In this issue

Recently, students in the Junior School participated in student elections to elect Captains and House Representatives for 2023. In the Junior School, there were many students who nominated for a leadership role by submitting a written expression of interest. Year 5 and 6 students participated in an interview with Principal, Mrs Welch and Deputy Principal, Mr Butterworth before successful shortlisted candidates presented a speech to the student body and teachers for a vote. Earlier this week, students in Year 1-6 also voted to elect House Representatives with successful students becoming members of our Student Union. We are very pleased to have had such strong student interest from all year levels to be active members of our College community. Thank you to parents who may have helped their student prepare a speech or write a nomination form. We appreciate your support. Student leaders from the Junior School will be announced at our College Investiture event in the coming weeks. The Student Union will then begin to work collaboratively with the Secondary School leaders to organise our 2023 Multicultural Festival which will be held in Term 2.

Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will be involved in the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests this year. NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular school curriculum. The questions assess content linked to the Australian Curriculum in English and Mathematics.

Students will complete online tests for Writing (except Year 3 who will complete a booklet), Reading, Conventions of Language and Numeracy. The testing period will be held during the weeks of Wednesday 15 March (Week 8) to Monday 27 March (Week 10), with a technical practice test occurring during Week 4 and 5 in Term 1.

Further information regarding the NAPLAN online testing for parents/caregivers can be found on the NAP site at https://nap.edu.au/naplan/parent-carer-support/.

Eyes Open Social Media Safety have been working closely with the College to educate our students, staff and parents about the risks associated with social media and ways to apply security settings to enjoy social media platforms safely.

Our teachers participated in a session run by Trish Munn, managing director and speaker, and were given an insight into the focus for each year levels ‘Awareness Session. Over two days, Trish presented vital information pertaining to social media safety in a way that was targeted to each year level.  Students were engaged in the session as Trish spoke to content familiar to each age group including gaming and social media platforms. Eyes were certainly open as Trish educated our students on why social media safety and security is so important.

Students in Year Five and Six went on to participate in the ‘Security Settings Session’ and were given practical solutions to enable them to  apply safety and security settings. Look out for the Eyes Open handout coming home with your child (in Year Five and Six).

It was great to see our College parents attend the information session on Monday evening. One key message for parents is to regularly engage in open conversations with your child around what they’re seeing and hearing while online.  A way of safeguarding our children is for them to know they can talk to a trusted adult (without fear of having the device taken away) if they come across unsuitable material or are approached online by a stranger.  Be sure to ask your child what they have learnt through the Eyes Open Social Media Safety

Welcome to the 2023 school year. We are excited to have Junior School students back with us after the summer vacation. I would like to extend a welcome to our new families and especially to our Prep students who are about to embark on the first year of formal education. We are excited about our vibrant learning community and all that we will achieve this year and look forward to working with you to achieve our joint goals for your child.

Thank you to the many Junior School families who attended the Meet the Teacher Sessions held in classrooms on Thursday 2 February. I am sure you left these sessions having a clear understanding of the routines and expectations of the year level as well as information about what is ahead in terms of learning for the first term of school and the rest of 2023. Parents will have an opportunity to have a face to face meeting with class teachers towards the end of term one.

Lookout Program Reminder

I encourage you to use the drop off and pick up service that the school provides as it has proven to be the most efficient way to drop off and pick up your child each day.

Prep and Year 1 Students- Afternoon Pick up

• Prep and Year 1 students will be escorted to the Possum grass area where they will be supervised by School Administration and staff until their parents arrive at the pickup area.
• To collect Prep and Year 1 students, parents need to pull up in the pickup area before Possum gate

• Parents remain in their car in comfort, moving forward in a queue to where their child will be collected from a safe designated pick-up point under staff supervision.

• Parents who wish to collect at the classroom door can do so after 3.00pm, and only when the remainder of the class has vacated the classroom to move to the Lookout pick up area.

The Year 2-6 pickup area is located directly in front of the large blueshade sails

• Please proceed to the Year 2-6 pickup area, where your student will be waiting with supervising staff
• Supervising staff alert children to approaching cars
• Parents remain in their car in comfort, moving forward in a queue to where their child will be collected from a safe designated pick-up point.

Parent Oral Language Workshop

Date: 2nd March 2023
Time: 9:30 am – 10:15 am
Location: Common Room

This workshop will be presented by Calamvale Community College’s Speech Pathologist and is tailored for parents and carers with children currently in prep or getting ready to enter prep. Topics that will be covered include:
– The role of the Speech Pathologist within schools
– The difference between speech and language
– Speech development (i.e. the sounds children use to talk)
– Language development (i.e. the words and sentences children use to communicate messages)
– Early literacy development
– Signs to look out for and ways to help your child to develop their speech, language and literacy skills

Welcome back to all students back for the new school year, and a special welcome to students who are new to CCC.

The Calamvale Community College library is an air-conditioned learning hub for all students from Prep to Year 12.

Students can study in comfort and safety under supervision during school hours.

The two Teacher-Librarians, Ms Toich for the Junior School, and Ms Cleeton for the Senior School, work with classroom teachers to ensure student learning is useful, meaningful and relevant.

We strive to provide a literature-rich environment for all students.

The library enhances the work of teachers and students through the provision of print and digital resources, and technical support.  We have photocopiers, printers, VR sets, print resources and full Wi-Fi access to enable the school’s BYOD program.

In addition, to enrich the curriculum, students are able to join various reading groups and competitions across the school year. These include the Brisbane Metropolitan Reader’s Cup, The QLD Premier’s Reading Challenge, homework club, and research group.

These programs encourage independent use of the library and provide opportunities to actively inquire into topics of interest.

CCC LIBRARY ONLINE CATALOGUE 

Calamvale Community College students have access to our online catalogue via the Library page on the school website.

Once students have accessed our catalogue and signed in, they are able to view their current loans, make reservations and search for resources held in our library.

EBOOKS

Calamvale Community College students can access the EQ eBooks digital library through the app called SORA.

SORA has a huge variety of online books covering a range of genres.

Students and their families can download the SORA app on their devices and after logging in using their EQ student code, they can search for titles and genres that they enjoy, and read these online.

 OPENING TIMES

CCC’s Library is open for student use before school from 8.00 am and is open till 3.30pm most days. At times, due to Staff Meetings or other events, the Library closes earlier. Students are advised of this by a sign on the door.

The library is open to the Junior School and to Secondary School students at different times of the school day, according to Year level and class booking.

If you have any queries, please ask a staff member in the Library, or at the front desk.

You can also email Ms Cleeton adcle0@eq.edu.au OR Ms mtoic1@eq.edu.au

We look forward to meeting you during the year.

The College welcomes Sacha and Mitchell from external organisation ‘Top Blokes’, a mentoring program to support young males lead happy and safe lives. These two gentleman will be running their program for small groups of boys ranging in age from 10- 17 years throughout 2023.

The goals of this program include inspiring young males to reach their full potential and to improve their wellbeing and health. It is important to educate our young males and equip them with the knowledge and skills to navigate the many challenging social issues that arise in their teenage years.

After only two weeks of the program, the feedback from our current participating male students is overwhelmingly positive.

‘This program is really good! Thank you for including me.’ – Matt

‘ The presenters are so approachable and engaging.’ – Tyrone

‘ Junior Top Blokes program is so good and engaging.’ – Seth

‘ Wow, so good, has made me stop and reflect.’ – Kevin

The Summit Program

Well-being is a positive state experienced by individuals and societies. It supports quality of life and allows people to contribute to the world with a sense of meaning and purpose. Calamvale Community College’s Summit program is in its fourth year, supporting select students from Years 5 to 9 to learn new skills to manage their emotions and any challenging social situations they may encounter in an effective way. Feeling confident to manage difficult situations maximises the opportunity for students to feel happy and safe, ready to engage in their learning.

Levels of support are varied for each student but may include: regular check-ins, chill outs and a weekly structured self-management course which builds skills in Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness. This approach is known as DBT or Dialectical Behaviour Therapy – and was chosen for its strong results in school settings. Students practise these skills at least weekly and do so in both one-on-one and small group contexts with the Summit Guidance Officer.

The Summit team celebrates student progress and goes on regular excursions, where they participate in mindfulness and team-building activities. Previous excursions have included a visit to State parks and animal reserves. Each term Summit students complete a structured goal-setting process where they identify areas of personal improvement and take steps towards achieving this. Mini-rewards are also given along the way for meeting these milestones and much time is spent on personal reflection, accountability and sound decision-making.

The Summit team includes Guidance Officer Patrick Watson and Youth Support Coordinators Mrs Kelly Hebert and Mr Whitney Ueta-Siteine. It is overseen by the College’s Wellbeing co-ordinator, Guidance Officer Cath Sander.

Youth Support Coordinators

Our wonderful Youth Support co-ordinators Kelly and Whitney support students to engage successfully at school and achieve positive outcomes. They have welcomed many of our new Year 7 students, helping them successfully transition into high school.

Over the holidays the YSC office had a refurbishment, knocking out a wall to create an open, inviting space, with a fresh coat of paint and new flooring to make this room a more user friendly and welcoming space. It is the perfect space to run their support programs in. We are loving it!

Kelly worked with some students during their Community Program time in Term 4 last year, where they met with Ms Starmer to discuss a budget for the interior decorating. Students planned what was needed in the space before sourcing where to buy the furniture from. They will be going out to purchase these items next week.  This has been an interesting experience for these young people realising the cost of purchasing all of the items on their wish list and balancing the budget. They have also had to think about the needs of their fellow students instead of their own wants.

The YSC office is open at both breaks for our Secondary students offering a selection of activities such as games, arts and crafts or a chilled space just to hang out, chat and meet new friends.

Getting to know the young people in our school is important to our YSCs – if your child is seeking connection, please encourage them to go and visit Kelly at the YSC office or Whitney who is out and about at breaks.

Kelly Hebert & Whitney Ueta-Siteine

School Social Worker

My name is Chantal, I have joined your school community as a School Social Worker.

My role at Calamvale Community College is to support our families.  To be the bridge between school and community.

I can provide:

• Resource Information
• Emotional and practical support
• Student and family wellbeing support
• Advocacy
• Connections between parents/carers, support services and the wider community.

Referrals can be made via the Wellbeing team, phone 3712 6333 or contact your child’s Deputy Principal.

Hosted by our school social worker CCC Parent Seminars will be held twice per term.  There will be a range of topics aimed at supporting our families and community.

The first seminar is to be held on the 15^th February at 5:30 and offers practical tips to support your young person to feel calmer and more capable.

Please see below for more information.  Registration is required.

HELP YOUR CHILD OR TEENAGER PREVENT & COPE WITH ANXIETY

Wednesday 15^th February, 5:30 – 7:30PM, Calamvale Community College – Common Room

We all want our kids to be happy and healthy, yet anxiety is a real problem for many children and teenagers – and adults. The Fear-Less Triple P program is now free in Qld, and this Fear-Less Triple P – Positive Parenting Program seminar offers tips on how you can help your child or teenager develop their own toolkit of effective ways to manage anxiety. The seminar is fun and friendly and it’s FREE! It’ll help you and your kids to reduce anxiety, or prevent it becoming a problem in the first place.
REGISTER NOW: https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/qld-en/contact/find-a-session/2023-02-15/fear-less-seminar//111755/ to learn more and book your free spot.

Eyes Open Social Media Awareness

All Junior Secondary students have participated in two sessions with external provider Eyes Open Social Media, which have focused on social media privacy and safety awareness as well as setting up strong security settings. These sessions were complimented by a parent awareness session where parents gained a greater insight into how to support their children in having a positive social media presence by setting the appropriate privacy settings.

Through this month’s newsletter, I am taking the opportunity to say hello and to quickly introduce myself to the College community.

Kurumba bigi yuuingan (Yuggera language) / Jingeri jimbelung (Yugambeh language).

The above greeting is written in both of the languages of my ancestors, the lands on which the Calamvale Community College is situated. The words simply mean “Greetings friends”.

My name is Aunty Roma (also known as Ninyieri Banjilann which is my personal totem/skin name meaning Blue Butterfly), and I am extremely pleased to have been appointed into a new role as the Calamvale Community College (CCC) Elder in Residence.

My responsibilities will be to mainly embed cultural knowledge at CCC while reviewing the curriculum to integrate appropriate Indigenous content, and I would like to envision that my work will benefit both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, teachers, staff, and also the broader members of the CCC community.

Currently I am on campus one day per week, so even though I would like to get a multitude of things done in a small space of time, it is expected that the work I have ahead of me will be a long-term, but enjoyable project.

To start … there are two things that are of utmost importance for me. Apart from taking time to get to know the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander jarjums (children), I would also like to meet their parents/carers, so I will be reaching out in Term 1 or Term 2 to arrange a morning or afternoon tea to have a yarn with you. I hope as many of you as possible will be able to attend (depending on your availability of course), but I will try to arrange other opportunities if that occasion is not possible for you.

And as a closing note – we always say ‘see you later’ (and never goodbye) in both my ancestors’ languages.
Nanni ngin (Yuggera language) / Nya nya bu (Yugambeh language).

Kindest regards,
Aunty Roma

Welcome to 2023, what a wonderful start we have had to year! Calamvale Community College has reached the 2500 mark this year and we are delighted that we are the school of choice for so many of our community. This is a bumper issue of our newsletter and I encourage you to read through all of the news and information. After a very successful 2022 during which our students achieved impressive ATAR, IB and VET results, we have an exciting agenda for 2023 with a focus on positive accomplishment, wellbeing and engagement. You will no doubt hear more about these in the coming weeks. Take a look at Head of Senior Secondary Ben Huxley’s presentation to see those results. We have a changing of the guard in Wolves and welcome on board Ms Emma Stott and Mr Rob Schwarzbauer in the Sports Director role. We also welcome back Ms Pamela Curtin who will be Head of Department Languages in Mrs Sandy Harvey’s maternity absence.

I will be on 4 weeks leave from today, returning on March 15th. In my absence, Mrs Jackie Welch will be College Principal and Mrs Deb Kelly will be acting Head of Junior School. Mrs Sacha Muller (HOD English Years 3-6) will be Junior School Deputy Principal. I thank the whole team for their support and I am confident that the College is in safe hands for the next month.

Kind regards
Lisa

Year 12 Awards Night – Seniors of 2022

Calamvale Community College took great pride in celebrating the achievements of its 2022 Senior students, with an Academic Awards Ceremony on Wednesday evening of this week. Our returning Year 12s, their families and staff, all started the night with a wonderful soiree, enjoying canapes and drinks as part of a delightful supper service, all provided by the Hospitality Department led by Mrs Leah Cremen and Mr Tom Bishop. Additional Thank-You’s need to go to Mr Allan Sui and Mrs Natasha Cameron for their help and support on the night.
The ceremony itself was a showcase of subject prizes, special award and the announcement of the coveted Dux Award for the highest academic achievement across 2022. Congratulations to Bassel Fayoumi for taking out this award with an ATAR 97.35. Congratulations also goes to all our other prize winners, especially those of special awards, being Kiara Bear, Montana Pearce, Jorja Williams, Angela Yu, Samuel Gonthier, Taylah Anthony and Tia Grewal. There to hand out these awards to our students were the special guests of CCC. A big thank you to Alanna Ngo- Representing – Hon Leeanne Enoch MP – Minister for Communities and Housing, Minister for Digital Economy and Minister for the Arts, Cr Angela Owen – Councillor for Calamvale Ward, Mr Hugh Goodfellow – Assistant Regional Director, Mr Mike Butler – Chair of College Council, Ms Yvette Dempsey – College P&C President, Ms Jing Li & Mr Danny Xiang – SC Brokers, and Mr Danny Chen – Bank of Queensland. Your presence on this most special night of ours was greatly appreciated.

Cert Street 2023 – Induction and Commencement

Thursday this week saw the launch of Cert Street for 2023! Senior Certification and Work Readiness students who are enrolled in one of these 6 Industry-standard qualifications, commenced the day with a meet and greet, polo shirt presentation and a full induction. Students were able to then spend the day with their trainer to familiarise themselves with the course, build relationships, and establish work and communication protocols. Thank you to our wonderful team of trainers and support staff. It was great to see you all there, and we’re all very excited for 2023. Every course is 100% full!

Photo Day – Secondary School Timetable

Please make sure that all families have their school photo order envelopes. These were handed out to all students; however, replacements can be obtained from Student Services. The following table is the schedule for the Secondary School. This schedule will occur on Friday 17 February. All students need to ensure that they are in full format uniform, with complete adherence to the school uniform policy. Students in breach of this policy on the day, in instances where uniform/make up/attire cannot be rectified, will be addressed and instructed to attend the make-up photo day in March.

Secondary School Swimming Carnival

Students had a wonderful day this week at Parkinson Pool for our 2023 Swimming carnival! This year we had our year 7s along with our year 8s to 12s who had nominated to compete spending their time not only racing but being involved in a range of amusing activities throughout the day. Students could earn house points not only through the competitive races but also the many inflatable novelty races along with the salmon runs where they had a chance to cool off.

The teachers even got in on the action and raced the students and took home first place on the big red kangaroo, just beating out the pink flamingo who came in a close second. There was war cries, dance offs, and Ms Stott even gave students a lesson on how to dance to an old favourite, the Nutbush. Throughout the day Keera was up, but a last dash by Tharah saw them take out the day as the winning house.

A big thank you to all the PE staff, Mrs Cox and Mrs Thomas who made the day possible. Looking forward to another great Swimming Carnival next year!