Secondary News T1 W8 2022

What a Term!

Term One has been an interesting term for all. Even though it has been shorter, the isolations and natural disasters have made it feel huge. Add to this the way, we as schools in our efforts to provide opportunity, have crammed as much into this shortened term as we would usually. We can begin to understand how our students and staff are feeling tired as we approach the end.

As I reflect on this feeling of tiredness, I realise that this tiredness is a good tiredness. That yes, there have been challenges but wow haven’t our team (students and staff) done so well this term. We have still had the majority of our normal events, learning has continued, and kids have been getting involved. They are tired because they are a part of something great.

So as we finish the term, I thank the staff that make this place tick for their energy and filling in across various areas. I also thank the students for their youthful exuberance and the positivity they bring to the College. We are all called in community, by God, to serve this school and the people in it and this term that has been more evident than ever.

Thank you all and enjoy a well-deserved and restful break.

Year 12 Service-Learning Sleepout

Last week our Year 12’s spent the day and night taking an empathy dive into homelessness and the issues some of our most vulnerable people experience.

They spent the day participating in a St Vinnies Street Retreat. Students learned about the difficulties people experiencing homelessness face. That evening heard from Norman McGillivray, founder of Beddown. Norm shared his story & the importance of maintaining the dignity of all humans. Students learned about the vital work his organisation does to provide shelter & opportunities for people experiencing homelessness. Students then imagined what it would be like to ‘sleep rough’ on cardboard in the Hayshed for the night.

Students described the experience as ‘impactful’ and ‘eye-opening’.”

2022 Next Step survey

The Queensland Government is conducting its annual statewide survey of all students who completed Year 12 in 2021. The Next Step survey is a brief, confidential survey that gains a comprehensive picture of the employment, study and life choices made by Queensland school completers in the year after they finish Year 12.

Between March and June, all our students who completed Year 12 last year can expect to receive instructions to complete a web-based survey or a telephone call from the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office. Please encourage them to take part. If their contact details have changed, please assist the interviewer with their updated details or forward the survey to their new address so they can participate.

Thank you for your support of the Next Step survey in 2022.

Further information on Next Step, including results from previous years, is available online at www.qld.gov.au/nextstep or on toll free telephone 1800 068 587.

Stuart Needham
Head of Secondary