On Wednesday night I gathered with members of the College Board and P&F Association to thank them for their continued support in 2023. Our Parent Engagement groups are important stakeholders in our school community and provide wise counsel to the Leadership Team on matters affecting our students. This year our Board have played an invaluable role in the success of our Validation processes and efforts to improve across all areas of the College. Our P&F have worked tirelessly to fundraise for events to support our students to attend sporting competitions and cultural events such as Mulkdadee. They have sponsored Senior Jerseys provided much needed resources for the school. We are so blessed to have such dedicated Parents and community members working with us to advance our school goals.

This week the Senior Leadership Team presented our 2023 Annual School Improvement Plan (ASIP) to our Service Team from Townsville Catholic Education. We have so many achievements to be proud of and look forward to building on these in 2024. If you are interested in looking at our document for this year, you can access our ASIP here.

Next week we are looking forward to our Annual Awards Night. It is a fantastic opportunity for us to celebrate all of our student success and enjoy entertainment from our talented students. Please join us.

Have a blessed week.

Kathleen McCarthy

Academic Integrity and Artificial Intelligence and Plagiarism

As we move into the time of term when students are preparing to hand in final copies of their assessments, there may be a temptation for students to make excessive use of Artificial Intelligence tools to support their work. While AI can be a valuable research tool, heavy reliance on this tool bypasses the process of critical thinking and analysis, and undermines a student’s ability to develop their own expression and communication.

The Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) responds to Artificial Intelligence and gives schools, students and parents information regarding how to navigate the use of AI, particularly in assessments.

The directive QCAA gives schools is clear.  It’s the opening line of the document, Strategies for Ensuring Authentication:  Accurate judgments of student progress and achievement can only be made if students’ assessment responses are their own work.  In other words, only a student’s own and original work will be marked and contribute towards a final result or grade, and QCAA suggests a number of ways in which schools can determine the authenticity of a student’s response.

Plagiarised work cannot be marked.  The portion of work that is the student’s own, will be the only part of the submission that will be considered.  Plagiarism will also result in an after school detention. 

At the college we have processes in place to ensure quality assurance is maintained with all assessment tasks. If a student is concerned about their level of plagiarism/ use of AI they should discuss this with their teacher prior to the final copy of the assessment being submitted.

Elective Subject Selection

2024 Year 8 - 10 Elective Subject Selections will be released at the end of next week. Students and families will receive an email at the beginning of the week with instructions, and elective lines for next year.

Year 10 Exam Block - Week 8 (20 - 24 November)

A reminder that Year 10 students will sit their next Exam Block in week 8 (Monday 20 – Friday 24 October 2023). 

Student Expectations for Exam Block:

All students should be studying/completing assessment at home; studying quietly in the Study Rooms (F1/F2), or completing an exam during exam block. Exam block is not free time.

During exam block, students should:

• Be on time
• Follow all regular College Expectations
• Sign in at the front office when you arrive and then sign out before you leave
• Be prepared! Don’t leave your study until the last minute.
• Get a medical certificate if you are unwell and unable to attend an exam - CONTACT SCHOOL IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE SICK AND CAN’T ATTEND YOUR EXAM
• Only come to school if you have exams to sit, or assessment to complete.
• Come to school in your FULL Academic Uniform (your PL can send you home to change if you don’t adhere to this).
• Use the study room appropriately (quietly & productively).
• Only bring approved snacks (takeaway food, soft drink, energy drinks etc are not permitted).
• Adhere to the mobile phone policy (phones not permitted for use on the grounds between 8:30am - 3pm)

ALL ASSESSMENT MUST BE COMPLETED IN ALL SUBJECTS IN ORDER TO HAVE EXAM BLOCK PRIVILEGES.

If you are absent for an exam in exam block you must:

1. Contact the College office ASAP, or your parent can contact the College office on your behalf.
2. Have a medical certificate.

These requirements are in accordance with the GSCC Assessment Policy “If a student is absent from a Senior Exam Block exam, the student will complete an alternate paper in the next available session and a medical certificate must be provided upon their return. If a medical certificate is not provided the student October not be allocated a result for that internal assessment piece, resulting in no credit for the piece / unit studied."

Please see the exam schedule below:

SchoolTV: Bullying

Bullying comes in many forms. It has far-reaching damaging impacts on a child's self-esteem, self-worth, resilience and academic success which can carry right through to their adult life. Bullying is a repeated and targeted behaviour and it also relates to how it makes a young person feel as a result of such behaviour. As a parent, it is important to understand what is happening before concluding that it is bullying. Online bullying can have a much greater impact and be far more difficult to deal with. Online bullies can engage in inappropriate behaviours 24/7 and invade a young person's home environment where they should feel safe.

What is bullying? 

“Bullying is when people repeatedly and intentionally use words or actions against someone or a group of people to cause distress and risk to their wellbeing. These actions are usually done by people who have more influence or power over someone else, or who want to make someone else feel less powerful or helpless” - Australian Human Rights Commission. 

At GSCC we come across different types of bullying and deal with this as soon as we know about it, so please encourage your son/daughter to come forward if they are experiencing any type of bullying so that we are able to assist in resolving this issue. Our aim is to ensure GSCC is a safe, and welcoming place for all students, bullying is not tolerated and is dealt with appropriately.

Please see the link below for more information around bullying and ways to implement change: https://goodshepherd.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/bullying 

RYAN PHILP - QMEA AMBASSADOR 2024

Congratulations to Ryan Philp who has been selected as a Qld Mineral and Energy Academy (QMEA) Ambassador for 2024.

Over the next 12 months Ryan will be invited to participate in a number of QMEA activities to help increase his understanding of the resources sector, develop leadership skills and provide opportunities for networking with other students and industry representatives.

We wish Ryan all the best in his new Ambassador role.

WORK EXPERIENCE 

Applications for work experience placements this term are due to close at the end of this week.  (Application forms are available in the Front Office) Work experience opportunities will commence in the first week of the school holidays and are available to all the year 10’s, 11’s. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or need any assistance.

Arili Thina Morning Cafe 

Arili Thina Cafe is open every Wednesday Morning from 7.30am - 9.00am, the cafe is located behind the LCC next to the Hospitality Kitchen.

Offering a range of espresso Coffees and cold drinks ; milkshakes, frappes , Iced Coffee. There is also a selection of food : Ham and Cheese Croissants, Bacon and Egg toasties and Smashed Avocado on sourdough, this may change weekly.

Our Year 11 and 12 Hospitality Students run this Cafe to achieve their competencies towards their Certificate ll in Hospitality and also fundraise for Hospitality camp.

Year 7, 8 and 9 Students are welcome to Cafe if accompanied by a parent or adult.

We encourage everyone to dine in.

We look forward to seeing you at the Arili Thina Cafe.

Cheers Mrs Cole and senior Hospitality Students