18 November 2019

Principal’s Reflection

It’s a tough time being a Catholic in Australia. The only time the Church gets mentioned in the media, it is bad news. Last week, the news of George Pell’s appeal going to the High Court next year was, I guess understandably, not reported positively. The Church has a lot of work to do to regain the trust and confidence of not only Australians generally but all Catholics. It is a shame that some of the great stuff that Pope Francis writes does not get widely reported. He is a real bright light for a besieged Church at the moment. Locally, lots of great work still happens in the Church. Along with Caritas and St Vincent de Paul another wonderful work of the Church is Centacare. They do great work in Bundy and beyond. They do wonderful work with Mental Health, NDIS support and caring for the most vulnerable in the community. Last week I met with a local representative who wanted me to advertise to Shalom families their ‘School Savvy’ programme. Last year this programme was rolled out in Rockhampton. In 2020, it comes to Bundaberg and families who will find it a financial challenge to equip their children for the school year will get assistance. School Savvy CQ will provide extremely low-cost preloved uniforms and essential stationery supplies to families. With the final school term finishing up, the School Savvy team are asking the community to donate any uniforms or good quality stationery to the program. School Savvy CQ will open a week-long pop-up shop in Bundaberg from January 13, 2020. The shop will stock bundles of stationery items and second-hand school uniforms for as little as $1 each. All money from sales will be used to purchase more stationery essentials for the pop-up shop. For families who are currently enduring challenging financial circumstances, the School Savvy pop-up shop operates on an honesty policy and does not discriminate with an eligibility criteria. Any members of the school community who feel that they need financial assistance with managing back to school purchases are welcome to attend the January event. Uniform and stationery donations can be made through the CentacareCQ office at 79 Woongarra Street, or any donation point set up throughout Bundaberg or Bargara. For more information contact CentacareCQ on 1300 523 985 or email schoolsavvy@centacarecq.com.

Please let families you know who might benefit from this know about this programme. The Shalom Markets will donate $2000 to Centacare in support of School Savvy in Bundaberg.

On another issue that might not get the attention it deserves is an article written by Archbishop Mark Coleridge on the issue of Voluntary Assisted Dying. The Archbishop’s letter is well worth a read –

New Classroom Block – hopefully, this building will go to Tender early next month with builders on site in February. This will be a pretty significant construction and we might not get much use of it before the 2021 school year. Two House blocks will move into this new building. We are yet to finalize which two. At our meeting on Friday the Architects gave me two new links that enable you to have an even better look inside and outside –

Walk Through (Internal)

Walk Around (External)

Year 7 Orientation is on Tuesday 19 November commencing at 3.30pm. We are looking forward to welcoming another wonderful group to the College. For those families who are unable to attend on Tuesday, we are running a slightly different programme on Tuesday 26 November commencing at 9.30am.

Enrolment 2020 – please advise the office ASAP of any enrolment changes.

Mr Dan McMahon
Principal
McmahonD@shalomcollege.com

Newsletter Articles

Mission

Year 12 Graduation

On Friday, we said farewell to the wonderful young women and men who have been the Shalom College Year 12 Class of 2019!

Mrs Mary Taylor
Assistant Principal – Mission
Mary_Taylor@shalomcollege.com

Administration

Subject Changes

Students wishing to change elective choices for 2020 are able to do so until 22 November 2019. Year 10-12 students will need to collect a Module Change form from Mrs Ivers while Year 9 students need to see Mrs Munckton. Please note that changes will only be granted for valid reasons and that there is no guarantee that any changes will fit into the 2020 timetable structure.

Year 10 End of Semester Two Examinations

The Year 10 examination timetable is attached below. Please note that Year 10 students must attend school up to and including Thursday 28 November. Students who have taken Specialist Maths have an exam on Friday morning but may leave after this exam. Any student who has outstanding assessment may be asked to attend a ‘supplementary session’ on the Friday to complete this assessment. All other Year 10 students are not required to attend on Friday although there will be supervision at school provided for those students unable to make alternative arrangements.

Parent Lounge

A reminder to parents to regularly log on to Parent Lounge to keep involved with your child’s schooling. Here you can find a wealth of information including report cards, assessment results and the school calendar. If you believe there is an error on Parent Lounge in the due dates, completion of assessment etc, please contact the classroom teacher.

Mr Brendan Maher
Assistant Principal – Administration
maherb@shalomcollege.com

Absentees

FOR ALL ABSENTEES

Preferred option is Email absentees@shalomcollege.com or Phone Absentee line 41558181

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.

Pathways

Graduating Year 12’s Post School Guide

To support Year 12’s in navigating their post-school options the Pathways department has put together the Year 12 Graduates Post-School Guide. This comprehensive resource is full of helpful information including:

Career exploration
Job readiness skills such as resumes, cover letters and interview preparation
Assistance with Finding a Job
Subsidised Training & Incentives
Queensland Government fee-free courses in high priority areas for eligible Year 12’s
Support for young people with a disability
How to apply for a Tax File Number, Medicare and Centrelink

UCAT 2020 – External Exam for Medicine

Students seeking entry into medicine at many universities in 2021 will need to do the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) next year. The University Clinical Aptitude Test is a 2-hour computer-based test admissions test for entry into medical, dental and clinical science degree programmes in Australia and New Zealand. Everything you need to know about the UCAT, including dates, which universities require the UCAT, preparation strategies and test tips is including in the UCAT Handbook.

Students are also encouraged to complete the practice online exam format and questions styles. Download the free UCAT practice paper here:

The Pathways Team
Mrs Liza O’Donnell & Mrs Kathy Laing
Liza_ODonnell@shalomcollege.com
LaingK@shalomcollege.com

Instrumental Music

Final music excursion for 2019

This is be undertaken by Rochford Strings and eight vocal students of Mrs Edgar. The students will perform at The Lakes and Palm Lakes retirement villages Monday 25 November. The vocal students have been rehearsing Christmas songs including Jesus Born On This Day and two Australian Christmas songs.

Awards Night

A special thank you to all students in the Symphony Orchestra and Choir who performed so admirably at the annual Awards Night. Thank you also to our current Year 12 students who were in these groups for their very last performance. All the best for your future and I hope you all continue to participate playing or singing in groups or individually.

Graduation

Thank you to the vocal ensemble for participating at the year 12 graduation by singing the Psalm led by Bella Little, our graduating year 12 singer. I would like to say a special thank you to Bella for her enormous contribution to the choral program during her entire Secondary School life at Shalom College.

Absenteeism

Please email me if your child/ren are not able to attend a rehearsal.

Please do not hesitate to contact me for any query in relation to the Instrumental Music Department.

Mrs Robyn Edgar
Instrumental Music Coordinator
edgarr@shalomcollege.com

Quiet Achiever

Patrick Jay is a mature young man who exemplifies the MacKillop House ethos of living our lives following the ideals of Mary MacKillop. He displays courage, compassion, perseverance, loyalty and tenacity. Patrick is one of the four MacKillop representatives on the newly formed Student Council. He accepts all House responsibilities willingly and is a friendly, polite and reliable student at all times. Patrick is an outstanding role model to all of the members of MacKillop.

Mrs Michelle Moller
MacKillop House Coordinator
MollerM@shalomcollege.com

International Science Competition

In September 49 students from Years 7 – 12 sat the ICAS International Science Competition. Shalom students have been successful with 23 certificates of merit being awarded to our school:

5 students achieved Distinctions (top 10% of all participants), 16 students achieved a Credit (next 25% of participants) and 2 students received a Merit (next 10% of participants). They are to be congratulated for this excellent achievement.

Certificates will be awarded at the final house assembly for the year. All participants are to be congratulated for their effort in the competition.

The winners of all merit awards are as follows:

Distinctions

Year 7

Daniel Cairns, Charlie Dove

Year 9

Renee Tu

Year 10

Joel Clancy

Year 11

Harry Packwood

Credits

Year 7

Bailey Reid, Thomas Stevenson

Year 8

Lily Fenton

Year 9

Sophie Bond, Joshua Booth, Amara Burns, Lucy Halloran, Zali Haster, Samuel Wooldridge

Year 10

Patrick Waters, Ethan Wooldridge

Year 11

Abhash Pathak, Patrick Maher, Daemon O‘Brien

Year 12

Samuel Freeman

Merit

Year 8

Kaitlyn Johnson

Year 10

Avril Davies

Lucy Halloran, Amara Burns, Patrick Maher, Ethan Wooldridge, Samuel Wooldridge and Bailey Reid

National Chemistry Quiz 2020

Year 11 and 12 Chemistry students competed in the Australian National Chemistry Quiz again in 2019. A truly international competition with papers translated into seven different languages, the Quiz attracts students from across Australia and 17 neighbouring countries as well as Austria and Germany. It provides an opportunity to promote chemistry and for the Chemistry teachers to gauge the understanding their students have of the subject. Students who perform well in the Quiz are awarded certificates of merit.

Awards are awarded as follows:

HD Excellence - Award of Excellence for outstanding performance
High Distinction - The top 10% of students in the state
Distinction - The next 15% of students in the state (10% - 25%)
Credit - The next 15% of students in the state (25% - 40%)

Shalom students have been successful with 13 certificates of merit being awarded to our school.

Three students have achieved High Distinctions awards

The winners of the merit awards are as follows:

High Distinctions

Year 11

Jordan Blunt, Rory Frew, Abhash Pathak

Distinctions

Year 11

Michael Doyle, Corey Walton

Year 12

Samuel Freeman

Credits

Year 11

Gina Bowden, Nicholas Creighton, Emma Felstead, Liam Lawler, Morgan Medcalf

Year 12

Bella Little

Participation certificates were presented to the remaining students.

Congratulations to all award recipients.

Mrs Debbie Bishop
Competition Manager
bishopD@shalomcollege.com

Chess Tournament for aspiring Chess Players

The eighth and final Sunday Junior Chess Tournament run by the Bundaberg Chess Club Inc is scheduled for Sunday 24 November 2019 at 9.00 am. John and Elizabeth Harris are the Junior Chess Coordinators for the Bundaberg Chess Club. All enquiries for Junior Chess can be sent to mobile:- 0418686497 or email:- presidentjohn@live.com.au.

Cost will be $8.00/day. A maximum of $16.00 per family, for 3 or more players. The day consists of 6 rounds of competitive chess plus an interesting chess lesson from Mr John Harris. The day will commence promptly at 9.00 am, please arrive 15 minutes early to register. These junior chess tournaments are rated. The tournaments are held at the U3A Building upstairs next to Improvements Gym on Woongarra St. All children need to bring a water bottle and morning tea. The day should conclude approximately 12.20-12.30 pm.

Prizes are given for 1st to 5th place, plus 2 lucky door prizes and 2 prizes for the most interesting chess game. Grand Prix prizes for 2019 will be awarded at this tournament.

Mr Brendan Maher
Chess Coordinator
maherb@shalomcollege.com

Camino Skies Film Screening

Former Shalom College student (Class of 2003), Noel Smyth, co-directed Camino Skies, a documentary about the famous Catholic pilgrimage, the Camino de Santiago. The most commonly walked route is over 700 kilometres from St Jean Pied de Port in France through to the resting place of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. After walking the pilgrimage with my dad in 2016, I’m particularly passionate about sharing stories of the Camino. Camino Skies is an uplifting film about six inspirational pilgrims who embark on the historic walk.

I have teamed up with Fan Force who are aiming to screen Camino Skies at Reading Cinemas on 4 December at 6pm. Tickets are available at this link below and you can read more about Camino Skies here:

Ms Karli Lancaster
Teacher
Karli_Lancaster@shalomcollege.com

Sport

Queensland Selection

Congratulations to Year 7 Student Lucy Hamilton who was selected into QSS 13-15years Girls Cricket Team recently. Awesome effort from a Year 7 student!!

QUEENSLANDAAAAARRRRR!!

Lucy Hamilton

Mr Peter Robinson
Student Welfare
High Performance Program
After School Activities
Peter_Robinson@shalomcollege.com

Rugby League

At the 2019 version of the Br Rochford Futures Challenge played at Shalom on Saturday 9 November, our Shalom Years 10-11 team was confronted with playing two of the best Rugby League schools in the Country: Wavell SHS and St Brendan’s College, Yeppoon; both teams which fished in the top 4 of Queensland in the 2019 NRL Schoolboy Cup.

Before that, our team was required to play the finalists of the NRL Schoolboys Trophy: Bundaberg SHS without several starting players.

In games of four seven-minute quarters, Shalom started slowly against Bundaberg High, who put their stamp on the game with two unconverted tries in the first quarter. After a scoreless second quarter, they clinched the result with one more try each in the third and fourth terms to win 18-0. Halfback Sunny Beatson took out Shalom’s Player of the Match award but he was pipped for Players’ Player by lion-hearted five-eighth Braden Henricksen, while hooker Caileb Dimes topped the tackle count with 14, ahead of Braden Henricksen and second rower Connor Black with 11 each.

Next up against Wavell, despite losing powerhouse forwards Alex and Mack Druce to injury and illness respectively after our first game, Shalom really aimed up and held the Brisbane side to just one try each in the first two quarters, and despite suffering further injuries, we dug very deep to protect our line for the last two quarters to lose just 10-0. The ultra-consistent Connor Black was our Player of the Match but fellow workaholic second rower Aaron Cunnington topped the tackle count with 13 including nine in the first half and also headed the hit-ups with 10 including nine in the second stanza despite suffering a painful shoulder injury. Interchange front rower Caleb Tairawhiti also made a big impact off the bench.

We were bolstered for our third and final game against St Brendan’s by the inclusion of five-eighth Brendan Grills and hooker Kynan Hard after they had finished their Division 1 cricket commitments for the afternoon, they were very welcome additions with many players who had played the first 2 games in hot conditions fatigued, sore, and injured. St Brendan’s turned it on and totally dominated possession in the first half, leading 12-0 at quarter-time and 24-0 at the long break, but they were restricted to just one converted try in the third term. Our boys refused to surrender and scored the only points of the fourth quarter to go down 30-6 with a stunning 90m try by Brendan Grills, breaking the line, then beating five chasers to go all the way, before fullback Bradley Clarke converted. Brendan Grills took out the Player of the Match-Players’ Player double, but Caileb Dimes, moving into the centres, also polled strongly among his peers after topping the tackle count with 13 and also leading the hit-ups with 8, including six in the second half, while Sunny Beatson also completed a very good carnival, giving good direction in attack and also racking up 10 tackles, to finish equal-second with Kynan Hard.

Wavell, who were coached by former Shalom Confraternity star of 2002-03 Paul Stanley, whose mother Helen, a former Deputy Principal of the College who is still a relief Teaching Staff member, went on to win the grand final, scoring two converted tries in the last 3 minutes to defeat St Brendan’s 24-18 in a classic contest.

Across each of the games, the Shalom players learnt a lot about what is required to compete with more established programs. They improved as the day progressed, never taking a backward step against any opponent faced. All players showed the beginnings of a hardened core which will need to be on display consistently during next year’s season as we look to play this calibre of opponent on a regular basis.

Caileb Dimes and Caleb Tairawhiti showed lots of talent during the games played, as did Connor Black, Braden Henricksen and Brendan Grills, in his one game.

We look forward to our next game against Mountain Creek SHS on Monday the 18 November.

Mr Neil Feather
Coach
Neil_Feather@shalomcollege.com

Rowing

Congratulations to Grace Pashley (Junior Member of the Year) and Rod Silcox (Coach of the Year) on receiving their awards at the annual Bundaberg Rowing Club Dinner for 2019.

Mr Simon Gills
Sports Coordinator
GillsS@shalomcollege.com

Next Step

Next Step is a statewide post-school destination survey of all students who complete Year 12 in Queensland. Insights gained from Next Step assists schools to review and plan their services for students, and school system personnel to evaluate education policies as they affect the transition from school to further study and employment.

This year's students will be invited to complete the Next Step survey in March 2020.

Further information about Next Step is available at the link below To provide feedback,

I invite you to contact Mr Adam Horsten, Principal Statistical Officer, Department of Education, by email at nextstep@qed.qld.gov.au or on (07) 3513 6868.

Uniform Shop

Opening Hours

Open extended hours

25 November – 11 December 2019

8:00am – 4:00pm
Closed 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Closed

12 December 2019 – 12 January 2019

Re Open extended hours

13 January – 30 January 2020

8:00am – 4:00pm
Closed 12:00pm – 1:00pm

The Uniform Shop will return to normal trading hours as of Monday 3 February 2020

For appointments please book online via the link below.

A limited supply of Shalom Umbrellas are available for purchase at $35 each, along with Insulated Cups and Travel Mugs for $15.

Payment options include: - Cash, Eftpos or Credit Card via phone.

Students will be emailed when their uniform is available for collection.

All enquiries please call Leanne on 41 558 121 at the Uniform Shop.

Mrs Leanne Barker
Uniform Shop Manager
barkerl@shalomcollege.com

Catholic Schools Race Day 14 March 2020

As the year is coming to a close it is time to start putting in Event Dates for next year, the start of a new decade. Our 2020 Race Day event will be our 15th. How time flies. For those who are new to our Schools and aren’t aware of our annual event, a committee of past and present Parents and Teacher representatives from our three Catholic Primary Schools and Shalom College combine to organise a relaxed and classy get together at Thabeban Park Racecourse.

The day is full of activity with the running of five local Races, Fashion Parade, Fashions of the Field competition, a huge Raffle with a bundle of excellent prizes, all under the comfort of our Private Marquee area with two bars catering for our 500 guests. Food supplied throughout the day is catered for by students, staff and volunteers from Shalom and the Bars and Gate are manned by volunteers from all four Catholic Schools. It is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends from the past and present of our Catholic School community and all money raised on the day is donated directly to the four schools for special projects of their choice. We have many very generous sponsors, some who have been supporting our event for its entire 14 years, and without them, along with our many volunteers, the day would not be the success it is.

At our upcoming event, the past students from Shalom, the 2010 and 2000 Year 12 cohorts are celebrating their 10 and 20 Year Reunions. Past students from the 1990 cohort are celebrating their 30 Year Reunion a week later here in Bundaberg, but also are welcome to double up on their celebration and join us at Thabeban Park.

I can be contacted on my Mobile 0419787279, or alternatively Mrs Teresa Cameron at Shalom College on 41558137 if there are any enquiries in relation to our Race Day regarding sponsorships, volunteering or ticket sales. Any past students looking for information in relation to their 10, 20 or 30 year reunions can contact the following representatives through the Facebook pages set up for their event or phone:

2010 Kurt Dempsey 0498 066 555
2000 Nadine Zunker 0409 060 366
1990 Claire Lawrence (nee Woods) 0418 147 035

Mr Peter O’Beirne
Catholic School Race Day Committee
Mobile 0419787279

Date Claimers

Term Dates for 2019

Term Dates for 2020

Breakfast

Breakfast is now available in the tuckshop for purchase each morning 8:00am – 8:30am.

Items include

• Bacon & Egg Muffins - $3.50
• Ham & Cheese Croissant - $3.50
• Porridge & Cereal - $3 (self-service option with milk and bowl & cutlery are supplied)
• Fresh Fruit - $1 (seasonal fruits such as; Bananas, Apples, Mandarins etc.)
• Plus, the already available items of Yoghurt Pots, Up n Go drinks & Flavoured Milk

Students who train before school need to consider utilising the breakfast menu to replenish energy lost during their training sessions, however must be dressed appropriately before entering the tuckshop and must not be late for class.

Tuckshop Roster

Shalom Sunday Markets

New Stallholders Welcome – Please contact Peter Barone 0438 446 269

Markets Tuckshop Roster

We are in need of more volunteers for the Markets Tuckshop, if you are available to help out please contact Leanne via email – barkerl@shalomcollege.com

Markets BBQ Roster

Community Notice Board

Pageant of Lights

Drivers College

Drivers College is offering pre and novice learner driver education with their two-day Pathway to Safer Driving in the upcoming holidays. The program costs $200 for school students and the program will be run on two separate days a week apart. Individual bookings and gift certificates are available by contacting our office. Dates available are;

Monday 9 & Friday 13 December 2019
Monday 16 & Friday 20 December 2019
Monday 15 & Friday 19 January 2020
Monday 22 & Friday 26 January 2020

For bookings in late November and the first week of December, dates are available on request.

Give your teen the best start to their driving experience with our intensive driver education.

Contact Diana on 41 811 773 or email info@driverscollege.org.au

Breast Screen Queensland

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.