Middle Senior School Communications, 1 August 2024

Term 3 - Week 4

Week 5

Coming up - Week 5 – SCIENCE WEEK

5 – 9 Aug:  Science Week

Wed 7 Aug: Academic Award assembly (Semester 1 awards)

Tues 6 & 7 Aug: Year 10 Classroom in the City

Fri 9 Aug: Volleyball Senior Schools Cup Y 11&12

Future dates

Mon 12 Aug: Ekka Holiday (Logan)

Tues 14 & 15 Aug: Year 10 Classroom in the City

19 – 23 Aug: National Book Week

A note from the Head of Middle and Senior School (Mr Wilson)

Dear Parents and Carers

I would like to congratulate our MSS Choral group who last week placed third in the Beenleigh Eisteddfod and achieved a highly commended (4^th place) in the Redlands Eisteddfod last night. Our students were exceptional and our smaller choral group of about 14 was up against schools fielding choir groups of 70 plus students. Particularly, I want to thank Dr Holley for the phenomenal work he does with our students – it was really pleasing to hear the quality of the singing that our students were able to achieve. If your child would like to be involved in our choral groups or ensembles, please encourage them to chat to Dr Holley, as I am sure he would love a choral group of 75 students too!

This year we are adjusting our Year 10-11 program by a few weeks to align with the approach used across many Queensland schools, where students in these cohorts will start their 11-12 curriculum programs from the start of Term 4. Our current practice has been to start these programs in Week 4 of Term 4, so this is a minor adjustment. As part of this change, we have reviewed our dates for Term 4 and have chosen to move our 7-11 Academic Award service from Wednesday the 13^th of November (Week 7) to the new date Thursday 28^th of November (Week 9) – the time remains the same, with the service starting at 9am in the CCC.

In reference to the academic awards, our Semester 1 Academic Award assembly is this coming Wednesday (7 August). If your child is getting an award, you should have received an email. We will post lots of photos of our award winners on our MSS Facebook page next week.

We have a very busy couple of weeks coming up in the MSS with Year 10 going to their Classroom in the City excursions and Science Week happening in Week 5, alongside students attending the Vicky Wilson Cup for volleyball. The following week our Show Team is off to Ekka at the end of Week 6 for an extended duration. With lots happening, this is the time of term when teenagers can start to feel a little overwhelmed. Please consider chatting to your child about what activities they are involved in and what assessment they have coming up soon, and if needed, help them create a priority list (a list of due dates on the bedroom wall is always helpful).

Mr Josh Wilson
Head of Middle & Senior School & Innovative Learning Design

General Notices

Cafe Specials - Week 5 of Term 3

Mango Cafe Volunteers Needed

The Mango Café is looking for volunteers for the reminder of Term 3 and Term 4. 

The Café provides a breakfast, 1^st break and 2^nd break service to Students, Staff and the parent community each day of the school term. The service we can provide is significantly impacted by the number of volunteers who are able to assist in preparing food.  Are you able to help out for a morning or two per week or even per fortnight?  We will provide all the training you need. 

If you are interested in helping the team, please pop in to see Jules, our acting supervisor or contact her at mangocafe@calvarycc.qld.edu.au.  Every offer of assistance will be warmly received.

Online order cutoff times.

The opportunity to order food online will close at 8:00am each morning.  Please ensure any orders required for the day are completed by this time to ensure we are able to serve your student.

2024 Non-government Schools Census Collection Notice

The Australian Government Department of Education (the department) would like to advise all staff, parents and guardians that it will collect certain information about your school, its staff and student body as part of the 2024 Non-government schools census collection (the census). The information provided during the census is collected by the department in accordance with the Australian Education Act 2013 (the Act) and the Australian Education Regulations 2023 (the Regulations). Please use this link to view the full Collection Notice.

School Refusal Data

As part of our ongoing efforts to better support our students and their families, we are conducting research into the impact of school refusal. School refusal can be a challenging experience for both children and parents and understanding its effects is crucial in helping us provide the necessary support and resources.

We are reaching out to ask for your assistance in this important research. If your child has ever experienced school refusal that caused you concern, we kindly request that you share your experiences by filling out the attached survey. Your insights will be invaluable in helping us understand the scope and nature of this issue within our school community.

Rest assured that all information provided will be kept confidential and will be used solely for this research. Your participation is entirely voluntary, however, your contribution will play a significant role in shaping the support systems we can offer towards our students and their families.

To participate, please click the link below to access the survey.

We appreciate your time and willingness to help us in this important endeavour. Should you have any questions or need further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We appreciate your support.

Byron Hunt and Tanya Tennant (Calvary school counsellors)

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=0v46V81XOkuFolrR8lIUuH0PFEDX_MNCm4AQl13Pk-NURjNMMTNJUTcxOUlOTDcxUDhFNVBIQURINi4u

Chinchilla Donations:

The Year 9 students are travelling to Chinchilla in the last week of school this term to be of service to the Chinchilla community and present our Hygiene Product collections to Farm Angels. Farm Angels will use these donations to create care packages for farmers who are hard at work producing food for us and may not have the time or resources to care for themselves. Year 9 students will visit form classes regularly to collect the donations that will "Help us Help the Farmer that Feed Us". We ask that donations consist of the following hygiene products:

•  Manicure set – nail files, nail clippers, polish, cuticle oil.
•  Pedicure set – foot file, toenail clippers, foot scrub, foot cream.
•  Bath set – bath bomb, gel eye mask, tea light candle, body wash 400ml, body scrub max 400ml, body moisturiser 400ml max.
•  Shower set – shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razor, loofa, body moisturiser.
•  Bathroom accessories – elegant soap and toothbrush holders, tea light candles.
•  Men’s bathroom kit – deodorant, body wash 400ml, shaving cream, razor,
•  Ladies bathroom kit – deodorant, body wash 400ml, razor, dry shampoo 400ml, travel tissues.

Coming Up Events @ Calvary

Our current College events can be found on our website: https://www.calvarycc.qld.edu.au/events/

Safe on Socials Presentation

Calvary is hosting safe on socials, presented by Kira Pendergast on Tuesday 27 August. 

Details on flyer and link below.

Calvary Showcase

We are inviting all alumnae, parents and past staff to join the band/orchestra and choir for the 40th year celebration showcase. The concert performance will be on Saturday 7 September at 7pm, tickets will go on sale soon.

Conducted by Mr Barry Warden & Dr Gary Holley

Showcase Performances Rehearsals:
Rehearsal on Thursday Evening 29^th August 6.30pm – 8pm at Carbrook for all students in MSS Chorale and Intermediate Band, plus any voices students that can make it. More information to come shortly.

Sat 7 Sept - Afternoon

Register Here: https://forms.office.com/r/jcEAKNBWbF