Western Schools

from Experience Our Difference Term 1 2021 Magazine

Townsville Schools

Good Shepherd Catholic College, MountIsa

NETBALL ACADEMY SUCCESS AT GOOD SHEPHERD

Good Shepherd Catholic College has commenced a Netball Academy in 2021.

It is an elite Junior and Senior development program with the aim to enhance and foster the skills of young athletes to further develop and nurture their netball potential. The Academy aims to build a supportive and inclusive culture of high expectations, performance and leadership; developing the skills and abilities of their athletes by accessing high quality training opportunities and participation at various netball competitions.

Recently the College saw 40 girls trial for the Academy and selected a development squad of 18. Netball Academy Manager, Ms Nikki Dalla Vecchia stated, "It is amazing to see so many students wishing to excel in the sport of netball. There is so much talent amongst young people in Mount Isa and Good Shepherd Catholic College is now in a unique position to further build on that potential.”

St Patrick’s Catholic School, Winton

Students in the upper Primary class at St Patrick’s Catholic School, Winton are having their Science lessons delivered a little differently.

Each week they meet with Dr Andy, an insectologist who lives in Brisbane. Dr Andy is a scientist who has partnered with the school through the CSIRO STEM Professionals in Schools Program to support St Patrick’s teachers in the area of Science. Throughout the term, Dr Andy will help students to study animal needs and behaviours. He will guide students to complete experiments as they develop their own inquiry questions such as, “Do bugs prefer hot or cold temperatures?” and “ How does camouflage help animals in their environment?”

St Joseph’s Catholic School, Cloncurry

Catholic schools are known for offering a holistic education to students, which includes a Pastoral Care Program.

At St Joseph's Catholic School, classrooms have a poster displayed providing ways in which people can show respect to themselves, others and the environment.

With this focus the school provides a holistic education focusing on the spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional and social needs of all students.

In Catholic education, educators continually strive to find Jesus in all things in churches and liturgies, but also the environment, the people we know and the strangers we meet.

The school is known for integrating all facets of life into the daily life of school with students caring for chickens, veggie gardens, as well as looking out for each other. This is all made possible by the hard work and dedication of the school’s amazing staff members who are willing to provide any student with the best possible education experience.

Columba Catholic College, Charters Towers

Columba Catholic College’s Opening Celebration of the Word, where they gather as an entire school body for the first time of the year, took on renewed significance this year as the College unveiled their new Mission Statement.

Throughout the course of 2020, the College undertook a rewriting process that typified belonging as they sought input from the student body via the Student Representative Council, staff from all areas of the college, parents via Catholic School Parents Australia and the College Board.

The resulting statement, a succinct and meaningful representation of who the College is, is now being used to guide the foundations of their work. Their theme for the year, “Arise and Go Out”, was chosen to reflect the call within the Mission Statement to “use their gifts and talents to pursue excellence and to be a ‘Light to the World”. Senior students took inspiration from it as they delivered their senior pledge at the liturgy with a focus on service as well as the core values of Courage, Commitment and Compassion. Columba Catholic College is very much looking forward to a year of putting all of these words into action!

St Francis Catholic School, Hughenden

Recently students at St Francis Catholic School, Hughenden participated in workshops with Sam Savage and the Pillowcase Project.

The Pillowcase Project is a preparedness education program for grades 3-5 that teaches students about personal and family preparedness and safety skills, local hazards, and basic coping skills. Sam led students through a “Learn, Practice, Share” framework to engage them in disaster preparedness and survival skills. At the end of the session the students left with a pillowcase in which to pack their personal emergency supplies and a workbook to help them cope with the emotional stress natural disasters can bring.

St Kieran’s Catholic School, Mount Isa

This year at St Kieran's Catholic School, Co-teaching has become the main strategy for supporting all of the diverse learners.

In 2020, they introduced Co-teaching in a small number of classes and after seeing its success have introduced the Co-teaching model into all of their classrooms. In the Key Learning Areas of Literacy and Numeracy, two teachers work together to support the class.

Co-teaching benefits students by providing increased adult attention, shared expertise and shared responsibility. In 2021, St Kieran’s Catholic School is looking forward to the positive growth and learning experiences Coteaching will provide all of their students.

St Joseph’s Catholic School, Mount Isa

St Joseph's Catholic School provides their students with a range of specialist lessons.

This year, specialisation in The Arts (Music, Drama and Visual Arts), Health, Physical Education and LOTE (Italian) is offered. This term, Arts teacher, Mrs Katrina Woodfield has students playing a range of different instruments in lessons, from bucket drumming to playing the recorder. Students are loving this hands-on experience. The school also offers Health which is taught by Mrs Codie Kemp, PE and PMP which are taught by Miss Stephanie Apap and LOTE (Italian) which is taught by Miss Jo Lynch. The school is also delivering their Deadly Choices program with middle and senior students and this term they have been learning how to cook well balanced meals for their family. Students really are 'experiencing opportunity' at St Joseph's Catholic School, Mount Isa.