Secondary School Awards Celebration
I was able to briefly mention this fantastic night in the last newsletter but promised a fuller report in this issue. The night was not only thoroughly enjoyable but the program was so streamlined that it finished earlier than scheduled. This was due to hours of behind the scenes labour and I’d especially like to thank Rachel Bull for all the extra work and for going above and beyond the call of duty to make this night such a success.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our special guests who attended on the night to make the presentations and help make it a truly distinguished event. Special guests included State Members Mr Andrew Powell and Mr Mark McArdle, Federal Member Mr Mal Brough, Mr Ian Hope and Mr Tony Long Tony from Rotary, Ms Karyn Brinkley from the University of the Sunshine Coast and Mrs Pam Newell to present the Emily Lord Award.
If you haven’t seen the photos yet, you can view them by clicking here.
Along with the Academic, Diligence, GREAT and character awards there were highly prized individual awards. This year Jesse Woods was Middle School Dux and Kaylee Utting College Dux. The Year 9 All Rounder was Jordan Bull and the Principal’s Award was presented to Otto Coulstock in Middle School and Danielle McClure in Senior School. The Long Tan Leadership and Teamwork for Year 10 went to Moale James and for Year 12 went to Courtney Sinclair. The Rotary All-Rounder award was given to Ella Mickelson in Year 11. The University of the Sunshine Coast presented the Rise and Shine award to Nichola Bates and a scholarship was awarded to Jesse Hughes as the highest achieving student electing to study Arts and Business. Finally, the Emily Lord Award was presented to Ben Giles.
New College Captains for 2015
A long anticipated announcement of the Secondary Awards Night is the announcement of the College Captains for the following year. This year Calista Theron and Troy Fullerton were announced as the College Captains for 2015. Last week I had the privilege of taking the Captains elect and the current College Captains out for lunch. It was a good time for Courtney and Ben to pass on their wisdom to Calista and Troy and a great opportunity for me to get to know our new College Captains a little better.
Remembrance Day Service
On the 11 November, I was privileged to accompany the College Primary, Middle and Senior Captains to the Remembrance Day Service at the Beerwah-Peachester RSL. Madeleine Roulston, Patrick McKenzie, Alisha Mens, Rory Tait, Courtney Sinclair and Ben Giles did the College proud with how they conducted themselves on the day.
Back at the College, we made a slight change to the Primary first break so the students were together when the bell sounded for a minute’s silence. Classes had been learning about the significance of the day in different ways. Although it is a very sad day, it is good to remember the ultimate sacrifice so many made on our behalf.
Tutoring on Facebook page
We have created a Facebook page called ‘Tutoring for GCCC families and students’. This page is for all Primary and Secondary School families looking for tutors to link up with some of our more senior students and even past students. Once you have made initial contact on this page we ask for the prospective tutors and families to use the private message tool to speak to each other and to protect each other’s privacy.
The purpose of the Facebook page is to connect parents with possible tutors. All arrangements concerning appointment times, payments, etc. are to be negotiated between the family and the tutor. The upcoming school holidays are a great time to make use of this page and help your children catch up or prepare for next year.
Please note that if you are hiring a tutor who is over 18 (e.g. past student), they should hold a Blue Card which is also called a ‘Working with children’ card.
We would welcome your feedback for any improvements we can make for this page. I look forward to this being well-used and a helpful resource.
Year 12 formal and clap out
As you read this the Year 12 formal and clap out will all be over. Due to the newsletter deadline, a full story of these momentous two events will have to wait for the next issue. However photo galleries will be available on our website late Friday afternoon. Glasshouse Country News will also have a few photos from the red carpet arrival in their issue the following week.
Admin Days – back to school
Plans for back to school are already well underway and a letter went home this week with all of the details. In order for students to be completely ready to learn on the first day of school we have scheduled four ‘Admin’ days in the pupil free week. This will allow all secondary students to collect their laptop, locker combination lock and textbooks.
The Admin days will incorporate short videos on how to use the MacBooks and our IT staff will be on hand to answer any questions you may have. Please note that a parent or designated guardian must accompany the secondary student to pick up their laptop as the Use of Technology Agreement must be signed before the MacBook can be given to the student. If this is not possible, the Use of Technology Agreement can be signed at home and brought in with the student when they pick up their MacBook. If there isn’t a signed agreement then a MacBook will not be issued.
Admin Days will be held from Tuesday 20 January to Friday 23 January, 10am to 4pm. A night time slot of 5pm to 8pm on Wednesday 21 January has been created for working families who may have trouble attending during the day. The Uniform Shop will also be open during these times.
There will be more specific information about the beginning of year procedures coming very soon.
Mike Curtis, Principal