Principal

Mr David Finch

27th April 2018

Principal: Mr David Finch Deputy Principal - Curriculum/Admin: Mr Ian Margetts

Assistant Principal - Mission: Mr Matt de Jong Assistant Principal - Student Wellbeing: Mr Scott Whitters

Business Manager: Mr David Osborne Office Manager: Mrs Sue Wegert

Head of Residential: Mrs Tina Schefe & Mr Dave Schefe

Deputy Principal—Curriculum & Admin

Ian Margetts - Deputy Principal - Curriculum & Administration

Welcome to Term 2. I hope all students and families enjoyed the break!

Mount St Bernard College will be holding a 2019 Senior Subject and Pathway Information evening for Year 10

students and their families on Tuesday 1st May in the College Board Room, commencing at 5.00 pm.

It will include discussing a variety of topics important to your student’s transition from middle schooling to senior education, and vocational education and training pathways. These are important decisions that will impact on your child’s choices at the end of Year 12. The new QCE system being implemented in all Queensland will be including in this discussion. Please RSVP no later than Monday 30th April to the college office if you are planning to attend.

Last Tuesday we held our Parent Teacher evening for Term 2. Thank you to all families that made the effort to connect (whether in person or by phone) with their son/daughter’s teachers. Remember that you are welcome to contact the college at any time to discuss your child’s progress.

Two new day staff joined the Mount St Bernard College community this term.

Ms Michelle Davies-Griffith joins our Learning Support School Officer (teacher aide) team

Michelle has held the following positions in recent times; - 2017 - Junior Secondary Engagement Aid - 2013-2017 - School Chaplain (P/T as well as School Chaplain at Herberton State High 2013-2016)

Michelle's qualifications include; - Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, Inspire Education (2017) - Diploma of Youth Work, Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE (2014) - as well as finance related diplomas

Mr Craig Terrens

Craig has a vast experience teaching Senior Physics, Chemistry and Biology as well as junior secondary science.

In previous years, Craig has also held the position of Head of Department - Science at Mount St Bernard College

Craig’s qualifications include

- Graduate Diploma in Education

- Diploma of Applied Science (Chemistry)

Best wishes for a great Term 2!

Readers Cup 2018

Congratulations to our MSB 2018 Readers Cup team:

Emmy Riber Billy MacDonald Ellie Ward Blossom Turner

This year’s texts are:

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolf - a coming of age, international award winner, Dragonfly Song by Wendy Orr , set in a mythical time with a mix of poetry and prose, When Friendship Followed me Home by Paul Griffin, about pets, friendship and grief, The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson with themes of mental health and mystery and The Book of Secrets (Book 1 Ateban Cipher) by A.L Tait—a medieval adventure story.

Our intrepid Year 7/8 team are busy preparing for the regional final to be held at Cairns State High School on Friday, 15th June. We wish them all the best in this worthwhile State-wide competition where every reader wins. By C Weedon

Assistant Principal—Mission

Welcome back for term 2. I hope all our students, staff and hopefully parents had an enjoyable and relaxing break,

and that the blessings of the Easter season were apparent.

I had an excellent break. My family travelled to Thailand in the last week of term 1 to see my ‘In-laws’ who we haven’t

seen for 27 months and to let Timothy, my 7 year old experience the Buddhist new year festival “SongKran” for the

first time.

SongKran is a three day festival. It is the Buddhist new year and this year it fell on April 13, 14 and 15th. Traditionally

families go home to where their parents live. For us it was Nongsonghong in Isaan a province in northeast Thailand

about 450kms NE of Bangkok. The festival commences with a ceremony involving the whole town (repeated in thousands of towns

across Thailand) where the Buddhist monks receive donations from the people of money, rice, food, hygiene products etc. We then go

home to honour our parents. It is then that for the next three days water fights reign supreme all over Thailand. If you go out in public,

expect to get wet. We had our water supply ready and drenched all passing cars and motorbikes. Timothy had a large water pistol, and

he used it sparingly on all. We even drove around Nongsonghong with my parents

Izuzu I-max with a barrel of water on the back wetting all we came across. You can

imagine other people doing the same. Everyone was happy, especially as they

celebrated with their families. On the Sunday the 15th we went to the local

Buddhist temple for a blessing, which also involved getting wet, this time the

presiding Monk poured water over us all while reciting a Buddhist blessing. The

whole country virtually stops to celebrate this festival, the most important festival

of the Buddhist calendar. Yes, there was even an elephant in Nongsonghong for

the festival.

Wouldn’t it be good, if we as a

nation could celebrate the three

days of Easter in the same way

that the people of Thailand

celebrate the three days of

SongKran?

Mr Matt de Jong

Matthew de Jong - Assistant Principal - Mission

9B SCIENCE: GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER 9B Science are currently studying the Cardiovascular system (heart, blood vessels and blood). We are learning the anatomy and physiology

of the heart, blood vessels and blood. To support learning, students listened to each others’ hearts with a stethoscope and examined a 3D

model of the human heart.

Teresa Wareing—Classroom Teacher

Positi e eha iour upport - ortnightly ocus

rowth Mindset

hat i Mindset

Mindset i your elie a out your el , your a ic uali e and here the e can ta e you o eone ith a i ed Mindset elieve that ho you are - your talents, personality, ways of looking

at the world and skills are et and ill not change. O en need to prove the elve to other and doe n t tru t being

accepted by people. o eone ith a rowth Mindset Believes that, although you have a certain amount of given skills and

abilities, the e can e developed through perseverance and effort. Is illing to take personal risks and try ne thing ven i they ail i ten to eed ac from others and uses this to po i vely i prove

their lives.

Don t orget e are only a phone call a ay you have any i ue

or concern you i h to di cu plea e don t he itate to call or

e ail a e er o the Pa toral are ea

cott hitter - i tant Principal - hitter cn catholic edu au

Jenny o iter— Middle eader — ro iter cn catholic edu au

ara aic - ell eing cer - t aic cn catholic edu au

hild a u e only con nue hen tho e a le to do o ething, do

nothing says Project coordinator, Detective Sergeant Todd Dodson - ld

Police CPI . DS Dodson along with his colleagues will a end M on

ue day May to provide age-appropriate tailored presentations to our

students in an innovative project that aims to educate young people and

increase awareness around the issues of domestic, online and youth sexual

violence and abuse. Through the use of sporting and fun-based activities this

program has now been rolled out at more than 12 locations from Cairns to the Torres Strait.

n or a on pre ented in the e ion ill include

• What child abuse is - what is OK and not OK to do to children.

• Consent - how do I know if I have consent and how to respect if

someone doesn’t want to give consent.

• Child Exploitation Material – definition/sexting/offences • Online safety – cyber safety (apps/passwords)/grooming/

bullying/offences)

“Our goal is to give people the confidence to speak up.”

“Sadly, a child will continue to be abused if those able to do something, do nothing,” Detective Sergeant Dodson said.

May i Do e c iolence Preven on Month y or ing together e can a e the orld a a er happier place or all

hich type o Mindset are you o can you develop a rowth Mindset i ten to your innermost voice. Recognise when it is blocking you from making po i ve choice Develop a pa ion for stretching yourself and sticking with it even

when things get tough.

Tina & Dave Schefe -Heads of Residential

Sport, Sport and More Sport

The year in boarding began slowly with off site sporting activities, but we are now in full swing with lots of extra

curricular activities. All boarders have the opportunity to participate in virtually any sport they wish, and our boarding

team ensures that your child gets to the right place at the right time to train and play.

This year, a decision was made to encourage the students to commit to their chosen sport by paying the first $50.00

towards their registration. We thought that if the students had to personally pay a small part of the required club fees,

they would feel as though they had to be responsible to their teams for attending all training sessions and then their

games. So, for parents who are wondering about the $50 that their children are asking for sport, this is it.

Some students are choosing to play more than one sport, so they will need to pay the $50 up front registration fee

more than once. We hope that this will ensure your children take their responsibilities to their teams seriously.

AMA I PP I M

D P M A D C A

C MM A AM

P I C M

Mathew Ederer from Ravenshoe in North ueensland

and Keane Ryan from Santa Teresa in the Northern

Territory, have just returned back to MSB a er having experienced an opportunity of a lifetime.

They performed in the Four Winds Didgeridoo Orchestra at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony. Performing alongside Torres Strait musicians Christine Anu and Patrick Mau singing ‘My Island Home’, 100 didgeridoo players and the Seven Sisters Dance Troupe in front of a live audience of 35,000 and to a live telecast of 1.5 Billion people around the world.

“I never thought I’d be playing the didgeridoo at the Commonwealth Games, it’s something I’ll always remember,” Keane said. It shows even if you live in a small town you can go on to do big things,” he said. Mathew re ected “It was great to perform at the Commonwealth Games with other didgeridoo players from all over Australia and share our culture with so many people from all over the world. “ Mathew and Keane would like to thank everyone for their support.

By Andrea Gower School Officer of the Arts /Didgeridoo Orchestra Chaperone

DM D

Mount St Bernard College would like to thank

St Edmunds College in Ipswich near Brisbane

for their support in hosting Keane, Mathew and

MSB staff during the rehearsals for the

Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony.

We would like to extend our gratitude to

Marysia Rice, Assistant Principal of St

Edmunds whom provided accommodation,

study space and a cultural exchange. This

exchange involved Mathew and Keane

performing didgeridoo and sharing their

cultural backgrounds to the Year 7’s. They also

talked about their experiences at MSB,

boarding and the Didge Kids.

By Andrea Gower

MSB has participated enthusiastically in the Oxfam Close the Gap Instagram Challenge for the last few

years. This year was no different, with students from every year level out taking photographs that cap

tured the theme for each day. The competition involves posting photos on our school Instagram page

that capture the theme for the day and the overall message of Closing the Gap between Indigenous and

non-Indigenous life expectancy and health outcomes. We were rewarded with the prize for most en

gaged school, with Teline Harris winning second prize for her ‘Resilience’ photo. Congratulations to all

students featured in the Daily Deadly 4 awards and thanks to all who participated and helped get the

campaign up and running. arah i er

Day — esilience

Day — isions and Ideas

Day —Partnership

Day —People Power

Upcoming Events 2018

Term 2

Tuesday 1st May

2019 Senior Subject Pathway

Information Evening

Year 10 Students, Parents & Carers

Thursday 3rd May

Speak Up Be Strong Be Heard

Qld Police Presentation

Sat 5th - Mon 7th May

Boarders Free Weekend

Mon 7th May

May Day Public Holiday

Tues 8th - Fri 11th May

Year 10 Expedition - Danbulla National Park

Tues 15th - Thurs 17th May

Naplan Years 7 - 9

Wed 16th May

Parents & Friends Meeting

Fri 18th - Sun 20th May

Wheelbarrow Race

Wed 23rd May

Years 9 & 10 History Excursion

Aust Armour & Artillery Museum Cairns

Thurs 24th May

Year 10 BLA Careers Excursion Cairns

Clint Bolster Drama Workshop @ MSB

Mon 28th May

Qld Music Festival Program @ MSB

Homework Club

Homework Club runs each Wednesday from 3.15 to 4.15 pm in the College Library.

If your child would like to a end please ask them to obtain a permission le er from Mr Fahey.

Students a ending homework club may have a ernoon tea at the dining room (free of charge).

All students are encouraged to complete homework on a regular basis to consolidate what they

have learnt in class.