No. 30 Term 4 - Week 4 Newsletter, 2024

From the Principal

World Teachers' Day

Today (Friday 25^th October) we celebrated World Teachers' Day!  We have a significant group of teaching staff who are committed and have our students needs at the forefront of all they do. We thank them, for all they contribute to our community and each student they encounter daily to bring about growth and learning.  This morning we celebrated a morning tea supplied by Townsville Catholic Education and appreciated the wonderful cake that James Cook University sent to our teachers.   Happy World Teachers' Day!

Year 12

Congratulations to our Year 12 students who concluded their classes last week!  All students engaged in Celebration Week to ensure a memorable finish to their formal years of education.  Years 7 made a guard of honour to provide a fitting farewell to our cohort.   We wish Year 12s all the very best as they continue their external exams and as they pursue employment and apprenticeships.

Staff Updates

Today, Ms Amy Curran commences her long service leave today.   However, Amy also tended her resignation for the end of Term 4 so it was indeed our last day with Amy.  Amy has been a valuable teacher at BCHS over the many years.  She has been part of the English and Humanities department and also a Year 12 Homeroom teacher this year.  We wish Amy all the very best in her new endeavours.

Lorraine Wolffe
Principal

From the Deputy Principal

Year 12 Reminders

At the end of last term, our Year 12 students experienced a ‘mock block’ in preparation for the ‘real deal’ and this term teachers have been providing feedback on the mock assessments and finalising preparations for the external assessment.  On Compass, students are able to assess the “Directions for Students” as well as the “External Assessment Equipment List”.  As the exams continue, students will be reminded of these requirements before they commence the external assessment block.  The library is set up as a study hub for students Weeks 4 to 6.

Those students who do not have external assessment requirements may have some finalising of work for their Applied courses.  Students are reminded that whilst classes have been suspended, they are able to work in the library during the school day.  

Year 12s are reminded to download their report cards prior to exit as the system will exit them mid-December.  Year 12s are also reminded to make sure they know their passwords to myQCE as well as QTAC.  Another tip is to make sure that the email accounts linked to these accounts are NOT their school email address as this too will be decommissioned at the end of the school year.

Year 11 Reminders
Year 11s are in the process of finalising Unit 2 and commencing Unit 3 work.  Students are reminded that Units 3 and 4 work as a pair and any subject changes need to be made prior to the commencement of Unit 3.  Year 11s are also reminded that if they have any pre-existing medical considerations for AARA, the formal paperwork now needs to be lodged with QCAA.  

Years 7 - 10
Last week students in Years 7 to 10 have sat the annual Progressive Achievement or PAT Tests in Reading and Maths.  This information is important as it helps inform our teachers in the development of curriculum delivery appropriate to the needs of students.  This testing also helps in our preparation for NAPLAN for Year 8s as they move into Year 9 in 2025. The Year 10s have finished their SETPs this week and like the Year 8s, we are now in the process of finalising subject offerings for 2025. 

Awards Night
We are well on our way in the preparation for the upcoming Awards Nights for Year 12 and for Years 7 - 11 (2025).  Please keep an eye out for Compass notifications and social media for the latest news on that front.

From the Assistant Principal - Religion

Term four is well and truly in full swing.  Our annual events are happening again with a great sense of joy and celebration. Over the last few weeks, we have had our Sports Awards, Leadership handover and House Cup announcement (congratulations Polding) and final Youth Mass that was dedicated to the Year 12s.   Celebrations bring our school community together and it is this sense of community and family spirit that make BCHS unique in our district.  Our final Youth Mass for the year was led by the 2025 school leaders who were eager to take on responsibilities during the Mass, their enthusiasm and energy was appreciated.  Over 40 Year 12 students attended the Mass and then shared a meal together with peers, teachers and Father Truong. It was also wonderful to see other students across Years 7 – 11. 

This week was the start of External Exams for the Year 12’s. External exams started in 2020 and with this change came a new tradition at BCHS – prayer before an exam. On Monday students and teachers joined hands to pray before the first exam for the year – General English. This provided an opportunity for students to be calm and settle pre-exam nerves.  It was as simple prayer that drew on the wisdom from Psalm 16:8 “I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.” 

In the last edition of the newsletter, I mentioned the Year 11 Religion and Ethics excursion to Townsville. Year 11 students have written an article explaining their excursion which is in this newsletter. What I would like to share with you an email I received from Stephen Gasparini the Youth Engagement & Development Officer for Vinnies Youth.  He worked closely with me, Ms Scott and Mrs Zabala in the organisation of the excursion. Here is what he had to say………

“I wanted to check in and thank you again for the wonderful experience we had when your Year 11 students visited us recently.

People around the warehouse and men’s shelter are still talking about the day and how much they enjoyed meeting your students.

I was particularly impressed with them and had some great conversation with individuals in the group.

Hopefully we can do it again next year and create opportunities for me to visit your school and talk more with some of your different year levels.”

Warm Regards Stephen Gasparini. 

We look forward to continuing and expanding our partnership with Vinnies Youth in the future. This is something else we can celebrate as a school community, engaging with organisations like Vinnies Youth to make what we learn in the classroom come to life and meaningful for our young people. 

In keeping with the theme of celebrations I would like to highlight two very important dates on the Church calendar, All Saints’ Day - November 1 and All Souls’ Day – November 2. In the commercial world that we live in these Feast days can be overshadowed by events like Halloween – 31st October. This is an excerpt from Catholic culture.org explaining the origins of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days.

“Today the Church celebrates all the saints: canonized or beatified, and the multitude of those who are in heaven enjoying the beatific vision that are only known to God. During the early centuries the Saints venerated by the Church were all martyrs. Later, the Popes set November 1 as the day for commemorating all the Saints. We all have this ‘universal call to holiness.’ All Saints' Day is also commemorated by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church as well as some protestant churches, such as the Anglican and Lutheran churches.” 

A word on Halloween – 31 October the evening before All Saints Day.

“The origin and traditional customs associated with Halloween require no other explanation than that they are examples of the kinds of festivity that served as a means of celebrating the various holy days of the Catholic Liturgical Year.  … However, I would draw a clear distinction between the violent, macabre imagery that characterizes the modern appropriation of Halloween as a kind of secular celebration and the more traditional customs that are characteristic of a Catholic cultural ethos. The descent of Halloween into the madness of an annual fright fest is a relatively recent development, but the true substance of Halloween belongs to the Church. Halloween (or “All Hallows Eve”) is the festive precursor to the celebration of the Church’s public commemoration of All Saints Day.”   [above excerpt from Fr S Grunow, CEO of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries]

We have much to celebrate in our school community.

Antonetta Dalle Cort
Assistant to the Principal - Religious Education

Sports Awards Ceremony

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Guest Speaker - Kate Gaze [Former Australian Professional Basketball Representative]

From the Science Department

This term, Year 8 Science students have been introduced to microscopes. They have investigated how these have changed over time and examined the impacts this changing knowledge has had on our understanding of plant and animal cells.
Students created a wet mount of an onion skin, viewing the microscopic structures of these plant cells and drawing what they see in the field of view. Further investigation involved viewing prepared specimens under the microscope to compare magnification, resolution and field of view.

Religion & Ethics

This term, week 2, our cohort was fortunate enough to travel to Townsville to learn valuable information for our Religion and Ethics Unit. In this unit, we are focusing on Social Justice and the concept of Human Dignity. To demonstrate this, our assignment requires us to organise the 2024 St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal for our school. On this excursion, we visited the St. Vincent de Paul Men’s Shelter, where we gained an insight into the daily lives of men who experience homelessness. Cecilia, the Hostel's manager, explained the importance of her organisation and the services provided. We were also given relevant information regarding donations to assist with our assignment. Additionally, we visited the Vinnies Store and Donations Hub. Here we were taken on a tour of the facility where we learned how the hub primarily operates, the work that the volunteers do and how donations are sorted. We were put to work in the sorting area; giving us a new perspective on how much work goes on behind the scenes of the Vinnies stores. It was interesting to learn how little waste is generated in the facility, with unsellable clothes being sold and transformed into fertiliser. After an insightful presentation by the Diocesan President, we were allowed to give back by buying goods at the Vinnies store.  Fun fact: this store is actually the largest Vinnies store in the Southern Hemisphere! All in all, our cohort took away valuable lessons about community service that we will not only use for our assignments but hopefully in everyday life. Please keep an eye out for updates on the Vinnies Christmas Appeal, all homerooms will receive different campaigns on different focus issues. 

Piper Grogan and Layla Caston

Work Experience

REMINDER

Students are encouraged to do work experience during the first week of December school holidays. Please refer to the Work Experience Program Poster for due dates and process. Late submissions will not be accepted.

2025 Term Dates

Term Dates 2025

Term 1: Tuesday 28 January - Friday 4 April  (10 week term)

Term 2: Tuesday 22 April - Friday 27 June (10 week term)

Term 3: Monday 14 July - Friday 19 September (10 week term)

Term 4: Tuesday 7 October - Friday 5 December (9 week term)

Year 12 School Year concludes on Friday 21 November 2025
Secondary Classes (7-11) conclude on Friday 28 November 2025

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:

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