24 February 2020

Principal’s Reflection

A week ago the Sunday Mail ran a front page article on ‘Queensland’s Best Schools’. This was followed up on a number of days following by Newscorp owned papers like the Bundaberg Newsmail. Newscorp chose to rank Queensland schools from best to worst using a very narrow piece of data - the percentage of Year 12 students who, in 2019, achieved OP score between one and five. This is a comparatively small number of students across the State as it is only a minority of students across the State who chose an OP eligible course. It is a great result for those who did get a score between one and five and the efforts of those young people should be celebrated. I am just unsure why their achievements are prioritised by the media (and, regrettably, by some school Principals) over the achievements of all those other young people who secured Apprenticeships or Traineeships or got an OP greater than 5 but which got them into the tertiary course of their dreams. Schools are complex organisations and generally, schools do great work with the young people for whom they care. It is one of the huge advances I have seen in schooling that there are now so many courses and options available to young people. There is certainly not a ‘one size fits all’ – thank God! There were a couple of standout examples in the list that the list published by Newscorp. Benowa State High won the Newscorp award for Queensland’s best school. Benowa is a school of 1800 young people. Last year, about 12 of their senior cohort, of about 200, did an OP course. Of those, eight got an OP 1-5 – 73%. That is great for them but I have absolutely no doubt that many of the hundreds of other Benowa kids achieved wonderful successes in so many other areas that were not exalted by the press. On the local front, I believe that Gin Gin State High School was treated unfairly with the press lamenting that their results had gone backwards significantly. Like Benowa, Gin Gin SHS has a relatively small number of their students seeking tertiary entrance through an OP score. That said, for as long as I can remember, Gin Gin SHS has achieved very well academically and they have great vocational pathways for young people. GGSHS students more than hold their weight in sport and are always well presented and display a pride in their school. But none of that will be recognised in the ‘Queensland Best Schools’ as published by our papers. A number of the schools that appeared towards the top of the Newscorp lists are schools that only offer academic courses for their students with little or no interest in enrolling and engaging young people who might want to take a Vocational pathway. I’m not sure that those schools which choose to only offer courses for the academically talented should be considered our ‘best schools’! By way of full and frank disclosure, Shalom came in at about 230 in the State. At the end of last year, I was very proud of the achievements of our Year 12 cohort and of the two young people who scored an OP1 and the other twelve students who were in the OP1-5 bracket. But no more proud than I was of all those many other young people who got OP scores to get them into their desired Uni course or of those young women and men who secured Apprenticeships or pathways that gave them a great start in life. Being a good school or a great school is a challenge every educator should take on but I truly believe the criteria for this standard needs to be far wider and more inclusive than the ‘easy’ statistics which are sometimes grasped by the media.

Ash Wednesday occurs this week. In every House we will have a Liturgy to celebrate the start of Lent. To bring this season to our attention we have traditionally focused on giving up something for lent – ice cream or alcohol or something else that we enjoy. It would be just as meaningful to take on something for Lent. To perform a random act of kindness each day or to go out of our way to be kind or generous or forgiving. Lent asks us to reflect on and act in ways to make the world a better place. Please note that, in our Catholic tradition, we refrain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and the Menu in the Canteen will reflect that tradition.

Yr 12 Induction Liturgy will be held on Thursday commencing at 11.30am. This will be live streamed. Our community will commission our Year 12 students as they undertake their leadership roles in 2020. They will be reminded that leadership is more about service than accolade. They have begun this task well already this year and I have no doubt that they will continue to live up to the high expectations of the Shalom community. We will be very pleased to welcome Bishop Michael to Shalom to lead this ceremony.

Mr Dan McMahon
Principal
McmahonD@shalomcollege.com

Newsletter Articles

Fitness Centre Closure

Please note that the Fitness Centre will be closed to students for the following dates and times. This is due to our qualified supervising staff being either at camp, involved in afternoon sport, scheduled meetings or on leave at these times. We apologise for any inconvenience, but do encourage students to be involved in Wednesday afternoon sport, so hope the impact will be slight on those days.

The Fitness Centre will be closed on the following dates

Tuesday 25 February (closed after school only)
Wednesday 26 February (closed before and after school)
Tuesday 10 March (closed after school only)
Wednesday 11 March (closed before and after school)

Mrs Kim O’Shea-Hard
Assistant Principal – Staff
Kim_Hard@shalomcollege.com

Curriculum

NAPLAN Online

Our students in Years 7 and 9 will undertake NAPLAN Online in May this year for the first time. The online testing can be scheduled over nine days, as opposed to the paper testing which was over four days. Moving to NAPLAN Online brings many advantages, including a test design that offers assessment items tailored to students’ knowledge and current skill level.

Students will also participate in two practice tests scheduled from March 24th to March 26th. This is an excellent opportunity to fine tune any technical and logistical issues, as well as familiarise students and teachers with the online testing process. The practice test is not an assessment of student knowledge and there will be no reporting of student results.

Parents and caregivers of students in these NAPLAN year levels need to be aware of important information relating to privacy, which can be found on the NAPLAN Online Queensland website’s parent information page.

Our Year 7 students will use their laptops for testing whilst Year 9 students will complete testing on Shalom computers in our computer labs. All students MUST have headphones or earphones to undertake the online NAPLAN testing. This is the responsibility of families to ensure that students have their earphones or headphones for all test days. These headphones/earphones must have a 3.5mm standard jack. Wireless headphones (e.g. Apple air pods) are not compatible. If you need to purchase headphones or earphones, we suggest you do this as soon as possible given there is currently a shortage due to factory closures in China as a result of the Coronavirus.

If you have any concerns about NAPLAN online, please contact Megan Munckton, Middle School Coordinator.

Email - Megan_Munckton@shalomcollege.com

Mrs Gail Norris
Assistant Principal – Curriculum
Gail_Norris@shalomcollege.com

Administration

2020 Student Residential Address and Other Information Collection Notice

Dear parents/guardians,

Please find attached the 2020 Student Residential Address and Other Information collection notice distributed by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment. This data is routinely used to inform Commonwealth school education policy, and to help ensure that Commonwealth funding arrangements for non-government schools are based on need, and are fair and transparent.

Could you please ensure that your address and contact details are up-to-date through the Parent Details tab in Parent Lounge to ensure accurate collection of this data?

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

Mission

Ash Wednesday

This Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, that period of time before Easter when we reflect on our lives. It is a time when we are asked to PRAY, GIVE and ACT. This year we are focusing on the ACT of Kindness. Students are encouraged to not only look for opportunities to participate in random acts of kindness but also to identify a need and plan an act of kindness. They can do this individually or as part of a group.

Why not, as a family, take up Kindness for Lent.

The following quote has been shared so many times I can’t find who originally said it, but it is worth repeating…

In a world where you can be anything… Be Kind.

Senior Induction

Please note the Liturgy for the Year 12 Induction will be held on 27 February at 11:30am in the Sports Centre. Parents and care caregivers of Year 12 students should have received their invitations. Please RSVP through the link below.

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

Family Zone Assistance Stall

Need assistance activating your Family Zone or installing onto your devices?

Shalom College is providing free 20 minute appointments to all parents at Shalom College requiring assistance in getting Family Zone set up on their children’s devices on Thursday afternoon this week.

Please go to the link below to book your appointment.

2020 Immunisation program for Year 7 and Year 10

Shalom College is participating in Queensland Health’s annual School Immunisations Program. All Year 7 and Year 10 students will be offered free vaccinations as recommended on the National Immunisation Program to protect against vaccine preventable diseases. In 2020, Year 7 students will be offered human papillomavirus (HPV) and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination. Year 10 students will be offered meningococcal ACWY vaccination.

The vaccinations will be conducted by a team of authorised and registered nurses from OzCare.

The Shalom College 2020 clinic dates are

Round 1 - Year 7 HPV1 & Year 7 dTpa – Monday 16 March and Tuesday 17 March
(note, due to large number of students this clinic is now over two days)

Round 2 - Year 7 HPV2 – Monday 12 October and Wednesday 14 October

Round 1 – Year 10 Meningococcal ACWY – Monday 30 March

Parents are encouraged to ensure their children have breakfast on the morning of the vaccination.

Ozcare will contact all guardians directly to if a student (with a completed and returned consent form) did not attend the Shalom clinic session.

Year 7 and 10 Catch Ups Clinic will be scheduled at Ozcare, date to be advised.

For further information about the School Immunisation Program please call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) or visit the link below or click on the following links; immunisation through the school program

The following resources are also available for you

The Public Heatlh Act 2005 requires the school principal to disclose student ant parent, legal guardian or authorised person information for eligible year 10 immunisation provider if requested.

Year 7 2021

Please note the change of date for the College Open Day – this event will now take place on Friday 20 March.

Students at our Catholic Primary Schools will receive a personalised enrolment package in the early March.

Mrs Georgia Halpin
Community Relations Officer
Georgia_Halpin@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

The Ever-Evolving World of Work

Every year, the Australian Taxation Office releases a report that includes the highest earning occupations in Australia. These are mostly in the medical, legal and financial sectors.

But the nature of work is changing rapidly. This is driven by disruptive technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning and digitalisation.

The change is expected to lead to the complete loss of some jobs (such as those in repetitive, production-line manufacturing), the need for significant re-skilling in other jobs (such as pilots and radiologists) and the creation of completely new ones (such as robot trainers and big data analysts).

A recent survey showed teenagers’ career expectations were still concentrated in ten so-called “20th century” careers. These include doctors, teachers, lawyers and business managers.

Read more on how humans and machines or computers will complement each other and provide new employment opportunities across different sectors here:

Certificate III in Early Childhood Education & Care

This year, Shalom continues our very successful partnership with TAFE offering Certificate III in Early Childhood Education & Care here at the College one day a week. Experienced TAFE trainer, Mrs Jody Richter, currently has 18 students in Years 10-12 enrolled this year.

The number of early childhood roles is expected to grow steadily in Australia and employers will continue to seek qualified staff across a wide range of settings. Certificate III Early Childhood Education and Care is the base level qualification required for employment in this industry, so students will be able to confidently seek employment in a range of entry-level early childhood education and care roles as well opening up options for further studies in this field.

Year 12 students, Bridgette Howard and Lily McCormack enjoying the Childcare course

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

Aquatic Practices Excursion to Monsoon Aquatics

As part of their module on the Great Barrier Reef, Year 12 Aquatic Practices students visited Monsoon Aquatics at the Port, Burnett Heads. This interesting business has licences to harvest coral and marine animals from the wild, and propagates them in their facilities for sale to aquarium retailers both domestically and internationally. Students were informed on how the facility operates, the different types of coral collected, and how they were processed. Monsoon Aquatics are also developing techniques to simulate coral spawning in their tanks, and are growing corals directly from their spawn – a technique which will eventually reduce the need to collect parent coral from the wild.

Thanks go to Jeff and Zoe, marine scientists at Monsoon Aquatics, who gave their time and expertise in presenting to our students, and to Daniel Kimberley, business owner, for allowing our students this relevant and engaging opportunity.

Mr Troy Braund
Aquatic Practices Teacher
troy_braund@shalomcollege.com

Quiet Achiever

Year 11 Student Kendal Dodd is a constant support to her house and PC group, without ever seeking thanks or attention. She is a willing participant in all events and represents the House with pride. Kendal is a successful student, sportswoman and friend within Chisholm House. While she is not always quiet, she is certainly a high achiever!

Mr Aaron Brown
Chisholm House Coordinator
Aaron_Brown@shalomcollege.com

Shalom Colour Fun

Year 8 Camps

Sport

Cycling

Year 11 Student Lauren Godfrey took up track cycling in August 2017 and over this time has gradually developed the skills required to compete at various Qld cycling events at a competitive level.

Lauren has competed in the Bundaberg cycling carnival in 2018, the Rockhampton cup on Wheels in 2018, the Qld track championships in 2019 and the Qld road championships in 2019.

All of these events were in the elite women category, competing against more skilled, older and seasoned riders who have all been riding for a minimum of 8+ years.

Lauren competed in the Cycling Festival International (CFI) event held on the weekend, on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 February, racing in the B grade elite women events.

Lauren achieved 1 win, 2 second places and 3 third places in her respective race.

This is a great achievement for Lauren.

This achievement is worthy of recognition and shows what our young female students are capable of achieving.

Lauren Godfrey

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

Wide Bay Trials – Tennis Success

Shalom should be extremely proud of their representation in the Bundaberg tennis team. Of the eight players who made the Bundaberg tennis team, six were from Shalom. The Shalom players who represented Bundaberg at the Wide Bay trials were: Hamish Corpe, Zain Ali, Lachlan Campbell, Frances Corpe, Caya Akasaka-Marshall and Katie Maher. Each of these students are talented tennis players who should be proud of their efforts in making this team.

Particular congratulations go to Hamish and Frances Corpe who subsequently gained selection in the Wide Bay tennis team. Zain and Lachlan came 5th and 6th in their division narrowly missing out on selection, with Caya and Katie exhibiting some excellent skills on the day.

Hamish once again displayed his exceptional power and consistency to gain the number one spot in the team to lead the Wide Bay charge at the State Titles. This year is his swansong as he is in Year 12. His Wide Bay representation stretches back well into his Primary School years, and has been a superb player and representative of the Wide Bay region in this time.

Frances also exhibited her outstanding talent with a complete performance in a strong field, gaining the number two spot in the Wide Bay team. Frances also has a long history of representation at this level and still has a couple of years left to go.

Good luck to both Hamish and Frances at the State Titles in March.

Katie Maher, Frances Corpe and Hamish Corpe

Mr Brendan Maher
Shalom Tennis Coach
MaherB@shalomcollege.com

BDSSS

Cricket

SHALOM made the perfect start to the BDSSS Cricket season with each of our three teams victorious.

Shalom was the only team to nominate in the Years 11-12 competition, which was therefore cancelled, but our Years 9-10 team accounted for a composite Bundaberg High/Isis/St Luke’s team by 20 runs after recovering from early trouble.

Our two sides in the Years 7-8 division also triumphed with Shalom Red (all year 8’s) staging a great run chase to beat Bundaberg High by six runs, and our Shalom Black (all Year 7’s) reeling in Bundaberg Christian College (BCC)’s total of 43 with 5.3 overs to spare.

With just eight players, the Shalom Years 9-10 side stumbled to 2-12 but reached 5-108, thanks mainly to a superb maiden half-century to No. 3 Matthew Parker, who despatched two sixes and eight fours in his 57.

Then, all seven Shalom bowlers did their jobs, with captain and opener Harrison Johnson setting the standard with 0-10 from his three overs but spinner Zachary Richters making the initial breakthrough and being the only multiple-wicket-taker with 2-10, also from three overs, and our other opener Ned Jenner also contributing with 1-6 from two overs.

Wicket-keeper Grace Trebbin also did a superb job, including taking a brilliant catch to dismiss their dangerman.

In Years 7-8, Bundaberg High, which includes two Queensland representative stars, amassed 4-122 from their 15 overs against Shalom Red, with opener Tobias Lamond snaring 2-11 from three overs.

We replied with 4-128 with River Felstead, who also picked up the other wicket, laying the platform with 26, while fellow opener Logan Eade also did well with 16 on his Shalom debut, Tobias chipped in with a quick-fire 11, No. 4 Oliver Boge posted a polished 32 before being retired, and Simon Millett carried the team home with an also unconquered 19.

Mr Vince Habermann
Years 9-10 Coach
Shalom Cricket coordinator
Vincent_Habermann@shalomcollege.com

Shalom Black Years 7-8

Well done on your first hit out for the school sport season. We restricted Bundaberg Christian College to 3-43 from their 15 overs, before we achieved victory for the loss of just two wickets in 9.3 overs.

Jordan Mather top scored with 15 runs off 15 balls, while James Goodman-Jones had a strong steady hit-out with 10 from 40 balls. Kodee Pole was best with the ball, only conceding two runs and a wide from his two overs, and he also claimed a good catch to take a wicket.

Scores:

Years 9-10: Shalom 5-108 (Matthew Parker 57) d Bundy High/Isis/St Luke’s 3-88 (Zachary Richters 3-0-10-2, Ned Jenner 2-0-6-1).
Years 7-8: Shalom Red 4-128 (Oliver Boge 32ret, River Felstead 26) d Bundaberg High 4-122 (Tobias Lamond 3-0-11-2, River Felstead 2-0-19-1). Shalom Black 2-44 (Jordan Mather 15) d Bundaberg Christian College 3-43.

Mr Troy Braund
Coach
Troy_Braund@shalomcollege.com

Touch Football

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

Uniform Shop

Rugby League merchandise is now in stock and available for purchase:

Training Shirts $31
Training Shorts $34
Rugby League Socks $12

Mrs Leanne Barker
Uniform Shop Co-ordinator
barkerl@shalomcollege.com

Class of 1990 School Reunion

Shalom College Class of 1990, other students’ who attend with us between 1996-1990, teaching staff of Shalom and partners of guests, are all invited and warmly encouraged to attend our Bundaberg Shalom College 30 Year Celebration– Class of 1990 Reunion.

The Main Event

Saturday, 21 March
Spotted Dog Tavern, 217 Bourbong Street, Bundaberg
Starting @ 5.30pm until late

Tickets on sale via Eventbrite

For further details contact Claire Lawrence (Woods) on 0418 147 035.

Catholic Schools Race Day 14 March 2020

Tickets on Sale Now

Tickets are now on sale for the 2020 Catholic Schools Race Day, please click on the link below to purchase your tickets online.

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 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

Catholic Parish Bulletin

Movie Premiere

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.