The Connection Newsletter | June 2012 | Number 48

Students see the world Connected learning

It’s not too late to

RSVP for Reunion Weekend!

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE CATHEDRAL SCHOOL OF ST ANNE AND ST JAMES

THE CONNECTION

1

H JUNE 2012 H NUMBER 48

Principal’s Report

As always at this time of the year, the school community is looking forward to its Birthday celebrations, which will take place on 20 July; the school’s Foundation Day. This year we will again see the cutting of Townsville’s biggest Birthday Cake, the always exciting Lagoon Dash and the dedication of our new Past Students’ Association Lawn by the Bishop of North Queensland. The Reunion Weekend which follows Foundation Day will see the return of our 2007 Graduates on the Friday night, and the Reunion Dinner on Saturday 21 July. This year, the Past Students’ Association has also planned a trip to Ravenswood on the Sunday to mark the 70th Anniversary of St Anne’s evacuation from Townsville in 1942. It will indeed be a time for celebrating the current successes of our 95 year old School as well as enjoying the stories and reminiscences of the past. We are certainly hoping that many of our past students are able to attend.

Foundation Day will also be memorable for another very important reason. The school has invited Mrs Judy Newman to the Foundation Day assembly to give the school the opportunity to farewell one of our longest serving staff members. Mrs Newman will be leaving the school after 33.5 years of dedicated service. Judy is well known to a huge number of Cathedral’s Past Students, some of whom knew her as Miss Brum in her first year of teaching in 1979.

Judy has ensured that the ethos of the founding Sisters of the Sacred Advent, compassion and caring for the individual, has continued over the past 33 years and Foundation Day will be a very fitting occasion to thank her for her long and dedicated service to the school.

contents PRINCIPAL’S REPORT ANZAC DAY CONNECTED LEARNING HELPING OUT OUR COMMUNITY MEMORIES OF ST ANNE’S SCHOOL RAVENSWOOD MEMORIES OF ST ANNE’S SCHOOL RAVENSWOOD STUDENTS SEE THE WORLD STUDENTS SEE THE WORLD FAREWELL JUDY NEWMAN PRESIDENT’S REPORT RSVP FOR REUNION WEEKEND 2

THE CONNECTION

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

On another note, much has been said about the outstanding achievements of our 2011 school leavers, with the vast majority of these students attaining success in their chosen pathway.The Courier Mail has just published the collated results of Year 12s across the State and our students can be very proud of how they measure up compared to other schools in our region. In terms of OPs,The Cathedral School had the highest percentage of OP 1 – 15s of any school in North Queensland. These results have then helped translate into 100 % of our OP and Tertiary Rank students gaining an offer to a University Course for 2012. A fantastic effort and we congratulate you all. We are predicting that our current Year 12s will equal or do slightly better than last year’s cohort, and we wish them well for their final semester at school.

Mr Ian Gamack Principal

Pictured on the front cover: Senior Geography students in front of the Statue of Liberty on their tour of America.

The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James PO Box 944, Aitkenvale QLD 4814 154 Ross River Road, Mundingburra Telephone: (07) 4722 2000 Facsimilie: (07) 4722 2111 Email: tcs@cathedral.qld.edu.au Web: www.cathedral.qld.edu.au

ANZAC Day

National Simultaneous Storytime At 11am on Wednesday 23 May students from the Junior School joined more than 170,000 children from Broome to Hobart in reading the picture book The Very Cranky Bear.

National Simultaneous Storytime is a celebration and acknowledgement of the vital work being done in libraries, schools and communities around Australia to develop young people’s literacy and numeracy skills.

The event was organised by the Australian Library and Information Association, to promote the value of reading and literacy, the importance of Australia’s book industry and the role of libraries.

The Very Cranky Bear is written by Nick Bland and published by Scholastic Australia.

Every year The Cathedral School has endeavoured to honour the bravery and sacrifice of the original ANZACs and all of those who have fought in wars since the Gallipoli landing and this year was no different by staff and students involving themselves in three ANZAC Day remembrance services.

At the school service, we welcomed Brigadier Shane Caughey as our guest speaker. The Brigadier engaged all students with his message of what defines the Australian spirit and what young people of today can do to honour those who have fought for our country’s freedom. He impressed on our students that they owe it to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice on the battle field to try their very best to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them. The Brigadier also made note of the fact that the tragedies of war have become very personal for The Cathedral School, with the recent death in Afghanistan of one of our former students, Private Benjamin Chuck in 2010.

On ANZAC Day itself, a group of 40 Boarders and Boarding Staff represented the school at the Dawn Service on The Strand. This is the first time that this has happened for some time, and it was great to see so many of our students volunteer for such an early rise.

Later in the morning, over 400 of our students turned up to March in the ANZAC Day parade on The Strand, with thousands of other students from schools all over Townsville. For the first time, The Cathedral School was led by a Drum Corps, a group of a dozen students under the direction of Mrs Heather Orr who had taught them to march and play at the same time. They did magnificently well, and many of our students commented on how much they enjoyed marching this year. The Drum Corps has added another layer of emotion to our involvement in the march and I have no doubt that our students were very focussed on the importance of their participation in the march. At the conclusion of the march, our School Captains laid a wreath at the foot of the Cenotaph.

Junior School Librarian, Mrs Marcia Fisher said “It is a great opportunity to participate in events such as this because we then become a part of a national network that works together to promote literacy in children.”

“It is really important that children enjoy reading and see it as fun so having activities like this makes reading that little bit more exciting for them” added Mrs Fisher.

THE CONNECTION

3

Helping out our community

Connected learning

One of the great things about Cathedral is our sense of community and our willingness to help out the wider community when in need.

Earlier this term the Parents & Friends Association kindly donated the profits, $600, from the Hot Cross Bun drive to Vincent State School. This money will assist with their recovery after the freak tornado storm that left their school in devastation in March.

Vincent State School Principal Mrs Christine Schmid was very grateful for the donation and mentioned that it had brought tears to her eyes to know that another school would think of them during this difficult time.

P&F Association President Angie D’Arcy said the funds from the school’s Hot Cross Bun drive would be put to best use.

“We realised it could very easily have been our school, had it been two streets over it would have hit our grounds.”

“We truly believe in looking after own community” she said.

On 19 April over 100 visitors descended on our school for the Telstra Connected Seniors Workshops run by the very well know Peter Blasina, The Gadget Guy from Sunrise. Our Year 9 leaders and ICT students were buddied up with our guests and worked on iPads with them to complete tasks such as internet banking, downloading apps and even the odd game of Angry Birds. The interaction between our students and the seniors was pleasing to watch and we received some very positive comments about our students and school. More importantly it looked like everyone had a great day.

Cathedral’s Concert Band greets the Tour de Cure riders

4

THE CONNECTION

On Friday 11 May, Cathedral’s Concert Band was invited to play at Flinder’s Square to welcome the Tour de Cure riders.

The group of 62 riders were en route from Brisbane to Mission Beach aiming to raise $2 million for cancer research. The Townsville stop was their ninth stop in the gruelling 11 day, 1,656km tour.

They were greeted into Townsville by the big sounds of our Concert Band. Everyone had a great afternoon, especially meeting Sunrise personality, Mark Beretta.

It’s great being

On Friday 1 June, the children of Cathedral’s Pre-Prep Centre and Junior School celebrated the joys of childhood as a part of the celebrations for Under Eights’ Week.

The 2012 theme of “Language – Actively connecting children to their world” provided an opportunity for children to learn through experiences that acknowledge our different languages and cultures.

A range of activities was planned for the children from Pre-Prep to Year 2 and their parents to get involved with, such as face painting, reading stories, bubble blowing and playing with play dough. The children were also able to explore a Police Car, Fire Truck and Ambulance as well as meet some of Billabong Sanctuary’s Australian animals.

In addition, this year the school has also organised a defence vehicle, commando obstacle course and a jumping castle for the students to explore.

Junior School Teacher and Event Organiser, Mrs Sheree Will said “Celebrating Under Eights’ Week is extremely important as it supports The Cathedral School’s philosophy that young children learn through play as well as through academic rigour. We believe it is important for children of this age to have fun at school, and days such as this allow them to throw away the textbooks and learn through hands on activities.”

“This event is a highlight on our school calendar and brings our community together to help celebrate being young. Parents and friends are invited to participate in all of the activities on offer,” added Mrs Will.

under eight!

THE CONNECTION

5

Students see the world

New York is a stunning city. Culture and colour explode from every surface. Tasting life in the famous metropolis is a stark contrast to the affable Australian home of Townsville.

The capital of New York State in America, known for its buzzing atmosphere and drastically hip lifestyle, was the primary focus for this year’s Cathedral School Senior School Geography Tour. The objectives were to understand how mega-cities function, and experience life as a citizen in a bustling metropolis. Students explored various concepts such as gentrification, sustainability and resource capacities, independent navigation and the commonly adopted but unfamiliar grid system. The tour, conducted over the Easter holidays, was certainly a memorable experience for all involved.

Getting lost, jetlag, frosty temperatures, figuring out the more bemusing aspects of American money, and getting lost some more were all challenges students encountered; however, we wouldn’t have given up this experience for the world. The blisters and early mornings were all but obliterated by highlights such as witnessing the compassion of the 9/11 Memorial, or the majesty of the Statue of Liberty, or even the clanging American accents as they advertised the ever popular “comedy clubs” in Times Square.

Also explored during the time overseas was Washington DC, Los Angeles and even a brief moment in Philadelphia. In Washington, students visited the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, glimpsed the White House and commemorated the unknown soldiers at the changing of the guard in the Arlington National Cemetery. In Philadelphia, we toured the Independence Hall and learned about the history of the American Constitution. The final destination was a day to relax in the sunlit, starlit streets of LA. The tour was overseen by Mrs Townson, Mr Galletly and Mr Carman, whose never-ending tolerance was much appreciated. Thank you also to those working behind the scenes, such as Ms Rebecca Carman and the various unseen hands that helped to compile a truly wonderful 2012 Senior School Geography Tour.

Georgie Juszczyk,Year 10 Young Reporters’ Club

Year 11 Work Experience

Winners are grinners Congratulations to the 80 Year 8 - 12 rowers who participated in their first regatta of the season on Sunday 13 May. Cathedral won 19 of the 20 finals on the day, including the two Open Eight events.

For all the new Year 8 students to the program, the regatta was a chance to get rid of their race jitters and stretch themselves.

It was all smiles with many Year 8s making the finals, but more importantly all had fun, enjoyed the rewards from focused training and started to feel part of the Cathedral Rowing Community.

Good luck to all the rowers for the rest of the season.

8

THE CONNECTION

Interhouse Cross Country results An annual tradition is the Interhouse Cross Country events and like every other event everyone participates to the best of their ability and house spirit can be seen and heard miles away! This year’s results are as follows: Junior School 1. Chatham 2. Langton 3. Bede 4. More Middle School 1. Langton 2. More

3. Bede 4. Chatham Senior School 1. Langton 2. Bede 3. More 4. Chatham

week

Each year, the Year 11 cohort spends a week sampling their first preference of career choice through a week of Work Experience. The benefit of this week for the students is immeasurable.

As always, the variety of placements is quite amazing with the most popular choices being engineering, medical/science, physiotherapy and aviation. Cathedral also has many students who aspire to work using their humanities-based skills.

This week of work experience not only makes school relevant within the real world of work , it spurs the students to work even harder on their return to the term and energised to work towards their career goals.

Finley Wilkinson at Hinds Lawyers standing with Isabelle Fahey, who was working with Magistrate Ross Mack at the Townsville Law Courts.

Naomi Li learnt the creative art of spray painting with Paul Yipo at Yipos Airbrush.

Summer Coffison spent the week with the Conservation Volunteers

Dorothy Lau with the crew at NPS Corporate learning about graphic design

Madlyn Conrad at Trendz Hair Salon

Lachlan Atkinson with Di Graham at Annandale Pharmacy

Anna Christensen worked with the Townsville City Council HR Department learning about business administration.

Alyx Fox spent the week at the Townsville General Hospital working under the care of Dr Koh and Dr Ireland

THE CONNECTION

9

Matt visits his old stomping grounds

Farewell

Judy Newman Mrs Judy Newman has decided to resign from her position at the school, effective at the end of this term.

Judy has served The Cathedral School for over 33 years and we are certainly witnessing the end of an era with her departure. Judy has told the school that she has made her decision to resign following time spent with her family and time travelling during her long service leave in first term. She feels she is in a good place to progress to the next phase of her life and that she is very much looking forward to the future.

Judy was interviewed for her first teaching job by the last of The Sisters of the Sacred Advent, Sister Chaseley, in October 1978. She was employed to start teaching at St Anne’s School on 1 January 1979 as Miss Brumm.

The school changed its name to The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James the following year, and welcomed a steadily increasing number of boys over the ensuing years. Judy will finish her time at the school as the Deputy Principal - Academic Dean, a position she has held since 1994. Throughout the intervening years, Judy has worked in a variety of roles and positions, each allowing her to use her considerable skills and professionalism to improve the school to which she has devoted her working life. On the pastoral front many will be aware of Judy’s passion for Chatham House and her tendency to dress accordingly on carnival days. She was an Assistant Housemaster or Housemaster for the Chathamites from 1985 through to 1989 before handing over the gold lamé and cheetah print accessories to Mrs Hassall.

Mrs Newman has always had the very best of relationships with students and has related to them easily and warmly throughout her career. She is one of the first exteachers that Past Students ask about when they arrive here for Foundation Week celebrations and she still keeps in touch with many of them on Facebook. Their recollections of her biased attitude towards Chatham House, their shared Outdoor Education experiences and their memories of the Presentation Ball always make for interesting interactions when they meet Judy for the first time in 10, 20 or 30 years.

Judy’s first steps into leadership in the Academic arena came with her appointment to the position of Head of Social Science in 1986, which evolved into the Head of SOSE, a position she held for many years. Judy has 10

THE CONNECTION

taught Geography throughout her career, and has sat on district panels since 1984 and more recently was invited to join the Geography State Panel, a rare privilege in the teaching profession.

Senior Leadership positions in the school began in 1990 when Judy was appointed Director of Studies and one of three Deputy Principals by then Principal Fred Danielson.

This position evolved into the position of Senior School (Years 8 - 12) Academic Dean in 1994. Throughout this time Judy has witnessed and played a major part in many developments in the academic landscape, including the advent of new subjects, the introduction of computers into schools, the evolution of the School’s VET programs, the arrival of NAPLAN and the planning for and roll out of the Middle School in 2006. Judy has also filled the role of Acting Principal a number of times, and has done so admirably on each occasion.

We will definitely miss Judy’s encyclopaedic knowledge of the school, its people and its history; her stories of the school over the past three decades are hugely entertaining, and I’m sure she will keep telling these stories in the years to come. Judy also has a deep understanding of the school’s ethos and its unique culture and has given me, and no doubt many of you, great insight into what this school is about and what makes it different to other schools. Judy will continue in her role as one of the school’s best ambassadors and will still be seen in and around the school and at school functions in the years to come, particularly while Conor is completing his schooling.

Judy has ensured that the ethos of the founding Sisters of the Sacred Advent, compassion and caring for the individual, has continued over the past 33 years and on behalf of The Cathedral School Community I wish Judy, her husband Lawrie and their two sons Patrick and Conor, the very best as they enter a new phase of their lives, and we thank Judy for her long and dedicated contribution to The Cathedral School.

If members of the school community would like to contact Judy, they can do so through the school’s Facebook site or by emailing Judy at: judynewman23@gmail.com.

Mr Ian Gamack Principal

Earlier this term the Year 11 Drama class were fortunate enough to have past Cathedral student, Matt MacDonald as a guest speaker.

Although Matt was accepted into Vet Science when he finished school, he decided to defer his studies and has since moved to Sydney where Matt has immersed himself in Performing Arts. He has studied at the Australian Film and Television Academy (TAFTA), and has also completed short courses at NIDA. As well as this, Matt is studying contemporary and theatrical singing and is developing his skills in music theory and song-writing. However, Matt’s particular interest has been in Film. In a short time, Matt has amassed a great deal of knowledge about the industry and was able to give the students helpful hints on screentesting, auditions and character development.

The highlight of the visit was when Matt spoke about his recent experiences on a film set. He had just completed his first starring role in a feature film, and the movie, ‘Café Two 16’, has already premiered in Sydney. Excitingly, it has also been accepted into a number of film festivals across the USA! Congratulations, Matt, we’re very proud of your achievements.

A talented and dedicated performer, Matt’s enthusiasm about acting was contagious. It was a fantastic opportunity for the class to learn first-hand about work prospects in the Film industry in Australia. Afterwards, Matt stayed behind to speak to students who were particularly interested in following a career path in the Arts. He was very generous with his time, and I know that he really enjoyed returning to school, talking to the class and sharing his knowledge with them.

We wish Matt all the best with his career.

Ms Jillian Turner Drama Teacher

Madeleine drops in for a visit

Past students are always welcome at The Cathedral School and earlier this term Madeleine McGann returned to deliver a presentation on global overfishing for senior Geography classes as part of her university studies on the Law of the Sea. Madeleine completed Year 12 at Cathedral in 2007 and is currently in her final year of combined degrees in Law and Environmental Science at Griffith University, Brisbane.

While in Year 11, Madeleine participated with a group of local geography students at the Youth Ecotourism Forum in conjunction with the 2006 International Ecotourism Conference hosted in Townsville. Following the student workshops, Madeleine was selected to deliver an Ecotourism Youth Charter at the conclusion of the main conference. Madeleine’s presentation outlined the students’ views about the sustainability of ecotourism and was so well received by the international delegates that she was invited to represent the youth of Australia at the 2007 conference in Norway. Madeleine and Mrs Judy Newman travelled to Oslo for the presentation and a special video link was established one evening at Reef HQ for Cathedral students to speak to Madeleine about her experiences in Norway.

It’s great to follow the achievements of our students beyond Year 12 and it’s also extremely valuable for our current students to explore their future options by talking to past students such as Madeleine McGann.

Mr Bruce Galletly Head of Humanities

Past Students’ Association President’s Report What a great time of year it is!

The weather is cooler and The Cathedral School is set to come alive with past students at our annual reunion weekend in July.

I am very excited to be organising this year’s reunion with my committee. It’s a very special time for Past Students of The Cathedral School and St Anne’s. Reunion weekend is where new friendship are formed and old friendships are reunited and I am sure a few laughs will be shared among the groups during that weekend. I am very privileged to be attending my own year group reunion, it being five years since I have walked out the gates of The Cathedral School. I will remember that day for ever and what the school has done for me. I never thought I would come back to be an employee and live here.

We have so many events planned for the reunion weekend which is being held 20 - 22 July.

• Friday is the school’s Foundation Day service and the PSA Lawn will be officially named. There is also the running of the annual Lagoon Dash. The Friday night will be the Class of 2007 reunion drinks.

• Saturday afternoon we have the School Tour and Past Students’ Association AGM and in the evening the Reunion Dinner will be held in the school’s dining hall.

• Sunday is St Anne’s Day at St James’ Cathedral and our Ravenswood tour will take us back to the war-time location of our school.

I would like to acknowledge a lady who I have shared a lot of emails with lately and that is Ruth Duncan (Stayte). Ruth was a student of St Anne’s when the school was in Ravenswood. Ruth has put together her memoirs and we have included some in this edition of the Connection magazine. I thank her very much for her work and also Dorothy Murray (Smith), Del Ward (Homer) and Diana Prideaux (Lazenby) who have also given us much information. If you would like to hear more about Ravenswood, join us on the historical tour on Sunday 22 July. It will include a scenic drive to Ravenswood, a look at Mingela, town tour of Ravenswood, morning tea and lunch at the Railway Hotel. I hear they will have goat stew on the menu for us, which was a common meal item while the school was in Ravenswood! We are also going to unveil signs recognizing the school’s connection to Ravenswood and I would like to thank Mrs Toni Lanphier for all her hard work on making this happen.

This month I headed out to Hughenden for the annual Show with Mrs Toni Lanphier (Registrar) and ten boarding students. It was my first time on the road promoting The Cathedral School and it was a great experience being able to talk to current and future families about this wonderful school. I also got to meet and talk to many past students who now live out in Hughenden. It was great hearing their stores and being able to talk to them on a personal level. It’s a great community in Hughenden and many of our boarders are from there.

We are always looking for new members to be a part of the PSA Committee, and the AGM is the perfect time to get involved. We have a great core of members but new and fresh ideas are always welcome. If you would like to be a part of the committee get in contact with us and get elected at the AGM on Saturday afternoon.

I look forward to meeting many of your during the reunion weekend and welcoming you back the school. If you have any questions or would like to get in contact with me, please don’t hesitate to email tomporter@iinet.net.au.

Tom Porter (Class of 2007) President - Past Students’ Association THE CONNECTION

11

staff profile Kimberley Cawood Pre-Prep Teacher Kimberley knows The Cathedral School very well. Not only has she been a staff member of the school for six years but she also attended the school as a student herself! Kimberley commenced her employment after graduating from the school in 2006 as a casual child care assistant while studying at University.

Now, Kimberley is in her second year of teaching at the Pre-Prep Centre and is kept very busy in her spare time planning her wedding.

What was your favourite subject at school?

Maths

What is a typical day like in a Pre-Prep Classroom?

While there is a routine, every day is truly unique! The children’s interests are continuously changing which makes each day busy, engaging and different.

How has the school changed since you were a student? (What year did you graduate?)

There has been plenty of construction since I graduated in 2006. We now have an Early Learning Centre, a Pre-Prep Centre and both the Senior and Junior Schools have completely transformed.

What do you like the most about your job?

I love how quickly the children learn and develop – it is very rewarding!

If you weren’t a Pre-Prep teacher, what do you think you would be doing?

I would be travelling the world!

Being also a Past Student of the school, what is your favourite thing about Cathedral?

The friendly, family oriented atmosphere.

Describe yourself in three words?

Happy, energetic and passionate.

REUNION WEEKEND The annual reunion activities will be on the weekend following Foundation Day. As has become the custom, the focus will be on the 10-year groups, but all past students are welcome to attend, and to gather as many friends as they can to make it a great event.

!

The Cathedral

Kitchen Cookbook

– Celebrating 95 years

To celebrate The Cathedral School’s 95th anniversary, the Parents & Friends Association is putting together The Cathedral Kitchen Cookbook – Celebrating 95 years. This Cookbook will be a compilation of recipes from Cathedral families - past and present.

Mixed with inspiring photography of our beautiful school and the yummy recipes contained within.

To submit a recipe please visit the website www.cathedral.qld.edu.au/our-community/parents-and-friends

to submit your favourite family recipe!

Program of events:

Friday 20 July 5.30pm - 7pm Drinks in the Birdcage for the

Class of 2007 Saturday 21 July 1.30pm - 4pm School Tour & Afternoon Tea

AGM of Past Students’ Association

6.30pm - late Annual Reunion Dinner –

School Dining Room Sunday 22 July 9.00am Church service at

St James’ Cathedral

9am - 4pm Ravenswood Tour

RSVP for REUNION WEEKEND Please remove and return by 8 July The Cathedral School, PO Box 944 Aitkenvale Q 4814

Name ____________________________________________Previous surname__________________________________ Address___________________________________________________________________________________________ Email_____________________________________________Phone___________________________________________ Years at the school__________________ to_______________, attending in Grades________________ to______________ I/We will be attending: H Class of 2007 Drinks by the Lagoon

Number attending:____________________________

H School Tour & Afternoon Tea

Number attending:____________________________

H Reunion Dinner ($40/person)

Number attending:____________________________

H Service at St James’ Cathedral

Number attending:____________________________

H Bus drop-off to motels & city (Saturday night only $10/person) Number travelling:____________________________ H Ravenswood Tour ($40/person for bus trip and lunch)

Number attending:____________________________

I enclose payment of $_________ by cheque or credit card Card type__________________________________________Name on card ____________________________________ Card number____________________________________________________________Expiry date__________________