St Saviour's College Newsletter 2022 - Term 3 Week 4

Principal

Musical Fever

We are so excited about tonight’s College Musical. Months of effort on the part of the production team, cast and crew has culminated in what I am certain is going to be a wonderful, celebratory and polished production. Many, many thanks to the team of staff who have pulled this together including Mrs Jennifer Potter, Ms Kara Jensen, Ms Kate Hudson-James, Mrs Wendy Collins, Mrs Berni Gray, as well as Mrs Kerri Prentice, Ms Jo Stewart and Mr Wes Irwin. Thanks also to 2021 alumnae, Emily Cavanagh, for her support with the choreography and Mr Vince Donovan for his work with light and sound, and finally, to our wonderful Mercy girls and the boys from St Mary’s College who form the cast and crew. Musicals are such a wonderful way to shine the light on the talented and giftedness of our students and I couldn’t be prouder of their dedicated commitment to perform in the Musical to bring joy to the lives of others. There are still tickets available via the following link.

As I shared on assembly this week, there are many takeaways from the story shared in our musical, and we can draw wonderful parallels to Scripture.

1. The main character does not need all the trappings for happiness.
   “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” (Luke 12: 25)
2. The female lead character eventually stops caring about what other people think – she chooses self-love and is set free from everything that held her back, which leads to her finding her ‘happy ever after’.
   “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  (Joshua 1: 9)
3. Focus on pursuing authentic relationships with both people and nature.
   “And God saw everything that he had made and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1: 31)
4. Never judge anyone by what you first see. It takes time to form truthful and trusted relationships.
   “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.”  (Matthew 7: 1-2)
5. You don’t have to censor yourself just to fit in. Accept and own your differences.
   “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12: 2)
6. You never know what someone is dealing with. Lead with kindness always.
   “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4: 32)
7. Love can bloom in unlikely places.
   “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3: 14)

(Adapted from: 7 Lessons that …… taught us)

Mercy Girl for a Morning

Next week, we host our second ‘Mercy Girl for a Morning’. If you know of any girls from Years 5 to Year 9 who may be interested in experiencing a morning at St Saviour’s College, please lead them to this link.

Sport and SSC

St Saviour’s and our Mercy Girls value sportsmanship and fair play. Any behaviours or conduct that sit outside of this do not comply with our ‘SSC Sports Charter’ and are not at all tolerated by the College and will be dealt with according to our College Behaviour Support processes. At St Saviour’s we pride ourselves on having ‘pride in the badge’ and the wearing of our uniforms reflect our mercy values. Many thanks to our Sport Middle Leader, Mr Greg Leathart, coaches and teams who represent our College so well across a variety of sports. Presently, we have had teams involved in Touch, Netball, Rugby League, Volleyball and Basketball. In addition, we are looking forward to our College Athletics Carnival at O’Quinn Street on Tuesday 16 August.

Leadership Forum

On Sunday, I will be travelling out to Cunnamulla with other Principals and personnel from the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office (TCSO) to engage in professional learning and development until Wednesday. It is always a great learning experience and an opportunity to spend valuable collegial time with the 30 other Principals from the diocese. Thank you to the TCSO for providing this opportunity and to Mrs Jess Wade and Mrs Heather Hagemann who will be deputising in my absence.

Blessings for the weeks ahead.

Sharon Collins
Principal

Deputy Principal - Curriculum

In my reading this week, I came across an excellent article from The Learning Scientists (https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2020/4/2-1) The article explores the concept of metacognition as a superpower and posits that it is the metacognitive and self-regulatory skillset that sets apart really robust and  successful learners from their peers.

Whilst often defined simply as thinking about thinking, metacognition is actually more poweful: it’s the act of thinking about your thinking and applying that “supervisory thinking” to regulate your cognition and manage future behaviour so that you can achieve whatever goals that are relevant to the current target of your focus. So, it’s actually the self-regulation component that is the key to why it is so powerful. Metacognition enables you to quality-control your thinking and reasoning and then redirect your cognition and behaviour to improve your chances of successfully achieving your goals.

In order to deliberately employ metacognition, we need to harness our inner voice. It’s often funny when I talk about my inner monologue with students, sometimes they look at me like I’m crazy – yes everyone talks to themselves and everyone hears a voice in their head! Brain science tells us that our inner voice is actually part of our working memory and if we can direct it efficiently, we can learn more effectively.

It means training ourselves to ask these kinds of questions as we are learning:

Check for understanding:

• Do I fully understand this?
• Can I break this down into smaller parts?
• How would I explain this to a child?
• Can I succinctly explain this?

Link to Prior Knowledge:

• Does this remind me of anything else I have learned in another subject?
• Can I think of any practical examples of this?
• Where else have I come across this idea?
• Who else has tried to teach me this before?
• How certain am I that this is true and correct?
• Does this relate to anything else that I already know?
• How difficult was it for me to grasp this?

Forming Connections

• If this is a WHAT, then can I explain the WHY?
• How can this information be applied in my life?
• Why is this important to know?
• What else would I like to learn about this subject?

The Search for Bias, Manipulation and Truth

• How does this fit in with the rest of what I know about this subject?
• Is this information reliable?
• Is this totally believable?

Planning to succeed

• What are my first steps?
• What should I do next?
• Where do I want to be by the end of this hour, this day, this week?

Independence

• Where can I find more information about this?
• Can I find a different explanation somewhere?
• Where can I get help? (book, buddy, brain, boss)

Metacognition is critical in everyday life and is essential for all sorts of problem-solving and goal-directed behaviours. It is a life skill that everyone should aspire to master.

Academic Award Recipients

Last Thursday we commended our Gold, Silver and Bronze award recipients at our Academic Awards Ceremony. I offer my commendation to these students on their pursuit of excellence, diligence and success and thank all parents and grandparents for their presence on the day.

GOLD AWARD

SILVER AWARD

BRONZE AWARD

EEPP

Year 12 students are reminded that External Examination Preparation Program registrations are now open. Students can opt into as many or as few subjects as they wish. By completing the EEPP Registration form you are securing your place. Please make sure that you select the subject or subjects you wish to attend.

Jessica Wade
Deputy Principal - Curriculum

Assistant Principal - Mission and Student Wellbeing

Faith and Mission

Catholic Education Week

Last week we celebrated the much-awaited Catholic Education Week and gathered to celebrate the launch with a National Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Tuesday. As committed people of faith, who are called to nurture communities of faith, hope and love, we are ever mindful of God’s active participation in our lives. Archbishop Coleridge joined with Bishop Robert McGuckin, Fr Michael and his team to preside over the national Mass. Our College Choir, the Saviour’s Sisters, conducted by Mr Jed Burley and accompanied by Fr Nathan, were invited to sing in the mass. Mr Chris Grierson and Miss Kate Hudson-James, two of our talented College staff, also provided musical accompaniment in the celebrations. We were honoured to be a part of the celebrations for the launch. Faith, love and hope were most certainly experienced as we walked gently beside one another during this week.

Bishop’s Inservice Day

On Friday during Catholic Education Week, we came together as a Diocese to celebrate our annual Bishop’s Inservice Day. With some of the virtual sessions hosted by the Toowoomba Catholic School staff, it was a day of meaningful connection, prayer and camaraderie. The keynote speaker was Brother Damien Price who spoke to the topic of ‘Be the change 22’. Br Damien is a Christian Brother of the Oceania Province, who has taught for over thirty years in schools throughout Queensland. Damien has been involved in working with disadvantaged youth, homeless men and women, refugees and asylum seekers. Damien’s evidence-based research on service learning is an instrumental component of the TCS senior secondary Religious Education program, Living Water. He is very much in touch with the daily challenges of school life and reminded us of the significance and meaning of our Catholic schools. We are blessed to have Br Damien join us this year to celebrate our Catholic identity.

Youth Ministry

Vinnies Annual Winter Sleepout at UniSQ 

Girls from our Youth Ministry and Praxis teams had a chilly but fun night building cardboard houses for the people who were sleeping out overnight last Friday, to raise awareness about, and donations for those who experience homelessness in Toowoomba. Thank you to Charlotte, Bianca, Sandrine, Kiara, Maryam, Sarah and Chappy Cath for braving the cold to attend! We were also joined by Samir from St Mary’s College, who was a whiz at building the houses - thanks for your help! Reports are that over 500 people identify as homeless currently in Toowoomba. However, this figure is considered to be under reported. Over $10,000 was raised for the Sleepout event, with St Vincent de Paul raising over $2,000. The collegiality and enthusiasm with which the girls participated in this year’s event was wonderful. Once a Mercy Girl…!

Student Wellbeing

Harry Potter’s Birthday – Funday Friday!

As we close on our Catholic Education Week and Bishop’s In Service Day celebrations, our creative team are busily preparing for Potters birthday this Friday, 12 August! The Owlery will be open during Homeclass time and run through until the end of the day. Diagon Alley will open at break times, and we will have our Quidditch match during sport time. This is also the day we welcome some prospective Mercy Girls, as we are also hosting our Mercy Girl for a Morning event. Dublin Place will be magically transformed for the day, to provide some fun and wonderfully creative activities and stalls to celebrate Harry’s special day – our visitors will certainly have a jam-packed day!

Parent Engagement

The Daniel Morcombe Foundation Website

Visit https://danielmorcombe.com.au/safe-bedrooms/ to access this helpful and informative resource for parents and carers and their children and teens. Safe Bedrooms is a suite of resources which equips parents and carers with the tools to lock predators out. Online grooming can happen to any child. However, 97% of Australian parents and carers hadn’t previously considered online grooming a threat. Safe Bedrooms provides information for parents and carers on how to recognise, react and report online grooming. Through the series of videos and resources, parents and carers can learn about the warning signs of online grooming, how to protect their children and what to do if they are concerned about a child. By becoming informed, parents and carers can keep their children safe online.

Behaviour Support

The College also employs a best practice model of engaging with families and to provide a restorative approach to conflict within the community. Our College Pastoral Program embeds the PERMAH approach to wellbeing, with a Catholic lens of our Core Values. Our Wellbeing team actively encourages:

• Partnerships with other schools (St Mary’s College, St Saviour's Primary School. Our Mercy partner schools and other Toowoomba Diocesan and Catholic Colleges).
• Family Engagement by invitation to our regular College events, our fortnightly newsletter, social media platforms (check out our Facebook and Instagram pages!)
• Strong community ties with local support and social justice agencies such as Toowoomba Transition Support Services, St Vincent de Paul, Protea Place, St Patrick’s Parish.
• Intervention and Postvention strategies on campus for identification and referral for students who may need support, across all year levels.
• A supportive Wellbeing Team, trained and with experience in restorative practices and mental health and wellbeing, consisting of:

Assistant Principal: Mission and Student Wellbeing, Mrs Heather Hagemann
Email: heather.hagemann@twb.catholic.edu.au

Middle Leader Student Wellbeing, Mrs Juanita Doherty
Email: juanita.doherty@twb.catholic.edu.au

Middle Leader Student Wellbeing Support, Mrs Megan Schulze
Email: megan.schulze@twb.catholic.edu.au

A fulltime Psychologist in the role of College Counsellor, Ms Renee Hunter
Email: renee.hunter@twb.catholic.edu.au

A College Chaplain, Wednesday to Friday, Ms Catherine Skuse
Email: catherine.skuse@twb.catholic.edu.au

A Cultural Liaison Champion, Monday to Friday, Ms Amii Brown
Email: amii.brown@twb.catholic.edu.au

Useful Wellbeing and Support Links for Students

Beyond Blue is one of Australia’s best known mental health and wellbeing support organisation. They provide support programs to address issues related to depression, suicide, anxiety disorders and other related mental illnesses. Along with a comprehensive website, the beyond Blue Support Service provide 24/7 phone support, Chat online 1pm-12am / 7days a week, email support and a range of community chat forums 1300 22 4636 www.beyondblue.org.au

Kids Helpline is a free Australian telephone and online (webchat and email) counselling service for young people aged between 5 and 25. 1800 55 1800 https://kidshelpline.com.au 

1300 MH CALL: Mental health access line

1300 MH CALL (1300 642255) is a confidential mental health telephone triage service that provides the first point of contact to public mental health services to Queenslanders. 1300 MH CALL is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and will link to the caller’s nearest Queensland Public Mental Health service.

https://www.qld.gov.au/health/mental-health/help-lines/1300-mh-call

eheadspace provides free online and telephone support and counselling to young people 12 - 25 and their families and friends. 

Call 1800 650 890, 9am-1am AEST / 7 days a week. https://headspace.org.au/eheadspace/ 

Student Reminders of College Guidelines and Expectations

Use of Mobile Phones and Earbuds

As per the guidelines outlined in the College Student Planner, students are not to use personal electronic devices (mobile phones or earbuds) at school, within the hours of 8.30am – 3.00pm, without permission from the Principal. Any device found switched on in the possession of a student while they are at school will be confiscated and the parent/carer will be contacted by the office. The electronic device can then be collected by the parent/carer at the end of the school day. The instruction is clear and Homeclass teachers spent a good deal of time ensuring this was clearly communicated during the start of year Housekeeping session in Week 1. Students have all been asked to sign pages of the Guidelines in their Student learning Journals to indicate their compliance. These can be found on page 8, so please discuss these with your child. We trust that parents and carers are supporting the address of this matter from home, by encouraging our girls to comply with College Guidelines. 

Out of Bounds Areas

The Student Learning Journal (diary) has a clear, colour-coded map of the College grounds, indicating areas which are out of bounds, as well as areas in which students must have adult supervision. I have given several reminders on Assembly to students and staff about this in recent weeks, so please review the Learning Journal to ensure compliance with this document.

Bullying (inclusive of cyberbullying)

There is no place for bullying at St Saviour’s College. Bullying is a repeated pattern of behaviour which includes name-calling, taunting, mocking, making offensive comments, kicking, hitting, pushing, theft, inappropriate text messaging, sending offensive or degrading images by phone or internet, producing offensive graffiti, gossiping, excluding people from groups and spreading hurtful and untruthful rumours.

Cyberbullying is a repeated pattern of behaviour defined as ‘the aggressive, intentional act carried out by a group or individual, using electronic forms of contact repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself’. St Saviour’s College is committed to promoting responsible and positive use of social media sites.

Winter Uniform

The uniform requirements are as follows:

• White long-sleeved blouse with red piping
• College striped skirt (*below the knee)
• Red tie with College badge pinned in the centre
• College green blazer (optional)
• College white formal hat
• Black stockings (opaque)
• Black leather lace up shoes (no buckles, casual styles, raised heels or coloured stitching)

* It is important that students are conscious of their skirt length remaining below the knee. This may require letting down the hem, to allow for a growth in height.

What is not acceptable:

• Makeup or other cosmetics
• Earrings other than one, in each lower earlobe
• Earrings other than one pair of plain sleepers or studs; no ‘decorative’ earrings
• Earrings larger than 5mm
• No other jewellery apart from a plain wristwatch
• Coloured nail polish
• Fake nails
• Headbands with bows or any other detail
• Unnatural hair colours or styles
• Hair extensions
• Black socks

“All laugh and pray together not one cold, stiff soul appears.”
Catherine McAuley, circa 1830

For every day, I give thanks – God bless.

Heather Hagemann
Assistant Principal - Mission and Student Wellbeing

Library

Welcome

This term keeps moving along at a rapid pace. So much is happening in the coming weeks, coming off our Library and Information week, more events just keep running!

What's Happening in the Library?

Harry Potter’s birthday celebrations!

We are celebrating Harry Potter’s birthday (maybe a little after July 31 but still close!). The library is turning into Flourish and Blotts – come along and try a quiz – check out the different ‘magical’ sections of the library. What house are you? Find out which house you below to and what your characteristics are…

Book Week is coming…

Each year since 1945 the CBCA has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week. During this time schools and public libraries spend one glorious week celebrating books and Australian children's authors and illustrators. Classroom teachers, teacher librarians and public librarians create colourful displays, develop activities, run competitions and tell stories relating to a theme to highlight the importance of reading.

Dress Up Day August 26

Come dressed up with the theme “Dreaming with eyes open…” linked with a book character. Prizes are for best homemade costume, most recognisable character, most original costume + more!

Costumes are to be school appropriate and sun-safe. There is no need to purchase a costume, we love costumes derived from what you already have in the closet at home. More information to come soon.

ID Cards to Borrow from the Library

As all students should have been issued with their ID cards, this is a great way to make it easier to borrow resources from the library. Please have your ID card with you and pass it over at the front desk to be scanned.

TLs and their Importance in Schools

Develop and support an inquiry-based learning culture.

“Teacher librarians are strong advocates of inquiry learning based n inquiry process models. The use of these inquiry process models and the emphasis on questioning indicates that teacher librarians have evolved their practice from an information literacy or information-seeking focus to a more holistic inquiry focus.” (Lupton, 2010).

Taken from Kay Oddone’s Visual Literature Review

Allowing students to develop their inquiry skills also means having appropriate resources available. Appropriate can be a physical copy or an online copy of information for students and teachers; having these resources is an integral part of a TL’s role, and something that is continually being monitored and updated as teachers adapt their units and students with different learning needs arrive and journey through the school. This involves keeping the online library catalogue https://au.accessit.online/STS03/#!dashboard updated and subject links created and reviewed. This is a work in progress and has long term ramifications.

Date Claimers:

August 12: Harry Potter’s Birthday celebrations

August 20-26: Book Week – Dreaming with eyes open…

August 26: Book Week Quiz and Dress up day

Andrea King
Teacher Librarian

From the Careers Centre

ACU | Year 12 Revision Webinars

Chemistry: Monday 22 August 2022, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

English: Tuesday 23 August 2022, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

General Maths: Wednesday 24 August 2022, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Maths Methods: Thursday 25 August 2022, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Legal Studies: Monday 29 August 2022, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Study of Religion: Tuesday 30 August 2022, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Join ACU for this free online webinar run by experienced Year 12 exam markers and assessors. They’ll guide you through how to respond to possible exam questions, help you get your head around the content to deepen your understanding, and offer plenty of tips and strategies along the way. You’ll also have an opportunity to get your questions answered during a live 30-minute Q&A.
Find out more: https://www.acu.edu.au/about-acu/events/year-12-revision-webinars/qld

SBA Sign Up – Madison Smith

Congratulations to Madison Smith (pictured with Steven Paull and Jessica Wright of BigDog Support Services) who has commenced a Certificate III in Individual Support school-based traineeship.

Pathways Information Afternoon

St Saviour’s College held their annual Pathway Information Afternoon on Monday 25 July. This allowed the opportunity for providers of alternate senior pathways, that partner with St Saviour’s College, to engage with students of Years 9 - 11 and their parents face-to-face. Exhibitors included the Academy of Fitness and High Performance, USQ Headstart, UQ Skills - UQ Skills Enquiries, the Australian Defence Force, the Toowoomba Catholic Schools SBA Office, the College for Australian Early Childhood Educators Pty Ltd and Mater. Mr Chris Grierson, Career Development Practitioner and Mrs Jessica Wade, Deputy Principal, presented to students regarding all the wonderful opportunities available within their senior pathways.

USQ - Toowoomba Open Day: Sunday 21 August 2022 at 10.00am

Explore all the USQ Toowoomba campus has to offer - this is where it’s all happening for Open Day 2022. See careers in action and participate in hands-on activities that will get you excited to start studying. Get your questions answered by the team of lecturers in the Refectory or attend the information sessions to find out more about your area of interest. Discover what it’s like to study on campus and check out all the student clubs, leadership opportunities or sporting teams you could join. Tour the three on-campus residential colleges and find out what it’s like to live on-campus.

Details and registration: https://usq.edu.au/events/2022/08/open-days-2022/open-day-twb

ACU | Talk with Psychologists: Wednesday 14 September 2022, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm, Online

A career in psychology will allow you to explore the human mind and behaviours, and improve outcomes for a range of people in the community. Join us online to hear from ACU alumni about their experiences working as psychologists. Take part in a Q&A session with our graduates and learn what it is like to provide meaningful insight and support to others, when they need it most.

Find out more: https://www.acu.edu.au/about-acu/events/2022/september/talk-with-psychologists

Defence Careers Virtual Information Session: Are you interested to learn about the wide range of roles available in the Navy, Army and Air Force? Join an upcoming info session and speak with current serving members to see which Australian Defence Force career is best suited to you. Time: 6:00pm. Location: Online
Details and Registration: https://www.defencejobs.gov.au/events/events-detail/ozoscbd

Saturday 6 August 2022: ACU - Brisbane Open Day: Deciding what to study is a pretty momentous decision. That’s why they run Open Day – it’s everything you need, in one place, to help make your choice. This year ACU are running both on-campus and online Open Days. The choice is yours – immerse yourself in the campus atmosphere or join us online from the comfort of home. 10:00am at the ACU Brisbane Campus.
Details and Registration: https://openday.acu.edu.au

Study Assist: Applying for tertiary education after secondary school?

Get your head around the fee structures and get HELP!

• Before you study
• Student payments
• VET student loans
• Commonwealth Supported Places

Competitions

MyState Student Film Festival: The MyState Student Film Festival is back again for another year of fun, creativity and exploration. You can enter an original short film in whatever genre you like — drama, comedy, action, documentary, animation or even a music video. The story, setting, plot and style are all completely up to you. Entry to the MyState Student Film Festival is free and students from Kindergarten to University are eligible to submit their films and have the chance to share in thousands of prizes. Entries close 21 October. Find out more and enter here:  https://www.mystatefilmfestival.com.au/the-festival/festival-information/

More than just a job, with a Queensland school-based apprenticeship or school-based traineeship you will:

• Obtain a pathway from school to work
• Gain the edge you need to get started in your career
• Obtain real world skills and knowledge
• Combine practical paid work with training
• Earn an income while you learn
• Build your confidence and communication skills
• Take a steppingstone to higher education
• End up with a nationally recognised qualification
• Achieve credits towards your Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE)

Before your start your SAT, there’s a few things to consider first:

• Does it fit ‘your plan’?Apprentice and trainees may only access a maximum of two government-funded training contributions. It is important that students (and their parents or guardians) consider if the SAT is appropriate and relates to the student’s future chosen career.
• Do you have support from your school?Discuss how a school-based apprenticeship or traineeships may assist with Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) points and underpin tertiary study.
• Will you have work / school / training / life balance?Develop strategies to balance the additional workload of school, work and training.
• Have you got transportation options?Work hours may be different, do you still have reliable transport to and from work?

What happens when you finish school but not your training?

Some students complete their traineeship while at school. All school-based apprentices and some school-based trainees however will finish school without having completed their training requirements. To complete your qualification, you’ll need to convert your working arrangements to either a full-time or a part-time level.

Careers & Jobs
Explore Careers Career Quiz

Explore Careers has created a free quiz to help you discover the Australian industries and careers that are right for you. This quiz is unique because the results will tell you about real Australian companies that you could work for. Explore Careers have partnered with hundreds of Australian employers to help high school students learn what job suits them. Take the quiz here: https://explorecareers.com.au/career-quiz/

Chris Grierson
Career Development Practitioner