No. 1 Term 1 - Week 2 Newsletter, 2025

From the Principal

Welcome to the 2025 school year at Burdekin Catholic High School! I am excited and honoured to begin this journey with you as we continue to build on our proud history of providing quality Catholic education to the Burdekin community.

A new school year brings fresh opportunities, new goals, and a renewed commitment to nurturing the academic, spiritual, and personal growth of every student. Whether you are returning or joining us for the first time, we are so pleased to have you as part of our vibrant school family.

At BCHS, we strive to create a community where faith, learning, and compassion come together to inspire students to be their best. Our dedicated staff work hard to ensure that every student feels supported and encouraged to develop their talents, explore their passions, and contribute positively to our school and beyond.

I was very delighted to see the smiling faces of all our new students.  It is an exciting time for our Year 7s as they commence their secondary education.   To start the year, we went to Sacred Heart Church for Welcome Mass.  It was a very moving mass and a beautiful way to welcome our new students into our faith community.  Father Manoj, Parish Priest, celebrated  the welcoming Mass and made our year 7s feel part of the BCHS community and Parish.  At the end of the Mass father blessed silver Marist pins that the year 12s presented their Year 7 buddies. This pin is a symbol of becoming part of the BCHS and Marist Family. At the introduction of the Mass we reflected on what it means to be a student at BCHS – a Catholic school in a Marist Tradition. During their time at BCHS students will be give every opportunity to discover their intellectual, spiritual, and social gifts and leave our school gates with strong minds and gentle hearts. 

We’ve had a challenging Week 2, and once again, I’m reminded of the incredible strength and resilience of North Queenslanders. Thanks to our focus on improving infrastructure last year, the school sustained only minor impacts—just some damage to a shade sail and a small leak in the staffroom. A huge thanks goes to our dedicated cleaners, Nadia and Dee, and our groundsman, Dan, whose hard work ensured our students and staff returned to a safe and clean environment.  We continue to hold in our hearts our families that continue to be challenged by the current situation.

We have had to reschedule some of our significant events in the school.  This can be challenging as it is also coupled with ensuring that our students do not have any more loss of class time.  While we communicate via Compass, we are complementing this with messages on our social media sources.  If you are a user of social media please connect with our Facebook and Instagram pages.

As we embark on the year ahead, I invite you to stay engaged with all that’s happening at BCHS. Communication and collaboration between home and school are essential in ensuring the success of our students. I encourage you to connect with your child’s teachers, attend school events, and be an active participant in our community.  Next week we have two very important meetings.  Firstly, our School Board AGM being held on Thursday at 5:30pm.  We do have some available positions on our Board.  Communications have been sent home inviting nominations to be on the board.  Please consider this opportunity.  Secondly, it is our FACE (Family and Community Engagement) group will be meeting on Thursday at 7:00pm.

Contacting students during the school day

It is the school's expectations that any contact between students and their parents (and vice versa) is via the School Office during the school day.  This includes if a child is unwell, or requests to be collected early for any reason.  The school will not prevent students from contacting their family from the Office if they are unwell, or feel the need to speak urgently with a parent or caregiver.  This will ensure the staff are aware of students who are unwell and are also able to provide suitable supervision of children unwell or distressed until collected by their parents or caregivers. In line with our School Policy - Away for the Day, students should not be using, or be encouraged to use their personal devices to make or receive communications during school hours.  Their devices should be locked in their lockers or held for them in the front office.

Thank you for your continued support and trust in Burdekin Catholic High School. I look forward to working with you throughout the year and celebrating all that makes our school community so special.

Yours in Christ
Lorraine Wolffe
Principal

Assistant to the Principal - RE

APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCEMENT

We are very pleased to advise that an Assistant to the Principal - Religious Education, has been appointed to Burdekin Catholic High School.  

A message from our Executive Director, Mrs Jacqui Francis, announcing to our community.

It is with pleasure that I announce the appointment of Denis Tutaka to the position of Assistant Principal - Religious Education at Burdekin Catholic High School commencing 3 March, 2025. 

Denis is currently a Religious Education teacher at John Paul College, Rotorua, NZ with experience as a Director of Mission and Campus Minister at De La Salle College, Auckland, NZ. 

Denis holds a Master of Secondary School Leadership from Victoria University of Wellington, NZ and Bachelors of Arts and Theology from the University of Auckland, NZ. He has extensive experience in Youth Ministry and Music Ministry in the Rotorua Catholic Parish and looks forward to being an active member of Burdekin Catholic Parish in Ayr.

From the Deputy Principal

Welcome back to our existing families, and welcome to our new families to Burdekin Catholic High School.  Weeks 1 and 2 have proved to be eventful and I hope you have all managed to stay safe and as dry as possible as we navigate the wet start to the year.

Senior Schooling
Students in Year 10 have been registered with QCAA and they can commence banking points into their QCAA Learner Account.  Students will soon receive their LUI number which is their gateway to this account that forms the foundation of their learning for Years 10 to 12.

Year 11 students commenced the QCAA Academic Integrity Course and were set the remainder of the course to complete.  This course is linked to their QCAA Learner Account.  All students have access to their account and receive a certificate of completion that is recorded on their Learner Account.

Both Year 11 and 12 students were taken through the requirements of Senior Schooling, in particular AARA and Special Provision Arrangements.  Students were reminded that documentation is required for any application for an extension or new date for a timed assessment.  Students were also reminded that holidays and events within the control of a student and their family, do not qualify as grounds for Special Provision.

Year 11 and 12 students were also asked to begin compiling key documents such as report cards and certificates in preparation for end of school processes.  Students were also reminded to make sure they knew their passwords and asked to purchase a display folder to keep these items.  They will also be given a fact sheet to help them along the way.

Subject Changes
Students in Years 9 - 12 are reminded that any subject changes need to be finalised by the end of Week 3.  Students looking at changing subjects, must collect the "Change of Subject Form" which is available from the office.

Assessment Calendars
We are in the final stages of publishing Assessment Calendars.  These will be made available next week.

Upcoming Events Reminder
We will be PAT testing all new students to the school (Years 7 - 10) commencing next week.  This will enable us to best support our new students as they transition to Burdekin Catholic High School.  School Photos are coming up, so make sure hair-cuts are booked and online ordering is completed.  We will be sending the forms out next week once everyone is back at school.  Immunisations for Year 7 and 10s will be taking place on February 26.  Students are reminded to bring a water bottle and eat breakfast.

Elisa Rigano
Deputy Principal

From the Assistant Principal - Pastoral

Welcome back to BCHS in 2025! As always, the weather is making for an 'exciting' start to the year. I hope you have managed to stay as safe and dry as possible.

It has been fantastic to see our Year 7 students settle in so seamlessly into our school community. Their confidence is growing day by day, as are their organisational and navigational skills. Of course, these smooth transitions are not possible without a dedicated team working together. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the following groups of people:

• The Year 12 buddies
• Our teaching staff at BCHS, particularly our Year 7 homeroom teachers: Mrs. Sandra Flanagan, Mrs. Kelli Loizou, and Mr. Paul Anderson
• Our school officers, who have and will continue to spend countless hours with our Year 7s, ensuring they are organized and ready for their day throughout the coming weeks
• Our Year 7 and 12 Pastoral Leaders, Mrs. Theresa Berryman and Ms. Kristie Stennett
• Finally, the parents. With your constant support at home, our jobs at school are made that much easier.

NEW PASTORAL LEADER
This year, we are pleased to welcome Mrs. Karen Good as the Pastoral Leader for Years 9 and 10. If you've been around BCHS for a few years, you might remember Mrs. Good from her time as our Assistant Principal during the latter part of 2023. If you have a student in Years 9 or 10, Karen has no doubt already reached out to you to introduce herself.

We look forward to seeing the positive contributions she will make at BCHS, particularly in the Year 9 and 10 space.

AFTER-SCHOOL COMMUNITY SERVICE
As a school with a Restorative Practices approach, After-school Community Service is one of the consequences in place to provide a student with an opportunity to give back to the school and repair any damage in partnership for any actions that are not supportive of the school's expectations.    This holds the student accountable for their actions.

In continuation of the changes made to our after-school community service sessions last year, these sessions will ONLY take place on Wednesday afternoons from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.

The community service session will be assigned on the first Wednesday following the student’s choice that resulted in the application of the session. However, we understand that this may not always be feasible. In consultation with the Pastoral Leader or Assistant Principal (pastoral) by the student's parent, the session may be rescheduled to another Wednesday within the following two weeks. This option will only be available for the first time not meeting the school's expectation of the year. Any subsequent sessions will be expected to be completed on the originally assigned date.

Leighton Gallagher
Assistant Principal - Pastoral

2025 School Theme

This year our school theme is 'Pilgrims of Hope - Look Beyond'.  ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, acknowledging Pope Francis’ official launch of the Vatican's 2025 Jubilee Year, a year to encourage us to dream of a "new world where peace and justice reign."  Then as a Marist school, we extend this to Look Beyond.

Pilgrims of Hope is a theme about a journey with and toward a God of love. A God whose love we know and experience through the flesh and bone of human kindness, generosity and compassion.

Our journey through life is one marked by encounters, encounters with God and with others, leading us to find hope in unexpected or surprising places. The image of the two figures walking is based on an artwork by Cynthia Carr Kusmer, who paints ‘parable art’ with the aim to invite people into the love of God. The Gospels are filled with stories of transformative encounters with Jesus, just as our own experience of the love of God changes us and renews hope. This transformation urges us to ‘look beyond’ to see the world and each other differently.

The lower image takes us to one of India’s largest resettlement colonies, Kannagi Nagar, with a diverse population, largely fisherfolk who have suffered the effects of displacement. Many of its occupants have struggled to find employment just because they live in a neighbourhood with a tainted reputation.

In 2020, Start India commissioned a series of murals to change perceptions about Kannagi Nagar in an attempt to positively affect the image of the neighbourhood and the city’s collective imagination. A mural of two children drenched in sunlight was painted as a way to humanise those living there and capture the core spirit of the urban landscape, characterised by the life of its young people. The mural was created by artist A-Kill and captured by photographer Jose Mohan.

In the large scale smiling faces of the mural, the young people and residents began to see themselves differently. Our environment is fundamental to our sense of identity, and when it changes, our life changes accordingly. In viewing themselves in a new light, it also led to a transformation in the way the community saw itself: full of life, with hope and a future. The simplicity of a smile, a kind word or willingness to ‘look beyond’ and see the other with different eyes, are reminders of the small and gentle building blocks of hope, God’s love for us.

From the Guidance Counsellor

Guidance Counsellor Introduction

Wadda Mooli! I am excited to be back in the Guidance Counsellor role at BCHS after a 12 month break to complete my Master of Professional Psychology. I will be a familiar face to most of the BCHS community having worked in the role from 2013 to 2023. 

Every school in the Townsville Catholic Education diocese is supported by a Guidance Counsellor as a part of the Student Wellbeing and Pastoral Services Team. Guidance Counsellors seek to support students in achieving appropriate educational outcomes, and this is accomplished by assisting students and staff in the removal of as many barriers as possible (academic, social, emotional, personal or behavioural barriers). Supporting students may involve meetings with teachers and/or parents, individual counselling, academic and behavioural assessments, or facilitating group programs. 

The majority of students are referred to the Guidance Counsellor by the Pastoral staff (Assistant Principal-Pastoral and Pastoral Leaders). Students can also self-refer if they are having difficulties. Parent consent is not required for students to access confidential counselling services; however, the parent-school partnership is of paramount importance and students are encouraged to communicate with their parents regarding any counselling support accessed. Parent consent is required for academic and behavioural assessments through a referral and consent process. Please contact the office if you would like to make an appointment to see me for any reason. 

Felicity Griggs

Year 7 & 12 Welcome & Pastoral Day Gallery

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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

Instrumental Music Program

2025 YMCA QLD Youth Parliament Nominations

Nominations for the 2025 YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament are open and will close at midnight on Friday 14 February.

QYP is a parliamentary education, community engagement and personal development program run by the YMCA in collaboration with the Queensland Government.

Young people aged 15 – 25, with an interest in government, policy and community development are strongly encouraged to take up this competitive opportunity to represent their electorate.

Nominations are being accepted here: https://bit.ly/QYP2025

Further information about the YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament is available on: https://www.ymcabrisbane.org/services/queensland-youth-parliament.

Air Force Cadets Recruitment

Burdekin Sports