Book Week
Book Week is about promoting and celebrating the joy of reading with a week full of activities. The pinnacle of this annual event is the dress-up parade which was held on Thursday 22 August.
Every year I am astounded by the creativity, ingenuity and courage of our students and staff when they come dressed for the Book Week Parade and this year was no different.
I know that there is a lot of hard work behind the scenes for weeks before this event so want to thank all the parents who helped their children with their costumes. The students couldn’t wait to show their costumes off to the rest of Primary and had a terrific time on the day.
I’m sure others will have more to say on Book Week later on in the newsletter.
‘Shine on the Arts’ Evening
The College was lit up like a Christmas tree but it was our students who really sparkled during our Shine on the Arts Evening Friday 23 August.
I was very impressed by maturity, talent and enthusiasm our students showed on the night and I wasn’t the only one. Cr Rick Baberowski attended the event and said he admired the way the students organised themselves and seemed to need very little direction from teachers.
The Drama, Dance, Music, Media, Visual Art, French and Fashion and Textile Departments showed what high-quality teachers and students we are blessed with here at GCCC. I was immensely proud of everyone who had a part to play on the night.
There was a real buzz in the atmosphere as friends, family and visitors watched the performances or roamed around the art and crafts on display. The food from the French Café was as delicious and plentiful, resulting from many hard hours in the kitchen.
The highlight of the night was the official opening of the sculpture garden outside F block. Patrice Cutlack has done an exceptional job designing the area and it was exciting to see it in all its glory. This was shortly followed by the announcement of the prize-winning quilt.
Everyone worked hard to make this such a quality event and I want to pay special tribute to our seemingly tireless maintenance team. Mark and Tim especially pulled some very long and hard hours to ensure everything would run smoothly on the night.
Queensland Core Skills Test
This week our Year 12 students have been working hard on the QCS test. All Year 12 students have to sit this test if they wish to receive a university entrance score called an overall Position (OP). The test shows how well students have understood 49 skills which are common across the whole curriculum from Year 1 to 12. It was held over two days and comprises two multiple-choice papers, a writing task and a short answer paper.
Students, I’m sure that you are able to say that you did your best and that all the time spent preparing for these tests were worth it.
GCCC Satisfaction Survey
Thank you to the 181 people who filled in this survey. The results were informative and in some areas, challenging. Parents were asked to rate their satisfaction from 1 to 4 with 1 representing low satisfaction and 4 representing high satisfaction. The numbers in the graph below are percentages.
The survey was slightly different from last year’s one and made up of almost 100 questions so I really appreciate the time people took to fill this in.
One of the areas that challenged us was learning some students are using bad language on the school grounds and in other venues during school activities. This is totally unacceptable to us and obviously to those respondents who took the time to tell us about it. I have been addressing this behaviour through special assemblies and the College will be coming down hard on any students using bad language.
We will be focussing on how to improve other areas in the school in the coming months.
Mike Curtis, Principal
| Questions | Stongly disagree % | Disagree % | Agree % | Strongly Agree % |
| My child feels safe at school | 2 | 3 | 32 | 62 |
| My child feels happy at school | 2 | 11 | 46 | 41 |
| There is a sense of purpose at the school | 2 | 13 | 45 | 40 |
| Students wear the required uniform and are well presented | 3 | 8 | 32 | 57 |
| The school sets and maintains high expectations of student behaviour | 5 | 16 | 36 | 43 |
| The school sets and maintains high academic standards | 2 | 11 | 48 | 39 |
| The schools’ grounds and buildings are well maintained and presented | 2 | 1 | 33 | 64 |
| I feel welcome as a parent/caregiver when I come to the school | 2 | 7 | 31 | 60 |
| The Principal is approachable | 2 | 9 | 39 | 49 |
| The Heads of School are approachable | 2 | 12 | 41 | 45 |
| My concers are responded to appropriately | 3 | 15 | 46 | 35 |
| My child’s teachers motivate him/her to want to learn | 2 | 13 | 35 | 50 |
| The classroom program meets my child’s academic needs | 3 | 18 | 42 | 38 |
| My child’s teachers are committed and enthusiastic | 2 | 11 | 28 | 59 |
| My child’s teachers are aware of my child’s strengths and weaknesses | 4 | 15 | 42 | 39 |
| I am pleased with the progress my child has made this year | 6 | 13 | 37 | 44 |
| My child’s teachers provide clear feedback to my child about his/her work | 7 | 15 | 42 | 36 |
| The classroom program covers things my child is interested in | 2 | 13 | 52 | 33 |
| The classroom program involves the right amount of challenge for my child | 3 | 15 | 44 | 38 |
| My child’s teachers respond to concerns that I raise in a constructive way | 3 | 9 | 40 | 48 |
| My child’s teachers have high expectations of him/her | 3 | 9 | 41 | 46 |
| My child’s teachers implement a homework program that works for my child | 6 | 22 | 35 | 37 |
| My child is helped to set realistic learning goals | 5 | 17 | 47 | 31 |
| There are enough opportunities to get information about my child’s progress (e.g. reports, interviews) | 6 | 9 | 38 | 47 |
| I receive quality information about my child’s progress | 5 | 13 | 43 | 39 |
| I find the parent/teacher interviews useful and informative | 4 | 8 | 36 | 51 |
| I am made aware of any areas my child needs to work on in order to improve | 8 | 14 | 43 | 34 |
| GCCC caters well to the needs of primary school students | 3 | 10 | 47 | 41 |
| GCCC caters well to the needs of middle school students | 2 | 15 | 55 | 28 |
| GCCC caters well to the needs of senior school students | 1 | 15 | 58 | 26 |
| My child is helped by GCCC to become self-managing, so they can have a ‘can-do’ attitude and set high expectations for themselves | 5 | 13 | 49 | 34 |
| Mh child is helped by GCCC to develop relationships skills so they can work well with others in groups and teams | 2 | 13 | 46 | 38 |
| My child is helped by GCCC to develop research skills so they can find and use information | 4 | 13 | 52 | 32 |
| The integration of computers into my child’s education has been a positive step | 7 | 13 | 25 | 55 |
| My child is helped by GCCC to develop leadership skills | 5 | 18 | 51 | 25 |
| I am happy with the range of sporting activities provided for my child | 7 | 13 | 45 | 34 |
| I am happy with the range of cultural, musical and artistic activities provided for my child | 2 | 12 | 46 | 40 |
| School information is communicated to parents and caregivers effectively | 3 | 19 | 40 | 38 |
| There are opportuntiies for parents and caregivers to communicate information about home and school | 3 | 12 | 45 | 40 |
| There are opportunities for parents and caregivers to be involved in school life | 1 | 10 | 39 | 50 |
| Not at all useful % | Not useful % | Useful % | Very useful % | |
| How useful is the school newsletter as a means of communication | 4 | 6 | 46 | 44 |
| How useful is the school website as a means of communication | 1 | 12 | 50 | 37 |
| How useful is email as a means of communication | 1 | 1 | 35 | 63 |
| How useful is Moodle as a means of communication | 23 | 17 | 42 | 18 |
| How useful is Facebook as a means of communication | 42 | 23 | 27 | 8 |
| How useful are text messages as a means of communication | 5 | 1 | 31 | 63 |
| Not at all important % | Not important % | Important % | Very Important % | |
| What importance do you place on reading | 0 | 1 | 6 | 96 |
| What importance do you place on writing | 0 | 0 | 12 | 88 |
| What importance do you place on Christian Life Studies | 2 | 9 | 52 | 38 |
| What importance do you place on handwriting | 1 | 3 | 35 | 60 |
| What importance do you place on Mathematics | 0 | 0 | 7 | 93 |
| What importance do you place on Science | 0 | 3 | 40 | 56 |
| What importance do you place on History | 1 | 6 | 54 | 40 |
| What importance do you place on Geography | 1 | 11 | 91 | 66 |
| What importance do you place on Physical Education | 0 | 3 | 50 | 47 |
| What importance do you place on Health and well-being | 0 | 2 | 37 | 61 |
| What importance do you place on Industrial Arts | 0 | 15 | 62 | 22 |
| What importance do you place on Hospitality studies | 1 | 12 | 63 | 24 |
| What importance do you place on Fabric and textiles technology | 3 | 28 | 55 | 14 |
| What importance do you place on Music | 1 | 13 | 56 | 31 |
| What importance do you place on Drama | 1 | 19 | 62 | 19 |
| What importance do you place on French | 17 | 38 | 30 | 15 |
| What importance do you place on Art | 1 | 17 | 62 | 20 |
| What importance do you place on Business | 0 | 11 | 59 | 30 |
| What importance do you place on Computer Education | 0 | 1 | 30 | 69 |
| What importance do you place on Leadership programs | 1 | 7 | 40 | 52 |
| What importance do you place on Sports program | 1 | 11 | 45 | 43 |
| What importance do you place on Outdoor education program | 1 | 10 | 46 | 43 |
| What importance do you place on Careers education and guidance | 0 | 2 | 23 | 75 |
| What importance do you place on school based apprenticeship program | 0 | 4 | 27 | 69 |
| Not at all well % | Not well % | Well % | Very Well % | |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Reading | 1 | 9 | 53 | 37 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Writing | 2 | 11 | 60 | 27 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Christian Life Studies | 2 | 6 | 48 | 44 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Handwriting | 5 | 18 | 49 | 27 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Mathematics | 1 | 6 | 57 | 36 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Science | 3 | 9 | 62 | 26 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering History | 1 | 8 | 71 | 20 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Geography | 1 | 10 | 70 | 19 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Physical Education | 1 | 6 | 64 | 29 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Health and well-being | 1 | 7 | 66 | 25 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Industrial arts | 0 | 2 | 74 | 24 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Hospitality studies | 0 | 2 | 64 | 34 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Fabric and textiles technology | 0 | 5 | 73 | 22 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Music | 0 | 9 | 65 | 26 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Drama | 0 | 8 | 70 | 22 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering French | 3 | 9 | 66 | 22 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Art | 0 | 7 | 70 | 24 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Business | 2 | 6 | 74 | 19 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Computer Education | 1 | 6 | 58 | 36 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Leadership programs | 0 | 15 | 61 | 23 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Sports program | 3 | 11 | 61 | 25 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Outdoor education program | 5 | 13 | 60 | 23 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering Careers education and guidance | 0 | 7 | 61 | 32 |
| How well do you think GCCC is delivering School-based apprenticeship programs | 1 | 8 | 59 | 32 |