headmaster a work of art & act of service contents …€¦ · ling and training with dressage....

WHERE DID IT GO? As term comes to an end, I feel like Wiley E Coyote as the Road Runner of Term I has just whizzed past at high speed. Which way did it go?

OVEREAS TRAVELLERS On Monday I farewelled the Europe/Gallipoli trip students and parents as they headed off from school. Four years ago I was the one heading off, but now it is the turn of others as our third tour departs our shores.

I am sure that the group will have an outstanding time and will learn much and come back with many stories to tell when they arrive back on April 14.

We all wish them a safe trip. I am sure that you will be able to catch up on their adventures through our Fa-cebook page.

A WORK OF ART & ACT OF SERVICE Last week Bishop Bill Ray blessed the new altar frontal that a group of our students painted for the Chapel. It is in every way a work of art. Pictures of it are no doubt elsewhere in this newsletter. It is lovely and I congratulate Mrs Moore and her students, Rhys Donaldson, Katie Green, Kailan Olsen, Bronwyn Pedracini, Mickala Gough and Freya Stewart for their labour of love. There are times when we are so lucky to have such gifted and tal-ented staff and students.

We all enjoyed Lady Day and the St Gabriels Dinner. Rev Janet Storey, the Chaplain from Whitsunday An-glican School in Mackay was our guest preacher at the Service and Mrs Jacki Clayton, old girl and Co-ordinator of the Brisbane Branch of the Past Students was our guest speaker at the dinner. It was also lovely to see Miss Elna Kerswell the last Headmistress of St Gabriels and a former ASSG Board member back at the school, especially on this oc-casion.

I thank everyone involved with the day, but particularly our Alban girls, led by Miss Meyer, who were our hosts for the evening.

Contents Headmaster’s Report

Stop Press Page 2

Deputy Head Page 3

Dean of School Page 3

Dean of Students Page 4

School Chaplain Page 5

School Prayers Page 5

Values Education Page 6

Career Education Date

Claimers 2015 Page 7

News from Rostrum Page 8

Cattle Club Page 8

Sport News Page 9

Boys Inter House Cricket Page 10

First Cricket Round 5 Report Page 10

Junior School Page 11

Junior School Photos Page 12

Page 13

Core Nourishment Page 14

Head of Boarding Page 15

Feetham House Page 16

Ramsay House Page 16

Page House Page 17

Alban House Page 17

Word Play Advertisement Page 17

Becket House Page 18

Chad House Page 19

Out & About Page 20

Information Sheet #2

BYOD Page 22

Staff Profile Page 23

The Last Word Page 24

Headmaster

Issue No 5/2015 01 April 2015

The new altar frontal in the Chapel

WHITLAM & FRASER On the back page of this newsletter in The Last Word, I have written about the deaths of two important Australians of the late 20th Century in Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fra-ser, who have died within a few months of each other.

Malcolm Fraser, was, to the best of my knowledge, the only Australian Prime Minister to have visited ASSG. He came here to open our Mattingley Resource Centre in the late 1970s.

FAREWELL, MR MAC This week sees the departure of Mr Terry MacErlean from our staff. Ter-ry was only with us for one term and we are extremely sorry to see him go. He has taught our students well and developed a good relation-ship with them in the dormitory as well. We wish him well for the fu-ture.

FAREWELL SHARRON We also say farewell to Ms Sharron Stainkey and her daughter Tiannah Bennett. Sharron has been our in-structor at Horse Club for many years and has worked with many ASSG students over the years, of-ten with great success.

But Sharron has residential work commitments with BTC, so is not able to devote the time to our stu-dents that she once did. Her daughter Tiannah has supported her this year in an effort to keep up the service to our girls. But this is not possible long term, so we are seeking out a replacement instruc-tor.

We thank Sharron for her service and success with our students.

EAT YOUR SWEET POTATO Further into this newsletter is a re-port from our nutritionist, Leanne Scott. It comes complete with one of the recipes for one of the dishes that our catering staff have intro-duced.

I never thought that the day would come when I would be recom-mending recipes to parents.

FUTURES DINNER On Tuesday 19th May we hold our annual Futures Dinner will be held in Halse Hall. The Futures Dinner is for Year 12 students only. At the dinner we invite Charters Towers business people to come along and sit and enjoy a meal with our Year 12s to discuss their futures, now that they are just six months away from graduating.

It gives students chances to talk to successful business people about what qualifications and qualities they need out in the world of work or study.

It is a great evening that is another way we can prepare our students for life after school. It is one thing for Mrs Salisbury and the Headmas-ter and other staff to talk about what you should know or do. But we are just humble teachers. It is a much more powerful message when delivered by successful young pro-fessional or business people from their home turf.

If you would like to be part of this, or know someone who may be par-ticularly suitable please contact Mrs Melissa Peace asap.

EASTER Unusually, the Queensland school holidays this year have been placed so that they start right on Easter, and by the time many people read this newsletter, students will be home and Easter will be behind us.

I usually stay at school for a few days after the students depart be-fore I grab some family time. This year I am departing just after the students in an effort to be with my family on Good Friday and over Easter. I will come back early to en-sure that the secondary reporting process is complete.

Staff have been working hard on these, but if reports are not with you in the first week, please do not panic, they will get there.

I hope every one is able to have time with family. May your Easter be a safe and holy one.

Gordon Royall Headmaster

PAGE 2 ISSUE NO 5/2015 01 APRIL 2015

STOP PRESS We have much pleasure in an-nouncing the appointment of Mrs Sally Kirkwood as our Horse Club instructor at ASSG. Sally will be well known to those of you in-volved with horses and is a very respected horsewoman in North Queensland. She is also an ASSG parent, with Grace being in Year 2 and Ben in Prep. Sally is a Qualified Level 1 coach with the NCAS through Equestri-an Australia. She has been riding since an in-fant, and has won State champi-onships in Show Jumping and Eventing. She is currently travel-ling and training with Dressage. She is very passionate about coaching. She will be supported in her lead-ership of our group by Lionel Har-tig, our Rural Activities Co-ordinator. It is also good to have Lionel back on deck after his re-cent illness.

Sally Kirkwood in action

Sam Kelly Deputy Head / Academic Dean Exams Exams are stressful times for all: Teachers have to write the assess-ment, students have to prepare and sit them, and parents listen to their child and support them the best they can. This term, Mr Johnson put his hand up to have a go at or-ganising the exam block. It’s been a learning curve for him and I know that there would be things he would do differently the next time, but it was a successful block and I thank Mr Johnson for his hard work. It is difficult to fit require-ments and requests into a short space of time without a few clash-es. To add to the difficulty, the Gal-lipoli trip departed on Monday the 30th of March, so Senior exams had to be completed for those stu-dents before they jetted off. The end of the exam block signals that we are ¼ through the school year! The reports for Term 1 to parents consist of: attitude to classwork, at-titude to prep, presentation of work, extra curricular report, Tutor report, and SEL (Social and emo-tional learner) report. Boarders also receive a boarding report. Thank you to staff for meeting reporting deadlines so the desired mailing date can be achieved. Thank You Another “thank you” must go to parents who communicated re-quests and family circumstances well. We didn’t have the “surprises’ that we sometimes had in the past with students convincing their par-ents to leave early without com-pleting assessments. We actually had the opposite – parents phoning because their “darling” had con-vinced them that there were no more assessments and they didn’t believe them. There was one par-ticular child I wouldn’t have wanted to be after their mother discovered that they had told a “porky pie!” I


encourage parents that if in doubt, please phone Flo or email me for that check on information provided by children. Changing Subjects As we are now fully into the School year, students are sometimes find-ing that the course chosen really isn’t for them. Depending on the year level, there are definite proce-dures to follow for a change of subject. If in Years 7-10, a simple change of subject form completed by parents and teachers/student is required. I do chat to all students to ascertain why they are seeking a change to make sure it’s for the right reasons. I once had an influx of change of subject forms from one subject, only to find out that the first assessment had been handed out the next day, causing students to panic and viewed changing subjects as a way of get-ting out of the assessment task. Senior students are generally en-couraged to have a meeting with Mrs Salisbury (HOD: Careers and Values Education) to ascertain how their perspective change will affect future pathways. Exciting Change To support student choices in the Senior year, we are embarking on an exciting change for Semester 2 for Year 10 students. The infor-mation session for that change is happening during the Term 2 travel day, Monday 20th of April at 1.00 pm in the Mattingly Centre (Senior library). Parents should have re-ceived electronically a letter briefly outlining the change and the sub-ject selection sheet. I look forward to seeing as many Year 10 parents and children at the meeting. There are a lot of events coming up in Term 2 to support student pathways: Futures Dinner, QCS practice test for Year 12 and Smart futures 4NQ Career expo. More on that in next Phoenix Rising.

Dean of School Karen Storey Report Cards and Parent Teacher interviews Some of the students are probably attempting to get their hands on this page of the Phoenix Rising be-fore it reaches their parents (and I can assure you it will not be to read about what I will be doing on the holidays!) Nevertheless, report cards will be sent home early in the holidays so you can spend time over the break discussing your child’s progress and success and setting some goals to work to-wards in term 2. As this term’s reports do not con-tain effort ratings or marks many teachers will request interviews to discuss the finer points of your child’s progress. These interviews will occur, as they usually do, from 2:00 – 4:00pm on travel day at the beginning of term 2 (Monday 20th April). Should you wish to make an appointment to speak with one or all of your child’s teachers please contact: Flo King 4788 2275 or [email protected] or Jon Teichmann on 4787 1433 [email protected] Of course, you are more than wel-come to book an interview or con-tact your child’s teachers directly via phone or email even if they have not requested an interview appointment. Anzac Day Rehearsals are now well underway for our ANZAC Day marching pa-rade and we are looking pretty good. We now have the large Aus-tralian flag and the prefects and senior students have had a prac-tice at marching with it. It is good that we are looking so well-presented as we have been elevat-ed up the parade order to now be marching at the beginning of the parade. I would like to think this is because we look the best in town

Deputy Head

but Mr Royall and Miss Croker tell me it is because members of the Excelsior Band will be playing along-side our band. Nevertheless, it is a great honour to lead the parade and one which I am sure our students will carry off without missing a beat.

The arrangements below are mostly a repeat of what I wrote in the last newsletter, but I felt that I should leave them as a reminder. Parents are asked to please note the follow-ing arrangements for senior school students on ANZAC Day:

As this is a Saturday morning stu-dents will be required to come to School for the ANZAC Day march and they will be dismissed for the day at the conclusion of the ANZAC Day parade.

All Senior school students are to be in full formal uniforms including hats, however, there is to be no court shoes for senior girls.

A Dawn Service will be held at the Charters Towers Cemetery on the morning of ANZAC Day. I will pass on information regarding times etc for this once I receive it from the Charters Towers Regional Council. All students are invited to attend this service with a wreath to be laid by the School Captains on behalf of All Souls St Gabriels School.

The Charters Towers march will begin on Mossman Street at 9:15am sharp. Boarders will be bussed from the dining hall and day students are asked to make their own way to the assembly point near Tony Ireland Holden on Mosman Street by 8:30 am.

At the conclusion of the march boarders will be returned to school and day students will be permitted to leave with their parent/guardian.

Due to ANZAC Day being on a Sat-urday this year we will be celebrat-ing our usual Requiem Mass on Fri-day evening, 24th April, at 6:30pm in the All Souls St Gabriels School Chapel for all boarders. Any day student who wishes to attend is most welcome to do so.


Have a Happy and Safe Holiday The term is drawing to a close and the campus is abuzz with the holi-day vibe. I share a wall of my office with Mrs Kelly who deems it neces-sary to remind me every 5 minutes that she is off on the Gallipoli Trip to the other side of the world for the holidays. Though I reply each time with sarcasm I wish them well on their adventure and I know that, like I did when I went, they will gain a whole new appreciation of the sacrifice that many young men and women made so that their re-spective countries could live in freedom. I am not sure my trip to Julia Creek to swim 800m in the muddy creek for the Dirt and Dust Triathlon will really compare when we swap holiday stories but I sup-pose the end result will be the same; we will both have a physical and mental break from the de-mands of what has been an ex-ceedingly busy term. Wherever you are going and what-ever you are doing for your holi-days I hope you also manage some rest and precious time with loved ones. As Mr Royall says to the stu-dents at the end of each term – be happy, stay safe and come back in one piece! Happy Easter to you all.

Dean of Students Shannon Lee We made it! Another busy term flies by. Time to Reflect As in all aspects of a student’s de-velopment there is always room for improvement. I would challenge all

of our students to take some time to reflect on this first term. Con-sider how they think they would be perceived given their conduct so far. In most cases the students should feel proud of the way they have behaved and interacted with other students. In some instances this will be an opportunity for stu-dents to be objective about some of their behaviours and plan to make some positive changes for term two. Please take the time these holi-days to speak with your child and reflect with them on the term. Par-ticularly if they are a new student, have they settled in well? Have they formed positive friendships? Are they a positive influence; in their group, in the dorm and in their class? Do they know who they can speak to if they need support? If this conversation raises any concerns I would encourage you to speak to myself or Mr Guldbransen (for boarders), your Child’s Head of House or Ms Pimm for Year 7. Child Protection As one of the named Student Pro-tection Officers in the school I re-cently travelled to Brisbane to at-tend a workshop regarding the up-dated legislative changes pertain-ing to Child Protection. It was a practical workshop which provided me with a comprehensive over-view of how the changes would affect our school setting. In the coming months we will be updat-ing our policies to meet the new requirements. For further details of the changes please refer to the last edition of the Phoenix Rising and see the fact sheet for parents. If you have any further queries or concerns regarding this please don’t hesitate to contact me. I hope you all have a restful break and I look forward to seeing you at parent teacher interviews next term.

School PrayersSchool Prayers

Dean of School

School Chaplain Br Nathan-James SSF

Blessing of Pilgrims and Prayer for the Fallen I was honoured to be invited to of-fer a short blessing of those making their pilgrimage to the battle fields of Gallipoli, the Somme and other places of significance. I was also invited to prepare a prayer in re-membrance in honour of Major General Edward Feetham and those whose lives were lost in battle. I have shared this below if you would like to use this in your own prayers during their tour from the 30th March to 14th April.


Feast of the Annunciation and Blessing of new Lady Day Frontal Bishop Bill NQ (The Right Reverend William Ray) Presided at this year’s Feast of the Annunciation. Bianca Peace, Girls’ School Captain, ably took on the role of the Minister for the service, supported by a team of servers from Alban house, thurifers Clancy Schaefer and Sam Meteyard and boat boys Tim Ievers and Toby Rankine. We also welcomed the Rev Janet Story, Chaplain of Whitsunday Anglican College as the guest preacher.

When I walked in to the chapel pri-or to the commencement of the service I was taken aback by the beauty of our new Lady Day frontal. My immediate response was ‘wow’. I knew Ms Moore and her students had been working on a new frontal but this had exceed-ed anything I could have imagined and was lost for words. It was truly a remarkable piece honouring the role of Mary in the place of the Christian story as the Theotokos, the God-bearer or Mother of Jesus. Bishop Bill was invited by Katie Green, one of the artists, to bless and hallow the frontal for use in our chapel.

Bishop Bill NQ blessing the new Lady Day

frontal created by Ms Rossi Moore and art students

School Captain, Bianca Peace, (right) takes on the role of Minister for the service in

celebration of the Feast of the Annunciation

Reading of the Passion Students gathered in the Chapel on Friday the 27th of March for the traditional reading of the Pas-sion. The Passion reading re-counts the days leading up to the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Je-sus.

Jesus - Dylan McKenna (second from left) asks his disciples (Adam Hensley, Harrison

Finger, Ben Zabel) to prepare a room for the Last Supper

In our thoughts and

prayers; We pray for our staff, stu-

dents and parents as they

head off on their pilgrim-

age to the battle fields of

Europe. We ask for travel

mercies for them and

blessing upon their jour-

ney.

We give thanks for all the

opportunities of this term

and all that has been

achieved. We pray for all

students and staff travel-

ling over the holidays and

pray they have a time of

rest and renewal.

We pray for those who

are experiencing difficult

times at school or at home,

may God send comfort to

them. We also pray for an

increase in compassion

and tolerance for differ-

ence among us.

A Prayer in remembrance of the fallen

To be read at the grave of Ma-jor General Edward Feetham, Picquigny, Picardie, France

Jesus said, “No one has great-er love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”.

Let us Pray

Hear us merciful Father, as we remember Major General Edward Feetham, and all whose lives were lost on the fields of battle so that others might live.

Grant to all who have died eternal rest, may their sacri-fice be forever remembered and honoured in this place, in our school, and in our hearts.

May the passion and resurrec-tion of your Son give us assur-ance and hope our own resur-rection and the resurrection of the faithful departed.

Amen.

ISSUE NO 5/2015 01 APRIL 2015

It has been very interesting for me to join in on this learning, from simple things like why we have flames and a dove above the alter, to the church calendar of events. The Year 8s will be enjoy-ing these special lessons in Term 2.

Joshua Duncombe and Ben Zabel were keen to thank Br Nathan personally Most of Year 9A after giving Br Nathan a group hug

Tania working with Life Skills Classes I am very excited to announce that Tania van Wijk, our new school counsellor, will be deliver-ing The Friends program in Life Skills classes in Term 2 (Yr7 & 9) and Term 3 (Yr8 & 10). The pro-gram runs for 10 lessons. More detailed information and how you can best support your child will be emailed to the year groups in-volved each term. A bit about the program…

Thank you Br Nathan! A big thank you to Br Nathan for working with our Year 9 students. In the previous Phoenix Br Nathan wrote at length about what was in-cluded in the six week Spiritual De-velopment program. The students have been engaged and had some great discussions about many as-pects of the history of the Anglican Faith, Chapel services and the pur-pose of everything in the Chapel.

Values Education Barbara Salisbury Head of Values Education So much has been happening… YWAM work with Year 9 and Year 10

YWAM Youth Team from Townsville consisted of 6 young adults from many different countries. Our Year 9 and 10 students learnt about social injustices in the world and how we can make a difference. Their activi-ties finished with a message from Kid President which I think you would also enjoy… take a few minutes to be inspired and uplifted by this young man… KID PRESIDENT: HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z7gDsSKUmU

YWAM International

YWAM (Youth with a Mission) is world-

wide. YWAM is an international move-

ment that has over 50 years experience

in more than 150 countries worldwide.

YWAM is a Christian charity that offers

global opportunities for volunteers from

diverse backgrounds to serve, care,

build, and connect with individuals and

communities.

YWAM Townsville

YWAM Townsville has operated for over

20 years with an aim to build capacity in

young people and to develop the com-

munity through four focus areas: Train-

ing, Medical Ships, Youth Teams, and

Operations. YWAM values individuals’

rights to quality of life.

The shared motivation is to provide peo-ple with: Access to good health care Food, drinking water, and shelter Opportunity for education Expression of culture, arts, and en-

tertainment Healthy relationships Exposure to Christian faith and val-

ues Fair and productive government Opportunity to work and develop

My Friends Youth Resilience Program The program assists youth in devel-oping life skills to effectively cope with difficult and/ or anxiety-provoking situation by teaching cog-nitive, behavioural and emotional skills in a simple, structured format.

Youth are supported in developing life-skills to effectively cope with dif-ficult and/or anxiety-provoking situ-ations, normalises the emotional state of anxiety, builds emotional resilience and problem-solving abili-ties, encourages peer learning and builds peer and other support net-works, promotes self-confidence when dealing with difficult or anxie-ty-provoking situations, and is based on extensive evidence-based research relating to the prevention and treatment of anxiety.

The Friends programs have demon-strated sustainable gains in preven-tion and resilience, with benefits lasting up to three years following program implementation.

DFR Surprise Defence Force Recruiting informed students of the 100s of jobs availa-ble in the army, navy and airforce. It was certainly well received by the students based on the number of questions they asked and the num-ber staying behind to find out more.

To our surprise one DFR officer was a past student of our School. WOFF Donald Taylor from the RAAF spent time with students to look around and reminisce about how it was in his day. Things like the current dra-ma room was where his chemistry lessons and demonstrations were given before they moved next door into the lab.

Aidan Franettovich, WOFF Donald Taylor and Cody Gough


Martha Zaro, WOFF Donald Taylor and Julia Keough

TORGAS visit – Work Experience important Year 10 students learnt about how TORGAS can help them get an ap-prenticeships or traineeship in our region. They also highlighted the importance of our students show-ing they are keen by doing work experience.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$ The visit by Mikaela Dockrill with JCU ambassadors to talk about fi-nancing further study was well re-ceived by Year 12s this week. The students enjoyed the talk, but learnt mostly through group work and their own presentations. Seanne Santo’s group came up with a great poem about ‘rental as-sistance’. Thank you Mikaela Due to JCU restructuring and fund-ing changes the programs deliv-ered at ASSG will see some chang-es. Mikaela has also taken up a job outside these school career pro-grams and her enthusiasm and ex-pertise will be greatly missed at ASSG.

Date Event Year Wed 2 April (11.30-12.30)

Finance Myth Busters – Ways to cope while doing further study

Year 11 & 12

Thu 7 May (all day)

Smart Futures 4 Nth Qld Ca-reers Expo – Trade focus

Year 10, interested Year 11/12

Tue 19 May (evening)

Futures Dinner – variety of busi-ness people join our Yr 12s for dinner

Year 12

22-23 June (2 days)

QCS Test Practice - Extremely important complete practice run at PCYC

Year 12 OP

22-23 June

Mock Job Interviews Year 11, Year 12 English Com

Mon 22 June

Year 9 Career Aspirations- Went to JCU in Year 8, one day program at ASSG with activities run by JCU student ambassa-dors.

Year 9

22/23 June Year 8 Career Aspirations Two day program, one day at ASSG, other day at JCU.

Year 8

Wed 24 June (8.30-12.30)

QTAC application process presentation

Year 12

July Holidays (TBC)

Year 10 Get into Uni Camp 4 places available

13-15 July (3 days)

University Experience at JCU – great opportunity for students to take a closer look at 3 courses of interest to help them decide.

Interested Year 11 or 12

Wed 22 July DTTC Careers Expo Year 7-10, interested Year 11/12

Late August JCU Open Day Int Yr10-12s

Career Education Date Claimers 2015


Cattle Club Jessica Lusk Rural Activities Prefect It has been an interesting few weeks here at Cattle Club. With Lionel out of action, we have been under the care of Mrs Michelle Bucklar who has taken an interest in the way us students work down at the cattle yards com-pared to around the school grounds. She has had a good time getting to know new students who she may not have met around school as well as getting to know the older students more in their own environment. We have also had the assistance and guidance of Miss Jo Robertson and Mr Joe Miller. They have assisted with problem cattle and helping our new, as well as old, students refine their judging, handling and breaking skills. We are forever grateful to have such great help on hand to assist us down at Cattle Club and to keep our little club going in the afternoons. Many thanks must go to Mrs Bucklar alongside Jo and Joe who gave up their time to put up with us all in the afternoon! In the past week we have welcomed back Lionel, who is currently on light duties, down at the yards. He’s yet to decide whether he is enjoying sitting on the sidelines or whether he wants to be in the thick of it with us (something tells me the latter is the winner so far). At least in this time, much to his delight, he can catch up on some paperwork. The holidays are less than a week away, and everyone is already looking forward to what is on the agenda for Cattle Club. Beef Week, Malanda Judging School and the Winton Show are some of the big events we are gear-ing up for, with many students finalising positions for Beef Week in Week 3 of Term 2. Needless to say, we cannot wait!

News from Rostrum Denis Riddle Public Speaking Coordinator Our students take to the podium at Rostrum Rostrum Voice of Youth is one of Australia’s premier public speaking programs with competitions in all States. A pleasing number of our students stepped up to the podium in mid-March and challenged for two spots in both Junior and Senior divisions. At the Junior level (for students 11 to 15 years old), Year 10 students Julia Keough and Ellie Rohan, Year 9 stu-dent Rachel Hall, and Year 8 students Sean Smith and Adam Hensley, spoke for six minutes delivering a pre-pared speech upon a set topic. The winners were the two Year 10 students, but their wins were not without a good showing by the others, who all spoke creditably. Due to prior commitments taking out some placegetters, the two representing the School at the next competition will be Julia Keough and Sean Smith. At the Senior level, Thomas Elliott and Jack McDougall, both fresh from their recent wins at Lions Youth of the Year Quest, advanced unchallenged. The next contest will be the Charters Towers heat of Rostrum on Saturday 2 May at 2pm in the School Library. Our students will face competitors from the other local schools. Spectators are welcome. We wish all the speak-ers well and congratulate all the participants. Thanks go to our judges, Jane Elshaw and Jess Walker.

Sport News Sport News

Karen Storey Secondary Sports Co-ordinator

Round 5 vs CTSHS:

Round 6 vs CCC:

Cricket and Tennis Placings 2015:

We also claimed the CTSSSA Girls Inter School Tennis Shield for 2015.


Team Premiership Placing

1st Cricket 2nd

1st Tennis 1st

2nd Cricket 1st

2nd Tennis 2nd

15 Years Cricket 1st

15 Years Tennis 1st

14 Years Cricket 3rd

14 Years Tennis 3rd

13 Years Cricket 2nd

13 Years Tennis 1st - Undefeated premiers

12 Years Cricket 2nd

12 Years Tennis 1st - Undefeated premiers

Team Result Score

1sts Cricket Lost 8/97—7/98

2nds Cricket Won 48-47

15 Years Cricket Lost 75-89

14 Years Cricket Lost 31 - 53

13 Years Cricket Lost 1/42 – 2/48

12 Years Cricket Drew 37 all

1st Tennis Won 46-18

2nd Tennis Lost 20-27

15 Years Tennis Won 44-12

14 Years Tennis Lost 14-24



Team Result Score

1sts Cricket Won 115-46

2nds Cricket Won on forfeit

15 Years Cricket Won on forfeit


13 Years Cricket Won 43-39


1st Tennis Lost 22-25

2nd Tennis Won on forfeit


14 Years Tennis Lost 17-19



Charters Towers Representatives Indy Schaefer, Sarah Suhr and Karen Tweedie were recently se-lected in the 12 Years Basketball trials to attend North Queens-land trials in the Burdekin early next term. Congratulations girls and good luck for the NQ trials. More North Queensland Representatives Touch - A number of our stu-dents have travelled to Towns-ville recently for North Queens-land touch football trials. Of these students 4 were selected to represent North Queensland at State Championships in Au-gust. Congratulations to Kade Banset, Breanne Peace, Sarah Santo and Seanne Santo who will travel to Brisbane. Bianca Peace was also named as a shadow. Rugby League - Kade Banset has recently been called into the 15 Years Boys Rugby League team to travel to Roma to con-test the State Schoolboys Cham-pionships in May. Congratula-tions Kade! Inter House Cross Country Mr Fry has spent many hours al-ready preparing for the eagerly awaited Inter House and Inter School Cross Country Carnivals. The Inter House Carnival will be held here at All Souls St Gabriels School from 1:00 pm on Friday 1st May. Good luck to all stu-dents in their preparations over the holidays.

Inter School Sport Inter School tennis and cricket fixtures have finished for the season and the premierships are decided. The results of the final 2 rounds appear below along with the placing of each team at the end of the season.

Boys Inter House Cricket

Nina Guldbransen Recreation Officer

On Sunday 15th March, the boys houses battled it out at our annual Inter House Cricket Carnival. The matches are played in a 20/20 format, with the houses getting points for each player that participates, as well as a win. The plan was to play 3 matches on O’Keeffe Oval that catered for all age groups, but due to the large number of players we added an additional match on Burry Oval for the 12/13/14 year old boys.

There were some outstanding efforts with both bat and ball, and one worth a mention was the batting display put on by Kade Banset from Page House. The spectators in the grandstand were not taking their eyes off the ball while Kade was in batting, not only because of the technique shown, but also because they could have been hit by one of the numerous balls that landed several rows back.

Also impressive on the day was the sportsmanship shown by the House Captains and the older students including the younger and less experienced boys in their individual houses. The encouragement they showed to boys who had little, if any, cricket experience is exactly what Inter House sport is about.

The final match of the day between Page and Ramsay also gave us the overall winners. Page House took this match out, winning by 4 runs. Congratulations to Thomas Elliott and his Page House boys, who also had the largest num-ber of participants for the day.

Thank you to the House Captains, Thomas, Rowan and Clayton, to all of the boys who participated, and also to the dormitory staff who assisted during the day. Ramsay dormitory supervisor, Bear Travers umpired in almost every match for the day. Thank you also to the students who umpired and assisted with scoring.


FIRSTS XI CRICKET ROUND 5 REPORT - a different way of looking at the game It was another steamy hot day in the gold city and 11 brave men and one fill-in super coach made the trek to Mosman Park to bat-tle the team in maroon. Our first hurdle to victory and an early finish was the toss of the coin. Our fearless leader Rowan “Don’t worry I’ll win the toss” Fittock stumbled as the coin landed in favour of the maroon men. We could have lost confidence with this set back.

However, with heads held high, the men in black, white and grey clapped their openers as they strode confidently to the pitch. With a quick ‘rock, paper, scissors’ to determine who took the strike, Max “Give it here and I’ll show you how it’s done like Hog-gy” Allingham took an aggressive approach with a quick scoring 18 including four 4s. Little did the huge crowd assembled real-ise, though, that this disappointing dismissal was to bring a splash of brilliance to the crease. The Kade “I’ll dazzle ‘em” Banset show was about to begin as he smashed his way to 50 runs (including four 4s and three 6s). Kade “I’ll dazzle ‘em” Banset and Max “Give it here and I’ll show you how it’s done like Hoggy” Allingham were given strong support by Jack “Take the gloves, it’s my turn” Fitchett who hit two 4s in his 25 not out total. The mighty mighty mighty men in black, white and grey were unfortunate-ly beaten by time and ended the innings setting the opposition a formidable total of 2 for 115.

Little did the massive crowd know what was about to take place. The new ball was taken by Jack “Look out here it comes” Dwyer and his 4th delivery claimed the first scalp of the innings – bowled for a duck! 1 for 1. Max “Give it here and I’ll show you how it’s done like Hoggy” Allingham took the cherry for the second over and dazzled the batsmen with an outstanding maiden (except for the one wide). Then, from the deep, came Charly “They won’t know what hit them” Burge. Fortunately, Charly’s tactics of letting them think they had their eye in by hitting 8 runs off his first 5 balls worked. His final delivery was hit and caught. 2 for 16. Kade “I’ll dazzle ‘em” Banset then took the weapon and used a technique very rarely employed by the big boys. He delivered a series of wides and a no ball to loosen the poor soul on strike and then with his 6th delivery sent the bails flying. 3 for 19. Rowan “Don’t worry, I’ll win the toss” Fittock then delivered the perfect ball in the middle of his over to secure the team’s 4th scalp. 4 for 21.

From this point in the game, the team chose to use some of its big guns to continue the near drought of runs for the maroon men – Clay “Not in my over, mate” Pierce, Jack “Take the gloves, it’s my turn to bowl like Mallinga” Fitchett, Hayden “No, I’m not relat-ed to Matthew Hayden” Ugarte, Logan “Betcha didn’t see that comin’?” Guldbransen and Zane “Zip ‘em past their ears” Zabel tied the maroon pair down only to frustrate them to the point of explosion. Then the team’s ultimate weapon stepped up … Sam “Bam Bam” Bojack. His over had the crowd mesmerised – both spectators will be talking about this spell of bowling for many, many years to come. Sam “Bam Bam” Bojack softened the batsmen with a wide and then knocked over the castle to take the 5th wicket with his third delivery. 5 for 46. Then, after two dot balls that left the crowd stunned, Sam “Bam Bam Bojack” completed the team’s 12th and final over with not one, but two amazing wickets! Yes Sam “Bam Bam” Bojack is on a hat trick with his first delivery next week. Channel 9 are considering telecasting the game for this historic moment. The maroon men ended with 7 for 46.

Congrats to the All Souls St Gabriels Firsts Cricket team for a magic afternoon of entertainment. Signed ‘The Fill-in Super Coach’ - Mr Ian Dietrich

Junior School

Tina Akers Head of Junior School Our Term 1 has been amazing. Our students settled into the 2015 school year well with a strong de-termination to succeed with their learning. The smooth beginning to the year continued throughout the term. This is a credit to the whole school community who has worked tirelessly to provide for our children. The JS Staff have really blended in-to a wonderful team with staff members supporting each other in a myriad of ways. Classrooms have been established to cater for the needs of all students with each stu-dent being afforded the time to en-joy their learning in a safe environ-ment. Pre-prep Staffing Updates Sadly we will not see Mrs Jenelle Cragg in the Pre-prep classroom for a few months as she will be on ex-tended medical leave. Jenelle is a valued member of our Early Years team and we are grateful for her hard work and commitment to our students. Jenelle will be greatly missed by our students in the Pre-prep and those who attend After School Care. Our thoughts and prayers are with her for a speedy recovery. Mrs Limkin will also be absent from the Pre-prep classroom for the start of Term 2 as she takes extended leave with her family. We have received a number of ap-plications for Mrs Cragg’s position and we are very optimistic that we will be able to fill the position with someone who has a genuine pas-sion for early childhood education.

Little Souls goes into temporary recess It has been wonderful to see so many parents with their toddlers enjoying Little Souls on Wednesday mornings. With the recent exten-sion to the Prep-prep playground, the change of location has provided parents and children the opportuni-ty to become familiar with the Pre-prep Learning Centre and enjoy us-ing the indoor and outdoor equip-ment. As Mrs Colleen Limkin, will be going on extended leave during Term 2, Little Souls will be in ‘recess’ until she returns to work in the last few weeks of Term 2. Little Souls will resume on Wednesday 10 June. Easter Raffle Thank you to everyone for support-ing the JSSG’s Easter Raffle. The raffle will be drawn on Grandpar-ents’ Day (Tuesday 31 March).

Celebrate the lack of a schedule The best part about holidays is the move away from the routines of school-life. Just think, this is your chance to enjoy a couple of weeks of not making school lunches, en-suring homework is complete, iron-ing uniforms and trying to track down the missing-in-the-laundry sports uniforms. Without all those


extra routines placed on families during term time, you can take the time during the holidays to enjoy some quality time with your chil-dren.

Holidays can be a constant juggling act. You want to go out for a day trip, or you may be travelling or vis-iting relatives rearranging your work schedule etc. All of this at the same time as wanting to encourage your child to read and keep their motivation and enjoyment for learning going as much as possible. Below are a few ideas that you may find useful:

When travelling, encourage your child to help when reading direc-tions, looking out for road signs and talking about how long they have to travel or how far they have left.

Reading timetables is also a great skill for them to develop and will encourage their independence as well. Younger children may enjoy a game - see how many signs they can spot i.e. road signs, street signs, shop signs and time-table. Read them together with your child.

Children love to share reading skills with family members, so if you are visiting family then take reading books with you so some-one different can say how proud they are hearing your child read. It’s a good chance to show off!

Often during holiday time, fami-lies can spend longer over meal times or might visit a café or res-taurant. Read the menu whilst you are choosing what to eat or read the cereal packet over breakfast. Or if you have friends visiting for a meal then get your child to create name places for each person – make them fun and personal so each person feels special.

If your child likes to cook, en-courage them to read the instruc-tions in recipes and plan for what is needed. Some fun ones include Roald Dahl's “Revolting Recipes(Puffin),”The Silver Spoon for Children”, Jamie Oliver or “Grow it, Eat it” (RHS and Dorling Kindersley). But if you don't know these, any will do.

Encourage your child to read newspapers and find out what is going on in the world. You may want to be around if stories are of a sensitive nature, but talk to your child about what they have read. Use local papers to read about local events.

During holiday time, collect items of interest and stick them all in a scrapbook or write a simple holi-day diary. As you stick these items in, chat about your child’s choices and favourite things to do. You will have created a book full of happy memories that your child can read again and again. Your child’s teacher would also love to share this book with the class when term begins.

When doing your weekly shop, encourage your child to help with

the shopping by writing and reading the list as well as finding products in store or online. If they need new school shoes or new school uniform, get them to do some research online first to make the trip to the shops more efficient.

Happy Easter Thank you to all the staff for their continued professional commitment providing a safe environment and stimulating and challenging learn-ing program for our students. Every day we celebrate the spirit of gen-erosity and friendship in a learning environment that is exciting and engaging. We can all be proud of the collective achievements we have made during this term. It is now time for students and staff to re-charge our batteries ready for Term 2. I wish everyone a happy Easter and a restful break. I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy some quality time with your children. Stay safe. We look for-ward to seeing your smiling faces back for an exciting Term 2.


FOOD AND NUTRITION My name is Leanne Scott and I am a Nutritional Therapist and Founder of Pure Core Nour-ishment Nutritional Therapy Services. I am also the Nutrition Consultant for All Souls St Ga-briels School. We have had a great start to the year with our ongoing revamp to our meals program with wonderful and constructive feedback from our student representatives and staff alike. Our goal is to consistently touch base throughout the year with students, staff as well as parents in efforts to continually improve the nutritional quality of our meals pro-gram.

Today I’d like to share with you one of our recent additions to our meals program. A recipe that’s been a real hit, and is so easy to make it could be a wonderful addition to any household. It’s known as:

SWEET POTATO COTTAGE PIE The key feature of this recipe is Sweet Potato, so I thought I’d share a few points with you why this little powerhouse vegetable not only tastes fantastic, but is so good for you!

SWEET POTATO FACTS: The tuber is an excellent source of flavonoid phenolic compounds such as beta-carotene and Vitamin-A. 100g tuber provides 14,187 IU of Vitamin A and 8,509 µg of ß-carotene, a value which is the highest for any root-vegetable categories. These com-pounds are powerful natural antioxidents. Vitamin A is also required fort he human body to maintain integrity of mucus membranes and skin. It is a vital nutrient for healthy vision. Consumption of natural vegetables and fruits rich in flavonoids helps protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.

The tubers are packed with many essential vitamins such as pantothenic acid (Vitamin B-5), pyridoxine (Vitamin B-6), and thiamine (Vitamin B-1), niacin and riboflavin. These vitamins are essential in the sense that the human body requires them for external sources to replenish. These vitamins function as co-factors for various enzymes during metabolism.

Sweet potato provides good amount of vital minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and potassium that are very essential for enzyme, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism.

Sweet potato top greens are indeed more nutritious than the tuber itself. Weight per weight, 100g of fresh leaves carry more iron, Vitamin C, folates, vitamin K, and potassium but less sodium than its tuber.

Sweet potatoes are a fantastic alternative to the standard white potato, so go ahead and give them a try!


Cooking Time: 1 hour Serves: 8 Ingredients 4kg grass fed minced beef 2 large sweet potatoes 2 medium sticks celery 2 medium carrots 3 medium garlic cloves 1 cup white button mushrooms 1/2 cup fresh/frozen green peas 14oz can whole tomatoes 2 tbsp. fresh oregano chopped 1 tsp chilli powder 1 tsp ground cinnamon 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil Sea salt & ground black pepper to taste

Instructions Preheat oven to 180oc Cut all vegetables except peas and tomatoes into thin slices Boil half of sweet potato until soft and mash Cut tomatoes into chunks Mix all vegetables except sweet potato together with ground mince Add all spices, make sure everything is well combined Use an oven friendly baking dish or dutch oven - pour olive oil in and spread

along base Layer the bottom with the remaining uncooked sweet potatoes Spread mince/vegetable mixture on top Bake covered for 45 minutes Remove and add layer of mashed sweet potatoes - season with salt and pep-

per Place back in oven for 15 minutes until mash layer just turns golden Great for freezing for easy weeknight meals and for breakfast too! Enjoy!


Head of Boarding Darren Guldbransen Head of Boarding Mobile: 0415 903 479 Email: [email protected]

Boys’ Boarding Feetham House Chris Lerch Senior Resident Mobile: 0419 471 433 Email: [email protected] Page House Davin Marshall Senior Resident Mobile: 0409 071 433 Email: [email protected] Ramsay House Brendan Travers Senior Resident Mobile: 0400 751 433 Email: [email protected]

Girls’ Boarding Alban House Narelle Kelly Senior Resident Mobile: 0419 771 433 Email: [email protected] Becket House Tracey O’Rourke Senior Resident Mobile: 0407 142 493 Email: [email protected] Chad House Yvonne Schaefer Senior Resident Mobile: 0439 764 638 Email: [email protected]

Dormitory News Dormitory News Head of Boarding Darren Guldbransen

What The end is finally here. Well that is certainly how some of our boarders will be looking at travel day, but I am looking back saying to myself “where did the term go?” The past 10 weeks have definitely been action packed and we are sending home some pretty weary boarders. They will be going home tired, but as a student body they should be very happy and proud of what they have achieved this term. The effort that has been put into all of our school sports and activities is nothing short of amazing. From our cattle and horse club kids, swim-mers, cricketers, netballers, tennis players, touch, rugby and league players, as well as our cross country runners, our musicians and public speakers, they have done the school and themselves proud. So I hope they enjoy their well-earned break.

There is no doubt getting the bal-ance right for our boarders is the key to them being at their best. Having enough activity and sport so they can burn up what sometimes seems like an endless energy sup-ply, but not so much that they are burnt out and can’t cope with the academic and emotional demands of school. They also need enough social, fun activities, as well as some down time with absolutely nothing to do, so they can just enjoy them-selves and re-charge. This term we have tried to offer something active, as well as a movie or social activity each weekend, so that everyone is catered for and no one should be thinking they haven’t had anything to do.

Enjoying a break from Exam Block

More students relaxing during Exam Block

Boarders at the Dive-In movie at the school pool

Girls at the top of Towers Hill on their Sunday morning walk

That’s it for now; I hope everyone has a happy and relaxing Easter break and I look forward to seeing everyone again next term.

Jed Marshall telling Will Sibson how to do it at the Easter egg games on the O'Keeffe

Feetham House

Chris Lerch Senior Resident So here we are. At time of writing there is only one day of the official exam block left and the final as-signments due are having their final touches applied. In Feetham house at the moment you can start to feel the relief from the boys as we are now really starting to look forward to a well earned Easter break. I have to say that the Year Tens, Elevens and Twelves who do their nightly prep sessions in the dormi-tory have put in an honest effort in the last weeks towards the end of term which has been pleasing to see. It hasn’t been all work and no play though with extra-curricular sports and activities still keeping the boys busy most afternoons and week-ends. Congratulations to the Feeth-am boys who represented Charters Towers in touch football last week. Mitch Drenan, Max Allingham and Mitch Rankine were all in the open side. Feetham boys Marcelo Warusam-Hernandez and Lance Shephard have also been busy with their Bulls rugby union commit-ments in the u/15, as have Clayton Gough and Will Healing in the u/17 side. Both teams had impressive wins on the weekend. Also on the weekend were the Easter games held by Nina which were a laugh a minute I was told! It wasn’t hard to tell the boys who can’t catch with the smell of raw egg a dead giveaway. Congratulations to the girls of Alban house who hosted the Lady Day Dinner last week also, I was not present at the dinner myself but by all reports it was a great night had by all. Feetham boys Max Allingham, Liam Durrington and Charly Burge are off to Galliopli these holidays on the school trip and we wish them safe

travels and great experiences. Also we wish all boys and their families a happy and safe Easter and enjoy a relaxing break and look forward to seeing all return next term re-freshed and ready to go again. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding Feetham house or your son. Re-gards, Chris

Ramsay House

Brendan Travers Senior Resident As I write this we have just com-pleted our last weekend of term one and are all looking forward to heading home and getting some well-earned rest. It was an exciting first term as we all made ourselves a new home in the recently reo-pened Ramsay House, and all of the boys were extremely patient and understanding as some of the final upgrades were installed. It is my understanding that some more work is planned for the holidays, so when we return, it should be to some exciting new renovations. During the final weeks, the Ramsay boys took part in the Inter House cricket and came agonisingly close to taking it out. Being beaten by four runs in the final game against Page was tough to take, but the boys who took part in it can all be proud of their efforts. As is ex-pected, our 1st Cricket representa-tives lead our attack, but were ad-mirably backed up by Patty Galvin, Sam Nolan, Bryce Frannetovich, Co-dy Sibson and Talon Simpson. All in all I was very impressed by the lev-el of skill on display and the enjoy-ment had by all involved. The skill level took another step up again on the last Friday of the term, when we travelled to Columba to watch our mighty 1st Cricket team


take on Columba in a 20 over game, the winner of which would take out the competition on overall points. A fantastic display of crick-et was seen by all who came along, with Columba just edging out Souls on the second last deliv-ery in a cliff hanger. Ramsay dorms only 1st cricketer, Jack Dwyer, delivered a fearsome spell in the middle overs, terrorizing the Columba batters with express pace and picking up handy middle order wickets. Also over the final weeks of the term, our 12 year old boys took part in the Charters Towers Rugby League trials. Ramsay boys chosen to represent All Souls were Cam-den and Brandon Finger, Zac Ste-venson, Corey Stanger and Will Sibson. According to Adrian Guldbransen, all our boys per-formed fantastically, with Zac and Corey gaining selection in the Charters Towers team, and Will going extremely close. Unfortu-nately Brandon and Camden were unable to attend but will prove their worth next term when we start our footy season. As this term ends I would like to wish everyone a very Happy East-er, and hope all the students can have fun on the holidays. I look forward to welcoming you all back for Term Two, refreshed and ready for all it has to offer.

Aidan and Aaron at the Easter games

PageHouse

Davin Marshall Senior Resident We have finished the first term and the boys are enjoying a much earned break. Our new boarders have all successfully completed their difficult first term and should be proud of their accomplishment. I have been really impressed with the attitude of the boys and their willingness to get involved in dor-mitory life. I have also been im-pressed with the attitude of the boys towards the Sport and Recrea-tion that has been organized for them. Our small group of new boarders have made a promising start to their first year. The Year 9 and Year 10 wings have been reasonably tidy this first term and the boys can be proud of themselves with the pride they are taking in the dormitory. We have some new boarders amongst the older boys and I commend the way our established boarders have made them welcome and accepted them into their midst. The dormito-ry has a really positive feel this year and we will strive to maintain this attitude for the coming terms.

Our Year 12’s have really estab-lished a presence in the dormitory and are doing a great job as sen-iors. They have been assisted by the Year 11’s who are showing good maturity this year and really helping out in the running of the dormitory. Our older boys are really thinking about their roles as leaders and role models. We had the inter house cricket on the weekend and there was a really good level of involvement amongst the boarders. Page House won the competition and everyone enjoyed the day. Thanks to Nina and Gully for making the event a success. As you read this Rhys Donaldson, Sam Meteyard and myself from this dorm along with many others will be retracing the steps of the AN-ZACS on the Gallipoli trip. This will be an amazing trip and the experi-ence of a lifetime for boys and staff alike. I’m sure we will all return changed and moved by the experi-ence. I look forward to seeing everybody return next term refreshed and ready to go.


Alban House Narelle Kelly Senior Resident

I don’t have a lot to contribute to this edition of the Phoenix; the girls are still full steam ahead and are leading busy lives. Alban House hosted the Lady Day Dinner, each afternoon leading up to the dinner, the Alban girls were very busy making tissue paper flowers in a variety of colours, ta-ble centres, folding serviettes and tying bows as well as writing their speeches and toasts. They took their responsibility seriously with putting in a lot of practice for the night.

Happy girls after the Lady Day Dinner

Kimberley and Andie all dressed up in flowers

Nikita and Brooke either practicing to go to the

races or the Easter bonnet parade

Amber has spotted more flowers!!

The dinner was beautifully present-ed and we would all like to thank Miss Meyer for organising the girls and having them participate in the decoration making and setting up of the hall.

The guest on my table was Miss Elna Kerswell. I was interested to learn that she was the Senior Su-pervisor of Green dorm many years ago. It was good to hear about when the girls moved over to the All Souls Campus in 1991, the state of the dormitory on their arrival and how things were run back then. I remembered seeing Miss Kerswell’s name around the dorm and mistak-enly asked was she in Alban house, to which she proudly responded that she was Becket. Never the less, I am sure that she enjoyed the night as did we all.

So after days of making beautiful paper flowers, guess where they all ended up? Yes, back in our dorm. The girls have used them to deco-rate their rooms.

This little quote was given to me by two of my girls, one morning as they all assembled in the common room, a few complained about wanting to go up to breakfast. I told them that we had to wait for everyone to come to the common room and quoted that “No-one gets left behind” So thank you to Sophia and Jessemma for finding this apt quote.

As I write we have just finished our last full week of school with only three more days next week. The girls are definitely ready for a holi-day. I did mention in the last Phoe-nix that the girls were all living in harmony, but over the last two weeks, with the added pressure of exams, studying and assignments all on top of each other the cracks are starting to show. Now, talk has turned to when they are going home, that they cannot wait and what they are going to be doing. So I hope that everyone has a well earned break and enjoy your chil-dren while they are back home with you all. I would just like to add a quick and special thank you to both Bindi and Kate for coming to our calls, thank you for the support and kind words over the Term. We all appreciate you kindness.

Dinner party hosted by Tara Yung

I would like to wish Kate Blenner-hassett, Ceelena Lawrence and An-nabel Hatch a safe travel and return as they embark on an exciting ad-venture away on the Gallipoli Trip. I cannot wait to hear their interesting stories when they return. Have a safe and fun holiday. I am sure that a lot of you will be waiting for some added extra hands around the property and at home, I do hope that you all try and find some down time, with lots of Easter eggs. See you all back next Term.


Becket House

Tracey O’Rourke Senior Resident Netball is getting competitive and so is Touch with many girls return-ing saying the Game was Unreal, Unfair and Awesome. To those participating, well done to you for your commitment and training. Sunday mornings have been lovely with some Becket girls choosing the 9 am Towers Hill walk and smoko at the Bakery. The walking track has been ideal for a group and the occasional Rock Wallaby can be spotted. The Becket girls are being coached in Self-Regulated Behaviour with the addition to a pause button to many vocabularies. What a won-derful improvement in our re-sponses to conflict. Reports from the dorm have now been attended to and with the positive thought that all students are doing the best with what they know. It will be a pleasure to wel-come everyone back next Term.

Angela Chevathun card making

Rae Evans resting up

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K6vUuxSNBDk/UwzJpR9CsJI/AAAAAAAAAlE/9OBN7fmWDHg/s1600/ha-ha-funny-lol-ohana-means-family-family-means-nobody-gets-left-147fd7bb-sz500x363-animate_original.png

Angelique Hughes ready to study

Chelsea Mosch and Katie Jarmey spending time together

Claudette Wilson dressed to impress

Belinda Hughes ‘chilling’

Chad House

Yvonne Schaefer Senior Resident By the time you read this we will have Term 1 done and dusted, as Mr Teichmann always says. Chad House has had a great term and we have achieved a lot. We have seen a young group of 11 and 12 year old girls, who all looked like ‘rabbits in the headlights’ when they got here, now confidently racing off to school after independently organis-ing themselves for the day. Thank you to Dawnie, our Year 9’s, 10’s and 11’s and Chloe for all helping in this process. You make my job, not only easy, but enjoyable. Gallipoli Trip We have farewelled Georgie Clark, Anna Winsper, Tammy Rea and Chloe Campbell as they jet off to Gallipoli for the trip of a life time. I know that they will have a great time and we look forward to hear-ing their exciting tales when they get back. Easter Games Nina, our Recreation Officer, put on a great afternoon of Easter Games on Saturday. After ‘Robbing the Nests’, ‘Bunny Hopping Races’ and ‘Real Egg Throwing Competi-tions’ (Yuck!!), Vasenai’s team took out one of the prizes on offer. They went away with a nice little pile of Easter eggs for their enjoyment.

Zoe Donaldson at the Easter Egg games


Zoe Godfrey waiting her turn for the

bunny hopping races

Friends Zoe Donaldson and Jorden Ford having fun at the Easter games

BE SAFE ON THE ROADS THIS EASTER We are often privy to the excite-ment of girls as they get their Learners Licences. It is always a worry as they drive away from the dormitory for the first time, none more so than our recent licence holder.

Georgie Clark - the grin on her face says it all. With her safely jet-ting overseas as I am writing this, I would like to say, stay safe on the roads this Easter and have a great holiday.

Out & About Sarah Valentine Whenever we have an occasion such as Lady Day or Green Dinner, we see some of our old friends show up and join us I caught up with some of our ‘Legends’ L to R Joyce Burry, Elna Kerswell, Jacko Barr, Jacki Clayton, Phil Carter and Gwenda Francis.

Jacki Clayton was our guest speak-er and told of her life as a student at St Gabriels and her role in The St Gabriels Past Students in Brisbane. When the ladies meet they speak of how they can help the school and we are grateful for their sup-port. Miss Elshaw (on the piano) and her students. Kithryn Kelly and Jack McDougall at The Lady Day Dinner. Kithryn charmed us with “The Lord Bless and Keep You”.

Chantelle Reynolds and Faith Whelan sang a duet and Harrison Finger played the saxophone. The instrument and voice performances were lovely and our guests were praising all the artists.

Chantelle and Faith

Harrison Finger and Jane Elshaw

Down Memory Lane I took this photo twelve years ago at Junior School. Photo Bombing was not in vogue then but that is Emma Golding in the background with Max Allingham and Leonie Shadforth in front, busy cutting out and colouring in. I simply love these photos that I will be sharing in the coming months.


Class Act Miss Jess Walker with Dempsey Currin.

Mr Riddle in his English class with the Year 10’s.

Mr Shannon Lee with the Year 9’s. Rugby Union The boys invited me to Rugby Un-ion two weeks ago to watch their team “The Bulls”. The team is made up of students from the four high schools and there is a wealth of talent in the side. I saw the U14’s game first and they were the winners 3-0 over the Towns-ville side. The game was fast and I was quite interested as it was my first ever game of Rugby Union (as a spectator). Then next thing, the senior boys ran onto the field and this game was so fast I was not able to take many photos, and there’s a first! However I have a couple to share.

Dylan Knuth leaving the opposition behind to wonder what happened. This was amazing play because Dylan ran and passed the opposi-tion as if they didn’t exist.

Trey Perrier ran through these play-ers. They didn’t catch him.

Will Healing actually barged through about eight opposition players. Great stuff Will! The Bulls defeated Townsville Teachers 59-0.

Flo King, all your fans wish you a happy and safe Easter.

Ceelena Lawrence getting the last of this term’s work out of the way as she prepares for the school Gal-lipoli Trip in a few days. Miss Leslie Croker I was on my way home one day and I heard the band playing. I parked the car to take this photo. Miss Leslie Croker has done a fine job with our students and we get to see the band it all it’s glory on An-zac day.

Students enjoying the Easter Book Display, L to R Back Adam Hensley, Dylan McKenna, Rhys Donaldson. L to R Front Brooke Tindall, Tyrone Tudini, Indie Schaefer and Charlie LeFeuvre. Everyone smiles when there is chocolate involvement.


Miss Marley Every so often I roll out the follow-ing information. Miss Marley and other teachers are on hand to con-duct The Homework Club. The teachers volunteer their time to help students with a variety of subjects. The point that I make to parents and guardians is that any student can get help from the teachers. All they have to do is turn up, so, no excuses!

Ms Goodwin and Mrs Moore Mrs Rossi Moore, Head of Arts, was recently named The Charters Towers Creative Champion by New Era (engaging with Regional audi-ences). She is pictured here with Ms Aimee Goodwin who is leaving us in a few days. We congratulate Mrs Moore and we wish a fond farewell to Miss Goodwin.


INFORMATION SHEET #2

ASSG - BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE PROGRAMME

WHAT YEARS WILL BE INVOLVED?

In 2016 the BYOD programme will be rolled out to Years 7 and 8 only.

Current Year 8 students may be involved when they enter Year 11 in 2018.

No student currently in Year 9, 10 , 11 or 12 will be involved in the programme.

Or, to show it another way:

Why Not All Years?

As much as we would like to introduce the programme to every student simultaneously, there are

sound practical reasons why we will not. The cost. Parents with multiple children in secondary, and some families have 4 students in second-

ary at the one time, would find the costs just too much if they had to buy up to 3 or 4 devices at once. The cost. There was extra cost for many parents this year with uniform changes, so we do not want

to add significantly to that burden in tough economic times. The cost. We would not put parents to the cost of buying a device for just 1 or 2 years use when a

number of students may not require the device after school. Organisation. A smaller rollout to two year levels will allow us to have greater control and deal more

easily with hiccoughs that we encounter along the way. Why Year 7 & 8? We are starting with our youngest secondary students so that it becomes part of how they are

taught and how they work right from virtually Day 1 of their secondary education. When will the older levels be introduced to the programme? Obviously, Year 9 will come on board in 2017 as the 8s move up a year Current Year 8 students (Year 11, 2018) may be involved in the programme in 2018 and 2019 for

their Senior studies, as Qld transitions to the expected Australian Curriculum around this time. It may be that the device for Year 11 and 12 may have different specifications especially as technologi-cal developments move very quickly. 2018 is a lifetime away in technological terms, and we cannot be prescriptive at this point.

Current Year 9, 10, 11 & 12 students will not be involved in the BYOD programme. What about older years and their access now? Students who have their own devices will be able to use them in class and be able to log in to the

schools internet connection in class. Some teachers will undoubtedly incorporate some of the technology into their lessons for older

years, and already do. But there will be no compulsion for teachers to do this and no compulsion for students to have a de-

vice. If you have an opinion, please write to us at [email protected]

Year Year levels required to have a device What these current year levels

2016 Yrs 7 & 8 Yr 6 & 7

2017 Yrs 7,8, 9, Yr 5, 6, 7,

2018 Yrs 7, 8, 9, 10 and possibly Year 11 Yr 4, 5, 6, 7, and possibly Year 8


Staff Profile

Staff Name: Tracey O’Rourke

Duties at ASSG: Senior Resident

Becket House

How long have you been at ASSG: Since November 2014

Where are you from: Townsville

Something people may not know about you:

I am an adopted child.

What encouraged you to do this job: A strong belief that the

future for our Country will come through

the Education and nurturing of Youth.

What work did you do before coming to ASSG: Studied a Diploma in Occupational

Health & Safety and Business

Management.

What is your favourite aspect of your job: When the girls achieve and make it

through to a team, or get mail they

weren’t expecting, the smile and

excitement is riveting.

And your least favourite: Seeing the girls cry. Hurt is painful to

watch.

What was your favourite subject at school: Art - I had an awesome Art Teacher.

What was the most important part of your education: That no matter the

mistake, we can manage the outcome.

Which person (or thinker) has had the greatest influence on your life: My father.

What would you never do, no matter the price: Sit in a bath full of snakes.

If you had a motto, what would it be: A journey of a thousand miles begins with

one step.

If you could choose, what would you have for your last meal? Shepherds pie.


LESSONS FOR US

It is dangerous territory for a Headmaster to make political comment, other than in matters to do directly with educa-tion. But I am going to dip my toe into the political waters on this occasion. (Besides what have I got to lose? I retire at the end of the year).

The last 5 months have sadly seen the passing of two Prime Ministers from the 1970s – Gough Whitlam in late Octo-ber last year, and this week, Malcolm Fraser.

My formative years as a teenager were the 1960s, but my formative years politically were the 1970s. And these two men strode the Australian political stage like the two colossus they were. Our country has cause to be grateful to both of them for their service.

And I think that there are a couple of lessons to be learnt here for our students.

Firstly in the dark days of 1975, Whitlam and Fraser were implacable enemies, and if two men had cause to despise each other then it was these two. Yet in recent years they both worked together in support of Australia becoming a republic, Fraser delivered the second Whitlam oration at Whitlam’s request and both stood together on the day of the national apology to indigenous peoples. As the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, said in parliament last week

“If those two titans could find it in themselves to make peace and build a friendship, to campaign together for shared beliefs, then none of us have the right to hold on to the bitterness.”

That is something that all of us would do to remember. We hold grudges. We seek retribution. And in times of great stress and upheaval it is understandable. But putting aside those disputes and working together for a common cause is when we show our humanity and I hope that students at my school would leave here with a similar disposition. Dis-putes, whether major or petty, need to be put aside for the common good, and to make friends of enemies is one of the most inspiring things we can do.

Secondly, to my 1975 eye and ear, Malcolm Fraser was a strange beast. He was “the landed gentry” - a grazier from rural Victoria. He spoke in clipped, educated English tones. He wore a three piece suit. He seemed arrogant. He seemed to look down on us ordinary Australians. He seemed far removed from ordinary life. And the comment that is most associated with him: “Life wasn’t meant to be easy”* only confirmed my view that he was a member of the “squattocracy” and regarded himself as superior.

Yet the reality was that he was a liberal and a progressive with very strong views on apartheid. Way before Al Grass-by came along, he saw the necessity for Australia to become multi-cultural. He argued fervently that when South Vi-etnam collapsed, Australia had a responsibility to take as many Vietnamese refugees as possible, because not only did we owe them because of the support they had given our troops, but it was the right thing to do and that they faced serious reprisals from the incoming communist regime. He and Whitlam agreed a bipartisan approach to refu-gee intake. He spoke out for the dispossessed and indigenous Australians. He argued for a more compassionate view to be taken towards asylum seekers. He was head of Care Australia. His principles were based so very firmly in his love of humanity and justice. In his later years he challenged us to be better, caring Australians.

On Speech Day last year I spoke about Noel Pearson’s moving eulogy at Gough Whitlam’s memorial service. He was saying similar things – Whitlam’s behaviour and understanding for indigenous Australians was not what you would have expected from someone raised and educated as Whitlam had been.

Forgetting the politics of this, and whether you think Fraser and/or Whitlam were right or wrong, the message is for us to look beyond the stereo-types. Good people are often found where you least expect it. They come in all forms and from all backgrounds. We often dismiss people because of who they are or where they come from or what their level of education is or because they don’t conform to our idea of what a leader should be.

Both Whitlam and Fraser had their failings. (Who among us doesn’t?) But I felt very sad last week when I heard of Fraser’s death so soon after Whitlam’s. I think that leaders of this calibre are not evident in day to day political life these days. But that is another story. And a place where this headmaster will not go.

*Note: The full quote is

“Life wasn't meant to be easy, my child, but take courage: it can be delightful!" It was written By George Bernard Shaw and given in full, has an entirely different meaning to the half quote.

headmaster a work of art & act of service contents …€¦ · ling and training with dressage....

Documents