7 June 2018

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates

Gilroy on the Go

Transition Day 2

Gilroy On Show

Yr 8 Retreat

Debating

GSM Debating Team of Elizabeth Price, Katie Groundwater and Olivia Hayes defeated Southern Cross Catholic College recently.

The competition was contested by 24 teams from schools in the Townsville District as well as two from Hinchinbrook District, (Gilroy and Abergowrie College). Both Abergowrie and Gilroy’s teams had to argue the against proposition, ‘that we should not have to wear bike helmets.’ In other words, they had to argue that cyclists should wear helmets.

In her first debate, second speaker, Katie Groundwater, scored the highest on the night with 79 points. The most entertaining speaker, Lizzy Price, entertained the audience with her passionate description of the opposition’s argument as ‘unrational.’

The team will compete again in Term 3. If they win, they will progress to the semi-finals in Term 4. Congratulations to all.

David Price

Questacon Team Visit

The Questacon Team visited Gilroy last Friday for a Smart Skills (STEM) Workshop. Yr 7 and 8 students were challenged to solve problems using the innovation principles of need, think, make, try, refine. Their challenge was to use simple materials and tools to build prototypes and test the aerodynamics of these prototypes in vertical wind tunnels. It was loads of fun and there were plenty of smiles.

Roseanne Coyle

Signing In

All visitors and parents visiting the school for any reason, must sign in at the front office. Sign in on the iPad and the printer generates a sticker with your name and a number. When you leave the premises, return to the office and sign out with your unique number on your sticker.

Lost and Found

We have an accumulation of HATS, JUMPERS and LUNCH BOXES. If you have lost any of these items, please check out the lost and found basket at Student Reception. PLEASE MAKE SURE ALL YOUR ITEMS HAVE NAMES ON THEM SO THAT THEY CAN BE RETURNED IF HANDED IN TO STUDENT RECEPTION.

Food Technology

Our Food Technology is looking for glass or plastic jars, for making and storing Jams and Relishes.

If anyone has small to medium size ones, could you please drop off to the office. We are also looking for old Food Magazines for cutting up for class work and assignments, if anyone has any old ones, please donate to our department also.

Danielle Mastrippolito

From the Acting Principal

Welcome to our Week 8 Newsletter. As is always the case in the context of a school, the last two weeks have been jam-packed with a host of activities that have involved our students, staff and parents. Undoubtedly, the major event during this time was our annual, ‘Gilroy on Show’ showcase. For those that were able to attend, I hope you enjoyed the night as much as we enjoyed hosting it. It was fantastic and heart-warming to see our students and staff freely giving their time and efforts towards the ‘Gilroy on Show’ concept. The engaging subject displays in all departments demonstrated the passion and commitment that each staff member holds for their respective subject. While there were many staff members who contributed to the organisation of Gilroy on Show, a special thank you must go to Mrs Sandra LaRosa whose pre-planning and eye for detail, ensured that the evening was one to remember. Thanks also to our tireless Maintenance and Grounds people, Peter Staples and Frank Smallwood, who as always had the entire Gilroy precinct looking spectacular.

You cannot talk about Gilroy on Show without mentioning the food that was on offer. Thank you and congratulations must go to Mrs Danielle Mastrippolito, Mr Matthew Schrodter and their hospitality students who worked overtime to provide us with wood-fired Pizza, succulent Roast Pork, and tasty deserts throughout the evening. Of course, none of this food happens in the way that it does without those behind the scenes staff members who provided valuable assistance to the hospitality department. Thank you to one and all. Thanks also must go to Mrs Vera DiBella for organising and working with our talented student entertainers. The music on offer really showcased the enormous talents and commitment that students put into their chosen musical endeavours. As always, members of our Parents and Friends Association were on hand to cook hot chips and serve food to all those people who were in attendance. We are very fortunate to have such a committed group of volunteers who always have the best interests of the school at heart.

Speaking of the P & F, last weekend saw them stage our very first Car Boot Sale on Saturday morning in the grounds behind the Chapel. Hats off and a big thank you to the P & F for trying something different and innovative in our Gilroy and Ingham Community. While it was only small in comparison to the large car boot sales throughout the world, there is definitely potential for ways to make this a much bigger and well-attended event.

By the time this Newsletter is released, our Yr 8’s will have completed their first Retreat at Magnetic Island. I thank Christine Timms, Father Damian, Matthew Giliberto and all other attending staff for their hard work in ensuring that our students can experience time away from the distractions of life and society and build a closer relationship with God. We are very fortunate to have two people like Father Damian and Christine Timms whose knowledge and experience in delivering meaningful and engaging retreat sessions are second to none.

As you may be aware, I am currently the Acting Principal for 5 weeks as John Nuttall our College Principal has taken on the Acting Consultants role at the Townsville Catholic Education Office. In writing my first newsletter as an Acting Principal I really wanted to make sure that I acknowledged the efforts of our wonderful Gilroy community. While I never need to look far to find these efforts, a glance at our school calendar says that our staff are embarrassingly good in providing opportunities to enhance the learning and development of our students. Things like, the Dalrymple Gap walk for our Yr 8’s, Debating in Townsville with David Price, Canossa aged care visits with Rita Martin, Sporting Team coaching and lunchtime sport with Ian Schifilliti and Meagan Castellaro, Relay for Life with Amy Squires and Christine Timms, the World War 1 Link Project with Amy Squires, Attendance at Video Editing sessions after school, Staging the Over 40’s v Under 40’s cricket game with Ash Spina… the list honestly goes on forever. All of these things are only a small portion of what is going on in our school on any given day. The sad part about all of the great work that is done in our Gilroy Community is that we often don’t have a chance to take a breath and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. The hectic pace of modern life doesn’t leave much time for recognition, gratitude and self-satisfaction. It is not that we go around looking for acclamation, but it would be great to sit back and think, “Wow, I just did something good and I feel great”.

Next Wednesday is School Officer’s Day and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our School Officers for the huge role that they play in all aspects of Gilroy. I hope that our School Officers do find an opportunity throughout this day to sit back and think about how great they really are.

God Bless

Peter Groundwater

From the Acting Assistant Principal (Administration & Curriculum)

Hello everyone,

TERM 2 EXAMS

The Parent/Student/Teacher interviews conducted in Week 5 went well. As we look towards the end of term, all students should now be preparing themselves for exams starting in Week 10. Exams start on Monday 18 June and end on Friday 22 June and the exam schedule has been issued to all students and is visible on COMPASS. Students are asked to ensure they check over this exam schedule so that are aware of where and when their exams will be. Please ensure your son/daughter is very clear about their upcoming exams. The exam schedule is also posted on the board outside Student Reception.

All students are required to sit their exams unless they present a medical certificate to Student Reception prior to or on return to school. As per the school's assessment policy exams cannot be conducted beforehand so please ensure your child is at school for all assessment. If your child is absent for any reason, please notify Student Reception by 8:30am.

CAREERS

Thank you to Mrs Douglas who organized Yrs 9 & 10 and Yrs 11 & 12 to attend the Hinchinbrook Shire Council Careers Expo. From all reports students took advantage of the opportunity to speak to local businesses and gain valuable knowledge about different career pathways.

In Yr 10, students are to develop a Senior Education and Training (SET) Plan.

The purpose of a SET plan is to help students:

• set and achieve their learning goals in Yrs 11 and 12
• include flexible and coordinated pathway options in their course of senior study
• think about their education, training and career options after Yr 12 and make decisions about their learning pathways
• structure their learning around their abilities, interests and ambitions
• communicate with their parents, teachers and career guidance officers about their learning pathways and post-school plans.

Next term Yr 10 students will be selecting their senior subjects and continue working on their SET plan.

Yr 6 TRANSITION PROGRAM

Gilroy Santa Maria College will host Yr 6 students for their third of five transition days next Thursday 14 June. The young students have found these days very exciting and an excellent experience for life as a student at Gilroy.

GILROY ON SHOW

Thank you to the Staff and to all those who attended the Gilroy on Show. It was a great exhibition of what happens at Gilroy. The subject displays demonstrated the variety and quality of our programs and facilities and the entertainment and catering ensured a great night was had by all.

God Bless

Joan Devietti

From the Assistant Principal (Religious Education)

Mrs Timms is currently on Retreat with Yr 8’s at Magnetic Island.

To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes—Psalm 122(123):1-2.

God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power and love and self-control.

Paul writes lovingly to Timothy—‘dear child of mine’—as he would to us. We need the encouragement that Paul gives.

We are blessed with our faith, and it is wonderful when we lose our timidity and are ready to share our faith with others.

As our faith grows, we deepen our relationship with God. We may become happy to share our faith when the opportunity comes.

If we each can fan this gift of faith into a flame, we will have the Spirit of power and love and self-control that is God’s gift.

Christine Timms

From the Acting Assistant Principal (Pastoral Care)

Term 2 is absolutely flying, with us nearing toward the business end of the Term. For the last two weeks I have had the pleasure of filling in the Assistant Principal-Pastoral position, a role in which I have thoroughly enjoyed thus far.

Recently, I was lucky enough to attend Yr 10 Retreat, with the week thoroughly enjoyed by all. It was great to see all the students getting involved in the different parts of the experience and having a go. There were great activities run by the Missionaries Team which challenged students emotionally, with students bonding together and supporting each other through this.

Gilroy On Show was the highlight of last week, with it once again, being a great night with an abundance of talented students getting up on stage to perform for the crowd. The hospitality students did a fantastic job cooking up gourmet pizzas and serving up the slow cooked pig. A big thanks must go to the teachers who ran their subject displays and the senior students who helped out in these areas, taking the time to show families what our school has to offer.

Currently, the Yr 8 students are away on retreat and from all reports, students and teachers are enjoying themselves and the activities on offer.

Coming up to the end of the term we often find that students are starting to become anxious or stressed. This can be due to an increase in assessment work, upcoming exams and Semester Two Report Cards. From a Pastoral point of view this can sometimes have an effect on student behaviour at school and within the home.

At Gilroy we help students by providing Pastoral support at different levels. Students are encouraged to talk to their YLC’s or teachers at any time should they have any concerns or feeling overwhelmed, with YLC’s and teachers aiming to help and support or point them in the right direction. In the past, in order to support students, the school has hosted Luke McKenna to run activities with the students, with a particular focus on his 3 steps to help students deal with stress;

1. Meditation – This is one of the most effective ways to calm down and manage stress. Research indicates that practising meditation on regular basis helps to minimise stress. There are great videos on YouTube that students can access at any time to help guide them through meditation.
2. Managing their schedules/timetables – mapping out all assessments and priorities will ensure things aren’t left till the last minute. By planning our assessment in advance, we are able to submit higher quality work, rather than work that is left to the day before.
3. Spacing – Rather than cramming all the study for one exam in the night before it’s more effective to space our study over several nights or a week. Continually doing homework and revising the day’s work will also help with this.

As the term gets closer to the end I would like to wish all the students good luck in their upcoming assessments. A quote I like to use during stressful times is; “It’s okay to get butterflies in your stomach, the key is to make them fly in formation” Georges St Pierre.

Blessings

Matthew Schrodter

From the Business Manager

Confro (Rugby League) and QISSN (Netball) is only 3 weeks away and there has been lots of fundraising for both events. Even though it is in Charters Towers and Townsville it is still quite an expensive week. Thanks to all who have contributed towards any of the fundraising activities and to the co-ordinators who have worked tirelessly to enable our students some financial support. Lamingtons have been delivered and Krispy Kreme Donuts are being delivered on Monday 25 June.

The QISSN team is having a final fundraising event on Saturday Morning (9 June) at the back of Coles with a combined sausage sizzle and cake stall. Please come along and support the girls. If you are able to donate a cake or biscuits, please bring it along on Saturday morning.

School fees are now overdue, please contact the school so a payment plan can be arranged.

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.

BANK DETAILS are as follows:

WESTPAC Ingham
BSB - 034-187
Account Number – 145 925
Name – Gilroy Santa Maria College
Detail – (Family code from statement)

Ros Giuliano

BALANCING YOUR CHILD’S DIGITAL DIET

When considering your child’s or young person’s digital diet it’s important to move beyond the notion of keeping kids safe to look at the types of activities their screen-time might be denying them.

There are many aspects to take into account including the maintenance of mental and physical health; fulfilling school and family duties and ensuring that young people develop a full gammit of real world communication skills.

For the sake of living a balanced life ensure your child has sufficient time for:

1. Sleep: It’s super important that kids are getting a good night’s sleep. Keeping devices out of the bedroom when they are young and avoiding the screens for at least an hour before bed, helps ensure their sleep needs are met.
2. Boredom: Today’s kids don’t tend to get as much time to be bored as kids used to. It is an important skill to be able to fill in their time themselves. Bored time promotes creative play and thinking as kids are forced to come up with other ways to amuse themselves.
3. Connection: Face-to-face interaction is obviously crucial for children’s social and emotional development and wellbeing. Time with friends, siblings and family members must always be a priority. Learning to engage, problem solve and read body language and facial expressions are all crucial skills that need real-life time and experience to develop.
4. Physical activity: A healthy body and mind requires activity and movement. Kids still love to get out and play. However, some may need a bit more encouragement to remind them.
5. Reflection: Whilst playing games may be described by many kids as their downtime (and yes, there is some validity to this argument) kids also need downtime that involves doing very little. It is in these moments of reflection, of thinking and of pondering, that our ideas come to us and our creativity for other activities flows.
6. Focus: There are times of the day when all of us need to be focused on other tasks. These may be homework, chores, reading a book or the newspaper, building something or making something. There needs to be time in kids’ days where they are able to focus solely on a task without the distractions of a screen.
7. Family meals: Getting plenty of good food is of course very important to kids’ wellbeing. But it’s not just about the food. Sitting at the table with parents, siblings or others, focusing on enjoying a meal together without the need of a screen, helps children to develop good habits while they are young which they can carry into the future.

Obviously, there will be times when all these needs are not completely balanced. There will be periods when screens are used more often and times when one or more valuable needs is neglected. But if we can use this as a guide and aim to fit the many key experiences our kids need into each day, we are much more likely to ensure our kids grow up with a healthy respect for their screens and a healthy respect for the many areas of their life that need to be nurtured.

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 regarding this roster or you are unavailable to attend, please contact Sandra Benedetto Home [4776 5321] Jodie Lino Home [4776 5718]

Winter Uniform

As the weather becomes cooler students often need to wear additional clothes. School Jumpers can be purchased through Duffys Mensland or Ingham Underages. Parents are asked to ensure names are clearly visible on all items of clothing, as it is easier to return an item which is clearly labelled.

1. Jackets / Jumpers
Girls - Navy Cardigan with School Logo or Unisex Navy Spray Jacket with School Logo
Boys - Unisex Navy Spray Jacket with School Logo

2. Track Suits / Track Pants
Track suits / track pants are not part of the compulsory school uniform; however, students may wear a pair of plain blue / navy track pants when they are travelling to school on the cool mornings but must be removed once at school.

NO other coloured pants or multi-coloured track pants are acceptable.

3. Beanies / Knit Hats
These are not part of the school uniform and should not be worn.

What’s Happening in the Parish

Feast of St Anthony’ Bemerside

Sunday 10 June the annual celebration for the Feast of St Anthony will be celebrated on Sunday 10 June commencing with Mass at 11:00am. Bishop Tim will be celebrating the Mass for us, for the first time. After Mass there will be plenty of stalls operating where lunch may be purchased and other items for sale. The procession and rosary will start at 2:30pm followed by the Blessing of Children and distribution of St Anthony bread at around 3:00pm. Festivities will conclude at around 6:30pm. Prior to the Sunday there will be Mass at St Anthony’s on Wednesday & Thursday nights at 7:30pm and Rosary on Friday night at 7:30pm.

Bus to St Anthony’s Feast Day Celebration

A bus to attend St Anthony’s feast day celebrations on 10/06/18 will be available for parishioners who would like to attend the festivities at St Anthony’s Church at Bemerside. The bus will arrive in time for Mass in the morning and depart sometime after the Rosary and Procession in the afternoon. Bus departure times will be advised closer to the date. As there are limited seats available, please contact the Parish office to place your name on the list.

Feast of the Sacred Heart

The Feast of the Sacred Heart is on Friday, 8 June 2018 commencing at 7:00pm. Bishop Tim Harris will celebrate Mass. Join with the Diocese in honouring and worshipping Our Lord in celebrating this beautiful feast of the ‘Sacred Heart’. This is an occasion of great joy and an opportunity to support each other in praying for our needs and those of the Diocese. There will be a supper after Mass. All are invited and encouraged to attend and be part of this important celebration for the Diocese.

Mass for Diamond Jubilee of Religious Profession of seven Sisters of Mercy:

Sisters Anita Ready, Marie Therese Langan, Mary Philomena Lowth, Regina O’Riordan, Josephine Martyn, Paul Mary Hindom and Nina Barra will celebrate their Diamond Jubilee of Religious Profession at a Mass on: Wednesday 27 June commencing at 10:00am at St Joseph’s Church Fryer Street, North Ward. You are welcome to join the Sisters of Mercy and the Jubilarians, at this Celebration Mass.

Please note that we will have a monster celebration for Sr Nina on the actual 60th anniversary of her profession on 8 December.

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School Prep 2019 Open Morning - Wednesday, 13 June

Come and explore what Lourdes Prep can offer you and your child ... the Catholic School Difference. 9:00am-10:00am: Story Time and Inside Activities 10:00am-10.30am: Supervised Outside Activities for Children/ Parent Information Session & Tour for Adults Enrolments packs are available at the school office or at the Open Morning. Everyone is welcome ... please let family and friends with Prep aged children know! Call the Lourdes School Office on 4776 2719 for more information.

Father Damian McGrath
Parish Priest
Ingham Region Catholic Parishes

District News

Ingham Arts Festival

Ingham Arts Festival now has a webpage and you can access it at the link below.

On the site you can access the whole of the preliminary program and you can download the nomination forms.

The Conditions of each of the Disciplines are also accessible, and also the changes that will be occurring for the Arts, Crafts and Photography Disciplines for 2018.

REMINDER – that nominations for 2018 Ingham Arts Festival will be taken at Conroy Hall on Friday 15 June from 8:00am-5:00pm and Saturday 16 June from 9:00am to Midday.

Many thanks,
Rita Phillips
Cane Train Safety – Wilmar

Australian Italian Festival

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