27 November 2017

Principal’s Reflection

There is a story told of a woman who went to a Priest to seek forgiveness for spreading gossip. The woman told the priest that she was very sorry for the damage done to the reputation of the person about whom the gossip had been spread. The Priest offered her God’s forgiveness and added, as her penance, a task. The woman had to gather a large bag of confetti and then go to the top of a hill and release it all on the wind. She then had to gather up each and every piece of confetti. The woman complained that this would be an absolutely impossible task because the wind would take the confetti too far and wide. ‘Exactly’, said the Priest, ‘you will understand then how hard it is to repair the damage already done.’

I had reason to share this story with students last week. I reminded them how invaluable the reputation of each person is and of the damage we can do to others by sharing stories. Sadly, we tend to believe stories without fact checking them. With all the blessings of the internet comes the ability to communicate with hundreds or thousands and maintain a very cowardly anonymity. I implored our students to treat anyone else as they would hope to be treated and to never add to the circus of gossip and innuendo.

A disciple confessed his bad habit of repeating gossip. His Master replied, “Repeating it wouldn’t be so bad if you did not improve on it.”

Resilience Project

At the beginning of this year, St Patrick’s hosted a presentation by Mr Martin Heppell from the Resilience Project. It was by far and away the biggest and best parent night we have ever seen, with nearly 300 St Patrick’s parents attending. In 2018, all four Catholic Schools, St Joseph’s, St Mary’s, St Patrick’s and Shalom have combined to sponsor a different presentation from the Resilience Project, open to parents from all four of our Catholic Schools. This presentation will be held at the Shalom Sports Centre at 7:00pm on Wednesday 24 January, and will feature Mr Hugh van Cuylenburg, the founder of the Resilience Project. Hugh has worked with Australian Cricket, Netball and Soccer Teams, all NRL clubs, AFL, and the A-League. He has a wonderful story to share, and a great message for parents that you simply need to hear, if you are to raise resilient children. More information is available at the link below. The clip featuring Mr Billy Slater is well worth a look. This event will be in the first week of term. PLEASE put this in your diary. If we are committed to helping our children handle life better we need to attend events like this. If there is one event you come to at Shalom next year, please make it this one.

Departing Staff

Farewells are always a part of every school year. We will miss the students and families who are moving on from Shalom in 2018. We are particularly grateful to the following staff members who have been with us in a full-time or part-time capacity and are moving on from Shalom -

Ms Erin McHugh
Ms Nalda Kingston
Ms Gillian Deacon
Ms Sara Rogers
Ms Sarah Kelly
Mr Tom Houghton
Ms Sue Kendall

I am particularly grateful to Ms Erin McHugh who has been with us for three years and has been an outstanding member of this community.

Gap Year Staff

Brenna, Grace, Bronte, Indiana, Sam, Lachlan, Sahlie, Caitlin, Katie and Ashleigh. We will miss all of these wonderful people, some of whom we are likely to see doing relief and contracts for us in 2018.

Mr Christian Taylor is relinquishing his position as Assistant Principal Curriculum next year. Christian has fulfilled this role in an outstanding manner. He has worked enormously hard to ensure the best possible academic outcomes for our students over 15 years. Happily, whilst Christian is easing back on his commitments, he will continue to teach in a part time capacity at the College.

After School Activities 2018

Next year students at Shalom will be able to participate in activities provided at the College on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. This service is being financially supported by the Shalom Parents & Friends Association. There will be a range of activities on offer that might be of particular assistance to parents who work and would appreciate being able to collect their child closer to 5pm on those days. Also to parents who would like to see their child more physically engaged rather than being entertained by electronics. A flyer about this initiative is attached. Mr Peter Robinson, who will be new to Shalom in 2018, will be coordinating this activity. The specific activities that will be offered are still being finalized. Parents will be asked to book into the activities they would like their child to participate in early next year.

Christmas is rapidly approaching. With all the busyness and expectation that comes with this part of the year, I hope and pray that every member of the Shalom community will be filled with a sense of awe and wonder as we celebrate the amazing love of God that can be born into our lives through celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Shalom Office Opening Hours

During the Christmas holidays the Administration has adjusted hours which are listed below.

Friday 1 December 2017 the office will be open from 8:00am – 9:00am.

Monday 4 December to Friday 8 December 2017 - Adjusted office opening hours are 8:00am to 4:00pm. The office will remain closed until Monday 8 January 2018.

Monday 8 January 2018 to Friday 19 January 2018 - Adjusted office opening hours are 8:00am to 4:00pm. Please note that staff training occurs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week so at times the office may be unattended for a period of time, we apologise if this causes any inconvenience. Adjusted office hours will be posted on the Shalom College Facebook page.

Monday 22 January 2018 - Year 7 and 12 students plus new students from Years 8 to 11. This is an orientation day for all the new students to Shalom in 2018. The Year 12s will lead this day. Year 7s are to wear Sports Uniform. For students new to Shalom from Years 8 to 11, please come in neat casual clothes and you will have a half day with us as we set you up with Timetables, books etc.

Normal office hours will return on Monday 22 January 2018 for the school year - 8:00am to 4:30pm.

The office staff would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe, happy and prosperous New Year!

Mr Dan McMahon
Principal
Daniel_McMahon@shalomcollege.com

Newsletter Articles

Student Welfare

End of year celebrations: Years 7, 8 & 9

To celebrate the end of the school year we have the following:

Tuesday 28 November in the afternoon we will have a movie for all students in the Performing Arts Complex.

Wednesday morning (Session 1): Junior Phoenix Cup – an Inter-house competition
Wednesday afternoon (Session 2): Swimming at Norville Pool

We hope all students in these year levels will come along and participate.

Mrs Elizabeth Austin-Campbell
Deputy Principal
AcampbellE@shalomcollege.com

Curriculum Notes

End of Semester Two Reports

End of Semester Two reports will be published to Parent Lounge for Years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 this Friday 1 December. The report can be viewed and printed from Parent Lounge by selecting the Academic Reports tab on the left.

Parents may still request a printed copy of the report. For “one-off” requests, please contact the College office during business hours.

To routinely receive printed reports, please register for the service by updating the Report Mailing address in Parent Lounge. To do this, when logged-in to Parent Lounge:

Select the Parent Details tab to the top left of the screen

Select the Update Address Details from the drop-down menu (the Residential address will first appear)

1. Click the Next Address button at the bottom right of the screen (this will advance the screen to the Report Mailing address)
2. Click the blue Update Address button to the right of the Report Mailing header
3. Enter or update your address details (the first field will be initially filled with the words “Address for postal reports” – enter your details over this text and complete the other address fields)
4. Click the blue Submit Changes button once entries are complete

Parents who do not have internet access, or are experiencing problems with Parent Lounge or do not know your Parent Lounge login details are welcome to contact the College office during business hours.

Parents are encouraged to contact teachers directly regarding the End of Semester Two Report, by noon on Friday 1 December or from Wednesday 17 January 2018.

Mr Christian Taylor
Assistant to the Principal – Curriculum
taylorc@shalomcollege.com.au

Quiet Achievers

McAuley House

This week’s Quiet Achiever is Charlotte Boge from McAuley House. Charlotte is a wonderful asset to our house. She involves herself academically, culturally and sport wise making sure she achieves in all areas to the very best of her ability. Charlotte is always looking out for others and has made sure that she has got to know all McAuley students in her PC as well as many others in the house. It is very rare to see Charlotte without a smile on her face and certainly a spring in her step. No matter what Charlotte does she makes sure she ‘shines’ for McAuley and is a wonderful example of a student who demonstrates little acts of MERCY throughout her day.

Ms Van Dalen
McAuley House Coordinator
Paula_Vandalen@shalomcollege.com

MacKillop House

Olivia Zunker has been working with us at Bundy Big Bingo since the middle of the year and is doing an outstanding job.

On Wednesday November 22 Olivia’s day consisted of a 4:30am rise to fit in swim and board training before school. She then spent a day at school which I believe included at least one exam and then off to bingo by 5:00pm. Olivia worked at bingo until about 9:45pm even though she was unwell helping to raise money for the Surf Club and Shalom College. She has not missed a week’s work which also included working at bingo during the holidays only 5 days after having her wisdom teeth out. Olivia had three exams on Thursday 23 November and I have a lot of respect for the words of Mr Richard Branson who has said many times “if you want something done ask a really busy person, they know how to manage life.” She takes on a lot of responsibility with patrols and works at bingo with a few older members of the community with very strong personalities and fits in and stands her ground when necessary.

A very impressive young lady who is very connected to her community and making a significate contribution.

Mr Danny Carswell
Bundy Big Bingo
In aid of Bundaberg Surf Life Saving Club and Shalom College

P & F Committee

Monthly Meeting Notes

On Monday November 20 we had our final meeting for 2017 as the original meeting was postponed due to the recent storm. Mrs Kim O’Shea-Hard gave a short slideshow presentation about the recent Edmund Rice Camp that was held in the September holidays. Mr David Gahan along with four students gave a presentation about the Cambodia trip and their experiences overseas. The P & F are pleased to see such positive outcomes for students by the participation in these mission activities. We are always glad to support these type of endeavours.

Mrs Louise Stallard was presented with the P & F Federations ‘Community Spirit Award’ to acknowledge her continued support of Shalom College through her roles as a volunteer (in various capacities over many years) and her work with the committee. We thank her for all her years of service to the college and our wider community.

As this is our final notice for 2017, we would like to wish all the Shalom families a very Merry Christmas and look forward to working with you again in 2018. We look forward to welcoming our new Year 7 families to Shalom and of course the P & F committee.

For further information, see the full meeting minutes on the P & F web page on the College website. Please forward any comments to the Secretary via email or If you have an agenda item please address it to the P & F Secretary either at the school office or by email pandf@shalomcollege.com.

To all P & F Members, you are reminded that our monthly meeting is held in the staff common room – all parents are welcome. Please note the next P & F meeting will be held on Tuesday February 6, 2018 which will begin at 5:30pm.

Mrs Gail Norris
P & F Secretary
pandf@shalomcollege.com

Sports News

Wide Bay Schools Merit Team that was selected from the Wide Bay Carnival that was conducted in the last week of Term 3.

Mr Simon Gills
Sports Coordinator
Simon_Gills@shalomcollege.com

QISSN 2018

Shalom QISSN netball training for 2018 will commence on the first day back at school on Tuesday 23 January at 7am in the Sports Centre. All girls who nominated for the team are expected to attend and any girls in years 7-12 in 2018 who wish to trial for the team are welcome to come to training.

Training will be held on a Tuesday and Thursday morning and fitness programs are available from Mr Hornbrook in the Fitness Centre. Group fitness session times will be confirmed.

At this stage trails for the QISSN team will be held on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 February from 3:15pm-4:30pm in the Sports Centre, but these dates may still change.

Please contact Mrs Somerfield for any further information.

Mrs Nikki Somerfield
Netball Coordinator
Nikki_Somerfield@shalomcollege.com

Junior Sportsman of the Year

Congratulations to Year 9 student Edward Ryan, who took out the Junior Sportsman of the Year at Brothers Sports Club 2016-17 Awards Dinner last Saturday night. Edward, who has led our Intermediate Cricket team to the State Schools T20 Competition Southern Conference finals for the past two years and has achieved highly up to state level, won the coveted award from a field of quality nominations. Mrs Kayleen Bryan, mother of graduating Year 12 student Courtney, was a deserved winner of the Volunteer of the Year gong, while Year 8 Charlotte Boge (netball) and Year 12 student of 2016 Sam Pearson (cricket) were nominees for the Junior Sportswoman and Senior Sportsman of the Year respectively.

Edward is currently representing Shalom, together with Matthew Jackson, Braden Henricksen and Kynan Hard, at the School Sport Queensland 14 years Boys Championships at Maroochydore and Caloundra which runs through to Thursday 23 November.

Mr Vince Habermann OAM
Teacher Assistant
Learning Enhancement Unit
Vince_Habermann@shalomcollege.com

City of Charm Carnival

Shalom duo Connor Simms and Tobias Street were two of the stars at their club Fairymead’s 45th annual City of Charm Swimming Carnival at Norville Pool from November 17-19 from a total of over 200 competitors from 25 clubs from Rockhampton to Gold Coast.

Year 11 student Connor, who was Shalom’s Pierre de Coubertin Award winner this year, has been our Sportsman of the Year in 2016 and 2017 and was an Australian medallist this year and Queensland Schools champion in two events, won all of his four events, beating all comers in the Men’s Open 200m Freestyle in a carnival record time of 1:59.26, eclipsing the previous mark by a hefty 3.27seconds, also triumphing in the 50m Freestyle, 200m Individual Medley (IM) and 100m Freestyle.

Year 9 student Tobias really aimed up against older rivals to claim silver in the men’s 400m IM and also was magnificent in finishing fifth in the Men’s Open 50m Backstroke. He also showed his strength and endurance in hot fields in his own Boys 14 years’ division, snaring silver in the 200m Breaststroke, 200m IM and 100m Breaststroke, and bronze in the 200m Freestyle, 50m Breaststroke and 100m Freestyle, and also placed a close fourth in 50m Freestyle. Tobias qualified for the age Nationals with his time of 5:03.24 in the 400m IM and was very close to the cut in several other events.

Connor will head to Adelaide this Sunday December 3 to compete in the Pan Pacific Schools Games, before he and Tobias will be part of the Fairymead team which will compete at the McDonald’s Queensland Championships in Brisbane from December 9-15. Good luck Connor and Tobias.

Mr Vince Habermann OAM
Teacher Assistant
Learning Enhancement Unit
Vince_Habermann@shalomcollege.com

College News

Music

A Shalom Vocal Ensemble performs at the Aged People’s Shopping Night at Stockland Bundaberg

A Vocal Ensemble comprising eight Shalom students, conducted by Mrs Robyn Edgar, took time out of their exam studies and delighted the crowd of about 170 people from nursing homes from throughout Bundaberg by performing six Christmas Carols at the Rotary Club of Bundaberg Sunrise’s annual Aged People’s Christmas Shopping Night at Stockland Bundaberg on the night of Wednesday November 22. They were accompanied on the keyboard by one of the club’s Exchange students, year 11 student Hsun-Yun “Mona” Fan, who hails from Taiwan and who set the mood for the event by also playing songs for 20 minutes while the guests were arriving and preparing for the arrival of Santa. Country Music rising star and newly graduated Year 12 student Matthew Munro also took the night away from his Schoolies Week at Woodgate to again showcase his amazing talents by performing nine songs.

Mr Vince Habermann OAM
Teacher Assistant
Learning Enhancement Unit
Vince_Habermann@shalomcollege.com

Pioneer Lodge

8A visit with Residents at Pioneer Lodge

Year 8A used their extraordinary culinary skills to make and bake muffins, coconut ice and rum balls last week and package them into Christmas-themed boxes to distribute to the Residents at Pioneer Lodge when they visited on Monday. The students spent a happy hour sharing their goodies and making Christmas cards with the Residents. Rice House has been visiting Pioneer for many years now and the Residents look forward to our visits and my Year 8 class was kind enough to ensure that the Residents got one more special visit in before the school year draws to a close; and the photos show how much the kids’ efforts were appreciated!

Miss Claire Stallard
Rice House Coordinator
Claire_Stallard@shalomcollege.com

White Ribbon Breakfast

Shalom captains for 2018 Briege Taske and Rory Delaney, together with 13 House Leaders, Principal Mr Dan McMahon and five other staff members were guests of the Rotary Club of Bundaberg Sunrise and Bundaberg Rotary Club at the annual White Ribbon Breakfast at Bundaberg Services Club on Wednesday 22 November. A crowd of around 280 gathered for the event, including students of Bundaberg’s six high schools. The White Ribbon is a global movement of men and boys working to end male violence against women and girls. Guest speaker for the event was Ms Edwina Rowan, who is a Partner of Charltons Lawyers and practices in the areas of family law, child protection, domestic violence and criminal law, with a focus on Family Law parenting matters. Ms Rowan is also the Vice-President of the Edon Place Domestic and Family Violence Centre Inc. and an accredited Independent Children’s Lawyer. White Ribbon Australia and Edon Place were the beneficiaries of the event and a raffle which was conducted on the morning. Thank you to the Bundaberg Sunrise and Bundaberg Rotary Clubs for again supporting our students to attend the event.

Mr Vince Habermann OAM
Teacher Assistant
Learning Enhancement Unit
Vince_Habermann@shalomcollege.com

Collection of Textbooks for 2018

Please note the dates and times for collection of textbooks for 2018. These textbooks may be collected from Book Hire in the Goondeel Library during these periods. Also please note that textbooks will not be issued to students who have not returned their 2017 resources. If these hours are unsuitable, collection can be arranged before school ends by contacting me direct on 4155 8111 or email Krystine_Rehbein@shalomcollege.com.

Collection Dates and Times

Monday 4 December to Thursday 7 December 2017, 7:30am to 4:00pm
Friday 8 December – Closed
Monday 8 January to Friday 19 January 2018, 7:30am to 4:00pm.

Book hire is requiring volunteers to clean, repair and re-shelve the hundreds of books being returned at the end of this term. Any help from Monday 13 November would be appreciated. Morning tea is provided as well as lunch if staying longer. If you can assist, please contact me by phone on 4155 8111 or by email – Krystine_Rehbein@shalomcollege.com.

Thanking you.

Mrs Krys Rehbein
Book Hire Coordinator
Krystine_Rehbein@shalomcollege.com

Tuckshop News

New Menu Monday 20 November 2017 until end of Term

Shalom Sunday Markets

Tuckshop Markets Roster

Community Notice Board

Bundy Big Bingo

Thank you for your continued help and support over the last twelve months at our weekly bingo evenings. We appreciate the time you have given to raise funds for the College.

May I take this opportunity to wish you and your family a Happy and Holy Christmas and God’s blessings for the New Year.

The Catholic Parish of Bundaberg – News

Tennis Holiday Clinic

Bundaberg Tennis Academy will be conducting a Tennis Holiday Clinic for children, at Rotary Park Tennis complex, 69b George Street, South Bundaberg by Coaches: Mr Murray Whitbread and Mr Kevin Banner.

Monday 15 January 2018
Tuesday 16 January 2018
Wednesday 17 January 2018
8:30am – 10am (Junior/Beginners 5-12 years)
2:30pm – 5:00pm (High School/Intermediate/Advanced)

To Register and for enquiries, please phone Mr Kevin Banner on 4152 0753 or 0409 520753.

Bookings are essential!

School Holiday Fun at the Moncrieff Entertainment Centre

Paddington Bear Picnic
Activities + Film $8
Friday 19 January 10.30am

Mini Piñata Workshops

Just $5 - Book online at moncrieff-bundaberg.com.au

Sensory Movie Screening – Wonder (PG)

Tuesday 30 January 10am

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Screening from Thursday 28 December
Family Pack of tickets $40 (6 tickets)
Family Candy Bar Deal $28
2 x Large Drinks + 2 x Large Popcorn

Triple P Parenting

The State Government is funding free access to Triple P, which is the world’s most evidence-based parenting program and has helped more than four million children and their parents around the world develop closer, more positive relationships.

Please click on this link, which will take you to the website where you can access information relevant to your situation.

This link will remain in our Newsletter with Triple P sending us regular updates and helpful tips.