No. 26 Term 3 - Week 4 Newsletter, 2024
From the Principal
Respect
As we move through this school year, I want to take a moment to reflect on a core value that is fundamental to our school community: respect. Respect is not merely a word but a practice that underpins the quality of our interactions and the strength of our relationships. It shapes the environment in which our students learn, grow, and thrive.
Why Respect Matters
Respect is the cornerstone of a positive and productive learning environment. It encourages open communication, fosters collaboration, and builds a sense of belonging. When students, staff, and families respect one another, we create a safe and inclusive space where everyone feels valued. This mutual respect enhances our collective well-being and contributes to a more harmonious and effective school community.
Respect in Action
In the Classroom: Teachers who model respect by listening to students' ideas, valuing their contributions, and responding empathetically create a classroom atmosphere where students feel empowered to engage and express themselves. Similarly, students who show respect to their peers and teachers contribute to a positive learning experience and are more likely to achieve academic success.
In the Playground: Respectful behaviour extends beyond the classroom. Simple acts like using polite language, maintaining cleanliness, and considering others' needs contribute to a pleasant and functional school environment. It’s through these everyday actions that we show we care about our community and its shared spaces.
In Our Communication: Effective communication is built on respect. By approaching conversations with an open mind and a willingness to understand differing perspectives, we foster stronger relationships and resolve conflicts more effectively. Whether through parent-teacher meetings, student discussions, or peer interactions, respect ensures that dialogue remains constructive and solution-oriented.
Encouraging Respect at Home
We believe that respect begins at home. By modeling respectful behavior and encouraging open, honest communication, you lay the groundwork for your child to practice these values at school. Discussing the importance of respect and recognizing it when you see it in action helps reinforce its value and application.
Respect is not just a principle but a practice that enriches our school community. As we continue to cultivate an environment where respect is a guiding force, we contribute to the growth and success of our students and the well-being of our entire community.
Celebrating 50 Years of BCHS - Weekend Celebrations
We are looking forward to welcoming our community to our celebrations - past teachers, past students, current teachers, current students, past families.
Tickets for the Anniversary Gala Dinner are available at the Burdekin Theatre and they close on Friday 9th August.
Yours in Christ
Lorraine Wolffe
Principal
From the Assistant Principal - Pastoral
Love Bites
Recently our Year 9 and Year 11 students took part in their Love Bites days. The Love Bites Education Program focuses on respectful relationships and provides a safe environment for students to discuss and learn about their rights and responsibilities in relationships and look at ways to access support when needed. Students were introduced to several services in the community and encouraged to support their friends by utilising safe, healthy and proactive strategies. A special thank you to our Pastoral Leaders and trained facilitators, Leighton Gallagher and Kristie Stennett who facilitated both of these days. A thank you must also be extended to Andrew Sherrington from the Queensland Police Service for his attendance and support of the Love Bites program at BCHS. Our Chaplain and Guidance Counsellor, Stephanie Ryder and Michael Dixon also attended and provided support to students when and if they required.
For more information about Love Bites, please visit their website:
National Week of Action Against Bullying and Violence
National Week of Action Against Bullying and Violence is coming up on August 12-16. On Thursday 15 August, students are encouraged to wear an orange shirt in honour of Anti-Bullying Week. Upcoming Pastoral Care lessons will focus on the concept of bullying and provide time for our students to prepare their homeroom poster for the annual competition - this year’s prize is a pizza party for their homeroom! The theme for 2024 is ‘Everyone Belongs’ which is about embracing who we are as individuals, respecting differences and standing up against unkindness. Our students are encouraged to speak up and create a safe school environment where everyone belongs, feels supported and respected and their voice is heard and valued.
For more anti-bullying information and practical resources, please visit the ‘Bullying No Way’ website:
Expectations Reminders
Burdekin Catholic High School has a long history and reputation for its high expectations. We have policies which all students and families agree to upon enrolment to support our high expectations for attendance, behaviour, uniform, personal appearance, completion of classwork and assessment tasks, ICT usage, mobile phone use, etc. These policies all follow our overarching theme of ‘respect’ which we break into five key categories; respect for: self, others, school, learning and faith. As a school community, students are encouraged and supported to meet our expectations through a restorative practice approach where students take accountability for their actions. Students who are meeting our expectations are acknowledged through our positive reward system including praise notes and rewards days. Restorative justice practices including Respect Room attendances and after-school community service sessions are employed at times when the school’s expectations have not been met. Regarding our after-school community service sessions, these are scheduled for Wednesday afternoons from 3:00pm to 4:00pm. The community service sessions are facilitated by pastoral staff and provide students with the opportunity to give back to the school. Families will be given due notice when their child is required to attend an after-school community service session of at least 48 hours.
Oval Behaviours
Students can access the oval at both breaks this year, providing students with the opportunity to play a variety of team sports including soccer and touch football. As a school community, we value the time that students spend on the oval, recognising the benefits for health, wellbeing and physical fitness as well as the positive impact this can have on cognitive development, critical thinking, decision making, moral reasoning and overall social interaction. To ensure that the oval remains a safe place for these positive outcomes to be met, our oval expectations are as follows:
- Respectful interactions with students and teachers
- Appropriate language - no swearing
- Touch football or soccer - no tackling, hard touches, tripping/kicking others, etc.
- Listening and following instructions the first time
- Staying on the oval - do not leave the oval to get a ball from a neighbour’s yard or from the road.
- Sun safe - hats and sunscreen
Recently, there have been incidents of serious breaches of safety expectations (e.g. tackling, tripping, hard touches), failing to follow instructions the first time (e.g. continuing to play after the ‘last play’, not returning the ball to the teacher immediately when directed), refusing to engage in a conversation regarding appropriate behaviours (e.g. not taking ownership of disruptive/harmful behaviours) and inappropriate language (e.g. swearing). Following our restorative justice approach and to ensure that our oval remains a safe place for all, students who are involved in such incidents will be required to attend the Respect Room and/or complete after-school community service.
Chiara Guy
Assistant to the Principal - Pastoral Care
From the Assistant Principal - Religion
Faith, Hope and Love. These are the words that have been visible around the school on poster and lived out especially during Catholic Education Week.
Catholic Education week had a number of ceremonies in Townsville and Ayr last week. On Monday week Mrs Wolffe and myself had the pleasure of being at the Deus Caritas Est Liturgy in Townsville. The Sacred Heart Cathedral was the perfect setting to acknowledge year 12 Students in the Diocese that embody what it means to be a student in a Catholic School living out the Gospel.
Casey Calligaro is the BCHS recipient of this prestigious Award. He joins an elite group of alumni who share similar qualities. The heartfelt Liturgy recognised the young people in the Diocese, Casey was joined by his family to celebrate this award. Here is an extract from Casey’s bio that exemplifies why he is worthy of this award.
Casey is a shining example of kindness, compassion, and dedication to the school and its community. He embodies the school's mission and is actively engaged in prayer and liturgical life. His peers and teachers deeply respect him for his positive attitude and for always seeing the best in others. Casey's presence in the school is felt in every aspect, as he selflessly volunteers his time and treats those around him with utmost respect. He is a wonderful listener and always puts others before himself, making sure their voices are heard. Casey is a true role model and a valuable member of the school community.
On Tuesday St Colman’s, St Francis and BCHS attended the Catholic Education Mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Townsville. The images of students from all three schools tell a 1000 words. It was so heartwarming to see our Year 10 SRC’s nurture and foster a collegial spirit. Although our three Catholic schools are on different campuses our group really had that P – 12 feeling. Mass was presided by Bishop Tim. His homily summed up the theme of Catholic Education week and what it means to be a Catholic school.
“Catholic means that we must be inclusive. Every effort shall be made to turn no one away. Non-Catholics are in this sense voting with their feet – they value us and want us to educate their children. Alleluia, I say. This does not mean
that we dilute what we stand for – faith, hope and love need to dominate all Catholic school activity. Catholic schools in Australia have a long standing and dynamic ministry. The Catholic school today reflects an inclusive, respectful, aspirational, complex, interdependent, multifaith and multicultural community.” Bishop Tim
Catholic Education Week finished with Founders’ Day. St Colman’s and St Francis were on campus with BCHS to participate in a wide range of activities. The day started with a Mass presided by Fr Manoj. His homily was not a typical homily. Father taught us a song which was about about building community. The easy to follow actions and lyrics are still stuck in my head.
Founders' Day
Upcoming Events - Date Claimers
We have a few events on our calendar were community come together to celebrate.
Sunday 18th August the Youth Mass will be the final event for the 50 Year Anniversary celebrations. This regular 9 am Sunday service at the Sacred Heart will be at BCHS in the Marcellin Centre. All BCHS staff, students and families past and present are welcome.
On Wednesday 28th August we will celebrate our Father’s Day Mass at 12 pm in the Marcellin Centre. All fathers, grandfathers, uncles are welcome to attend. This invitation is extended to all family members. After the Mass we will have light refreshments.
Antonetta Della Cort
Assistant to the Principal - Religious Education
Enrol for 2025
We have commenced our interviews for enrolments for 2025. It has been wonderful to meet our potential new students. If you would like to enrol in 2025, especially Year 7, please enrol now.
Online applications can be completed here:
When you have reviewed the information on this page, you can start an online application. To enquire about vacancies in other year levels, please contact our School Office 47832366.
From the Religion Department
Year 8 Religion – Moral Value and Principles
Students are exploring the moral values, beliefs, and principles foregrounded through family, community, school, groups, society, and religion. This term students are analysing key values embedded in day-to-day life of the individual, groups, and community. They have reflected on their personal and family values and explored scripture, such as the Golden Rule "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," (Matthew 7:12).
They will watch the film ‘Walking Across Egypt’. This film follows the life of Mattie Rigsbee, an elderly woman who believes in the Bible and teachings of Jesus. The film explores the how old people are lonely, after their children leave and become adults.
Mattie feeds a stray dog and becomes friends with the local dogcatcher, Lamar Benfield. It is through this relationship that Mattie learns about and meets the dogcatcher's nephew, a troubled, orphaned juvenile delinquent, Wesley.
Mattie believes Wesley, who is 16 years old, is good and can be improved. She believes he is just missing direction and believes that with a little insight and faith, he can straighten up and fly right.
In the picture below, students are collaborating to write their knowledge and ideas on the chart projected on the whiteboard about moral values, and principles different groups have
Sweetest School Competition
Sweet Competition: Aquatic Practices Preps for Sugar Cane Fertilising
Year 12 Aquatic Practices students got busy this week, prepping the school's sugar cane drills for the "Sweetest House" competition! Under Mr. Guy's guidance, they cleared weeds and readied the drills on Wednesday. On Thursday, they gave the cane a boost with custom fertilizer from BPS.
The shoots are healthy, but this TLC should help them charge ahead!
Who will claim sugar cane supremacy? Will it be Marcellin, Polding, or Clarence? Stay tuned!
News from the Tuckshop
NEW!
Wednesday Burgers and a new menu item for Tuesdays - Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap $7.00.NEW!
Career News
Alumni - Benjamin Villis (Class of 2021)
Wanting to pursue a discipline which has endless opportunities in Engineering, IT, Business, Mechatronics, Science or Management? Then perhaps the Ag sector is just for you! My name is Benjamin Villis and I am in my second year of studying Agricultural Technology and Management (BATM) at the University of Southern Queensland based at the Toowoomba Campus. Ag Technologies is focused on teaching students a vast set of skills which will allow them to be broadly immersed across all areas of the agricultural sector. Whether that be in Agribusiness, Agronomy, Farm Management, Agricultural Machinery, Precision Ag Technologies, Plant sciences, Environmental sciences, Livestock Science & Management, the possibilities are endless! Having this vast set of skills, it will give students a wide range of jobs which they could go into and allow them to expand on an area in Ag which they love and want to pursue further. Looking back, I am so grateful and lucky I stumbled on this course in the QTAC book. It was truly the best needle in a haystack I’ve found! With my tale, I hope to encourage more students to find this fantastic course. If I haven’t grasped your attentions yet, maybe perhaps getting the privilege of having access to many large corporations as the likes of Case-iH, John Deere, Incitec Pivot, GDRC and many more throughout the world will tickle your fancy.
For more info the link to BATM Course Page:
On a side note with of my studies, I was fortunate enough this year to receive a job with one of my lectures working with his team on one of the universities projects in collaboration with John Deere. In doing so, I am a part of the team handling John Deere research data that is then passed back to their engineers for analysis. The work I do contributes towards the development of future products in John Deere’s precision agriculture arm.
Benjamin Villis
Class of 2021
From our Guidance Counsellor
SPECIAL REPORT: Eating Anxiety
The complexity of eating anxiety stems from a combination of social, psychological, and environmental factors. Young people may develop this anxiety due to social pressures related to eating in front of others, fears about body image, or due to more ingrained issues such as eating disorders. Additionally, cultural norms or dietary restrictions can also play significant roles, as can direct experiences like bullying or teasing related to food choices or eating habits.
Whilst not a formally recognised condition, eating anxiety is a genuine and often overwhelming experience that can significantly hinder a young person's ability to participate in everyday activities comfortably. This condition can lead to serious nutritional deficiencies and social withdrawal, impacting overall health and academic performance.
Recognising and addressing eating anxiety is crucial for parents, carers, and educators. Through education, policy changes, and community support, we can help young people manage their anxieties and improve their relationship with food, thereby enhancing their overall well-being and social interactions.
This Special Report will help you understand how best to support a child experiencing anxiety around eating.
If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.
Here is the link to your Special Report https://bchs.catholic.s
Kind Regards,
Michael Dixon
Guidance Counsellor