St Mary's College, Toowoomba eNewsletter

Principal's Note

Dear Parents and Carers,

Presentation Night 2022

This year, we are excited to announce that Presentation or Awards Night (Years 5 to 11) is returning to a live show format. It will be a celebration of our students success and achievement across the year. The event will be held in the Edmund Rice Cultural Centre, where award recipients and their parents and carers will be invited to attend. There will be live entertainment showcasing the array of very talented students and staff we are privileged to have at the College. Mark the evening of Thursday 17 November 2022 in your calendar, and more information will be released in the coming weeks.

Semester 1 Academic Reports

I would like to make a couple of comments about the recent school reports. It was pleasing again to see the large number of students who made a productive effort in their studies in Semester 1. At St Mary's College, we truly believe that academic improvement is possible for everyone. A student's sustained, patient and gritty efforts are the most common way that this improvement occurs. I have recognised outstanding achievers through a Principal's email and we will build on this through assemblies in the weeks ahead.

Through our intended College goal of improving writing, many students will achieve improvement through the standard academic expectations of a St Mary's College classroom. However, as I have mentioned above, openness to feedback is a vital skill for all aspiring improvers. I have worked with many boys over the years, and the one reflection I would have is that the boys who "get there" are almost always the students who tailor their work to the feedback for improvement that they receive from teaching staff.

Overall, I believe that Semester 1 has proven that we are a good school looking to improve on a good, solid model that is already in place. Our students and staff have made a positive academic start to the school year and we commit to persist with the strategies we have put in place. I look forward to "hearing" about many positive learning conversations in the coming weeks based on our parent-teacher interviews.

Staffing update

I would like to welcome the following new staff members to the College starting this week.

Mr Greg Convery - Maths Teacher

Greg comes to us from Good Samaritan College and we look forward to working with Greg in the Maths department and in our Co-curricular program.

Ms Tamara Cooper - Religion/Humanities teacher

Tamara is highly educated and has just finished her studies at Australian Catholic University. We look forward to working with her in Senior Religion and Junior Humanities subjects.

Mr Oliver Stewart - Maths/Science teacher

Oliver has also just graduated and has taken Dave Lewis' leave appointment. We look forward to the energy that Oliver brings to staff.

At the end of Term 2, we said many thanks and farewell to the following staff:

Ms Leah Dempster - Director of E-Learning

Leah had spent eight years at the College and she will be sorely missed. We appreciate the gifts she brought to our students, especially in the areas of E-Learning and film-making for use in the College.

Ms Loe Stanford - College Counsellor

Loe has been at the College for four years and we wish her well as she ventures into private practice.

Ms Pip Nicol - School Support (IT)

In a short space of time, Pip made herself a popular and almost indispensable member of our IT staff. Pip acted in the position for 3 months and will be sorely missed.

We also welcome back Ms Tammy Banks to the College after a period of leave in Semester 1. We welcome back Mr Stephen Connolly to our IT support staff from the start of term.

Additionally, we wish Dave Lewis all the best on Paternity Leave over the next 14 weeks.

Peace,
Mr Brendan Stewart, College Principal - principal@stmaryscollege.com

Student Engagement News

We have passed the half way point and here we are in Semester Two! The start of a new school term is often a good time to have a conversation with your son about what he hopes to achieve in the next ten weeks. And that isn't always about setting academic goals or sporting goals. It might be that your son would like to meet new people this term. It might be that your son would like to try new things this semester. It might be that your son would like to learn a new skill. The important part of this conversation, isn't actually the goal that your son wants to achieve. The important part is the thinking and intent that happens around setting a goal, and working towards it, no matter how simple. This image is one that was shown to all of the boys at assembly this week, as they were encouraged to reflect and think about making small but significant changes in their lives.

Uniform and Haircut Guidelines

Thank you very much to all of the families, students, staff and old boys who gave a small amount of their time to complete the survey at the end of last term. We now have almost 1000 responses, which is a great resource as we move forward with decisions in this area. While that process is underway, please remind your son that the uniform rules and guidelines as they are now is the expectation for their presentation here at school and when wearing school uniform in public. I would expect that boys will have returned to school in the correct uniform and with an appropriate haircut. If your son is not wearing the correct uniform, for whatever reason, please provide him with a dated note which he can show to his teachers when challenged. If your son's haircut does not meet the College guidelines, you will have received a text on Tuesday with the expectation that his hair would be fixed by Monday 18th of July. I realise that enforcing these guidelines can cause some family stress, and I very much appreciate your efforts in this area.

Vaping

Many parents would have watched the Four Corners story regarding vaping and young people which aired on the ABC over the holidays. Unfortunately, the representation that vapes are acquired through dodgy deals with strangers in cars is not accurate for our community. Our understanding is that most of the vapes we find at school are purchased through local shops and sold on to our boys, generally by pre-arrangement. Many students confidently inform us that there is no nicotine in the vapes they use. However, the advice we have from the authorities is that nearly all of the vapes currently being used by young people in Toowoomba contain highly addictive nicotine. This is an area for constant conversation and education with your son.

To further address our concerns with vaping here at school, the college has installed vape detection technology in all of the student bathrooms. I'm hopeful that this will provide further discouragement for our young men who are tempted by this behaviour.

Parent Education Night

We are frequently contacted by parents who have questions about the many different issues and concerns that come with raising a young man in today’s world. In response to this, the College will be hosting some parent information evenings over the next few months.

The first one of these will be The Middle Years – A fact Finding Mission for Parents and will be held on Monday 1^st August in the ERCC. The aim is to run a short (one hour) informative session, with a bit of socialising thrown in. We have arranged for some local experts to come and have a chat and answer questions. The topics that we will be looking at for this occasion are vaping, managing life online and looking after your young person’s mental health. Aimed at parents of Years 7, 8 and 9 but open to any parents who are interested in learning more about these topics and how they might impact on their son.

Please mark this one in your diary, booking are essential, visit the link below.

BOOK HERE: The Middle Years - Parent Evening

Mrs Samantha Parle, Assistant Principal - Student Engagement - parls@stmaryscollege.com

What's On: Term 3, Weeks 1 & 2

Mr Stephen Monk, Deputy Principal - monks@stmaryscollege.com

Sport News

Thanks to our SMC Sport Season Sponsors

The Hub

Support is available to all students who require assistance with homework, assignments or reviewing current classwork. Support is available in the Hub every morning before school from 7.00am and at both lunch breaks. Support will also be available after school on Thursday afternoons from 3.05pm until 4.00pm. If you would like further information, please get in touch.

Mr Dave Roy, Learning Support Teacher - royd@stmaryscollege.com