Columba Catholic College Newsletter Volume 25 No. 14 - 8th September 2022

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Columba Families,

As we head toward the final stretch of a wonderful term, students across the College continue to engage in a range of new learning and a rich extracurricular life. This week our Year 12 students began Mock Exams as they too prepare for final assessments and external examinations. We wish all of our students well during this time of preparation, study and engagement.

Last Wednesday the staff at St Mary’s Campus hosted a Father's Day Breakfast, liturgy and a range of activities to give thanks for the fathers and father figures in our lives. It was great to see so many in attendance and we  give thanks for the special people who assisted on the day. This was followed with a focus on Father’s Day at Mt Carmel Campus Assembly on Tuesday.  I hope each of our dads and father figures had a great day on Sunday and got spoiled!

Last Thursday our Year 12 Emerging Leaders participated in the Blak Excellence Awards and the Aboriginial and Torres Strait Island Graduation Liturgy in Townsville. Special thanks to Mrs Evelyn Capewell, Mrs Trish Phillips and Miss Shae-Kia Carroll for their support of our students at this time. Our students were so well presented and represented the College with true spirit. 

Special thanks to Mrs Caroline Jarmey, Mrs Michelle Burns and our Residential staff for their amazing efforts in hosting the Boarders' Long Weekend across Friday 2nd till Sunday 4th September. The students had a great time and we are grateful to our staff for supporting these experiences for our students.

A very big thanks to Mrs Joanne Andews and Mrs Maria Peck for organising a great day of learning last Friday as our staff engaged in Reflective Practice Day. Thanks to Ms Clare Stead who also led a great session focused on Writing. School Officers engaged in targeted modules centered on the Disability Standards and Teaching Staff engaged with Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum as we look ahead to an implementation timeline beyond 2024. Thank you to our staff for their professionalism and commitment to ongoing professional learning  and development for their own renewal and the benefit of our students.

Project Works: As you are aware, we are in the process of installing a new Fire Hydrant System at Mt Carmel Campus and works in relation to our Solar Project continue this term. A series of smaller projects including the resurfacing of internal bitumen roads, the resurfacing of sporting courts and new backboards for our basketball courts and handball courts are also being completed. We will continue to update you with progress reports as further works are completed in the coming months. 

Staffing Updates: It is with great pleasure that I announce that Mrs Leanne Brandis will be joining the Mt Carmel teaching team in 2023. Leanne is an experienced Senior Mathematics and Chemistry teacher and is a well respected and valued member of the Charters Towers and St Columba’s Parish Community. 

We also welcome Ms Melanie Eccelstone to the position of Wellbeing Support Officer for Boarding. Melanie has experience and qualifications in Youth Mental Youth and in delivering targeted support to young people and families. Melanie will work across both Boys' and Girls' Boarding residences and will spend some time working at Mt Carmel Campus as a part of the scope of her role  to enable her to engage with our staff, students and College Counselors.  We look forward to working with Leanne and Melanie and welcome them to the Columba community.

Today is R U Ok Day? This is a time to stop, reflect and consider our own mental health and that of our peers. Today we acknowledged this at Mt Carmel Campus with an RU OK Day focus through prayer, a BBQ and activities. 

A CONVERSATION CAN CHANGE A LIFE

R U OK? Inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with the people around them and start a conversation with those in their world who may be struggling with life. You don't need to be an expert to reach out - just a good friend and a great listener. 

Use these four steps and have a conversation that could change a life:

Ask R U OK?

Listen

Encourage action

Check in

Please find here the link to the RU OK Day website for your reference and information. 

Tomorrow we continue our transition program as we prepare for a new school year in 2023. The first of our Prep Come and Try Days will take place at St Mary’s Campus tomorrow. We welcome all new and existing families to Columba and encourage those potential families who have not yet submitted enrolment applications for 2023 to contact the College office on 47 871 744 for enrolment information.

All the best for the fortnight ahead.

Many blessings,

Melissa Turner
PRINCIPAL

FROM THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - PASTORAL/RESIDENTIAL

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Over the course of this term, Year 11 students have engaged in the Senior Student Leadership Program. The program includes the Year 11 Leadership Retreat, interviews for various positions—House Captain, SRC Prefects, College and Residential Captains, presentations from the Year 12 Student Leadership Team and College Leadership Team, and  the voting ritual which will take place on Friday. From what I have been able to ascertain so far, the College will be served well by the incoming Senior students. Next term, the incoming Student Leadership Team will work side by side with the current Senior Student leaders as they transition into serving the College next year. 

UNIFORM DAYS

I would like to now draw your attention to the College Uniform Procedure, and I have included the uniforms required to be worn each day as shown in the table below. Please note: 

STUDENT UNIFORM SECONDARY CAMPUS

I also refer to several excerpts from the College handbook in reference to the College uniform:

• Jewellery is limited to the following items only:
• girls may wear plain gold or silver ear studs/sleepers, (two small, plain studs or sleepers per ear only – must be a matching pair worn in the ear lobe),
• one signet, gold or silver band ring,
• one watch,
• one simple gold or silver chain with a Christian religious medallion may be worn.
• Make-up and nail polish are NOT permitted.
• Gentlemen must maintain a clean shaven face each school day.
• Hair colourings/styles should not be outlandish. Long hair on girls MUST be tied back. Boys to have short back and side hair style. Fashion extremes are to be avoided. Students who have excessive hair colouring or cuts may be required to wear a hat until the offending colour or style is removed.

It is not optional for students to digress from the uniform policy unless there is a valid reason. If a student is in the incorrect uniform, then the Pastoral Care teacher must be informed the same morning that the student is wearing the incorrect uniform. Three (3) uniform infringements issued across one term will result in the offending student being issued with a Thursday after school detention. Please note that this comes from a good place as the College has a standard that needs to be adhered to.

UNIFORM COMMITTEE 

Over the course of next term, the College will be conducting a minor uniform review. I am calling for interested people who would like to contribute to the review of the current College uniform by being part of the committee. Please note, that this is a minor review and will be looking to tweak the current College uniforms to meet the needs of our College community. Once the committee is established, there will be a series of meetings that members will need to commit to. The committee will consist of 2 parents, staff members and a student representative. Please email me at dkyle@columba.catholic.edu.au by 14 September if you are interested in being a part of this committee. 

 THE RESILIENCE PROJECT

This week’s presentation from The Resilience Project is about Empathy and Kindness.  

Empathy is our ability to put ourselves in the shoes of others to feel and see what they do. We practice this through being kind and compassionate towards other people.

Brain imaging data shows that being kind to others registers in the brain as more like eating chocolate than like fulfilling an obligation to do what’s right (e.g. eating brussel sprouts)!

Research shows that practicing empathy, such as performing acts of kindness, taps into our brain’s ‘mirror neurons’, builds compassion and our behaviour becomes more social and community-based. 

View Part 3 of the series here - Empathy https://theresilienceproject.com.au/parent-and-carer-hub-hugh/

Here’s an activity to practise empathy and kindness:

1. Reflect on someone in your life who could benefit from an act of kindness today. It could be a friend who would love some affirmation about their work, your pet who deserves an extra treat, or a family member who would love a phone call or text message. 
2. Make a plan for who you are going to give an act of kindness to, and what you are going to do. 
3. If you want to add accountability to your plan, share it with someone else and encourage them to do the same thing.
4. Follow up with each other in a few days time, to ask how it went! 

Sources: Psychology Today, UC Berkeley, Greater Good Science

For mental health resources and support information, visit The Resilience Project’s Support Page.

Dan Kyle
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - PASTORAL/RESIDENTIAL

MC CAMPUS CURRICULUM NEWS

TRIAL MOCK EXTERNAL ASSESSMENTS

Year 12 students will undertake trial Mock external assessments from Thursday 8^th August – Wednesday 14^th September. During this time students will attend normal classes unless they are undertaking an assessment. The timetable for trial Mock external assessments has been distributed to students along with a copy of the Directions for Students and the External Assessment Equipment List. Students and parents have also been emailed this information.

Students are expected to complete the trial Mock external assessments as these will provide them with valuable feedback. Students must arrange all the required equipment to complete their trial assessments now. If students are going to be absent for an assessment please contact the College office prior to the assessment.

Students enrolled in applied subjects will be continuing with course work and completing assessment as per the assessment calendar.

QCAA INVIGILATORS

The QCAA appoints members of the Queensland community to observe the administration of external assessments. The invigilator role is independent; they are appointed to observe and report on the administration of the external assessments.

Invigilators play an important role in promoting public confidence in the Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) system and ensuring that proper and fair administrative procedures are implemented.

The Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) is recruiting invigilators for the 2022 external assessments which run from Monday 24^th October to Tuesday 15^th November.

Applications from Queensland community members for invigilator roles are now open. Invigilators are appointed as casual employees under the Education (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority) Act 2014.

To be eligible to apply for a QCAA invigilator role, community members must hold a current, paid blue card/ exemption card from Blue Card Services or for teachers, a current Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) registration. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and eligible to work in Australia. They must possess personal attributes of discretion, tact, attention to detail, and an ability to maintain confidentiality, as well as meeting straightforward requirements for identification and access to technology.

See the QCAA website for eligibility requirements and to apply. Please use the following link.

Maria Peck
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - ADMINISTRATION

PREP NEWS

Wow! What a busy, fun-filled term we have had in Prep. 

During English, students have been working hard on developing their beginning writing behaviours to construct sentences using rhyming words. To search for these rhyming words, students have explored a variety of books such as Pig the Pug, Alpacas with Maracas, Oi Frog, Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas and Rhyming Dust Bunnies. 

Throughout Mathematics, students have been exploring 2D shapes and different 3D objects before sorting them and creating patterns. They have also been working on their number formations, especially teen numbers. 

In Religion, students have learned about Jesus’ life and his teachings of love, compassion and forgiveness. Within these stories, they have understood the different choices we can make. The Good Samaritan and the Ten Lepers were two special stories they loved learning about. 

Outside the classroom we have had so much fun celebrating special events like Under 8’s Day, Book Week, Inter-school Athletics, Eisteddfod and our special Father’s Day Liturgy.

We are so thankful for all our amazing fathers and everything they do for us. We love them because:

• Alexis: I love my Daddy because we go fishing together. 
• Ava: I love my Daddy because we watch movies together.
• Charlee: I love my Daddy because he plays games with me.
• Charlie-Rose: I love my Daddy because he plays with me. 
• Cory: I love my Daddy because he goes to the shops and buys me food. 
• Cruz: I love my Daddy because he plays football with me. 
• Jaden: I love my Daddy because he is my favourite.
• Jaxx: I love my Daddy because he always supports me.
• Liam: I love my Daddy because he plays Red, Red, Rover with me. 
• Mercy: I love my Daddy because he is the best. 
• Mia: I love my Daddy because he gives me cuddles.
• Noah: I love my Daddy because he plays with me. 
• Ollie: I love my Daddy because he helps me build cubby houses. 
• Paizley: I love my Daddy because he tickles me and makes me laugh. 
• Piper: I love my Daddy because he plays Barbies with me. 
• Quinlan: I love my Daddy because he always takes me to the skatepark. 
• Sophie: I love my Daddy because he tickles me.
• Wyatt: I love my Daddy because he loves me. 
• Xander: I love my Daddy because he buys me lollies and takes me to the park.

Lara Burns
PREP TEACHER

BOOK WEEK ON THE SM CAMPUS

Book Week has come to a close with the students having a greater appreciation for the different categories of books in Libraries. They enjoyed Mrs Smith reading the Shortlisted books and then went on to vote for their favourite book in each category. Students agreed with the judges for the New Illustrator 'The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name' and 'Jetty Jumping' in the Early Childhood category. They were pleased to hear that ‘Stellarphant’ won an Honours award for the best Picture Book, while their favourite ‘The Book of Curious Birds’ didn’t receive an award in the Outstanding Information Books category. 

Dressing up, as usual, was the highlight with children ‘Dreaming with their Eyes Open’ at the Dreamy Photo Shoot and the Annual Parade. Parents and students never cease to amaze with their interpretation of a book and the costume they dream up. House Games during Book Week was a Book Trivia Quiz, with Benjamin House taking the prize with Rice hot on their heels. Butterflies made during breaks now decorate the Library Tree. Learning how to draw ‘Pig the Pug’ was a success for those who tried.

Book Week finished with Under 8’s day where the children visited the Harry Potter Café for a sausage in a swag.

The St Mary’s Library now has 97 new books, thanks to the Annual Book Fair.  A very big THANK YOU to families who were able to support Book Fair by purchasing books and goodies for your children.  Book Club is another way to encourage a love of reading for your children. Keep an eye out for the catalogues.

Paula Smith
LIBRARY MANAGER - SM CAMPUS

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ST. MARY'S CAMPUS AWARDS

Term 3 Week 7 - Moving sensibly and safely in and around the classroom.

• Prep -  Charlie-Rose Daylight
• Year 1 - Adelyn Whitby
• Year 2 - Summer-Rose Hawkins 
• Year 3 - Alex Jeffries
• Year 3/4 - Milton King
• Year 4 - Bella-Rose Ambrose
• Year 5 -  Hannah Brown
• Year 6 - Peggy Pickering

Term 3 Week 8 - Keeping the Classroom environment clean and tidy

• Prep - Paizley Casey
• Year 1 - Rylee Maltby
• Year 2 - Alyssa Jeffries
• Year 3 - Lucy O’Connor
• Year 3/4 - Erin Ralph
• Year 4 - Hunter Price
• Year 5 -  Indi Pattel
• Year 6 - TBA - as Year 6 are on Canberra Trip

MT. CARMEL CAMPUS NOTABLE MENTIONS

Congratulations to the following students who received Notable Mentions on the MC Campus at Assembly recently.

Term 2 Week 8 - Respect for Self: Demonstrates determination and resilience when challenged in class.

• Year 7 - Shayla Jonsson
• Year 8 - Shaun Gould
• Year 9 - Tyler-Lee Wheeler
• Year 10 - Leah Cronin
• Year 11 - Lindsay Kirkwood
• Year 12 - Ally Marsterson

BOOKWEEK ON THE MC CAMPUS

From Saturday 20 to Friday 26 August 2022, Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book Week 2022 was celebrated on the Mt Carmel Campus. 

The CBCA Book Week theme for 2022 is ‘Dreaming with eyes open’. The theme explores how books can take readers on a magical journey into other people’s lives, other perspectives and new topics, while also teaching, entertaining and stimulating readers of all ages. 

Students participated in a number of activities during the lunch breaks, reading chapters from the CBCA Book of the Year shortlist for older readers.  

Find the 'Book Week Butterflies' was also popular amongst the students.  Each day, one of the butterflies was hidden around the school with the winner claiming a large box of chocolates on return of the butterfly to the library.

Friday was dress up day, where students could come as their favourite book character,  there certainly was a large array of interesting costumes on display from both staff and student groups.  

Megan Lucas
LIBRARY MANAGER - MC CAMPUS

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MC CAMPUS EISTEDDFOD NEWS

Recently, Columba students participated in the 2022 Charters Towers Eisteddfod, held at the World Theatre. Between the 19th-24th of August, many of our students danced, acted, sung, and played guitar as a part of this annual competition of local talent. Columba Catholic College did an outstanding job with many students receiving places. 

The following students are to be commended for winning bursaries and shields for their performances:

• Andrew Scharf - Gold City Bush Poets Shield - Poetry Performance.
• Denan Palmer - Charters Towers Performing Arts Festival Bursary Most Promising Vocalist - Secondary.

Congratulations to all students who competed:

Dance: Ava Ramm, Grace Taylor.

Speech and Drama: Charli Hedges, Mollie Ebsworth, Kobey Jenkins, Jay Rowe, Andrew Scharf, Sophie Hammann, Treselle Lavis, Aysia Kruger, Ananya Pujar, Isaac Neilson.

Music: Chloe Archer, Bailey McGuire, Kiara Muchamore, Denan Palmer, Andrew Scharf.

Visual Art: Ava Ramm, Zyanne Bartlett, Blake Bryan, Will Fuller, Connor Hermann, Nakara Simone, Oscar Truong, Brock Harrington, Falon Hoare, Zac Singh, Isaac Neilson, Mea Telford, Hayley Zadow.

Kalinda Large
ARTS & CULTURE DEPARTMENT

FROM THE ARTS DEPARTMENT - MC CAMPUS

SWIFF’s Nextwave Youth Short Film Competition is open for entries!

The Coffs Coast’s Screenwave International Film Festival is looking for the next wave of young filmmakers!

Enter a short film into the Nextwave Youth Film Competition for your chance to win awesome awards and prizes, including Best School, and have your film premiere at SWIFF 2023 on the Coffs Coast.

If you like being creative, and want to have a go at filmmaking, SWIFF wants to see what you can do!

The rules are simple:

• Make a film under five minutes
• Include the theme of TRANSFORMATION and a GREEN item in your film!
• Enter before October 25th to win!

For full terms and conditions, visit www.nextwavefilm.com.au

Jessica Simmons
MIDDLE LEADER - ARTS & CULTURE

FROM THE HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT

What is the purpose of studying Geography? 

This term, the Years 7 to 9 students transitioned into the final strand of their HASS learning - Geography. 

As our students develop into global and active citizens, Geography is a discipline where students nurture the relationship between space, place, and interconnectedness of our surroundings and region. It is more than just mapping, and memorising capital cities of the world! It is the exploration of the places that construct our world, which can range from local towns and suburbs to major cities and countries of our world region. 

Students in Years 7-9 have been investigating the environmental and human characteristics - economic, political and social significance of a certain region. Through these characteristics, it stimulates students’ curiosity about our world, and enhances their appreciation of diversity of peoples; environments; societies; cultures. Geography also enables students to relate to other places and to the lives of people in those places, helping to cultivate a sense of global citizenship and environmental responsibility as global and active citizens in our modern 21st century.

So next time, should your child lack motivation in learning Geography, perhaps consider the above and share your own thoughts in Geography!  

Australian History and Geography Competition

Many students across Years 7-10 participated in the yearly Australian History and Geography Competition, where our students competed with other students across Australia with their historical and geographical understanding and skills. Overall, our students were recognised and awarded with participation, merit, and credit certificates. 

Below are our student results: 

Australian History Competition 2022 recipients

Congratulations to the above students on a wonderful and successful achievement. 

Languages Department

Let’s talk culture

Australia is considered to be one of the countries that is linguistically and culturally diverse in the world - a ‘melting pot country’. According to the recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, 2022), aside from English, Chinese Mandarin was considered to top the list for widely spoken language across Australia. It is evident that three of the languages - Mandarin, Cantonese and Vietnamese (see data below) are the representative of languages spoken by many of our Asian neighbouring states, along with the Arabic language that is spoken in a number of regions across the globe. Italian is represented due to the large influx of post-war migrants in Australia between 1946 and the 1970s. 

Goldfields folklore has it that, when the Chinese gold miners and seekers came to Lambing Flat, (nowadays Young in NSW), they fossicked and rummaged over ground already worked by the European gold miners. On finding gold dust, the Chinese gold miners were heard to call out: "dinkum" (in Cantonese, the sound ‘gum’ means gold; the sound ‘ding’ means ‘top and genuine’). As time went by during the gold rush period, this was interpreted to mean: “gold”. On finding payable amounts of gold, they were heard to call out: "fair dinkum". This was interpreted as: "genuine gold", "real gold" or "true gold". Overtime, "fair dinkum" came to be utilised as an expression of "honest" and/or "true”!

Charters Towers and many Far North Queensland towns have seen the legacy of many Chinese descendents. In a display on Towers Hill, there is a well-known Chinese medicine practitioner. Due to the effectiveness of his herbal medicine, people at the time were quite amazed, because there was a lack of other medical facilities available. Even though historically, many Chinese miners returned to their China homeland after the gold rush, it has significantly influenced our Australian history. Therefore, it is worth exploring more about the traditional culture and language of Chinese, especially some of our students at Columba do carry Chinese heritage which perhaps they are not even aware of!   

Source: https://historicalaustraliantowns.blogspot.com/2018/03/charters-towers-town-they-called-world.html 

FILM COMPETITION

Entries are open for AACTA Pitch: Focus in partnership with Sony - a short film pitching initiative offering emerging creatives an opportunity to break into the industry by challenging student filmmakers to form teams and create an original production.

Teams can be made up of directors, writers, producers, editors, and/or cinematographers with at least one member of the team actively pursuing studies in film or screen.

THE RECIPIENT WILL RECEIVE

• $15,000 in production funds toward their short film
• loan Sony equipment (valued at over $6,000) to shoot their short film
• invaluable feedback and guidance throughout the process
• mentoring opportunities
• tickets to the 2022 AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel Group

ENTER NOW

RESIDENTIAL NEWS

At the end of next week, all the Boarders will be home spending some much needed time with their families and I trust that everybody will engage in that much needed rest and recreation.  

Last weekend was the Boarders’ Long Weekend. It was a much-needed circuit breaker for our students as they took some time out of their normal boarding routines to have some down time relaxing in each other’s company. They had a wonderful time participating in all the activities on offer. The boys loved the games of touch footy on the beach and playing paintball. Their female counterparts also had a wonderful time picnicking and painting on Monagle Oval, shopping and playing laser skirmish ten pin bowling in Townsville. On Saturday at the Barra Water Park, the boys and girls enjoyed a wonderful day together. I would like to congratulate both Heads of Boarding, Mrs Caroline Jarmey and Mrs Burns, for a well-organised and great weekend for our students and staff. Your efforts are truly appreciated by the entire Boarding community. 

This term, as mentioned previously in this edition of the newsletter, Year 11 students have been engaged in the 2023 Senior Student Leadership program. The students running for Residential Captain have already completed their applications, delivered their speeches to the Boarding community and participated in their interviews with members of the College Leadership Team. I am highly confident that the students voted into the leadership positions will do a sterling job at serving their Boarding community in 2023. 

Turning your attention to end of term travel arrangements, can parents and caregivers please notify the relevant Head of Boarding of your child’s/ren’s travel intentions? If your child/ren would like to access the end of term College bus services, please notify the relevant Head of Boarding by Monday 12 September. The fee structure for those who wish to access the service remains the same as last term. Applicable fees for the various disembarkation points are as follows:

Richmond Service

Richmond $70 per person

Hughenden $50 per person 

Mt Surprise Service

Greenvale $50 per person

Mt Surprise $70 per person

The service will operate, numbers pending (minimum of 5 students per service). 

On Monday, 3 October, we will host our final Boarder Parent Council meeting for 2022. We will aim to conduct the meeting again at 2.00pm in the Edmund Rice room on the Mount Carmel campus. All Boarding parents are invited to attend either in person or through a video conference. A link will be sent to boarding parents during the holidays. 

I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and look forward to catching up with everyone early next term. 

Dan Kyle
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - PASTORAL/RESIDENTIAL

TRANSITION TO PREP

EDUCATION EXPO

PINK IT UP DINNER

CSPA MELBOURNE CUP LUNCHEON

CHARTERS TOWERS AMATEUR SWIMMING CLUB - COME AND TRY

TALK HQ SPEECH PATHOLOGY - SEPTEMBER SCHOOL HOLIDAY GROUP PROGRAMS