Mary MacKillop Catholic College | Mary MacKillop Catholic College

Thank you very much for all you have done to support our community this semester. We have a lot to celebrate.

This weekend is the feast days of Saints Peter and Paul. A couple of years ago, I spent a European summer in Sicily, and had the good fortune to spend some time in Syracuse. The Cathedral there is founded on an ancient Greek temple, and when inside you can see the columns erected in the 5th century BC, the mosaics of the Romans and the wall paintings from when it was briefly a mosque. It is like an architectural timeline. It is one of two sites where we imagine that St Paul preached on his way to Rome in the 6th decade of the common era. if he didn’t preach there, he did so very nearby, at what is now the Church of St John.

St Paul was only there for three days, (he was on his way to be tried in Rome – they were presumably in a hurry), but I was so excited to be walking in his footsteps. Even though I’d been to Rome a few times and had been to all the big sites, there was something very exciting about seeing where St Paul would have docked, where he would have walked, even where the taverna would have been where he ate.

St Paul was a very educated man – and was independently wealthy as a result of his family’s quite lucrative textile and tent business. He was as a young man a religious zealot – attacking Christians. By all reports, he was very good at it. He was even present at the execution of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr.

Saint Peter was from a different background – a fisherman, the Gospels paint him as incredibly relatable. At times intemperate, fearful, but also very faithful and we must assume strong.

The tradition of the early Church tells us that they knew each other – they even had an argument of real significance in Antioch. It seems they made up, as they worked together in Rome before their executions by the Emperor Nero after the Fire of Rome.

Their stories can tell us so much of our faith.

St Peter is very often so incredibly human – attacking the soldiers who came to gaol Christ, denying him during The Passion, but then maintaining his leadership of the Apostles through to Pentecost and beyond. The Gospel of Matthew describes him as ‘the Rock’ upon which the Church would be built, and our faith considers him the first Pope. St Paul offers an example of radical self-forgiveness and significant change. From a position of hatred towards the new Christian religion he became one of its greatest supporters and his writings now inform so much of all Christian teachings.

The lesson I take from these two is that of forgiveness, acceptance of others and willingness to change. It is tempting to see Saints as gilt-edged and perfect. These two were not. St Paul had been a murderer and persecutor. St Peter had sought his own safety rather than even acknowledge he knew Jesus. It is their self-reflection and self-forgiveness that we should seek to imitate.

This is linked to our overall journey as a College. This semester, I have seen such an incredible improvement in attitudes to learning. It has been really inspirational. You will see elsewhere in the newsletter Ms Clapham’s description of the amazing growth in Maths. Thank you so much to the teachers, students and parents who have enabled this! When I spoke to parents in term one, I outlined the concerns regarding Senior Maths and it seems we have made a huge dent in that issue. Some students this Semester have received letters from Mr Bracken regarding their growth in literacy – another huge priority for the College. Thank you.

I am also proud of the students who supported our mission by either exhibiting their work or performing at the Winter Celebration of the Arts last night. I was so incredibly impressed by the standard, confidence and strength of the performances. The individual and combined choirs sounded just amazing, the separate acts were compelling, and the Media Studies vignettes were such a great display of the standard of work! I am sure that all who attended were, like me, really uplifted by the evening – particularly the fact that students from years 2 to 10 contributed. Mrs Collins, Ms Fredline, Mr Chivers and Ms Langerak have done a lot of work to prioritise our artistic presence and expression.

There will be more of this as we move ahead – please stay involved. In particular, in term 4 our year ten Art Class will be curating a Whole College Art Show.

Reports

Today, your child will come home with their College reports. These are legal documents, so if you do not receive it or you receive it in a slightly damaged condition, please let us know. Please note that comparators for P-6 will be on the College website to enable you to analyse grade distribution.

The Bianca Cavalieri Cup

I was approached recently by Lucy Williams and Annabelle Fox in year 6 with a proposal for a ‘Bianca Cavalieri Cup’ Netball competition, to be competed for internally every year. Having received the blessing of Bianca’s family, I can announce that this will be instituted this year. Lucy and Annabelle will support the planning and steering of it during Term 3 for a Term 4 start.

I think this is a fantastic way of increasing participation in sport but also maintaining Bianca’s memory as we grow. I’d like to thank Lucy and Annabelle for their proposal.

Digital Pedagogy at MMCC

Thank you to the parents who have contributed to the current thinking regarding e-learning in the Junior College. I am currently embarking on some action research where one Year 4 class will trial an interactive TV and Microsoft Surface Go devices for Terms 3 and 4 of this year.

Thanks also to the students in Years 7, 8 and 10 who have helped by taking part in OneNote enabled learning in the Senior School. All of this makes a huge difference in helping me make the best decision for learning in the College.

Staffing Changes

There are a few changes to staffing, commencing in Term 3. I take this opportunity to farewell our outgoing staff, and welcome in our newcomers.

Junior:

New Year 3 Teacher – Rebecca Thomas – replacing Caroline Costa
Caroline Costa – 2 days in Year 4 – replacing Meaghan Golding who is going on leave
Cate York leaving Mary MacKillop Catholic College– will be replaced by Julia Ryan
Rebecca Jones and Duvessa Carmody (Teaching Assistants) leaving Mary MacKillop Catholic College

Senior/Transition:

Khara Saunders – Guidance Counsellor
Vicki McKelvie – Maths Science
Shannon Quinlan – History and English
Nikki Wheaton – Primary Transition – Maths/Science/ STEM
Meghan McVeigh – Drama and Music/Choir – Commencing WEEK 4

I am very excited to be able to grow the staff at MMCC – particularly in areas that enable greater cultural participation, student wellbeing and subject choice. We send our departing staff away with huge thanks for supporting our mission.

Thank you all very much for your support of this great College over this Semester. As I said to the parents who came to the Open Classrooms last week – what we try and achieve here simply does not work well without your active involvement. Please keep up your involvement.

Have a safe and restful break.

Parent Survey 2019

Thanks so much to the 150+ families that took the time to complete the Parent Survey for 2019. The P&F committee has had an initial review of the submissions and can see some areas that need addressing and clarification.

The Parent Survey for 2019 was supported by the Principal, Chris Gabbett, and permission was granted for it to be sent out to all parents. The motivation of the survey was to gauge what parents were feeling, what their priorities were for communication about their child's education and what they thought the P&F could provide to enhance the relationship between the parents and the school. The results will also be utilised by College Leadership to formulate a framework for P&F participation in College life over the coming years. For the P&F to achieve this, we need to foster open communication between the College Leadership, teachers and the families of the students.

The results will continue to be analysed over the school holidays and the next P&F meeting in August will be a Parent Forum where all the results of the survey are presented and discussed.

The primary function of the Mary MacKillop Catholic College P&F is to be voice of the parents and carers as the key stakeholders in their child’s education. Monthly meetings are the forum to address these concerns, ideas and provide feedback to the College Leadership. The P&F uses this voice to work with College Leadership and teachers to enhance the day to day school experience for the students. This reflects the strategic intent of the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office, who are seeking a much more meaningful level of engagement aligned to the Diocesan priorities.

All P&F meetings are open to all parents and carers of the students. They are most often held on the second Tuesday of each month (excluding school holidays) at 7pm in the Junior School Staff Room, straight after the College Board meeting. Chris Gabbett and the Board representative on the P&F, Mr Shayne Cleary, are always in in attendance and provide a wealth of information on what is happening in the school and what plans are for the future. All P&F project expenditure and financial decisions are made at these meetings and all P&F financial information is open and transparent. This is the best forum for you as a parent or carer of a student to have your say in regard to any of your concerns, ideas or feedback and have input into the current or future plans of MMCC. It does not mean that this is the final say, the College Leadership team has that final say, but you can have your opinion taken into account and taken seriously.

A call for Agenda items for the P&F meetings being sent out two weeks before each meeting has been implemented. This is closed the week before the meeting, the Agenda finalised and the P&F President and Vice President, Leanne Andrews and Bec Lopez respectively, meet with Chris Gabbett on the Friday before the meeting to discuss the Agenda items. This is to ensure that all topical items are covered and Chris can come to the meeting informed and able to speak to agenda items appropriately. The minutes from the previous meetings are ratified and then these included in a subsequent P&F Report in the school newsletter. If you have any items for the Agenda, please email them to HIGPandF@twb.catholic.edu.au

P&F Meetings/Parent Forum

Minutes from Meeting May 14th 2019
Ratified minutes from the P&F meeting in May can be found HERE

Next Meeting - ALL WELCOME!

Next Meeting Tuesday, 6 August @7pm will be a Parent Forum where the Parent Survey 2019 results are presented and discussed.

Venue to be decided once numbers are confirmed. More information will be sent out at the beginning of Term 3.
Any items for the agenda please forward to HIGPandF@twb.catholic.edu.au

Like and Follow Us on Facebook - Mary MacKillop P&F Group – Highfields

Both Parents/Caregivers and Teachers play an important role in developing positive attitudes towards learning and education for children. Collaboratively, they all contribute to building motivation and confidence in learners and fostering their enjoyment of learning.

Research tells us that both parents and teachers play a vital role in children’s learning, wellbeing and that children generally do better when there are positive connections between the different spaces they learn in.

Family-School partnerships involve the ways families and schools work together to support children’s academic achievement. This includes connecting what children are learning at school with how they learn at home; helping families to respond early to children’s learning challenges.

Parents make a difference. They make the greatest contribution to their child’s education at home. Research shows that family-led learning is vital. This involves all the ways that parents support learning through everyday activities, and during the time their children are not at school.

Often parents become ‘stuck’ – not knowing how best to support their child/ren at home with their learning.

Beginning Term 3, I will be hosting a series of Literacy workshops that aim to support parents in their learning journey of their child’s curriculum. Initially, the workshops will be targeted at the P-2 Literacy curriculum and will be a mix of instruction and hands on activities. Please keep an eye out for the broadcast notifying of the time, day and venue.

Reading Data

Teachers have completed the Semester 1 Reading Assessment. What does this mean?

Students in P-2 are tested on their Reading (Decoding and Comprehension) using the PM tool.

Students in 3-6 are tested on their Reading (Decoding and Comprehension) using the PROBE tool.

PM requires students to achieve between 90% and 95% decoding accuracy and a Satisfactory score for comprehension.

PROBE requires students to achieve 96% or above decoding accuracy and 70% or above accuracy for comprehension.

We are specifically measuring student GROWTH. (refer to the table below)

Year Levels	Low Growth	Average Growth	High Growth
Prep	Not yet on a PMLess than 80% on SLK letter name and sound	1-2 PM levels	3 or more PM Levels
Year 1 – 2	0-2 PM Levels	3-4 PM levels	5 or more PM levels
3-6	Still within a PROBE set	Moved 1 PROBE set	Moved 2 or more PROBE sets

What does this all mean for students at MMCC? We are celebrating SUCCESS!

There are 3 Class Cohorts who have approximately 40% of their students who have reached the end of the year target.
There are 3 Class Cohorts who have between 60% and 80% of their students who have reached the end of the year target.

What do teachers do with this data?

Teachers have analysed their class data and it has informed the future direction of specific learning experiences for individual students to ensure growth occurs.

As always, if you have any questions regarding your child’s learning, please contact your child’s teacher.
The holidays are here – enjoy the opportunity to read with your child.

Mrs Natalie Adler
Assistant Principal Teaching & Learning: Junior

On Tuesday 18 June, students, teachers and parent volunteers travelled to the Gold Coast to spend a fun filled educational day at Sea World. We spent the morning participating in the program, “From Little Things, Big Things Grow” where students discovered the life cycle of a Grey Carpet Shark. This is in line with our Term 2 Science unit where we have been learning about the life cycles of different animals and plants.

From there, we explored the park by visiting Shark Bay, Ray Reef, Seal Harbour, Polar Bear Shores, the Penguin Encounter and the Sea Jellies Illuminated. We used our research skills to record information on the animals including their appearance, habitat, what they eat, their life cycle and other interesting facts that we could find out about them. We are going to use the information that we discovered to write our own information paragraphs.

Students were mesmerised by the Affinity Dolphin Show and loved having the opportunity to touch the starfish, sea cucumbers and stingrays. A definite highlight of the day for many of us were the amazing Sea Jellies!

We finished the day by watching the Thunder Lake Stunt Show before boarding the bus to come home. A huge congratulations to the Year 2 students on the way they represented our College and engaged in the learning opportunities. A great day was had by all!

Excellence must be pursued, it must be wooed with all of one’s might and every bit of effort that we have each day there’s a new encounter, each week is a new challenge.
— Vince Lombardi

In pursuing excellence Mary MacKillop Mathematics has focused on setting a high expectation of our students and implementing a standard of rigour in mathematics. It has been encouraging to see and hear students making the effort to meet these expectations. Many have worked hard to meet the challenge and the results are starting to reflect their efforts.

These goals can be measured through analysing the student results to calculate the effect size. An effect size reflects the impact of strategies implemented, any effect size around 0.3 demonstrates an impact. Am effect size of 0.5 demonstrates significant impact and an effect size of 0.8 as highly significant impact. The following effect sizes were measured:

Year 7 effect size 0.33

Year 8 effect size 0.69

Year 9 effect size 1.06

The result is that the Year 9 median score has improved by 48%. It has been amazing to see this unprecedented improvement. I am very proud of the students. Small improvement in effort has really generated amazing results for our students. These results are encouraging and the students who achieved them are to be commended.
Term Three is a new encounter with new challenges. The Senior School will look to consolidate standard and expectations, while adding the goal of student engagement. As we move forward all these goals will extend throughout the school. Our strategic goal is to offer one of the preeminent mathematics courses in the country.

A Little Historical Maths for some Holiday Fun…

“The father of algebra” mathematician Diophantus came from Alexandria and lived around 250 AD.

There is a riddle that describes Diophantus’ life:
"This tomb holds Diophantus. Ah, what a marvel! And the tomb tells scientifically the measure of his life. God vouchsafed that he should be a boy for the sixth part of his life; when a twelfth was added, his cheeks acquired a beard; He kindled for him the light of marriage after a seventh, and in the fifth year after his marriage He granted him a son. Alas! late-begotten and miserable child, when he had reached the measure of half his father's life, the chill grave took him. After consoling his grief by this science of numbers for four years, he reached the end of his life."

In simpler English it says: Diophantus's youth lasted 1/6 of his life. He had the first beard in the next 1/12 of his life. At the end of the following 1/7 of his life Diophantus got married. Five years from then his son was born. His son lived exactly 1/2 of Diophantus's life. Diophantus died 4 years after the death of his son.

How long did Diophantus live?

Happy holidays!

On Friday, 14 June, I joined the visual art students from Saint Saviours College on an excursion to Brisbane to visit the Phillip Bacon Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) and the Queensland Art Gallery.

We went to see a recently opened exhibition featuring an artist called Jude Rae. We explored the world of still life images as she depicts them. The size and scale of the works was ultimately unexpected and a little shocking at first, I wasn’t expecting the paintings to be on such a large scale, and instead of observing from the outside, I was drawn into the paintings.
We were able to pick up certain techniques the artist used and focus on understanding how she used them and how we could carry similar techniques across to our own works. The use of unusual objects such as China, oil cans and fire extinguishers.
At GOMA, we saw the Creative Generation Excellence awards in Visual Art, which allowed us to view the winning works of Queensland school students. What I took away from that was how teenagers viewed and expressed the dangers of different social issues, two works in particular, ‘NECESSITIES’ based on buying things we don’t need to conform with societies expectations, and ‘Enough, Yet…’ which showcased the issue that a ‘woman’s value is judged on physical appearance set against impossible beauty standards’. These two themes resonated with me and I am sure will be inspiration fo own future works.
The opportunity to see compelling works created by students of my own age has highlighted the importance of lifting my expectations of my own work and the importance of developing and refining my skills in order to be successful as an artist.

Although exhausted, we also viewed the works in the Queensland Art Gallery where collections of more traditional art from Australia and internationally are on display. It was a privilege to see amazing work by Picasso, Rupert Bunny, and Ian Fairweather and experience the history that is reflected in art after viewing the immediacy of art at Phillip Bacon Gallery and Creative Generation. Perhaps the greatest revelation for me was understanding the true value of art. This was revealed to me at Phillip Bacon Gallery where the paintings have prices. To view a work by Jeffrey Smart and understand that such an amazing artwork can be owned privately for approximately $390,000 was quite exciting. The value of art is something that I had never appreciated from a financial perspective but seeing the success of Jude Rae’s exhibition sales has further confirmed the importance of art in Australian Society.

Written by Holly Hutchison, Year 11 Art student.

This year Mary MacKillop Catholic College has implemented a work experience program where all Year 10 students are given the opportunity to participate in 4 days in a workplace of their choice. They are provided this opportunity so they can experience firsthand what it is like in the industry they have chosen a possible interest in. There are many benefits for the students including developing lifelong work skills, networks for future employment and knowledge about industries that might interest them. It also provides an opportunity for students to gain information to make informed decisions about possible career and study paths in Year 11 and 12.

During Week 10 (24 – 27 June), our Year 10 students participated in the 4 day program at various locations between Dalby, Highfields, Toowoomba and Brisbane. Students have enjoyed a wide range of opportunities and experiences. Staff from the Senior School have visited the workplaces and received feedback from employers and supervisors. The feedback has been exceptional, and our students have done the College and their families proud.

It should be noted that local businesses voluntarily take on a work experience placement and the program would not be successful if it was not for the generous contributions of the businesses involved.

Local and national businesses that have supported the work experience program this year include:

Highfields Vet Surgery
Struxi Design
Scope Doors and Windows
Kerb Café
Excel Power
DJ Buckley Builders
Pie Way Bakery
Knox Veterinary Clinic
Remondis Australia
Proterra Group P/L
Betty-Jo Interior Designs
Snap Fitness Highfields
Eastwood Early Education
Artistic Cat
Toowoomba Newspapers P/L
Data Farming
Stewart Craig
Highfields Child Care Centre
Data Farming
KFC Grand Central
Toowoomba West Special School
Highfields Gardens Childcare
South West Equipment Services
McCormack Industries
Highfields Dental
ARB Toowoomba
Darling Downs Radiology
Leroy Palmer Consulting Engineers
One Stop Stationery Supplies

Book Week

Book Week is celebrated 17- 23 August and the theme for this year is Reading is My Secret Power
This year all events will occur during Book Week (Week 6) we will celebrate in the following ways:

Bookfair (in Junior Library) Monday 19 – Friday 23 August

This year we will be using Book Warehouse as our Book Fair provider. They are highly recommended for their variety and affordability of books.

Book Character Dress Up Parade and MMCC Readers' Cup Wednesday 21 August

Prep - 6 students, staff and parents are invited to dress-up for the parade which will begin at 8:40 in the MacKillop Centre. Please note that dressing up is voluntary.

The MMCC Readers’ Cup involves students competing in teams to answer questions about selected Australian picture books. Students compete in the following categories: P-1, 2-3, 4, 5 and 6 with the winning team receiving certificates and a prize pack.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

Please continue to encourage students’ participation in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. (Details provided in email communication and previous newsletter.) Students are required to read the following:

Prep-Year 2 Read or experience 20 books

Year 3-4 20 books

Year 5-9 15 books

The challenge ends on August 23 and students must hand in their completed form to Junior or Senior Library by this date.

Darling Downs Readers Cup

Mary MacKillop Catholic College students, Bethany Birt, Grace Bowtell, and Ebony Naiker competed in the recent Year 7-8 Category of the Darling Downs Readers’ Cup, held at The Glennie School on 18 June. Team members were required to read specific novels and answer quiz questions based on these books. The team, spent many weeks reading and discussing the books in preparation for the competition and were successful in winning one of the question rounds. Special recognition also goes to team member Gabby Stubbings who was unable to compete due to illness.The students are commended for their commitment, teamwork and representation of Mary MacKillop values.

School Reader Record Form

Week 10, Term 2 - 2019

In This Newsletter

Whole College Announcements

From the Principal

Notice of Transfer

College Activities & Events

College Race Day - TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

Senior School Chess Tournament

Community Noticeboard

P&F Report

Holiday Soccer Camp for Girls

Parish News

Junior School

Building a Strong Culture of Parental Engagement

Year 2 Excursion to Seaworld

Year 1 Dr Seuss Day

Year 4 Excursion to Ngutana-Lui Cultural Centre

Senior School

Excellence Must Be Pursued

Senior Art Student visits Brisbane Galleries

Year 10 Work Experience

Library

From the Library

Religious Life of the College

Year 7 Religion - Visual story telling

Student Achievements

Student Achievements

Whole College Announcements

College Activities & Events

Community Noticeboard

Junior School

Senior School

Library

Religious Life of the College

Student Achievements

Whole College Announcements

College Activities & Events

Community Noticeboard

Junior School

Senior School

Library

Religious Life of the College

Student Achievements