Issue #2018_01

WELCOME TO 2018 Welcome back to the College for our first newsletter of 2018. To all our new families an especially warm welcome to you all. On Tuesday we welcomed our new Year 7 students, new students in other year levels and also welcomed new teachers and school officers. Each were presented with the Emmaus College Badge.

We were very appreciative of the support of our new College pastor Fr Marcel, Sister Margaret Smith, Sister Sandra Hopkins, and Sister Pat Wood. We also had in attendance Ms Michelle Landry MP for Capricornia and Mr Barry O’Rourke MLA for Rockhampton. Mr Craig Fairbairn – Assistant to the Director Schools in the Rockhampton region and principals Ms Helen Dean, Mr Mike Kelso and Mr Bernard Fitzgerald were also in attendance as was our College Board Chair Mr Wade Hunt and Mr Nathan Fletcher our Parents and Friends President.

ROAD SAFETY ALERT At the start of the year it is important that everyone is aware that students and parents are familiarising themselves with new situations for pick up and drop off, walking, cycling and bussing home.

• Please do not park in pick up/drop off zones. • Please observe the 20 km/h speed limit in the slip way off Yaamba Road. • Please observe the 40 km/h speed limit in the school zone and times on Main Street. • Please do not enter the staff carpark to drop students off in the morning on Yaamba Road or Main

Street campuses – this can lead to dangerous situations. • To provide a safe environment and to assist with the flow of traffic outside of the Yaamba Road

Campus, parents and carers are reminded that between gates 1 and 2 parking is angle parking. There has also been frustration expressed by parents, in the past, who have been blocked from driving off because people are not reversing in but stopping their car parallel to the parked cars whilst their children get out of the car. Dropping and picking up your child is a busy time but we ask for patience and consideration to avoid any accidents.

• Please speak to your students about their use of technology in traffic situations – everyone needs to be alert near these busy intersections at these peak times of day.

• All students should use the overpass to cross Yaamba Road and should use the pedestrian lights at Main Street and Yaamba to cross Main Street.

• Students should always walk on footpaths in neighbouring streets and be alert when crossing minor roads.

• Students cycling to school should use cycle ways and underpasses whenever possible. Students cycling should dismount when signed to cross intersections at lights.

• There is no longer any parking available for students on campus. Students who drive to school need to park and drive their cars responsibly.

• On Main Street, the old Gate 2 public car park no longer exists. Gate 3 is now used by the construction company and is not available to the school community.

• The entrance to the Main Street campus is Gate 4 for staff and visitors and the exit is via Pearce Street (near Leinster Place). There is limited visitor parking near the Main Street dome. Please follow signs to our temporary office near the demountable offices.

• Students should behave responsibly and be in full school uniform when waiting on footpaths and travelling on public transport.

The College has limited supervision before school on each campus from 8:10am. There is staff supervision on the Yaamba Road slip way and Main Street bus area in the afternoons until 3:20pm.

EMMAUS COLLEGE Newsletter – Thursday 1 February 2018

OPENING SCHOOL PRAYER God who walks beside us, help us to understand that your Kingdom belongs to children. May our voices be heard in the Church in this town and this school. Let us welcome all new students and staff, especially the Year 7’s of 2018. In them, may we hear the voice of the stranger, who shakes us out of our complacency, challenges us to live with integrity and invites us to be joyful. In 2018, may we be a community where the young and the old stand up and speak out for others, because every person is a child of God, loved deeply, and wisdom is found where we least expect it, and only when we seek it. We ask this in the name of our brother Jesus, our companion on the journey, who comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable and always makes a place at the table for children. Amen. First reading Job 7:1-4,6-7 Job began to speak: Is not man’s life on earth nothing more than pressed service… Responsorial Psalm Psalm 146(147):1-6 Praise the Lord who heals the broken-hearted Second reading 1 Corinthians 9:16-19,22-23 I do not boast of preaching the gospel, … Gospel Mark 1:29-39 … Jesus went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew…

Issue #2017_11

THANK YOU TO STAFF A big thank you to a number of staff who have worked tirelessly over the Christmas break to have the College ready for us all to commence the new year. A special thank you to Ms Julie Maher and Mrs Helen Howell for their work on the timetable, which began prior to the September holidays. A big thank you to all the staff who worked in the offices over the break so that we would be ready for the school year. Also, a big thank you to Mr John Howard and the ground staff who have prepared classrooms and the grounds and liaised with contractors who have done a great deal of work in the College over the break. • This work includes painting and rendering of the Yaamba Road

Hall and L Block on Main Street. • Fitting of an extension to the stage in the hall and provision of a

dance floor in the function space in the hall and new partition doors replacing the old wooden ones.

• Over the holidays a major solar installation has been put in place on both campuses and will be completed hopefully by mid-March with the installation of Tesla batteries. We are hoping to reduce the college’s power bill by 90% with this initiative.

• The new Main Street administration block is now well underway. Over a kilometre of concrete footings was laid last Thursday, which took forty trucks to deliver.

WELCOME TO THE FOLLOWING NEW STAFF Mr Connor Williams Teacher Ms Tahlia Craft Teacher Ms Kate Walshe Teacher Mr George Ferlazzo Teacher Mr Jahcinta Walkerden Teacher Ms Carley Elliott Teacher – Head of English Ms Clare Ford Teacher Mr Mark Leon Teacher Ms Carly Brennan Teacher Dr Guy Carton Teacher

Mr Wayne Laverty Teacher Ms Monica Deeth Admin Officer Ms Bonnie Byrne Admin Assistant

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING STAFF WITH NEW RESPONSIBILITIES – Ms Aine Toman Leadership Team – AP Mission Andrew Pratt Director of Campus – Senior Linda McKenzie Faculty Leader – RE Ashling Canavan Head of Academic Performance – Senior Melinda Spottiswood Head of Year 9 Daine Hortsman Head of Year 8 Allan Hilcher Head of Year 11

CONGRATULATIONS TO LONG SERVING STAFF At the recent Opening Mass for Catholic Education held in the week prior to school a number of Emmaus staff were acknowledge for long service to Catholic Education.

• Ms Tonia Hinton for twenty years of service • Mrs Helen Howell, Mr John Loch and Mr Cajetan Goves for

thirty years of service. We thank them for their many years of dedicated service to Catholic Education at Emmaus College.

UPCOMING COLLEGE DATES Thursday 1 February eNewsletter published

Board Meeting Friday 2 February Year 12 Commissioning Ceremony at the Hall – 5:30pm

Last day of subject changes – Year 12 ID Photo Catch up day RDS Rugby Union Trials

Saturday 3 February Youth Mass at Holy Family Church, 6pm Tuesday 5 February Interschool Girls Basketball commences Wednesday 7 February Interschool Boys Football commences

RDS Netball Trials RDS Rugby League Trials

Thursday 8 February RDS AFL Trials RDS Volleyball Trials

Monday 12 February Year 7 Immunisations Interschool Boys Rugby Union Commences

Tuesday 13 February Pancake Tuesday Wednesday 14 February Ash Wednesday

Retreats – ALL YEAR LEVELS RDS 18 Basketball Trials Valentine’s Day

Thursday 15 February eNewsletter published Academic Assembly Last day of subject changes – Year 9, 10, 11 RDS Touch Trials

Issue #2017_11

WELCOME TO FR. MARCEL We welcome our new chaplain, Fr Marcel to the Emmaus College community. We look forward to working him and the Northside Catholic Community.

From Fr Marcel…

This Sunday the Gospel gives us a glimpse of what Christ’s coming meant to the world, whether we like it or not, Christ’s life changed human culture throughout the world. The ministry of Jesus shows us how He is invested with the power of the Spirit at his baptism and thus acts with authority and the power that moves Jesus has its source in God. Jesus did not use his authority and Divine power to rule and control people, but He came to set people free. Parents are the first teacher of a child; hence Parents and Teachers are powerful because they change lives. They have within their grasp the power over young lives to heal them wonderfully.

Most of us are deeply and forever indebted to some caring teacher in our past. So today, when we hear that Jesus entered the synagogue at Capernaum and began to teach, we need to take note: Jesus was a teacher (Rabbi). Jesus’ teaching creates an impression because people can see the change for good it effects in the broken and the crippled and the dispossessed.

Let us all become good teachers and use our authority to form young lives in the right way. Let us approach Jesus with trusting Faith so that He may free us from the evil spirits that keep us from praying and prevent us from loving and sharing our blessings with others.

RETIREMENT OF MR MIKE FITZGERALD Mr Fitzgerald has announced his retirement. His career has spanned 49 years teaching across primary, secondary, state, grammar and Catholic school systems as a teacher, subject-coordinator, deputy principal and principal. In his career he has always championed and pioneered the use of computers and related technology with students, teachers and administration staff in all schools he has worked in since the late 1970s. His passion for technology and its use to enhance education is indicative of his attitude as an enthusiastic life-long learner who has passed on that enthusiasm and love of learning to thousands of young minds over the years. We thank him for his service and wish him all the best in his retirement.

YEAR 12 RESULTS IN 2017 Our seniors did very well again last year with sixteen students receiving an OP in the range of 1 to 5 and a further twenty-nine receiving an OP in the 6 to 10 range. We congratulate all of our students with a very high percentage of students receiving their first preference for university and many others receiving offers of apprenticeships and fulltime employment.

EMMAUS COLLEGE STRATEGIC GOALS FOR 2018

The first goal we have called Permeation (it is a term that was shared with us by Catholic Education in the Lismore Diocese) – it is about our Catholic teaching having an impact and permeating the life of the school community. Key elements of this goal for our student body are -

• the continuation of the Companion Award introduced for the first time last year,

• Retreats at every year level and • Our prayers and spiritual practice – at the moment in our

week we do the Examen every morning, meditation three days and the Our Father on Tuesdays.

The second major goal is to Enrich Students’ Experience

• Firstly by helping students know themselves better – and how they learn – CAT testing is a big part of knowing how our students learn – and we will share this info with students so that they know more about themselves and how they learn best

• Learning goals – every lesson – we want students to know what they are learning, why and how.

• Student involvement – we want students to be actively involved in the life of the College in its many different forms – spiritual, academic, cultural and sporting. We have a new Student Representative structure to also support this as well as a continuation of the practice of having students as members of the College board.

On Thursday for the first time all students participated in an online reading program called Reading Plus. This program is designed to improve all students’ reading. It improves vocabulary, helps speed and fluency of reading, assists with comprehension and also enjoyment of reading. The best thing is that it will target each learner at exactly the level where they are. We want all our students to improve their level and speed of reading. This will enrich and impact every subject our students study at school. For more information on Reading Plus please follow this link.

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The third goal is about School, Parish and Church

We are creating connections with our parishes of North Rockhampton particularly through involvement in masses at Holy Family Parish on the first Saturday night of the month and third Sunday morning, and in the weekly mass in the chapel at the back of the library 8am on Thursday morning. All members of our community are always welcome to attend these masses.

We also have a Year 10 Youth ministry class which will organise retreats for Year 10 students and possibly also for primary school groups later in the year.

We will shortly welcome the NET team to North Rockhampton – The National Evangelisation Team (NET) is an outreach of the North Rockhampton parishes to all the schools of north Rockhampton – five young people will be regular visitors in our community connecting us to the parish.

Finally our fourth goal is about enhancing a Reflective Culture.

We want to create Mindfulness in our school for everyone, students, staff and parents. It is another reason for our daily Examen, and for our meditation three days a week.

We want to continue to reflect and prepare for the new curriculum that is coming in 2019 for our current Year 10 students which will mean quite a few changes for the Senior curriculum and for the rest of the College.

We also want to reflect on Responsible Thinking and what it means.

This leads us to the second poster that will appear in all classrooms shortly which is about each of us asking ourselves questions in a mindful way. There are three sets of questions. There are spiritual questions, learning questions and pastoral questions.

The first questions are the group of spiritual questions which make up the daily morning Examen for students and staff. Our community are

familiar with this prayer form already and for parents we have little cards with this prayer on one side. If you would like one please contact the office.

The Examen is:

Take a deep breath … Being aware of God’s presence in the last 24 hours What was the best thing I heard? What was the best thing I saw? What was the best thing someone did for me? What was the best thing I did for someone else? What can I do to improve this day? Thank you God. Then there are also learning questions – When I visit classrooms I want students to be able to answer these questions.

What am I learning? Why am I learning it? How am I learning it? How successful is my learning? How can I demonstrate my learning? What am I going to do next?

The next group of questions the Emmaus community recognise as based on the Responsible Thinking Questions. The questions have been turned around. Instead of asking “What are you doing?” the poster asks

What am I doing? What are the rules? What happens if I break the rules? Is this what I want to happen? Where do I want to be?

And underneath these the poster asks the key questions of students and staff of being welcoming and following our mission statement at Emmaus College as a community in 2018.

Am I standing up for others? – Am I allowing someone to be bullied? No! I stand up and help or get help so that no one is alone. Am I welcoming and friendly? To all – those in my class – to the new people – to the supply teacher – to the visitor to our community. Am I being courteously respectful of others? – my classmates, my teachers, staff, parents and opposition teams. Am I being helpful? To my classmates – to my community.

Finally the central question on the poster is “Who do I Say that Jesus is?”

This is the question that Jesus asked of his disciples. They had different answers. After meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus the disciples had different answers to that question again. As all of us journey through the College and as we journey through life, it is an important question to ask ourselves - Who do I say that Jesus is?

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FIRST YOUTH MASS OF THE YEAR AT HOLY FAMILY – THIS SATURDAY (3/2/2018) NIGHT AT 6 PM The Emmaus community, staff, students and parents are invited to be involved in the first of the monthly Youth Masses to be held at Holy Family Parish this Saturday night.

BR JOHN VERNARD We are sharing the sad news of the passing of Br John Vernard. Br John was the last Marist Brother Principal of Chanel College, Gladstone having been Principal there during the 1990s. Br John then moved to Rockhampton to work in the Catholic Education Office and more recently has lived in retirement at Ashgrove. Br John was a member of the Emmaus Board for about eight years at the start of this century. Br Jeff Barrington sm passed the attached article about Br John on to me with the sad news of Br John’s passing. Br John might be best known to you for his books of reflections under the “Battlers God” title. Our thoughts and prayers are with the members of Br John’s family, his Marist family and his extended group of friends. May he rest in peace.

SCHOOL FEE CONCESSION CARD DISCOUNT INFORMATION

SERVICE TO CATHOLIC EDUCATION Congratulations to the following Emmaus Staff members who were recognised for their commitments and dedication to Catholic Education in Rockhampton during the Opening School Year Mass. We give thanks for: Tonia Hinton 20 years’ service to Catholic Education Helen Howell 30 years’ service to Catholic Education John Loch 30 years’ service to Catholic Education Cajetan Goves 30 years’ service to Catholic Education

EAMON HANNAN AWARDED THE JOHN LAING AWARD Congratulations to Eamon Hannan who in December last year, along with thirty-seven school leaders from around Australia, was awarded the John Laing Award for their commitment to education and consistent demonstration of outstanding school leadership. The award is highly regarded, as it is peer nominated and presented by the Principals Australia Institute (PAI). The CEO of the Principals Australia

Institute commented that ‘…principals recognised by the John Laing Awards exemplify the high standard of leadership that is required and expected of the contemporary school leader.’

ASSESSMENT SCHEDULES The assessment schedules for Term 1 are now available through the newsletter and on the College website. Parents and carers will be notified of any amendments through the newsletter. We would encourage students to print off the schedule relevant to their year level and display it in a prominent place like their study space at home or on the fridge. Hard copies are available from the office.

AFTERSCHOOL GROUP TUTORIAL SESSION Emmaus College offers students the opportunity to attend after school group tutorials in a range of subject areas. The complete listing of tutorial offerings, times and venues is being finalised this week and will be published in the next newsletter and on the College website. Some subjects provide tutorials 'as required' and will advertise the venue, time and subject area through student notices.

SENIOR SCHOOLING IN QUEENSLAND Early this term students in Year 10, 11 and 12 will attend a series of presentations that focus on their senior secondary journey. Year 10 students will be introduced to some of the important issues they need to take into consideration in preparation for their senior schooling. The new senior assessment and tertiary entrance system begins in Queensland with Year 11 students in 2019. An excellent range of resources and information is available through the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority website at:

We look forward to welcoming parents and carers to information sessions planned for 2018. A number of informative short videos have been developed by QCAA that detail the 21st century skills our students require. These are available at:

BROTHERS DAILY NEWS SPECIAL EDITION

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ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE YEAR 7

ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE YEAR 8

ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE YEAR 9

ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE YEAR 10

ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE YEAR 11

ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE YEAR 12

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Students in Years 11 and 12 will focus on ensuring their eligibility for the Queensland Certificate of Education and Overall Position (OP). Again, some excellent resources for parents and carers is available at:

Of particular interest to parents of students in Years 11 and 12 is a very useful QCE (Queensland Certificate of Education) planner that allows students to track their QCE eligibility and determine the consequences of amendments to their program. The QCE planner is available at:

Parents and students can access using their LUI number or as a guest.

2018 has been named as the Year of Youth by the Australian Catholic Bishops. Catholic communities are invited to work in partnership with young people’s passion and energy to ensure they become more fully alive as the Body of Christ. Pope Francis, at a World Youth Day Rally in 2016, invited all young people to take ‘risks’ for God, to break open everything that keeps them closed in. He reassures everyone that God has great hopes for each of you, encouraging you to dream. We are excited to announce that our College is lucky to be welcoming a National Evangelisation Team (NET) into our school and parish community from the Tuesday 27 February 2018. NET is a Catholic peer to peer youth ministry that puts into action the Church's mission and provides a powerful living witness to the Catholic faith. The teams present a vision for life, which challenges, equips and encourages young people in their day to day circumstances. The team have just finished their NET intensive training and are looking forward to their commissioning ceremony in the coming weeks. We will continue to keep you informed of their youth ministry activities and successes as we move through the ‘Year of Youth’ 2018.

PRAYER IN OUR CLASSROOMS In Emmaus College we believe in the holistic development of each and every child. Our College, is not only committed to the development of their intellectual, social, physical and emotional well-being but also their spiritual growth. In Emmaus, prayer is experienced in many different ways. We believe that routines with prayer allow students to become confident in at least one way to pray. Our prayer routines for Term 1 are:

● Silent Christian meditation every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a maximum of 5 minutes. The aims of silent Christian Meditation is to find God in the stillness, silence and simplicity.

● Focus on the Our Father, the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ every Tuesday. ● Saying grace before each break to acknowledge our gratitude for

the gifts of food that we are blessed with. ● Invitation to Emmaus Parish masses to our whole college

community every Thursday at 8am in the Yaamba Chapel. Specific tutes are invited each week as well, this week 8B and 11B students are especially invited to attend.

• The daily morning Examen

LENTEN PREPARATIONS As a Catholic community, we are preparing for the commencement of Lent. It is the beginning of our preparation for Easter when Jesus rises from the dead. Lent is a special time when we stop and think about how we can play our part in God’s hope for a world that is fair, just and peaceful. This year in Emmaus, all year groups will reflect on the Caritas theme of a ‘ Just world’ and all fund-raising activities during this time will be for this very worthy cause. Shrove Tuesday is the day that precedes Ash Wednesday. This year shrove Tuesday (Pancake Tuesday) is on Tuesday 13 February. Students are invited to donate a gold coin donation towards Caritas in exchange for a freshly flipped pancake on this day.

STUDENT PRAYER Loving God, bless our students in the studies they undertake at Emmaus College. May they learn here the value of work, a sense of their own achievement and the dignity they possess as Your children. We pray that all of us, as we walk the Emmaus Road together, will grow to appreciate the many gifts of our lives and all that we learn in the company of others. Amen Please pray for our young people by praying our student prayer.

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CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE WEBSITE

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE WEBSITE

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YEAR 12 COMMISSIONING CEREMONY The year 12 students will be introduced as our College Seniors and will receive their Senior badges at the Year 12 Commissioning Ceremony on Friday the 2nd of February. The ceremony will commence at 5:30pm and will take place in the Yaamba Road Hall.

YEAR 12 STUDENTS During week three’s MPL Year 12 students will take part in an information session on the Queensland Core Skills test, the requirements for gaining a Queensland Certificate of Education and the process involved in calculating Overall Positions. This information will be delivered by Mr Simon Warren (Assistant Principal – Teaching and Learning), Mrs Sharon Lapere (Assistant Principal – Curriculum) and Ms Narelle Sommerfeld (Workplace Learning and Careers Coordinator). This session will help answer any questions that the students have about the process that they will go through in their final year of schooling and will provide them with up to date information on how they can best progress on their chosen pathway.

LOCKS Any student who does not have a lock for their lockers must arrange one this week. Locks are a requirement as they are there to protect students’ equipment and essentially prevent parents/carers from having to cover the cost of lost/stolen items.

ROAD SAFETY The construction on the Main Street campus is having an impact on the pick up zone at the front of the school. Could drivers please adhere to the 40km/hour School Zone speed limit when picking up students at 3:00pm. Also it would be appreciated if parents/carers could please remind students of road safety in terms of crossing the road correctly, using foot paths instead of walking on the road, crossing at designated areas, i.e. traffic lights and the overpass and not using technology when crossing roads. Diligence in these areas could prevent a tragedy occurring.

STUDENT PARKING Due to the construction of the new Administration building and the loss of car parking spaces, students will not be allowed to park in the Main Street carpark. Students who drive to school will need to park off-site.

UNIFORM EXPECTATIONS Most senior students have been making a concerted effort to wear their uniform correctly and with pride. Just so parents/carers are aware, it is an expectation that all students adhere to the Emmaus College Uniform policy at all times. Students who fail to meet their obligations in this area will be held accountable and we as a school would appreciate parents/carers support in this matter.

The full Emmaus College Uniform Policy can be found on the Emmaus College website in the “Parent/Carer Information Book” link. When in public outside of school hours it would also be appreciated if parents/carers would ensure that their student is following the uniform guidelines of the College.

Welcome to Emmaus Middle School Parents and Pupils of 2018. This is a wonderful school, and the decision to come here is a wise one. The next step is to make sure that you and your child make the most out of your time here as part of the Emmaus Community. Encouraging regular school attendance is one of the most powerful ways you can prepare your child for success—both in school and in life. When you make school attendance a priority, you help your child get better grades, develop healthy life habits, avoid dangerous behavior and have a better chance of your child fulfilling their potential.

• The Pastoral System here at Emmaus supports your child in this area. Perhaps you should contact Mr Parle to discuss extra-curricular sport

• Perhaps music is your child’s passion. Here, Ms Alexis Lally can help you by assisting you to organise private tuition here at Emmaus or take part in our ensembles or bands.

• If it performing arts then you should contact Ms Driver to discuss opportunities in this area

• Our Pastoral Team address risk-taking behaviour, cyber-safety and healthy eating. With all this support in place, good attendance and application to work in class should surely lead to good grades?

This year we are using Reading Plus to further develop our students literacy skills. Please access the videos below for further information on Reading Plus.

Students who attend school regularly also feel more connected to their community, develop important social skills and friendships, and are significantly more likely to graduate from high school, setting them up for a strong future. I believe you have made a great choice in enrolling your child at Emmaus College, now let’s keep the momentum going with a healthy attendance rate and engagement in our literacy initiative “Reading Plus”.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO

CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO

CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO

CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO

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Welcome to a new year at Emmaus I hope this year’s journey is one where you achieve all you hope for. It is a privilege every year to welcome over 250 excited Year 7 students to join our wonderful College. Their Emmaus Journey lies ahead of them, and though a little anxious and nervous their obvious enthusiasm is a gift to us all. We should all be enthusiastic for what lies ahead, the opportunities presented to us to improve our education, to form new friendships, to form closer bonds as a community and grow in our faith. What most Year 7’s bring in abundance is a great attitude; they want to be here and are keen to try everything. Tom Stoppard once wrote:

“A healthy attitude is contagious but don't wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.”

Our attitude is everything; it is what drives us to be our best and to use our gifts to their fullest. A great attitude keeps us strong. In the face of all the adversities we face on a daily basis, it keeps us moving forward.

Attitude is a choice we make. Roy Bennet said:

“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever

choice you make, MAKES YOU. Choose wisely.”

A wise man, Bennet hones in on the ultimate truth, we make the choices that dictate the sort of person we want to become. So, as this new year opens up before us all may our Attitudes and Choices lead us to achieving the goals we have set for ourselves and bring us closer and stronger as a community. I encourage all year 7’s to take every opportunity they can this year to share their gifts as they more you get involved in the greater your Emmaus journey will become. We are all Travellers on an Emmaus Journey but it’s not a long road. The success of the Journey will be measured, at the end, memories of opportunities taken or not taken, in the way we have shared our gifts and by the way we have treated each other. May this year be an exceptional part of your journey and may your memories be many. God Bless

Art Tutes are every Tuesday afternoon from 3:00pm – 4:30pm. Other afternoons can be negotiated with the Visual Art teachers.

SENIOR ELECTIVES AND MOBILE PHONES Students who choose to study Physical Education, Certificate III in Fitness and Recreation in Year 10, 11 and 12 are required to regularly gather personal footage for analysis and utilise Bluetooth heart monitors to gather personal data. The easiest and most convenient way for students to do this is via a smart phone which we understand most students have. This ensures that students have the information they need on their device for when they need it. However with use comes risk, if you or your student have concerns or do not have a smart phone to carry out these tasks then I ask that an SD card be purchased and that the student borrows a camera from the library as an alternative method for collecting footage. Hello and welcome to the new school year. A special welcome to our Year 7 students, new students, and new staff members. As a new staff member, and new Head of Faculty, I have been warmly welcomed upon my arrival. I am looking forward to meeting more English classes as the year progresses. Classes are already in full swing, engaging in rigorous learning and working toward assessment. We will soon be advertising Debating for 2018, and hope to field both a junior and senior team. The local debating competition is a strong one, and students gain a lot of valuable skills from being involved. Keep an eye on notices for more information in the coming weeks. Writers Club will also be running this year, and we are hoping to have a combination of virtual activities and real life catch-ups. Again, there will be more information forthcoming soon. As our students are engaging in the Reading Plus program in Prayer and Reading, I strongly encourage students to visit the library and engage in wide reading. It is of such benefit to all areas of learning. Don’t forget to recommend your favourite books to your friends as well! “Think before you speak. Read before you think.”

― Fran Lebowitz

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MATHS MATTERS A reminder that all students in Years 7 to 12 should have their own scientific calculator that needs to be brought to all Maths lessons. Failure to do so is impacting heavily on students’ ability to complete set class tasks. Scientific calculators can be purchased from the Library for $17.50 each. The standard equipment that needs to be taken to each Maths lesson is shown below.

Please attend to this matter if necessary.

MATHS TUTES: Maths tutes are commencing each Tuesday from 3:15pm – 4:15pm. Middle School (Year 7, 8, 9) in the Yaamba Road Library Senior School (Year 10,11,12) in R5 on Main Street.

Welcome back to the start of a busy term one. My role at Emmaus is to provide assistance and advice on career and study pathways for students. I encourage both parents and students to contact me to explore and discuss short and long-term study and career options. Students are likely to have a number of employment roles in their lifetime. In order to be resilient and adapt to change they will need to be actively engaged in career enhancing decisions.

REMINDER CQTAFE Certificate courses commence shortly. There are vacancies in a number of courses. The attached list details the courses that are currently fully funded. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding the enrolment procedures.

PARENTS & TEACHERS DEFENCE CAREERS NIGHT Date: Monday 12 February, 2018 Time: 6:30pm – 8:30pm Where: Rockhampton Leagues Club

Cnr George & Cambridge Streets, Rockhampton QLD 4700 RSVP: cpttownsville@dfr.com.au

YEAR 12 STUDENTS - PATHWAY MEETINGS Pathway interviews will be scheduled for all Year 12 students commencing early in Term 1 and continuing through Term 2. The allocated interview time will be approximately 15 minutes during school hours, however further appointments can be organised with parents after school hours. The aim of the meeting is to discuss and identify student goals and provide information to students regarding their post school options, including Tertiary applications and further study, scholarship applications, employment pathways. The interviews will take place in the Careers Office Main Street campus. Students will be notified of their appointment date and time by email.

HELLO AND WELCOME TO 2018 As the Head of Textile and Food Technology Faculty at Emmaus I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new and returning families. This year in the Textile and Food Technology Faculty we are welcoming new and exciting changes. Firstly we welcome Jahcinta Walkerden and Helen Mollard to the teaching Faculty. Helen has come to us with a wealth of teaching experience and this year she will be teaching two Year 7 classes in our Faculty. Jahcinta has recently returned to Australia from teaching in England and will be teaching the Year 12 Home Economics, Year 9 Food, and both a Year 7 and Year 8 Food and Textile Technology classes. We also welcome back Angela Barkle (Year 7 and 8 Food and Textile Technology, Year 9 Focus on Food, Year 10 Discovering Food and Nutrition) and Emily Alley (Year 7 Textile and Food Technology and Year 11 Hospitality Practices). I will be teaching a Year 7 and Year 8 Textile and Food Technology class, Year 9 Textiles and Year 12 Hospitality Practices. We also have Linda Eyles in our Faculty and she teaches the Year 11 and 12 students Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care. We are blessed with Nichole Cummins as our Teacher Aide who assists us with purchasing food and textile resources for all our classes and helps to keep things running smoothly and efficiently for us.

CLICK HERE FOR FLYER

CLICK HERE FOR FLYER

Issue #2017_11

In case you were wondering Textile and Food Technology was previously called Home Economics. You may notice that we only have one Home Economics class and that is our Year 12 class. With the changes in the new Australian Curriculum Home Economics as a subject will change from next year and we will be offering a new subject in our faculty. The Year 7 and 8 students study in our faculty for one semester. The students have the same teacher for the semester and they do Food Technology for one term and Textile Technology for one term. Year 7 textile students are not required to bring in any resources for classes. Year 7 food students are only required to bring food for their final assessment towards the end of term. Year 8 food and textile students, Year 9 Focus on Food and Year 10 Discovering Food and Nutrition students will be advised by their respective teachers what food or textile items are needed for their practical classes. Year 9 textile students will be required to purchase resources and this will be dependent on the individual practical project of the student. In 2018 we are managing changes to our kitchens on Yaamba Road Campus with one of our kitchens being re-modelled during Semester One and improvements made to the second kitchen and the sewing room. If you have any questions about your child being in one of our subjects, please contact their teacher direct by email or if you have any general questions, please feel free to contact me.

WELCOME TO 2018 The library staff are looking forward to another great year in the Libraries. The opening times for both libraries are 8:00am – 4:00pm Monday to Friday School Days

LIBRARY STAFF Therese Fitzgerald - Library Manager Lynda Nicholson – Librarian Denise Ball – Library Assistant Kiralee Cochrane - Library Assistant Trudy Agius – Library Assistant

“LIBRARY LOVERS’ DAY” FEBRUARY 13TH 2018 Keep a look out for Library activities celebrating Library Lovers’ Day for 2018. Main Street Activities:

• Write a love letter to your library about an experience or a book you have read that has stayed with you forever xo. Best entry wins a prize!!

• Go on a blind date with a book Yaamba Road Activities: • Favourite book photobooth - Love notes to your library • Go on a blind date with a book

R2R@EMMAUS The focus for library lessons during 2018 will again be Research to Referencing (R2R). The objective of this program is to concentrate on the journey that students need to take to complete an assessment piece. Starting with skills needed to navigate and assess relevant information from all the sources available, using this information to assemble the assignment and finishing with an accurate reference/bibliography list. All Year 7 and 11 students complete a library orientation lesson and R2R lessons throughout the year. Other year levels are offered the options to implement the R2R lesson as part of a unit of work in the classroom.

CHESS TEAMS 2018 The interschool Chess tournament will begin soon with the first competition to be held on Thursday 22 February at The Cathedral College. If you are interested see Mrs Ball in the Library or Mrs Norris at the sports desk.

ACCESSING LIBRARY RESOURCES The library page can be accessed by clicking on the library tab at the top of the intranet page.

Emmaus College subscribes to a range of online databases so that students have reliable and up to date information for assignment research. These databases are available from the Library intranet page. Students are encouraged to make this their first port of call when beginning research for assessment as this is much more time efficient than using search engines such as Google and Wikipedia. The Library class page and online databases are available at home from the College external web page:

• Select Login to Intranet • Select the Library tab at the top of the page

BORROWING BOOKS FROM THE MAIN STREET LIBRARY Students at the Yaamba Road campus are able to borrow books from the Main Street Library in some circumstances; a special form can be filled out and signed by parents. Even with a signed form the lending of titles from the Main Street collection will still be at the discretion of the Librarian.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE WEBSITE

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE WEBSITE

Issue #2017_11

YAAMBA LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY FREE DAYS This year the Yaamba campus will increase the technology free times from 3 times a week to second break of every day. This means that students will not have access to their laptops during this period of time each day. For any exceptions please see the library staff.

OVERDUE LIBRARY RESOURCES FROM 2017 Letters for overdue resources will be sent to parents at the beginning of first term with the last date for returns set at 2 March 2018. Any remaining overdue Library resources from 2017 as at this date will be charged to term 2 school fees. If you have any questions regarding these charges please contact the Library. Looking forward to a fantastic year in the library.

Term 1 is always a huge term filled with plenty of sporting opportunities for all students. Next week we have Interschool Girls Basketball and Interschool Boys Futsal starting. Trials are currently taking place and teams are being put together. Once these teams are selected, students will be notified and then a draw will be issued each week to advise when games are being played. Other interschool sports that are taking place this term are Boys T20 cricket, Water Polo, Girls 7’s Rugby Union, Boys Rugby Union and Aussie Rules. Also do not forget that the Term 1 calendar is in full swing across the Rockhampton and District Representative Trials. Please see list below for sports on offer at a representative level. Please find below the link to the website with forms for all Interschool and Rockhampton & District Representative sports on offer this term. These forms must be handed in to the Sports Service Desk and paid by the due date to be eligible to trial for Rockhampton & District School Sport.

RDS Softball RDS Rugby Union RDS Netball RDS Rugby League RDS Aussie Rules RDS Volleyball RDS Basketball (10-12yrs only) RDS Touch Football RDS Hockey RDS Football (Soccer) RDS Squash RDS Swimming

2018 CALENDARS Our 2018 calendars are currently in the mail and on their way to your letterboxes!! We have included a lot more significant dates and events, and cannot wait to see you at many of our College events!

WELCOME TO EMMAUS Please SAVE THE DATE for our upcoming Enrolment Information Evening and Year 7 Welcoming BBQ – Welcome to Emmaus. When: Tuesday 27 February 2018 Time: 4:00pm – 6:30pm Where: Yaamba Road Hall Parking: On the Oval We will be sending out more communication over the next few weeks. However if you would like to submit your enrolment application paperwork for 2019, 2020 or 2021, please email enrolments@emmaus.qld.edu.au.

CATCH UP PHOTOS Thank you to everyone who attended the ID Photo day last week (Tuesday 23 January). We have our catch up ID photo day booked for TOMORROW - Friday 2 February from 8:00am – 10:00am in the Yaamba Road Hall. If your student did not attend the ID Photo session on 23 January please ensure they come along Friday. Formal Uniforms with ties are essential for the photos. Any questions regarding the photography envelopes or payments can be directed to MSP Photography - (07) 4921 3355.

AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE CADETS The Australian Air Force Cadets aim to better equip young people for community life by fostering initiative, leadership, discipline, loyalty and good citizenship through training programs which are also designed to stimulate an interest in the Australian Defence Force. The recruiting is held in January to mid-February of each year.

KYOKUSHIN KARATE Please see below flyer with information on joining the Kyokushin Karate group here in Rockhampton.

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CLICK HERE FOR RECRUITMENT FLYER

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