Important Dates – Semester 2, 2015

Tue 28 and Wed 29 July	Student Led Conferences – evening
Wed 5 August: 5.30pm	Yr 9 – Careers Info Night – evening
Tue 25, Wed 26 Aug	Boys’ and Girls’ overnight Retreat
Friday 21 Aug	Shine Arts evening
Tuesday 13 Oct	Year 9 Work Experience Information – Evening
Wednesday 28 Oct	Year 9 Explore Uni Day
Tuesday 3 Nov	Awards Night – Year 9 Official graduation
Friday 17 Nov	Yr 9 – Rites of Passage day/Mt Coolum
Thursday 3 Dec	Yr 9 – Aussie World Day and Evening Celebration Dinner

Welcome Middle Schoolers and parents to third term! I hope the holidays were a good break from the routines of school and a chance to recharge the batteries as students launch back into new units in their subjects. I was impressed with many students’ reports which recognised how hard-working and diligent our students have been in the first half of this year.

Student Led Conferences
These will be held next week on Tuesday and Wednesday and will be an excellent opportunity for students to consider last semester’s results and set relevant SMART goals with their parents/guardians and their Pastoral Care teacher. Bookings are made through the link that was sent by email with the reports.

Pastoral Care Program
This term, Middle School classes will be discussing topics related to healthy relationships in their Pastoral Care classes. Some of the work covered will relate to physical changes as they become teenagers and young men and women and various discussions around the topic of sexuality. If you would like to know more about what will be covered, please contact your child’s Year Level Coordinator or Pastoral Care teacher to discuss this further.

Survey
Our school has agreed to participate in an ‘Adolescent Survey’ conducted by Queensland University of Technology. The survey is specifically focussed on the use and effects of alcohol and an adolescent’s perception and understanding of this. Students will undertake this survey in week 5 of this term. Parents will have received an email about this, concerns can be addressed as per the information on the email.

New Staff
Middle School would like to welcome Mrs Adele Luatutu. She will be teaching some of the Year 7, 8 and 9 English/Humanities classes, replacing Mrs Sonya Kadel for the rest of this year. We continue to uphold Mrs Kadel and her husband (Sean) in prayer as they deal with his serious illness. We are so grateful that our school has been able to replace her until the end of this year with such a competent teacher.

Book Week is in Week 6 of this term. This year, for the first time, Middle School students will have the opportunity to dress up ‘in character’ to a person out of a book they have enjoyed reading. More details to come later, however now would be a good time to begin thinking about this. English and Pastoral Care classes will be discussing this with the students.

Exploring future pathways and careers is important for a Middle School student. The University of Sunshine Coast (USC) run a great Open Day – you can find out more about it by clicking on this link: Imaginarium . It will be held on Sunday 9 August, 10.00pm – 2.00pm, Sippy Downs campus. These days, universities provide courses that prepare students for a diverse range of career pathways and are well worth considering. I recommend checking it out if you can make the time with your child.

Onsite Psychologist
A reminder that our school outsources a psychologist who is available on Fridays. For those who would like to access this service, please talk with our chaplains to make arrangements. This is a user-pay service; however, there are provisions for Medicare to fully cover costs under certain conditions.

European Study Tour 2016
A great opportunity for our Middle and Senior School students. This will run in September of 2016. The tour will accommodate students who are studying French but will also be of benefit for Arts, Humanities and perhaps may be of interest to Design Tech students and Agricultural Science students.

Uniform
This Thursday the Middle and Senior school students were checked to ensure that their hairstyles were in line with our Uniform Policy. There has also been a small change to the policy regarding makeup for girls. The policy will be changed to: ‘No eye makeup. No lip gloss or lipstick but minimal foundation is allowed as long as it is a natural colour.’

Contacting Subject Teachers
Please don’t hesitate to email any of your child’s teachers to discuss particular concerns or issues. You could also email to make an arrangement to meet face to face. At GCC, we believe it is important that we work hand in hand together in your child’s academic journey.

Jacqualina Vreeling, Head of Middle School