Thank you all so much for your proactive, consistent and amazing support this year. We have achieved so much, and if 2021 was when we announced ourselves as a major presence in the Toowoomba family of schools, this year we have shouted it quite loudly! We are continuing to receive a lot of enrolment enquiries, for all year groups, and so many new applicants to our community cite a recommendation from a current family. I do genuinely appreciate how proudly many of you speak of the College.

Our enrolments next year will push over 800 - potentially well over it. As you will know from the different messages this year, we are close to wait-listing a few year groups and we have had to recruit more colleagues in senior to expand the Pastoral Care groups and deliver curriculum to what could now be considered a full Senior College. This is a wonderful achievement considering the fact the inaugural year 7 were taught initially in standalone buildings only 7 years ago. None of this happens without a supportive and positive community. Thank you.

Our year 12 Rite of Passage events last week were really beautiful, and I want to thank the colleagues and parents who helped to make them so magnificent. Our graduating class were fantastic ambassadors for our College, and I have a lot of confidence their results will be really good. Their planned destinations are really exciting and they have left a fantastic legacy. I am confident our 2023 leaders will pick up where they left off. We are fortunate to have a wonderful culture in our College.

There is often debate - amongst many - about the 'real' message of Christmas. This can become a bit schtick and cliched. At a time in our country where some cannot find homes, or are struggling with food prices, or their mortgage, it is a time to remember those who may have little but still deserve dignity. The shepherds who were the first to hear of Christ's birth were the lowest of the low in their time - really, itinerant and unskilled men who were by definition homeless. The fact that they were the first to know of His birth is a message of dignity and love given without the need for reward or recognition. It is a message that at Mary MacKillop I want us to continue.

I hope that you and your family have something restful planned for the Christmas break. Please stay safe and do what you need to do to recharge and reinvigorate. Thank you again for a really wonderful, rewarding and productive year.

Mr Chris Gabbett
College Principal

One’s ability to excel is limitless: Defeat is optional! 

What does achievement look like? 

Is it putting effort into schoolwork? Is it receiving awards that mark your achievement? Is it doing your absolute best in your subjects? Is it simply improvement overall? 

In fact, Educational Excellence is all of these things combined, and more. Achieving excellence stems from a mindset that strives for it. Motivation, focus, continuous improvement, pride in oneself and the understanding of one's capabilities allows for any student to achieve excellence. There is no limit to what can be accomplished should the individual pursue set goals with a dedicated mindset. 

“Be faithful and lose not one opportunity of merit that presents itself to you”  

(Mary MacKillop 1873) 

When young people excel, it is rare for the achievement to be an individual accomplishment and much more typical for the achievement to be a collective effort, coming from teachers, parents, friends, other family members and community allies. This support, combined with the student’s intrinsic motivation to achieve is recognised and celebrated at our Annual Awards Evening. 

In 2022 at Mary MacKillop Catholic College, we recognise success in the following categories: 

• Academic Success Gold Years 4-12 
• Academic Success Silver Years 4-12 
• Academic Improvement Years 4-12 
• Top of Subject Years 7-12 
• Sports Awards Years 4-12 
• Arts and Culture Awards Years 4-12 
• Pathways Years 10-12 
• All Rounder Award Years 4-12 
• Spirit of Mary MacKillop Award Years 4-12 
• Jarra Award Years 4-12 
• College Dux Year 12 (announced 2023) 

Congratulations to the 2022 Award Recipients! 

For the third year running, Mary MacKillop Catholic College has celebrated its cohort of Year 12 graduates with a week of festivities. The week kicked off with a Graduation Breakfast, catered by our hospitality students and College chef, an opportunity for graduates and their teachers to come together and celebrate the end of their schooling journey. 

Graduates were also treated to a retreat day, Awards Night, Formal Dinner, Valedictory Lunch and the beautiful Mass and Clap Out Guard of Honour that has become a tradition our whole College can get involved in. At the Mass, celebrated by Fr Brian Noonan, he called for all graduates to “reflect on the history, celebrate in the present and look with confidence to the future” as they prepare for life after school.  

There was a special acknowledgement for Katelyn Haddow, Ashlyn Martin, Dylan Schmaling and Cassie Lawson who have been at the College since the first day of Prep in 2010, when the senior school grounds were merely a paddock of cows. They committed to staying on for high school, even though, when they were entering Year 7, there were only two year levels ahead of them, and now as they graduate, they leave behind a thriving P-12 College. As the College grows there will be many more who have completed the entirety of their schooling at Mary MacKillop. “This is a real milestone and we are incredibly proud of the young people they have become” said Mr Chris Gabbett, College Principal.  

All graduates have very exciting destinations to move on to, ranging from Apprenticeships, university courses in Brisbane and Toowoomba and work pathways. We look forward to announcing these in January along with the final results of this very impressive cohort. 

Staffing changes are inevitable in a College of our size.  Please see below a list of departures, movements and arrivals for 2023.  

Colleagues Departing: 

Loretta Simmons - Mrs Simmons has contributed immeasurable amounts to our College.  She is a link to its earliest days, and we are so privileged she has walked with the College for so long.  She has taken on a post at Our lady of Lourdes School in Toowoomba.   

Nicole Wittman – Ms Wittman will be dusting off her passport to teach overseas.  Thank you so much Ms Wittman for the talent, wit and care you have brought to your classroom over the last two years. 

Shane McAllister – Mr McAllister will be joining other members of his family at Holy Name School in Toowoomba.  Thank you so much Mr McAllister for your outstanding work!  

Eve Pola – Mrs Pola has moved on after her great impact as a School Officer.  Thank you so much! 

Charden Ruge - Mrs Ruge is leaving us after two fantastic years in Learning Support.  Thank you so much!  

Peta Kingsford – Mrs Kingsford has taken on a teaching post at St Anthony’s School in Toowoomba, following her period of leave this year.   

Bethany Campbell - Our loss is Roma’s gain. Bethany will take on a teaching post at St John’s teaching science and PE. She will be amazing.  

Colleagues Re-deployed: 

Chrissy Carter – Mrs Carter will continue her P-3 Co-ordinator position next year but will not have a teaching class.  She will be mentoring teachers in years P-3 so we can continue to improve in these crucial years.   

Carmen Campbell – Mrs Campbell will be working full-time as P-6 Physical Education teacher.   

Sarah Hand – Mrs Hand will be moving from her School Officer post to a teaching role in the Junior College.   

Deb Mengel – Mrs Mengel will be teaching in the Senior College next year, in years 7-9.   

Colleagues taking leave: 

Charmaine Cridland – Ms Cridland will take leave for the first Semester.  She will be digging out her passport too for some well-earned overseas reinvigoration.   

Ann-Maree Patterson – Mrs Patterson is also taking leave for the first Semester. 

Lara Wolff – Mrs Wolff will be taking leave for the first term only.   

Anne O’Reilly – Mrs O’Reilly will be taking a year’s leave from the College.   

New Colleagues: 

Elissa Chapman – Many parents will be aware of the outstanding impact of Mrs Chapman as co-ordinator of our Out of School Hours Care.  She will be teaching next year in Prep. 

Kara Sheather – Ms Sheather will be joining us in year 4.  Welcome! 

Sandra Rosentreter – Ms Rosentreter is returning to Toowoomba and will be teaching year 5, replacing Mrs O’Reilly. 

Natalie Gurr – Mrs Gurr is a very experienced teacher from Victoria.  She will be Learning Support teacher in the Senior College. 

Caley Croft – Ms Croft will be Learning Support teaching in the Junior College as well as teaching year 5 one day per week.   

Brianna Fitzgerald – Ms Fitzgerald will be joining us in the Senior PE department.  She has expertise in touch football and netball. 

Courtney Davis – We welcome from St Joseph’s Chinchilla Ms Davis who will be teaching year 2. 

Lucia Briggs – Mrs Briggs will be replacing Mrs Wolff during her period of leave.   

P-6 Teaching Staff: 

As per previous years, families will find out individual class teachers in the new year. 

A reminder to any families who may be moving or relocating from Highfields, please note our Cancellation Policy. Any families intending to withdraw their child's enrolment at the end of Term 4, 2022, must notify the College by no later than 3:00pm, Friday, 2 December 2022 to avoid billing of Term 1 2023 fees.

Should your circumstances change and your child/ren will not be continuing at the College, we ask for the earliest notice possible. For the purposes of planning and resourcing, we require notification by the final day of the end of the current term.

Notification is defined as the date of the receipt of the Notification of Transfer form. Invoices for fees are sent in the final week of the previous term, and failure to provide this notice will result in one terms’ fee being invoiced to you.

Exceptions to this Policy are at the discretion of the Principal.

A Notification of Transfer form must be completed to initiate the cancellation of your child’s enrolment at the College.

Please contact me to discuss your intentions via email or phone 07 4698 7777

Adelle McQueen
Enrolment Officer

Thank you to our generous community who supported this appeal.

The Vinnies Christmas Appeal is all about bringing joy and festivity to families and individuals who may be in need of some extra support. For most of us, Christmas is a time of celebration with family and friends; the joy of exchanging gifts, making precious memories together and enjoying delicious Christmas treats to eat. However, for 2.2 million Australians, including families and 750,000 children living below the poverty line, Christmas can be a time when meeting their most basic needs, like putting food on the table or a place to call home, is a real struggle.

The AMMA (Actioning Mary MacKillop Advocacy) group at Mary Mac proudly coordinated and handed over the many bags of gifts donated by our community.

Thank you to all the students and staff for attending and enabling this initiative again this year.

Having a consistent place and time for Maths Club - Wednesdays, Penola 12 and 13, before and after school - has been of great benefit to a number of students from Year 7 right the way through to Year 12. Either as a drop-in for Maths help, or as an after-school homework club, or just for those who like to eat cookies (!), Maths Club has been there, and will continue to operate throughout next year.

Have a good break!

'Maths Club - Just like any other club, except much cooler!'

Piers Dudin
Middle Leader - Mathematics and Numeracy

We took a group of budding Year 8 Mathematicians to a TSCO organized 'Students in Maths Day' during Week 6 which turned out to be a fun day for all involved.

We were lucky to be given a talk by Jonti Horner, one of the world's top Astrophysicists, who works at UniSQ, about the work he does in discovering, and sometimes 'destroying', new exo-planets which orbit (potentially) every star visible in the night sky. Awesome!

The day entailed a variety of Maths and STEM-based activities and students joined several other diocesan schools in exploring the creative side of Maths and its applications to programming, engineering and fractal geometry.

All the students involved seemed to have a good time!

Jared Nielsen
Middle Leader - STEM

The Year 11 Biology students got a taste for ecology at the Experience Ecology Day hosted by the University of Queensland at the St Lucia campus.

This experience was designed to introduce students to some of the topics covered in the Year 12 Biology syllabus as well as provide them with data analysis skills that are essential for their assessment tasks.

The students braved the Brisbane heat to spend some time exploring ecosystems to apply ecological surveying techniques and calculate species diversity.

UQ ecology lecturer, Dr Gurion Ang, emphasised the importance of ecology to the students saying that we are currently experiencing the most rapid rate of extinction documented in Earth's history. He expects that species like the endemic Goulding Finch will be extinct in fifty years due to human activities such as land clearing.

Despite the ominous message, our Year 11 students are hopeful that their ecological studies can help make a positive impact!

The annual Year 6 Dance celebrations were a toe tapping success! A huge crowd, fantastic parent support and some jives to get everyone moving! 

Mr Peter Vernon from Muzic 4 U has been training students in the art of traditional dances this term in preparation for the event. The old classics like the Gypsy Tap, Heel & Toe and the Pride of Erin lit up the dancefloor with a modern twist of music that the students could definitely relate to! 

Parents, grandparents, guardians and friends all joined the dancefloor along with Year 6 Teachers and Mr Gabbett. A beautiful occassion to commemorate the end of their junior years at Mary MacKillop.

The very first edition of Mary Mac's Got Talent show was held this week and was a raging success!

Over 160 attendees, 19 Acts and a whole lot of fun! 

Over the holiday break it can be a challenging time for some young people as their routine changes and potentially lose daily connection with their peers. Just as they have through the ages, teens today live rich, intricate and sometimes secretive lives. Peer relationships, hormonal changes, and brain developments factor prominently for teens. Aspects of family life may take a backseat during teen years, and young people might have trouble staying motivated to meet responsibilities like study and chores. These things can put pressure on relationships and parents may find this difficult to manage. Help is available to support parents to navigate these years, and keep you close to your teen.

Heading into the holidays keep these resources in mind:

REACHOUT

This is a free online coaching service for parents and carers. The service assists to create clarity around any problem you and/or your teen are experiencing and to increase your confidence to support your teen through a tough time. Reach Out One-on-one support

• Book online
• Four collaborative sessions available
• Develop an action plan with your coach
• Online dashboard with resources and tools to support during and after sessions with a coach

Triple Zero (000) Triple Zero

Lifeline 13 11 14 Lifeline

Suicide Call Back Service 1300 65 94 67 Suicide Call Back Service

13YARN (ATSI service) 13 92 76 13 Yarn

1800RESPECT (sexual assault or DFV) 1800 737 732 1800 Respect

Kids Helpline (5 – 25 Years) 1800 551 800 Kids Helpline

I hope that everyone has a safe and happy Christmas filled with family and laughter. Thank you for your support throughout 2023!

Sean Albion
Assistant Principal Wellbeing - Senior

The end of the school year is often a busy time. At the end of each year, I always think it is the right time to spend some time reflecting on what we have been grateful for throughout the year. One of our priorities in our College is to develop a strong sense of wellbeing with our students, to enable them to flourish and live a full and happy life. When we engage in the act of gratitude with our children, we are helping them to increase their own happiness, enhance their empathy and support them in developing strong connections with other people. Here are some moments where asking your child what they were grateful for, will support them in having positive reflections of the year that has been:

• At the end of a school day next week, ask them which friends they have been grateful to have in their class this year.
• When you receive their report card, ask your child what part of their learning they have been grateful to do.
• Ask your child is there a teacher, or staff member who they were grateful for. This person may have helped them with their learning, organisation, health or negotiating play.

On the recent Year 6 Formation day, the students reflected upon what they have been grateful for- both this year and through their schooling journey. I will share some of these messages with you for reflection as we head into our school break. Sometimes our children don't share with us what they are grateful for, while navigating their school world, but these messages really let us know how grateful they are.

I am grateful for...

• the times that were hard but when everyone helped me
• all the fun memories, moments and friends I have made over my primary school years
• all the fun, sad, happy, scary and wonderful memories
• the 'magical moments' ball
• coming to Mary MacKillop and meeting my friends and teachers
• friends
• my mum and dad for buying me things that I need for school because some people don't have the opportunity to go to school
• all my incredible teachers for helping me to learn
• my loving and supportive family that feed me every day work hard to provide the things that I need and want
• Mr Hubbard because he always helped me no matter what
• having fun things at school from a break from work
• how lucky I am

I would like to express my thanks for the year that has been. I wish you and your family a very happy and connected time together over the holidays. The greatest gift you can give your children is your time. I hope we all find time for this over the holiday season.

Bridget Rillie
Assistant Principal Wellbeing: Junior

The Year 7 Basketball team competed in their first major competition at the Clive Berghofer Arena on the weekend and won their two matches to win Division 3.

The team put in solid performances against 'TAS' and 'Highfields 2', winning their final game 33-20.

This success paves the way for growing competitive Basketball here at Mary Mac, especially in the Y7/Y8 age groups, next year.

The team also watched Toowoomba's top Y7/Y8 Div 1 teams (TGS, Centenary Heights SHS and St Mary's College) go head-to-head which gave them something to aim for in years to come! Thank you to the parents and families for the support and encouragement of the team, including Kyle Williams, our new coach!

Team try-outs will restart again next year, when we will hopefully be able to post two teams for the Friday evening regular competition at St Mary's College.

When is a photo of students working in the classroom not simply a case of wandering through with a lens and point and shoot?

Last week for MMCC Arts!

An epic and exhausting day. Mary Mackillop Catholic Colleges finest creatives were the subject of a professional film and photographic shoot for the Toowoomba Catholic Education branding campaign. The results spectacular but the process possibly most significant for the students to observe and participate in. Painstaking setups in the studio to capture talent and storyboard not just to document the creative process but the personalities that make the process happen. A micro adjustment of colour here and an adjustment of height in a peripheral artefact there, adjustments of the intensity of light an ongoing and relentless action in the pursuit of the perfect image.

Drone intercepts on rock bands and dancers… and genuinely, almost genuinely, a case of playing guitar until your fingers blistered.

Catching rainbows of sparks in Engineering and in the softening afternoon light and a ray of light through a dusty overhead window played gracefully and perfectly for the camera on a finely chiselled piece of timber in the woodwork studio.

Jess Burke 
Middle Leader - The Arts

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.... and the Mary Mac Drumline processed Santa in to lead the way this year!

With a police escort, the Drumline turned heads to open the Grand Central Shopping Centre CBD Tree Lighting extravaganza on Thursday. Bianca then gave the ultimate drumroll to countdown the lighting of the tree by the Mayor and the commencement of the celebration.

Our talented and much sort after vocalists- Voll sisters, Georgianna and Adele then entertained the crowds with Christmas songs.

Fantastic representation again from the MMCC Arts Crew.

Jess Burke
Middle Leader - The Arts

MJR Award Recipients

Joey Badge Recipients

Hello to all our Mary Mac Families, Students, Parish and Community members from the Parent Engagement Network (PEN).

Only 1 week to go! Everyone has worked so hard this term. You should all be congratulated!

YEAR 12 FINAL WEEK:

We congratulate our 2022 Year 12 cohort for their outstanding effort over their final year at Mary Mac. Last Monday, the PEN Co–Chairs attended the Valedictory Breakfast which started the week of events for our Year 12s. It was a beautiful morning to reflect on their achievements for the year and look back at when it all started for them on their own education and life journey. The PEN presented the yearly gift for the Year 12 students as a keepsake. It was lovely to see so many parents and students attend the Graduation Formal arrivals where we saw our Year 12s all dressed up and looking fantastic with their partners and the vehicles they arrived in. We wish them all the very best for an exciting future in their chosen careers and future endeavours. We will miss you all and your Mary Mac families.

COLLEGE AWARDS EVENING:

For those who could not attend, this was a lovely evening to witness and acknowledge the years’ efforts for our students who have excelled and grown in the academic, sporting and cultural areas of the College. Well done to all. This was an exciting night of performances and was a well-presented evening by the College. Well done to all involved.

2023 COLLEGE CAPTAINS:

We wish to congratulate the 2023 College Captains, and Senior Captains and Junior Leaders for Formation, Cultural, Academic and Sport, along with College House Captains and Leaders for 2023. Next year is going to be so exciting!

PRINCIPAL’S MORNING TEA - THANKYOU TO OUR COLLEGE VOLUNTEERS:

In appreciation for all the College volunteers, the College welcomed many volunteers to the Principal’s Morning Tea, in appreciation for all of their hard work, service and support given throughout the year. Attendees consisted of PEN members, Café volunteers, Musical volunteers, Disco volunteers, Arts and Drumline volunteers and Sporting volunteers. Mr Chris Gabbett and staff expressed their appreciation to our passionate volunteers who commit to giving of their time and expertise. The College has been absolutely overwhelmed by the generosity and calibre of our volunteers – you have had a huge impact upon the success of 2022. We simply could not have done it without you! Thank you to the College for this event! It was greatly appreciated.

EVENT REMINDERS/UPDATES FOR THE REMAINDER OF TERM 4:-

MANGO DRIVE – COLLECTION THIS WEEK

Thank you to all those who were able to purchase mangoes in the College’s Mango Drive. The funds raised will support the STEM resources across the College.

The PEN and the College thank you for your support.

CHRISTMAS HAM DRIVE - BANNOCK BRAE MEATS

Thank you to all those who were able to order Bannock Brae meats Ham Drive. ORDERS ARE NOW CLOSED. The funds raised will support the STEM resources across the College. The College is expecting delivery of the hams on Friday December 2nd for collection and payment, unless stated otherwise on your order form. Time to be confirmed via College communications.

COLLEGE OVAL UPDATE:

The oval is almost complete! Turf has been laid and the sprinklers are running to get the grass growing. This is going to be a great playing surface for our College students. All going well hand over will be completed by early next week. We thank everyone for your patience. Please now pray for rain to keep the grass nice and green to become established ready for use in 2023.

We wish the College students from P-11 the very best for the remainder of this term. We look forward to the remaining celebrations for College events in the last week.

We sincerely thank Mr Chris Gabbett for his strong leadership, for always extending himself and getting the job done, the outstanding work being done by ELT, our superb teachers for their unwavering efforts throughout the year and all remaining staff across the College.

We wish to also thank our Mary Mac parent body for your support and commitment in providing your children with encouragement to keep giving their very best. We are all responsible for our children. We want the very best for them.

We also wish to thank all our PEN members for their support, service and advice they have given over the past year. We have all accomplished significant growth across all areas of the College.

Our next PEN Meeting will be on the 7th February 2023 for our AGM. All parents and the student body are always invited and welcome to attend.

If you have a topic or matters for discussions, please send through to the PEN email higpen@twb.catholic.edu.au and we can add it to our next Meeting Agenda.

We wish everyone a wonderful and safe Christmas and a Happy New Year for 2023. Take care, best wishes and stay well.

Shayne Cleary & Rowena Voll
Co-Chairs PEN

Next Meeting for 2023:

1st Meeting (AGM) for 2023 - 7 February 2023 (Tuesday evening)

Room: Penola 6/7. Time: 5.30pm start – 7pm conclude

We have recently released our exciting summer vacation care program for Outside School Hours Care. It is jam packed full of exciting activities such as Christmas activities, water fun, excursions, incursions, and some service favourites. If you would like your child/ren to attend any days, please contact us at HIGcare@tckc.qld.edu.au or 0408 160 891. 

Alternatively, you can enrol directly online at Toowoomba Catholic Kindergartens & Care (schoolzineplus.com).

Elissa Chapman
Outside School Hours Care