In this issue

Welcome to all our new students and families to CCC. All of you would have received a welcome email from teachers introducing themselves and providing you with the term outline. All junior secondary students in Years 7-9 have or will soon start their assessment for this year, which includes lots of hands on activities in the classes. Students are expected to come prepared to the classroom, and this includes bringing a laptop and a writing book. All students would be finalising their formative assessment in the coming week. Parents will be receiving phone calls regarding students’ progress, if their performance is unsatisfactory in Science at this time.

Senior students in Years 10-12 have also entered into assessment mode. Year 12 students, in particular, are completing their first summative assessment IA1 – data test. Science tutorials are being offered on Monday and Wednesday from 2:45pm- 3:45pm in DT21. Chemistry students have also started their titration practice after school on Thursday & Friday (2:30pm – 4:00pm). The Big Science Competition will also be taking place this year and is open to all Years 7-10 students. All students should also keep an eye out for some fun and exciting extra-curricular activities, such as Crystal growing, which will be advertised soon.

For further information please contact Head of Science Mrs Roshni Sharma – rshar3@eq.edu.au

Generation Next has an article on How parents can help students in the senior years of school written by Andrew Fuller. The article states that parents have a vital role in helping students to:

• Manage time
• Manage energy
• Manage stress
• Manage to get everything in at the right time and in the right place.

Fuller provides details of suggested strategies to help parents achieve their role. Some strategies detailed are:

• Developing a system – time management planning
• Dealing with meltdowns and catastrophic thinking
• What to do when the system breaks down or when your child won’t listen to you
• How to deal with the build up to exams.

Link to full article: https://www.generationnext.com.au/2017/02/parents-can-help-students-senior-years-school-2/

Item 2

A quick guide to QUT: information session for Year 9 and 10 students

Join QUT student ambassadors and staff for a dedicated Year 9 and 10 session which will provide some tools to help students and parents with course and careers decisions. The session will cover:

• career planning tips
• differences between school and uni
• QUT course information and admission pathways
• Q&A with current students.

The webinar will be held on Wednesday 28 April, 5.30pm–6.30pm and will provide students with tools to help make course and careers decisions and advice about subject selection. Please register via QUT website:

https://www.qut.edu.au/study/events/a-quick-guide-to-qut

Item 3

Year 11 and 12 QUT Advice night

Year 11 and 12 students and their parents are invited to get their questions about university answered at the QUT Advice Night on Wednesday 24 March, 5.30pm–7pm. The webinar will offer advice about course and career planning, how to apply to university, study costs and resources available to support parents and students throughout the year. There’ll also be the chance to hear from real students about their university experience and ask questions about their course and university life.

Please register for the event: https://www.qut.edu.au/study/events/advice-night

Our Year 12 and 10 IB cohorts had their first excursion for the year, visiting Griffith University, Health Sciences on the Gold Coast and QUT Kelvin Grove campus respectively.

The Year 12s had a focus on the Health industry, specifically Pharmacy and participating in hands on workshops.  As well, there was a professor who led a research workshop, perfect for finalising their Extended Essays and upcoming Internal Assessment.

The Year 10s had an introduction to academic research and writing as well as a Q&A with graduated IB students and gaining an insight into life at University and the benefits of IB.  There was even some friendly, yet competitive physical exercise involved!

Overall, very practical and knowledgeable days for our students and an introduction into life on Campus.  Our students represented the College admirably and took the opportunity to ask questions and be active learners.

The issue of consent has become a very concerning issue within our society in recent weeks.  There are calls for schools to do more to inform students about consent.  Calamvale Community College is taking this issue very seriously and considering how to progress.  If you would like to have these conversations with your students, I offer a YouTube video sent to us by one of our parents.  Far from trivialising the issue, it very simply explains the meaning of consent using the analogy of a cup of tea.  It is prepared by Thames Valley Police and I recommend it to you.

Since term 4 2020, Calamvale Community College has had an “Off and Away” mobile phone policy. Contrary to some community opinions, this was not a result of fighting or videoing of fighting. In fact parents whose children has been involved in physical incidents complain about the impetus that a video creates.
Our staff have noticed a marked increase in focus and attention without mobile phones in class. Our deputy principals have noticed a marked decrease in playground harassment without mobile phones in the grounds during school time.
The College has invested in 100 mobile phone lockers for student use, located in the Uniform Swap Room. We have also invested in $70 000 iPads for use in HPE and the Arts where mobile phones have been a valuable resource in Junior Secondary classes. Unfortunately due to shipping delays, these are not yet onsite. Seniors (Years 10-12) are able to use mobile phones in class with teacher permission for specified lessons
Speakers, headphones, air pods and Apple watches are all included in the “Off and Away” policy and our playgrounds are no longer filled with inappropriate lyrics from music played loudly in common areas. There has been an uptake of sporting games at lunch, there are increasing numbers of lunch activities being offered by both staff and students to ensure that our students are occupied without their phones.
Of course students with medical issues requiring phone access have an exemption with written permission, as have students paying with Applepay and the like at finance and canteen.

Please support the College in keeping your students focused on learning and reducing the bullying and harassment that social media brings. STYMIE continues to be a valid way for students to anonymously report bullying or harassment wherever it occurs on campus: www.stymie.com.au

As well as being some of our best champions of the values of this College we have ever graduated.  As well as being respectful and responsible, which most students achieve as they pass into senior years, this group have taken resilience and initiative to another level and have been rewarded with outstanding results and a very positive outlook on life.  The cohort who began our Prep year, graduated Junior School in Year 6 and commenced Secondary School in Year 7, faced new senior system, the first year of external exams in both ATAR and IB Diploma.  They were our first group to really embrace the Diploma of Business as a university pathway and they enrolled in certification and work readiness programs with enthusiasm.

Whilst the ATAR students had an internal assessment item removed, which may or may not have been beneficial in the end, the IB students had an even closer level of scrutiny with all internal assessments being externally marked.  Our 2020 cohort, their resilience and their initiative have given us one of our best academic years.  All of our IB students have enrolled in university, as have our ATAR and Diploma students who chose this career pathway.  Our Certificate of Education results were reflective of all students’ hard work and we applaud their efforts and their triumphs.  We are so proud of the achievements of our students and their subsequent pathways into careers and work.

CCC has continued our upward trajectory of achievement with a dual focus on graduating students who are ready to be changemakers and citizens of the world with an eye for the perspectives of others and a passion for celebrating and embracing diversity.  For CCC, 2020 truly was, in the best way, unprecedented.

Each year I have the privilege of acknowledging and congratulating our student leaders for the year ahead. Our Senior Leaders, four school captains and four ambassadors are now half way through their journey as the Junior School leaders join them today .

“Article 12, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says that Every child and young person under 18 years of age has the right to participate and have their opinions included in decision-making processes that relate to their lives.”

Children are experts in their own lives and experiences. We work collaboratively with children and young people because it is their right to be heard on decisions affecting them and they can provide advice and valuable insight into how their rights can best be protected and fulfilled. Participation is one of the guiding principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and a specifically protected right.

Every child has the right to dreams and the right for them to come true
Help pay more for stopping deadly viruses
Help children in third world countries
People should stand up for their rights

Along with rights come responsibilities – in order to have a say, you have to have a voice and be willing to make it heard. You are well aware of what is happening in the lives of children around you, sometimes this is unknown to adults present such as teachers. Children were aware of children in their friendship groups, schools and communities who were experiencing abuse, neglect, violence, discrimination, bullying, poverty and mental illness, to name just a few issues. You want more ways to lead action to tackle these different issues, with the support of adults, instead of the other way around. Children and young people, YOU are active citizens. Despite not always having direct mechanisms to express their opinions on decisions made by the Government, you are highly engaged on local, domestic and international issues. Sometimes you are worried that adults and decision-makers were not planning for an equitable and sustainable future and that you will be the ones to deal with the future repercussions of delayed action on issues such as climate change, conflict, universal education and poverty.

You are dedicated to equality and believe that if all people were treated equally and given equal opportunity, this would address the root cause of many issues you see in society.
Congratulations to our new team

Junior School Captains – Arjav Rabari, Hannah Marsden, Junior School Vice Captains – Amber Sangha, Kayden Gunn and International Captain Charlene Chen

College Captains – Erica Ventura, Rabia Farooq, Disha Rabari and Raha Foroughi, House Ambassadors – Bella Brady, Maryam Rezayi, Ronan Masn and Connor Andrews

So Leadership Team of 2021, I think you know exactly what you want to do this year. I think you have vision and agency. I think across the world your generation is mobilizing and I look forward to following you as you stand up for what you believe in and you ensure that what you believe in, exists here at CCC, happens here at CCC, shines here at CCC – reflecting you and your dreams. Have a great year leadership team of 2021, the first of the decade – Go Team Calamvale!

It was an absolute delight to welcome back our 2020 graduates to celebrate their achievements in the previous academic year. Admittedly it was the universities’ ‘O Week’ and so some were unable to make it, but so many made the effort and we were grateful. Our current Year 12s were inspired by the successes and it was great to hear the course in which they are all enrolled and see their enthusiasm for the next stage of life.

Our students were also treated to a presentation by the College Captains of 2018, Makayla Mason, Matthew Butler and Haneen Hawari.

All three had very different life experiences after they left school. The stories of work opportunities, struggling to find the right course and to go in search of their passions was inspiration both in itself but also in its lack of the stereotypical ‘after school’ life. I think our Year 12 got a great understanding of the imprecise nature of selecting university course or indeed of what exactly you might want to do post-school – and that is great, because it reduces the stress of needing to know everything and get it right first time. CCC is so proud of these three young people and we wish them well as they continue on their pathways. Congratulations and thank you Makayla, Matt and Haneen.

Congratulations to all award recipients and best wishes for the year ahead to one and all.

The Calamvale Wolves have now selected their 2021 High Performance Sporting squads for Volleyball, Futsal, Basketball and Netball. This is truly an exciting moment in sport for the College. These squads are the first in our new era of sport and are already preparing for upcoming tournaments. We have our Volleyball squads attending Sandstorm Beach Volleyball Complex to prepare for the Volleyball Queensland Beach Cup. We have 12 teams entering this tournament which will likely have CCC as the highest entered team. We also have six Futsal squads who are preparing for the Brisbane Metro All-School Futsal Tournament to be held at Nissan Arena and Oxley Futsal Club. Our Netball girls have been travelling to Nissan Arena to train in a elite facility, and will soon be joined by Queensland Firebirds players for specialist coaching. Finally our Basketball squads are in the early stages of preparation for their CBSQ Tournaments later in the year by travelling to Hibiscus Sports Complex. Our Varsity Boys will also be entering the United Sports League in term 2 which is a Monday afternoon tournament.

Our new training jerseys and training attire through elite company BLK are being ordered this week and we cannot wait to see our teams rocking their new stylish look.

This was a wonderful opportunity for the whole College and wider community to join together to celebrate the very best achievements of our 2020 Year 11 and 12’s.   We also acknowledge our 2021 Secondary School Leaders and Announced our Junior School Student leaders.

Please enjoy our student accomplishments and Leaders announcements