headmaster contents · of semester. i like to see each term similar to the weather seasons. we...

WELCOME BACK It seems a little odd to say welcome back to the term as we are about to commence week 4 but this is the first newsletter for Term 2. It has already been a very busy term and I wish to

thank the staff who have “gone above and beyond” to cover for their col-leagues who are unwell.

We said goodbye to some students at the end of last term and we wish them well at their new schools. We have a number of new students who have joined us this term and we welcome them, and their families, into the All Souls St Gabriels community. Welcome, Lily-Ann Hensler Pre Prep Austin Johnsen Pre Prep Taleeah Lear Year 3 Jakarhlee Clow Year 10 Tearna Wilson Year 11

We are delighted to welcome back Paulianna Kuman (Year 10) and Samuel Kuman (Year 7) from PNG.

Enrolments We currently have 411 students from Prep to Year 12 and a total of 425 students including Pre Prep. We remain one of the larger boarding schools with 193 board-ers.

Facilities There is always lots of activity around the campus during the breaks. Over the holidays we re-moved all the obsolete evapora-tive air-conditioners in secondary and irrigated Burry oval. Tender documents for the Dorm air-conditioning program have been completed and we are planning for this installation.

STUDENTS Work Experience Over the holidays, students at-tended work experience. This can only happen if businesses are prepared to take a student and

Contents Headmaster’s Report

Academic Dean Page 3

Dean of School Page 4

Dean of Students Page 4

Year 10 to 11

Information Night Page 5

School Chaplain Page 6

School Prayers Page 6

Work Experience Page 7

Europe Tour 2017 Page 8

ANZAC Pictures Page 9

Horse Club Page 10

Cattle Club Page 10

Sports News Page 11

Junior School Page 12

Photos - Busy Times

at All Souls St

Gabriels School Page 15

Ramsay Dormitory Page 16

Feetham Dormitory Page 16

Page Dormitory Page 17

Becket Dormitory Page 17

Chad Dormitory Page 18

Uniting Care -

Remote Family

Care Service Page 19

Page 20

Headmaster

ISSUE No 4/2017 09 MAY 2017

Junior and Senior School Captains ready for the ANZAC March: Jed Marshall, Brent Marshall, Julia Keough and Meg Brassington

give them an opportunity to expe-

rience a work environment for the week. The school appreciates the support of all individuals and busi-nesses who take students and would like to thank Martin Locke Homes, GJ Webber Mobile Auto Electrical, L & F Tourism and Gold City Veterinary, for taking the last group of students.

Career advice Whilst Mrs Salisbury is on Long Service Leave during Terms 2 and 3, students can access both Mr and Mrs Fleming for careers ad-vice.

STAFF Staffing The following staffing additions have occurred this term: Peter Zoller (Mathematics) as

Long Service replacement for Term 2 & 3.

Alan Watts to teach Science/Agriculture during Term 2.

I am pleased to let the school community know that Jay Chetty (Head of Design Technology) has had surgery and is recovering at home. Jay wishes to pass on his thanks for all your best wishes and prayers. In true Jay style, he is al-ready looking to return as soon as he is able.

Staff Success Congratulations to Melita Dunn & Om Beacom-Halliday who both re-ceived fully funded scholarships from the Goethe Institute to com-plete language immersion courses in Germany.

2017 ASG National Excellence in Teaching Awards If you would like to nominate your child’s teacher for this award, please go to asg.com.au/neita to find out how.

EVENTS As well as the usual busy start to a term, we also had events that car-ried over from Term 1, due to the weather conditions during the last week.

Congratulations to all the athletes who competed in the Dirt and Dust Triathlon. There were no official

PAGE 2 ISSUE NO 4/2017 09 MAY 2017

school teams as it was in the holi-days but there were a number of staff and students who took on the challenge and had both personal and team success.

The Junior School started the term with both the Inter-House Cross- Country and the Big Breakfast in the first week and the Country Mu-sic Festival parade the next week.

All the events were well supported and were a great success.

ANZAC Commemorations As you would be aware, the school takes great pride in honouring the sacrifices made by all those in the defence forces, both past and pre-sent. The students were well pre-pared for the parade and my thanks to Mrs Storey for her organ-isation, and the older students, for passing on the importance of this event to our newer students. A huge thank you to Miss Leslie Croker for her work with the band and for assisting us as we march. Thanks also to the band members, their performance always adds to a sense of occasion.

This year, Year 6 and Year 12 stu-dents wore special badges with the names of our WWII servicemen in-cluding their unit. The badges were purchased through the RSL Com-munity Link School Project.

On Monday evening, 24 April, we had our traditional ANZAC requiem mass in the Chapel. It was a very moving service that really is hard to describe in words. We were pleased to have to Rear Admiral Wolski, from the Royal Australian Navy join us for the service and we thank him for his presentation. We would also like to acknowledge the support of the Charters Towers sub branch of the RSL and their Presi-dent Mr Andrew Jensen, for assist-ing with the visit of the Rear Admi-ral and for the gifts for the library. At the end of the Service the bell tolled once for each past student who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. The congregation then moved out onto the Quad lawn for a period of private reflection

around the illuminated crosses. Thank you to Br Nathan and the serving team and presenters, the Air Cadets, Mrs Fleming & Miss Croker and all the musicians, in-cluding the boys who performed a special ANZAC song. We really ap-preciate the involvement of Mr Bevan Donaldson, a parent of the school, who played in the service and was the lone piper.

SPORT Round 1 of Inter-School sport in both netball and rugby league, commenced on Sunday 30 April with matches against BTC. Whilst most rounds are usually during the week, our home and away games against BTC are played on a Sun-day to provide the opportunity for parents to travel and watch games. We thank BTC for their hospitality and look forward to the return matches held at ASSG later in the month.

Good luck to the Secondary Cross- Country team as they prepare to defend their title and congratula-tions to the Junior School team for winning the Percentage Shield and for coming second in the Aggre-gate Shield by only one point.

EUROPE TRIP Over the break, staff, students and parents travelled to Europe to pay their respects to the fallen at the battlefields of Belgium and France. Whilst the tour included the oppor-tunity for sightseeing, the emo-tional visits to the grave of family members will remain with them. Thanks to Mr Riddle and his team for running the trip.

CLINIC In order to provide the best possi-ble service to your children, can you please make sure the clinic is kept informed of any accident or illness that occurs off campus that might require ongoing care at school. By keeping us in the loop we can modify school tasks as re-quired and provide a continuity of care.

Darren Fleming Headmaster

Academic Dean

Ian Dietrich

While the ‘academia world’ of All Souls St Gabriels Senior School is quite busy at the moment, we are very much aware that it will only get busier as we approach the end of semester. I like to see each term similar to the weather seasons. We begin with autumn - collecting as much food (knowledge and skills) as we can before the season chang-es. The winter hits and we are all indoors – not hibernating, but stud-ying the knowledge we gathered and working on drafts of assess-ment pieces. This is a very im-portant academic season: it re-quires focus and drive. Then things start to heat up as spring begins – drafts are due, in-class tests take place, multimodal presentations are undertaken, practical work is com-pleted. Just as we think it can’t get any hotter, along comes summer – end of semester final versions of assessment items due and major exams concentrated in one heat wave (exam block). We have begun the winter of this term. My fear is that students will not heed the ad-vice to keep up to date with their studies and assessment work in this season. The next few weeks (and especially weekends) are crucial for end of semester success. Taking the time to work hard now allows time at the end of the semester to focus on the final goal.

New Senior Syllabus Workshops Teaching Staff are also planning for the busy times ahead. As they work on returning drafts with valuable comments, they are also busy set-ting final exams. This all takes place while providing a wide range of ex-tra curricula opportunities – our staff are super heroes!

Amongst all of these tasks, our teachers of senior subjects also need to begin to become familiar with new syllabus documents to be implemented for the first time with Year 11 students in 2019. As the documents are finalised and re-leased, the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA)


are offering subject specific work-shops across the state. This series of workshops will continue until mid-next year. We have 5 teachers reg-istered for the available workshops offered over the next four months. One workshop even falls in our holi-days, but our dedicated staff are making themselves available.

New Senior Syllabus Assessment Trials Our English and PE Departments are currently assisting our Year 11 students as they work through a QCAA External Assessment trial. The exams will be completed later this term under new processes with external auditors observing. This trial will allow QCAA the chance to refine the processes for external as-sessment prior to the first set of Year 12 students sitting the major pieces in November 2020. Having our school as part of the trial also allows us to refine our preparation and processes for these important tests in the new system.

With that in mind, two of our teaching staff have also applied and been accepted to be markers for this year’s Mathematics B Exter-nal Assessment trial. Congratula-tions to Miss Jess Marley and Mrs Natasha Johnson. This insight into the process is also very valuable for our school community as we all gather more and more knowledge and understanding of the new sen-ior system.

The Biggest Jigsaw Puzzle Amongst all the busyness of this term, I have begun to start the pro-cess of developing the 2018 senior school timetable. This could be seen as the biggest jigsaw puzzle available!

The process of constructing a com-plex and unique timetable involves bringing together many pieces of a puzzle that rarely fit the first, sec-ond or even third time. In fact, there will be many, many drafts that will need to be made that take into account many variables.

Following initial broad decisions and more specific input from teaching staff, the next step is to gather in-formation from students intending

to study in Year 11, 2018 at ASSG. From this data, staff appointments and lesson times can be arranged in the timetable. This is not a small puzzle. However, each “piece” (or person) must feel that they are able to be a part of the whole pic-ture that is Souls.

From the beginning of this term, the current Year 10 students, vari-ous senior teachers and I have been meeting and beginning to ex-plore the possibilities available in the “senior phase of learning” – Years 11 & 12. ASSG offers a very wide selection of subjects and courses to students in Years 11 & 12 – certainly a wide “on-campus” subject listing considering our school size. The series of “meetings” planned for the subject selection process also includes op-portunities for all our Parents/Guardians to (1) gather information regarding

new arrangements for certifica-tion at the end of Yr 12, and

(2) meet with senior teachers and gather information to help them understand the choices being made by their child.

Details of the Parent/Guardian In-formation Night are listed in this edition of the newsletter. The night has been scheduled for Monday 19 June from 5.30 - 6.30 pm in the Li-brary. This is the night between the two days of competition for the In-ter-House Athletics Carnival at the end of this term. This should allow for residential families to be repre-sented if you are travelling to Char-ters Towers for the event.

This Night will focus specific on subject selection for 2018 Yr 11. For those unable to attend the night session, I will be available via pre-arranged appointments during the Inter-House Athletics Carnival to answer any questions regarding subject selection for Year 11 next year. Otherwise, if you are unable to make it to the school in person, please feel free to ring the school and speak with me at any stage in the Senior Education Training Plan (SET Plan) process.

Enjoy the winter of the term … spring will be upon us soon …

Dean of School

Karen Storey ANZAC Day Last Monday evening and Tuesday I was again overwhelmed with pride to be an All Souls St Gabriels School staff member. The Requiem service, including the singing of the Australian and New Zealand anthems and a special perfor-mance item, complete with bag-pipes, by the male staff and stu-dents, took our commemoration of a very special day in Australia’s calendar to a whole new level. All students and staff involved in the organisation and execution of the service should be immensely proud of their efforts. Students and staff alike followed this with an exceptional display of respect and remembrance on AN-ZAC Day when we participated in the Charters Towers ANZAC Day march. As always we looked fan-tastic and made a great effort to remember those who fought and made the ultimate sacrifice so we can live in freedom. Thank-you to all involved and Lest We Forget. Meeting Academic and Prep Commitments One of the most enjoyable aspects of my job is my involvement in the extra-curricular activity program and seeing the experiences that students gain as a result of their participation in a range of these activities. Unfortunately, these ac-tivities also bring with them much stress and agonising as students attempt to balance them all while maintaining their academic poten-tial. To combat some of this stress I usually offer the following ad-vice: 1.Students need to communicate directly and early with their class teachers if they are experiencing difficulty in completing prep tasks or require additional catch up time or tutoring.


2.Students need to prioritise to en-sure that they have enough time to complete all tasks required as well as revision.

3.Students need to be reading over their notes regularly to en-sure they are learning and con-solidating as they go rather than ‘cramming’ at the end of the term.

4.The majority of extra-curricular activities, rehearsals, training ses-sions and competitionss are com-pleted well before dinner and evening prep sessions begin. Such involvements should not be an excuse for non-completion of prep and assessments.

5.Not all prep needs to be com-pleted during formal prep time (6:30 – 8:00pm). There are many support services on offer to stu-dents after school (eg: RINGERS club and many staff who offer regular tutoring sessions) to as-sist students in achieving their best academic outcomes.

6.Students who are absent for ex-tra-curricular involvement (or any reason) are responsible for catch-ing up on missed work.

7.Communication is the key – stu-dents, parents, senior residents and teachers need to keep each other informed. We can only sup-port students and each other if we are aware that there is an is-sue.

School Photographs This week students have received their student identification cards. I realise many parents are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the school photographs that we had taken some time ago. I can assure you that they are on their way. Due to a stringent proof and checking process our photographs may take a little longer to arrive than par-ents are used to; however, I can assure you they are in production. I thank parents for your patience. Combined Schools Formal Friday 28th July will see the Year 11 and 12 students ‘glammed up’ for the Combined Schools Formal. We

are awaiting information from the host school regarding the theme and times for the evening. I would like to offer a reminder to students who are booking appoint-ments for this day that these are to be made for after lunch only. This year, core Maths and English, lessons are timetabled each morn-ing, it is vital that students are present in these classes. Obvi-ously attending a hair/beauty appointment is not a QCAA ap-proved reason for absence so students and parents are asked to keep this in mind and abide by the School’s request to book appointments after lunch. Your co-operation in this matter is expected and appreciat-ed.

Dean of Students Shannon Lee Bullying Report Throughout week 3 in the Second-ary School we have been relaunch-ing our online bullying report. This report was developed in 2015 and can be accessed by all secondary students via their school email ad-dress. Students are able to make reports about incidents of bullying which they see involving other stu-dents or which they are the sub-ject of. All reports are forwarded directly to the Pastoral Care Team, one of whom will always complete a follow-up interview. Dealing with incidents of bullying is a delicate issue and one which our team is very good at, students should feel confident that if they witness or experience any form of bullying, help is available and swift action will be taken. Below is a reminder for all about what constitutes bul-lying.

Bullying is repeated verbal, physi-cal, social or psychological behav-iour that is harmful and involves the misuse of power by an individ-ual or group towards one or more persons. Behaviours that do not constitute bullying include: mutual arguments and disa-

greements (where there is no power imbalance)

not liking someone or a single act of social rejection

one-off acts of meanness or spite

isolated incidents of aggres-sion, intimidation or violence.

However, these conflicts still need to be addressed and resolved. Physical Bullying Physical bullying happens when there is hitting, kicking, punching,


taking peoples' belongings or other acts that hurt people physically and that happen repeatedly (not just one time). Verbal Bullying Verbal bullying happens when peo-ple are repeatedly teased or called hurtful names. Cyber Bullying Cyber bullying occurs when people are repeatedly teased, taunted, or threatened through the use of e-mail, mobile phone, text messag-ing, instant messaging, or other electronic methods. Indirect Bullying Indirect bullying mostly involves damaging another's social reputa-tion, peer relationships and self-esteem.

Indirect bullying can include: repeatedly using hand ges-

tures and weird or threaten-ing looks

repeatedly whispering, ex-cluding, turning your back on a person

repeatedly blackmailing, spreading rumours, threat-ening, stealing friends

repeatedly breaking secrets, gossiping, criticising clothes and personalities.

It is pleasing to report that at ASSG we have few incidents of bullying and our experience of dealing with these types of issues results in positive outcomes for the students involved. If you are con-cerned your child is the subject of bullying please don’t hesitate to contact me or any member of staff at school.

MONDAY 19 JUNE (in the Library) 5.30 - 6.30 pm

for

Year 10 Students and Parents/Guardians Mr Dietrich (Academic Dean)

Heads of Department Various Year 11 & 12 Teachers

TOPIC: 2018 Year 11 Subjects offered at ASSG

Join

Us!

YEAR 10 to 11

PARENT/GUARDIAN & STUDENT

INFORMATION NIGHT

Mr Dietrich will also be available (VIA PRE-ARRANGED

APPOINTMENTS) during the Inter-House Athletics

Carnival - Tuesday 20 June for those wishing to discuss 2018 Yr11 subject selections

In our thoughts & prayers; We continue to prayer for

those who are sick, for Mr

Jay Chetty and Georgie Clark (2016 Vice-Captain).

We pray also for their fami-

lies and those who support and care for them.

We pray for Glenda and

Darryl Lyon on the passing of Darryl's mother. We pray

too for their extended fami-

lies and all who mourn.

School Prayers School Chaplain

Br Nathan-James SSF

ANZAC Requiem Mass This year’s ANZAC Requiem Mass took on a different shape and feel. The service began with a recitation of Clyde Hamilton’s Not a Hero by Camden Finger; reminding us of the sacrifice made by those went to war. Jackson Peagham and Kurtis and Shelden West then led the New Zealand and Australian National Anthems as the respective Flags were escorted in by members of 108 Squadron Australian Air Force Cadets; CCPL Fraser, CCPL Dennis LCDT Davies, CCPL Walsh, CSGT Bidewell and LCDT Durack. Rear Admiral Wolski, RAN, AM, ad-dressed the congregation paying tribute to the lives of those who have served, those whose lives were lost, those who returned, and all the men and woman who continue to serve in areas of con-flict, peace keeping and in re-sponse to natural disasters. Our Captains, Julia Keough and Brent Marshall, then read the names of the School’s 74 ward dead. After the playing of the Last Post and Reveille by Harrison Kempster the men and boys of ASSG stood and passionately sung Lest We Forget by Lee Kernighan; accompanied by Wendy Fleming


(organ), Cody Bucklar (drum), Bev-an Donaldson (bag pipes) and con-ducted by Leslie Crocker. It was without a doubt a stirring moment to hear the culmination of months of practice as the boys and men responded in song “We’ll not forget, the promise made, you’ll live forever, eternal flame”. It was great to have our year six students presented and involved in the ser-vice. It was even better to hear them sing Spirit of the ANZACs by Lee Kernighan.

Other music contributions came from Andie Stanger, Jackie Koglkia, Kurtis West and Harrison Kempster. At the end of the service, after the bell tolled 74 times in honour of our war dead, the school commu-nity and visitors gathered around the 74 memorial crosses as the lone piper played Flowers of the Forrest. In a very moving moment students, staff and visitors won-dered around the candlelit crosses reflecting on the sacrifice made by many young men and the impact it had on their families and our com-munity.

Work Experience Glenda Lyon Work Experience Co-ordinator Congratulations to the following students who completed a week of Work Experience during Term 1 Holidays. As always, thanks to the employers who made it possible for these students, with Cyclone Debbie causing some delays. Bronwyn Pedracini Year 12 Vet Nursing Gold City Veterinary Charters Towers Toby Rankine Year 11 Auto Mechanic GJ Webber Mobile Auto Mechanic Ingham Darcy Meehan Year 11 Carpentry Martin Locke Homes Townsville Ellie Rohan Year 12 Travel Agent L & F Tourism Charters Towers Darcy Meehan completed his Work Experience with Martin Locke Homes in Townsville. On completion, and re-turning to school I was notified by Martin Locke of a very pleasing report. 'We could not have been happier with how Darcy performed, and would highly recommend him to pursue car-pentry as a career. I would be interested in speaking with him further as a school based if he is interested. If you could pass on this and if he is interested, and the school is able to accommodate, then please have him call me to discuss further along with his mum and dad.’ Darcy will start his trade in Term 3. Congratulations Darcy. Work Experience can be a very rewarding experience, and would highly recommend more students to step out and have a go. At All Souls St Gabriels we offer this opportunity from Year 9, and must be 14 years of age. If you want to start the work experience program for yourself come and see me and I can assist you. Parents, if you have any questions please call the school office or send an email to [email protected] If you are interested come and see me, email or phone the school on 4787 1433. Toby Rankine tries his hand Ellie Rohan enjoyed her time Bronwyn Pedracini is as a mechanic as a Travel Agent all smiles as a Vet Nurse


Europe Tour 2017 Denis Riddle Tour Leader

Thirty three staff, parents and students have just returned from a most success-ful Europe Tour over 17 days in March and April. The tour was a mix of fun, his-tory and discovery.

The fun times included visiting three of the world’s great cities – London, Paris and Berlin. We saw spectacular sights such as the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre art museum and the Brandenburg Gate. At times, it was the little things that caught our atten-tion, such as plate-sized pretzels on sale in Berlin or finding a much-needed, bus shelter-sized laundromat in a car park in Albert, France. There was the ex-travagance of the high end Galeries Lafayette shops and Harrods contrasted with the lively street vendors in Paris. We negotiated the Underground and Metro train systems and no one got lost.

History included seeing remnants of the Berlin Wall and the Nazi prison at Sach-senhausen, the Tower of London and the Catacombs of Paris. We had guides who took us to special places and gave us the benefit of their inside knowledge.

Discovery included visiting the battlefield graves of relatives who fought in the muddy fields of Flanders and the Somme. We visited over 20 soldiers, relatives of the tour party, who fell 100 years ago and we saw many more names in-scribed on the walls of the Menin Gate, VC Corner, Tyne Cot and other memori-als. We drove over the battlefield of Bullecourt almost a century to the day when ANZAC troops stormed forward against the strong defences of the Hin-denburg Line. We revisited the grave of Major-General Edward Feetham, killed in action, whose legacy provided the funds for his brother, Bishop John Oliver Feetham, to found All Souls’ School.

So many cemeteries lie peacefully in the countryside. One grave lies near the 1936 Olympic Stadium in Berlin. It is surrounded by forest and has daffodils growing in rows. It is the first grave of one of our 74 war dead to be visited by our school tour. Pilot Officer Rochester Hart from Mackay was killed in January 1945 when his bomber was shot down in a raid. He was just 20 years old and now lies beside his fellow crew members; two Aussies, three Brits and a Canadi-an. It was a most moving experience to place a small wooden cross on his grave with a message from the later generation of students from his old school. We plan to visit more of the 74 in future tours.

Then there are the human interactions on tour. No less than five of our past GAP students sought us out and caught up to help out and share the adventure. It was pleasing to hear so many compliments paid to our students by our guides and members of the public who noted how polite and respectful our stu-dents were.

There are many people to thank for our tour, including parents who willingly paid a significant sum in order to give their students a chance to experience the trip of a lifetime. Then there are the members of the school community who helped students organise passports, shop and pack. Thanks go to: bus drivers Reggie Santo and Teneil Smale; the Admin staff who helped with organisation; Glenda Lyon who organised phones and our DFAT requirements; Uli Lenitschek of Travel Experience who stepped in to help organise the tour.

My thanks go to: the staff members on tour - Davin Marshall, Bear Travers, Car-ol Shadforth and Kate Thomson; parents – Min Burge, Liz Hassett, Jane McKel-lar, Yvonne Schaefer, Adam and Tascha Sibson, who all made a significant con-tribution to the smooth running of the tour and the welfare of our students.


Finally, thanks go to the students, who all did the right thing and were a credit to their families and the School: Kade and Ky Banset, Isabel Blennerhassett, Noel Bridges, Meg Burge, Riley Candy, Anthony Coates, Tom Durkin, Harrison Finger, Toby Fitchett, Rachel Hall, Brad Kelly, Breanna Kent, Julia Keough, Brent Mar-shall, Josie McKellar, Tom Morris, Clancy Schaefer, Ryan Shadforth, Cody Sibson, Jack White and Jesse Whiting. The School will plan another Europe Tour in 2019. Students currently in Years 9 and 10 are eligible to attend. Stay tuned for further announcements later in the year.


Horse Club

Gayleen Lawrence Rural Activities Prefect Although we have only had one horse club day, I am really excited to get this term started. We have welcomed many new members this term, welcome to Meg Bailey and welcome back Angela Jones and Sarah Suhr. So far we have only had one day of horse club. We had to unpack the shed that was full of equipment to prepare for cyclone Debbie. After the girls did a great job with sweeping and organising they caught their horses and gave them all a wash. This term we have Inter-School Hacking and Dressage approaching in the coming weeks so good luck to all those girls. We look forward to a busy and fun term.

Cattle Club

Harrison Finger Year 11 Cattle Club this term is kicking off well with the development of a vegetable garden out the back of the cattle club shed, along with six new brahmans that have been brought up from the Finger family’s property for training and should be ready for the Charter Towers show along with the rest of the cattle. Plus a major step for cattle club after receiving a grant from the Charters Towers Regional Council thanks to the impressive writing skills of Jack White, who wrote the letter that was sent to the council to enter in the Charter Towers Youth Community Grant in the hope to receive a grant and with luck they did. On Wednesday 25th April, Lionel Hartig, the Rural Activities Co-ordinator, accompanied by Jack White and myself attended an afternoon tea with the council and other award recipients to accept the award and discuss what we were going to do with the money that we had received. Council were told that Cattle Club plans to buy a new beast with the money. So all in all it is shaping up to be a very good start to term 2 for cattle club and hopefully the rest of the term turns out well too.


ISSUE NO 4/2017 09 MAY 2017

Sport News Sport News Natasha Johnson Secondary Sports Co-ordinator Inter-School Netball and Rugby League By the time you read this our first round of Inter-School Sport for Term 2 would have been completed. Our teams, in both Netball and Rugby League, fought hard against BTC’s teams on Sunday 30 April at BTC. Results for the games can be found below. All teams now eagerly await the return matches that are being played here at ASSG on Sunday 28th May. We welcome everyone to come along to our ‘Sunday Smash’ and support the Black and White. Times for these games will be published in the Souls Schedule and on Facebook so stay tuned. Inter-School Cross-Country As I mentioned in the last edition of the Phoenix Rising, we are eagerly (and nervously) waiting for the calen-dar to click over to Monday 8th May. It is then, when a strong team of 72 athletes, run their hearts out in or-der to defend the Inter-School Cross-Country Championship for the 12th successive year. Led by Mr Halliday, the ASSG team has been training tirelessly; to be in the best condition they possibly can to take on this enor-mous challenge. I am hoping the next time I write to you, I will be able to proudly announce that we did it - no pressure Mr Halliday! Inter-House Athletics Just a reminder that the Inter-House Ath-letics Carnival will be held on Monday and Tuesday 19th and 20th of June. I look forward to seeing many parents and spec-tators in attendance. State Rugby Union Trials Good luck to two of our Year 12 students, Caleb Knuth and Sam Coffison who will travel to Sunnybank, Brisbane as part of the Under 19 years North Queensland Rugby Union team who will partake in the State Championships from Thursday 4th May to Sunday 7th May. We are very proud of these boys’ achievements. Well done.

Netball Rugby League 12 Years No game. BTC does not field a team Combined 12/13 years 13 Years Lost 7-23 Lost 10-30 14 Years Lost 16-19 No game. BTC does not field a team 15 Years Won 32-10 Won 44-6 2nd Lost 0-40 Lost 18-30 1st Lost 9-19 Won 24-10

Junior School

Tina Akers Head of Junior School

A busy Start to Term 2 Well done to all students for their positive attitude to learning during the very busy and productive start to this term.

Inter-House Cross-Country Carnival We were treated to some perfect weather for our Inter-House Cross-Country Carnival. It was fantastic to see so many students compet-ing, while at the same time mak-ing so many personal achieve-ments with their running. I was impressed to see every child com-plete the course and those who participated should be very proud of what they accomplished.

It was great to see so many mums, dads, older brothers and sisters, grandparents and friends supporting the students.


the students with the training re-quired to increase their stamina and perseverance to complete the course. Our Gap staff and Senior students were also a great help on the day. We thank them for assisting at the stations around the course and ‘setting the pace’ for the younger stu-dents on the track. We are very proud of all the students who participated.

Grandparents’ and Family Open Day It was wonderful to see the de-light on the JS students’ faces as they shared their learning with family and friends. I hope the many grandparents, mums, dads, aunts and uncles, and friends of ASSG who joined us for our Open Day, enjoyed spending time in the classrooms with the JS stu-dents.

The day began with a delicious Big Breakfast and entertainment provided by our JS Choirs. Class-rooms were soon buzzing with children busy questioning, mak-ing links with the past, experi-menting, using their imagination, singing and having fun sharing their learning with family and friends. I think we also had some new “Rock Stars” join Year 3. This was a very special day for all our students. It provided an op-portunity for them to feel proud, have their achievements recog-nised and involve their family in the learning they do at School.

Well done to all the students in Feetham and Becket. A team effort that once again won this year’s Cross-Country Shield, fol-lowed in second place by Alban and Ramsay and Chad and Page in third place .

Miss Pia Taylor, Mrs Tina Akers & Mr Darren Fleming with

Becket Captain Millie Davey, and Feetham Captain James Mann

I would like to thank the JS Staff for the collaborative efforts and enthusiasm that resulted in a great day for all the students. A special thank you to Miss Taylor for putting together a well-organised carnival and providing

Junior School Cross-Country Age Champions Back: Jed Marshall. Reagan Butler, Seth Guldbransen, Charlotte Jesberg, Nate Taylor & Rory Clark Front: Della Walsh, Henry Jesberg, Bailey McGuire, Rebecca Galvin, Danny Clark & Georgia Nelson

Age Girl Age Champion Boy Age Champion 6 Years Georgia Nelson Danny Clark

7 Years Rebecca Galvin Matt Dunn

8 Years Bailey McGuire Henry Jesberg

9 Years Della Walsh Rory Clark

10 Years Anna Milton Nate Taylor

11 Years Charlotte Jesberg Corey Guldbransen

12 Years Reagan Butler Jed Marshall

Congratulations to Age Champions

On behalf of the wider School community I would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who contributed to making the day a great success. It was a celebration not only of the achievements and efforts of our student learning, but a celebration of our wonderful School community. A big thank you to:

Deb Kelly, (ASSG Chef) for or-ganising and preparing the mountain of food for the Big Breakfast.

Peace Constructions, Bodyfix Physiotherapy, the Boyle family and Mrs Toohey for providing the additional marquees.

Whitbread Cordials for the use of the portable cool room and bain-marie.

Woolworths for the donation of the Hot Cross Buns.

ASSG maintenance team for setting up and packing away all the equipment, tables, chairs and marques.

Everyone who volunteered with the set-up, serving, cleaning up, dishes and packing up.

Our Year 6 Captains and Pre-fects for their confident intro-ductions and expression of thanks throughout the morning.

Leslie Croker, Wendy Fleming, Ron Sellars and Jamie Richards for helping to prepare our Choirs and young musicians for their first official performance. It was fantastic to see our young students having the con-fidence to perform and show-case their talent.

All our students who made us feel very proud of their achieve-ments this year.

Our wonderful JS staff who are truly committed and dedicated to making each child’s learning journey at School a successful one.

Everyone for sharing the morn-ing with us.


Spirit of ANZAC As teachers we are fortunate, we spend our entire professional lives watching children learn, grow and develop new skills each day. A great responsibility that we are all charged with, is to pro-vide our students with opportuni-ties to develop a deep under-standing and a genuine apprecia-tion of the values, beliefs and tra-ditions that make us who we are: Australians. During the first couple of weeks of this term, JS teachers have been talking with the children about respect for the spirit of AN-ZAC and what this means for them as students at ASSG. The students have been reminded that ANZAC Day goes beyond the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli in 1915. Lessons have focused on the tradition of ser-vice and sacrifice. We have talked about the spirit of ANZAC being about courage, endurance, duty, mateship, good humour and love of country and have discussed how we can apply these qualities to our everyday lives.

A significant day in the All Souls St Gabriels School calendar, AN-ZAC Day, was remembered with pride and reverence. It gave us all cause to reflect on the importance of service, friendship and sacrifice both past and present.

Country Music Festival Friday 28 April was Country Music Day in the Junior School. It began with a buzz of excitement as eve-ryone arrived at School dressed in their best country attire. The stu-dents paraded their ‘country best’ for the Country Music Festival judges. Congratulations to the best dressed boy and girl from each class: Pre-prep: Nate Musk Brodie Beatty

Prep: Paul Pomat Lilah Plant Year 1: Danny Clark Hayley Risdale Year 2: Clayne Musk Isabella Maff Year 3: Zane Lhotka Annie-May Johnson Year 4: Clancy Brassington Georgia Mann Year 5: Steven Davidson Lacey Barnicoat Year 6: Seth Guldbransen Alexadra Holt

The Country Music Judges award-ed: Paul Pomat, Isabella Maff, (Pre-prep to Yr 2) Clancy Brass-ington and Georgia Mann (Yr 3 – 6) best dressed overall. The day continued with Mrs Mar-shall, Mrs Polsen, Davin Marshall, Bob Galvin, Sarlina Teti, Belinda Boyle, Desiree Beatty, Naomi Phil-lips, Louise Polke, Janet Koglkia, Sarah North, Emma Groves, Lisa Taylor, Julia Graig, George and An-gela Ferguson, all working hard to make sure our float was ready for the evening’s Country Music street procession. It was awesome to have so many people get the float ready. The theme for the floats this year was acknowledging ’40 Years of Country Music’. All Souls St Ga-briels JS students enjoyed the op-portunity to celebrate the 40th an-


niversary of the Charters Towers Country Music Festival. This was first created to give the hard-working country folk of the region a chance to come together, put aside the daily grind of working on the land, sit back, relax and be entertained for the weekend. Our students looked incredible on our colourful float, as they celebrated 40 years of this great Charters Towers community event. A project like this does not hap-pen without a vision and the sup-port of students, staff, parents and the wider School community. Thank you to: Mrs Marshall and Mrs Polsen for

all the extra time you have both put into planning, co-ordinating and organising the staff and students to make sure all our props were ready for the float.

Weston’s Carrying Service for providing the use of the truck and low-loader and thanks to Jim Polsen for driving the truck so smoothly.

Peter and Sue Hammer for providing the hay bales and Bob Galvin for collecting them.

The School Captain, Brent Mar-shall, Hugh Polsen (disguised as the Phoenix) and Jake Wilson their participation and help un-loading the float.

The JSSG for funding the mate-rials, hardware and of course the helium balloons.

At the end of a long and success-ful day, the help of the staff and volunteers who dismantled the truck was also greatly appreciated. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who was involved.

A Sense of Community and Pride As a community, we spend hours each day with our students, watching, measuring and celebrat-ing their successes, big and small. Small academic achievements, positive behavioural changes and social triumphs bring us pride, joy and fulfilment. Our students enjoy a caring and supportive learning environment where a sense of family and togetherness thrive.

I look forward to another busy and very productive term. Once again thank you to everyone involved in supporting our fantastic school. It is a pleasure to be involved in such a great community. Always learning, Serving others, Staying safe and Going forward

ISSUE NO 4/2017 09 MAY 2017

Busy times at All Souls St Gabriels School

Ramsay House

Brendan Travers Senior Resident Hello all and welcome back to Term Two 2017! Term Two is al-ways my favourite and is usually fairly popular with the boys as well, because we get to play that great game we all enjoy, footy. A lot has happened since my last ar-ticle, we’ve had a cyclone come and go, some of us have been to Europe, we ran the Cross-Country and we have, of course, played our first round of footy. Ramsay’s involvement has been at its usual high level with plenty happening for all. Cross-Country At the end of last term we ran our Inter-House Cross-Country. Cross-Country is one of the hardest sports going and as usual it tested all the athletes that participated, pushing all of them to their physi-cal limits. Ramsay unfortunately came in third but we weren’t with-out our own special efforts. In par-ticular the efforts of our two high-est place getters, Brandon Finger and Zach Vass, who were both runners up for their respective age groups. Fantastic effort by both the boys, just reward for plenty of hard work, congratulations. Europe Trip Over the Easter holidays I was lucky enough to be involved with the school organised trip to Eu-rope. As a former student I am ex-tremely proud of the schools pro-gress and participation in such a wonderful initiative. One of the founding principles on which All Souls is built is service. Service to your community, service to your family and service to your school. A large chunk of the trip to Europe is spent visiting battlefields, ceme-teries and memorials dedicated to the victims of WWI. This is not simply a holiday but more a pil-grimage out of respect for those


who sacrificed their lives in both World Wars. As an old boy, I was particularly proud of the way our students conducted themselves on this part of the journey. The re-spectful and dignified way they carried themselves was a credit to themselves and our school. Ram-say students, Cody Sibson, Ryan Shadforth, Anthony Coates, Harri-son Finger, Tom Morris and Brad Kelly all accounted for themselves admirably, well done boys. ANZAC Day After journeying to Europe and vis-iting some of the significant sights from both WWI and WWII it was extremely pleasing to return to school and see that the im-portance of remembrance was not lost on the rest of the All Souls community. The Requiem Mass that took place in the chapel on the eve of ANZAC Day was once again, exceptional. In particular, I thought the addition of the cadets added to the occasion. Ramsay dorms very own Aiden Powell rep-resented the cadets in his full uni-form and looked very sharp. The rest of the dorm, and in fact the whole school, also looked great and marched with respect on AN-ZAC Day. Thank you to everyone involved, it was another proud day for All Souls. BTC Football On Sunday 30 April we travelled over to BTC for the first round of Inter– School sport. Many Ramsay dorm boys participated on the day but a special mention is required for a few special efforts. Firstly a massive congratulations to Bailey Geesu and Rily Goodwin who rep-resented All Souls for the very first time in the U13’s, let’s hope it’s the first of many. Congratulations to Bradley Stevenson who captained the U15 side to a comprehensive victory and also thankyou to Rol-land Geesu and Zac Stevenson who played up an age group to help out. Lastly a massive congrat-ulations to our 1st XIII team, who, when tested, showed formidable

character to keep their heads and represent the school extremely well. A lot of people were very im-pressed by the way they conduct-ed themselves when met with a challenging situation. Well done gents. That’s all from Ramsay Dorm for now, as always please feel free to call or email for any enquiries re-garding your son.

Feetham House

Jake Diery Senior Resident The Feetham boys have started this term flat out. They have had Bulls on, Miners, School footy, Cross-Country, ANZAC day and are starting to train for athletics all in the first few weeks of this term. Not to mention they still have their school work to do on top of that. So all the boys are encouraged to rest as much as possible. Earlier bed times on the weekends are a must at this stage.

The boys really showed what Souls is about on ANZAC day with their marching being that of a high quality, but also the school ANZAC services were outstanding. With a few old boys and girls saying it’s up there with the best they had seen. The crosses where set up out the front of the Chapel, and after the services the whole school walked out and lined up to pay their respects to those who had fallen from our school. I found this to be quite moving and it showed how much pride our students have in their school and for those who fought for us. I think everyone who was involved can hold their heads up high. Also I think that the boys that represent the cadets done an outstanding job. Well done guys.

The school went over to BTC to play Netball and Rugby League, where our school again showed what we are all about. The girls showed great fighting spirit and played their hearts out for each other. Our boys lined up on the footy field and showed great disci-pline and what we are about as a school. We had wins in a mix of age groups and I know that the boys in Feetham really enjoyed themselves. As we did last year I gave out who I think the best players from Feetham dorm were. In the 13’s it went to Poppy Warusam who put in a big effort. The under 14’s didn’t have a game but hopefully next week the boys will get a run. The under 15’s went to Casey Flanagan who found his inner JT and played the house down. Our 2nds played a good hard fought game where I thought Toby Rankine really stood up and tried to the very end, he was re-warded with a bench spot on the 1sts. Our 1st played a very hard, tough game of footy. I thought everyone on the side stood up and tried their guts out. I had to give Casey Rankine the man of the match. His running game was out-standing. Great work to all those that played. This term is very busy and the boys are going to get tired, a heads up homesickness will kick in when they are tired and feeling a little flat. I have noticed a few new fellas in Feetham really feeling it. If you are worried about your son or he is ringing up feeling down, please give me a call so I can help. Please keep the emails com-ing in about leave and just a re-minder that we do our leave for the weekends on Thursday night, so if I could get the emails by then that would be very helpful.


Page House

Davin Marshall Senior Resident We are already in week three of this term and as usual dormitory life is in full swing. Some of our boys have very little spare time this term with training and their academic commitments. With school rugby league, school Cross-Country, Club Rugby League and union and trials for athletics it is a real juggling act for some. We also need to keep them focused on the primary reason they are here, to get an education, as it is easy for boys to lose sight of the im-portance of learning. Sunday was our first weekend event where we compete against BTC in netball and rugby league. We had many boys involved in playing from the new kids in Year 7 through to our seniors. I must comment on the excellent display of sportsmanship from our boys. Full credit to our boys for sticking to the values they have been taught to uphold, in the face of adversity. It was a good day for our boys with the 13’s and 2nds going down narrowly and the 15’s and 1sts putting on a dominant display to win convincingly. I was particularly impressed by our young boys, some of whom have-n’t played much footy, getting out there and having a real go. Well done to everyone. During the holidays we had several boys, as well as myself, from Page go on the 2017 Europe Trip to visit the memorials and graves of our soldiers who gave their lives dur-ing WWI. The trip has two parts, the tourist aspect in the major centres and the real purpose of the trip, visiting the battlefields. It is a privilege to see the students grow to understand the sacrifice our young soldiers made and the senseless destruction that oc-curred on the battlefields of WWI.

Noel, Kade, Toby and Ky all went on the tour and they all came home changed and matured from the experience. I feel they now have a better understanding that ANZAC day is a commemoration day and not a celebration of war. A great trip to be involved in. The dormitory is running fairly smoothly so far this term and with the workload our boys have we will work hard to keep it that way. If you have any concerns or feel there is something I should know about please feel free to contact me.

Becket House

Jenny Cantle Senior Resident Welcome back. No time to rest, as usual we have hit the ground run-ning. Cross-Country training each morning so early starts, the girls are to be congratulated with the weather turning a little chillier in the mornings it is a little harder to get out of bed. Early starts all round with the Dawn Service for ANZAC Day and the March saw a very tired dorm on Tuesday. I was very proud of the girls as they marched beautifully representing the school. The first two weeks saw a bit of a catch up from last term with the speedy exit from a few of our chil-dren due to cyclone Debbie, with the Year 9 and 10 students Health and Practical assessment day at the Anabranch river. The Year 11 and 12 Biology camp is off to Mag-netic Island and the 11 and 12 Drama class have had a trip to Townsville so a very busy dorm with all the coming and goings. School netball has started, with a weekend of football and netball at BTC on the weekend a lovely day was had by all and a very tired group of girls on a Sunday night.

We also have the Duke of Edin-burgh’s Award coming up this month with the children travelling to Tinaroo Dam. If your child is one of the children involved in this activity could you please make sure they have everything on the list and the forms are returned. Country Music weekend in the Towers last weekend. As we have one Junior School student in our dorm, there was excitement with the dressing up country style on the Friday and the float to make its way down Gill Street Friday night. It was a great night and the Junior School looked amazing.


Chad House

Piper Godfrey & Savannah Arnold Year 8 We are off to a flying start for Term 2. With running training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, a Townsville trip over the weekend and Club Netball starting up again. We have 15 Chad girls in the Inte-School Cross-Country team after our win in the Inter-House last term. On Saturday, Chad Dorm went to Townsville for the day, shopping and spending time on the Strand. Everyone well and truly enjoyed the trip. A special thanks to Dawn-ie, Shorty and Yvonne for organis-ing the trip and driving us there. Club Netball has started up again and many girls are involved. Trials for Interschool Netball have also been held over the last couple of weeks with lots of our girls getting into the teams. On ANZAC Day, the School marched down Gill St. We are all so proud of everyone’s effort. We also had 19 girls who woke up early for the Dawn Service. Touch has also started back. Teams have been training ready to play on Thursday night. During the weekends, we also tend to go to the Burdekin and the Markets. All of us have so much fun. On Sunday, we all went over to BTC for Inter-School sports rounds. Many girls participated in Netball teams and did us all proud.

Caitlyn Elliott, Baia Gaiden and Savannah Arnold

having fun in Townsville

Baia Gaiden and Lorna Kepper

Savannah Arnold and Zoe Godfrey

ISSUE NO 4/2017 09 MAY 2017

headmaster contents · of semester. i like to see each term similar to the weather seasons. we...

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