Subject Selection Forms for 2026

Year 11 Exam Block

The Year 11 Exam block begins tomorrow, Tuesday 9th of September. The timetable for this exam block has been published and all students should know when their exams are scheduled. The guidelines for what students can and can’t do are published in SIA. Any absences for these exams need to be supported with a medical certificate and communicated to the absentee line, and myself. We will then coordinate for students to either catch up the exam during an alternate session in the exam block, or to sit a supplementary exam session on Tuesday 16th of September. If you have any concerns, please contact me.

Year 12 Mock and External Assessments

As you would be aware, the Year 12 Mock Exam block has commenced today. All information required for both the Mock and External Assessment is available in SIA:  https://schoolbox.shalomcollege.com/homepage/6641 

Year 12 Results

Year 12 Assessment Arrangements (Mock Exam & External Assessment Blocks)

Year 12 - QTAC ATAR Portal Registrations

The QTAC Portal is now open and current Year 12 students are now able to register for two accounts:

1. To receive their ATAR score once published by QTAC students need to register for the ATAR portal. If you use this link, scroll halfway down you’ll see the steps to follow: https://www.qtac.edu.au/atar/

2. To apply to QTAC for university entry for 2026 students need to create a QTAC account. If you use this link you’ll see the steps to follow: https://www.qtac.edu.au/application-services/

Term 3 - Elevate Education Free Parent Webinar Series

Elevate Education delivers high-impact workshops that help to develop student study skills, motivation, and exam preparation. Again, you are invited to register your participation in the term three parent online seminar series. This can help you to support your child at home by reinforcing the skills that will support their learning at school.

Webinars for this term are:

• How You Can Support Your Child During Exams. September 17, 6:30-7:30pm (AEST)

To register please visit: https://go.elevateeducation.com/auschoolwebinars

Mrs Kate Aplin
Assistant Principal - Curriculum
Catherine_Aplin@rok.catholic.edu.au

Year 11 Exam Block (10-15 September) and Year 12 Mock Exam Block (8-19 September)

Attached is the Year 11 Exam Block Timetable (10-15 September) and the Year 12 Mock Exam Block Timetable (8-19 September). Students need only attend school for the exams they are to sit during this time, however, students who are behind in their schoolwork may be required to attend school to complete outstanding work. If this is required, these arrangements will be communicated by individual class teachers.

All exams are planned to be in the new Coolock building, with the exception of those that need computers - specific rooms will be added to the schedule at a later date. Please note that the Essential Maths, General Maths and Maths Methods are scheduled on the afternoon of 9 September which is a normal school day with regular classes in the morning.

Please remember that normal school rules regarding uniform, phones and behaviour continue through the exam block. These expectations are outlined in the attached document.

We wish our students all the best with their studies.

Year 11 Exam Block

Year 12 Mock Exam Block

Mr Brendan Maher
Assistant Principal - Administration
Brendan_Maher@rok.catholic.edu.au

Ignite Conference: The Light

Ignite is a National Catholic Conference for young Catholics to experience real world formation, powerful worship and encouragement in their Catholic faith in an exciting, and ground-breaking way.

All high school students are welcome to travel down to Brisbane for the 2025 conference with the NET team as per of our diocesan group.

This year Ignite runs from September 25 to 28.

For more details, scan the QR code or
contact Mick on 0433 897 973 or
email youth@rok.catholic.net.au

Have you ever thought of becoming a Catholic or completing your Sacraments?

Masses

Mrs Sandra Freeman
Assistant Principal - Mission
Sandra_Freeman@rok.catholic.edu.au

Pathways News

HIGHLIGHTS

ADDITIONAL LEARNING

• 2026 Additional Learning Opportunities

 CAREER SPOTLIGHT

• Careers with STEM in the Australian Defence Force
• How to become a Policy Analyst 

YEAR 12 GET READY

• Tertiary Access Payment (TAP)
• CQU – Principal’s Recommendation Scheme 

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

• Energy Qld and TAFE Qld 2026 Cadetship Applications Open
• Year 12 Trade Ready Program Bundaberg
• Dept of Health – School-Based Traineeship (2026 Intake)
• Plenty of jobs this week, so don’t forget to check the Pathways SIA page jobs board for employment opportunities.

 UNIVERSITY

• Educational Access Scheme
• UniSC Early Offer Guarantee
• Young ChangeMakers Program 2025

Step up. Stand out. Shape your future - with this week's Pathways Newsletter -

The Pathways Team
Mrs Liza O’Donnell, Mrs Kim Toll, Mrs Carmen Wyatt, Mrs Melanie Bock & Ms Brigette McMahon
Liza_ODonnell@rok.catholic.edu.au
Kim_Toll@rok.catholic.edu.au
Carmen_Wyatt@rok.catholic.edu.au 
Melanie_Bock@rok.catholic.edu.au 
Brigette_McMahon@rok.catholic.edu.au

If you would like to submit any sporting achievements about your child/children along with a photo, please email your submissions to Simon_Gills@rok.catholic.edu.au
Please note photo submissions must only include photos of students from Shalom.

You can also keep up to date with anything sport related via our Facebook page - Shalom College Sport.

Equestrian

During Week 7, Riverside College hosted the annual Fraser Coast Interschool Competition. The three-day competition draws riders to Maryborough from schools across the region and the state. Students compete in a range of events in disciplines including sporting, showjumping, dressage, hacking and rider classes, and western events.

 

As the event requires parents, students, and horses to be available to be away for five days - including travelling, camping and competition - we had three Shalom riders available to compete - Meghan F, Lilyannah M, Asha D.

All riders showed great sportsmanship and skill during the competition. Lillyannah received 1st place in Extreme Trail, Show Jumping and Barrels, and 3rd in Rider Class, Mechanical Cow and Bend. Meghan and Asha came 2nd and 3rd in their Hack classes, 1st and 3rd in the Show Jump, and 1st and 2nd in Bonfield Bounce respectively. Meghan also placed 1st in two Dressage events and Asha placed 1st in Extreme Trail and 3rd in Dry Work.

Meghan and Lilyannah also achieved reserve age champion for the three days of competition with both riders just behind the overall champions in points.

Congratulations to all of our riders and thank you to the wonderful parents who take them and camp out for the duration of the events.

Wide Bay All Schools Touch Football

A massive CONGRATULATIONS to our amazing Touch Football teams who attended last weeks Wide Bay All Schools Competition - all teams finished undeafeated and won their respective divisions!!!

Over the last few months teams have been working hard to prepare for WBAS which leads us into our major competition in October (Term 4, Week 1), the Queensland All Schools Competition where almost 600 teams representing various schools both nationally and internationally will compete.

I can't ask for a better team of officials to lead our young athletes - I thank you all wholeheartedly:

U13 Boys - Coach is Mr Ryan Smith & Manager Mr Sam McMah

U13 Girls - Coach is Mr Graham O'Shanesy & Manager Ms Emily Stevenson

U15 Boys - Coach is Mr Matthew Churchill & Manager Ms Kylie Giles

U15 Girls - Coach is Ms Tressa Marano & Manager Ms Nadia Tairawhiti

Open Boys - Coach is Mr Ainsley Driver & Manager Ms Jacqui Smith

Open Girls - Coach is Mr Ben Stranieri & Manager is Ms Zoe Stone

Thank you to our dedicated family and friends supporters as well!

Mr Ben Stranieri

Touch Football Coordinator

Celebrating the achievements of Years 7–9

Date: Week 10 Thursday, September 18th

Time: Drop in anytime between 3:30pm – 5:00pm

Location: Waterford Building

Join us for an inspiring afternoon as we showcase the incredible work of our middle school students across many curriculum areas. Enjoy a cuppa and biscuit while exploring student displays, including pre-recorded dance and poetry performances!

This is a wonderful opportunity for parents, guardians, students, and grandparents to come together and celebrate learning, creativity, and achievement.

We look forward to seeing you there!

• Thursday 16 October 2025
• 5:30-8:30pm
• Shalom College Performing Arts Precinct

The evening will include drinks and canapés in the Foyer from 5:30pm, then from 6:45pm guests will move into the Theatre to see an in-depth Q&A with Leigh Matthews.

Bundaberg East Design Challenge

Where: Bundaberg East SS (Ambrose Hall)

When: 17th September 4-5pm

Let your imagination run 'wild' by designing and creating robots and/or Lego creations that fit the theme of 'The Natural World!' Ideas could include:

• animals
• plants
• natural disaster simulations
• geographic features
• dioramas
• and more ...

This non-competitive, free event is designed for children of all ages to show off/share their ideas with children and parents from the local area. Projects can include static and/or moving builds, props and backgrounds to support their creation. Projects can be as simple as a single build or as complex as creating a scene/performance.

Registered individuals/teams will be assigned a space in the hall to set up their projects. Spectators will be welcome to wander around to see all of the projects and talk to their creators.

Express Your Interest Today! Please email Mrs Bishop  Deborah_Bishop@rok.catholic.edu.au or contact Matt Hollett at mholl172@eq.edu.au

Mrs Debbie Bishhop
Senior Teacher (Science)
STEM committee
Deborah_Bishop@rok.catholic.edu.au

A reminder that there will be no Flexischool orders next week (10).  The tuckshop will still be operating.

Mr Mark Algie
Tuckshop Convenor
mark_algie@shalomcollege.com 

Preferred Student Absentee Option 

Parents are able to inform the College of student absentees via Parent Lounge, using the below pathway:

Parent Lounge> Student Details> Attendance> "+Add Absence Notification"

The Shalom College App has now been updated so when parents select "Absentee" it will re-direct to Parent Lounge for the absentee notification to be added.

For Parents that do not already have the College App please click below:

ALL student absentees should be notified to the office by 9am each day.  If no notification has been received, an absentee text message will be sent out to parents to advise of the student's absence.

Parents and Carers of Year 11 & 12 Students 

If your child has obtained their Provisional Licence and wishes to drive to and from school you are required to fill out a Permission to Drive Form and return it to Student Reception for approval by Mr Aaron Brown.  Once approved the details will be placed on our School Register.

In Week 6, 15 of our drama students travelled to The Moncrieff Theatre to participate in The Scene Project outcome day. This exciting event gave our students the opportunity to view performances from other schools and enjoy a professional production presented by Queensland Theatre Company.

Throughout the day, our students demonstrated enthusiasm, confidence and respect. They pitched their performance concept to the other groups and shared key moments from their own interpretation of RECALIBRATE by Shock Therapy Arts, the play that all schools read and workshopped in preparation for the day.

It was wonderful to see students from different year levels collaborate, support each other, and interact with peers from across the region. We are incredibly proud of the maturity, attitude and behaviour our students displayed—it truly made for a memorable and inspiring experience.

Miss Hutchins, Mrs Shears & Mr Anderson

Thank you to everyone involved in making the RYDA Day a success.

Mr Griffiths - the RYDA organiser, our Bundaberg Rotary volunteers and our Bundaberg Police officers were all very pleased with how well behaved our Year 10's students were.

More importantly, with the Road Safety Youth Driver Awareness messages given, we hope these had a positive impact on our young people as they get their drivers licenses and take to the road over the next two years. 

Shalom celebrated National science on Tuesday and Wednesday of week 5 this term. The theme for science week for 2025 was Decoding the Universe. National Science Week is Australia’s annual celebration of science and technology. Running each year in August, it features more than 2,000 events around Australia, including those delivered by universities, schools, research institutions, libraries, museums and science centres.

Primary School Visits

On Tuesday, 35 Year 11 & 12 students ran the National Science week Primary school visits. Over 170 Year 4 & 6 students from St Mary’s, St Josephs, and St Patricks attended. The day was designed to spark curiosity and introduce young learners the wonders of science in a hands-on environment. The eager students participated in 10 experiments and activities, including: flying teabags, lava lamps, elephants’ toothpaste, flame tests, touchable bubbles; moon phases, lightbulbs, and making a DNA keyring. Many students were also lucky enough to manoeuvre Mr Taylor’s robot dog “Sparky” along with meeting, naming and playing with the Agricultural class’s chickens.

Shalom College Activities

On Wednesday, we showcased the science week theme to the College Community. Many students gathered to participate in amazing experiments, including marshmallow catapults, Brain Break quizzes, Decoding DNA competition, ball drop and water-pumped rockets.

Competition Winners

The highest scorer for the Year 7-9 quiz - Tiffany R – Year 9
The highest scorer for the Year 10-12 quiz - Sophie W – Year 11
The winner of the marshmallow catapult - Hayley M – Year 11
And lastly, the winner of the DNA decoding competition – Duru T – Year 12

Thank you to all students who participated in Science Week.

Mrs Debbie Bishhop
Senior Teacher (Science)
STEM committee
Deborah_Bishop@rok.catholic.edu.au

This year, a focus was on updating and augmenting the non-fiction collection. When the senior and junior collections were merged in Beerarlem, each book was examined and assessed and anything irrelevant, out of date, or soiled was withdrawn. This was a messy and time-consuming activity but then came the fun part – purchasing fabulous new ones.

We’ve targeted key areas that are curriculum driven to assist the students with their assignments, I even sought consultation with staff at the Catholic parish office to find a new Catholic Bible Concordance, which I managed to source from the St. Paul Center in Ohio. (I decided to order an extra one and donated it to the Catholic office as a gift from Shalom College).

We’ve also listened to the requests for particular topics for leisure reading as well. Fishing, surfing, cars, jokes, and sport are favourites with the boys, who we know from studies conducted on reading habits, are much more responsive to non-fiction style reading.

Last week we took delivery of some beautiful books from the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA). These cover textiles, art movements and their artists, design, natural science, and writing. Next term I will be looking at other cultural pursuits like music and dance.

I invite staff and parents, as well as students, to feel free to come in for a look, and also to suggest topics that you would want to see covered. With so many quality publications available from a wide range of suppliers, we will be sure to find something perfect for you.

Denise Harvey
School Librarian
Denise_Harvey@rok.catholic.edu.au 

Term 1: Tuesday 28 January – Friday 4 April (10 weeks)

Term 2: Tuesday 22 April – Friday 27 June (10 weeks)

Term 3: Monday 14 July – Friday 19 September (10 weeks)
Year 12 Formal: Saturday 6 September

Term 4: Tuesday 7 October – Thursday 4 December (9 weeks)

The Shalom Markets are open every Sunday 6am-midday. Come along to purchase your fresh fruit and vegetables, local food products and handmade items. 

Markets BBQ Roster

Office Hours: 9:00 - 1:00 Monday to Friday
Parish Office: Rossolini Place Level 1, 66 Woongarra St
Phone: 07 4151 6666    PO Box 79 Bundaberg QLD 4670
Email: sbundaberg@rok.catholic.net.au
AFTER HOURS:  Anointing of the sick for medical emergencies
phone 4151 6666 and follow the prompt
UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF MARY MOTHER OF CHURCH

"The annual parish "Good News" magazine is now available in all churches for a Gold Coin Donation. As you read our in-house publication of the Good News magazine this year, discover the ways in which our parish vision statement is being made clear.

Shalom College Families Business and Trade Directory 

To help assist the Shalom College community in supporting local businesses that are run by Shalom families, we have created our Shalom College Families Business and Trade Directory. If you would like to be listed in this directory, please send a copy of your business card to Mr Peter Robinson who will be establishing and developing this directory to Peter_Robinson@rok.catholic.edu.au

Student Travel Rebates 

Would you like to know more about the Non State Schools Transport Assistance Scheme and eligibility requirements? Click on the link to view the short introductory video here: https://youtu.be/ogWpq7tVaio 

Student travel rebate applications open 1- 31 October for Semester 2. Please click here to check if you are eligible.

Goodwood Road, undertake safety improvements

The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) will soon commence construction work to improve safety on Goodwood Road (locally known as Barolin Street) at the Thabeban Street and McCarthy Road intersections in Avenell Heights, along with minor improvements at the Goodwood Road and Coonarr Road intersection.

For more information on the 'Project overview' and 'What to expect' click link to PDF below. 

Mental Health Resources