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St Mary's College Newsletter - Friday 3 May

Principal's Message

Judith Finan
Blessed be the mercy journey that beckons us forward to need. Madeline Duckett rsm

Welcome back to Term 2. I hope you had a wonderful Easter, enjoying the most significant season of our Christian faith and no doubt some chocolate as well.

For the next 4 weeks, Mrs Judith Jones and Ms Kelly Gryga are on leave. Consequently, we have a number of staff changes; Ms Kristin Harding, will be Acting Assistant Administration; Mrs Margareta Lemon, takes on the Whitty Pastoral Leader position; and Mrs Christina Page will be our Campus Minister. Congratulations to these staff members.

We look forward to a busy and productive term. I hope your daughters have reflected on their reports with you and set themselves learning goals for the term. With shortened weeks, we need to make every day at school count. It was pleasing to see such a large turn out to our Parent Engagement Interviews this week and to see students with their parents and caregivers receiving much needed feedback. I encourage you to make the most of these opportunities as they can be so productive to improving learning outcomes.

Uniform Needs

We have had some queries from parents about how to source second hand uniforms. Here is the link to the Facebook site that parents have established for St Mary’s College/St Mary’s Primary/St Edmund's College to buy and sell second hand school uniforms. Parents need to request to join the group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/940059059365370/

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

  • Year of schooling
  • Category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
  • Level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

  • Formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
  • Consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
  • Develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD please contact Angela Walsh, Support Teacher Inclusive Education – angelaw@stmarys.qld.edu.au

Blessings to you all, Judith

Mother's Day Chapel Mass

For catering purposes, please rsvp your attendance by Tuesday 7 May by emailing RebeccaR@stmarys.qld.edu.au

Assistant Principal - Administration

Attendance Matters

Welcome to Term 2. As we begin the new term we wish to remind students and families of our target of 90% or above attendance for all students. We know that consistent attendance yields better results and assists students in forming connections with their peers and school community. Students are encouraged to work towards this goal by arriving on time to school and avoiding unnecessary absences.

Uniform Matters

How a student presents to school is an important indicator of their mindset and willingness to engage. The weather is beginning to cool down and it is timely that we issue some reminders about uniform expectations. It is important to note that the College sports jacket is not to be worn with the formal uniform. Students may wear their knitted jumper and blazer with their formal uniform throughout Winter. We also ask that students be mindful of expectations around jewellery, scrunchies and make-up, and begin the term well in regard to their presentation.

Kristin Harding | Acting Assistant Principal - Administration

Cultural Report

Courtney Fook

Dance Troupe

The St Mary’s Dance Troupes performed at the Ipswich Combined Teachers Dance Festival as their first public performance for 2019. 40 students in the Open Troupe performed 11 dance pieces in the Secondary Schools competitions held on Thursday 2 May at the Ipswich Civic Centre. Well done, girls.

Combined Colleges’ Musical

College Students Excited to Take the Stage

Rehearsals for the Combined Colleges’ Musical have commenced, with St Mary’s and St Edmund’s cast members excited to take the stage. Based on the book written by Roald Dahl, people of all ages will be thrilled to attend this extraordinary musical. Packed with high-energy and fun dance numbers, this musical is bound to put you on your feet. Students have the tremendous job of singing the amazing soundtrack behind Matilda. These songs include, “When I Grow Up”, “Naughty” and many more. All students can’t wait to show everyone how hard they have been working on this musical, so be sure to get in quickly for your tickets (which will be released late May).

Emma Bradford (Year 7) | Journalism Club

Matilda the Musical: First Sunday Rehearsal

We all know about that feeling of sheer eagerness and enthusiasm in the beginning stages of what will be something spectacular. Adrenaline pumping through every inch of your body, anticipating every song and dance that will be learnt, practised, perfected and performed. On Sunday the 28th of April 2019, the cast and producers of the St Mary’s and St Edmund’s Combined Colleges’ production of Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical gathered in the McAuley centre for what would be six hours of intense rehearsal. Together we managed to run through Miracle and commenced the vocals and dance routine for the School Song. Letisha Parker – playing Mrs. Wormwood – explains that “the entire cast is hardworking and determined” and makes the point of that, “we can really see things coming together, and that’s really exciting”.

Ashleigh Van Meurs (Year 10) | Journalism Club and Musical Cast Member

Photos curtesy of Vani Rakuita and Madison Scott – Journalism Club

Expressions of Interest for Crew Members

If students are interested in being part of the musical ‘crew’ (prop and set design, backstage, hair and makeup, costumes, etc.) or would like to volunteer your time to assist during the musical performance week (week one, term three), please see the email sent to all students of St Mary’s and St Edmund’s today. Hard copy forms can be collected from Mrs Fook’s office.

Courtney Fook | Cultural Program Leader

Sports Update

Antonia Conomos

Welcome back to another busy and exciting term of sport at St Mary’s College. We are currently selecting teams to play in the winter CISSSA competition as well as the weekly CaSSSA competition in Brisbane.

Student Achievements

Erin Wright

Congratulation to Erin Wright who competed at the National Athletics Championship. Erin received two bronze medals from two events, 90m hurdle and 200m hurdle. She ran well in both races and in the 200m hurdle it came down to photo finish for top four places.

Molly Green, third from the left. Photo courtesy of the Gold Coast Bulletin

Congratulations to Molly Green, who participated in the International Netball Festival Inc at the Gold Coast during the April school holidays. The International Netball Festival Inc is a netball competition for netball players around the world and the local community. Molly’s team came runner –up, which was a fantastic result, considering they are 13-year old's playing in the Under 15 Competition. Molly won a MVP Under 15 award.

Well done girls, SMC proud.

Term 2 Newsletter Dates

Following are the publication dates for the newsletter in Term 2:

  • Edition 1 - Published 3 May
  • Edition 2 - Published 16 May (Friday 17 May is a public holiday)
  • Edition 3 - Published 31 May
  • Edition 4 - Published 14 June
  • Edition 5 - Published 28 June (last day of term)

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