Term 3, Week 5, 010.08.2021

Principal News

Dear Parents and Carers,

As we wait for further confirmation of restrictions in South-East Queensland (SEQ), I wanted to take a moment to reiterate the measures that St Mary's College is taking to maximise the safety of the community.

As a reminder, St Mary's College receives regular updates from our head office, Toowoomba Catholic Schools (TCS), who in turn uses Queensland Government directives to form their messages to schools.  We follow these directives closely, and work with TCS closely to answer questions that we may have in delivering the expectations to the community.

Communication

Firstly, we are regularly communicating the expectations and latest COVID requirements, mainly through email broadcasts.  May I ask please that we are regularly checking the emails that come from the College so that we are receiving the latest information and expectations.  For urgent requests, we are placing these messages on our Facebook feed, in addition to the emails that are supplied by the College.

Washing of Hands & Sanitiser

We are reminding students regularly of the importance of washing hands and the use of sanitiser in the College.  We have just purchased new bottles of sanitiser for the classrooms, and teachers will be expected to remind students to use the sanitiser during lessons.

The regular washing of hands is also necessary to help stop the spread of viruses such as COVID.  Please speak about the necessity of cleaning hands thoroughly with your sons.  My understanding is that it is the combination of washing hands thoroughly in conjunction with the use of sanitiser that assists in staving off infection.

Mask Wearing

We are expecting updates about wearing masks this week through Queensland Health.  We noticed last week at St Mary's that an increasing number of boys were wearing masks, possibly for a variety of reasons.  We will follow the Queensland Health guidelines and enforce these wherever possible.  With the latest outbreak involving transmission amongst younger people in schools, it is important that we adhere to the health requirements.  I will keep you updated on these requirements.

St Mary's College Events

The "source of truth" for events at the College is our Sentral Calendar.  The calendar requires your Parent Portal login and can be found here. We will update events in this calendar as to whether they are still going ahead, modified, postponed or cancelled.  Please get used to using the calendar as we update this throughout each day.

Year 6 Camp

A big thank-you to our staff and students involved in last week's Year 6 camp in Cairns.  From all reports, the camp was a big success and a wonderful experience for our boys!  For those of you who are parents of Year 6 students, you will be aware that there was a question as to whether the camp would go ahead given the COVID outbreak in SEQ.  We decided to push ahead with the camp and under the leadership of Ms Terese Dyne, with the assistance of Rob Glasby, Shari Pauli, Matt Jahnke, Stephen Monk, Brian Steer, Dave Roy, Desi Williams and Sheryl Pilkington, the team pulled off a great camp.  I know that for a few of our boys, the reef experience will be a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Many thanks especially to Terese, who arrived at the concept of a "Queensland" trip after the Canberra trips of previous years looked to be in doubt because of COVID.  It proved to be a masterstroke.  Her leadership was key in getting the trip off the ground in addition to making it a success.

I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of Ms Leah Dempster, who organised for the Year 6 Ipads to be in place when the crew returned from their trip.

We continue to ask all students of all year levels to take devices home each night, in the present circumstances, to prepare for a lockdown at short notice.

Well done to all involved.

Student Engagement

Uniform Reminder

The academic uniform (navy pants and blue shirt) can have the College jumper or blazer (or both) added for extra warmth. If this is not sufficient, boys are allowed to add extra layers UNDER their school shirt on the condition that none of these items can be seen. Therefore, wearing a hoodie under the College jumper, but with the hood hanging out the back, is not acceptable. Some boys are continuing to push the boundaries in this area and Heads of House will be following up on this.

The spray jacket as a general rule is to be worn only with the sports uniform. The only exception to this is when it is raining. If it is actually raining, boys are permitted to wear the spray jacket with their academic uniform.  For Year 12 students, the Senior Jersey is only to be worn on Wednesdays, with the sports uniform.

Hats – the College hat is to be worn to school every day. The College cap does not provide sufficient protection from the sun and is to be worn only during sport, when the larger hats are not practical. Some boys are coming to school on Wednesdays (sports day) with just their cap, which is not in line with our expectations.

Senior Hats - The boys in Year 11 and 12 wear the more formal hat, in keeping with their growth towards adulthood. This hat requires a greater level of care and can become mis-shaped if not stored and looked after properly. Unfortunately, some boys will be needing to purchase replacement hats in the near future as their current Senior hat is not presentable in its current state. If this applies to your son, we will be in touch with you directly.

Risk Taking Behaviours

A natural part of growing up is the tendency of our young men to seek out risky behaviours and experiences. It’s a tricky space to navigate as parents – how do you give your child room to find themselves and test themselves, AND make sure they make through the teenage years relatively unscathed? There are links below – specific to vaping and drinking – that I have found helpful. I hope you do too. If you are worried about your son and would like support, advice or just someone to bounce ideas off – please make contact with us at the College.

Vaping - Unfortunately, vaping continues to be a growing trend with our young people. The best strategy parents can employ is to educate yourselves around this topic, so that you can have informed and helpful conversations with your children. I follow Linda Stade on Facebook and can recommend her articles for parents and teachers. The article that you will find HERE covers some detailed and relevant information about e-cigarettes and vaping.

Parties and Gathos – As our young men grow up, the appeal of school and parent arranged social events drops away dramatically. Many parents of boys in Year 9 and 10 are faced with the challenge of their boys seeking social connections. This article by Paul Dillon is excellent, and includes some great tips for parents.

Mrs Samantha Parle, AP Student Engagement - parles@stmaryscollege.com

College Careers

QTAC Information

QTAC Admissions are now open for Semester 1, 2022. The following fact sheets are available to assist students and parents regarding QTAC Information.  Although very detailed, they do provide important links for university applications, scholarships and entry programs.  This information also supports the information discussed at Year 12 career meetings.  Should parents or students want any further clarification, please contact Mrs Jenny Ball ballj@stmaryscollege.com, Career Practitioner.

Links:  

University of Sunshine Coast (USC) Early Offer Guarantee

USC’s Early Offer Guarantee program enables Year 12 students to receive an early and guaranteed place at USC as early as August, before ATARs are released, giving students peace of mind and plenty of time to prepare for the year ahead.

For more information and to apply, click HERE.

Australian Defence Forces (ADF) Virtual Information Sessions

Wednesday 11th August: Virtual ADFA & Gap Year Information Session

Time: 12.00pm - 2.00pm

Register: https://www.defencejobs.gov.au/events/event/LJI1LND 

Thursday 12th August: Virtual Defence Careers Information Session

Time: 5.00pm - 7.00pm

Register: https://www.defencejobs.gov.au/events/event/7A557WE

For all questions, please contact clees@dfr.com.au.

UQ Sport Elite Athlete Program

2022 UQ Sporting Scholarship applications will be open from Tuesday 3rd August to Sunday 31st October 2021.
 
The University of Queensland is an Elite Athlete friendly University that is committed to supporting student-athletes balance dual sport and study careers. For further details on the support available, visit the UQ Sport website.

UQ Indigenous Economic Scholarships

Do you know of any students who aspire to study economics, and identify as identifies as an Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander? Applications for various scholarships with UQ’s School of Economics are opening soon. Sign up here to be notified.

Origin 2022 Apprenticeship Intake

Origin and Golden West Apprenticeships have opened their 2022 apprenticeship intake process. The roles available include:

• Electrical Instrumentation and Control (Dual Trade) Apprenticeship
• Mechanical Fitting Apprenticeship
• Process plant Operations Traineeship
• Wellsite Operations Traineeship

To find out more information visit goldenwest.org.au.

Resume templates and information to assist you can be found on the Careers Canvas Page.

Full-time Flooring Apprenticeship Opportunity

For Year 12 students that are interested in undertaking a full-time Certificate III in Flooring Technology apprenticeship at the conclusion of your studies, then Entire Floors are looking for an apprentice to commence as soon as you finish! You may even be able to do some Saturday work before then.

Entire Floors install carpet, vinyl flooring and many other types of flooring. You can see the type of work they do on Instagram - Entire Floors.

If you are interested in this opportunity, then please contact Gene Griggs on 0459 110 985 or email gene@entirefloors.com.au to organise a trial day.

School Based Apprenticeships/Traineeships  

If you are interested in an SBA, please contact the Career Support Officer, Mr Barber at barberp@stmaryscollege.com  or visit the Careers Centre in DUHIG 21. 

You will need to complete an SBA Referral Form and have a current resume and cover letter. 

Gentlemen, you have access to resume templates and information to assist you on the Careers Canvas Page.

Sport News

With all the uncertainty due to COVID-19 many sporting events going forward have been cancelled or postponed until further notice. We are doing our best to let all families know as soon as we know, via SMS or email. They will also be updated on the Sentral Calendar. Please keep an eye out.

Library

CBCA Book Week dress up and activities unfortunaltley had to be postponed this week.

We will decide on the new date in an upcoming newsletter and it will be exciting to see what our Year 5 and 6 boys dress up as for the theme: Old Worlds, New Worlds & Other.

NDIS Information for school leavers

Parent Engagement Day

You're Invited to the P&F Race Day

Tickets are limited! Visit https://www.trybooking.com/BSIWI to secure your spot.

If you are interested in supporting this event, please email tracydann3007@icloud.com to obtain a sponsorship package. We will also be accepting donations for raffle prizes and auction items.

All funds raised will go towards supporting St Mary's College boys!