St Mary's College, Toowoomba eNewsletter

Principal's Note

Dear Parents and Carers,

Catholic Education Week 2022

This week marks the beginning of Catholic Education Week in Queensland, 2022. Celebrated annually in Week 3 of Term 3, Catholic Education Week is an opportunity for all 309 Catholic schools in Queensland to celebrate and promote their distinctive mission and ethos. Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.

At St Mary's College, A Catholic School in the Edmund Rice Tradition, we are proud of our heritage which links the Christian Brothers to our way of working with each other today. Our Edmund Rice Touchstones are particularly powerful and are a reminder of what we stand for in our work with each other.

In Edmund Rice Education, there are four touchstones:

Parent Engagement

We are excited to be presenting some key information to our parents and carers in the coming months. Our first parent engagement evening will be held on Monday 1 August in the Edmund Rice Cultural Centre at the College, starting at 5.30pm. Further details will be sent during the week about this opportunity. Our main intention is to increase the number of opportunities that you have to connect with the school and find more information on what your boys are experiencing every day at St Mary's College.

2023 - A New Winter Jacket

On 1 August at 7pm, I would like to invite interested parents and carers to our P and F Meeting at the College. At the meeting, I will present the new St Mary's College winter jacket and present some background and context to our work on this new part of the uniform. All are welcome. Please register your interest in attending the meeting by responding to an email which will be sent during this week.

Reflection

A Mum looks back on the joys and challenges of parenthood:

“I remember giving birth as one of the most empowering and vulnerable-making experiences of my life . . . [but] looking back now over my years of parenting, I can see that vulnerability has been the name of the game all along. My cocky sense of certainty ended seconds after my daughter was born. I couldn’t get her to breast-feed. Or sleep through the night. I didn’t know what to do when she cried. As she got older, she asked questions I couldn’t answer. She had opinions I found bewildering. She faced challenges I couldn’t fix. Every moment of pain, fear, loneliness, or defeat she and her little brother experienced resounded inside of me, a deafening gong. To give myself over to mothering was to know powerlessness like I’d never known it before. Yes, I had authority and strength. But my strength never canceled out my vulnerability.

“Is God’s experience similar? I was taught that God is unchanging, transcendent, all-knowing, all-powerful. But the truth is, it’s not possible to parent without experiencing risk, weakness, pain, and transformation. It is not possible to offer up your own body as nourishment, or to nudge your frightened child out of the nest, or to carry your reckless young on your outstretched wings, or to watch your children refuse your protection, or to offer first-rate hospitality in the full knowledge that it might be rejected — and not embrace vulnerability as a way of life. If God is indeed our parent, then God daily puts God’s heart at risk for the sake of love.”

[Debie Thomas, minister of lifelong formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, California, writing in The Christian Century, May 4, 2022.]

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

What's On: Term 3, Weeks 3 & 4

Reminder: Friday 29 July is Bishop's In Service Day. This means it is a PUPIL FREE day for students.

Student Engagement News

Stymie

St Mary’s College introduced Stymie several years ago and it continues to be a support tool for boys and their families. Stymie is a webapp, that delivers encrypted, anonymous and confidential notifications and where possible, uploaded evidence including screenshots to authorised recipients about issues of abuse, harm and unacceptable
behaviour. Stymie is an online, confidential messaging service for anyone who is needing help or concerned about someone else. Stymie provides a proactive opportunity for students to say something about harmful behaviours or anything they are concerned about for themselves, or someone else. It works, because it is accessible 24/7, anonymous, easy to use and messages are typically delivered in a few seconds to approved notification recipients.

At St Mary’s, the Stymie notifications go directly to Mr Craymer, Mrs Parle and Mr Monk. As there are quite a few schools in Toowoomba who use Stymie, we frequently share information across schools – all working together to keep our young people safe. You can have a look at the Stymie interface here - https://stymie.com.au/ And you can read more about how Stymie works here - https://about.stymie.com.au/

Vaping

The College message regarding vaping has two elements. The first is that ‘it’s bad for you’ and we would encourage any boys with a vaping or cigarette habit to seek help with quitting. The second message is that ‘it’s illegal’ for our boys to purchase or use a vape and we support the authorities in that stance. The vape detection system that was installed over the holidays is proving effective and this will continue to be a deterrent for boys who are using e-cigarettes. If you know that your son is smoking and would like some support in helping him to quit, please let us know. Some new resources aimed at community education around vaping have recently been released. The videos from Dr Karl are particularly effective – you might like to watch them with your sons.

Dr Karl's vape truths | Vape Truths Site (initiatives.qld.gov.au)

Boys and Camp

With Year 6 and Year 11 heading away to camp in the next month, the College has been engaged in a range of conversations with families. The College expectation is that all boys will attend the camp for their year level – with Years 5, 6, 7, 9 and 11 the usual years for camps. The camp program has been purposefully and thoughtfully planned to address specific developmental and social needs of the boys at different age levels. The most frequent conversation is with boys who ‘don’t want to go’. As parents, you would hear this a lot and in response to a range of requests. Perhaps one of the harshest realities of adult life is that is frequently made up of doing things that we don’t want to do – like reading the school newsletters.

While family life can be complex, I would like to stress to all of our families the value of ensuring that your sons attend the school camps when they come up. Camp covers so many aspects of development that it seems foolish to pass up this opportunity, or allow your son to pass up this opportunity, when it arises. In one short period of a few days, boys on camp can;

Push themselves physically
Grow resilience
Learn new skills
See their classmates differently
Be seen differently by their classmates
Take risks
Fail
Become totally immersed in something

Our message to boys and their families around camp is that being uncomfortable and being challenged are essential life experiences. Camp gives boys an opportunity to face these challenges in a controlled environment, with the support of their friends. My personal observation is that those boys who face their fears and attend camp, come home with an extraordinary sense of pride and accomplishment – it really is so lovely to see. We regularly make adjustments to camp programs where there are particular needs or concerns – please let us know, as we are here to help.

Student Protection Processes

As employees in a school, all of our staff at St Mary’s College are bound by the State laws regarding Student Protection. If a staff member becomes aware that one of our boys has been harmed or is at risk of being harmed, they have a legal obligation to report this. This process is undertaken via an electronic format, supervised by the Principal and then passed on to the Dept of Child Safety, the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office and the Qld Police Service, if necessary. We have four staff members at the College who have specific training in Student Protection and these are referred to as Student Protection Contacts (SPCs). This year, our SPCs are:

Mr Brendan Stewart
Mr Stephen Monk
Mrs Samantha Parle
Mr Russell Craymer
Mr David Seng

We frequently speak to the boys this week on Assembly about Student Protection, and about the importance of speaking up if they feel that something isn’t right. I am sure that you would agree that schools carry a significant responsibility in helping to keep our young people safe. It is a role that we take seriously at the College.

BOOK HERE: The Middle Years - Parent Evening

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

Years 5 to 9 Curriculum News

High Achievers Afternoon Tea

Students across Years 5 – 12 at the College who demonstrated dedication towards their studies in Term 2 were recognised at the High Achievers’ Afternoon Tea. The event celebrated students who demonstration high results and aptitude towards their learning. Specifically, to receive the High Achiever Award, students are to meet the following criteria:

A minimum of four A’s.
Learning Attributes consisting of only ‘Good’ or “Very Good”.
Minimum of 85% attendance.

Congratulations again to all boys who met the criteria for this award from Term 2 reports.

NAPLAN Item Trial

The College was selected by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to participate in the 2022 NAPLAN Item Trial which took place in Week 2 this term. The purpose of the Item Trial was to evaluate potential NAPLAN test questions for use in future NAPLAN tests. Two groups of students from Year 7 and 9 were required to complete both a Conventions of Language and a Reading test as part of the trial. It was pleasing to see the application and positive attitude of each student during the testing.

ICAS Assessments

St Mary’s College will be participating in the world-renowned ICAS Assessments this year. ICAS is developed by UNSW Global, a wholly owned subsidiary of UNSW Sydney, with over 40 years’ experience in educational assessments.  

ICAS is designed to target students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, and Writing. 

Each assessment celebrates students' accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition. Every student will receive a printed certificate and an online result report. Top performers will be eligible for medals and are invited to attend special award ceremonies to have their academic excellence publicly recognised.  

We encourage you to consider entering your child into ICAS this year. The assessments are suitable for students wishing to extend themselves academically and take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment. Your child will be presented with high-quality, expert-developed questions, allowing them to apply their learning without the need for prior study or revision.  

These competitions / assessments are not compulsory. Competitions are held at school on the following days: 

Payment details for parents:

Your school access code is DSI474.

Your parent page link is https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps 

Careers News

Careers News - T3 W3

Contact the Careers Team

Please phone the College or email us at smc-careers@stmaryscollege.com to make an appointment (by phone, in person or Microsoft Teams). We’re more than happy to assist you and your son with any queries you may have in areas such as, school-based apprenticeships, work experience, TAFE and university applications, career decision-making or industry connections.

Mr Kris Glass, Career Development Practitioner - glassk@stmaryscollege.com

Mr Paul Barber, Career Support Officer - barberp@stmaryscollege.com

Ms Bronnie Littlewood, Career Support Officer - littlewoodb@stmaryscollege.com

St Saviour's College Musical

Buy tickets here!

TCS Excellence Awards

Congratualtions to the following St Mary's College staff for their selection as finalists in the 2022 Toowoomba Catholic Schools Excellence Awards.

Mr Kevin Murphy - Excellence in Leadership, Middle leadership

Mr Tom Bower - Excellence in Education Support, Volunteer support

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