“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”  J. F. Kennedy

In his inaugural address to the American public on January 20 1961, John F Kennedy, the first Catholic president of the USA, brought to the American people a youthful energy, optimism and renewed hope for the future, after nearly a decade of “Cold War”. The opening quote, “Ask Not…” was to end his speech and for my purposes today it serves to address a growing issue with regard to the important relationship between all partners in shaping teaching, learning, wellbeing, college culture and in particular, the nature of communication and engagement in our college life.

In this age of increased information, a bombardment of advertising, and immediate and direct connectivity though the use of technology, it seems we are less “in touch” with what’s happening in our community and our “world”, than ever before. Social media is anything but social and we find ourselves struggling under the constant demand for our attention collapsing exhausted at the end of the day with still so much more to do (and so many emails left unanswered!). In the end, we tend to process only those things which require our immediate attention and find we have miss some of the best opportunities that have been made available to us along the way.

Contemporary schools are busier than ever and hardly a day passes in which something exciting, informative or “necessary” happens. Our college community (your community) needs to be aware of this. We at GSCC strive very hard to ensure students, parents and the broader community are connected to all we do at the college, through our fortnightly newsletter, Facebook page, direct email/phone contact, parent/student information evenings, college signage, P&F and Board meetings, regular “Zap Its” (SMS’s) and an open door policy that welcomes guest enquiries, observations, attendance, at any time.

 Currently, there are significant changes happening to senior education which will affect the nature of curriculum and assessment and the college has just finished its process of renewal which has resulted in important new programs and projects underway to improve the educational facilities on this sight. Furthermore, improvements in curriculum, pedagogy, staff and student wellbeing and leadership have become our primary drivers as we move forward. As parents it is imperative that you stay informed of these changes.

So I return to the opening quote which I could rephrase as, “Ask not what your school can do for you, but what you can do for your school”. Just as J. F. K. was driving an agenda of change with a view of optimism and hope for the future, we need also to see our role in shaping the future of education at GSCC. The starting point would be to endeavor to connect with those agencies which will inform you of college events, look to “find out” about college life, engage in the various activities that form the rich culture of the college, be part of the P&F and other working parties that serve the community of GSCC and most importantly, parents, “talk” with your sons and daughters about college life, what they’re learning, how their progressing and generally and ask the question, “what’s happening at school?”. In other words, make it your responsibility to be proactive, ask. We want you to be part of all that GSCC has to offer. Only by being participants in our students’ teaching and learning journeys can we be assured of their success. Share the GSCC experience!

Peter Scott

NAPLAN

The 2018 NAPLAN tests for Years 7 & 9 students will be held from Tuesday 15th May until Thursday 17th May. Students will participate in the Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy. As with all assessment, It is important that students are well rested, have a good night's sleep and are starting their days with breakfast to allow them to work to the best of their ability.

If you do not want your child to sit the 2018 NAPLAN tests please contact me either via email or through the College Office so that we can arrange the necessary paperwork prior to the 14th May. If you would like to discuss this, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Year 10 Senior Phase of Learning Information Night - Save the Date

This Term the College will begin working with Year 10 students as they prepare to make decisions around their Transition into the Senior Phase of Learning.  Throughout Pastoral Care, the students will be introduced to the possible options available to them in Year 11 & 12.

Our Annual Year 10 Student & Parent information Night is being held on Tuesday 22nd May. This important event will outline the New Senior Pathway options include the introduction of the ATAR. Invites and further details will be sent home over the next week.

Developing effective study skills

Teachers often speak about the importance of developing good study skills and habits. More often than not, successful students have established clear goals, study routines and good organisation.

We discuss the study skills listed below regularly, from Year 7 through to Year 12. Becoming an effective student is no different from becoming good at sport or music; it takes practice, skill, feedback and focus.

Students in senior often tell me that they wish they could study more effectively, or achieve higher grades. Studying is a learned behaviour, and it is very hard to all of a sudden know how to study in Year 11 when the academic pressure is more noticeable.

I highly recommend all students reflect on their study habits and skills. The following list represents a great starting point for improving your skill and organisation as a student.

Late last term I wrote a newsletter article including the acceptable hours of work for school students. Over the past week I have received a number of inquiries about this so am including the information again:

Maximum Work Hours for School-Aged Children

The Child Employment Act 2006 outlines work restrictions for school-aged children.

A distinction is made between the maximum hours a school-aged child can work during a school week and a non-school week.

A school week starts on a Sunday, when the child is required to attend school on any day of that week. During a school week a school-aged child can work a maximum of 12 hours. During a non-school week a school-aged child can work a maximum of 38 hours.

The following table outlines the maximum allowable hours of work for school-aged and young children:

Prohibited hours when children are not permitted to work

In addition to the prohibition on employing school-aged children when they are required to be at school, an employer must not allow a school-aged or young child to work between the hours of 10pm and 6am. A further restriction prohibits children between the ages of 11 and 13 years from carrying out delivery work between the hours of 6pm and 6am.

The Child Employment Guide provides more details regarding these laws; however, if you have concerns regarding your child’s hours of work, please contact their employer as soon as possible.

Uniform

Over the past week we have discussed the importance of wearing the full academic school uniform at all times. There is still a number of students who do not come to school wearing their full school uniform (this includes ties for senior students). Students who do are not wearing their full academic school uniform will receive a lunchtime detention.

Last week I sent an email to all parents regarding winter uniform options. Please note that senior students (Year 10 - 12) are not permitted to wear any College sports jacket with their formal uniform.

Arriving Late to School

It is important that students arrive to school by 8:25am (first bell). Homeroom begins at 8:30am, and if students are late they risk missing out on important notices and information about changes to College routines.

Students are considered to be late to school when they are not at Homeroom at 8:30am. Any student who is not here at 8:30am must sign in at the College office. Students who do not have a note (or phone call) from a parent or guardian will receive a lunchtime detention. Students who are late on multiple occasions will receive an after school detention.

This year, as you know, is the Year of Youth. To celebrate, the Townsville Diocese will be hosting a concert and mass in Mount Isa, with the theme ‘Celebrate Youth- the life you’re living'. The concert will be held here at the College on the 15th May, which is in Week 5 this Term. This will be a whole school event, that will run in the LCC. Students participating in NAPLAN will complete exams as per normal, joining in with the rest of the College for the remainder of the day/activities. This is a significant event which will be concluded with a mass with Bishop Timothy Harris, who will be joining us from Townsville.

Coming to perform at the concert, is international singer/songwriter Jesse Manibusan, who will engage the assembly with music, comedy and story, to connect faith with the lives of young people. There will be a number of additional activities held on the day:

• Free dress (students will be reminded of expectations around free dress) - gold coin donation
• Sausage sizzle - available for purchase at lunch time
• Crazy hair spraying at lunch time (gold coin donation)

We are very excited to host such a significant event for our youth here at Good Shepherd and hope that it will be a great success.

This year, we have also launched a Social Justice Group at the College. They have been involved in many events so far and will be travelling to PCYC on Saturday to assist with their ‘fun day’ being held for Domestic Violence month. The students will be running dance workshops including Hip hop and Pop dance routines. I would like to take this opportunity to thank these students for their hard work and commitment to this group. If any other students are interested in helping out, the group meets every Friday at first break in the Sacred Space. We would love to see new faces there.

Next week, PCYC will also be holding a Parents information talk 6.30pm on Thursday 17th (at PCYC – 67 Isa Street). The workshop will be facilitated by Alive.org, who are visiting Mount Isa next week to run their ‘Operation School Invasion’ campaign. The objectives of this campaign is to enhance the resilience, self-esteem, understanding of personal values, goals and motivators, overcome stress and mental strains and tools to help young people to thrive in life. It should be a very engaging and useful workshop for parents who may interested in these topics.

Queensland Minerals & Energy Academy Trade Camp

Year 11/12 students are invited to apply for the FREE Trade Camp held 1-6th July.  

This will enable students to:

• Work alongside Glencore trades people and apprentices to solve real worksite problems
• Work as you would in an Industry environment
• Gain an understanding of “what trades are about”
• Add to your resume
• Start building networks

Important opportunity, particularly if you are intending to apply for Glencore Apprenticeship Intake or School Leavers Program later in the year.

Applications close 8th June.  See Careers for more information.

YEAR 12 STUDENT MEETINGS

Parents and students are invited to make an appointment with Careers should they need assistance preparing for post school options.  

WORK EXPERIENCE APPLICATIONS CLOSE 25TH MAY

This term Year 10 Students in Rice and MacKillop Houses are invited to undertake work experience.

Year 11/12 students are also able to attend placements.

See Careers for some direction if you are not sure which employers to approach.

Thank you to all parents and students who attended Health and Physical Education parent/teacher/student interviews. It is always great to meet parents to discuss strategies to improve learning outcomes for students. The ‘triangle’ of support is an effective, collaborative communication tool. 

There has been a significant improvement in uniform standards across HPE classes. Students have been checking their timetable and presenting in full sports uniform including white socks and a hat more often. Being organised helps to prevent detentions and contact home. Thank you to all students who have been maintaining this College expectation.

Inter House Futsal starts this week in the LCC. Good luck to all Houses, points for spirit and performance up for grabs.

Sporting Schools after school and before school programs are available for Junior Rugby League and Athletics. Cricket and Touch will start up later in the Term. Please look ahead on the calendar to stay updated with what’s happening with sport. https://www.goodshepherd.catholic.edu.au/curriculum/co-curricular/sport/

District Cross Country will be run May 9 at the Golf Club. Good luck to the number of GSCC students participating this week.

Sport and Physical Education lay a foundation for long term healthy and active lifestyles.

Ms Kylie Hahipene

Mulkadee

It's time to get excited as Mulkadee is almost here! The Mulkadee Youth Arts Festival is for students with exceptional skills in Music, Drama & Dance and this year is making a fresh new format with the theme of "Alice in Wonderland". At the College, students must be nominated by a staff member to be eligible to attend. Students are nominated based on their skills within their discipline and involvement in the extracurricular activities that the College has on offer within the Arts Department. I would like to congratulate the following students who will be taking part in the Mulkadee experience:

Later this week, finalised information including packing lists and itineraries will be distributed to students. Please do no hesitate to contact me at the College on (07) 4743 2509 or jmarinelli@goodshepherd.catholic.edu.au if you have any questions regarding the trip.

Eisteddfod

The Mount Isa Eisteddfod is just around the corner with our Instrumental Ensembles and students preparing for their upcoming performances. Permission notes were distributed to students involved with the instrumental ensembles last week. Our Ensembles will be competing at the following times at the Mount Isa Civic Centre:

Saturday 26th May 7:30pm Sunday 27th May 5:30pm

• Combined Catholic Excellence Band              - Vocal Ensemble
• String Ensemble
• Flute Cadenza
• Jazz Band
• Wind Quartet

If you would like to support our Ensembles it would be great to see you there! I would like to wish all of our Ensembles and Instrumental students the best of luck for their upcoming performances at the Mount Isa Eisteddfod. I would also like to thank our instrumental directors Mrs Alicia Freeman and Ms Kate Johnston for their work in the lead up to the Eisteddfod.

Visivae

(This article is written by Ariane Ventura & Isabella Fahey)  

This year on Thursday the 14th of June, Good Shepherd Catholic College will be holding the biannual Creative Minds Arts Showcase, Visivae. This event will display a vast array of artistic talent within GSCC and allow our incredible art students to exhibit their artworks. The night will be held at the Lumen Christi Centre and will commence at 6:30pm to 8:30pm. A gold coin donation is required upon entry. During this time, there will be an intermission where light refreshments are provided by the Hospitality Department.

The Year 11 & 12 Certificate II in Music Industry class prepare and run this event as part of their formal assessment. The Arts Department is significant as it comprises a large fraction of students in the Good Shepherd community. It enables people to express emotions and creativity in a variety of ways. Here in Good Shepherd, we cater to many programs that allow students to explore their many talents and improve in these areas. Good Shepherd Catholic College is proud to present this delightful and marvellous event which will sweep you off your feet.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Art As Exchange

Fifteen of our Year 11 and 12 Visual Art in Practice and Visual Art students attended a whole day workshop provided by Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art last fortnight. It was a fantastic day, starting with students working in four groups deconstructing a selection of portraits from the gallery’s collection.  The artwork analysis provided students with the basis to create a four minute digital narrative addressing the concept of people, places and journey. It was a pleasure for myself, Terry Deen (Head of Learning at QAGOMA) and Henri Van Noordenburg (Project Officer, Regional Services) to witness such a diverse approaches the students had to the task. Students in their group developed some powerful stories about family, identity and the value of arts within our context. The four videos will become apart of the collective stories gathered from a variety of rural and regional students across Queensland.

Many thanks must go to Erica Shaw from the Mount Isa Regional Art Gallery and her team for securing such a great opportunity for our young visual artists and for looking after us so well on the day.

Concert Series - Tragedies and Carnivals

On Friday 27th April, the inaugural concert series “From the beginning” had its grand debut with the first installment titled Tragedies and Carnivals. The evening was a delightful collaboration of music, art and food. The event showcased the classical music of Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert at the superbly talented hands of concert pianist Daniel Johnson.

The audience was delighted by Daniel’s duets with Jade Marinelli and Vidhusha Lakshman. During intermission I personally enjoyed supervising the hotly contested silent auction of the amazing and varied artworks that the Yr 11 and 12 Visual Arts students had created specifically for this event.

The second part of the evening consisted of an aural and visual experience as Daniel performed Schumann’s Carnival Op. 9 with visual projections on either side of the stage displaying individual artworks of the students created for the twenty movements in the piece.

The next concert in the series, “Love, Light and Hope”, is on Thursday the 2nd of August and is an evening of song featuring Kate Hartley and Marae Staples (with Daniel on the piano). If you missed out on the first event don’t hesitate to pre-book your tickets at the College office.

Many thanks to all who contributed to the success of our first event and in particular to Donna Cole and the Hospitality students for their cheese boards and the lovely ladies from GSCC’s Parents and Friends Association who provided the bar service for the evening.

Over the weekend a group of 15 students and 3 teachers travelled to Malanda to compete in the 2018 Far North Queensland One Act Play Festival. Crammed into the school bus they embarked on a two day journey to reach the beautiful Atherton tablelands. Over the course of the weekend the students were able to participate in workshops honing their acting and directing skills, and watch performances presented by groups of all different ages and from many different regions. The Good Shepherd Catholic College students themselves presented three different plays, two in the short 10 minute section and one in the long 40 minute section. There main play, “I don’t want to talk about it”, was a play centered on the highs and lows of being a teenager – allowing the students to show both their comedic and dramatic acting skills. The ensemble’s connection to the message behind this play was felt by the audience and made for a highly powerful and engaging piece of theatre. This performance was a highlight of the weekend, with many wonderful comments made from audience members and the adjudicator. The hard work of our actors proved worth it as they took home many awards for their various performances over the weekend. One of the short plays received runner up and the long play was given best junior production of the weekend. Special mentions must go to Laura Szabadics, Patrick Harman, Khade Toeke-Dean, Grace Heuir, Ethan Cernoia and Stepheny Reddish for receiving individual awards. Overall a hugely successful weekend was enjoyed by all! The students are to be commended for their commitment to their art and their outstanding behaviour during the trip. Gratitude must also be shown to the teachers who gave their time and effort to ensure the students could enjoy such a wonderful experience. We can’t wait to see what the future may bring for these budding young performers

AWARDS:

Runner Up Best Junior Short Play – Good Shepherd Catholic College, ‘Dorothy & Alice’
Best Junior Long Play – Good Shepherd Catholic College, ‘I Don’t Want to Talk About it’
Best Crew – Good Shepherd Catholic College & Mount Isa Theatrical Society

Adjudicator’s Award – Laura Szabadics

Best Junior Male (long play) – Patrick Harman
Best Junior Female (long play) – Laura Szabadics
Best Junior Male (short play) – Khade Toeke-Dean
Best Junior Director (short play) – Grace Heuir

Runner Up Best Junior Male (long play) – Ethan Cernoia
Runner Up Best Junior Director (long play) – Laura Szabadics
Runner Up Best Junior Director (short play) – Stepheny Reddish

FNQ ONE ACT PLAY FESTIVAL 2018

Thank you.

‘Why?’ you might ask, and the answer is heartfelt - thank you for sharing your children, for letting them be a part of the cast who travelled to Malanda.  Thank you for rehearsal drop off and pickups, for covering travel costs, for trusting me to get them there and back again, but most of all thank you for creating such awesome, talented, caring, funny, dedicated, crazy kids,

For those of you not ‘in the know‘ students who love drama and performing on stage started at the end of last year looking at plays and deciding what they would like to perform at the 2018 FNQ One Act Play Festival in Malanda.  Term 1 this year saw the beginning of rehearsals, students met at lunch and after school to rehearse a One Act play and two 10 minute plays. Term 2 saw additional Sunday rehearsals and then last Thursday we drove out to Malanda via Townsville.

A huge thank you to Malanda State High School who allowed us to stay in their school hall at no charge - such generosity - cannot thank them enough.  I doubt we would have been able to afford to go without their kindness and then we would have had the success that we did. The students were incredible over the weekend and kept working to improve their plays right to the last minute as a result they were magnificent and reaped the following rewards:

ONE ACT PLAYS

Runner up best junior male actor - Ethan Cernoia  

Best junior male actor - Patrick Harman

Best junior female - Laura Szabadics

Runner up best director - Laura Szabadics

Best junior long production - GSCC "I don't want to talk about it"

OVERALL AWARDS

Best crew - shared between GSCC and MITS

Adjudicator award - Laura

SHORT PLAYS

Best junior male - Khade Toeke-Dean

Runner up Best junior female - Grace Heuir and Laura Szabadics

Runner up best junior director - Steph Reddish

Best junior director - Grace Heuir

Runner up Best junior short production -  GSCC "Dorothy and Alice"

What the kids had to say about the weekend:

Attending the One Act Plays Festival (FOOAP)  in 2018 was definitely a memorable experience. It was a great trip to go on. The GSCC cast and staff were absolutely amazing and a huge part of why the trip was awesome: they were funny, encouraging, and supportive. We all had to work together to  create the masterpiece, that obviously won. No surprise there! Congratulations to you all. I'm proud to have been selected to attend FOOAP!

- Sophie Tobin (yr8)

FOOAP  is such a great experience.  You get a rush of emotions before, whilst and after performing.  You're surrounded by people who have the same love for acting and commitment to it.  Through not only the weekend leading up to it but also all the rehearsals you build friendships and memories.  FOOAP 2018 was great and I am so proud of our achievements together.

-Steph Reddish (yr9)

This year was my 4th year attending the One Act Play Festival and it never ceases to amaze me by the quality and support from the theatre people, exchanging advice and compliments a-plenty. All of our work received great feedback from the adjudicator, we put up some stiff competition! Personally I was reassured about my future in theatre, a definite boost in confidence. Not only this, but I got to have this incredible experience with 14 other passionate, kind and talented students, my FOOAP family. Along with the awesome Mrs Telford, Miss Scott and Ms Cole, plus my spectacular parents. Nothing quite compares to this event, and I'm so proud of everyone's effort, we did Good Shepherd proud!

- Laura Szabadics (yr10)

FOOAP was such a great experience not only for our cast, but also for us directors too. We got such great feedback on our plays, both us directors and us actors. Aside from the amazing experience we got, our cast also formed great bonds with each other. The teachers we were with were great to be around. The performance was amazing for both plays. Overall it was such a great weekend

- Grace Heuir (yr9)

Hi Parents and Students,

Week 4 already, this term is flying by!

On Monday Queensland celebrated Labour Day, acknowledging workers’ achievements throughout history.

Labour Day, like Anzac Day, is a day that we stop and remember the sacrifices that people made for us, their mateship, loyalty and determination that built a country based of freedom and rights. It is the day that we go back in time, over 150 years and remember the exploitation and oppressive working hours that were ‘normal’ in the Industrial Revolution. These working conditions are something that our Humanities students explore throughout many of their History units; Year 9 students are currently studying the Industrial Revolution and the exploitation of workers both young and old in the early nineteenth century. The photos below demonstrate the working conditions that people, including children faced during this time.

It is Labour Day that we recognise the work and commitment of the Labour movement which improved minimum wage levels and workplace health and safety for all Australians. In the mid to late 1800s the work days were long and tiring, calling for Australians to push for better working conditions. On the 21st of April 1856, people who worked as stonemasons at the University of Melbourne marched together to Parliament House to push for a change. In that year the new work regulations were recognised in New South Wales, recognised in Queensland in 1858, South Australia in 1873 and Tasmania in 1874. These included the 8-hour day and mandatory leave that made Australia the ‘working man’s paradise’.

On Monday we stood together to celebrate the historic triumph of workers.

We hope that you enjoyed the Public Holidays and have come back ready for a new week!

Kind Regards

Samantha Kelley

Documentary Workshop

On the 1st of May, the year 10 media and 11 and 12 ICT students participated in a documentary workshop. Harriet Tatham, journalist at ABC North West Queensland shared her knowledge of the pre-production, production and post-production stages of a documentary when she is creating them in her profession. She gave the students hands on experience of creating a short documentary using iPads to film and edit them. The knowledge and experiences Harriet gave the students is invaluable with their current assessment where they are creating a documentary in groups. We would sincerely like to thank her for taking the time in her very busy work field to work with the students.

Laura Szabadics

During the documentary workshop we all learnt about the process of creating a documentary. Learning to keep it simple, organise filming in advance and putting the best footage first. It was amazing to see how much of an impact a short video can be. It was an incredible insight to how we can interpret documentaries, even with 10 minutes of filming with an Ipad and a few more minutes editing. This workshop gave us inspiration for our current assessment, sparking ideas and getting the gears turning. Harriet did a great job teaching us her own techniques when creating a documentary, it was very helpful and I’m glad we had the opportunity.

Thomas Clewes

We learnt many things from the documentary workshop. Harriet showed us how she filmed and presented her documentaries in her profession. She taught us that you don't need the best camera to record a documentary and simple techniques that improve the filming. The experiences that we have learnt through the workshop will help us improve and expand our knowledge of filming documentaries. Harriet helped us work upon our documentary assignment through her knowledge and understanding of her job. We are happy that we have gotten the opportunity to learn about documentaries through someone who has had the experience.