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News Stories
Our 2021
GOOD GOOD NEWS NEWS STORIES STORIES
Gilroy Santa Maria College INGHAMGilroy Santa Maria College Holy Spirit Catholic School
We held our Annual Awards night to acknowledge the outstanding academic achievements of our students in 2021
on Thursday, 21 October. At Gilroy Santa Maria College, we value both Academic and Vocational Education for our students. To celebrate these achievements, two special awards were presented during the night, the Excellence in Vocational Education and Training Award and the College Scholar of the Year Award.
The Excellence in Vocational Education and Training Award is presented to a student who demonstrates initiative and excellence in this field.
The College Scholar of the Year is an award that acknowledges and celebrates the outstanding academic and industrious achievements of the top achieving year 12 ATAR student. This student has the highest combined score across their best five ATAR contributing subjects, inclusive of all assessments to the end of Term 3. We will be waiting to announce the Year 12 Dux award until the beginning of the year Induction Mass when all results have become available. This announcement will follow the release of Subject results by QCAA and the ATAR scores by QCAT in late December.
2021 Excellence in Vocational Education and Training Award
Joe Exelby
2021 College Scholar of the Year
Darcie Spina YOUNG VINNIES GROUP
In 2021, a dedicated group of students once again formed a “Vinnies group” and came up with ideas on ways to help our community throughout the year. With the help of Mrs Rita Martin, our Young Vinnies group arranged “Cook Ups” to make meals to donate to the Hinchinbrook Community Support Centre. Students happily gave up their time after school to do this. These meals were then distributed to those in the community who may be experiencing difficulties.
Holy Spirit Catholic School CRANBROOK
Excited and relieved perhaps best described the beginning of the 2021
school year. We were excited to know that events cancelled in 2020 were back on the calendar for this year.
Year one parents and carers became a priority, as they had missed the opportunity to meet other parents and enjoy the luxury of helping in the classroom and at school events. A ‘Catch Up Cuppa’ and an afternoon of classroom activities was organised to allow parents to get to know each other and offer some Holy Spirit hospitality.
The date for the Holy Spirit Fete, one of the favourite community events, was set and plans were in motion. The fete proved to be a wonderful celebration drawing together current and past students, their families and staff members. It was a night of reconnection as the young and more experienced in life enjoyed a night out.
The return of 'The Festival of the Arts' allowed our students to showcase their musical and theatrical talents. Family members and friends applauded the progress of the students who also performed at the Holy Spirit Parish celebration.
NAIDOC Celebrations and the Colour Run were undoubtedly included in the crowd-pleasing events this year. Thanks to the generosity of staff members and parents, these events were midyear highlights for the students.
We are grateful to see the return of events that help our Holy Spirit Catholic School Community to grow and thrive and look forward to a bigger and better 2022!
Camps and excursions are an integral part of teaching and learning at St Benedict’s.
The experiences gained during field trips enhance the curriculum by giving relevance and meaning to learning, often foster bonds between students and teachers as they work together, allow for new experiences, and are highly engaging and motivating. St Benedict’s has developed partnerships with many different community organisations to implement excursions that are both engaging and enhance the curriculum. This year, students at St Benedict’s have participated in the following excursions:
Prep:
• Sacred Heart Cathedral with Sister Judy • Pete the Sheep Performance at the Civic Theatre
Year 1:
• Townsville Museum and
Historical Society • Billabong Sanctuary
Year 2:
• St Margaret’s Creek Farm • Charlotte’s Web Performance at the Civic Theatre
Year 3:
• JCU Library (Eddie Koiki Mabo Timeline Wall) and TropEco Community Gardens
Year 4/5/6:
• Port of Townsville Tour and Police Maritime Water Police
• Magnetic Island Apex Camp Along with excursions and camps, classroom visitors are also highly valued at St Benedict’s. This year, some of the partnerships welcomed into the school have been the Townsville District Beekeepers, Townsville City Council for water bug testing, Tangaroa Blue for a school waste audit, RACQ Streets Ahead, Louise Costanzo JCU Scientist in School, Life Education Healthy Habits, Junior Landcare, and many more. Building these partnerships helps bring the curriculum to life and engages students in real-world learning.
St Catherine St Catherine, ,s Catholic College THE WHITSUNDAYSs Catholic College
This year has certainly highlighted what an incredible community we have
at St Catherine's Catholic College. We started the year with Tea and Tissues as we welcomed our new Preps into our College, as well as Year 6 Leadership Retreat, elections, and Year 12 Camp. We then worked together to raise funds and awareness for Project Compassion, highlighted awareness with Cyber Safety talks for our parents and students, and gathered as one for Masses and Liturgies.
Term 2 brought with it the opening night of our College musical 'Mary Poppins' which our students sang, danced, acted, and shone in. Mini Vinnies visits to our local Nursing Home were a hit with both young and old as was the Secondary Swimming Carnival.
We came together to celebrate 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia and our Year 8s turned back the clock for our annual Medieval Day enjoying games and a traditional feast. Eat Street was a culinary treat as our Secondary Hospitality students cooked up delicious dishes from across Asia for our guests. Our country’s Indigenous culture was celebrated on NAIDOC Day with traditional dance moves, art, sharing stories, and much more across our College.
Our Mercy and Secondary Athletics Carnivals were full of colour and fun in Term 3. Our Year 11s headed off to James Cook University to see what uni life is like, while our Year 10s headed out into the workforce for work experience, bringing back more than just knowledge to the classroom. Most recently our students had the enjoyment of checking out over 40 local business and industry stalls at our inaugural Careers Day.
We hope our St Catherine’s students and staff have a lovely Christmas holiday with their loved ones.
St Joseph, ,s Catholic School THE STRANDSt Joseph s Catholic School
Beachathon is a yearly walk for St Joseph’s students from Pallarenda back
to the school. Usually, this walk involves raising funds for school resources. This year, the focus was what kids CAN do to make a difference. Students were encouraged to think about ways they CAN make a difference in our school through the Mercy Values of Love, Community, and Excellence.
Beachathon was an opportunity for Joey’s students to showcase their genius ideas to collectively raise money to support the Vinnies’ Winter Appeal. Each class used its skills to produce goods or services for the school community. Students held movie afternoons, created a market and art gallery, sold baked goods, decorated bags and hair ties, and wore PJs to school. This year, students were invited to design a logo that represented the focus of kids CAN. Over 100 students submitted a logo design. Students voted for their favourite design, which was created by one of our Year 6 students. Through their efforts, Joey’s kids raised over $5,000. Together, with a donation from a P & F event, St Joseph’s School was able to donate $10,000 to St Vincent de Paul. This financial assistance provided money for emergency relief through blankets and warm clothing for families experiencing homelessness during the winter months.
This year, Joey’s kids showed kids CAN make a difference!
St Anthony, ,s Catholic College DEERAGUNSt Anthony s Catholic College
2021 was a wonderful year of growth. Here were some of the highlights from our students on the Padua Campus.
VISUAL ART SHINES IN PREP & YEAR 1 BILINGUAL SUCCESS!
Another successful year for our bilingual program, with the Year 2 students demonstrating their Japanese Literary work.
KITCHEN GARDEN DELIGHTS
Wonderful artworks showcased Prep and Year 1 students as they participated in a specialist Visual Art program for the first time in 2021. Our Year 1 students created dinosaur dioramas, collaging the background and using plasticine to create a 3D model while our Prep classes explored ‘emotions’ and created collages of happy, grumpy, angry and surprised faces. Our Year 3 and 4 students flourished in the kitchen and in the garden for our Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program.
STEM STEM, YES WE CAN!
Our Year 5 and 6 STEM Club students relished the opportunity to face many challenges over the course of the year, including the Townsville Grammar School Bridge building competition and the Australian STEM Video Game Challenge. Other school-based challenges included coding and designing a pedometer, mini tower building challenges and designing and creating catapults and windmills.
St Francis School St Francis School AYR
What a year we have had at St Francis Ayr! In Term 1 we welcomed His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC,
Governor of Queensland to our school. His Excellency joined us for a special assembly before visiting with our Year 1 and 2 students where he read them a book called 'Gavel Finds His Place – Becoming Queensland’s Vice-Regal Dog'. Before leaving, our school leaders were presented with a special Governor of Queensland medal.
In Term 2 we held our first ever FLEC Expo where we showcased the amazing work completed by our students who competed in the FLEC Challenges. Our students took out the weekly top prize on several occasions. It was wonderful to have Mayor Lyn McLaughlin at our FLEC Expo along with the Education Team from GBRMPA. Term 3 saw the introduction of our Learning Breakfasts. This was a great opportunity for our students to share their learning with their families. We have had an amazing turnout of families joining us to celebrate their child’s learning journey. And it's not over yet! In Term 4 we have been busy preparing for the opening and blessing of our new school buildings.
This has been another amazing year in the long history of our wonderful school!
St Mary St Mary s Catholic School Good Shepherd Catholic School
, ,s Catholic School BOWEN
This year, Catholic Education celebrated 200 years in Australia, marking the bicentenary of the first Catholic school established in Parramatta in 1820.
Over the past 200 years, Catholic schools have grown to become the largest provider of schooling in Australia (outside of government) with one in five school-aged students attending a Catholic school.
Our school was privileged to be chosen to host the celebration Mass for all of the Southern Townsville Diocesan schools on Wednesday, 26th May.
On Wednesday, we hosted students, staff, and dignitaries from Townsville Catholic Education, St Colman’s Catholic School (Home Hill), St John Bosco Catholic School (Collinsville), and St Catherine’s Catholic College (The Whitsundays). We were also very lucky to have renowned liturgical composer Andrew Chinn conduct a musical workshop with our Year 5 and 6 students. He then performed the music for the Mass, aided by students from each of the schools involved.
This is one of our fondest and proudest memories of the 2021 school year.
Good Shepherd Catholic School RASMUSSEN
Good Shepherd Catholic School celebrated their 25th Anniversary on 10 September 2021. Father Dave Lancini, Parish Priest since the school opened, presided over the anniversary mass. The celebration was attended by Foundation Principal Paul Cosgriff (1996-2005), former Principal Ed Burke (2006-2017) as well as a number of former staff, students and families. As part of the anniversary celebration, classes also created commemorative pots to be placed in the anniversary garden and were gifted a plant during the mass celebration.
All current students also received a commemorative anniversary keyring.
Acknowledgement of Country
Rapidly, the finish line is drawing
nearer for 2021. The school year at Marian has been filled with many things to be grateful for, including a variety of opportunities to encounter God and further develop our faith, engaging learning and teaching experiences for both students and staff, as well as opportunities in the cultural and sporting arenas.
One of the focus areas for Marian this year has been on increased opportunities for parent and community involvement and engagement. Parents have been invited and encouraged to take part in many aspects of school life. From volunteering with, or attending, various activities and events across the year, to engaging in student learning and providing valuable input and feedback through the various parent groups, including P&F, Board, Finance, and our newly formed FAME (Families @ Marian Engagement) Team, parents have welcomed these opportunities, making what has always been a wonderful school community even richer.
Just one of the additional, and perhaps most successful, opportunities introduced for parent engagement this year was Learning Breakfasts across all year levels. Parents and carers were invited into classrooms to engage with their child and see what they had been learning. These 30-minute windows proved to be some of the most rewarding experiences, with students able to proudly show off what they had been learning, some challenging their parents to have a go at some school work themselves (some parents seemed to have forgotten how hard Year 5 maths can be) and, most importantly, further opportunity for connection between family and school life.
STEAM FAIR
The inaugural STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts & Mathematics) Fair was held at Marian recently. The idea, born from suggestions put forward by Marian’s FAME Team, began as something quite small, however, blossomed into the event of the year, supported by many Marian families and others new to the school.
Students were invited to submit a project, based on one or multiple areas of STEAM. Projects were completed at home, either as individuals, teams of students or in family groups, with the only rules being that projects had to be safe, involve some new learning and fun. Approximately 40 student projects were completed, and displayed or demonstrated at the fair. Projects included interactive hands-on experiments, such as erupting volcanoes and elephant's toothpaste, mini bots, geodes, light, electricity and water experiments, instant snow, fossil digs and so much more.
Families also had the opportunity to engage in other hands-on activities and displays from various community groups and organisations. Popular activities included the Virtual Reality room, Lego display, Bunnings woodwork and SMMC Dance workshop. Highlights also included the ‘Are you Smarter than a Marian Student’ parents versus student quiz (the answer is that Marian students were smarter on the night) and the hotly contested Lego construction challenge.
STEAM Fair is set to become an annual event on the Marian calendar, with a STEAM program being introduced from Prep to Year 6 in 2022.
We started the year with a very exciting new learning space for our Prep students.
Renovations occurred in the Christmas Holidays last year to join two learning spaces together to create a larger classroom for our 2021 Preps. In structuring the classroom this way we have been able to create both formal and informal learning spaces to offer a wider range of differentiation for our learners as we responsively plan with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies. This has not only fostered our teaching and learning but has also catered for Kinesthetic learners through play-based learning inside the classroom.
We have also utilised our outdoor learning areas this year to engage in Christian Meditation. This has been a rewarding and fulfilling experience for students to link our Christian Faith to the Mitakoodi Country.
In 2022 we look forward to continuing this connection with Country through the development of an Outdoor Sacred Space that showcases the heritage of Cloncurry.
2021 has provided us with time to adjust to the 'new norm'. With venues and borders opening up we have been able to get
out and about. Our 5/6 students had the opportunity to attend the Gumburu camp at Paluma and then spend a week with their diocesan peers performing at Mulkadee. This really was a great opportunity for our students to meet students from other schools, particularly as some will head off to boarding school next year. Our 3/4 students did a walking tour of the town, visiting historical and significant cultural sites. In Term 3,the 3/4 class took along our three year 2 students to Winton to visit the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, the Waltzing Matilda Centre, the Musical Fence, and Bladensburg National Park. St Patrick's School, Winton played hosts and ensured we were well fed and had a great night.
Our Prep/1/2 students visited our very own Discovery Centre to explore the sights and sounds that are within our own district. We were also able to have our fun run around Hughenden Lake and with our pool reopening, after a 12-month closure, we commenced swimming lessons again.
It has been a big year and we have achieved so much. We are looking forward to our big break at the end of term, where a lot of us will head off to family properties out in the bush or to the coast to spend Christmas with family.
St Teresa,s College ABERGOWRIESt Teresa,s College
NAIDOC at St Teresa’s has always held an important place on our College
calendar. Due to COVID 19, we had to postpone the event from earlier in the year but were very relieved to be able to reschedule the event for Term 4.
This year, the students from St Teresa’s were joined by students from St Patrick’s College who worked collectively to plan and bring to life a celebration that focused on the theme, ‘Heal Country’, celebrating culture, family, and traditional food.
The weekend began with families arriving from home communities as far north as Saibai Island and as west as Lockhart River. The families immediately began preparing traditional food and the students and staff rallied around to provide needed materials like banana leaves, coconuts, and locally caught fish. The day began when the St Patrick’s students arrived, followed by a beautiful Acknowledgement, cultural dance, food, and entertainment by Mr Sean Choolburra.
The students had planned the day with a Yarning Circle, sports, games, cultural art, and craft. Once the sun started to go down on Warrgamay Country, Catercare and our families served traditional food. The large crowd from both schools, local community members, and families then gathered around a fire for cultural dance.
It was a beautiful day, planned by students, that celebrated the essence of our world’s oldest, living culture.
INDEPENDENT LIVING SKILLS
During St Teresa's after-school activities, students are able to choose from a variety of co-curricular learning opportunities. Independent Living Skills is a course that students can undertake as part of their afternoon activities. Students commit to completing theory and practical modules while being guided and supported by Ms Leeann Napier. Throughout the year, the students showcase their skills. A High Tea, that was organised and prepared by the students, was welcomed by staff who were able to sit back and enjoy some very tasty home made delights.
Here is a snapshot of life at St Joey’s this year!
The school has many events which are celebrated with special liturgies each year. On Friday 19th March, the school celebrated St Joseph's Feast Day and also used the role model of St Joseph to lead into our Anti-Bullying Rally. Together we demonstrated the courage of St Joseph to say ‘NO’ to bullying and violence. The day consisted of a special St Joseph Liturgy followed by Joey’s own ‘Flash Mob’ who sang the song 'Brave'. Students and staff stood up and joined in, with the whole school getting into the energy of this event and singing and dancing to songs such as 'Roar' and the 'Fight Song'. We finished with the Year 6A RAP and the launch of our anti-bullying video. Across the day students spent time with their buddy classes and enjoyed some Feast Day cake.
Throughout the year there are multiple opportunities for students to participate in a variety of competitions and extracurricular activities. In the STEM space, the school has Junior Engineers which students attend Monday mornings before school, and students in Years 5 and 6 can join Tech Club which meets weekly. These students participate in Robotics competitions each term where they compete against teams of students from other schools in Townsville. In Term 2 we had a team place first, and at the recent Robotics Gala Day, one of our Year 5 teams went the whole day undefeated. We also had teams place second, third, and fourth in their respective competitions.
St Joseph's Catholic School, Mundingburra excelled at the Interschool Sports Carnival held at the Townsville Sports Reserve in Term 3. We won the overall carnival as well as the Aggregate trophy. Our girls came first overall and our boys second. There is so much pride in what our students achieved at this year’s carnival. They were outstanding in their effort, attitude and performance. Staff worked hard to prepare students for this event with early morning training sessions held twice a week and lunchtimes given up to ensure students could practice High Jump, Shot Put, and Long Jump.
Mission Stalls Day took place in Week 3 of Term 4, and what a wonderful event it was. Organised and run by the Year 6 staff and students, the aim of our Mission Stalls is to raise money for Catholic Missions. This organisation assists women and men in the most vulnerable communities to survive and recover from crisis and to live in a safe and secure environment. Our Year 6’s did an amazing job organising the day and were well
supported by our families who generously provided donations for the stalls.
We are looking forward to the many special times which signify the end of the school year and the approach of Christmas and the school holidays.
St Clare St Clare s Catholic School Good Shepherd Catholic College
, ,s Catholic School BURDELL
It was worth the year wait for our 10-year celebration! On Thursday 12 August, not only did we celebrate our Patron Saint’s Feast Day, but we also celebrated ten
years of St Clare’s. The day began with a Liturgy co-celebrated by Fr Giles and Bishop Tim, and then we had a picnic on the lawn. The grounds were decked out with children on picnic blankets with their special treat and guests in a marquee. One child from each year level designed a cake topper for their classmates to devour!
St Clare is the Patron Saint of numerous causes, and each year we focus on one of these. In 2021, the theme was eyes and eye disease, so the children completed an obstacle course blindfolded and tried their skills at optical illusions and many other things. The day finished with the annual Student verses Staff game of Touch. This year once again, the staff came away victorious, but not without a fight!
We loved looking back on where it all started and how far we have come as a school. We cannot wait to see what the next ten years of St Clare’s holds, including introducing a new principal next year, Helen Wade!
Good Shepherd Catholic College MOUNT ISA
A SPOTLIGHT ON STUDENT LEADERSHIP
The Year 12 class of 2021 have finished their classes and are preparing to sit
their external exams. Before the exam block commenced, it was wonderful to hear about the students’ perspectives on leadership at their final assembly.
This very small section of a wonderful speech from our School Captains Jake Russell and Amie Pemble really sums up the importance of student leadership, and the potential that all young people within our schools have to be leaders.
“At the end of last year we were given the task; go and be leaders in your community. And I think we did that. Through Valentine's Day, Swimming Carnival, Athletics Carnival, Good Shepherd Feast Day, RUOK? Day, we were leaders. We led our houses, we made a ton of biscuits, we sang our hearts out, and lopped our hair off. For me, being a leader in the Good Shepherd community is to be someone that will go out and show people that it's okay to embarrass yourself at a sports carnival, show people that appearances don’t matter for a cause as great as fighting cancer, show people... who they are. And today, I stand before, not just our grade 12 cohort, but the entire Good Shepherd community proud of every leader up on that stage for what they’ve accomplished this year, even if all they’ve accomplished is showing up, talking with someone they wouldn’t have talked to, showing up to something they wouldn’t usually have shown up to. So thank you, each and every one of you because it's all of you that made me want to be a leader and it's because of you that I stand here safe in the knowledge that this year couldn’t have been any better… Whatever you choose to do in life, do it well. You only have one life to live, so live it. Do what makes you happy”.
God Bless
In the September holidays, after eighteen months of planning, the new Columba entry icon was finally erected on the Mt
Carmel campus. The concept for this icon grew out of the need to recontextualise the images and statues on our campuses that represent our founders and who we are at Columba Catholic College today – an amalgamation of the past, firmly grounded in the present and looking to the future. This was an important task when you consider that we essentially have four founders: the Christian Brothers and Blessed Edmund Rice, Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy, Archbishop John Bede Polding, and the Good Samaritan Sisters, and of course, St Columba.
Creating an icon that represents all our founders, our College motto ‘Light to the World’ and encapsulates the past, in terms of the three schools of St Mary’s, Mt Carmel and St Columba’s Primary School, the present, Columba Catholic College, and looks to the future, certainly took some visioning and collaboration of all who have worked to build our wonderful College.
Over the last 18 months, input was sought from the Student Representative Council, our RE Advisers at TCE, students, staff, and parents about the design. Then world-renowned artist, Ziggy Pawlikowski, was commissioned to develop the design and create this masterpiece.
Southern Cross Catholic College ANNANDALESouthern Cross Catholic College
In 2020, Southern Cross made the bold decision to run classroom music in Year 4 as a band and string instrument-
based learning program. It began with over 100 students and seven teachers working together to achieve Australian Curriculum music standards, instrumental learning immersion, and a culture of appreciation for music.
Before Term 1 was over, we were hit with the COVID monster, challenging the way we were to run the lessons and continue these new musicians' learning. Moving into online classes, video-based lessons, and back to socially-distanced instrumental lessons kept everyone on their toes. By the end of the year, each student had the opportunity to learn both one band and one orchestral stringed instrument.
In 2021, the program extended into Year 5, with more than 200 students bringing in their instruments each Wednesday to play together. We now have eight teachers and have included percussion and keyboard options for the Year 5 students. This cohort was given the task of preparing for the Townsville Eisteddfod, in either String Orchestra or Concert Band. It was an absolute shock, but a great testament to the dedication of students and teachers, that the Year 5 Beginning Concert Band of 75 students took 1st place in their section. Our Year 5 Immersion String Orchestra of 35 students came in 4th place, with the Primary string orchestra (including many of our year 4 and 5 immersion students) taking 1st place in the senior primary orchestra section. The students, though initially nervous, were ecstatic at firstly, their achievement of performing so well on stage and secondly, the acknowledgment of this through placement.
We are so pleased with the participation of students and the joy found during our Wednesday primary immersion music at Southern Cross that the program will extend into Year 6 in 2022.
St Margaret Mary's College HYDE PARKSt Margaret Mary's College
REFLECTION FROM OUR YEAR 12 GRADUATING SENIOR
SEVASTI ARENDS
Six years at St Margaret Mary's College has truly made me a woman of spirit and purpose. Since Year 7, St Margaret Mary's College has provided many extracurricular activities that I have actively participated in, this allowed me to build strong foundations and develop a stronger bond with students and staff members. Now, as a Year 12 student, finishing my high school journey, I truly believe I have built my confidence, leadership skills and made lifelong friendships with people at the College.
When I first enrolled at St Margaret Mary's College in 2016 I was a timid young girl who knew nothing of algebra and organic compounds. Fast forward, six years later and I am about to start a new chapter of my life outside the SMMC community. Through my constant commitment and achievements in Rowing to becoming the 2021 SMMC Sports Senior Leader, I feel as though I have made my 11-year-old self proud. By being a leader this year, I now understand the importance of being a role model to those you surround yourself with. As I continue my studies at University next year, I am glad that my leadership role has provided me with these skills as I can guarantee that, along with the knowledge I have gained from all my lessons, it's the life skills as well that will stay with me.
In my final year of schooling, St Margaret Mary's College has made me realise many things. Through liturgies, rituals, and our Year 12 Retreat, I have allowed myself to sit quietly and reflect on my individuality. As many other girls and I have found at SMMC, everyone is inclusive and supportive and through prayer and faith, we are able to come together as one community. This year has also made me realise that we are one. As we conclude 2021, and move forward onto the next stage of our lives, I have realised that my sisters here at SMMC are all in the same boat as me, from challenging exams to fast approaching adulthood, we are all here in support of each other. That's what the Maggie’s spirit is all about – community, hospitality, and compassion.
In saying that, ‘I will miss the community at St Margaret Mary's College’ would be an understatement. This College has nurtured me and given me the chance to succeed, a chance to develop and grow into anything I wanted to be. Even though next year, I will not be guided by my teachers and fellow peers, I know that my second family will always be one visit away.
Once a Maggie always a Maggie.
All schools in the Western region promote Mission Month within their individual
schools. On Friday 22 October, we launched our 2021 Socktober appeal with a combined school’s Mass hosted by St Joseph’s Catholic School, Cloncurry. As a part of our 2021 campaign, students have been learning about what Catholic Mission does and also learning about how they help individuals, families, and communities all over the world.
At St Joseph's, we have also hosted a range of fundraising opportunities for both staff and students who support the Catholic Mission. This concluded with our culminating event on Thursday 29 October, which was our crazy sock day and Sock Ball shoot out which Bishop Tim, Fr Mick, Fr Emene, and Fr Vitalis joined us for. They loved being the 'goalies' and kicking around the soccer balls and the 'sock balls’ which were made by each class.
St John Bosco Catholic School COLLINSVILLESt John Bosco Catholic School
This year at SJB the focus has been on engaging the school and wider community in the life of our school.
During the year a variety of events and opportunities were presented that allowed students, families, and the wider community to come together and celebrate important days during the year.
Mother’s Day celebrations saw a large number of mothers, aunties, and grandmothers come along to SJB to be spoiled and reminded of how important they are. Many of our SJB mums and women from the wider community enjoyed the activities on offer and experienced a lovely morning tea, liturgy, and concert.
The men of our school community were not forgotten either. For Father’s Day a “Big Boys Toys” show and share was held on our school oval that gave many of our fathers, uncles and grandfathers the opportunity to show off some of their toys – we had a large variety of ‘toys’ from motorbikes and cars to cranes and water tankers. They too were spoiled with some activities, a liturgy, and a sausage sizzle. The school has also engaged with local Indigenous Elders in our NAIDOC celebrations, our parish, visits from the community police officer and PCYC, CWA ladies, St Vincent de Paul, Meals on Wheels, local mining companies, and the local kindy. These activities enable the students and families of our school community to make connections with each other and the wider community.
Ryan Catholic College KIRWANRyan Catholic College
CAREER PATHWAYS AT RYAN
This year the Career Pathways Program at Ryan Catholic College (RCC) has developed a strategic approach across Years 10, 11, and 12 to provide support, assistance, information, and resources through this journey of career exploration and decisionmaking. Career Pathways at RCC focuses holistically on the student first to understand their strengths, passions, interests, and subjects that they enjoy and succeed in. From this, particular career options are explored that will support and clarify students' post-school pathways options.
The success of this program has seen a number of Year 12 students gain apprenticeships and traineeships, with Ryan Catholic College becoming a school of choice for employers seeking competent employees. Additionally, over 60 students have been successful in gaining early offers for their chosen course at James Cook University.
Our strong relationship with JCU continues to grow with the university offering the Rising Star Scholarship to a Ryan student for the second year in a row. Ryan Catholic College is proud to award the $10,000 James Cook University Rising Star Scholarship to Year 12 student, Jade Wilson. Jade has demonstrated consistently high levels of academic achievement and upholds the school's ethos, as well as a commitment to regional Australia.
TOWNSVILLE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS SPORTS CUP
One of the exciting additions to the sporting calendar this year was the introduction of the Townsville Catholic Schools Sports Cup. This year the cup was fought out over four sports (rugby league, volleyball, basketball, and touch football). We are pleased to announce that at the end of the year, the inaugural winner was Ryan Catholic College. Thank you to the other schools involved in the competition this year, we are looking forward to many close sporting contests in the years to come as the competition develops further.
RYAN CATHOLIC COLLEGE ANNOUNCED AS A FINALIST IN THE QLD MENTAL HEALTH WEEK ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Ryan Catholic College was shortlisted in the 2021 Queensland Mental Health Week Achievement Awards for their incredible work and achievements in mental health! Ryan was one of only three schools in the state to be shortlisted for the award, along with Mountain Creek State School and Tamborine Mountain State High School.
Paula Mayson, CEO of Open Minds said: “This year we saw a record number of entries for the awards, and they were of a very high calibre.” This is the first year Ryan Catholic College has submitted a nomination for the Schools Award. Tracy Blanchard, Ryan’s School Wellbeing Coordinator said “this is a great achievement for the College to be nominated as a finalist in Queensland’s only state-wide mental health awards. The Awards recognise the great work that individuals, groups, and organisations are doing to reduce stigma and support those living with mental illness.”
“Wellness at Ryan” is the College’s strong commitment to prioritising proactive wellness initiatives as part of the development of the academic, social, physical, spiritual, and emotional potential of each of the 2000 students from Prep to Year 12. This commitment is realised through a strategic plan whereby the College consistently prioritises a range of wellness initiatives from large events to daily interactions between staff and students. The aim of this program is to provide safe spaces for learning, expression, mindfulness, and connection.
Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School INGHAM
Our school has had a very busy year in 2021. Semester One began with our Welcome Mass which was a time for our school to introduce our new preps and staff to the returning Lourdes
family. Our year continued with a splash. Each day a different grade walked from our school to the pool to participate in a range of fun swimming activities.
In Semester One, we also participated in Bullying, No Way! Day. This is one of the most important activities that our school participates in each year. It is a time for students to experience first-hand how to deal with bullying. The annual Cross Country carnival saw Ryan House and O’Connor House compete in the long-distance running events, with the O’Connor House claiming victory.
Semester Two was overflowing with sports events. We had opportunities to participate in inter-school sports carnivals for cricket, soccer, athletics, and touch. These were in addition to the numerous school-based sporting events offered in PE lessons.
Another highlight for our school was Book Week. This celebration allows all students and staff to dress up and celebrate a range of children’s literature.
Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School is excited to see what the remainder of the year has in store!
St Colman St Colman,s School HOME HILL ,s School
2021 saw various changes occurring through our St Colman’s school community, including a new Principal
in Term 3! The year also saw a focus on community building with the first Grandparents Day being held as well as our Year 6 class visiting with our Kindy and Daycare twice a term to complete reading activities with the students. Our Father’s Day Breakfast was also a success, with dads enjoying bacon and eggs in the Shed with their children.
Reading became a focus in our school this year resulting in resources centralised and also professional development undertaken on how to form Guided Reading sessions. Our Year 4/5/6 students visited Gumlu Camp and enjoyed the challenging activities while our Prep – Year 2 students had a wonderful experience visiting the Burdekin Theatre and watching Pete the Sheep.
In sport, St Colman’s continued to excel winning the Small School Carnival and taking out nearly every age group champion. In the Arts, our Prep/1 and Year 2/3 classes all won awards for their singing and speech recital. Our Year 4/5 students also participated in the
Ecowarriors Day and came back with ideas for how to look after our reef! Although we are a small school, we provide a unique learning experience for all students to ensure they succeed.
St Peter St Peter, ,s Catholic School HALIFAXs Catholic School
A highlight of the school year at St Peter's
has been the biennial school camp! This year, Year 3-6 students, staff, and 5 parents went to Mungalli Falls. Despite the fact that it rained and rained and rained, the students had a great time.
Due to the rain, a number of plans were changed, but this meant the students were able to tour the Gallo Dairyland and other significant places on the Tablelands including the Curtain Fig and the Avenue of Honour at Yungaburra.
We hope everyone has a safe Christmas break and look forward to a big 2022!
This year has seen some very exciting
works undertaken at St Kieran's. Students (and teachers) watched in excitement as a set of much-needed toilet blocks was built alongside our end classroom. Along with a new toilet block, the undercover lunch area has been renovated so we will have no more uninvited guests taking over.
After being cancelled last year due to COVID, St Kieran's once again participated in the Apex Rock Pop and Mine Show. The Junior group gave a great performance around the book "Giraffe’s Can Dance" and the Senior group took us on a musical journey through the story of Moana. It was an amazing effort on behalf of both the teachers and the students. One of our regular highlights this year has been the early morning games with John Doyle. He encourages all the students to have a go and it has been great to see students enthusiastic about coming to school in the mornings. As a result, many students have joined outside local sporting clubs. John even has many of our teacher’s training with him at his gym.
On Saturday the 16th of October 94 teams and just less than 700 Opti-people came together to compete in the Qld State Finals for Opti-MINDS. The St Kieran’s team came away with a Spirit of Opti-MINDS Award, one of only 10 out of the 94 teams.
