Middle/Senior School Bulletin Issue 8 / 3 June 2016 Middle & Senior School News Preparing for Exams Last Wednesday the Year 11 students and their teachers stayed behind after school to study together in the CRC. The Year 12 students had their session the previous Wednesday. There is no doubting the benefits pre-exam sessions have for our students. We know that peer tutoring and having their teachers on hand, assists them to develop their understanding and to review key concepts in depth. As we have had to relocate many of our lockers to open spaces, it is essential that students have locks on their lockers. I spoke to all students last week about the need for this to be a priority and would greatly appreciate it if parents could please assist by ensuring that their child(ren) has/have a lock on their locker by the end of next week.
A reminder that Years 11 & 12 students are on Exam block from Wednesday 8 June until Friday 17 June. During exams, students do not need to be at school outside their exam times. But, they must sign out if they are leaving after a scheduled exam. Those students who want to study in the CRC during exam block are welcome to do so. All Years 11 & 12 students have an exam on the morning of Friday 17 June and are required to attend school for the rest of the day. Building Update The final touches are being completed in the amphitheatre adjacent to E block this week and it is anticipated that this wonderful outdoor learning space will reopen for students use next week. The temporary classrooms arrived on Thursday and the J Block works continue to progress on schedule with plans for the roof to be removed and replaced over the midyear break. Thank you to all families who made use of the shuttle bus service on Thursday when the buildings arrived on site.
Passing of a Student Last weekend one of our students, Jessica Vowles (Year 10) was tragically killed in a road accident. The loss of a precious member of our community is simply devastating, and Jessica’s passing will leave a hole in our community. While classes proceeded on Monday many Year 10 students took the opportunity to grieve and to process other strong emotions together in and around the Worship Centre under the guidance of our counsellors, chaplains and teaching staff. Even for those who may not have known Jessica well, the sudden loss has been deeply upsetting. The College has been in contact with Jessica’s family and offered our deepest condolences and support at this very sad time. Through prayer, care and togetherness we will look to support Jessica’s family, our students and one another through this difficult time. A service will be held in the Worship Centre at the College on Saturday at 11.00am.
East Timor Service Learning Tour – Amazing Race A group of our senior students, accompanied by Mr Schache and Ms Faulkner will travel to East Timor during the term break on a special Service Learning Tour. To date the College community has raised over $10,000 for East Timorese communities still impacted by the independence movement of last century. Funds raised will be put towards building houses in Bahareduk. At this stage we might be able to build three houses which exceeds our first goal of two houses. Simply wonderful. On Thursday afternoon Middle and Senior School students had the opportunity to donate $5 to compete in the ‘Amazing Race’; a scavenger hunt based on some very interesting fun facts about secondary school teachers. There were prizes for the winners of the race and a fun time was had by all.
Chaplains Chat
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18 (NIV) At St Andrews we focus on love and in particular, God’s love for us, as seen through His sacrifice on the cross. The act Christ completed, is the ultimate statement of love shown towards all humanity. It demonstrates once and for all that God is for each of us. He is totally committed to our eternal well-being and is prepared to give up everything to show us that love triumphs over violence and evil. Christ’s actions put all of us before himself - He did not consider his own needs but instead looked at what we need - forgiveness and love and He made this real through the sacrifice of His own life. Reporting and End of Term This is a particularly busy time of the semester for students and teachers as assessments are finalised and preparations for reporting underway. As we enter the busy assessment period and our Year 10 students prepare for their work experience in Week 10, I remind parents that teachers are always happy to hear from you. If you have any questions, concerns or sentiments of gratitude to share, I encourage you to send an email or to contact the College. We are all here to help. Middle and Senior School reports will be accessible via Parent Lounge from Friday 24 June. Parent Teacher interviews are scheduled for Tuesday 19 July (Week 2, Term 3) and booking information will be sent out digitally along with your child’s report. As this is the final bulletin for Semester One, I’d like to thank parents for their ongoing support during what has been a challenging term for our community. Your support has been a true blessing and a reflection of this wonderful community. Wishing you a happy and safe mid-year break. God bless you. Virginia Warner Deputy Principal Head of Secondary School
It is this love that has motivated countless people down through the ages to offer up who they are and what they have to serve others. This response to who God is and what He has done on our behalf is a key part of the Christian journey. Our faith and trust in what Christ has done moves us to live in love. God’s perfect love for us drives out fear and leads us to sacrificial living - putting others before ourselves. This is a very difficult thing to do if we are unsure about the future but trusting that God has us in His care frees us to be more outward looking and aware of the needs of others. Last week the Junior School participated in a walkathon or more accurately ‘runathon’ in many instances, in aid of building houses in the small village of Bahareduk in East Timor. The response from our College has been most beautiful. Members of our community have been incredibly generous in sharing of their own possessions with others in one of our neighbouring countries. It is a great example of people acting in love and it is this love that transforms our world - drives out fear and leads us forward in a manner that is in keeping with all that God longs for each of us to experience. God is the source of all love and goodness and we are privileged at St Andrews to receive this love and extend it to others. Let’s keep encouraging each other to share our lives with God and each other and allow Him to continue to drive out fear with His perfect love. Graeme Schache Chaplain
Middle School News Semester Two Electives Over the past couple of weeks students have been finalising their electives for Semester Two. There are twenty-nine subjects offered each semester within the Middle School Elective Program across three year levels. In 2014 the College moved to an online selection process for the method of allocating electives to students. This has resulted in a significantly higher number of students gaining access to one of their higher preferences; however, it does not guarantee that students will receive their first preferences. As a result, there has been an increasing number of students submitting elective change forms hoping to participate in an elective which is already full – unfortunately these changes are often not possible to process.
However, the plethora of research and growing evidence on the benefits of being mindful and having a growth mindset assures me that we are on the right track with helping our young people to develop their understandings and skills in these areas. For example, we can all get caught up in thinking traps that impact on how we act and keep us stuck in a stressful, negative or anxious state. However, we can free ourselves from these thinking traps (eg blaming, exaggerating, catastrophizing) through the Freedom Practice. This involves 4 steps – Name, Feel, Release, Redirect and at the upcoming assemblies we will be practicing this technique. For further information go to mindful.org
Whilst the elective program is designed to allow students to follow areas of personal interest it is also tasked with the objective of providing students with experiences across a range of subject disciplines. Accordingly, students should be selecting and participating in subjects from all fields of learning. Part of my role is to monitor that this diversity is present in a student’s timetable. The elective program is certainly a rich source of learning for our students and I thoroughly enjoy watching them participate in a wide variety of activities. The recent ‘My Business Rules’ morning tea on the Village Green highlighted the enthusiasm that can be generated from these subjects. As always, please contact me should you wish to discuss anything further. Tom Casey Head of Middle School
Senior School News Positive Education Flourishing in the Senior School As May drew to a close, we finished the week off with some reflections in Learning Advisor Group around how Term 2 goals are going, what still needs to be done to finish strongly and achieve personal bests and how our Mindset and being Mindful can help us achieve this and keep the wheels on when the busyness of the end of term and assessments is upon us. There is no doubt that no amount of being mindful or focus on a growth mindset will help if we have not managed our time well and left it all to the last minute. Which is why teachers also spent some time helping our students plan out the next couple of weeks in terms of what is due. Mrs Lotz also provided a short tutorial at both senior study afternoons on how to study.
Congratulations to: • Our staff – it has been a challenging couple of weeks but each and every person continues to go above and beyond to ensure we are focused on the academic imperative and our students are known, challenged and cared for. This was highlighted at the two recent Years 12 and 11 study afternoons where staff worked alongside students in Maths, Art, Business, Humanities, Sciences and English to polish work and answer questions. Upcoming Events • Leadership skills development - Years 10, 11 or 12 - there is a fantastic opportunity to attend a National Leadership Camp near Sydney over the holidays. From July 3-6 Grip Leadership will be running a life changing program for young people at a cost of $490 at Stanwell Tops (50km south of Sydney). For further information or to register go to: www.gripleadership.com.au If you have any queries or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me on tanias@salc.qld.edu.au Tania Stewart Head of Senior School
Visual Art News SCOPE Photography Awards Last Friday afternoon The Hub was awash with images of our gardens. There were over 250 entries across the College from our littlest students in the ELC to our very talented staff. The many and varied interpretations of how we see our gardens - whether it is the wildness of the valley, the well-kept suburban lawn to the wider Gold Coast beauty of our beaches were represented. All the entrants had a great time getting out there and capturing their image. There was a lovely turnout for the announcement of the awards and our guest judge, Rob Nicholls had some welcome words of wisdom for our photographers.
A huge thank you to Rob for giving up his time and sharing his expertise with us. The entries will be digitally exhibited in both the Junior School Library and the CRC for the next two weeks. Check it out and be amazed by our very talented photographers. Thank you to Hannah Barclay for all her behind the scenes work and organisation and to Oliver Waddingham, Sophie Breach and Jonathon Aiello (Cultural Captains) for advertising, presentation and providing the music for the digital exhibition. And thanks to Trina from the Tuckshop for providing some of the prizes and catering for us. And the winners are... ELC 1st - Grace Glover Years P-3 1st and 2nd - Cody Robertson 2nd - Micah Glover Highly Commended - Mia Leyland Years 4-6 1st - Eadie Finn 2nd - Chloe Wallace Highly Commended - Ashley Kuzmanov, Eadie Finn, Eliza Thorpe, Marley Mavroidaki, Talia Nicholas, Tanah McLeod Years 7-9 1st - Heath Wilson 2nd - Jack Decent Highly Commended - Jack Decent, Lachlan Breach Years 10-12 1st - Liliana Mikami 2nd - Jarrod Yates Highly Commended - Nicole Richards, Liliana Mikami
Open 1st - Peter Hennessy 2nd - Mark Sutton Highly Commended - Terese Sheers Encouragement Awards Leela Marwood, Leilah Dickenson, Marcus Kerr Congratulations to all of our entrants and keep clicking!
On Monday 16 May, the Years 11 and 12 Visual Art students headed up to Brisbane for a visit to GOMA and the Queensland Art Gallery. Creative Generation was the first exhibition to explore, and students were particularly interested in the way that the young artists from across Queensland had used media in new and different ways. Then a visit to QAG for a look at the Collection with an emphasis on photography. Again, the SALC artists were looking for new ways that artists have interpreted traditional subjects such as still life, landscape and portraiture. The Year 12 Visual artists are embarking upon their second body of work and are exploring the concept of Fears, Dreams and Imaginings. Year 11 are continuing to explore what spirituality means to them. This week both Year 11 classes had a visit from Pastor Terry to discuss his interpretation of spirituality. Students were treated to a discussion about how art is able to demonstrate ‘something more’ as well as using the metaphor of onions and trees to explore what it means to be a spiritual person.
P & F News P & F meetings are a great way to meet other parents from all age groups throughout the College and find out what direction the College and students are going. You are given a Principal’s Report which gives an overall summary of the College’s performance in all activities from education to sport. You are able to voice your ideas on what you feel the College may need or require to make St Andrews a better place. We look forward to seeing you all at the next meeting on Wednesday 8 June 7.00pm with an update on all the events around the College. To all Parents and Guardians these are your committee members for the P & F. Any support for your team would be greatly appreciated. President - Daniel Renneberg Mobile: 0409 729 676 Email: daniel@austplan.com.au Vice President - Jeff Bauman Mobile: 0407 713 706 Email: jeffbowie71@hotmail.com Secretary - Nicole Ainger Mobile: 0410 649 820 Email: bidwill16@bigpond.com Treasurer - Julie Dignan Mobile: 0410 514 273 Grants Officer - Kim Allan Mobile: 0411 877 054 Email: phollamby@bigpond.com P & F Commitee
Volunteers Induction Our next Volunteers Induction will be held at 9.00am Friday 17 June in the Junior School Library. Everyone who volunteers in the College is requested to have attended this workshop which covers such issues as Valuing Safe Communities, Child Protection, Privacy and Fire Evacuation. Please register with Karen Deacon either by emailing: jsadmin@salc.qld.edu.au or by phone 5568 5901. A reminder to all existing volunteers we request that you sign in and wear your name badge at all times while volunteering in the College. If you do not have a current name badge then once again, please contact Karen Deacon. This course needs to be attended every three years.
Ngaire Harman Visual Art Coordinator
We value highly the wonderful support all Volunteers offer the College in their various roles either in the classroom, on excursions, in the Library, Tuckshop, Uniform Shop or as Traffic Safety Attendants. These are just a few of the places where we find you helping out and we thank you for all you do.
Sport News Touch Excellence Program During Term 3 the College has decided to trial a Touch Excellence Program. This will involve some purposeful and intensive training sessions during the normal AGCC Thursday sports afternoon. Selection will be open to students, both boys and girls from the Middle and Senior Schools. These students should already be participating in the morning touch training sessions. Mr Paul McGilveray will act as Head Coach working with myself and other staff to develop an effective program focused on the development of strength and conditioning, skills and game understanding. Importantly, the program will also involve outside specialists including a strength and conditioning coach and Queensland Touch Development Officer. This exciting initiative enables a solid two hour period to work on developing Touch excellence. Games against local Touch Excellence Schools will be arranged to provide the much needed game practice and competition. Students selected in this squad will be provided with detailed information later in the term.
AGCC RESULTS We have just come to the end of a very successful AGCC interschool sport competition. Last week was the finals round where we had 15 teams playing off for first position. I am very pleased to announce that we won 9 of these games and I would like to acknowledge and congratulate those teams involved. Premiership Winners Semester 1 AGCC Sport: Year 7 Boys Soccer Year 7 Girls Futsal Year 9 Boys Soccer Year 10 Girls Futsal Year 11/12 A Boys Soccer Year 11/12A Girls Futsal Year 7B Girls OzTag Year 11/12 Red Netball Year 8B Girls OzTag Junior B Tennis Semester two AGCC sport is just around the corner with all students having completed their sports choices. The remainder of this term entails training for Years 7-10 in week 9 and then Years 7-9 in the final week of term. On return to school in Term 3 we have the Athletics Carnival in week 1, with the new semester of AGCC commencing in week 2. I am hopeful that the season will be as enjoyable and successful as what we have just experienced.
Outstanding Sports Achievement Last week the IFFA (International Association of Athletics Federations) announced Katie Hayward as the number 1 ranked 5000m Walker in the world! Katie is a Year 11 St Andrews student who currently trains at Pizzey Park and has ambitions of representing Australia at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Congratulations on this outstanding achievement! Libby Wood Secondary School Sports Coordinator
District Sport News District Sport Carnivals and Trials All 10 to 19 year old St Andrews’ students now trial via the Hinterland District. This applies for Carnivals (Swim, Cross Country and Athletics) and Sports Team selection trials. Don’t forget to email or see Ms West if you are interested in competing at District Sport Carnivals or attending District Sport Trials in 2016. All of the dates are listed on the College Website and on various notice boards around the College. Reminders will be in student notices and various College News sites as trial dates approach, but it is every students OWN responsibility to research the dates and contact Ms West if they are interested in such events. Hinterland District and South Coast Sport Trials St Andrews continues to have numerous students achieving selection in Representative teams through the Hinterland District and South Coast Regional School Sport trials. Latest achievements include: Hinterland Team for Boys 15 Football – Finlay Wardrop Hinterland Team for Cross Country – Milla Jansen, Ethan Read, Timothy Hornsey, Jack Read, Shelby Walter, Mitchell, Hayley Wells, Lily Harvie, Katie Hayward, Jessica Palfreyman, Jai Croker and Will Atkinson
Hinterland and Regional Cross Country The Hinterland Cross Country Carnival was held at Runaway Bay Fields on Wednesday 18 May. Thirty seven students represented the College to the highest standard, creating an excellent supportive atmosphere. Twelve St Andrews students achieved a top 7 place and therefore have been selected in the Hinterland team. These twelve students will now represent Hinterland District at the South Coast trials on June 7. Thank you to Mrs Wood, Mrs Pett, ‘JK’ Faulkner, Lachlan Richards and attending parents for their support of the students on the day.
St Andrews Athletics Carnival The College Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday 14 July (Week 1, Term 3) at Pizzey Park Athletics Track. Due to the re-construction of J Block the oval space has been minimized and is now not suitable to hold the carnival. More information about the carnival will be published soon. Casey West Acting Junior School Sports Coordindator/PSPE Teacher
It’s that time of year to update the interest earned on your LLL account that is credited annually on 31 May. Please send your books in by last day of Term, Friday 17 June. They will be sent to Adelaide for the interest update and will be returned to you during the first week of Term 3.
Dates to Remember JUNE Tuesday 7 Years 7 & 8 Immunisation Wednesday 8 P & F General Meeting - CRC 7.00pm Years 11 & 12 Exams - 8-17 June Friday 10 Senior Drama Night, Marymount College Theatre - 6.30pm Monday 13 Year 10 Work Experience 13-17 June Wednesday 15 ICAS Competition - Writing ICAS Competition - Spelling Friday 17 Volunteers Induction, Junior School Library - 9.00am EXO Youth Day Term 2 Ends JULY Friday 1 Service Learning Tour to East Timor 1-11 July Monday 11 Term 3 Starts
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Your 2015/2016 Membership has EXPIRED! Purchase a new book or digital membership for $60 www.entbook.com.au/14404l5 Raising funds for the Senior School restoration and furniture for the Junior School Library.