17 October 2019

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates

Important Emails

Yr 7 & 8 Co-ordinator: Mr Matthew Giliberto mgiliberto1@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au  
Yr 9 & 10 Co-ordinator: Mr Matthew Schrodter mschrodter@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au  
Yr 11 & 12 Co-ordinator: Mr Claude Cianciullo ccianciullo@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au  
Acting Assistant Principal Pastoral Care: klahtinen@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au  
Acting Assistant Principal Administration & Curriculum: jdevietti@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au  
Assistant Principal Religious Education: ctimms1@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au  
Principal: jnuttall@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au  

Gilroy on the Go

Maraka Float

The Theme for our Float this year is “60 Years of Music and Fashion”

Date of Maraka:

Saturday 26 October (meeting time 4:00pm)

Some students will be on the float, some students will be walking and handing out lollies.

Dressing up:

Grade 7-10: 60’s, 70’s, 80’s

Listed are examples

Musicians/ Bands: The Beatles, Kiss, Queen, Michael Jackson, Spice Girls
Fashion: If you are not going to be famous singers – you are wearing bright, tie dye shirts, big wigs, disco outfits, hippies (see photos for examples)
Props: If you have any guitars, microphones, boom boxes bring them along too!

Grade 11 & 12: 2000’s – now

Listed are examples

Musicians/ Bands: Eminem, 50 Cent, PINK, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga
Fashion: If you are not going to be famous singers, we want rappers, denim on denim etc
Props: If you have any guitars, microphones, boom boxes bring them along too!

If students require assistance with costumes please see Mrs Sartor in the office.

Fun Run

Last term the Annual Forrest Beach Fun Run was a huge success. There was a great turnout of students and it was a very enjoyable day.

2020 Yr 7 Parent Information Night Wednesday 23 October 6:30pm

School Social

GSM Cup 2019

From the Principal

Dear Gilroy Santa Maria College Community

Last week I attended the Yr 11 Camp at the Echo Adventure Camp near Tully. The

Camp had a leadership focus, including discussions, activities and nominating for student leadership positions in 2020. It was great to see the students enjoying each other’s company and helping around the campsite. Arriving at the camp on Thursday night and been told by our staff how wonderfully behaved the Yr 11’s had been was a nice feeling. I take this opportunity to thank the Yr 11’s for their excellent behaviour and participation. Thanks to our generous staff members who attended the camp. Special mention to Mr Claude Cianciullo, our Yr 11 Coordinator who did an outstanding job in running such a successful camp. The application and election process for our 2020 leaders will take place in the coming weeks and I hope many of Yr 11’s seriously consider taking on a student leadership role.

As we move towards the end of the school year, I take this opportunity to inform you of staffing news. Ms Debbie Greeff who has taught and served in our community for over twenty years is moving to the Sunshine Coast. Debbie has been an outstanding educator, who along with others on staff set the tone for academic excellence in our college for many years. Debbie will be our special guest at our Awards Night, where we will farewell her. Another staff member who will also be sorely missed is our Assistant Principal Pastoral, Mr Peter Groundwater. Peter has been on loan to St Teresa’s, Abergowrie this year and his stay there has been made permanent, much to my and I’m sure many people’s disappointment. Peter has been a terrific servant of our community nearly fifteen years. Also, on the move is our drama teacher Ms Linley Cerqui. Linley is moving to Townsville and in the four years she has been at Gilroy has been heavily involved in the life and spirit of the college. Linley directed our last two school musicals, both of which were great successes and evidence of her talents and generous nature.

We are currently recruiting to replace these fine people. I’m pleased to announce Mr Michael Mendiolea is joining our staff in 2020. Michael is a respected and experienced teacher who has taught at Our Lady of Lourdes for many years.

It has been a busy start to the term, one which is relatively short. Our Yr 12 students have only four weeks after this week with the rest of the school having six weeks. Two important events in the coming weeks include the Yr 6 Parent Information Night on Wednesday 23 October.

The other important event is our annual Awards Night on Wednesday 30 October. This will be the first time we have used the newly refurbished Santa Maria Centre for a major function. I ask at this time that everyone keep this date saved as emails and text messages will be sent out in the coming days to all students who will be receiving awards on the night. Award winners are currently being finalised.

A reminder that next Monday 21 October is a Pupil-Free Day.

God Bless
John Nuttall
jnuttall@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au

From the Acting Assistant Principal
(Administration & Curriculum)

Welcome to Term 4. It is hard to believe that we are already at the final term of 2019.

SET Planning

As previously stated, Yr 10 SET Planning Interviews are a mandatory requirement for all students who are moving into senior schooling. SET Planning interviews will occur with the Careers Advisor, Mrs Nancy Douglas and myself and will take place in the Front Office Meeting Room from Tuesday 15 October to Thursday 24 October. The interview system on COMPASS is now open to Parents/Carers to make bookings. At these interviews, each Yr 10 students will complete their SET Plan. They will also be provided information about subject selections for Yr 11, ensuring subjects selections are made wisely and with consideration for each student’s future career plans. Discussion about the New QCE System including QCE, ATAR and work experience will also occur during this time. If for any reason, you are unable to make an interview time, please call the college.

Yr 7 2020 Information Session

On Wednesday 23 October, the Yr 6 Information Night for 2020 Yr 7 students will be held. This session aims to ensure the transition into secondary school is a smooth and stress less process for both students and parents. Enrolment interviews have certainly highlighted that the incoming students are excited and eager for the next stage of their schooling journey. The transition days held throughout the year were designed to ensure students are relaxed about the transition and it certainly seem to have prepared these students well for some of the changes that lay ahead. If you know of any parents who were unable to attend this session, but would like some information about next year, please ask them to contact the college.

Term 4 Assessment Planners

Yr 7- 9 students were issued the Term 4 assessment planners in homerooms this week. The Term 4 Assessment Planners have also been emailed to all students and to all parents. The assessment planners outline all assessment for this term with the due dates and information about what exams your son/daughter are required to complete. A link is also available in this newsletter.

Please understand that assessment is a very important part of schooling, hence students and parents should be very aware of these dates when booking holidays.

Important Dates-Coming Up

God Bless
Joan Devietti
jdevietti@gilroysm.catholic.edu.au

From the Assistant Principal
(Religious Education)

Welcome back to Term 4. I hope your holidays were pleasant and you were all able to recuperate for what is looking like another big term.

October is the Marian month in the Church calendar and is especially reserved for praying the Rosary. The Rosary consists of several prayers with the focus on the Hail Mary which is one of the most well-known prayer in the Catholic Tradition. Mary is the patron saint of our Diocese. Many Catholics pray to Mary for help in their everyday lives.

October is also Mission Month. Pope Francis has also declared October as an Extraordinary Month of Mission. Mary, under her title of Help of Christians, is always there for those in need. As a school we are also celebrating Mission Month with our annual Socktober Fundraising Day. Students are asked to come to school in their crazy socks for a day and give a gold coin donation. This year’s appeal focuses on the work of the Church in Ghana and help missionaries like Sister Stan Therese Mumuni at the Nazareth Home for God’s Children, to provide critical care and support to children who are vulnerable in the area.

If you would also like to donate to this year’s Australian Catholic Mission Church Appeal please go to the link below and watch the video and follow the links.

The Australian Catholic Youth Festival in Perth is fast approaching. Our students will be holding an afternoon tea this Saturday at Mercy Hall from 2:00 – 4:00pm. There will be many prizes and loads to good things to eat. Tickets are on sale at student reception. Get a few family and friends together and come and enjoy an afternoon of fun and entertainment.

This week our prayer is the Rosary. Below is a how to pray this beautiful prayer.

Blessings
Christine Timms

From the Acting Assistant Principal
(Pastoral Care)

Gilroy Santa Maria College Mission

The Gilroy Santa Maria College mission statement has been reviewed this year to better reflect our core business as a College and is now as follows:

Our mission is to nurture the growth of the whole person in a safe, supportive and inclusive Catholic learning environment.

Our goal is for every student who leaves our College to have given not only their best efforts in the academic, sporting and cultural areas but to actually be better people, spiritually, emotionally and mentally which is what we mean by nurturing the growth of the whole person. We want the world to be a better place because our students are in it. As you well know, one of the main ways we do this is by fostering a Catholic learning environment with a focus on pastoral care. This is evident through the many programs, retreats, camps and extracurricular activities we have on offer. It is also achieved through small everyday actions such as the role modelling of Catholic values from our staff, beginning each day with prayer and focusing on values during year level and whole school assemblies. This term we will be specifically focusing on having “An Attitude of Gratitude”. Teenagers often get a bad rap for being ungrateful, however this term we are focussing on changing this. An attitude of gratitude means making it a habit to express thankfulness and appreciation in all parts of your life, on a regular basis, for both the big and small things. Yr 11 students began to explore these ideas of servant leadership on their leadership camp last week and will continue to do so in preparation for being our senior leaders next year. The Student Representative Council (SRC) have also been developing an attitude of gratitude and thinking about how to best serve our community.

Today I am thankful for clean drinking water, the opportunity to work with wonderful students and the beautiful weather we have been having lately. What are you thankful for?

Student Representative Council News

Our Student Representative Council (SRC) members will be running a school fundraiser on assembly this week to raise money for local charity Audrey’s Angels of Hope. Students will be auctioning themselves off to the highest bidder (with bids capped at $10), who will get the opportunity to have their selected SRC member do whatever they want (within reason) during the lunch breaks of the day. In the past students and staff alike have enjoyed the auction and taken full advantage of the opportunity to have a helper carry their books, order their lunch, help with homework and run messages for them, I myself will certainly be participating in the auction.

Blessings
Karen Lahtinen

From the Business Manager

School fees will be emailed this week, please look out for them. If you do not receive them can you please let me know ASAP. As Term 4 is a short term can you please ensure the fees are paid by the due date.

I will be sending reminder notices earlier than usual so please contact the school if there are any issue.

Thank you to all who have paid fees to date. As always, if for any reason you are finding it difficult topay 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

Sports News

Sports Awards

The Gilroy Santa Maria College Sports Awards has been set for Wednesday the 6 November in the SMC at the school. It is a wonderful opportunity for the school, staff, parents and students alike to celebrate the success of the students and thank them for their contribution and hard work throughout the year. Students who are receiving an award will be notified prior to this event. All members of their family are welcome and encouraged to attend. The event will include the presentation of awards to Record Breakers, Northern Queensland Representatives as well as major awards such as Sportsperson of the Year. More details to come.

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 – 10:55am – 11:25am
2nd Lunch – 12:55pm finish 1:25pm

Start time is preferably 8:30am - 12:00pm or 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 [0427 765 321] - Jodie Lino [0407 904 918]

What’s Happening in the Parish

Ingham Region Catholic Parishes Newsletter:

Father Damian McGrath
Parish Priest
Ingham Region Catholic Parishes

What’s On

Bluelight Dance for Daniel

Car Boot Sale

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