Term 4, 2019

 

Year 12 Indigenous Graduation Liturgy at the Sacred Heart Cathedral: 
L - R: Anita Livingston ( APRE), Brooke Nicolson, Skye Wehrman, Noah Hall, Preston Brockwell, David McNeale (Principal), Pria D'Souza (IEO), Caitlyn Russo and Aunty Joan Mackay.

Red carpet photos: L - R: Vincent Archie, Caitlyn Russo, Skye Wehrman, Pria D'Souza and Preston Brockwell.

Congratulations to Skye Wehrman (Yr 12) for being selected to participate in the InspireU Law camp at the University of Queensland's St Lucia Campus in Brisbane in the school holidays from Sunday 29th September to Friday 4th October. This was a great opportunity for Skye to experience university life and we hope this will lead her to determine her decision towards a career in Law. 
 

QATSIF (Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation) had their annual gathering on 30th October at JCU campus in Townsville. One of our scholars Chelsea Munns (Year 11) volunteered to be the
co-host at this event. Unfortunately the Year 12 recipients could not attend due to a clash with another event at school but it was great to have Malachy Mitchell-Smith (Year 11) and his Dad Chris attend with us. The College has also been successful in this years' Round 11 application which will see another 7 x Year 11 & 12 students in 2020 be a part of the QATSIF scholarships. They are awarded $500 each semester towards fees and school expenses.
 

The Burara Mentoring Program organised an excursion to Mungalla Station from Friday 20th, through to Sunday 22nd September. This saw sixteen Year 10, 11 and 12 students along with their mentors be a part of a cultural immersion and building rapport activities which included traditional yarning with Dadirri and Kup Murri preparation and sampling.
It was a great experience for staff and students that saw outcomes like renewed motivation to attend school, get jobs and talk about
cultural matters.
 

School-based Traineeships are a great way for students to study and get some real life experience whilst still attending school.
Isabella Gaston from Year 10 is currently undertaking a Certificate II in Retail at Kmart while Tenacious Gallego also in Year 10 is starting a Certificate II in Business at ANZ Bank. This will see them attend work once a week whilst managing their school workload.
 

On Tuesday 19th November our Year 7 students were taken on an excursion to Reef HQ. We went on a Reef Discovery Tour, touched some sea stars in the Creature Feature Workshop and visited the Turtle Hospital where they care for sick and injured turtles.  We enjoyed our scavenger hunt around the aquarium, where one team chose pink Reef HQ Turtle Hospital hats as their prize. It was a great learning experience with lots of hands on activities.
A fun day out was had by all.

On Friday 18th October we held our Yarning Circle for our Year 11 & 12 students. It was a great opportunity to reflect on the year and for the Year 12s to offer advice to the Year 11s for their big year next year.

Our Year 5 - 8 students gathered together on Friday 1st November to have a yarn about their plans and goals for 2020. It was pleasing to hear our students looking forward to the year ahead with such positivity and enthusiasm.

The Yarning Circle for our Year 9 - 10 students was on Friday 15th November. The theme was about managing workloads and how everyone was going to spend their summer holidays. 


We have had a successful year of Yarning Circles and we look forward to next year and to welcoming our new students.

The Queensland Catholic Indigenous Education Conference was held over three days at The Ville Resort from the 14th - 16th October. A twilight lawn gathering featuring dancers from our local schools was a highlight, as was listening to the Keynote speakers, attending workshops and the Spirituality Walking Tour at Jezzine Barracks. An informative few days was had as we all took away more insight and ways of helping our students achieve their best.

       

The Theme for the conference was: Wisdom and Courage - Driving Change and the artwork was designed by our Year 9 student Brianna Cassady. This specific drawing represents both courage and wisdom and tells a story of how we can all drive change. It symbolises the change in which not only the trees go through, but we as a society go through also.


L-R: Aunty Joan Mackay, Michelle Rowlands, Georgia McGrath, Therese Strogusz, Pria D'Souza, Narissa Murray, Bacho Salam and Kirby Smith.

Term 4 has been very busy for the Junior Campus with lots of end of year activities happening. Our P - 4  Indigenous students enjoyed an End of Year Activity Day on Wednesday 27th November, spending time together and were involved in exciting activities such as crafts and sports. Highlights were painting and throwing some boomerangs with Les Tanna who shared his cultural knowledge with us. This year has been wonderful with all of our Indigenous students who have all grown and improved on some level. We look forward to another great year next year! 

Thursday 6th February - IEAC Meeting 5.30 - 7pm
Tuesday 25th February - Indigenous Families Meet & Greet 5 - 7pm
 

For any queries, please contact us at indigenous@ryan.catholic.edu.au

From Pria, Kirby, Georgia, Marita, Narissa, Bacho and Michelle

We farewell Marita and wish her all the best in her new role at
Good Shepherd Catholic School, Rasmussen!