15 March 2018

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates

Gilroy on the Go

Litter Rap

Kimo Srb and a few others have made a rap to combat litter in the school. The boys are very proud of their efforts and it is definitely worth the watch.

Karen Lahtinen

Paving the Way for Youth Festival

On Saturday 3 March, a Youth Festival was held in Ingham for Youths Across the Diocese. It was the first time an event was held like this in our Parish. Sr Thao and Sarah Dixon (Townsville) spent many hours making preparations and arrangements to kickstart the ‘Year of Youth’. Young people aged 15 to 24 travelled from Proserpine, Airlie Beach and Townsville to join with us for a day of self-reflection. The focus of the day was leadership, and through sessions and activities, we all learnt the true qualities of a leader. We discovered that the type of leader we should all aspire to be is a ‘slave leader’, just as Jesus was. A slave leader helps, encourages, listens and shows empathy towards the people whom they are working with. The Youth Festival was a great opportunity for the Ingham Youth to make new friends and realise the difference between who we are and who we want to be. Even though some of the activities were personally challenging it was good to have a day set aside to discuss and reflect on how we can all be people working towards a better self. The group increased in size as the culminating Youth Mass showcased a wonderful Youth Band with students from Abergowrie College and Gilroy. Many thanks to Mrs Vera Di Bella for organising the Band and the wonderful music for the Mass. A big thank you must go to Father Damian, Mrs Timms, Sr Thao and Sarah Dixon for their vision and energy that they shared with us over the day. We look forward to more events for young people in our Diocese and another opportunity to have Tea with Thao.

Mary Galletly

Yr 7 Science

Yr 7 Science students have been enjoying learning about laboratory safety, equipment and experimental procedure.

Roseanne Coyle

Academic Support Program

Students have been utilising the afterschool Academic Support Program.

Yr 8 English

Students in Yr 8 have been making videos in English. There are infomercials or parodies of infomercials.

David Price

Woolworths Sporting Gear Has Arrived

Thank-you to all the members of the Gilroy Santa Maria College community who took part in the Woolworths Earn and Learn program. Simply by placing your vouchers in the box, we as a school were able to purchase this sports equipment.

This year we are part of a similar program through Coles. We ask that you please contribute your vouchers to Gilroy, so we can continue to provide resources to our school.

Meagan Castellaro

World Day of Prayer

Mrs Timms along with Mary Galletly, Rachel Torrisi and Eliza Carr attended the World Day of Prayer Service recently, hosted by the Uniting Churches of Ingham. We are very proud of the way our students represented our school, reading scripture during the celebration.

Library Hours

Yr 7 Immunisations

Due to flooding last week, Yr 7 Immunisations are now postponed until Friday 23 March. If your child has missed previous Immunisations they will also ‘catch up’ with them on this date. Yr 7 students will be given human papillomavirus (HPV) and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination.

Parents are encouraged to ensure their children have breakfast on the morning of vaccination.

Thrift Shop Social

Movie Premier

Coles – Sports for Schools

Wilmar – Herbert River Apprentices 2018

From the Principal

Dear Gilroy Santa Maria College Community

Obviously, the flooding of our district dominated the talk around our town last week-end. It was my first experience of a flood for many years. Coincidently, my last experience was in the late 80’s when I taught here in Ingham as a newly graduated teacher. I remember, the flood I experienced we were all due to vote in a federal election that day, but most people were unable, and we had to vote during the week. I also remember waking up to find some cars parked in our yard. So again, on Friday morning I woke to see cars everywhere in our street as people understandably moved their vehicles to high ground. I must say that the spirit of the people in our town again shone through to me. People responded quickly to the warnings and cooperated. When the flood waters receded, the community quickly took to cleaning up, mowing yards and helping others in need. The resilience in the community was very impressive to witness.

This Friday is National Day of Action against Bullying. While I’m not suggesting we are perfect at Gilroy, I do believe generally the levels of overt bullying are low. However, I do know that we must look to decrease another form of bullying that is just as hurtful as being repeatedly harassed. That is being socially excluded, a hidden form of bullying, not obvious to see or hear. Social exclusion can take many forms, from being deliberately excluded from a peer group to having rumours spread about them, being called names and being purposefully embarrassed. Social exclusion essentially involves a lack of connectedness and participation from a peer group.

This is not just a Gilroy problem, it happens in all walks of life. However, that been said, I know we can continue to improve in this area as a school community. It is the reason we continue to highlight and reward those children who try to include students in their games or conversations. The children who genuinely value everyone in our community for who they are no matter their race, their looks, their family’s wealth, their idiosyncrasies, their faults. We pledge to keep an eye out at school for exclusion and support those students who are vulnerable. We pledge to challenge and encourage all students to be mindful of the feelings of others and we will always look to continue to grow the spirit and comradery among us all. We will continue to strive to provide a safe and inclusive environment for everyone.

You know if everyone in our community was inclusive, no one would ever feel socially excluded ………..if only it was that simple!

I take this opportunity to wish our Assistant Principal Curriculum and Administration, Mrs Melissa Carr all best in the coming weeks as she and husband Simon wait in anticipation for the birth of their second child. Melissa will be taking maternity leave till at least the end of this year. Mrs Joan Devietti will replace Melissa as Assistant Principal. We are in the process of filling Joan's Maths Leader position, that will be announced next week.

God Bless
John Nuttall
Principal

From the Assistant Principal (Religious Education)

It has been extremely delightful to wake these past mornings to rays of sunshine. Hopefully everyone is recovering quickly from the flood and are well on the way to getting back to normal.

Last week several our Yr 11 and 12 students participated in the “Paving the Way for Youth Festival’ held in Ingham. The day was a great success having many young adults come from as far as Proserpine to engage in activities focussing on leadership. The day finished with Youth Mass at St Patrick’s Church accompanied by the St Teresa’s Band, Gilroy Ensemble, Vera Di Bella, Colin Valinoti and Louis Piotto. A big thank you should go out to Sr Thao and Sarah Dixon for their tireless enthusiasm in organising the day, the Trebonne ladies for meals during the day and the Knights of the Southern Cross for the BBQ dinner after mass.

This week the Project Compassion Campaign focusses on Ditosa, a young girl from Mozambique who hopes to go to university and become a police officer. Featured in Project Compassion 2013, Ditosa faced a challenging future with food scarcity, little education and few job prospects. Cared for by her grandmother and aunt, after her parents died of AIDS-related illnesses, they also lost their home and livelihoods in severe flooding. Thanks to the support of Project Compassion, Caritas Australia and Caritas Regional Chokwe (CRC) helped Ditosa’s family to build a new house and assisted with transport fees, school materials and fees, to help Ditosa to stay at school. Ditosa attended the Matuba Children’s Centre (set up by Caritas in 2007) which provides vulnerable children, like Ditosa, with lunch, study help, and computer and income-generating skills training. This o, Ditosa has graduated from school and is ambitious for the future. “Without the support of the people from Australia and Caritas I would not have been given this opportunity to continue my schooling.” Ditosa dreams of going to university to continue studying and secure an even brighter future. To donate please visit the website below.

This week’s Gospel reading is John 12:20-30. It speaks of how Jesus teaches his disciples about the way in which he will be glorified by God. He explains that ‘unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.’ We are reminded that we are the seeds which God has planted, and we need to grow to be good people. Sometimes we forget that God loves us and that we are all a part of one global family. Let us remember this week to continue to grow closer to God by being the best we can be and serving other in our little community.

God of Justice,
All children have the right to an education.
We thank you for the work of the Church
through Caritas in Mozambique.
We thank you for the opportunity that Ditosa
and her friends have been given through the
Children’s Centre in Matuba.
We pray they have fun learning different skills
and that they do well in school.
We pray that all children treasure their education
and work to build a better future for all people.
Amen.

God Bless
Christine Timms

From the Assistant Principal (Administration & Curriculum)

Hello Parents, Students and Community,

We have had an exciting and event-filled Term 1! I hope that everyone has kept safe in the recent flooding.

As Term 1 draws closer to an end, I trust that all students are now aware of all their assessment requirements for the term and their exam schedule in the last week. If students have any questions about locating their exam timetables can they please ask their homeroom teacher as soon as possible. It is imperative that if your child misses an exam for any reason that you contact the office the morning they are away to notify the school. Students in Yrs 11 and 12 must also supply a Medical Certificate upon return to school that covers them for any missed assessment. A catch-up session will be scheduled when they are able to do this. It is very important that all students complete their assessment to give teachers feedback about how they are progressing in their class.

Yrs 11 and 12 students will commence exam block between Monday 26 – Thursday 29 March where they are only required to attend school when they have exams. Attached is a copy of the contract that the school requires all Yr 11 students to sign. Yr 12 students signed their contracts last year and therefore need to ensure they too follow the outlined rules and guidelines. All Yr 11 and 12 students were given their contracts to sign, along with their parents, in their pastoral care assemblies yesterday. I have also emailed a copy of this policy to parents and included it in this week’s newsletter. Hopefully this will ensure that everybody is able to follow the same rules to allow students to receive the maximum benefits for study during this time.

In addition to this, we would like to clarify some of the school’s policies and procedures regarding missed work and assessment:

Students Requesting Work for Short-Term and Long-Term Absences:

The school expectation is that students will see their classroom teacher when they return to school for work they have missed due to any absence.

Parents/Students Gaining Access to Past Exam Papers:

No student will be given copies/access to past exam papers as this remains the intellectual property of the school.

Assessment Policy: (reminder)

It is school policy that no student can conduct their exam prior to the scheduled date.

By students catching up on work missed once they return, it ensures that the teacher has had adequate time to plan and prepare the course work and provide sufficient opportunity for the student to access work missed. Students also have various mediums that they can access work and help to catch up - Most classes have a google classroom page where students can access content and course work at any time. There is also the school’s Academic Support Program available to all students Monday-Friday during second lunch and after school Monday-Wednesday. Teachers also meet at the request of the students. Attending these sessions is a very important medium for catching up on work missed and/or gaining additional support when required. Students and parents may also access the Australian Curriculum at any time via the website (https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/) to gain an overview of the types of learning occurring in all year levels. From this homepage, there is also a parent link which contains information on how to best support your child in their learning whilst at school.

This is my last newsletter article for a while as I will be commencing my maternity leave from this Friday. Joan Devietti will, again, be taking over this role whilst I am away. I am sure everyone would agree that Joan did a fantastic job whilst I was away last time and I wish her all the best the second time around.

God Bless
Melissa Carr

From the Assistant Principal (Pastoral Care)

Bullying of any description is considered the number one scourge of all school environments and is something that students, staff and parents must continually work together in order to eradicate the problem. This week, Gilroy Santa Maria College will join other schools from across Australia in showing our solidarity towards the National Day of Action against Bullying. While the day is aimed at increasing awareness of Bullying in Schools, the National Day of Action against Bullying is by no means a standalone entity that will magically eliminate Bullying. Indeed, the education of our young students on the serious issues associated with Bullying is an ongoing dialogue that occurs within our school on a regular basis. Yet, despite our best efforts and the increasing public outrage associated with high profile bullying cases in Queensland, there still remains an element of Bullying and Harassment that exists in most, if not all school environments.

Personal experience dictates that even with ongoing education and constant reminders about the notion of inclusiveness, the message that Bullying is extremely harmful sometimes doesn’t get through to everyone. While any form of Bullying seems completely obvious to us as adults, in most cases that we deal with, students don’t actually understand that their actions towards another student could be considered as Bullying. Fortunately, in most instances I find that once the student is made aware of his or her actions, there is much less chance of Bullying or Harassment continuing. The important aspect that needs to be stressed to any person who feels like they are being bullied is to make sure that the school is made aware of what is happening, much sooner rather than later. Once the school is notified, our Pastoral Care team is able to immediately intercede and provide the necessary discussion and interventions to ensure that all parties involved receive a fair outcome. In all cases, the number one thing that all Bullying victims want is to be left alone and able to continue in a peaceful manner within the school. As such, we invest a great deal of time working with people accused of Bullying (intentional or nonintentional) to ensure that they fully understand the rights and responsibilities of all students within Gilroy Santa Maria College.

In helping to promote the Nation Day of Action against Bullying, we are hoping to release a snippet of the College’s new up and coming anti-bullying advertisement. We are thinking something along the lines of a Superhero short film with the character of “G” man as the central character … Stay tuned to the school’s Facebook page for the Teaser/Trailer.

Blessings
Peter Groundwater

From the Business Manager

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Payments to Gilroy Santa Maria College may be made by electronic funds transfer, EFTPOS, cheque, cash or Centrepay.

School Fees were due on 5 March 2018.

A reminder when paying school fees by direct debit please make sure to enter your Family Code (found on your School Fee Statement). I have had a number of payments recently without codes or using numbers. 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

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. If your child has not returned this form, then please do so by March 23. If your child needs help with contacting their choice of business or deciding on where they would like to go, then should see Miss Spina in the Careers room, the door is always open.

Yr 11 and 12 Work Placement

The final day of Work Placement for Term 1 will be Friday 23 March. All students have been asked to decide where they would like to go for Term 2 Friday placements, complete their forms that have been handed out. Students need to return the form to Miss Spina as soon as possible so that Term 2 arrangements can be made. It is very important for students to experience a variety of fields, which is why we encourage a new workplace every term.

Holiday Work Experience

A number of students have taken initiative to organise work experience during the Term 1 school holidays. This will be a terrific experience for them, and I look forward to hearing about their experience when they return for Term 2.

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.

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

QTAC - Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre - For parents

If you have a child considering tertiary study, QTAC's information for parents will help you guide their decision-making and assist them in applying.

Read an overview of tertiary study and the benefits of higher education.

Get useful hints and tips to help your child on their journey to tertiary study and beyond.

Find out when to start planning for tertiary study, and help your child choose the right course and institution.

Consider the costs involved with studying, and check out how to apply.

Investigate the support services available to students, and get information on living away from home.

Thinking of studying yourself? Learn more about applying , find out what courses you can apply for, and get information on upgrading pathways.

Investigate other resources on topics relevant to tertiary study, including financial assistance, employment outcomes, and more.

School Based Apprentice

Recently, Rowan McClelland signed up for a School Based Apprentice Dual Trade Cert III in Electrotechnology Electrician and Instrumentation with Jaysel Electrical & Instrumentation. Congratulations Rowan.

Nancy Douglas

Sports News

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

“Pay it forward” for Yr 7 to 9 students, will start on Friday, 16 March at Menegon Centre (for this month only otherwise at Mercy Hall). It will be held every third Friday of the month, from 6-8 pm with a light supper included. For further information please contact Sr Thao thaofdcc9@hotmail.com.au

Sr Thao would like to say “a big thank” to Fr Damian and Fr Vitalis for your support and prayers that made the festival “Paving the Way” on 3 March in our parish so successful. I also would like to say thanks to the Knights of the Southern Cross who organised the BBQ after the Youth Mass and also to all those who helped to organise and donated sweets for the day and those who promoted the event and all the parishioners who, one way or another, had contributed to the event. May God bless your generosity and I can assure you that your support and prayers nourish the growth of young people in the Church.

Relay for Life 2018

St Patrick's Angel's will have a team participating in this year’s 8-hour event which is being held Saturday May 26 between 2 - 10pm. Theme this year is "All Things Egyptian". Registrations received between Saturday March 03 and Friday May 18, 2018 is$30.00 per person.

Registrations received during the week of the Relay and on the day is $40 per person. If you are interested in joining our team or donating in support of it, please visit Ingham 2018 Relay for Life and follow the prompts. For further inquiries phone Giovanna Melvin 47763574. LET'S FIGHT CANCER TOGETHER!

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 Patrick’s Day Morning Tea 17/3, 10:00am
• Catholic Debutante Ball 28/4
• Lourdes Fete 12/5
• Feast St Anthony Bemerside 10/6

Father Damian McGrath
Parish Priest
Ingham Region Catholic Parishes

District News

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