Headmaster Contents - All Souls St Gabriels School · ASSG also has music schol-arships available....

A RECAP I did write about these significant events in the Souls Schedule but for the bene-fit of the wider school communi-ty, please find an update on what was a busy week below.

SWIMMING The annual Inter-School Swimming Carnival has been held and it was an event to behold. The swimmers gave it their all and the supporters looked great in their black and white and kept up the encouragement all night. I really enjoyed being in amongst

the action, watching the interac-tions between all ages and how school spirit is transferred from the older students to our newer students. Whilst these events have a team focus we also congratulate our individual age champions and runners up: Kayden Fogarty, Lu-ka Hall, Harry Titley, Toby Fitch-ett, Slayd Hall, Kithryn Kelly, Danielle Milton, Kade Banset & Tayla Davidson. Well done to the whole school for your support of the event. We would also like to thank the staff from Charters Towers State High School for organising the carnival and pass on our con-gratulations to Columba’s swim-ming team on their victory.

Contents

Headmaster’s Report Page 1

Planning Meeting Flyer Page 2

Little Souls Page 2

Deputy Head Page 3

NAPLAN Table Page 3

Dean of School Page 4

Dean of Students Page 4

Horse Club Page 4

Team Souls Supporter

Shirts Page 4

Values Education Page 5

Table of Career

Excursions Page 5

School Chaplain Page 6

School Prayers Page 6

Junior School Page 7

Sport News Page 8

Cattle Club Page 9

Instrumental Music Page 10

Head of Boarding Page 12

Feetham House Page 12

Captains Report Page 13

Page House Page 13

Ramsay House Page 13


Alban House Page 14


Becket House Page 14


Chad House Page 15

Cowboys Trip Page 15

Julia Creek DIRT ‘n DUST Page 15

Staff Profile Page 16

Headmaster

Issue No 4/2016 11 March 2016

2016 Inter-School Swimming Champions: Toby Fitchett (15 Years), Luka Hall (14 Years) and Kayden Fogarty (13 Years)

JUNIOR SCHOOL INSTALLATION OF LEADERS On Wednesday the Junior School, Year 12 leaders, staff and family members gathered in the Chapel for the installation of the Junior School Leaders for 2016. This was a lovely event with our Year 6 stu-dents making their pledge to the school and the school offering their support in return. At the con-clusion of the ceremony the Preps and Pre Preps lined the aisle as the leaders left, giving them each a lit-tle gift that they had made. I know the Seniors are keen to work with the Year 6 leaders as they formu-late their plans for the year. STATE HONOURS ENSEMBLE PROGRAM (SHEP) Last weekend, our musicians head-ed off to Cairns to participate in the State Honours Ensemble Pro-gram. The program is organised by the Queensland Conservatorium based at Griffith University. The students had a great time making music with other students from Northern Queensland. Many thanks to Miss Croker for organis-ing the trip and supporting the stu-dents. STAFF We welcome back Mr Alan Watts who has taken on a short term contract to cover the classes of Mr Peter Wallis (Head of Science) who is recovering from an operation. We are thankful that Mr Watts, who retired at the end of last year, was able to assist us, maintaining that all important continuity for the students. I received a lovely email from Sis-ter Kate McCartney thanking the school community for their prayers and support on the sudden passing of her father. Whilst Kate has been away, Sister Bindi Brassington has done an amazing job maintaining the high standard of professional care to our students. Thank you Bindi.

PAGE 2 ISSUE NO 4/2016 11 MARCH 2016

A BUSY SCHOOL It has certainly been a week with plenty of variety. Netball has com-menced and Wendy and I had the opportunity to watch some of the junior girls go through their paces. There was even a match where both teams were from All Souls St Gabriels which made cheering easier. A change of scenery from the courts to the Showgrounds, as we had a look around Beef Expo with the Cattle Club members. A bit of an education for a “city slicker” but I am now far better informed when it comes to ovarian scan-ning. Finally a trip into Townsville to watch the rugby league boys. SCHOOL PLANNING The school has received funding to undertake a project through In-dependent Schools Queensland to look at area of self- improvement.

The initial committee meeting was held this week with a con-sultant travelling to Charters Tow-ers to work with the group. This will provide us with the oppor-tunity to take a step back from the daily activities and shine a light on areas of our operations so that we may enhance the ex-periences for our staff and stu-dents. MESSY LENT AT ST PAUL’S ANGLICAN CHURCH Join us for some fun activities at St Paul’s Church where we cele-brate ‘Messy Lent—from Palm Sunday to Easter Day’ on Satur-day 19th March, from 5.30 - 7.00 pm. Activities suitable for families, and stay and share a meal only $5 per family. For more information phone Rhonda 4787 4240. Darren Fleming Headmaster

Sam Kelly

It’s March already. The holidays are already looming and there are so many activities that students have had the opportunity to participate in.

The first Exam Schedule should be out on the 10th of March for the dates of 17th to the 22nd of March. This should enable students to ef-fectively start their time manage-ment for their best performance. Thank you to Miss Thomson for helping me organise this for Term 1.

The 2017 Scholarship exams will be held on Saturday 19th March. There are a range of academic scholar-ships available on our Facebook page for entry to Year 7 or Year 11 in 2017. ASSG also has music schol-arships available. The closing date for both academic and music schol-arships is Friday the 11th of March. As my youngest, Kithryn, is in the production of Beauty and the Beast, I unfortunately cannot be there for the running of this event. A big “thank you” to Miss Marley (HOD Maths) who has kindly agreed to take on the running of the academic day and Mrs Moore for the music scholarship schedule.

For new parents, and a reminder for returning, all requests for early leaving or “days off” need to be re-quested and approval sought before parents pick the student/s up. There is a definite reason for this: for support of both staff and stu-dents academically. We have had students leave without handing in assessments or missing vital lessons for assessment. Once a request is lodged, I coordinate staff to ensure that no assessment is missed. If the request is for extenuating circum-stances e,g major illness, we will endeavour to work around the as-sessments to support families and students. In Years 11 and 12, we follow the guidelines and assess-ment policies of the QCAA (Queensland Curriculum and As-sessment Authority) which states


that schools need to ensure con-sistent conditions for assessments and there are specific guidelines for illness and absenteeism for assess-ment due dates. Included in this is the provisions and the expectations of drafts. In the eyes of the QCAA, drafts are mandatory to ensure stu-dent authenticity of work. In the event that a student fails to hand in the final assessment by the due date, the draft will be used as the final assessment submission. Staff at ASSG work closely with students, parents and boarding staff to avoid non-submissions of assessment. Thinking about the last 3 years, I cannot recall one non-submission for a senior subject. To continue this success, we all need to work together. This also applies for leav-ing early at the end of term. We have travel day to support families with the distance of travelling home.

Looking forward to next term we already have many activities organ-ised: 1. NAPLAN: NAPLAN testing for

Years 3,5,7 and 9 is during the week starting the 10th of May: Should you have an appoint-ment or event that your son/daughter will be away and re-quires catch up tests, please let me know on 0409 783 658 or at:

[email protected]. All students require: a B type pencil, eraser and calculator (for Years 7 & 9). 2. Anzac Day: Although this falls

on Monday holiday, this is still considered a whole school ac-tivity. We have already started our marching and I have to say I was impressed with the organisation our senior stu-dents and House staff showed right from day one of practice.

3. Year 10 Semester 2 Senior Ex-perience Information session will be held on the Term 2 travel day. During this session, we will use booklets and pow-erpoints to cover the materials students will need to make their decision. There will be an opportunity to have questions answered. Selection sheets will also be given out. An e-mail will be sent out to all Year 10 parents with more information and rsvp request for catering purposes. For those parents who cannot make this session, all booklets, powerpoints and selection sheets will be availa-ble on our website.

This has been a busy first term. I would like to thank parents for the support they have shown in sup-porting the staff and school activi-ties.

Deputy Head

Tuesday 10

May Official test date

Wednesday

11 May Offi-cial test date

Thursday 12

May Official test

date

Friday

13 May

1. Language

conventions Yr 3: 40 min

Yr 5: 40 min Yr 7: 45 min

Yr 9: 45 min

3. Reading



4.1 Numeracy


Yr 7 (calculator): 40 min

Yr 9 (calculator):

40 min

Catch up

tests permit-ted

20 minute

break

20 minute break

2. Writing



4.2 Numeracy

Yr 7 (non-calc.): 40 min

Yr 9 (non-calc.): 40 min

Catch up tests

permitted

Catch up

tests permit-ted

Catch up tests

permitted

Catch up

tests

mailto:[email protected]

Dean of School

Karen Storey End of term As the term draws nearer to its close, students and staff are busier than ever. We have just 3 weeks to go until Easter and the holidays and I am sure I am not alone in wondering how on earth I am go-ing to complete all of the jobs I still need to get done before the end of the term. I know many students will also be having this thought in the weeks ahead. As parents and teachers we need to ensure that students are well-organised and well-supported in completing as-sessment tasks. For some who will have the inevitable ‘I can’t do it’ meltdown in the near future it is important that we point out for them that they are capable of ac-complishing any set task and that there is always support available if they are struggling. In senior school, these supports include teachers, tutors, senior residents, Deputy Head, Flo, senior students and more. If students are unsure who can help them, they need only ask and they will be pointed in the right direction. Parent-Teacher Interviews As always we will again be offering Parent-Teacher Interviews at the beginning of Term 2. These will oc-cur on Travel Day, Monday 11th April, from 2-4 pm in the dining hall. The main topic of conversation at these meetings is generally the Term 1 progress report which you will receive around the Easter Holi-days however, it does not have to be. If you wish to make an appoint-ment to speak with a teacher re-garding your child’s progress at Parent-Teacher Interviews please contact Mr Jon Teichmann through the main office or via email on: [email protected]


Dean of Students Shannon Lee

The term continues to tick along at a steady rate. It feels like only yes-terday I wrote my last entry, there-for not much from me this time.

Business time We are again approaching the busi-ness end of the term, assessments are due and it is exam time. Last week during Headmasters Assem-bly I spoke to the students about keeping on top of their workload and starting that piece of assess-ment that has been sitting on their desk untouched for the last week. By the time this goes to print it will be crunch time, I strongly encour-age all students who are having difficulties with assessment or a deadline to speak with their teach-ers as early as possible. I’m sure they will be more than happy to help.

Thanks Ky Last edition I sang the praises of a couple of Senior boys who had been helping out with the U12 and 13s cricket. This time I would like to give a special shout out to Ky Banset in Year 11. Ky also plays in the 1st XI and came along to watch the 13 Years play BTC. One of the boys in our team was dismissed for

a duck and was very disappointed with himself. Ky sat and consoled him, humbly sharing memories of times he had shared the same fate. By the time he was due to field the 13’s player was in good spirits and ready to get back out there. Nice work Ky, keep up the good work!

Good luck during the exam block!

Horse Club Report Gayleen Lawrence Year 11 The past two weeks have been busy for the Horse club girls. We welcomed a new girl Angela Jones to Horse club with her horse Curi-ous. Due to it being too hot to ride our horses, Sally has been teach-ing us a range of skills and tech-niques on the ground, such as bandaging our horse’s legs and tail.

The girls have also been busy cleaning troughs and setting up the dressage arena. However, amongst all the work we did man-age to ride our horses and work on our rhythm, half halting and can-tering. We look forward to the next couple of weeks before the

holidays.

Values Education Barbara Salisbury Career Aspirations James Cook University (JCU) School Engagement team ran programs for our Year 7 to 9 students. The pho-tos below show the students en-gaged in learning about university and setting goals for their future. I am very grateful to the team of four JCU staff who put a lot of ef-fort into making the day a success.

Year 7 students Darcy Deans and Jasmine Elliott

Piper Godfrey and Will Holt from Year 7

Year 8 playing university Myth Busters

University Discovery challenge


This is an example of the additional events that we run to help our stu-dents prepare for their future. Below is our events so far for 2016. There will be many more added as we final-ise guest presenters visiting the school. Please note the following dates as these events provide good opportunities for students to explore their interests. If you have any ques-tion, please contact me and I’d be more than happy to help out.

Date Excursion/Presentation

Description Year Level

1-3 Feb

Year 10 Charters Towers Get Into Uni Camp

Students stay in JCU accommodation and spend three days exploring different courses and what uni life is like.

Interested Year 10 stu-dents

7 Mar Career Aspira-tions – Get into Uni by JCU

2 lesson session for each year group with JCU staff and ambassadors running interactive activi-ties.

Year 7 to 9

27 Apr CQU presentation Central Qld University will talk to students about their course options

Year 11 and 12

tba May

TORGAS presen-tation

Group Training Organisations work with appren-tices and trainees to partner them up with a suita-ble employer. TORGAS explains how this works and the opportunities available in this region.

Year 10, and interested Year 11 and 12 stu-dents.

17 May Futures Dinner

Business people from our region are invited to join our Year 12s for dinner. Year 12s swap ta-bles each course so that they talk to a variety of people about their life experiences.

Year 12s

20-21 June

Alternative Pro-gram last week Term 2

Year Groups have various activities, some nor-mal lessons run. Schedule is finalised closer to time.

20-21 June

Year 11 Job Inter-views

Students put in a full application and attend a ‘mock’ job interview with a local business person. Held at ASSG.

All Year 11s as part of CAD assessment

22 June

Application Es-sentials

Workshops on how to apply to university through QTAC.

Year 12

11-14 July

JCU Residential Experience 3 day camp – ap-prox. cost $160 tbc

Students stay in JCU accommodation and spend three days exploring different courses through faculty presentations. The best way for students to make an informed choice about what they would like to study at uni OR if they want to go at all.

Any interested Year 11 and 12 students

27 July Dalrymple Trade Training Centre Careers Expo

This replaces our need to travel to SF4NQ Ca-reers Expo in Townsville and makes it possible for more year groups to attend. It is predominant-ly trades focus, but JCU and CQU are also there.

Year 7 to 10 students, 1 hour visit each

8 Aug Townsville Ca-reers Expo

A good way to talk to people from Universities across Queensland.

All Year 11, limited places for Year 12

21 Aug JCU Open Day

JCU opens its doors and puts on lots of displays. A great time to go as a family and look at the ac-commodation available, courses on offer and to ask about scholarships/finances etc.

School takes one bus load of any interested Year 10 to 12 students

Other Tertiary OPEN Days

Google or go to this link to find out when other institutions are having their Open Days

http://www.openday.com.au

Make a special trip, or maybe you’ll be in the area at the right time. Most institutes are hap-py to take families on a tour, all you need to do is make an appoint-ment.

JCU team – Jacinta, Brit, Emma and Nathan

http://www.openday.com.au

In our thoughts

and prayers; We continue to pray for

Sr Kate and her family as

they mourn the loss of her

father.

We also pray for the fam-

ily of Bishop John Lewis

as they mourn his loss.

We pray for the Kemp-

ster family, in particular

for Zac during his recov-

ery. We also pray for Ky-

lie, Claire and Harry as

they support each other

through this challenging

time.

We pray for those experi-

encing challenges in set-

tling into the routine of

school and boarding life

and for those who support

them.

We pray for speedy re-

coveries for Peter Wallis

and Bishop Bill as they

recover from surgery.

School PrayersSchool Prayers

Dean of School

School Chaplain

Br Nathan-James SSF Junior School Leaders’ Induction Students from the Junior School, their family and friends recently gathered in the Chapel to partici-pate in and witness the induction of the 2016 Junior School Leaders. It was especially good to welcome Olivia Titley and her family as she accepted the responsibility of the Office of Junior School Chapel Pre-fect. A friend commented on my Fa-cebook page asking what a Chapel Prefect does. For Olivia, this means she will take on leadership of the Junior School Chapel services each Thursday. She will also occasionally be invited to represent the Junior School or the wider School commu-nity at particular events – for exam-ple, ANZAC Day services. Olivia will also be responsible for helping nur-ture the spiritual life of the Junior School. Congratulations to all of the new Junior School leaders and members of the student representa-tive council. We look forward to your contribution to the School this year.

2016 Junior School Chapel Prefect, Olivia Titley, with Chapel Prefect Samuel

Meteyard, Mrs Akers and Mr Fleming

Vale Bishop John Lewis A requiem Mass was held for the late Bishop John Lewis, 7th Bishop of North Queensland on Saturday 27 Mar 2016. As Diocesan Bishop, the Right Reverend John Lewis had a connection with the School during his Episcopacy. Bishop Lewis was remembered as a person of faith, vision, energy and leadership. Four areas of his ministry were highlight-ed; support for the role of women in ordained ministry, continuation of the teaching ministry of Church


Schools, the importance of the Church’s role in social welfare and ministry to indigenous communities. Representatives from All Souls St Gabriels School and St Paul’s Char-ters Towers attended the Mass. The School was also invited to send a serving party to assist with the litur-gy. Bishop Bill, current Bishop of North Queensland thanked the School for their representation and in particular gave his thanks for the members of the serving team. The Requiem was presided over by the Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia Archbishop Philip Freier. The Archbishop took time to person-ally thank the serving team who were described as professional, dis-ciplined and well trained.

The School community offers its thoughts and prayers to Bishop Lew-is’ family and friends as they mourn the loss of Bishop John. Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace.

Servers, Connor Rose, Dylan McKenna and Jessie Hall, at the Cathedral

Below: School Representatives and serving team with Archbishop Philip

Freier, Primate of the Anglican Church at the Requiem Mass

for the Late Bishop John Lewis

Junior School

Tina Akers Head of Junior School Sharing our Learning Journey Throughout the year we will come together on many occasions to cel-ebrate the JS students’ endeav-ours in the classroom, on the sports field and in the wider school community. On Tuesday 22 March, grandparents, family members and friends are invited to share the learning journey our students have taken this term. The day will pro-vide each child the opportunity to participate in learning activities with family members and friends and showcase some of the many things that they have been learn-ing. It will be a wonderful way to celebrate each child’s successes and show the children the im-portance you place on their learn-ing by valuing their unique efforts and achievements. The day will start with the tradi-tional ‘Big Breakfast’ hosted by the Junior School Support Group and performances by our JS Choirs, dancers and musicians. We look forward to sharing the day with you. Clean Up Australia Day Last week Sophie Coffison (JS En-vironmental Prefect) spoke to all of the JS students about the im-portance of caring for the environ-ment and keeping our School clean. After morning tea on Friday 4 March, each class picked up rub-bish and tidied up the grounds around the Junior School and Bur-ry Oval.


improve the quality of education and service at ASSG Junior School. Little Souls Our last day for Little Souls this term was Wednesday 9 March. It has been lovely to see so many families joining us on Wednesday mornings. Our Pre-prep room and yard provides a safe and se-cure environment where our mums, dads and grandparents can relax with their children. On behalf of all the families I would like to thank Mrs Limkin for or-ganising the fun activities for the “Little Souls” to enjoy this term. Save the date: Little Souls will re-sume again next Term on Wednesday 20 April and our Year 6 Leaders and Student Council representatives will be busy plan-ning a morning of activities and games for Under 8s Day on Wednesday 18 May.

Easter Raffle Tickets for our Easter raffle went home with JS students this week. Tickets are also available for pur-chase from the JS Office and Secondary Student Services.

After the clean-up, Sophie and our JS Captains: Annika Peace and Co-rey Guldbransen were interviewed by Charters Towers Plus More http://charterstowersplusmore.com.au They were asked why they felt it was important to “Clean Up Austral-ia” and as leaders in the Junior School, how they would help to maintain a clean, healthy and safe School environment. The interview and filming of the students cleaning up our School can be viewed online from Thursday 10 March. The World Day of Prayer The World Day of Prayer (WDP) brings Christians of many traditions together to observe a common day of prayer each year. Each year, the service focuses on a different coun-try and a specific theme. “Receive children, receive me” prepared by WDP women in Cuba, is the theme for this year. On Friday 4 March, Olivia Titley (JS Chapel Prefect), Gemma Gilmore and Jade Stoll (Year 6 Leaders) were chosen to accompany Mr Ian Dietrich at the World Day of Prayer service hosted by the Charters Towers Baptist Church. They were great ambassa-dors for our School. Class Representatives Class Representatives are valued members of our Junior School com-munity and their time and commit-ment are very much appreciated. Thank you to the following parents who have volunteered to be the Class Reps this year:

Pre-prep Melissa Nunns Prep Belinda Boyle

Year 1 Sarah McGuire Year 2 Sarlina Teti Year 3 Erica Finlay Year 4 Jenni Hare Year 5 Bindi Brassington/ Alisha Maff

Year 6 Renee Stoll

I look forward to meeting with these parents and providing a fo-rum for discussion, feedback and the sharing of ideas and sugges-tions that will help us continually

http://charterstowersplusmore.com.au/news/news/

Sport News Sport News

Karen Storey Secondary Sports Co-ordinator

Inter-School Swimming The annual Inter-School Swimming Carnival was hosted by Charters Towers State High School at the town pool on February 25th and 26th. Our swimmers and spectators conducted themselves extremely well to achieve some pleasing results. A summary of the results appears below: Age Champions

Boys Championships

Girls Championships

Althea Norton Combined Aggregate Trophy

Age Group Runner-Up Champion

Open Boys CCC CCC

Open Girls Tayla Davidson CCC

16yrs Boys Kade Banset CCC

16yrs Girls Danielle Milton CCC

15yrs Boys Slayd Hall Toby Fitchett

15yrs Girls BTC CCC

14yrs Boys Harry Titley CCC

14yrs Girls BTC Luka Hall

13yrs Boys CCC Kayden Fogarty

13yrs Girls CCC BTC

12yrs Boys CCC CCC

12yrs Girls CCC CCC

Place Griffith’s Memorial Trophy (Boys relays)

A & R Duckworth Trophy (Boys Aggregate Shield)

Points Points

1st CCC CCC 87 342

2nd ASSG ASSG 61 262

3rd BTC BTC 32 92

4th CTSHS CTSHS 20 46

Place Morton Cup (Girls

relays)

Rattray Shield (Open/16yrs Girls

aggregate)

Don Doyle Memorial Shield

(12yrs to 15yrs Girls aggregate)

Coleman Cup

(Overall girls

aggregate)

Points Points Points Points

1st CCC CCC CCC CCC 77 120 214 334

2nd ASSG ASSG BTC ASSG 62 76 129 200

3rd BTC BTC ASSG BTC 53 40 124 169

4th CTSHS CTSHS CTSHS CTSHS 18 19 41 70

Place School Points

1st CCC 873

2nd ASSG 625

3rd BTC 415

4th CTSHS 172


While we are still a way off taking the title from Columba, the improvement in our swimming culture at ASSG this year has been very evident in both the number of students involved in training sessions and also the attitude of students towards these sessions. I credit this improvement to 3 very influential individuals who have ‘lead the charge’ with regards to swimming this term. Tye Bolton has spear-headed our swimming training, running enjoya-ble, engaging and challenging sessions for our competitors and to Tye we are extremely grateful. Liam Durrington and Tayla Davidson, our 2016 Swimming Captains, have led from the front, encouraging and persuading our swimmers to attend these training sessions and spread the positive culture of swimming at ASSG. To Tayla and Liam, the students and staff say thank-you, for a job well done! Inter-School Sport: Unfortunately we have not played a full round of tennis or cricket since I last wrote. We had a week off due to the Inter-School Swimming and then last week’s games were rained out. We hope to be back in action this week with games against CTSHS. The final round of sport will take place against CCC next week (16th to 18th March) with the 1st tennis and cricket matches being played under lights as part of a CCC Pink Stumps fundraiser on Friday evening, 18th March. It would be great to see many supporters present in the new Souls supporter shirts to cheer these teams on. Good luck to all teams!


Cattle Club

Mikala Gough

Year 11

The last few weeks have been pretty constant with everything as we await the arrival of our cattle. Lately our achievements have been focused upon our new members and educating them in the Cattle Club ways. On Tuesday 1st, Cattle Club jumped in and gave Horse Club a helping hand with moving their equipment and setting up the dressage arena. After the humid day was over we had been rewarded with a bit of rain on the Thursday which sad-ly resulted in us cancelling the afternoon activities.

On Saturday 5th March 2016, Cattle Club journeyed to the Charters Towers Beef Expo. While at the Expo, our mem-bers attended some interesting speeches about ultra-sounding and 3D printing of the composition of cattle. Every-one that attended had a great time and received valuable information about other companies that were there. Alt-hough all the agricultural information was great, our students managed to run into some old boys and girls that all had a chin wag about their previous years at Souls. But one old boy in particular caught our attention when he and the Cattle Club members started to sing our beloved Chapel songs, it was no Bro. Robin performance, but it was still an A+ effort. Although our bright green shirts had clashed with the committee’s shirts, All Souls St Gabriels Cat-tle Club received really positive feedback about our common courtesy.

All in all, this year has started out well, the club members really enjoyed the day out at the Expo. We as a club look forward to doing a whole lot more this year. The seniors also look forward to enjoying their last year out alongside Lionel and Mr Fleming. Don’t be shy pop down and see how we work 3:30 - 5:00 pm Tuesday and Thursday.

Instrumental Music

Leslie Croker Instrumental Music Coordinator

The Instrumental Music department is off to a great start, with 99 students enrolled so far, taking lessons in Brass, Woodwind, Strings, Voice, Guitar, and Drums. Our Music Tutors this year are Mr Ron Sellars (voice/guitar), Mrs Jaime Richards (piano/flute), Mr Stephen Price (drums), Mr Peter Wallis (guitar), Ms Julia Maclay (piano, theory), and myself (brass/woodwind/piano/strings). Several of our students have already performed during communion in Chapel, and others are preparing for upcoming performances for Grandparents’ Day and Lady Day.

Hopefully by now, you are hearing your children practising at home between their lessons. Please encourage this habit. Learning an instrument, or learning to sing, means training a whole new set of muscles and there can only be improvement when these muscles are exercised regularly. Even as little as 20 minutes, four times per week, will greatly accelerate students’ learning.

SHEP On Friday, 4th March, 6 students travelled to Cairns to attend the State Honours Ensemble Program over the weekend. Students from all over North Queensland are nominated for the program by their teachers, and the highest level of students are chosen and given places. It’s a weekend of intense rehearsing, with some of the best conductors in Australia, culminating in a concert showcas-ing the pieces they’ve learnt. While exhausting, it’s a fantastic ex-perience for our students. They spent the afternoons relaxing at the Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort, swimming, jumping on the jumping pillow, and relaxing in front of the T.V. Saturday night in-cluded going out to dinner with families from CTSHS, and former ASSG student, Leonard Leicht-Stevens, followed by a trip to the Cairns Night Markets. Here are what the students had to say about their experience:

Chantelle Reynolds Best musical moment: When the whole choir sang together. We sounded really good. Also, when I got a diffi-cult part of the song right. Best non-musical moment: When we went out to dinner and the night markets. General comment about the SHEP experience: I thought that SHEP was a really good experience, as I got to meet lots of new people and I learnt a lot from Jess (our singing conductor).

Kurtis West Best musical moment: Listening to all the harmony put together, which sounded amazing. Best non-musical moment: Catching up with friends, and going to dinner and night markets. General comment about the SHEP experience: It was a great way to meet new people, and learn more and achieve more musical knowledge.

Harry Kempster Best musical moment: When we played the piece Spheres in the concert. Best non-musical moment: When we tried out the piece Army Ants for the first time. General comment about the SHEP experience: Great experience and fun with other musicians. Definitely would recommend it to others who want to grow their musical ability, and have a great time making new friends.

Lacey Marshall Best musical moment: Learning Hanging Tree with all the harmonies. Best non-musical moment: Going out to dinner. General comment about the SHEP experience: It was fun and a good experience.

Erin Bidewell Best musical moment: When the choir sang Our Poor Bird successfully in a round (or cannon). Best non-musical moment: Going out for dinner at the Rattle’n’Hum. General comment about the SHEP experience: It was a great learning experience for me, and a great experi-ence in general to be able to sing in a choir with other more experienced people, as well as a professional director.


Harry Kempster had a go at conducting the Wind Ensemble during their warm up.

Kithryn Kelly Best musical moment: When everyone’s parts started coming together and it doesn’t sound like your average vo-cal group. Best non-musical moment: Just chilling in the room, in my bunk, playing Minecraft (which is all I do when I’m not at SHEP). General comment about the SHEP experience: I liked it. Miss Croker Best musical moment: Watching the conductor of the Wind Ensemble pull an extra burst of energy and intensity out of an exhausted group of school students at the end of a day that included 6 hours of rehearsing. Best non-musical moment: Listening to students sing along to Thomas the Tank Engine while relaxing in the motel room? Watching Harry showing how he could (not) do 30 pirouettes? The cheer that went up when a foot-ball finally came down from the shade cloth above the swimming pool (kicked there by Mr Mossley)? It’s hard to choose! General comment about the SHEP experience: Having gone to SHEP myself as high school student, it’s great to go back as a teacher and meet the professional directors involved and still be able to learn from and be inspired by them. The students, while tired and sometimes a little grumpy, were overall well-behaved and a pleasure to take away for the weekend. Thanks must go to Mr Haddon Mossley for his assistance with supervising students over the weekend.


Charters Towers students who attended SHEP, with Wind Ensemble director, Peter Morris.

Obligatory selfie with the Leicht-Stevens family after dinner and the night markets.

ISSUE NO 4/2016 11 MARCH 2016

Head of Boarding Darren Guldbransen Head of Boarding Mobile: 0415 903 479 Email: [email protected]

Boys’ Boarding Feetham House Jake Diery Senior Resident Mobile: 0419 471 433 Email: [email protected] Page House Davin Marshall Senior Resident Mobile: 0409 071 433 Email: [email protected] Ramsay House Brendan Travers Senior Resident Mobile: 0400 751 433 Email: [email protected]

Girls’ Boarding Alban House Narelle Kelly Senior Resident Mobile: 0419 771 433 Email: [email protected] Becket House Teneil Smale Senior Resident Mobile: 0407 142 493 Email: [email protected] Chad House Yvonne Schaefer Senior Resident Mobile: 0439 764 638 Email: [email protected]

Dormitory News Dormitory News

Head of Boarding

Darren Guldbransen Just about every day in this job someone does or says something that makes me laugh, but at the end of last week I came across something that cracked me up. It was the funniest thing I had seen for a long time. Every year I inevitably end up knocking heads with our Year 10 boys, and this year’s group is no exception. I have no doubt in twelve months time we will all be-come besties again, as always hap-pens, but right now we don’t seem to be able to agree on anything. At the moment I have a few minor sanctions in place for them, but in-stead of sitting around and sulking about it they put their heads to-gether and came up with the at-tached slogan. Staying in the elec-toral campaign theme that is going on at the moment our group of would be politicians put out a flyer that was printed on A 3 paper and stuck them up in various areas of the school. It certainly got my at-tention and struck my funny bone but I am not absolutely sure there aren’t a few Year 11 Page House finger prints on this document as well. Well done guys, that was pretty clever.

Feetham House

Jake Diery Senior Resident Term 1 is just about dusted. I know a lot of the boys are looking forward to holidays and getting home. They need to remember it’s not over until the fat lady sings. So keeping on top of their assessments and prep is a must at this time of the term. They do not want to be running around the day before they go home trying to hand in overdue assignments. The boys in the dorm are keeping on top of the cleaning duty which is great to see. One thing that needs improving in the dorm is phones. I have a col-lection of 2nd phones starting to fill my draws up in the office. The boys cannot help themselves but stay up late and text. Please next term, do not let them bring back 2 phones. If they have them, they lose both phones for a week.

The boys have been getting in to their sports, With the Bulls and Miners starting to play games on the weekends. Running training has been going great with 90% of the boys getting up and going. I would like to thank all the people who came to the swimming carni-val especially the boys who went on leave but still came to support the school. Also I would like to con-gratulate Jack Winsper on winning his roping down south and being selected to go to America and com-pete for Australia. Well done Jack.

Finally guys the emails about leave have been great. Thank you to all of you who send them through to me. Just a reminder if your son is going out on leave, please just send me an email saying who he is going with and when he will leave and come back.


Ramsay House

Brenden Travers Senior Resident

Time To Study Six weeks have rolled by in a blink of an eye and we are now rapidly approaching the business end of term one. The order of the day is now studying and preparing for the impending exam block. With the completion of the Swimming and the cricket entering its final weeks we have a lot more time on our hands to focus on our aca-demics. A lot of afternoons are now being spent in the Library working on assignments and our prep sessions are stretching be-yond the allotted time frame. Some times in the boy’s dorm we have a tendency to be a little too relaxed in our approach to our studies, however this does not seem to be a problem this year. It is refreshing to see so many of our older students placing a high-er value on their results. Tipping Nightmare The beginning of this year’s NRL competition brings about the be-ginning of the Ramsay house tip-ping competition. It is free for the boys to enter and most have jumped on board, eager to prove they’re the most knowledgeable football mind in the dorm. Many coaches will tell their players that premierships aren’t won in March but Kellan Knuth has got off to an excellent start, doing what most punters would say is impossible in round 1, picking 8 from 8 and snaring a bonus point straight off the bat. Well done Kelvinator.

Thanks A couple of weeks ago Br Nathan took students to Townsville for the funeral of Bishop John Lewis. A number of students attended the service as servers and we thank them but also in attendance was Ramsay House Prefect Marshell Smallwood. Marshell was not asked to attend but went to the

Page House

Davin Marshall Senior Resident We are into week seven and the end of term is not far off. The holi-days will be a welcome break for all the boys but particularly for our new boarders. They have settled in well and seem to be coping with boarding life. All the boys are heavily involved in running training and gym training in the mornings and the positive attitude is great to see. We have assessments coming up between now and the end of term and the boys need to make sure they are managing their time so they don’t fall behind. It can be stressful with a big workload and general behaviour can deteriorate so please remind your son/s about appropriate behaviour and encour-age them to work hard on their as-signments. We regularly remind them here and it is helpful if they are getting the same message from home. Noel Bridges has taken it upon himself to run a footy tipping com-petition in the dorm this term and almost every one signed up. The cost was three dollars with a single jackpot at the end. I have decided I will buy a pizza for anyone who gets eight from eight for the week. We will just skip the rounds in the holidays. It should be a bit of fun. If you are hearing things at home that you feel I am unaware of please don’t hesitate to give me a call.

Charly Burge Feetham House Captain Now that we are getting late into the term many of the boys are starting to miss home. We are all eager for the holidays to start. They have been enjoying their cricket and the 1st Footy boys have been playing in the Townsville comp for the last couple of weeks now. A lot of the boys have been participating in morning running that happens twice a week. This term has been a great start to the year and I’m hop-ing that there will be another 3 just as good.

service anyway as a representative of the school, volunteering his time to represent the school in the best possible fashion. Thanks for the great effort Marshell.

Marshell Smallwood

That’s all from Ramsay Dorm for now, as always, if any parents wish to contact me in regards to their sons, please feel free to do so via email or phone anytime.


Alban House Narelle Kelly Senior Resident

Welcome to week 7 in the Alban household. I don’t have a lot to re-port since the last article even though there has been a lot hap-pening and some days it just feels like the weeks fly by. Just some reminders Weekend Leave: Could parents please keep in mind that they need to let us know before Thursday whether or not your daughters are going on leave? We are finding that some are telling us at the last minute, which makes it hard for us to follow up. Handing Phones In: I have been concentrating on getting (and keeping) the younger girls in bed each night at an early hour. Their phone calls need to be finished by 8.45 pm. I am finding that they are on the phone to home later than this, and it puts the whole dorm out of routine.

Kiara Henry-Nash Alban House Captain

With swimming over and done with, we now have our Alban girls getting up early on Tuesday and Friday mornings getting into the spirit early with training for the annual cross country event. It is very lovely to see all the girls’ committing to these training sessions. This tremendous effort will pay off when it comes time for the Alban girls to dominate in the cross country. My little Alban Alligators are participating in a wide variety of other sports. With the netball and touch football seasons upon us, I am pleased to say that many of the ladies have worked hard to try gain places on these teams. I would like to congratulate all of the girls on their hard work and valiant effort at trials, and the training to come this year. In the weeks leading up to exam block, some students may become stressed and anxious. If any of the girls have any questions or queries re-garding the exam block or assessment that may be due in the coming weeks, the Alban seniors will be more than happy to lend a helping hand.

Becket House

Teneil Smale Senior Resident Becket Spirit As Megan reports, Becket spirit is at an all time high. Much of our team spirit can be attributed to our six year twelve boarders, they have worked tirelessly this term to welcome and support their young-er Becket sisters. Being witness to this powerful peer influence has made me consider how valuable this support is for students at criti-cal points in their life. As a parent, consistency is my most powerful tool, yet one word from a respect-ed senior can secure a complete behaviour modification in a young-er student. This mentoring also of-fers a host of benefits for the mentor including a sense of pur-pose and personal growth. Peer mentoring happens naturally and is a way of learning that allows both participants to develop trans-ferable lifelong skills. I stood in the common room last night as our girls sang happy birthday at the top of their lungs to Angelique and thought to myself, ‘how lucky am I’ to be working in Becket with such a wonderful group of girls.

Ramsay House Captain

Logan Guldbransen

The atmosphere around the

school and around the dorm

has changed a lot in the last few

weeks with every student set-

tled in to the term comfortably.

This has been helped by the

start-up of the morning gym

sessions and Mr Halliday’s al-

ways enjoyable running train-

ings along with afternoon activi-

ties such as Sport, Ringer’s Club

and Cattle Club which many of

the boys have been participat-

ing in. Not to mention the high

intensity, super competitive

games of cricket being played

outside Ramsay dorm in which

some high levels of talent have

been displayed. None more out-

standing and entertaining than

the return of the 2006 First XI

best batsmen Brenden “The

Beast” Travers.

That’s all from Ramsay house

this week, we will continue to

report on the progress of the

dorm and school life, along with

the inform cricket performances

of Bear.

COWBOYS TRIP

Mac Horne Trip Coordinator About two dozen students trav-elled to 1800 Smiles Stadium and enjoyed watching the Cowboys' first win for the new season. We were expecting to be drenched by heavy rain but conditions re-mained fine, thankfully. The reg-ular trip to Maccas on the way home was enjoyed by all. Thanks go to Denis Riddle, the bus driver for the entire round trip, Pia Taylor for support at the ground, the School kitchen for providing a meal to take down with us, and Flo King for collating the list and the payments. Chad House

Yvonne Schaefer Senior Resident Netball Club Netball has a huge following in Charters Towers with healthy com-petitions held every week. We have had a great number of girls who have tried out for the teams. Flying the flag for the 12’s in the Gabes Flames, we have Piper Godfrey and Gabes Embers – Briarley Fitchett. The 13’s team - Gabes Blaze has Kate Jonsson from White Dorm. The Gabes Scorchers, 14’s team has Vasenai Dabea, Casey Campbell and Vivienne Elliott, all members of this very competitive age group from White Dorm. Gabes Sparks is a mixed team of 13’s and 14’s and consists of Ainsley Murphy, Sarah Suhr, Zoe Donaldson, Brooke Tin-dall, Zoee Rose, Jemma Mafrici, Jor-den Ford, and Sarah Clark. In our older teams, we have Georgie Clark, Hollie Grant, and Di-anne Fulford in Gabes Inferno – the Firsts, and Hughina Tindall, Ellie Ro-han, Kim Andison, Emma Andison, Ngarita Chappell, Breanna Kent and Julia Keough as team members of Gabes Heat and Gabes Fire. It is al-


ways great to see the girls play, so parents, if you are coming through on a Wednesday evening and have the time, make a point of watching your girls. They do a great job and do the school and themselves proud with their sportsmanship and respect for the game. We are certainly getting to the pointy end of the term with exams, assignments and drafts being the common theme throughout the dormitory. Add to that gym, run-ning training, early morning walk-ing, netball training and Wednesday night club netball, tennis training and interschool tennis, we have a potential recipe for disaster! We continually say to the girls to make sure that they ask for help early regarding their assessments, but if you as parents are finding that you are getting phone calls from your daughters, and they seem like things are getting on top of them, let us know. There is a lot of support that we can give them or that they can be directed to, if we know. Several girls are taking advantage of RINGERS Club. This helps to stay on top of their assessments or get-ting help with prep or just requiring a bit of extra help with understand-ing class work. I am sure that some are actually just going to the nice cool air-conditioned library – and are pleasantly surprised when they get a bit of extra work done as well. We have had a great start to the year and are very proud of the re-spect and kindness the girls show to each other every day. They are a wonderful group of girls and I am so proud of them. It isn’t easy to live in close proximity to a large group of girls and they always treat each other with thoughtfulness and dignity. As always, if you have any issues, let us know and we will do our best to sort it out.

Megan Rigato

Becket House Captain

Lady day dinner is on the horizon

and for the Becket girls that

means we are in preparation for

the dinner as we are the hosts this

year. The girls are excited to begin

making decorations with Miss

Marley during tutor groups and

maybe some afternoons if need-ed. The girls are still buzzing over

our victory from the swimming

carnival, which is great to see that

the team spirit is still alive away

from competitions. Our cross-

country practice is full steam

ahead with most girls going to

morning training sessions.

ISSUE NO 4/2016 11 MARCH 2016

Staff Profile

Staff Name: Leanne Colthup

Duties at ASSG: Math and Science

teacher

How long you have been at ASSG? Since the beginning

of Term 1, 2016

Where you are from? Originally from Coffs Harbour in NSW but have

recently moved to Charters Towers from Moranbah

Something people may not know about you: I have a licence to catch and relocate reptiles

What encouraged you to do this job? Our family decided it was time to make a move and

ASSG presented us with an opportunity to stay in a

regional area and be part of a school with a strong

sense of community and spirit.

What work did you do before coming to ASSG? I was working as an Ecologist within the resource

industry

What is your favourite aspect of your job? Being able to help students see their potential,

I love experiencing the light bulb moments with

them.

And your least favourite? Marking

What was your favourite subject at school? Definitely science (and sport)!

What was the most important part of your education? Experiencing life!

Which person (or thinker) has had the greatest influence on your life?

Tim Flannery – a leading Australian Ecologist

What would you never do, no matter the price? Go bungee jumping

If you had a motto, what would it be? When something bad happens you have three

choices. You can let it define you, let it destroy

you, or you can let it strengthen you.

If you could choose, what would you have for your last meal? Coral trout with steamed potatoes

and a creamy sauce.

Headmaster Contents - All Souls St Gabriels School · ASSG also has music schol-arships available....

Documents

Transcript of Headmaster Contents - All Souls St Gabriels School · ASSG also has music schol-arships available....