program and get a taste of what life is like in the Air Force. Experience an adventure, friendship and travel filled gap year, plus much more, including:

• highly varied work experience
• a good salary plus generous superannuation
• free medical and dental
• an active and healthy lifestyle
• world-class training gaining skills for life
• a supportive team environment
• free access to sports and fitness facilities
• enduring friendships

At the end of your Gap Year you can choose to continue your career in your preferred service, or use the skills and experience you've acquired to secure an alternative career path.

Follow the link for more details.

Nancy Douglas

Science Department

Bungie Barbie

This term, Yr 7 Science have been working in the laboratory gaining some scientific skills and putting them into practice. Students are presented with a problem to solve and they work together to construct and perform an experiment to predict the answer. The latest of these problem-solving activities was “Bungie Barbie”. Below is a summary of this experiment by Georgia Biviano.

This week, my class, 7C Science, did a fun experiment called Bungie Barbie. The experiment took a lot of working out. We started planning what we needed and it grew from there. We used a stunt double named Betty (200 g weight) to do some trial runs. The first problem was to predict how many rubber bands we needed so Barbie could jump off a 2.36 m railing and have a “thrilling” jump.

After a lot of testing, we drew a table and a graph to work out exactly how many rubber bands we needed. We came down to the final day, Tuesday, to put our guess of rubber bands to the test. My group chose 14 rubber bands but the amount of rubber bands needed was 11 so my group was not successful. The experiment was still very fun.

Nadine Jorgensen

Sports News

Cross Country

Ian Schifilliti

GSM Cup

Academic Support

Indigenous Homework Support

Tuckshop News

VOLUNTEERS ARE ALWAYS NEEDED!!

Tuckshop Volunteers only need to work from 8:30am to 11:40am.

Tuckshop Roster 2017

Please note: The lunch times are as follows:

1st Lunch – 11:15am – 11:40am
2nd Lunch – 1:20pm finish 2:05pm

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]

Price Increase

Starting Term 2 there will be a price rise in Toasted Sandwiches, Pizza, Potato Gems and Wedges. These will all cost $4.00.

What’s Happening in the Parish

Stations of the Cross / Adoration during Lent

There will Stations of the Cross in St Patrick’s Church each Friday during Lent at 5:30pm. There will also be Stations of the Cross held in Canossa Assembly Room each Friday of Lent at 9:30am. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will be held each Sunday in St Patrick’s Church from 5:00pm with benediction at 6:30pm.

Upcoming Events

• Easter Sunday, 16 April
• Debutante Ball, Sat 22 April
• Divine Mercy—Sunday 23 April
• Lourdes Fete Sat 6 May
• Confirmations, Mon 22 & Tues 23 May
• Feast of St Anthony, Bemerside, 11 June

Father Damian McGrath
Parish Priest
Ingham Region Catholic Parishes

District News

St Peter’s Silver Circle

Safer Families Community Event

You are invited to the Safer Families Community Event, Thursday 11 May 2017 12:00pm to 5:30pm.

Please R.S.V.P. for our event by Thursday 20 April 2017 for catering purposes.

Cores Hinchinbrook

Teen Training

Advertising with Schoolzine

Would you like to advertise in our new Schoolzine eNewsletter? Currently, Schoolzine is working diligently to source family friendly advertising sponsors and 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 Schoolzine any questions, suggestions or advertising enquiries.

Email: advertising@schoolzine.com.au
Phone: 07 5414 2361