A tough year financially for many Australians has been summed up by Macquarie Dictionary's word of 2023 - "cozzie livs". Soaring interest rates, rising grocery bills, and fuel prices have caused a cost of living crisis, and have hit many cash-strapped Australians hard, leading to more people seeking support and potentially anxious about an expensive Christmas.

The Gospel telling of the birth of Jesus has shepherds as the first visitors to His side. They were people who lived on the fringes of society at the time, and they could not have hoped to gift gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What did the shepherds bear as gifts? Instead of physical gifts, the shepherds brought what they could. Their gifts were spiritual blessings of faith, love, devotion, and gratitude. So, even if the "cozzie livs" are impacting upon the flavour of your Christmas, please remember that these simpler things are also a welcome gift, and there is probably nothing prized more at Christmas than being beside a loved one.

Thank you all so much for your support of our College this year. I am truly blessed to lead such a wonderful community and I am very conscious that our community starts with you. We have achieved much this year and I am so excited about more growth in 2024.

I hope you all have a safe Christmas and find comfort with those around you.

Mr Chris Gabbett
College Principal

The growth in the College has necessitated a lot of recruitment and we also have some staff moving on to new things. Please see below the staff movement and new arrivals.

Teaching Staff Movements – P-6

• Sandra Rosentreter has been offered a post at Our Lady of Lourdes in Newtown. She is a member of the parish community there and I am sure she will enjoy working alongside Bridget Rillie again. She has made a fantastic contribution to our community. As a result of her departure, we have appointed Beth Eldridge. She is currently employed as Kindergarten Teacher and is passionate about early years education. She is an active member in the Highfields and Crows Nest Communities.
• Shai Eather is our new Wellbeing teacher in the Junior College. She has vast experience teaching primary and secondary and was previously Head of Department for Languages. She endeavours to help all students achieve their full potential.
• Bianca Willis will join the Junior College teaching STEM. She holds a Master of Education in Digital Technologies from the University of Sydney and has six years’ experience as a primary educator. She is dedicated to inspiring and educating learners in Digital Technologies, Science, and Mathematics.
• We welcome back from Maternity Leave two fantastic colleagues, Emma Cook and Kirsten Moore.
• Emma Weller will be working in the Junior College full time, sharing a Prep class with Chrissy Carter and working as a Learning Support Teacher.
• Naomi Goddard will again take a period of leave during 2024. We wish her the very best.
• Jodie Inskip has made a welcome return to the College this semester – but she will resume her position at Holy Name Primary School in 2024.

Teaching Staff Movements – 7-12

• Very sadly, Piers Dudin will not be returning to the College when he arrives back from England in 12 months. He has been an outstanding colleague and we wish him all the best. The College will recruit for a Curriculum Leader: Maths for 2025 and beyond in term 2 next year. Malcolm Langerak will fulfil this role until December 2024.
• Bec Morgan and Kate Murdoch will both take a year of leave for 2024. Isobel Nicholson will be joining the English department to support in their absence. She has taught at Xavier Catholic College in Hervey Bey and Churchie in Brisbane. For the last year she has worked as a governess on a cattle station so she will bring a rich experience to our College. To provide further support, Verity Epetahui will teach a combination of French and English. She brings extensive international education and industry experience, and will greatly support the introduction of French to the Senior College.
• Kate Vanderplas will be stepping down from the Hospitality role. She has been fantastic as a teacher in this area and has done a great job growing the subject. The College has appointed Stuart Parker, who is a former chef, to deliver this subject from years 5-10.
• Natalie Gurr will be pursuing middle leadership at Fairholme College. This is a great loss to Mary MacKillop as her impact this year has been tremendous. In addition, Caley Croft has taken a post at St Saviour’s Primary School in Toowoomba. Caley has had huge impact in the Junior College this year. The advertisement for these posts closes on Sunday night, and there will be a handover to the new colleagues in January.
• Bec Wong will be joining the Senior College as a Study of Religion/Religious Education teacher. Mrs Wong is currently teaching at Marist Brothers’ College Ashgrove. She has worked in Catholic schools for over twenty years teaching a variety of subjects and she is still learning which is one of the best consequences of teaching.
• Abbi Gaddes is a graduate teacher who will join the Science, Physical Education and Sports department. She brings a joint major in Chemistry which will support our growth considerably, as will her experience of volunteering in the community and a variety of sports.
• Belinda Webber will be joining us from St Anthony’s Catholic College in Townsville. She will be teaching Maths and making a contribution to numerous co-curricular activities.
• Ben Mitchell will be joining us to teach Maths, Design Technology, Graphics and Engineering. He comes with Head of Department experience and having grown several subjects at Highfields State Secondary College.
• Timothy Wheaton will join us and teach Agricultural Science and Junior Science. He has a wealth of experience in the agricultural area and is very keen to support the implementation of the program at Senior.
• Annabelle Perrignon, who was a foundation student of our College having started in 2003, will join us next year to teach Music, History, Maths, PE, RE and support in Arts co-curricular activities.
• Shelley McCasker will be teaching English and History in the Senior College. Shelley has a music background, but completed a second degree and is now a dedicated Lit/English teacher. She comes to us from St Peter’s College, Indooroopilly.

School Officer Movements

• To support Mr Griffiths and Mrs Burke with the ongoing growth of Arts and Sports in the College, we have appointed dedicated assistants to these areas. These posts will be full time and will be fulfilled by Nadine Sheldrick (Sports) and Molly Harms (Arts).
• To assist in the ongoing growth of Hospitality as a subject in years 5-10, we have appointed a dedicated School Officer for Hospitality – Pauline Prior.
• Dennis Rochford, who has worked on a casual basis alongside us this year, will join as a School Officer – ICT.
• We welcome Ann Capp-Perucic to the role of Personal Assistant to the Executive Leadership Team. Working alongside Ann in that role will be Amy King, who many will know from her role in Senior Administration.
• Kim Midgley will be leaving us after 7 months working with the Executive Leadership Team. We wish her all the best in Brisbane.
• Saxon Inskip has been appointed as a teacher at St Joseph’s Millmerran. This is a wonderful step for Saxon and we wish him the very best. Bronte Gillett will be continuing her education studies at the University of Queensland next year and she has been appointed to a Teacher Aide post at Our Lady’s College, Annerley (a fellow Josephite school). Kharrisa Ticiver will be leaving us to focus on her career in health.
• Stephen Oster has been a great support as a School Officer - IDT, but he is now pursuing his teaching career. This post will be filled by Rhys Faulks, who comes to us from Toowoomba Regional Council.
• We are still to appoint a receptionist for the Senior College following Amy’s promotion. This will occur over the summer break.
• Interviews for School Officers: Assisting Student Learning will continue today and this week. We will advise of the successful appointees in the first communication next year.
  

Junior Teachers and Classrooms

Mr Chris Gabbett
Principal

The Senior Admin building will be open to the College Community from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm from Monday, 4 December through Friday, 15 December when we'll close at 1:00 pm. The office will reopen on Tuesday, 2 January until school starts back from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. You can contact admin on 4698 7777 or email highfields@twb.catholic.edu.au. If your query is finance related, please email accounts@highfields.catholic.edu.au.

Christmas Reconciliation and Mass

Reconciliation and Mass will be a joint ceremony at St Theresa’s Parish at 6:00 pm - Wednesday, 20 December. CHRISTMAS MASS TIMES Christmas Masses are as follows: - Sunday, 24 December – 4th Sunday Advent - 8:00 am Mass - MacKillop Centre Sunday, 24 December - Christmas Eve - 4:00 pm Vigil Mass - MacKillop Centre Monday, 25 December - Christmas Day – 7:00 am Christmas Day Mass - MacKillop Centre