1 March 2018

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates

Gilroy on the Go

Lion’s Youth of the Year Competition

Recently Gilroy’s two contenders, Chris D’Emden and Tina Paton, sat for interviews that were held at the College. On the following Tuesday evening at Lucinda, both contestants delivered speeches to a small audience of Lower Herbert Lion’s members. They were also challenged by the task of speaking on two subjects without preparation or time to prepare an answer.

Both students performed admirably. Both spoke for five minutes on topics of their own selection. Of the two, Tina will progress from club level to the zone level. Tina will speak at Ingham State High School on 17 March. If she wins she will progress further. Congratulations to both students.

David Price

Yr 8 Science

Yr 8 students have been learning about physical and chemical properties in Science this term. This week Ms Lahtinen's 8.03 class investigated the physical properties of 12 common items. They were then challenged to create an object based on the physical properties of the 12 items that demonstrated the key word 'motion'.

The catch was each team had less than 20 mins to do so! The results were fantastic. Congratulations to all of the students for their efforts and especially to those in the winning teams for their 'cuckoo clock' and 'motion maze' designs: Nandana Devan, Callum Romano, Myles Tessieri, Katie Groundwater and Wil Hunter.

Karen Lahtinen

Yr 7 Camp

Chess & Debating

The Yr 7 debaters will be travelling to Charters Towers on the 16 March for a Catholic School Chess Competition. There will be two teams, Gilroy A and Gilroy B. One team will argue that 'petrol cars should not be banned' and the other will argue 'that tourism benefits the world' over three minutes.

The Charters Towers competition will ask students to argue after only an hour's preparation. This will be held on the Saturday 17 March.

The Yr 7 Chess players are learning the game and honing their skills. Hopefully, they will be ready to travel to Townsville in Term 2 to play in the Townsville Interschool Chess Tournament.

David Price

Physics

The Yr 12 Physics students have been studying reflection, refraction, diffraction and interference of waves using a ripple tank. This lead to a better understanding of how light behaves under certain conditions.

front row: Jade Stevens, Lara Gusmeroli
back row: Samantha Russo, Mark Carrara, Christopher D'Emden, Jessica Seri

water wave interference pattern produced using the ripple tank

Roseanne Coyle

YCS – Just Leadership Day

Recently a group of Yr 8 YCS students travelled to St Teresa's College to be a part of the 'Just Leadership Day' run by Caritas Australia. The day gave our students the opportunity to engage with other like minded students from St Teresa's, Margaret Mary's, Ryan and Southern Cross to discuss social injustice issues from around the world and encourage them to be 'just leaders’ within their school community.

Christine Timms

Matty Bowen 9’s

Recently Gilroy competed in the Matty Bowen 9's. Gilroy played in the Tier 2 Final against Columba. The Team had 3 straight wins against, St Anthony's, Northern Beaches and Pimlico but unfortunately, they lost the final against Columba. We were really impressed with their attitudes and efforts on the day. It lays the foundation for a great rugby league season.

New Staff for 2018:

Movie Premier

Coles – Sports for Schools

From the Principal

Dear Gilroy Santa Maria College Community

Congratulations to the Gilroy Swimming Team who participated in the Interschool Carnival last week. The behaviour and spirit in the stands was terrific, as was our participation levels. Due to some terrific individual performances and the fact we managed to fill up most lanes we enjoyed great success. Our girls won both the junior and senior trophies while our boys weren’t far off in the points either. Congratulations and thank you to Ms Meagan Castellaro, who organised a great carnival and much appreciation to all our staff, parents and swimming club officials who assisted on the night. Our next whole school sporting event is our Cross Country on Friday 20 April. Training has already started before school for interested students.

Last week I attended the Yr 7 Camp at Lake Tinaroo. It was great to see the students interacting so well with each other. One of the main intentions of the camp is for the students to get to know each other. We have nearly sixty children in Yr 7, coming from a variety of schools from within and in some cases beyond our local district. We want all our students to feel welcome and part of a big extended family and therefore it is important that students learn to mingle and make new friends. From my observations this camp achieved this goal. Thanks to Mr Giliberto for organising a great camp and to all other staff members who attended.

Our two College Captains Tina Paton and Chris D’Emden participated in the local Lions Youth of the Year Competition this week. They both were great ambassadors for our school in both their interviews and their public speaking duties. Tina was successful in being our representative for the next stage of the competition. Congratulations to Tina and thanks to teacher, Mr David Price for coordinating our participation in this respected nationwide event.

This week, Adrian Francis from Using Technology Better worked with our admin staff and key teachers to begin the process of developing a strategic plan for the use of technology in our classrooms. We discussed our vision, when and why we use technology in our teaching and learning, the upskilling of our students and staff. One decision from the meeting was confirmation that all students will have their own device by 2019. It is our plan to phase in some purchases this year and the next to ensure all Yr 7-9 students possess a Chromebook (Chromebook looks like a laptop but are cheaper machines designed to be used primarily while connected to the Internet, with most applications and documents living in the “cloud”), while Yr 10-12 students will continue to be provided with a laptop as part of the school laptop program that has been running for the last three years. Our strategic plan and the resulting actions will ensure we set up ourselves technologically to ensure our school community have access to the latest information and resources.

God Bless
John Nuttall
Principal

From the Assistant Principal
(Religious Education)

We are now well and truly in Lent. During this time God asks us to cease our wrongdoings and learn to make better decisions about our actions. He asks us to be the best person you can be by searching for justice, helping the oppressed, being just to all and pleading for those less fortunate. Bayan’s story featured this week by Caritas’ Project Compassion tells of how this young girl and her family fled from Damascus to escape the conflict in Syria. With the help of Caritas Australia, Caritas Jordan and Catholic Relief Services, they have stepped in to provide children like Bayan academic and psychological support. Bayan now attends one of Jordan’s Caritas Schools which operates on Saturdays, providing tuition to disadvantaged students.

“I would not be able to read and write. I would feel lost, as if I knew nothing about the world. School has the power to lift us up, so we can reach our goals and learn quickly." – Bayan

With our continued support children like Bayan will have a just and bright future. To donate please visit the website below.

This weekend Youth Ministry in our parish will kick off with a special event ‘Paving the Way to Youth Festival.’ This is a diocesan event with young adults travelling from Townsville to participate and celebrate. The festival is for young people, Yrs 11 and 12, as well as young adults. It is on Saturday 3 March, from 10:00am to 5:00pm and will conclude with Youth Mass at 6:00pm followed by a BBQ. Again, St Teresa’s Band and Gilroy’s Ensemble Group will play for Mass. It is a free event so please encourage your child to attend. Any donations of sweets for morning and afternoon tea or help with the BBQ will be greatly appreciated.

Tomorrow is The World Day of Prayer. This is a prayer movement by Christian communities coming together in response to an issue of concern around the world. This year the host country is the Suriname in South America. The theme, prepared by the Suriname World Day of Prayer Committee, is ‘All God’s Creation is Very Good.’ I will be attending the service hosted by the Uniting Churches of Ingham with some Yr 11 students. It is always a special day as we come together as an Ingham community to pray for those around the world in need of our prayers.

God Bless
Christine Timms

From the Assistant Principal
(Administration & Curriculum)

Hello parents, students and wider community,

All students and parents should now have received their child’s Interim Reports for this term indicating behaviour and effort in all subjects. These reports were both mailed home and have been put onto COMPASS. These reports give a good indication of how your child has started off the year. I am very proud to say that after looking at all students report cards that almost all our students are well behaved and meeting teacher expectations. Very well done to all these students! For students who have ‘needs to improve’ on their report, I hope they reflect on their work ethic and/or behaviour in class and approach the remaining part of this term with a renewed focus to their studies.

As we are now nearing towards the end of Term 1, students are well underway with assessments. Term 1 exams will commence on Monday 26 March and finish on Thursday 29 March as Friday is Good Friday and therefore a public holiday. Students are being shown in homerooms today and tomorrow how to access their exam timetable schedule on COMPASS. Parents can also view their child’s exam timetable by going to their son/daughter’s schedule on COMPASS and finding the correct dates. Exams are in green and show what the exam is, how long it goes for and where the exam is being held. Students have also written their exams into their diaries in homeroom to ensure that all students are aware of when and where their exams are. Some students may still be having issues signing into COMPASS. As part of this process, students need to let their homeroom teachers know so they can organise a time that our IT department can meet with these students to fix any issues. This is an important process as we will be using COMPASS more and more to distribute important information to both parents and students. If parents are having issues logging in or need assistance, please ring the front office.

Students will need to be organised and prepared for their exams by having the correct equipment and writing materials. It is imperative if your child is away for an exam that the school is notified by 8:30am and that they report to student reception the next day they return to sit their missed exam/s. Senior students (Yr 11 and 12) missing exams will require a medical certificate. Yrs 11 and 12 students will also commence exam block during this time. Karen Lahtinen and I will be meeting with the Yr 11 students to discuss their ‘Block Exam Contracts’ next week. This document clearly outlines the school’s expectations for students whilst they are on block exams. Please keep an eye out for this document if you are a Yr 11 parents as it will also require your signature before being returned to student reception. Students will need to have this document returned prior to being able to enjoy block. For Yr 12 students, Karen and I will again revisit these expectations with them prior to exams commencing. Hopefully this will ensure that everybody is able to follow the same rules so that students receive maximum benefit for study during this time.

Nancy Douglas, Joan Devietti and I have been conducting Yr 12 OP Interviews in the last two weeks. All students are progressing well and are thinking about their futures beyond Gilroy. It was great to see so many parents attend these interviews also. From these interviews, there is a lot of follow up by students regarding work experience during holidays, exploring the QTAC website, thinking about different career pathways, narrowing down prospective referees and references, thinking about additional requirements for tertiary entrance etc. We ask that students and parents please get in contact with us if you are requiring any further assistance. These students will also be receiving their short and written task responses from Week 1 in their QCS lesson coming up. All feedback from this session and their QCS lessons on Fridays have been very positive and that students are targeting this external exam with maturity and diligence. Yr 12 vocational students are well on their way towards obtaining their QCE. Most of our students will achieve well beyond their required 20 QCE points and leave Gilroy with a wealth of qualifications to bring to their potential employers.

God Bless
Melissa Carr

From the Assistant Principal
(Pastoral Care)

Life at Gilroy Santa Maria College has been extremely busy over the last 5 and a half weeks. Indeed, with Induction Mass, Swimming Carnivals, Sporting Trials and two Yr level camps; life is certainly not dull. Last week I was able to attend the annual Yr 7 camp at Lake Tinaroo. This year’s camp differed a little from previous versions, with the new facilitators providing campers with a program around building leadership qualities in all participants. The activities for the three days included canoeing, abseiling, team building activities as well as many others, all aimed at building resilience, understanding, confidence, organisational skills and persistence. The days were very long, and I will have to admit that at one stage I did hit the wall…. The abseil wall that is. In an act of true teacher stubbornness, I somehow managed to detach myself from the slimy rockface and complete my decent with a little less skin than when I began. Oh well, what doesn’t kill you ….

I always enjoy attending Yr 7 camps and this year’s instalment was no different. It is fantastic to see a group of young students who are eager to participate and can overcome the hardships of being away from home. None of us like the idea of leaving home (myself included), but the benefits in getting through the journey are well worth the effort. Even though at the time, it feels like it is something that you will never do again, there always seems to be something that will draw you back for another round.

In saying this, I often think about the first time I walked down the Herbert River Gorge. I remember being very unprepared for the 42 km walk and carrying far too much weight in my backpack, as well as having the world’s worst shoes for the journey. I clearly remember the idea of hitting the EPIRB button half way through so that a chopper could pick me up and save me from the worst walk of my life. Thankfully I didn’t press the button. When I got home, I was 7kg lighter and I vowed to my wife that I would never go again. Funny thing is, I have since completed the trek another 7 times and can’t wait to do it again this year if I get the chance. Camps, good or bad make long lasting memories and enable us to see how far our body and minds can take us as we journey through the Gorge trip of life.

Before we all went on camp, I was lucky enough to be on hand to see our College Swim Team perform to their absolute best. All our students were amazing in the way that they gave their all and showed great fighting spirit to fill lanes and perform to their potential. I was near the score desk all evening and was able to see how very close the scores were after each and every event. In the end we had 4 Age Champions and took out the Senior and Junior girls sections. While the girls received the trophies on the night, the boy’s efforts should not be underestimated. A massive thank you to all competitors and big congratulations for an excellent start to the interschool events series. A big thank you also to all staff who were able to contribute on the night and to Meagan Castellaro for all her hard work in organising a successful carnival.

Blessings
Peter Groundwater

From the Business Manager

School Fees are due on 5 March 2018. A 3% discount is applicable if you pay by the due date. The amounts are as follows.

1 Child - $24.85
2 Children - $43.45
3 or more Children - $57.50

There is also a 5% discount on fees if you pay the full year fees by the due date. Amounts are as follows.

1 Child - $165.60
2 Children - $289.60
3 or more Children - $383.30

There are a number of ways to pay for school fees either weekly, fortnightly, monthly or by term and a number of ways to pay, direct debit, credit card, cash or cheque. If paying by direct debit, please do not forget to enter your Family Code (found on your School Fee Statement). I have had several payments recently without codes. If you have paid without entering a family code, please contact the school to verify payment.

BANK DETAILS are as follows:

WESTPAC Ingham
BSB - 034-187
Account Number – 145 925
Name – Gilroy Santa Maria College

As always, if for any reason you are finding it difficult to pay school fees. 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

Careers

Yr 10 Work Experience:

In Week 11 of Term 2, Wednesday 27, Thursday 28 and Friday 29 June, your child will be participating in a compulsory block of work experience. Their choice of employer can be anywhere that will relate to what they may be thinking they would like to do after they finish school. This is an invaluable experience for our students as they can ‘sample’ what life may be like for them if they pursued a particular career pathway. The student is responsible for organising travel and accommodation for this block.

All Yr 10 students received a letter and form with important details. If your child has misplaced this letter and form, then they are to come and see me in the Careers room.

I have already started to have discussions with students on where they would like to go for their Work Experience and their attitude towards the work experience block has been tremendous.

Yr 11 and 12 Work Placement

Our Yr 11’s and 12’s have begun their Friday work placements. The feedback from businesses so far has been fantastic. I will be regularly visiting our students on Friday’s to check on how they are going.

Remember, if your child is unable to attend Work Placement due to sickness/family, you are to notify both the school and the business by 8:30am.

Health Careers Program – Townsville Hospital Work Experience Applications

The Townsville Hospital are offering 4 days of Work Experience as part of their program for this year.

Students are required to submit an application - Please see Miss Spina in the Careers office for application forms.

All applications are first reviewed by the school before being sent to the hospital to continue their application process. This will allow us to assess each student separately and make alternate arrangements for exams if need be.

DATES

The 1 - day program will be offered on the following dates:

• Term 1 Friday 23 March (Please note this is exam block) - Applications close Friday 2 March 2018
• Term 2 Tuesday 19 June - Applications close Friday 1 May 2018
• Term 3 Tuesday 28 August - Applications close Friday 10 August 2018
• Term 4 Tuesday 16 October - Applications close Friday 28 September 2018

Please see me in the Careers office or email ( aspina1@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au ) if you have any questions and to collect application forms.

Ashley Spina

Traineeship

Congratulations to our Yr 11 student, Calem Priest, who has been signed up into a traineeship with Ingham Manufactures Mitre 10. Calem will be working at Mitre 10 on Friday’s as part of his school timetable, as well as studying for a Certificate III in Retail.

We wish Calem every success with his qualification.

Nancy Douglas

Sports News

Interschool Swimming Report

Monday 19 February, saw a tribe of Gilroy Santa Maria College athletes compete at the annual Interschool Swimming Carnival. Overall, Gilroy was extremely successful, with the ladies winning both the Junior and Senior Girls. This achievement was contributed by all athletes who participated in true GSM spirit, filling lanes and simply having a go.

The carnival was also filled with impressive individual performances, with multiple athletes awarded age champion. Congratulations to following:

• 13 Yrs - Eve Tento
• 15 Yrs - Bailey McKee
• 15 Yrs - Kacey Lynch
• 16 Yrs - Cheylsea Molloy

The next sporting event on the calendar is Cross Country – Term 2, Week 1.

Meagan Castellaro

Key sporting dates TERM 1

** Venues TBA through morning notices / notes to be distributed **

Meagan Castellaro

Academic Support

Indigenous Homework Support

Tuckshop News

VOLUNTEERS ARE ALWAYS NEEDED!!

Tuckshop Volunteers are only needed to work from 8:30am to 12:00pm.

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]

What’s Happening in the Parish

Youth Ministry News from Sr Thao

Youth Ministry of our parish will kick off the year with a special event "Paving the way to youth festival" on Saturday 3 March. This is a diocesan youth event; thus, we will have young people from Townsville coming. The festival is for young people from Yrs 11-12 and young adults and if there any Yr 10 who would like to attend please let me know. The festival starts at 10:00am and will conclude with Mass at 6:00pm followed by a BBQ. It is a free event. However, I ask donations from adults for cakes and sweets for morning and afternoon teas and help to organize lunch and BBQ.

For further information about the event please contact me ( thaofdcc9@hotmail.com.au ) mobile 0478453647 or go to parish's website (you can down load registration form) or Townsville Youth Office ( youth@tsv.catholic.org.au ). For those adults who feel young at heart and would like to volunteer to help with youth activities, please fill the form attached in the brochure.

Youth program for Yrs 5 -12 will commence in March. The program "Formation of the heart" aims to help young people to apply and put into perspective what they learn from schools and Church. Details of the program are in the brochures placed in all the parish churches. Please encourage your children and grandchildren to attend these programs because the vital importance of faith formation often builds a sound Christian life.

Women’s Group Happenings

The next function of the Women’s Group is the St Patrick’s Day Morning Tea on Saturday 17 March. There will be a Mass at 9:00am followed by Morning Tea @ 10:00am, (doors will open from 9:30am). Tickets will be on sale at the Parish Office from Monday, 26 February. Cost is $15.00 per ticket. We ask parishioners to kindly donate prizes to be used in cent sale and these donations need to be in at the Parish Office by Friday, 9 March. If you can help on the day or do some baking, please contact Jeanette Cockburn on 0447720740.

Next Meeting for the Women’s Group will be at 9:00am, Saturday, 3 March at 23 Covell Street, Ingham to discuss St Patrick’s Day Morning Tea.

Devotions for Lent

Rosary:

9:30am each Monday in St Patrick’s Church

Stations of the Cross:

5:30pm each Friday in St Patrick’s Church

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament:

9:00am to noon each Tuesday in St Paul’s Chapel
4:00pm to 5:30pm each Tuesday in St Patrick’s Church

Holy Hour:

7:30pm to 8:30pm each Wednesday of Lent

Upcoming Events

• St Peter’s Induction Mass 22/2, 8:45am
• Catholic Debutante Ball 28/4

Father Damian McGrath
Parish Priest
Ingham Region Catholic Parishes

District News

Movie Premier – Sweet Country

Pool Party Bash

Ingham FC

Ingham FC (Soccer) are chasing players for the U15/16 Rep Team. Training Monday and Wednesday 5:30pm at the Soccer Club or see the Ingham FC Facebook page for more details and contacts.

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