Dear Parents and Carers
Star of the Sea and Xavier Catholic College Bus Run is Coming in 2018!!!!
 

It is with great excitement that I inform parents about Xavier Catholic College’s new bus run in 2018. This will be for students attending Xavier Catholic College and will run between Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School and Xavier Catholic College. This bus route will provide greater convenience for students and parents of Xavier Catholic College who live at the Urangan end of the Bay. The bus run will also continue to allow parents who have children attending both Xavier Catholic College and Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School the convenience of one drop-off and pick-up from Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School each day.

The bus will depart Star of the Sea at approximately 8.00am each morning and depart from Xavier in the afternoon back to Star of the Sea at around 3.15pm. For 2018 at least, this will be a free service. Further details about this exciting initiative will be provided towards the end of the year at which time we will be calling for expressions of interest.

Middle Leaders Appointments
Every three years the opportunity arises for schools within Brisbane Catholic Education to re-examine its Middle Leader Structures in the Secondary section of their school and remodel them to best meet the needs of the College into the future. Throughout this year Xavier Catholic College has worked through this process, establishing a Consultative Committee and seeking the input and feedback of staff at the College. Ultimately, the committee recommends a structure to the Principal, but the Principal is then responsible for the final determination of this structure and the need to ensure that it stays within the allocated size outlined by Brisbane Catholic Education.

To guide the committee, I presented it with my own thoughts as to the strategic priorities that I believed needed to be considered as they undertook their important work. The matters that I outlined included: 1) the need to continue to lift our academic profile; 2) the need to ensure we have the leadership to cater for the diverse needs of our students; 3) the need to transition to the new ATAR system effectively; 4) the need to ensure our co-curricular offerings remain strong in both sport and performing arts; 5) the need to focus on marketing the College in the community; 6) the need to continue to support our Pastoral Care program and provide adequate release time to do so.

During this Term we have gone about the task of advertising and filling the positions in our new structure which will take effect in 2018. Such a restructure will always mean that some existing staff will miss out on positions in the new structure. We have been meticulous in running a transparent process based on the principles of merit selection. However, I understand the sadness caused for staff who will no longer continue in roles previously held. I thank them for their loyalty to the College and their ongoing service. I have encouraged them to keep pursuing leadership opportunities that will arise in the future. We are blessed with a talented and dedicated staff.

 

The final make-up of our Middle Leaders structure to take effect in January 2018 is as follows:

Dean of Buthu House - Tony McQuaid Tier 3  (9 lessons)
Dean of Dirum House - Dani Wright Tier 3  (9 lessons)
Dean of Kondari House  - Stacy Sullivan Tier 3  (9 lessons)
Dean of Narwari House - Angela Hogan Tier 3  (9 lessons)
Dean of Pastoral Care & Administration - Sarah Love Tier 4 (15 lessons)
Dean of ICLT Services - Mike Ritter Tier 3 (8 lessons)
Dean of eLearning & Digital Services - Drew McLean Tier 3  (8 lessons)
Dean of College Identity & Promotion - Matt Ninnes Tier 2.1 (9 lessons)   
Dean of Humanities - Jo Kleindeist Tier 2 (5 lessons)
Dean of Inclusive Education - Tracey Grambower  Tier 2 (5 lessons)
Dean of Visual & Performing Arts - Paul Damms Tier 2 (5 lessons)
Dean of Science - Gary Turner Tier 2.1 (7 lessons)
Dean of Careers & VET - John Donnelly Tier 2.1  (8 lessons)
Dean of Technology - Lynette McLean Tier 3  (8 lessons)
Dean of Mathematics - Janine Ritter Tier 3 (8 lessons)
Dean of English - Colin Wright Tier 3 (8 lessons)
Dean of HPE and College Sport - Nathan Milne Tier 3 (12 lessons)

 

Some points to note:
• We have moved from 8 Heads of House to 4 House Deans and have also incorporated a new position of Dean of Pastoral Care and Administration. The 4 House Deans move from Tier 2 to Tier 3 with increased release time.
• We have increased the Tier allowance and time release for the Dean of College Identity & Promotion, the Dean of Careers & VET and the Dean of HPE and College Sport.
• New positions have been created within the Faculty Council with a Dean of Inclusive Education and a Dean of Visual and Performing Arts.
• We will welcome to the College two new staff members into our Middle Leaders structure, Tracey Grambower and Sarah Love, who are currently staff members at St Mary’s College Maryborough.

I look forward to working with our Middle Leaders in 2018 as we strive to take Xavier Catholic College to new levels of excellence.

God bless
Simon Dash
Principal

 

 

SPORTS NEWS
On Friday we had the 8-12 years swimming carnival. It was a beautiful warm day. Unfortunately, time beat us and we didn’t get the 25m Butterfly or the Relays completed but the students all had a great day swimming in the pool and doing the different novelty events. The Age Champions and House points are listed below.

 

Age Champions
8 years girls – Marlee Kash
8 years boys – Sam Ricketts
9 Years girls – Lily Barker
9 years boys – Colton Blyth
10 years girls – Talayla Rassmussen
10 years boys – Pierce Mailer
11 years girls – Charlotte Knight
11 years boys – Jordan McCarthy
12 years girls – Cailey Vietch and Takara Gibbon
12 years boys – Jessie Stinson

 

House points
Dirum – 909
Buthu – 841
Narwari – 773
Kondari - 673

 

DISTRICT SWIMMING CARNIVAL
On Friday 32 of our Junior students represented the school at the District Swimming Carnival. All of the students did a great job representing the College both in and out of the pool, with some swimming in races they weren’t chosen for, due to some of our swimmers being sick. There was only 17 points between 1st and 3rd, with Xavier finishing 3rd on the day. Thanks to Mrs Brindell and Mrs Nicoletti for helping on the day. 

 

 

 

YEAR 2 NEWS
Last Wednesday our Year 2 students were visited by Aaron Henderson, a local Butchulla man, who spoke to the students about Aboriginal culture.  The Year 2s have recently been doing a unit on Aboriginal culture, paying specific attention to tools, foods and places of significance for our Traditional Custodians, the Butchulla People.  The students were delighted to listen to Aaron’s stories as he shared his knowledge about his culture, speaking Butchulla language and playing the Yidaki (Didgeridoo).  All of the students also had the opportunity to try some bush foods and experience the ceremonial ritual of painting up with ochre.

 

 
USC SCIENCE RESEARCH AWARDS SUCCESS
The University of the Sunshine Coast Science Research Awards competition was held on Thursday night.  A squad of Xavier students from year 7 and year 11 participated in the event. In this competition students were required to design, implement and report on an investigation of a self-determined scientific question. 

They needed to display the findings, from their science research project, as a poster.  Each student was also interviewed about their investigation and judged on their understanding and use of the scientific method.

Students also had the opportunity to enter the “3 Minute to Win it” part of the competition. To participate in this category the students had three minutes to report on their investigation in an engaging, clear and interesting way.

Our representatives in the competition were:

Year 11
Raemah Krause
Maddison Smith
Chelsea Aston
Talia Carter
Poorna Jayasinghe

Year 7
Alexandria Pronk
Luke Mogor
Mia Porter
Keara Trembath    

         

Congratulations to all these students for the high standard of their entries, the effort they put into preparing for the event and their excellent behaviour, attitude and application during the evening of the competition. They were a credit to the College.

Our students also came away with some exceptionally good results. Raemah Krause had two entries in the year 11 competition; one for Biology “Obtaining Energy” and one for Chemistry “A Drop to Drink”. Her Biology research earned her a Highly Commended and her Chemistry project was awarded Second Place.
 Maddison Smith was awarded Third place for her Chemistry report “May the Surface Tension Force be with You”. Maddi also entered the “3 Minute to Win it” competition (open to both year 11 and 12 students) and was awarded Second Place. This is an outstanding result and we are very proud of these students and their well-earned achievements.

The competition is an annual event so we are looking forward to students entering again next year. We thank the organisers and facilitators, Susan Lanham and Marina Fitzpatrick from USC and the judges for their hard work to make the event so worthwhile.

 

 

 SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY

Xavier Catholic College is pleased to announce that we will be participating in the 2018 Fraser Coast Technology Challenge 24 Hr Human Propelled Vehicle Championship. We have ordered two vehicle kits which are due to arrive early 2018. As this is a costly venture, we are currently seeking sponsorship from parents and local businesses. We are more than happy to display on our vehicles or uniforms any signs/logos that promote healthy school, industry and community links. If you or a business that you represent would like to sponsor our teams, please contact Graham Bebington for more details. Tel: 4197 1177 or email Graham.Bebington@bne.catholic.edu.au

 

VINNIES CHRISTMAS APPEAL SEASON
For many people, Christmas is a joyful time of year. However, the sad reality is that 13.3% of Australians are living in poverty. Of these, 731,000 are children who may not get their Christmas wish. But your support can make a difference.

Get involved by bringing in a wrapped gift. The easiest way is to gift something that suits the age of the child that is bringing this to school. So if you are aged 8, you would bring a small gift for a girl or boy aged 8. It needs to be wrapped and labelled with age and whether it is for a boy or girl.

These are to be brought to your classroom or PC teacher over the next few weeks and during our last Liturgy Wednesday 29 November, these hampers of gifts will be presented to our local representatives from St Vincent de Paul Society.
Vinnies changes lives every day!!!

Invite the Mini Vinnies helpers out, extra’s to help with wrapping gifts, meet in the Yr 4 classroom, Mrs Black’s classroom and we need boys to come along and keep Arlen Company.

https://christmasappeal.vinnies.org.au

Gift Ideas
Boys
Lego, Balls (eg. Soccer, Tennis, AFL, rugby,) Toy cars (eg. Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Super Blast, Robo Wheels, car packs, remote control), Drink bottles, Frisbees, Cap, Keyrings, Tech deck
Girls
Bags, Dolls, Hair Accessories, Elastics, Skipping rope, Body Wash, Lip balm, Photo frames, Picnic set, Jewellery sets
Unisex
Books, Puzzles and Board games, Art and craft packs (eg. stationery, art pencils and paints, sketch books, coloured paper), deck of cards

 

CAREER'S NEWS
USC is excited to announce a new pathway to study medicine on the Sunshine Coast.

In 2018, USC will offer a new Bachelor of Medical Science with successful graduates receiving provisional direct entry into Griffith University 's Doctor of Medicine program at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital*.

 

Who is eligible to apply?
This program is open to high-achieving school leavers who have completed Year 12 no more than three years before admission. Applicants must not have previously attempted any tertiary study at diploma level or higher since completing year 12. Students who have completed VET or university study (eg Headstart) while still in high school are eligible to apply.

Prerequisite study for this program is English and recommended studies are Maths B and Biology, Chemistry or Physics.

Due to the competitiveness of this program, special entry schemes including Early Offer Guarantee, Access USC and the Educational Access Scheme (EAS) do not apply.
 
When do students need to apply by?
Applications close on 29 December, however for the best chance of consideration in the 16 January offer round we recommend students apply by 8 December.
 
What pathway opportunities does this program provide?
Students who successfully complete the Bachelor of Medical Science program will receive provisional direct entry into Griffith University's four-year Doctor of Medicine program to train to become a doctor. They will not have to sit the Graduate Medical Schools Admissions Test (GAMSAT) to apply for Griffith's Doctor of Medicine program.

When will offers be made?
The earliest offers for this program will be made is the 16 January offer round.
What happens if students do not receive an offer for this program?
With only up to 20 places offered each year, USC's Bachelor of Medical Science is highly competitive. Students who do not receive an offer may consider an alternative pathway. The following USC programs also provide a foundation of study for students to apply for a postgraduate Medicine program through the GAMSAT.

- Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Accelerated)
- Bachelor of Biomedical Science
- Bachelor of Nursing Science
- Bachelor of Paramedic Science
- Bachelor of Health Science

 

USC'S MEDICAL SCIENCE DEGREE.

 *subject to entry requirements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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