Thank you so much for your support and commitment to the College mission this Term. I hope all in our community enjoy a safe, comforting and restful break.

Wednesday and yesterday, I was at Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney, in my role as president of the Association of Josephite Affiliated Secondary Schools (AJASS). I was fortunate on Wednesday to spend time with Sr Catherine Mead, rsj, who is the Executive Officer of AJASS. We talked about what schools can do today to maintain that initial mission and vision of St Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods, and what we can do to imitate the exceptional work of the Sisters who came after them.

One thing she stressed that has stayed with me is the importance of ownership of the mission. Sr Catherine said that even though the bricks and mortar of the Josephite schools now belong to Parishes and Diocese, the Sisters of St Joseph have never relinquished their responsibility to educate according to the message and example of St Mary MacKillop. Of course, as a school that embraces that tradition, we appreciate the Sisters' hopes for the future of Josephite education.

A Josephite approach to education focuses on the learning and wellbeing of each student.
Ecological awareness is nurtured in the stewardship and care of all created things.
Relationships in the school community are foundational. Josephite schools are the best of Church in expressing the unconditional compassionate love God.

I was so heartened this week to hear of the Year 9 boys who applied the learning of their Religious Education class. As part of their project on 'being more' this term, the boys chose to spend some time with the elderly in the community underpinned by the Priestly, Kingly and Prophetic Mission of the Church.

Mrs Radley reported they were excellent in engaging with our elderly neighbours, and that they represented the College well. I am so impressed that the boys have asked to return on a more regular basis. A Josephite education should inspire compassion, a strive for positive relationships and a focus on wellbeing. I am so proud of these young men putting this into practice.

Mr Chris Gabbett
College Principal

I'm not the greatest Rolling Stones fan to be honest but the lyric in the article heading is pertinent to my thinking today as is the next part of the song - bear with me...

An important part of my role as Deputy Principal is to develop the timetable. I've tried to avoid doing this my entire professional career, but Mr. Gabbett runs a tight ship so there is no squirming out of it this time! It's been a steep learning curve but an oddly enjoyable one and I thought I might share some of my tales from the timetable here that might be good 'life' lessons for us all - teachers, parents, students.

Lesson 1: Contingency planning - no matter how hard you've worked on it, no matter what lengths you've gone to get your ducks in a row, sometime the 'timetable says no'. You can shout, swear, and kick the cat but it will still say no. It's a cruel master the timetable, so you always need to have a backup plan up your sleeve just in case it doesn't work out.

Lesson 2: Creativity is key - when I started out on the timetable, I had a misconception that it was purely logical thinking that would be needed. As with Lesson 1, the timetable planning has shown me that creative, flexible thinking and logical, pragmatism are actually excellent bedfellows and pigeon-holing types of thinking is counter-productive.

Lesson 3: Caring matters - not only do you need to take care with the details (as mistakes really do have consequences in a timetable), you also need to consider the people behind the room numbers, class codes, and times of day. Caring for staff so that they can manage their working day, caring for students so that they have as much consistency as possible in rooming and staffing matters. Now, you can't always get what you want, but caring enough to try means you'll get as close as you're able.

Lesson 4: Consultation and collaboration - this might be the biggest takeaway so far. I had (again) a misconception that the timetabler is a lone wolf, rocking in a chair, moving Baoding balls around and around in one hand as they moved cards around on the screen, magically looking for the Holy Grail. Now whilst this actually IS the case, they also NEED to work with others to find creative solutions, check their work, or just to bounce ideas off.

Lesson 5: Calling it - timetable is a compromise. It's likely, in fact it's a given that not everyone will be fully 'happy' with what has been created. Everyone, staff, students, parents, TCS central office will be able to look at any timetable and pick up things that are not optimal. However, with so many complex and moving parts you sometimes just have to 'call it' as the best you can do given the inevitable constraints in place.

All very interesting Richard but where exactly are you going with all of this?

Well, I hope that by sharing some of these lessons from something as unexciting as a timetable we can all look at our own lives, work, interactions and remember a few things.

Contingency planning in life whether you're 5, 55 or 75 is important. We can often build things up so much in our heads that we can create a utopia that is probably unachievable. Life just doesn't work that way when everything slots into place all of the time. When it does, enjoy it, relish it, savour it - but when it doesn't, don't panic - you got this, go to Plan B and it will still be ok. As many students transition in their school lives this lesson will be important.
We're all more logical and more creative than we give ourselves credit for. Encourage and model this with your children. The more they see you challenge yourself with a puzzle, or attempt to learn the nuances of Mariokart, or wallpaper a room when it went so terribly last time the more they can understand that whilst we all have preferences, defaults, likes - we can, more often than not, achieve in fields that are unfamiliar and uncomfortable. As students start new subjects, this lesson could serve them well.
Caring about what you do; caring about the impact of your work and actions on others; caring about yourself matters. It will make us all better if we care. As term 4 approaches and summer looms, caring takes effort. Support the school and your child by repeating the mantra that caring matters.
Reach out - humans actually enjoy helping one another. Science tells us that a 'helpers-high' is created when we are kind and help others - in addition to boosting oxytocin and dopamine, helping others can also increase serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood. So, ask for help - you'll actually be 'helping' others by doing so! Teach your children that asking for help is a strength not a weakness.
The last lesson is a trickier one as a parent. You might have a child who 'calls it' way too early, showing a lack of care or perseverance. On the flip side, you might have a child who struggles to 'call it', wanting to make every single little detail, word, line, angle perfect. Let's work together to try and find a bit more of a happy medium as a timetable that's flung together won't work, and at the same time a timetable that's never finished is no good to anyone and no matter how hard you look at it, the overall picture will be as good as it was ten versions previous.
It's great to strive for perfection but as you do, just keep Mick and his pals in your head or in your child's head...

"You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need."

Mr Richard Coe
Deputy Principal

2025 College Leaders Announced

Student Leadership is very important in building culture and enabling the whole voice of the College to be heard.

This year, via a mixture of self and peer nominations, staff votes and wider discernment, we can announce the following as the student leaders for 2024/5.

College Captain - Archer Turner and Remi O'Donoghue
Academic Captain -Jarrah Sunatwanitkul
Evangelisation Captain - Erin O'Rourke
Sports Captain - Chloe O'Rourke
Cultural Captain - Bianca Philp

Cunningham House Captains - Kya Manz and Sam Jones
McCormack House Captains - John Condon and Brianna Kowitz.
Penola House Captains - Emily Riding and Jayden Sunatwanitkul
Tenison House Captains - Eustacia Golobic and Ava Stevens

Thank you to these students and to the College Pastoral Leads who conducted the process for selecting House Captains. There are some very able students who were nominated and missed out on positions. This was a very competitive process. We are in the fortunate position of having a lot of really exceptional young people.

The new leaders will receive their badges in week 3, next term, and there will be a number of formation opportunities before the start of year 12.

Congratulations to these wonderful students!

Chris Gabbett

Principal

As part of our one to one device program, the College has had laptops in the Senior School since 2019, and Surface Go's in the Junior School since 2020. With time, we have streamlined our Device Program and are now phasing out the Surface Go device buyout scheme in line with our Senior Laptop device buyout. The extreme use that these devices are incurring over the three year period has seen the College providing non saleable devices back to families that are out of warranties and not in line with our College objectives. As a result senior device buyback will cease in 2025 and junior device buybacks in 2026.

We are now introducing Surface Go's to our Year 3 students so they can be Naplan ready each year. As part of the phase in of this objective, the College will provide these devices levy free to Year 3 in 2025, and then introduce the $75 per term levy to Year 3 students in 2026 so that Years 3-6 can access this technology going forward.

As with our current One to One Device Programs, all breakages and/or loss of accessories must be reported immediately to our ICT team. If non genuine parts are sourced during the period of hire from the College, and genuine accessories are not provided at time of return of the device, families will be billed for these accessories at the prices specified by the College.

Any enquiries regarding these changes to the One to One Device Program can be directed to accounts via email, and we will do our best to answer these questions.

Kirsty Gillett
Business Manager

Term 4 at MMCC is always jam-packed with mission and service events! We kick things off (quite literally) in Week 3, on Friday 18 October with our annual Socktober Day. The College participates in Socktober Day as a part of Mission Month, when we aim to engage our community, raise money for Catholic Missions and take action against poverty. We also get the chance to wear some crazy socks and play some soccer! This year, Catholic Missions’ focus country is Mongolia. If you’d like to take a look at Catholic Missions video, which introduces us to the people of Mongolia, click on the link below and watch the youtube clip called: Kick Goals For Good! Socktober 2024 

On Socktober Day, we invite all students to wear their bright, colourful socks, and purchase a sausage sizzle run by the AMMA group. During the day, the Junior school students will be involvd in some soccer-themed activities such as dribbling competitions and shoot outs. In the afternoon, the Senior College will gather in our House areas on Fitzroy oval to watch a Staff Vs Year 12 soccer match and play some House versus House matches too. Keep your ears open and eyes peeled for more information in the coming weeks. An email, with a link for ordering sausages and making your donation for wearing socks, will be sent early in Term 4.

On Saturday, 19 October, we trade our football boots for some hiking books or joggers and take on the Hike for the Homeless. This event is aimed at raising awareness of homelessness in Toowoomba and much-needed funds to ensure the Basement Soup Kitchen can continue to provide lunchtime meals, blankets, clothing, and essential services. As a Catholic College in the Josephite tradition, we are passionate about outreach and aim to work in partnership to advocate for people who are homeless or at high risk of homelessness in Toowoomba.

Students, staff and parents can join the MMCC team, which has already been created. You can nominate to walk or run 5km, 10km or 20 km and each of these distances have a different donation amount. If you’d like to join the MMCC team, in recent weeks a link was sent to families via email or you can click on the link below.

We hope to have a really full team this year, so please consider joining up!

Finally, from about Week 4, Term 4, our Actioning Mary MacKillop Advocacy (AMMA) Group, will run their Vinnies Christmas Gift Appeal once more. This has become a tradition in our College when we invite all students to donate an age-appropriate gift for families who may struggle to provide presents for their children or each other, this Christmas. Early in Term 4, a list of suggested gifts for babies through to adults, will be sent to families. Please keep an eye out!

So then, what do soccer, socks, hiking and gift-giving all have in common? Well, being a part of the Mary Mac community and serving others, of course!

Have a fantastic, safe and restful holiday break and we’ll see you all back in Term 4, ready to work in partnership and take practical action to serve our local community.

Leisa Radley
Director of Formation

Congratulations to this Term's The Josephite Award Winners!

Let me start by saying that this term the 'P' that we have focused on has been Partnership as part of our Josephite charism. For those that are still learning the 'P's', here are the rest - Passion, Perseverance, Possibilities, Practical Action and Prayer. Students have been learning about what partnership looks like in the every day world and how it can allow them to achieve goals that they wouldn't normally be able to. One of the biggest arenas that partnership creates success is the sporting field evident by the success of so many teams this term - Senior and Junior Soccer teams, both Rugby Union teams, futsal teams, netball, touch but we also see it in classroom projects and activities that occur every day.

Partnership is such a gift for all involved. Collins Dictionary states that partnership is "Being in a partnership isn't about one person 'being in charge' or always getting his/her way, it is about two people listening to each other and working together to accomplish a common goal. In a true partnership, respect is present, and power is shared." This term I been privileged to have worked in partnership with so many people to successfully host many events.

I would like to acknowledge the staff and students who have worked with me to successfully celebrate Mary MacKillop Feast day, Catholic Mission Launch and Father's Day, to name just three. Without the students creating the liturgies, designing the prayer cards, being the readers and those students who carry an item in as part of the procession as well as setting up and packing down the spaces, these celebrations wouldn't be what they are. The students however do work in partnership with staff to ensure that everything is in order and keep them on track. Huge thanks to the staff behind the scenes who create the prayer cards or ensure that certificates are ready. Special thanks to the Program Team who do the heavy lifting in readiness for the celebration. It is a joy to work with these people as they work in partnership with everyone to ensure all is ready. To staff who just ensure students know what is happening and make it happen with them. To staff who reach out and take on roles in the liturgies. I am not able to do this without you! Thankyou!

Partnership is alive in our College. I also see partnership occurring in other areas as well. This term we have had the privilege of hosting a Work and Welcome placement - Vian AlAbdo - as part of a program from Multiculture Australia. Vian is a refugee from Iraq who has been given a chance to learn the skills so that she is able to obtain work in Australia. Vian has worked in classrooms, again in partnership with the teachers to help students to learn. This week Vian presented her story as a refugee to the Year 6 cohort as part of their English unit of work. As a refugee her journey has not been easy. Thank you to you as parents because this week you have supported this work by buying sausages and zooper doopers as well as sending in money for the chocolate toss. All this money goes to the funding of the Work and Welcome Program to support refugees like Vian.

Together we can!

Paula O'Rourke
Assistant Principal Mission and Identity

In our ever-changing world, it is essential for us to continually reflect on how we bring our Catholic identity and mission to life within our Mary MacKillop Catholic College community. This reflection has led all Toowoomba Catholic Schools to collaboratively review the vital role of religious leadership. As a result, the position of Assistant Principal Religious Education (APRE) has been revitalised with a new focus and title of Assistant Principal Mission and Identity (APMI).

At Mary MacKillop Catholic College, our APMI plays a pivotal role in guiding Catholic pedagogy, overseeing the religion curriculum, and nurturing the religious life of our College. This work is at the very heart of everything we do. The role of the APMI is essential in ensuring that our Catholic school remains a living witness to Christ’s message as expressed in the Gospels.

From the beginning of Term 4, Mrs Paula O'Rourke will now have the new role title of APMI. In subsequent newsletters Paula will write more about her role and her aspirations and hopes for this role at our College, and how this will shape this next chapter of our continuing Catholic faith journey.

Could you please congratulate Paula O'Rourke(APMI) on their renewed and refreshed role.

Chris Gabbett

Principal

CMC is the annual host and birthplace of the spectacular, three-day, music extravaganza the Battle of The Rock Bands! Since its inception in 2017, student rock bands from secon​dary schools across Brisbane and beyond join together at our campus to perform in our inter-school, collegial musical showcase of talent. Thousands of spectators and supporters are entertained each year by amazing student musicians!​

Clairvaux MacKillop College is proud to host the annual 2024 Battle of the ROCK Bands. It will be staged in the college’s Mary MacKillop Learning Centre, Klumpp Road, Upper Mt Gravatt, on Thursday October 3, Friday October 4, and Saturday October 5, 2024.

In 2024 we have 30 high school bands performing, with different bands on each night.

Jess Burke
Middle Leader - The Arts

On Tuesday, 27 August, 46 students from Years 1-6 represented Mary MacKillop at the annual Toowoomba District Primary School Teams Chess Competition at TCC. This competition featured 27 schools with 113 teams and 467 students. Of the 467 participants, 144 of them were girls representing 31% of the entire competition. This was an outstanding representation of girls showing the boys how to play the game of chess. MMCC had seven teams in the open division (Years 4-6) and five teams in the novice division (Years 1-3). Students played six or seven tough games of chess against teams from all across the Toowoomba region. All students played well, representing our College with great sportsmanship and enthusiasm.

A big thank you to the parents who drove their children to and from TCC. The biggest thank you goes to the teachers who supported with the competition, from the driving of the bus (Mr Sean Albion and Mr Tim Connolly) to the teachers who attended the competition (Mrs Bec Lopez and Mr Ben Mitchell). Another big thank you to Mrs Fiona Taggart, parent of Lucas Taggert, who took a day off work to support the younger students playing. Without any one of these people helping, the day would not have been a success.

Chess lessons are held at MMCC each week on a Monday first break (beginner and intermediate players) and Wednesday morning before school from 7:30-8:15am (advanced players) in Mr Hubbard’s Diamantina classroom. All students are welcome to attend, learning moves and strategy, to improve chess gameplay.

Mr Craig Hubbard
Chess Co-Ordinator

Congratulations to our Year 9 Basketball team who won the Year 9/10 AAG Cup Division 1, held at St Mary's College last Tuesday. They played a number of schools from across the Toowoomba region winning 5 from 5 games for the day. They played Highfields State Secondary College in the final and won 74 to 28.

Further to this success, they played in the Div 2 grand final for the Junior Club Competition last Friday night and won with a strong come back in the forth quarter. The boys have demonstrated perseverance and dedication having play almost every Friday night during term 2 and 3 for the competition.

Fantastic Footballers

On Monday 2nd September, Mary Mackillop celebrated a unique moment when both the senior and junior girls’ soccer teams played in their respective grand finals in the Toowoomba Schools competition. Both teams worked hard throughout the season, with some strong and entertaining soccer, which saw both teams finish top of the table.

The junior team faced off against a determined Glennie, and the first half was a tight contest, with Mary Mackillop ahead 1-0 at the break. After a rousing pep talk by coaches Mr Josh Richards and Mrs Leah Moffat, the girls came out fighting and scored quickly, followed by another shortly after. Glennie never gave up and scored a well-earned goal right at the end. The junior team came away victorious 3-1, with Piper York voted best on ground by the referees.

The senior girls were up against a solid Highlands outfit, who shut down our midfield and strikers very cleverly in the firs

t half, but not before Gabi Voll snuck one past the Highlands keeper. With the score 1-0 at the break, once again coach Mr Richards and coach Rob Barr rallied the troops, making some positional changes which took Highlands by surprise. Mary Mackillop put away four unanswered goals in the second half, with a hattrick to Charli Botham and one to Caitlyn Barr. The senior girls came away dominant 5-0 winners, capping off a successful afternoon and a very successful season. Charli Botham and Chloe O’Rourke shared the honour of most valuable players as voted by the referees.

A big thankyou to all the

parents and students who came along to support both teams at the Grand final, and an extra big thankyou to those parents and supporters who came along every week to support their team. Thank you to all the players for your commitment to the growth of women’s soccer at Mary Mackillop.

Thankyou also to Mr Richards and Mrs Moffat for being there every Thursday and Friday morning for training, and to the small group of girls who consistently attended. I have thoroughly enjoyed supporting and assistant coaching both teams this year and look forward to doing the repeat next year!

Mrs Liz Frame

QSF Cup

This week 17 futsal players spent two days in

Coomera contesting the QSF Cup for players 14 years and under. Both our boys and girls teams successfully navigated their first day to qualify for the quarter finals of the competition. Despite most players being under the top age, both teams played some inspired futsal against some of the better futsal schools in the Southeast of the State. Huge congratulations to the girls' team who narrowly lost the play-off for the bronze medal by 5-4 against a much older Kawana Waters side - you gave them a big scare girls and can hold your heads up. Thank you to Mr Albion and Mr Thomas for their support of our teams.

On Thursday, 15 August, students from Years 5, 6, 7, and 8 participated in the annual Queensland Association of Mathematics Teachers (QAMT) Maths Competition held at St Ursula's College.

This quiz is an opportunity to engage enthusiastic mathematics students and allow them to experience a fun and challenging team activity. Their passion for mathematics was on display as they had to persevere through often challenging mathematical questions with limited time to respond. They worked in partnership to solve each question.

Well done to all the students who participated. We are extremely proud of your efforts and achievements. Congratulations to Year 7 and 8 students, Ashley, Aidan, and Shivangi, who placed third and will compete in the regional finals next term.

Mr Malcolm Langerak
Middle Leader Mathematics

Congratulations to all the students who won a Spelling Bee Certificate!

The Spring holidays are just around the corner! There are so many exciting activities planned this vacation care such as two excursions: one to The Strand to Watch the new movie Harold and the Purple Crayon, and the other to a Petting Zoo to experience a variety of animals.Wheels day, which continues to be our biggest hit each vacation care, where children are provided an opportunity to bring their bikes/scooters/rollerblades from home and ride around Ignatius and other parts of the school.

There are many flower and plant themed activities such as growing flowers, flower science experiments, and creating flowers out of craft.We ask families bring in any spare cardboard boxes they have lying around for the children to create fortresses. These cardboard fortresses will then be used for the Nerf Gun battles.

Email us at TCKC - OSHC to secure your spot now so you don't miss out!

Garth Rochford
Coordinator

Cherie Healing (Education Liaison Officer Department of Defence) has emailed to our college the attached Defence Member and Family Support newsletter. Cherie sends this newsletter to schools and colleges within south Queensland, if she feels they may have defence families enrolled.

If you have any questions, please contact Kelli Pacey (Secondary Learning Support Teacher) kelli.pacey@twb.catholic.edu.au

Mass times are at 8:00am every Sunday (unless otherwise advised). However, on 28 September, we will be having our Potluck Dinner for Metal Health Month, and the mass will be on Saturday Night at 5:00pm.

Parish News

Date Claimer – Potluck Dinner: Our September Potluck Dinner will be held on Saturday, 28 September at the MacKillop Centre. We have two wonderful guest speakers from “Older people’s Mental Health Service.” Mass will be celebrated at 5:00pm on the night, with dinner to follow afterwards. Just come along with something to share. Everyone welcome.

Date Claimer - Trivia Night: Our Trivia Night will be on Saturday, 9 November. Come one and all to the most fun you have had all year. Everyone welcome. WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Spirituality Team:

Our last spirituality team presentation for this month will be Sunday, 15 September after Mass. Please grab a cuppa and hear these wonderful homilies by Richard Rohr, followed by a discussion afterwards. Everyone welcome.

RCIA Program

Becoming a Catholic involves a journey of faith accompanied by the support of a parish community. During the process, you meet with others to share, reflect, pray and learn more about the Catholic faith. If you or someone you know would like to know more about becoming a Catholic, please contact Fr. Brian on 46 967 094.

Goodbye and Good luck

This month we said farewell to two couples who have been part of our community for some time. Leo and Meg Chadwick and David and Vera Toohey. We extend to both couples every good wish for your future happiness in your new places of abode.

Stamps for Missions

We remind you that Mary is collecting used stamps for the missions. These are taken to Sydney and sent to auction, and the money is sent direct to the very poor people in Peru. The money goes towards educating the young ones and many more things. If you have any used stamps at home, please bring them along to mass with you and place them in the receptacle available on the desk in the foyer, where Mary will collect them. Mary really appreciates these stamps to help those less fortunate than ourselves.

Mary MacKillop Parish