Middle Senior School Communications, 25 July 2024

Term 3 - Week 3

Week 4

29 Jul – 2 Aug: Pacific District Athletics

Wed 31 Jul: Redlands Eisteddfod (choir)

Coming Up

5 – 9 Aug: Science Week

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

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

Mon 12 Aug: Ekka Holiday (Logan)

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

Dear Parents and Carers

Just a quick note from me because there is lots of information in this communication. Can I please encourage everyone to read and reflect on the cyber safety discussion below from Mr Arraiol. We are adamant that at Calvary every child has the right to feel safe and no one has the right to interfere with anyone else’s learning. Maintaining a culture like this doesn’t happen naturally and I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Mr Arraiol and his wellbeing team in this space. You can support this at home through ongoing discussions with your child about the correct and effective use of social media platforms and always encouraging your child to have high standards for their behaviour and others (which as a parent myself, I know is a lot of hard ongoing work).

We have been working with our students to find the right balance between being resilient when someone annoys us and knowing when to report an issue when someone crosses a line. The sentence we have been teaching our students to adopt for dealing with low level annoying behaviours is: When you do X, this makes me feel Y, I need you to Z (stop/go away, etc.). Telling someone to desist in their behaviour should be the first response we have before we report an issue. However, high level problematic behaviours should always be reported immediately – if students are unsure which response is correct, they should be seeking some adult wisdom (either from you as parents or from their teachers).

NAPLAN – results distribution

The NAPLAN data has arrived and is ready to be distributed to the students who completed these tests in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. In early Week 3, students in these year levels will receive their NAPLAN data in a sealed envelope. If you would like to discuss your child’s results, please contact your child’s class teacher to arrange a suitable time. NAPLAN data constitutes one piece, out of a collection, of data that the College uses to make decisions around student learning. In the near future, once the College has been provided digital copies of these results,  we will upload NAPLAN results to Parent Lounge in the Academic Report section.

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

A Communication from Mr Arraiol (Head of Wellbeing and Community):

Cyber Safety

As we continue with the theme of Cyber Safety awareness, all our students either watched or were sent the following video from the eSafety Commissioner website to watch in their own time this week: It was just a joke. I encourage all our parents to take the time to view this video with their children and invite them into a conversation about what they think on this important topic.

The term "It was just a joke" is often used to deflect and try to justify hurtful actions towards others who are not part of a person's friend group or someone they may not even like. In our assemblies, we have discussed the need to avoid making jokes about others outside of our friendship group. This prevents the confusion between banter and words meant to hurt another student. We would greatly appreciate it if this could be reinforced at home to help reduce unnecessary conflict at school from students speaking before they think or having a laugh at someone else's expense.

An easy way to have this conversation is to ask your children if they would want someone who is not their friend (or even someone who is) pointing out a major flaw of theirs in front of others, or worse, online. Role-playing with our students needs to happen both at home and school to help reinforce this behaviour. We understand the impulsivity of adolescence, but hurting others is never justified.

It's important to note that, sadly, a significant number of students across Australia experience bullying during their school years. At Calvary, we are intentionally working to ensure that all students feel safe and that no one interferes with their right to learn. By addressing these issues both at home and at school, we can create a more supportive and inclusive environment for all students.

Thank you for your ongoing support in making our school a safe and positive place for everyone.

 Mr Arraiol – Head of Wellbeing and Community

General Notices

The Good News Week - Rescheduled

The Good News Week has been rescheduled to Week 9 of this Term.  We apologise for any inconvenience caused but look forward to seeing our students lean into prayer and being and bringing the Good News to the community through their gifts and talents.

Cafe Specials - Week 4 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.

Middle and Senior School  Co-Curricular Timetable:

At Calvary we believe that life at the College is more fulfilling and enjoyable when you are part of a community, involved and contributing. With this in mind, we encourage all parents/carers to review the co-curricular clubs timetable below with their children to see where they could 'find their place' at the College to express themselves and build a community with others who share common interests.

Term 3 Cocurricular Clubs Timetable

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

Parent Feedback Sessions

There is still time to sign up and register for the parent feedback sessions tomorrow.

We are seeking feedback to help us get a greater understanding of what you value, what we are doing well and to hear about how your child's learning journey has been going.

This year we would like to invite you to attend an in-person session to talk with an external Marketing Consultant, Phil Winton. Phil has been working with the College as an external consultant since 2022.

The Executive Leadership Team will not be made aware of who attended the sessions.

For parent registration, morning and evening zoom on Friday 26 July

Click here to register:
https://forms.office.com/r/Ujfcmxp3wK

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.

Uniform

There are still some stock and supply issues with The School Locker and we are aware that some students may not be able to purchase a formal or a sport jacket. Students are able to wear any Calvary jacket they have with the assigned uniform for the day.

There are also some formal uniform item sizes out-of-stock at the moment. If you are unable to source a full formal uniform for your child at the moment, they may wear a full sport uniform as a replacement until stock is replenished.

Necklaces – there are lots of variations of necklaces showing up at school. Necklaces need to be worn under the uniform and should not be visible (no chokers, short necklaces, etc.)

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:
Thu 1 Aug - Evening
Thu 29 Aug - Evening
Sat 7 Sept - Afternoon

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