We have focused as a College this week on our wellbeing.

Schools are now one of the few organisations that have the community, focus and time to stop and have genuine conversations about the wellness of our society. It is a great opportunity but also a great responsibility. As you will know from our communications to you and the actions we put in place, we take it very seriously.

Wellbeing, whether it be physical, mental or emotional, is not just NOT being sick. It is best defined as a state of being healthy and happy. A physically unfit adult can feel they are 'well' if they don't have something like a cold or cough. The goal though is for 'wellness'. The focus in our College on wellbeing is aimed at being the fist line of defence for our entire community in having the resilience, positivity and grit to encounter and overcome the challenges of growing up with the complexities our young people face.

We don't do this alone. In 2022 we will be increasing the number of Parent Workshops aimed explicitly at supporting child and family wellbeing. Please do keep a look out for these, and remember that we are willing and able partners in supporting your child's wellbeing in a really intentional way.

Please do not forget that the College will be represented in the 2021 Hike for Homeless. You can sponsor the hikers or join the team by clicking here.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support. Please remember our year 12 students as they complete their ATAR exams over the next few weeks.

Take care

Chris Gabbett
College Principal

Hello to all College Students, Parents and Community.

The PPF are checking in with everyone and we hope you and your families are all doing well.

If you need support in any way please reach out to the PPF or College Wellbeing staff. We are all hear to listen.

Week 4 is done and dusted. We are almost half way through! Not long now until the end of year.

The PPF article this week provides updates on events happening in and around the College. Each newsletter edition we aim to keep you regularly informed. We hope you find these updates useful. If at any time you wish us to add anything of importance please make contact on the below email.

There’s a multitude of exciting things going on at the College across all curriculum areas. Where possible, the newsletter is always updated by Staff across all areas in these fortnightly newsletter editions. This is always comforting to know as Parents and PPF members that Leadership, Teachers and Staff are excited to deliver so much news and the many aspects of student’s learning success and their wellbeing.

PPF News Updates

We would like to start by saying good luck again to the College Year 12 students. We wish them all great success in their final External Exams over the next couple of weeks! Best of luck!

The Mission and Identity Group is very excited about the upcoming Youth Gathering collaboration with our Parish. Please join us on Saturday, 6 November from 6:00pm at the College for a fun night of celebrating faith with a different look and modern songs followed by pizza and games at the College Cafe.

We will always continue to praise all students for what they have accomplished in their daily sporting, education and cultural activities. It is fantastic to see so many students putting in the hard work and being rewarded with success in their chosen field/s. Keep up this positivity and congratulations on a job well done! The upcoming Awards Presentation Evening is coming up on 17 November and will be an exciting event for all to celebrate their achievements.

Congratulations again to the College Drum Line and Colour Guard in the 2021 Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers Floral Parade. The winning trophy was presented last week at the Senior Assembly by Toowoomba Regional Councillor Tim McMahon which was great to see. All the students were so excited! Students who participated also received their College Cultural badges which was lovely.

The Fee Restructure Group has met again and discussed all aspects based on the feedback received from the parent body. The College will provide additional information to the College Community once all data is in and College Budgets for 2022 are finalised. Thank you again for your feedback during this consultation period.

The Teaching & Learning team will be meeting again this term to discuss all the fabulous teaching and learning that is happening across the college. One agenda item is to review the MMCC High Potential Learners Draft Policy that Mr Chris Gabbett shared with us. Importantly, another item to discuss is the ways we can engage parents around teaching and learning in 2022, such as Parent Information Evenings or Showcase Learning Days. If you have any ideas or suggestions you would like to offer, please email higppf@twb.catholic.edu.au

We are still seeking interest to form a Grant Writing Committee and welcome those who have grant writing experience to work alongside PPF members and College staff, in completing and submitting grants for the College’s benefit. This is a great way for you to contribute to the College gaining and improving on its resources and facilities. If you have a passion for making things happen, please contact the PPF at higppf@twb.catholic.edu.au

The PPF are aiming to build a Volunteers Register. The Register will be to help the PPF and the College coordinate events and thus communicate with a known band of willing volunteers when it comes to help with organising and facilitating events. The Volunteer Register will be a ‘port of call’ for when we need the generosity of our volunteers to help with events. The PPF are finalising the Volunteers Register and this will be issued to the College Community in coming weeks. If you have passion and enthusiasm to help out, please watch this space for how to become involved. Watch out for College Communications in this area.

Lastly but certainly something we would never forget are our dedicated teachers at Mary Mac.

It is World Teacher’s Day today – 29 October. We celebrated and thanked our wonderful teachers for the amazing job they do for our students and our College. The day started in the College Café with a fun Trivia Morning hosted by Admin staff and coffee, food and lovely Gourmet Cupcakes were provided on behalf of the PPF. Thank you, all teachers, for the amazing work you do with our students. You’re invaluable to our College and community and we thank you dearly for all that you do!

Thank you also to all the hard work, which is being done by Mr Chris Gabbett, Ms Charmaine Cridland, the Leadership Team, all Teachers, Support Staff and Administration Staff, Cleaners and Grounds Staff during this very busy term. We know how busy Term 4 is with many events taking place and end of year preparations.

We look forward to welcoming you at our next meeting on Tuesday, 23 November which will be our last PPF Meeting for the year.

If you have a topic or matters for discussions, please send through to the PPF email higppf@twb.catholic.edu.au and we can add it to our Meeting Agenda.

Take care.

Shayne Cleary and Rowena Voll
Co-Chairs PPF

Next Meeting:

• Date: Tuesday 23rd November 2021
• Room: Penola 6/7
• Time: 5.30pm start.

This week we have interviewed, Mr Tony Puhakka, so let’s see what he has to say.

Primary School: Kuraby State School

Secondary School: Rochedale State High School

How long have you worked at Mary MacKillop? 14 years

What do you like about working at Mary MacKillop?

Living in Highfields for 21 years it is great to live and be a part of the school community. Our children both attended Mary MacKillop for their Primary School years and continue to talk about their fond memories of the school. It is great to have watched the school expand over the years and being a part of such a great school.

What are your hobbies/Interests?

Welding Art sculptures, spending time with family and friends, watching footy and cricket.

Other interesting facts about yourself or anything else you would like to share with the MM community:

My parents are from Helsinki, Finland.

'Tis the season for giving and this year, our Year 5 Mini Vinnies students and Actioning Mary MacKillop Advocacy (AMMA) group are again running their annual St. Vincent De Paul Christmas Gift Appeal. The Vinnies Christmas Appeal is all about bringing joy and festivity to families and individuals who may be in need of some extra support.

For most of us, Christmas is a time of celebration with family and friends. We share in the joy of exchanging gifts, celebrating the birth of Christ and enjoying delicious Christmas treats to eat. However, for 2.2 million Australians, including families and 750,000 children living below the poverty line, Christmas can be a time when meeting their most basic needs, like putting food on the table or a place to call home, is a real struggle.

Last year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, Mary MacKillop Catholic College switched from food donations to purchasing gift cards and presents for families. Before the school year winds up, we are again inviting you to join us in making this Christmas one filled with joy and happiness for families across Queensland.

Most children have a wish list each Christmas, but many families are unable to afford to put any gifts under the tree. Gift cards from local toy shops, cinemas, department stores or online vouchers give the parents plenty of options to choose from. By allowing these parents to choose their own gift for their child, we uphold their dignity and bring joy to Christmas morning.

There is also joy in purchasing a gift and we realise that younger students, particularly, enjoy the experience of selecting a gift for a child their own age. If you and your child/ren would prefer to purchase a gift, please use the gift suggestions as a guide.

Please note the following:

• Gift cards and gifts should be gift wrapped with a label/tag which states the gender and age e.g. Girl, 9 or Adult Male
• Junior students should give any donated gifts/gift cards to their classroom teacher. There will be a class basket in each room for collection of gifts.
• Senior students should give any donated gifts/gift cards to their PC teacher. There will be a basket in each PC room for collection of gifts.
• Please bring all donations in by Monday, 22 November (Week 9)

If you have any questions about the St Vincent De Paul Christmas Gift Appeal, please do not hesitate to contact the Year 5 teachers (Kate Carroll, Shannon Anderson, Anne O'Reilly or Carmen Campbell), Paula O'Rourke, or I.

Leisa Radley
Director of Formation and College Culture (7-12)

The Literacy Braid

Literacy is like a braid of interwoven threads. The braid begins with the intertwining threads of oral language and stories that are read to children. As children experiment with putting ideas on paper, a writing thread is entwined as well. And all along the way, vocabulary is being learned and developed. As children move into reading, the threads of literacy begin to bond. Students’ growing knowledge of spelling or orthography – the ways in which letters and letter patterns in words represent sound and meaning – strengthens that bond. The size of the threads and the braid itself become thicker as orthographic knowledge grows. - (See the infographic below)

Writing is an extremely complex task and requires numerous skills and steps such as:

• Good working Memory
• Sounding out/ phonological knowledge
• Phonemic knowledge – what do letters look like and which sounds are associated with the letter
• Grammar knowledge, punctuation
• Morphemic knowledge – how words can change (prefixes, suffixes etc)
• Etymological knowledge – where words come from (base word, Latin roots etc.)
• Visualisation to help spell the word
• Making connections – words surrounding in the sentence.

See the infographic below: The Writing Process (Dr. Janette M. Hughes)

To support student writing, teachers have created stimulus writing bags. The stimulus writing bags provide a starting point for young writers to begin their creative process. 

Mrs Natalie Adler
Assistant Principal Teaching & Learning: Junior

Term 4 has seen the start of our new robotics unit in the 9/10 STEM elective class. The students in this class have really outdone themselves with creative and practical ways of building robots and solving problems.

Students started off by building their own robots (based on the EV3 LEGO Mindstorm kits) and have worked their way up to simple programming tasks. The next step is programming our robots to perform more complex tasks like locating objects, solving mazes and battling each other for robo-supremacy!

Week 4 has also brought about the long-awaited launch of the 9/10 Design classes rockets! Over the last 12 weeks the class has planned, constructed and tested a series of different water rocket designs. The final launches were spectacular and their success is a testament to ingenuity of the students and the passion and expertise of their teacher (Mr Matt Chivers).

Jared Nielsen
Middle Leader - Science and Technologies

To celebrate Wellbeing week we opened up the Ukulele Club to all ages.

We had a great turn out with students from as little as Grade 1 participating.

We played several songs including a few Christmas tunes (“Deck the Halls” and “Feliz Navidad”) along with weekly favourites from The Lumineers, Imagine Dragons and many more.

Students have been learning several chords and can now confidently play along to many songs which include 2-3 chords.

Ukulele club is on every Monday during first break. Ukuleles are provided!

Jessica Burke
Middle Leaders: Arts and Student Engagement

Gone are the days of waiting for your University offer to come out in the paper in January. I can still remember waiting anxiously with my friends for the first papers to be delivered to the Mobil on the Range. We all quickly bought a paper and madly searched through it to find our name and placement offer. How have times changed.

We are excited to announce that seven of our Year 12 students have accepted an Early Entry offer into their chosen University and course. Two students have been accepted into Central Queensland University for Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Chiropractic's.

Five more students are staying on home turf with early acceptance into USQ in a variety of degrees including a Bachelor of Secondary Education, Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Aviation and a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours). All are so excited and love knowing that they have University placement prior to entering external exams.

We are in a fortunate position in the Your Pathway Team to work closely with students, to give them the best opportunity to obtain entry into their preferred University, more specifically supporting them with the early entry application. Applications for Early Entry Offers can only be made with a school delegate, principal's recommendation and the merit of the student report card. These students should be commended for their efforts in obtaining these offers and can now focus on their final exams, knowing that their pathway for 2022 is secure.

Jennifer Stevenson & Christie Richardson
Your Pathway Team

During the past couple of weeks, I have been popping into classrooms in the Senior College to have a look at teaching and learning across different subjects and year levels. We have a basic expectation that all staff employ our non negotiables in every lesson. See the image below for what these are.

It's been great to see students collaborating to deconstruct and complete complex mathematical problems, under the direction of their teachers, or applying their knowledge of visual literacy features in texts to create analytical responses. Our teachers have created exemplar material for students, or modelled problems on the whiteboard, before handing the reign over to students to implement a creative and critical mindset to create their own unique responses to tasks.

A Year 7 Religious Education class stood out to me in particular, where students choose their own path to plan and create a board game on the Monotheistic religions. Students were using ICT and diverse software options to develop and enhance their games in imaginative and creative ways.

It was clear that Learning Intentions and Success Criteria were being used to garner the interest and focus of students, and involving them in engaging learning experiences.

The end of high school is a huge milestone in life. Not just for your children either: this is a huge thing for you as parents as well.

It probably seems like yesterday when your child started out at kindy or prep with backpacks bigger than they were, and Year 12 seemed like forever away, and now the time is nearly here.

If you’re having a last minute wobble and are wondering how to prepare your child for leaving school or support them through this time, we’ve put together 10 things to focus on that could help you both to feel more equipped before they fly the nest.

1. How to cook

The novelty of eating two minute noodles every day will soon wear off, so if your teen has never been interested in cooking, now’s the time to get them started. They don’t have to be gourmet chefs, being able to prepare a few simple meals from scratch could set your child up to eat more healthily and save money.

2. How to care for themselves

Self-care means lots of things. From knowing how to do your laundry (and saving you from dealing with a whole semesters worth of stinky socks coming home), cleaning where you live, knowing some basic maintenance – even if it’s just putting up pictures and keeping the drains unblocked.

To being responsible for their own health and wellbeing as well as knowing when and where to ask for help.

3. How to manage money

It’s great for your school leaver to know how to plan a budget based on their income, (whether that’s from a salary, scholarship or loan); and also to keep track of their expenses.

They’ll also need to know how to:

• pay bills
• start saving
• stay out of debt
• pay taxes
• contribute to their super
• avoid credits cards and debt
• compare prices
• be aware of scams

4. Staying safe

This is no doubt something you’ve been drumming into your child since day dot. But if they’re leaving home and becoming more independent, then you may not be around to remind.

It’s a great idea have a chat together and work out a few ways to stay safe, including:

• avoid walking alone at night or in unsafe areas
• locking doors and windows
• understanding how their own and other people’s behaviour can change under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• knowing some first aid, CPR and self defence
• be careful who they share information with or allow to get close
• keeping their online details safe and secure
• having an emergency plan if something happens

5. How to get around

It’s hard to be independent if you rely on others for lifts everywhere or haven’t experienced using public transport.

Get your kids to use the local buses and trains, from working out which route they need, to figuring out the timetables and fares. Ask them to organise Ubers and taxis, maybe even pay for them too.

If they’re learning to drive – great! They’ll also need to feel confident about driving in the dark and all kinds of weather conditions. And it’s a good idea to teach them some basic mechanics from filling their wiper washers, to checking oil, pumping up or changing tyres. (You could also buy them or encourage them to but their own roadside assistance cover for additional peace of mind).

6. Finding work

It’s called “job hunting” for a reason. If your child hasn’t had a job before, now’s the time to encourage them to find something part time.

Make sure they have a decent looking resume and know where to look for jobs, how to apply and practise their interview techniques too.

7. Work life balance

We all want our kids to be hard workers and do well. They often put plenty of pressure on themselves though, so it’s great to talk about and role model great work life balance.

Having fun and taking time out to care for yourself is important too.

8. Dealing with relationships

You and your child might be used to you dealing with problems in the past, but letting them handle their own issues and giving them tips on how to deal with situations themselves will really empower them.

Get them to speak up and be assertive, use their initiative and ask questions, compromise, set boundaries that they feel comfortable with, voice concerns and settle arguments. Remaining calm, walking away from conflict, being professional are also good pointers to go over.

9. Being a great global citizen

Encouraging your teen to:

• be kind
• take responsibility for their actions and impacts on others
• be aware of what’s going on around them not just on a local scale but around the world
• travel
• seek out opportunities
• live by their values
• stand up to ignorance and intolerance
• get involved in communities, projects and programs
• take action and advocate for themselves and for others

You’ll help to show your child that they have a voice. Even if the world is changing fast, they can always make a positive difference, and do their bit to help build a fairer, happier, safer, and more secure world.

10. Be true to yourself

Inspire your young person to be themselves, remind them that:

• It’s ok if not everyone likes you
• You should follow your passion
• Listen to your intuition
• You can change your mind
• Let go of past mistakes and issues and move on
• Be honest about what you want to do, how you feel, and what you need
• You are enough

Good luck, you’ve got this.

Jen Stevenson & Christie Richardson
Your Pathway Team

Late last term the Your Pathway team attended The Future of Jobs – Toowoomba Forum which was organised by Regional Development Australia. It included presentations from Major Project representatives about current predictions for the makeup of the workforce that will be needed, for Toowoomba in the future.

Each presentation emulated that data demonstrates that Toowoomba is a growth area and the projected growth between now and 2035 is exponential in a variety of fields, from sustainable energy, health, construction, infrastructure and technology. It is an exciting time for the region as there will be a wealth of opportunities for our young people taking their first steps into employment.

For more information and all the presentation slides please use the following link.

Future of Jobs - Toowoomba | Employ Toowoomba

Jennifer Stevenson & Christie Richardson
Your Pathway Team

Social justice is the view that everyone deserves to enjoy the same things as everyone else.

Social justice issues happen on a global scale, meaning they affect people all over the world. They can even happen on a much smaller scale, like in our community, classrooms or in our neighbourhoods. Through social justice projects, students develop an awareness of these issues and such projects empower them to effect change through advocacy, activism and aid.

This semester, students from Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 were invited to participate in a book drive where they donated a new or much loved book to a local children’s charity. The charity of choice this year was the Pyjama Foundation. This foundation facilitates a program where adults, known as Pyjama Angels, spend time with children who are in out of home care. They help with homework, read books with them, spend time on learning activities and play other education games to help support their educational needs.

We were fortunate to welcome Karen Smith, the Darling Downs Pyjama Foundation regional co-ordinator to our recent P-2 Thrive assembly to collect the donated books. Karen was thrilled with the books presented to her and spoke to the students about how their donations would be used to put a smile on a lot of other children’s faces.

Students reflected on how their kindness and generosity during this book drive, instilled the values of Mary MacKillop, of ‘seeing a need and doing something about it’.

This term in Religion, Year 1 students are exploring the many ways in which Mary, Mother of Jesus, is honoured by Christians in the past and present. This week, Mr Gabbett visited the classes to share stories from his Pilgrimages through France and Spain, and his time in the UK. He shared lots of pictures of different statues honouring Mary from his travels. He taught students about the Pieta Statue, a statue of Mary holding the body of Jesus on her lap after his crucifixion. 

Students had the opportunity to take a closer look at Mr Gabbett’s collection of statues and memorabilia from his pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. They asked questions about his pilgrimage and the statues he saw, and were interested to know which was his favourite statue of Mary.

Students are also learning about the Rosary and how to pray the Hail Mary. We look forward to Mr Gabbett coming again later this term to pray the Rosary with us.

This week at our College has been Wellbeing Week which has provided our students and staff with opportunities to engage in a range of activities to increase positive emotions, engagement at school, deepen a sense of meaning at school and continue to grow relationships with those across the College.

Junior school students have participated in a range of lunch time activities provided by our staff: ukulele club, music on the stage, dry clay pinching, mindful colouring and drawing, secret ninja school, painting, games session, chalk drawing, quote making, UNO challenge, and guided drawing. Our Year 4 students traditionally participate in 'POUND' - a fitness program using sticks where students tap/drum to a beat using cross body movement and co-ordination. A fun way to be active and feel great about ourselves (while getting slightly out of our comfort zone!)

Our staff had the opportunity to come together for a staff breakfast and Trivia before school on Friday. Well done to the winning team- a highly contested challenge!

A shout out to the Junior staff who provided the lunch break activities for our students!

Picnic/Digital Detox - the week concluded with the whole College coming together for a picnic on Friday at lunch time. At the picnic we announced the winners from the Digital Detox Raffle. Congratulations to all students who were able to 'unplug' this week from devices. And well done to our parents for supporting this initiative. Not being on devices enables us to connect with each other in our homes, have face to face conversations and allows our children to be more creative in their 'down time'.

I would like to leave you with some thoughts from Wellbeing Week that will continue to support your child to grow throughout their primary school years:

• less technology, more conversation and engagement with family = growing mentally healthy children
• creative activities (painting, art, craft, dancing, music) make us feel great!
• picnics are fun! Take some time to find a picnic rug and eat together with family and friends (even if it is in your own yard!)

Bridget Rillie
Assistant Principal Wellbeing: Junior

Coming to the end of primary school marks a special occasion for our students. Seven years since beginning prep, can sometimes seem to parents like it is gone in the blink of an eye. At our College, this is an opportunity to reflect upon the person our students are growing into and how they will transition into the next stage of their schooling.

This week, our year 6 students participated in a Formation Day where the focus was on honesty and gratitude. One of the activities, asked of the students for them to be creative thinkers and choose a symbol from around the school to reflect what honesty means to them. I invite you to read their symbols and reflections of honesty chosen and written by the students. The growth these students have shown in their own personal development has been really wonderful to watch.

SYMBOLS OF HONESTY and STUDENT EXPLANATION

• Mirror - To be an honest person you can look in the mirror, look at yourself and who you actually are.
• Cross - The cross is a symbol of Jesus and honesty.
• Triangle - The triangle has 3 sides that represent honesty, bravery and trust.
• Fingerprint (shown on sticky tape) - The fingerprint is unique to each person. It shows you to be true to yourself.
• Yellow circles at a walkway - This is like a ripple effect. Some bumps are worn out and if you are not honest it has an effect on others. Just like if there are missing bumps.
• The Classroom Learning Pit - You have to be honest to yourself to go into the learning pit and to know who you are.
• A tree - You can grow off it and like a tree, not everyone is perfect.
• Cross/Rosary Beads - Jesus was honest and died on the cross.
• A square block of wood - It is the same on all sides: you have to be the same no matter who you are with.
• A Plant - a symbol that you need to grow mentally to be honest to yourself.
• A Cross - represents us carrying our own crosses on our back to know who we are, our sins and where we went wrong.
• A rose - A rose is not afraid to show its' natural colour.
• 6M Class Sign - it doesn't matter what others are doing; it matters who you are.

Congratulations to our Year 6 students for their reflections on growing into kind, honest, resilient, confident honest and grateful people.

Bridget Rillie
Assistant Principal Wellbeing: Junior

Sienna Schmaling loves her football! Sienna enjoyed her first game of soccer, starting when she was in Prep at just 5 years old. Although she had been kicking a soccer ball around the backyard with her brothers long before her first game.

She has always played for Highfields Football Club, this year clocking up her 7th year. She has played in mixed teams until this year when she joined the inaugural girls' team playing in the U12 TFL competition. She was also invited to join the Highfields U12 Academy squad to further develop her football skills. She was the only girl on the squad but was regularly commended by Coach Mirko for outplaying the boys!

Following trials late last year with SW Thunder she was invited to join Thunder to play in the TFL U12s this season but declined to remain with her friends and stay loyal to Highfields.

Sienna has also spent many school holidays on the soccer field participating in SW Thunder and Brisbane Roar Holiday clinics to continue developing her football skills. Sienna was also selected to represent Inner Downs in U12 girls football this year, played at Stanthorpe.

On the September holidays, Sienna represented SWQ, playing in the u12 girls' team playing in Community Cup at the Sunshine Coast against some tough teams.

At this year's Highfields Football Club awards presentation night, Sienna was announced as the inaugural winner of the Hayley Warner Shield for Junior Female footballer of the year 2021. Hayley commented that Sienna is a role model both on and off the field for her football peers.

Congratulations Sienna on your success. It comes through passion, tenacity and a love for the game!

Brad Griffiths
Middle Leaders: Sport and Student Engagement

The AMEB (Australian Music Examination Board) exists to provide a graded system of examinations in music (assessing from preliminary to diploma levels) and is linked to the major Australian universities and Ministers for Education. It is internationally recognised and is one of the most rigorous and well-regarded music examination schemes in the world.

We have a number of Music Performance students who have been studying Music Theory alongside their performance areas to gain accreditation. We would like to congratulate the following students who have successfully gained certification in this field.

• Charlotte Dobson- Grade 2- Honours
• Charlotte Voll- Grade 1- High Distinction
• Noah Burke- Grade 1- High Distinction
• Bianca Philp- Grade 1- High Distinction
• Jarrah Sunatwanitkul- Grade 1- High Distinction
• Remi O ’Donoghue - Grade 1- Honours
• Eleisha McInnis- Grade 1- Credit

Jessica Burke
Middle Leaders: Music and Student Engagement 

There is much going on around the College in Sport currently, however, it would be remiss of me not to mention the efforts of our Rugby 7s players (and their parents and coaches)!

We have 42 Boys and girls playing 7s this term. Most of our girls are new to the sport with many also playing contact sport for the first time. Our U13 Girls are steadily improving and never shy away from the physical stuff in the middle! Our U15 girls combine with HSSC each week and have recorded some impressive results against some very good opposition. They sit mid-pack, ready to launch at the semi-finals!

Our boy's teams are more experienced. Our U15 Boys are performing admirably, having only lost two matches so far this season and playing an attractive brand of footy. Some of the more established Union schools have been surprised by our effort, skill level, and strong defence. Our U13 Boys have played competitive footy against the likes of Downlands and TGS. They have won a couple of games and are quickly learning that 7s is a very tough game and requires 100% concentration and commitment to your tackles.

The season continues for the next few weeks and games are played at Gold Park and West Wanderers of a Thursday. Draw information can be found on the Downs Rugby website. Good luck for the rest of the season #teammarymac

Brad Griffiths
Middle Leaders: Sport and Student Engagement

Premiers' Reading Challenge

Earlier this year MMCC students were encouraged to participate in and complete the Premiers' Reading Challenge. Prep to Year 4 students were required to read 20 books while Year 5 to 9 students needed to read 15 books to complete the challenge. Throughout the state, 926 schools and 357 centres took part in the challenge, combining more than 168,000 Queensland children and students who read over 2.39 million books. What an outstanding achievement.

Certificates will be presented to all students who completed the challenge during Week 5 Junior Assembly, which will be held on Friday, 5 November. Congratulations.

Makerspace Marble Run

MACA the Mary MacKillop Mobile Makerspace has come to Junior Library this term to offer a variety of activities during First Break Wednesday.

Our first activity has been to design and create marble runs using Lego plates, blocks and some recyclable materials. Creating a Marble run, or maze for a marble to navigate, allows students the opportunity to develop a wide range of skills through open-ended play.

Some of these skills include building self-esteem, fostering teamwork, developing the ability to focus, improving memory and recall, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness and all while having lots of fun.

As the term progresses, MACA will be offering some craft activities in the lead-up to Christmas. Keep an eye out for MACA and future makerspace opportunities.

Year 6 students transitioning to Senior Library

Year 6 students have recently been investigating how to use the secondary library database. During our weekly sessions they have learned a variety of skills from locating to reserving items and setting profile topic preferences. Students have also been encouraged to extend their reading range through borrowing sessions each week.

Earlier this year, my baby sister (she’s 39) suggested we run the Bridge to Brisbane 10km. Unaware that this involves running over the Gateway Bridge, I said yes.

Despite Covid postponements we are set to do this on 7 November. If you are so inclined I would greatly appreciate any contributions to Foodbanks Queensland. The link to donate is here.

Huge thanks – take care

Chris Gabbett
College Principal

Archie Turner represented Toowoomba at the QWA Qld All Schools Championships over the weekend. Archie competed in the snatch and the clean and jerk and now rates in the top 15 in Australia in the youth weight division.

The humble Year 8 student said "The competition was a great achievement for me and the participants. In the end, I think everyone improved their totals but there is always room for improvement."

We certainly have a large array of students achieving across all disciplines or extra-curricular activities at Mary MacKillop! Well done Archie!

Congratulations to Will Marshall who was presented with a Darling Downs Sports Incentive Award at their breakfast last week. Will was recognised for his continued efforts in go-karting.

We are celebrating our student of the month for October - Eliza! We love celebrating our kids here at Outside School Hours Care, and Eliza is sure one kid to be celebrated! 

We are so blessed to have a child like Eliza attend our service. She is always respectful during group time, listens to Educators and raises her hand to speak. She is always ready to help us with any jobs or by helping look after other kids. Eliza is always willing to participate in any activity and gives 100% effort. She often helps other children if they are struggling with an activity or are anxious about something such as a bus ride to Laurel Bank Park on the holidays. She is responsible and we can always trust her to follow instructions and do the right thing. Eliza is a fantastic role model to other children in our service.

Mary MacKillop OSHC Team

Cricket season is back in full swing, and Queensland Cricket are giving away 2 x tickets to the T20 game at the Gabba between Australia and Sri Lanka in February 2022.

How to win? All you have to do is sign up to your local Cricket Blast Program before the end of the month.