Coming Up Week 8

State of Origin buzz took centre stage in many households this week. At ATC, we tie this occasion to Beanies for Brain Cancer. This is an initiative to promote education for the student body regarding a serious matter. I thank Ms Deb Shalders for taking the courage at College Assembly this week to share her personal story about her son Cooper and his journey with brain cancer. The respect and attention the students showed to Ms Shalders and the knowledge she had of how the students would respond, speaks volumes of the type of community we have developed. Ms Shalders underlying message was that we often do not know the story of the person next to us, so we need to always be kind. A lovely and powerful message for us all.

Co-curricular Sport

At Junior School and Middle School Cohort assemblies today, players received awards for Most Valuable Player and ATC Warrier across Term One sports, AFL, cricket, swimming and volleyball. We have a very high participation rate which is a major goal of the College. I express my gratitude to the Sport Department, all the coaches and the players who contribute to our sport program. With only two rounds left in the Term Two program, I encourage all players to finish well with full attendance and effort.

Assessments

All year levels are in a demanding two weeks of assignments and exams. Please ensure details of what is scheduled, when and where to enable the best preparation for each piece of assessment.

UPDATE TO ATC APP

Further to the letter from Chris Ryan dated 9 May, the scheduled updates to the ATC App are now complete and will be released to the Apple and Google Play Stores over the next 24 hrs.

Once your device has received the update, you will be prompted to login using your Parent Lounge login. For students and Staff, it will be your ATC login. Guests users will not be password protected but will only have access to limited features in the ATC App. 

Student Absentees

As mentioned, this update will have a particular impact on the way student absence Is logged.  The Absentee tile will only available in the Parent view of the APP. 

It is critical that you do not share your Parent Lounge username and password with your son. As a duty of care, we do not want students to be able to complete an absentee report. The absentee tile will now take you directly into a TASS Attendance where can communicate your child’s absence and related details to the College. As a result of this evolution, the College will move to having two communication channels for reporting a student absence - via the App and via the absentee phone number.  The email address will no longer be operable for logging a student absence. 

We ask that parents and caregivers please migrate to the preferred channel of the App Absentee tile.

The absentee phone line 07 3878 0521 will continue to operate for extended members of the family or carers to report an absence and for parents if they are unable to use the APP in a given situation. Please inform other carers of your sons about this change and the new options for lodging an absence. 

The practice of forwarding SMS messages to parents and caregivers regarding unexplained absences will continue.  

Please find attached a procedural document and helpful video here: https://vimeo.com/824629017

UPCOMING DATES 

Saturday 3 June | Mabo Day

Monday 5 June – Friday 9 June | Years 9 & 10 Clontarf Regional Camp

Monday 5 June | Concert Band Breakfast

Tuesday 6 June | Queensland Day

Tuesday 6 June | Years 10-12 Ulster House Mass

Tuesday 6 June | Reason to Thrive excursion (selected students)

Tuesday 6 June | AIMF Information Evening

Wednesday 7 June | Junior Band Breakfast Concert

Thursday 8 June | Year 11/12 Clontarf Red Bull Racing Workshop

Friday 9 June – Thursday 15 June | Exam Period

LEARNING NEWS

Exam Schedules – Years 4, 5 & 6

Please be advised that the Exam Schedules for Years 7-12 are now available in Parent Lounge and Student Café.

Around the Grounds

Senior Debating

On Thursday night, the Senior A Debating Team delivered a great performance, narrowly losing to Gregory Terrace. The topic was “That we regret the emphasis on statistics in journalism” and ATC was negative. The team consisted of Matthew P, Kilian R, Patrick M, and Jack S. This result took our season tally to two wins and two losses, which is a fantastic performance in the toughest debating competition in Queensland. Once again, the team appreciated the enthusiastic group of supporters who came to watch and marvel at the skilful contest on display.

ATC Debating

FORMATION NEWS

ATC Ties

Families who purchased the College tie last month at School Locker are asked to come to Student Reception and swap it for a replacement tie, which has the correct branded colours. The incorrect coloured tie must be handed into receive the replacement item.  School Locker advised 147cm school ties are 6 weeks away.  We will continue to swap out incorrect coloured school ties, (either length, 137cm and 147cm) for the 137cm ties and will rectify in 6 weeks when the 147cm ties are delivered on approximately 6 July. 

Save the Date – Year 11 SociABLE

The Year 11 SociABLE will be held on Tuesday 15 August at The Greek Club from 7:00pm – 10:00pm. Professional photographers will be on site from 6:00pm and will be taking photographs of individuals and their partners upon their arrival. More information will follow in the coming weeks with ticketing opening on Monday 17 July.

Year 11 SociABLE 2023

FAITH & MISSION NEWS

Ulster House Mass | Tuesday 6 June

Ulster House Senior School students will celebrate their House Mass at 8:30am on Tuesday 6 June. Please check the College App for further details. Please do not hesitate to contact Matt Warr, Dean of Faith and Mission should you have any queries.

Sacraments of 1st Communion and Penance for Catholic Children

Enrolments for the Sacraments of 1st Communion and Penance for Catholic Children are now open for Aug – Sept 2023.

Please contact the Parish Office of Kenmore - Moggill Catholic parish on Email: kenmore@bne.catholic.net.au to enrol your child before the 30th June 2023.

SERVICE NEWS

Service Program for Year 4

At the completion of this term, students will receive an end of semester report card. Such is the Colleges’ commitment to Service, at the top of that report card, your son’s recorded Service hours will be displayed. You can find more information on Service Program including the Service Hours tablehere.

At the end of each year the College will gather for its Service Awards assembly and students who have received a Gold Service award will be recognised. This recognition is an important part of the process in developing students who strive to Serve and support others. This affirmation is a key component of developing intrinsically motivated students.

One of the highest honours a student can receive at the College is a Service Diamond award. You can find more information about these awards at the link previously mentioned, however a student wanting to achieve this award must receive a Gold service award for nine consecutive years. In other words, a student must achieve a Gold Service award in Year 4 to be eligible.

Students will have until the end of Term Three to continue Serve and log their hours. Two Service activities that Year 4 students can engage with are:

  1.  Pave the way (up to 10 Service hours)
  1. My Grand Story (up to 5 Service hours)

We encourage all of Year 4 to see where they can get involved in Service over the upcoming holidays. As always, we love to share good news stories of students doing wonderful things in and around their communities. Send us a picture of your son performing acts of Service to signumfidei@atc.qld.edu.au so we can congratulate him!

For any queries on the Service Program at the College, please contact Mr Andrew McCrohon, Head of Service and Clubs.

Year 5 Charity Fayre | Friday 16 June

With the success of Year 6 Charity Fayre in Term 1, it is now the turn of Year 5’s. They will host a mini fayre on the last day of term, Friday 16 June. The fayres provide a wonderful opportunity for all students across the Junior School to be involved in raising funds for our service programs at ATC through their participation or organisation of staff and activities.

Students across Years 4 and 6 are encouraged to bring in silver and gold coins on this day to support the Year 5 stalls. If you have any questions about this initiative, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Class teacher or Year Level Coordinator.

SPORT NEWS

While Term 2 sport is coming into its final weeks of the season, we are putting on the final touches for the Term 3 sporting seasons. Sign ups and season information has started to be shared (and more to come soon). These sports include Year 4-12 Basketball, Year 4 Touch Football, Year 7-12 GBC Football, Year 5-12 Tennis and Year 4-12 Track and Field. Please make sure you are following the appropriate tag/s on the App so you don’t miss any information.

Action in the Pool!

There has been some big action in the pool, with the recent National Swimming Championships. Tom S - Year 8, Andre V - Year 8, Jake A - Year 10, and ATC Old Boy Xavier C – 2022, all competed and had a fantastic race weekend. Tom winning a Gold in 50m butterfly, Xavier a Silver in 200m Breaststroke, Andre a Bronze in 50m Breaststroke and Jake with PB’s across the board! Well done to all and we cannot wait to see what is instore for them next!

MUSIC NEWS

It’s (nearly) a wrap on a wonderfully busy term for the ATC Co-curricular choirs and instrumental ensembles.  Congratulations to all students and teachers involved in the over 16 performances, liturgies, and Masses!

There are 3 final important events for noting:

  • Monday 5 June, 7:00am Concert Band Breakfast Concert
  • Tuesday 6 June, 6:00pm AIMC Tour Information Evening
  • Wednesday 7 June, 7:00am Junior Band Breakfast Concert

Rehearsals and lessons will continue to run right through to Friday of Week 9 so please continue to check the College App and communicate with your teacher if there are clashes with assessments.

QYMA

Queensland Youth Music Awards (QYMA) is one of the state's longest running school music competitions involving more than 4000 student performers each year. This year the event was held across 3 and a half weeks at St Peter’s Indooroopilly, St Laurence’s College South Brisbane and A.B. Paterson College on the Gold Coast. ATC contributed four performances to the event and we were delighted with how our students performed and represented the college at an event that attracts schools with music programs of the very highest calibre. Congratulations to the Junior Choir who received a Bronze Award, the ATC Senior Singers and ATC Gents who both received Silver awards, and the ATC Symphonic Winds who received a Gold award. A fantastic acknowledgement of all the hard work going on in rehearsal rooms each week. Well done to all staff and student involved!

COMMUNITY NEWS

Invitation to attend Mass for 120 Years of St Ignatius Primary School, Toowong

St Ignatius Primary School, Toowong invite you to celebrate 120 Years of Catholic Education in the Toowong Parish. Celebrations will be held on Sunday 30 July, commencing at 3.00pm in the school undercover area. For further information and to rsvp, please email ptoowong@bne.catholic.edu.au or telephone 3371 1094.

P&F NEWS

P&F Meetings

All are invited to join the P&F President, Mr Ben Prain, and the Principal at our meetings on Tuesday evenings once each month. We meet in Mt Sion Library Junior School at 6.30pm. Our next meeting is on Tuesday 11 July, at 6.30pm. In Semester Two we will meet also on Tuesday 8 August, 5 September, 10 October and 21 November. For any queries, please email the P&F Secretary Catherine pandf@atc.qld.edu.au 

Save the Date for these P&F Events

Trivia Night

The ATC P&F invites you to Trivia Night an exciting, themed event on Saturday 29 July from 5.30pm – 9.45pm in NJ Hall. This year's theme is “Jobs & Occupations” which should allow for some simple dress-up options - think chefs, health workers, high-vis workers or even teachers!

Tables will be released for sale on Parent Lounge on Monday 5 June at 5pm. Cost per table ( maximum of 10 persons is $200.) Table Captains must login to their Parent Lounge account and make a $200 payment on behalf of their group.

Sales will close when seating capacity is reached. Once you’ve chosen your table theme, please email the coordinator Suzanne Rosolen (rosolen@iinet.net.au) to check that your preferred theme has not already been claimed by another table.

Raffle tickets will be sold separately to table sales. Parents attending the Trivia Night are asked to buy their own raffle tickets and not for the entire table, so that organisers can be certain of who the winner is. The raffle is open to the entire College community, so even if you aren’t attending the Trivia Night event, you can be in the running to win one of our amazing prizes. You don’t need to be in attendance on the night to win! Prices: $10 for 2 tickets; $20 for 5; $30 for 8; $50 for 14; $70 for 20.

Any queries please contact the P&F coordinator.

Spring Lunch

The ATC P&F annual Ladies Spring lunch is being held on Friday 13 October at The Rose Room, Cloud Land Fortitude Valley. Enjoy a lovey lunch with a two-course meal (main and dessert) plus one glass of bubbles on arrival and lucky door prizes. Proceeds from the day go toward Breast Cancer research. It's a great initiative and a wonderful way for new and current Mums and female caregivers to come together as a community and raise funds for charity. It also coincides with the College ‘Wear Pink Day’ so students are raising money and awareness at the same time! Seats are limited to 250 only so book early to avoid disappointment. N.B Seating will be by the Year Level of your son/s at ATC (but apart from that there will be no set seating arrangement). Dress: Wear a splash of PINK! Any queries, please email Prue Moloney, P&F Event coordinator. pruemoloney@bigpond.com Tickets go on sale in early July so keep an eye on the ATC App.

See you in Week 8!

David Gardiner

Deputy Principal