2021 Phoenix Rising Issue 3 · 2021. 3. 23. · Front: Father Kenneth, Sonny Mihill, Danny Clark,...

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HHeadmaster

Respect Over the last few weeks, the media has been reporting on a number of troubling issues around how people treat each other both in schools and within the parlia-

ment. We, like all schools, allocate time to the topic of consent over dif-ferent year levels. We continually spend time talking about being re-spectful. What it is, why it is im-portant and how you conduct yourself to earn someone’s respect. We talk about it when we interview students who want to join the school. “There are three things you must be able to do to be a Souls boy or a Gabes girl: be respectful, use your manners and try hard in everything you do”. We encourage students to think of oth-ers, their feelings, their needs rather than be selfish but it is a learning process. Sometimes the adults we see in these reports don’t provide the best role models as they bully and belittle others to get their way. Students Since the last newsletter, we have welcomed Riley Hughes into Year 11. Whilst next year seems a long way off, the time goes quickly, so if you are looking to enrol your son or daughter for 2022, I would encour-age you to make contact with Jon Teichmann at school to commence the process. North Queensland Representative Sport Congratulations to the following students who have been selected in NQ teams to compete at the relevant State Championships.

Junior School Leadership Congratulations to those who put forward their names for leadership positions in the Junior School. All the Year 6 students delivered speeches and did a tremendous job. The ceremony to install the leaders was held on Friday 12 March 2021. It is an important oc-casion where students promise that they will do their best to lead with respect and by example and the rest of the school promises that they will do their best to help them. Further details can be found in the Junior School report. Darren Fleming

Kadyn Flanagan Demarques Gibbo Olive Whap Corey Musk Matthew McKellar Lachlan Lathwell Kevin Mutton Kodi Bolar Kacy Musk Annika Peace

AFL AFL Rugby League Rugby League Rugby Union Rugby Union Rugby Union Rugby Union Touch Football Touch Football (Shadow)

Contents Headmaster’s Report Deputy/Academic Dean Page 2 Dean of School Page 2 Dean of Students Page 2 Pastoral Care Team Page 3 Chaplaincy Team Page 4 School Prayers Page 4 Sport News Page 5 The Arts Page 6 SHEP Report Page 7 Junior School Page 8 From the Dorms Page 10 Alban Dormitory Page 11 Becket Dormitory Page 11 Chad Dormitory Page 11 Ramsay Dormitory Page 12 Feetham Dormitory Page 12 Page Dormitory Page 12 Duke of Edinburgh Page 13 Exam Dates Page 14 Souls and Famous Page 14

ISSUE NO 3/2021 19 MARCH 2021

Junior School Leaders 2021 Back: Tio Hensley, Piper Godfrey, Matthew McKellar

Middle: Darren Fleming, Matt Dunn, Taj Koch, Jae Skinner, Emmerson Heuir, Rahani Davidson, Hollie Laffin, Hayley Risdale, Mrs Tina Akers

Front: Father Kenneth, Sonny Mihill, Danny Clark, Ben Kirkwood, Clayne Musk, Matilda Hare, Grace Turner, Isabella Maff, Tahira Groth, Liliah Plant

DDeputy/ Academic Dean Ian Dietrich I recently spoke to all secondary school students about the need to schedule little sessions of work when the opportunities arise. As small windows of time present themselves throughout the term, it is a good habit to dive into “study” which is different to “prep”, “homework” or “assignment work”. As the lives of the young people in our care are filled with extra-curricular and relaxation activities, it is important for them to get into a habit of filling-in the remaining gaps with small passages of study time. Regular reading of class notes, passages in textbooks and / or revision notes will help to ce-ment the concepts covered in class. This will be very beneficial when an exam blocks commences. Exam Block Please note that students are NOT able to sit exams early to suit indi-vidual travel arrangements. Exam security will be maintained. If you have any questions regarding the schedule, please ask your son / daughter to see me first. As a guide for future planning and booking appointments (eg ortho-dontic and other specialists), please note the scheduled exam block dates listed in this edition of the newsletter and published in the school’s electronic calendar. Year 12 External Exam Sched-ule A draft version of the Queensland-wide External Exam Schedule will soon be released by the Queens-land Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) to school admin-istrators for perusal. We will be using this schedule to complete planning for our program of events for Year 12 in Terms 3 & 4. As soon as information is able to pub-lished, all Year 12 students and families will receive an email.

PAGE 2 ISSUE NO 3/2021 19 MARCH 2021

Dean of School Karen Storey School Photos We recently had the photogra-phers visit to take our individual portraits and class photos. It is an-ticipated that these will be ready for delivery midway through next term. Please watch our Facebook page and encourage students to listen to the notices for an an-nouncement about when they are ready to be collected. ANZAC Day Our ANZAC Day marching practice has begun and students are to be commended for their engagement and the manner in which they have conducted themselves so far. An ANZAC Day Requiem mass will be held in the All Souls St Gabriels School Chapel on Friday 23 April. All students are required to at-tend; parents and members of the community may also be welcome dependant on the current COVID-19 restrictions. The uniform for students for this occasion is day uniform. While ANZAC Day is a Sunday this year and we are still awaiting some information regarding the Charters Towers ANZAC Day pa-rade and commemorative ceremo-ny, I can advise parents and stu-dents of the following information which will be vital in our planning for ANZAC Day:

All Senior school students are to be in full formal uniforms including hats, however, there is to be no court shoes for senior girls. Blazers are only to be worn by Prefects, Cap-tains and those carrying the Australian Flag.

A Dawn Service will be held at the Charters Towers Cemetery on the morning of ANZAC Day. I will pass on information re-garding times for this once I receive it from the Charters Towers Regional Council. All students are invited to attend this service with a wreath to be laid by the School Captains on behalf of All Souls St Gabri-els School. The Charters Towers march will begin on Mossman Street (time yet to be advised). Boarders will be bussed from the dining hall and day stu-dents are asked to make their own way to the assembly point (which is yet to be ad-vised) on Mossman Street. At the conclusion of the march all students will be returned to school unless collected from Elizabeth Park on Boundary Street by a parent or guardi-an.

Thank-you for supporting our School’s commemoration of this very significant occasion. Beginning of Term 2 Next term will begin with travel day on Monday 19 April with classes commencing Tuesday 20 April. A reminder for all secondary students that the uniform for the first day will be formal uniform. Students are required to report to the Chapel when the bell goes in the morning for the traditional beginning of term Chapel service. Normal classes will be on following this for the remainder of the day.

Dean of Students Wendy Fleming Z Club The St Gabes Z Club has made an impressive start to their activities this year. They commenced fundraising for Valentines Day, raising $155 from red heart-shaped lollipops. Charters Towers Zonta President Jennifer Slaney

and Treasurer Judy Knuth attend-ed the changeover dinner to offi-cially welcome the incoming exec-utive: President Chloe Wolfenden, Vice President Amelia Wearing, Treasurer Jackson Peagham and Secretary Georgie Jonsson. Repre-sentatives of Z Club also attended the International Womens’ Day dinner conducted by Charters Towers Zonta and enjoyed hearing Gabes Old Girl Krissy Regan (nee Briggs) share her inspirational journey. Z Club purchased Krissy’s books “Broken to Unbreakable” and “The Koala Who Lost His Heart” to donate to the ASSG Li-brary. Attendees at the dinner also congratulated Caitlyn Elliott, one of the 2021 Zonta Bursary recipi-ents. Qld Cancer Council Fundraising At the Free Dress Day held earlier this term, students dressed in the colours pink, yellow and blue to signify their support of the Qld Cancer Council. We received an appreciative response for our generous donation of $740.70. Defence Force Recruiting Interested students attended an information session conducted in the Library with members of the Defence Force Recruiting team. They found out about a variety of career options including Indige-nous pathways and the GAP year program. Students were able to ask questions to help them clarify what they knew about the Armed Forces from a career’s perspective. Seniors Year 12 students took time during their EFL (Education For Life) lesson to register with QCAA (Qld Curriculum Assessment Authority) for the Student Portal. This enables students to check their personal details, access their learning account, get their final Year 12 results and download their Senior Statement. This was done through the myQCE section of the QCAA website (https://myqce.qcaa.qld.edu.au/).


Junior School Activities Captains and Prefects from the Secondary School were invited to attend the Junior School Installation of Leaders, conducted at the Chapel by Father Kenneth Lay. Seniors have continued their practice of joining Junior School students at lunchtime on Tuesday as well as having a roster to attend the Friday morning Junior School Assembly.

PPastoral Care Team Wendy Fleming Dean of Students

Forming and Storming As the year is well underway, students typically go through the first two stages of group develop-ment: forming and storming. In these stages, they hustle to make friends, connect with others, be included, belong to a group and stand up for themselves. It's part of growing up and being in a so-cial environment. However, many students get stuck in the 2nd stage (storming). Minor conflicts become major disputes and friendships are unnecessarily dis-solved or broken apart. Tensions increase and group cohesion and connection reduces. The result is that students can feel unsafe and unwelcome at school. Learning time is lost as teachers pick up the pieces of heated arguments between students. These inci-dents can also extend into board-ing. Ultimately, learning and the wellbeing of students is affected. However, the best way to move forward is by establishing connec-

tions. Social connection is the strongest predictor of academic performance, wellbeing and long-term career performance, accord-ing to Shaun Achor (Achor, S. Big Potential, Random House, London, 2018). Our relationships (or social connections) are a sum of the short-term interactions we have with other people. Interactions be-tween students can either be posi-tive or negative. They can be help-ful to students and our school community, or harmful. We need a range of personal and social skills to make positive interactions possi-ble. At All Souls St Gabriels School, we strive to enhance a feeling of connectedness and this is rein-forced through EFL (Education For Life) which is taught at all second-ary year levels. Consent and Sexual Assault There have been recent media reports of issues surrounding con-sent and sexual practices amongst school students. A free-to-access video on consent and sexual assault has been prepared for parents, featuring Dr Michael Carr-Gregg. The video, which includes tips for parents on how to initiate a conversation with their children on consent, is posted at https://schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-conversation-consent An article posted by Curtin University Research Fellow Jacqueline Hendriks may also be helpful for parents: https://theconversation.com/not-as-simple-as-no-means-no-what-young-people-need-to-know-about-consent-155736

Pastoral Care Team

Mr Darren Fleming Headmaster Mrs Wendy Fleming Dean of Students Mr Darren Guldbransen Head of Boarding Mrs Deb Sellars Year 7 - 8 Co-Ordinator Mrs Jordan Bensemann Year 9 - 10 Co-Ordinator Ms Sharna Carmody Year 11 - 12 Co-Ordinator Sr Kate McCartney School Nurse Sr Terri Hensler School Nurse Ms Flo King Administration

CChaplaincy Team Darren Fleming Recently Father Kenneth attended his first Junior School service on Thursday and then stayed over-night to assist with the Junior School Leaders’ Induction on Fri-day morning and then the Senior School Chapel service, Lent 4, be-fore lunch. The previous Sunday, boarders had a lesson in making palm crosses. Many students got the hang of it quite quickly and produced some lovely crosses which we will be able to distribute on Palm Sunday. There was a mixture of sizes and some that you really needed to use your imagination to determine if it was indeed a cross. “Why don’t we use paper, it would be much easier?” led us into the discussion why were indeed using palms. We also brought out some dried crosses from last year and explained that the ashes that were placed on foreheads on Ash Wednesday came from the burning of last year’s crosses. Both Junior and Senior students are doing a great job helping at all the different services. They look the part and are very focused. Special thanks to our adult helpers, Fr Kenneth, Mrs Storey, Mrs Dickson, Miss Croker and Mrs Fleming.

Junior School Chapel Jane Dickson Junior School recently welcomed Father Kenneth to our service. He supported Chapel Prefect elect, Matilda Hare to reflect on the reading from John Chapter 3 verse 14 -21 about light and dark, good vs evil and that if we are fright-ened of the dark we should turn on the light, as this will banish the dark and bring God into our lives. We were fortunate to have Fr Ken-neth return for the Junior School Leaders’ Installation the following day. Fr Kenneth is hoping to at-tend most Junior School Chapel Services in the future, and we look forward to his contribution.


Our focus in Chapel has been to recognise how Acts of Kindness should happen every day and that when we do an act of kindness we live as God wanted us to. Fr Ken-neth gave everyone homework by asking us to do something kind/good for our family, friends and teachers. Matilda asked, “I wonder if you can share an act of kindness that you have seen this week” and “I wonder what acts of kindness you have done at home this week”. The responses from the students were positive with lots of students who are normally quiet in Chapel wanting to share how they have carried an act of kindness towards others. We gave thanks for all the opportu-nities we have in our lives and school. We prayed for the sick and homeless and our military person-nel, as we want them all to be home safe and well. We asked for support and to be grateful for our skills and abilities, and for for-giveness when we lash out due to disappointment. The Junior School Leaders will con-tinue to play a significant role in the Junior School Chapel Services by posing “I wonder questions” and sharing their thoughts on the week-ly prayers.

School Prayers In our thoughts & prayers; As we recognise World Day of Prayer for 2021, we pray for our school community and everyone in it, we pray for their health and wellbeing and that they may stay safe and healthy. We also pray for countries around the world who are not as lucky as us. We hope they can find strength and peace and know that they are an important part of the world. We especially think of the Vanuatuan people as they are the host country for World Day of Prayer this year. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. We pray for everyone who has been unwell recently, may they have a speedy recovery. We pray for Brother Robin, and that he con-tinues to know we are thinking of him. We also give thanks for Sister Kate and Sister Terri and hope that they know how much we appreci-ate their care for us all. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. As we come closer to the end of the first term, we pray that everyone is organised and is finishing their work and that they are preparing currently for their exams. We wish all students well for their assess-ments. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. We give thanks to those in our community who do things to make all of our lives much easier while we are at school. We especially thank the senior students and staff who have assisted with our march-ing practice in preparation for ANZAC Day and for those who assist us with schoolwork, sport and cultural pursuits. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. We ask that the rest of our term is filled with fun moments and mem-ories for everyone and we ask that you watch over us all and keep us as we prepare for the holidays. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.

Fr Kenneth attends the Junior School Leaders’ Induction with Matilda Hare (Junior School Chapel Prefect) & Tio Hensley (Senior School Chapel Prefect)

Landon Hughes, Xavier Lord, Isabella Whiting, Tameira Robertson-Wotton making palm crosses


SSport News Will Urquhart - Director of Sport Inter-House Dodgeball On Friday evening over 220 students participated in the inaugural Inter-House Dodgeball competition. From choreographed entrances to numerous head shots all age divisions were very well represented with all players getting plenty of court time. A huge thank you to Mr Justin Power for putting in an excellent display of refereeing on the night with over 60 games of dodgeball completed and numerous more complaints. Highlight of the night (other than the Broncos los-ing) was a 3 way tie in the Intermediate Boys division with all three houses represented in a 1v1v1 playoff game. Results

North Queensland Trials Throughout Term 1 several students have trialled for North Queensland School Sports with a few individuals successfully making the cut. Trial Day 1

Trial Day 2

Trial Day 3

Division Gender Champion House Junior Female Chad Inter Female Becket Senior Female Becket Junior Male Feetham Inter Male Feetham (3-way Playoff) Senior Male Feetham

Girls Rugby League AFL AFL U18 Netball

Olive Whap Demarques Gibbo Kadyn Flanagan Kacey Musk (Possible and Probables)

U18 Rugby Union U18 Rugby Union U18 Rugby Union U18 Rugby Union U18 Girls Touch Football U18 Girls Touch Football U15 Boys Touch Football

Matthew McKellar Lachlan Lathwell Kevin Mutton Kodi Boalar Kasey Musk Annika Peace (Shadow) Corey Musk (Possible and Probables)

U18 Boys Rugby League U15 Boys Rugby League

Rolland Geesu (Possible and Probables) Corey Musk

Andre Hill-Warner, Rolland Geesu, Darby Butler

Corey Musk

Ferlyn Hunter, Alexander Nunns, David Gaidan, Tristen Lathwell, Isiah Gaidan


The Arts Kylie Kempster Head of The Arts GRIN AND TONIC VISITS ALL SOULS Students were treated to an engaging but sobering performance from the Grin and Tonic Company last week. Their performance of April’s Fool, the true story of a Toowoomba teen who died of a drug overdose and the impact that it had on his family and friends, contained many life lessons for our Year 10 - 12 students.

Arts Prefect Claire Kempster with actors from the Grin and Tonic Theatre Company

David Gaidan and Nathan Logan make a great team on the keyboard

YEAR 9/10 MUSIC GET CREATIVE Mr Price’s Year 9/10 Music class are currently finalising their own compositions for assessment. We are constantly amazed by the creative and inspiring work of our students. Who knows, one day we could see one of them accepting an award at the Grammy’s for their work?

CLAIRE AND ELLA’S SUCCESS AT SHEP Congratulations to Ella Dietrich and Claire Kemp-ster for their incredible efforts at the Cairns State Honours Ensemble Program (SHEP). See the next page in this newsletter for an account written by the girls of their Cairns’ adventure.

Trezjhan Brackenridge composes a guitar track


State Honours Ensemble Program Claire Kempster Arts Prefect On Friday, 5 February 2021, Ella Dietrich and Claire Kempster travelled up to Cairns to participate in the High School State Honours Ensemble Program (SHEP). We stopped in at Frosty Mango for our annual photo and ice cream before arriving in Cairns at around 2.00pm. We didn’t start rehearsals until 4.00pm on Friday, finishing at 8.00pm that night. With the traditional pizza dinner, COVID style, we were still very hungry after rehearsals, so we took a detour to McDonalds to be over the moon to get a happy meal that included a mini Spongebob becoming the highlight of the trip. We then returned to the resort we were staying at for an early, not so early, nights’ rest before rehearsal the next day. On the Saturday we woke up bright and early as rehearsals started at 8.00am. We finished our rehearsal for the day at 4.00pm and headed off to the pool to relax before going out to the esplanade for dinner. We didn’t end up getting into bed until late again, much to Mrs Dietrich’s dismay, but we had the car ride home the next day to re-cover. Finally, on Sunday we started rehearsal again at 8.00am for a final clean up of the pieces before the concert at 10.30am. Due to COVID restrictions, only the wind ensemble played at this concert, so we were on the road nice and early for a change. We stopped at Frosty again for a little something to eat and arrived home at 5.00pm safe and sound. Thank you to Mr and Mrs Dietrich for taking us up to Cairns and dealing with our late-night chats, stupidity and horrible humor. A special mention should go to Claire Kempster as this will see the end of her trips to SHEP.

State Honours Ensemble Program attendees Ella Dietrich and Claire Kempster

JJunior School Tina Akers Head of Junior School Junior School Leaders The Year 6 students understand being the senior students in the Junior School carries with it the re-sponsibility for setting the tone of the Junior School. As leaders there is an expectation for them to act as positive role models for their fellow students and offer responsible ser-vice to our School, their peers and the wider School community. Recently the Junior School Leaders were formally inducted to their leadership roles. It was a very proud occasion for the students, their families, friends and the wider School community. We were very honoured to have our School Captains Matthew McKellar and Piper Godfrey, the Senior School Chapel Prefect, Tio Hensley and other Senior School Prefects assist with the formalities of the service. We also valued Fa-ther Kenneth joining us for this im-portant occasion in the School cal-endar and offering a blessing for the Junior School Leaders.

Congratulations to the following students. I know each of them will do our School proud, and be strong advocates for our students and School in their elected roles. Junior School Captains: Grace Turner Clayne Musk Junior School Vice Captains: Isabella Maff Ben Kirkwood Junior School Chapel Prefect: Matilda Hare Junior School Arts Prefect: Emmerson Heuir Alban House Captain: Tahira Groth Ramsay House Captain: Taj Koch Becket House Captain: Hollie Laffin


Feetham House Captain: Matt Dunn Chad House Captain: Rahani Davidson Page House Captain: Jae Skinner Students have unique perspectives on learning, teaching and schooling. Junior School Student Council will provide the opportunity for the student leaders to voice what they can do to make positive changes, pro-mote The Arts and give Service to the wider School community.

The Junior School Student Council will also include two student repre-sentatives from Year 4 and two from Year 5. I congratulate the fol-lowing Year 4 and Year 5 students who have been elected to the posi-tion of Student Representatives: Year 4 Student Representatives Liliah Plant and Sonny Mihill Year 5 Student Representatives Hayley Risdale and Danny Clark

Oral Reporting Sessions This term, we will be providing an oral reporting session for all parents of children in Pre-Prep to Year 6. These sessions will enable teachers to provide an overview of your child’s academic progress and for you to see examples of your child’s learning. It will provide the opportunity for you to gain an un-derstanding of your child’s attitude to learning and general wellbeing within the school environment. Ad-ditionally, these meetings will offer the opportunity for you to discuss any specific questions about the teaching, learning and assessment processes, or share any concerns you may have regarding your child’s learning and wellbeing.

Class teachers are available to meet with parents during Week 9 and Week 10.

These meetings are a vital link between school and home. All parents are encouraged to contact the Junior School office to arrange an appointment with their child’s teacher/s. Phone: 4788 2242 or email: [email protected] These meetings are important. If you are not available to meet with your child’s teacher/s during the scheduled times, please contact the Junior School office so an alternate time can be arranged.

Students are welcome to attend the meeting with their parents. However, as we are not able to provide supervision for students during the meeting times, we suggest they bring along something to keep them busy (book/device).


Junior School Book Fair The Book Fair is a great oppor-tunity for families to purchase books at a reasonable price. The School will also receive a commis-sion from the sale of all books which will be used to purchase new resources for our students to use and enjoy. We would appreciate volunteers to assist with the sale of the books before and after school on Friday 26 March – Wednesday, 31 March.

Monday, 22 March 3.15 – 6.30 pm Tuesday, 23 March 3.15 – 4.15 pm Wednesday, 24 March 3.15 – 4.15 pm Monday, 29 March 3.15 – 4.15 pm Tuesday, 30 March 3.15 – 4.15 pm

Inter-House Cross Country As swimming lessons come to an end, PE classes are focus-ing on developing students’ cardiovascular fitness and stamina required for the Cross Country. Before school training sessions are being conducted on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The Junior School Inter-House Cross Country will take place on, Wednesday, 31 March.

FFrom the Dorms We’re almost at the end of term with only a couple of weeks to go. It’s been a long term plus the be-ginning of exam block followed by our Inter-House Cross Country in week 10. Our kids continue to do their early morning training ses-sions, even though they are not compulsory. Recreation We recently enjoyed a day out at the Columba Catholic College Football and Netball Gala, where Columba played visiting Catholic Schools from Mt. Isa and Townsville. It was great for us to have the opportunity to just kick back, relax and be spectators for this event. Our kids got to catch up with visiting family and friends from other schools, and thoroughly appreciated the outing. Our weekends have also been busy with impromptu games of football under the lights on O’Keeffe Oval, volleyball, Dodgeball competition between our sporting houses, Sunday’s at the markets, movies and pool competitions. Brolgas Rugby Union Our Brolgas Rugby Union girls recently competed in Townsville against the FNQ team. It’s been a huge slog for our girls who have travelled to Townsville every Sunday since Term 1 began, in order to train and prepare for their match. All their hard work paid off with two, well-deserved wins. Congratulations girls!


Travel Arrangements Finally, the end of Term 1 is upon us so if you know how your sons and daughters are getting home for the holidays, please let Flo King or your Senior Dormitory Supervisor know. We encourage everyone to start making arrangements and have all travel plans sorted as soon as possible. The last couple of weeks go very quickly and before we know it travel day is here. As always, please let your dormitory supervisor know if you have any concerns regarding your sons and daughters. Until next time, take care.


Alban highlights Our ‘Girls Night In’ was a lovely evening for all three girls’ dorms. We had music, football, games, ice cream waffle cones, make-overs, hair-styling and even some dancing.

Karen’s weekend crafts are prov-ing to be a hit amongst the girls with their most recent creation be-ing a string vase. They look fan-tastic and have brightened up the dorms. We’re so grateful to have someone in dorms with such an artistic mind! The Alban girls are tracking along well, despite their heavy work-loads and commitments currently. They’ve shown strength and resili-ence, and a wonderful support for each other. I’m proud of their ef-forts to ‘stay the course’ this term and soldier on.

Al Aban House Vanessa Herring Senior Resident Mobile: 0419 771 433 Email: [email protected]

Becket highlights We can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s been a long term and girls are now busy with their assessments.

A huge thank you Tahlia Flanagan for holding weekly meetings and for organising the girls to get up and go to Cross Country training every Wednesday morning. Congratulations to Olive Whap for making the U15’s NQ Girls Rugby League team. We’re very proud of you. And well done to all our girls who have been to any sporting trials recently for NQ teams – Netball, Touch and League.

Chad highlights It’s been a bit quiet around Chad dorm this past fortnight, girls have been studying hard and they can see the light at the end of a very long term. Vanessa, Alison and Dawn had a Girl’s Night In with hair and makeup sessions, which the girls really enjoyed.

Friday night we all headed down to the MPC for an action-packed night playing Inter-House Dodgeball. It was a fantastic night; the loud music was a hit and there were cheer squads and dancers on the side-lines - the kids had a ball! We would like to thank Mr Urquhart for organizing such a great event.

Sunday saw us strolling the Centenary markets. It was a lovely morning to just get out of dorms into the beautiful fresh air. Later that day Karen and Jenny invited the girls to a craft day of decorating vases with rope - they are amazing and talented.

Becket House Jenny Cantle Senior Resident Mobile: 0407 142 493 Email: [email protected]

Chad House Bec Dixon Senior Resident Mobile: 0439 764 638 Email: [email protected]

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Ramsay highlights The end of term is coming very quickly now with all the boys hard at work with their academic commitments and assessments. The boys have been making good use of their prep times and Ring-ers Club in the afternoons so hopefully this pays off when they get their final marks for the se-mester. It isn’t all work and no play, however. All the kids had an evening in the MPC over the weekend playing dodgeball. This went exceedingly well with all the kids fully engaged in the activity. I didn’t see any kids on their phones which is unheard of!

Dorm-wise, everyone is traveling along just fine, healthy and happy. The boys new to boarding are get-ting to know the routines and ex-pectations and what it is to be a Ramsay boy. All the boys in Ramsay dorm are starting to look towards the holidays now and a well-deserved break. I will be keeping the boys focused on their exams for the final weeks of term so if anyone has any concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Ramsay House Rhett Butler Senior Resident Mobile: 0400 751 433 Email: [email protected]

Feetham highlights ‘We are nearly there’ is the message in the dorm at the moment. The boys are looking forward to getting home and chilling out a little. The mighty Feetham boys have been flat out with sports on just about every day recently.

Last Friday we had the Inter-House Dodgeball competition and the boys told me it was a great night. Feetham walked away as the winners on the night and we had a few players who really stood out, with Darby Linton and Xavier Lord being outstanding dodgers. We are focusing on our cleanliness at present as it could do with some improvement but guys like Sam Cowan have been trying their best to help out a few of the boys that struggle in this department. Thanks Sam.

The boys enjoyed a night around the fire pit last Saturday. A few good yarns from Norman Prior-Bounghi kept them all entertained. Especially the one about him being the best footy player on Palm Island. Norman is always good for dorm morale.

Page highlights We are rapidly approaching the end of Term 1 and the new boarders are well and truly ready for a break. The first term in boarding is long, confusing and all so new. We have a great group in Page Dormitory, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group cope so well.

The established boarders are right back into the rhythm of boarding and working hard to maintain the culture of our Page community. Things like whole dorm running training once a week leading up to Cross Country and taking responsi-bility to clean up after yourself in the kitchen are always talked about and encouraged. It’s great to see the sense of responsibility passed along each successive group of seniors.

We have had a great start to the boarding year in a lot of areas and these are the things we will be concentrating on going forward this year.

Feetham House Jake Diery Senior Resident Mobile: 0419 471 433 Email: [email protected]

Page House Davin Marshall Senior Resident Mobile: 0409 071 433 Email: [email protected]


Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Mr Peter Wallis Award Leader Training and upskilling ‘Tis the season to be training! The staff and students involved in the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award have been training and upskilling over the last month or so. Safety, safety, safety is the motto and preparation is the key. Behind the scenes, a mountain of paperwork and preparation has taken place to enable our staff to deliver the Dukes at Souls. While this is a full-time job in itself, thanks to our staff going above and beyond, we have managed to make it happen (and manage our day-jobs too) to enable students at All Souls St Gabriels School to engage in what is truly a life-changing experience; recognised the world over. On the 4th of March, I commenced a 4-day training course in the wilds of the Connondale National Park, inland from Kennilworth. It commenced with a planning day where map reading and compass work was assessed. Route cards were prepared to detail every turn in the track, every contour line crossed and every compass bearing required of the proposed hike. The latest thinking within the outdoor sector regarding technology and equipment was metaphorically ‘unpacked’ and explored as well as the latest in lightweight camping equipment designed for bushwalking; literally unpacked - and repacked. The hike itself involved some fairly strenuous difficult unmarked tracks as well as kilometres of offtrack “scrub-bashing” through dense rainforest using micro-navigational tech-niques to assess the route. “Handrailing” and “catching features” were used to navigate the route identifying knolls and counting gullies. Managing the wildlife encounters along the way was good experience, leeches, snakes, hairy caterpillars, spiders and marsh flies, to name but a few, presented their own unique challenges and almost all of them became the focus of one or more of the many artificial scenarios we faced along the way as part of the training. The next competency I faced on the course was the ‘river crossing’ every item in my mobile home (AKA - my backpack) had to be wrapped and waterproofed, several strategies were covered including the pack-swim (not something I’d entertain up here with all the crocs) as well as a number of other strategies/techniques. The training simulated scenarios that required helicopter evacuations, stretcher lifts and the management of multiple casualties amongst others and communications with the emergency services, group management and leadership techniques were at the forefront every day. All in all, a fantastic course with lots of learning that I’m keen to pass on. On Saturday 13 March, 38 budding new Duke of Edinburgh participants took to Townsville with Messers Wallis, McCartney, Lukeman and Mses Twine, Ombiga & Dickson for the annual Bronze Training Day. This year held at Townsville Grammar, four other schools and the Girl Guides gathered to put on training sessions to cover all of the essentials of the Award. Sessions included first aid, navigation, food selection and preparation, equipment, pack-ing as well as how to manage the Award through the Online Record Books (ORB). The students had a great day and came away having learnt heaps. But it doesn’t stop there… over the coming few weeks the Duke of Edin-burgh participants will be undergoing a number of meetings where further training is imparted and questions are answered. Equipment lists and training schedules will be issued to students this term so the final preparation can take place over the holidays and the required equipment can be brought back to school in Term 2. Running simultaneously to all of this is a similar program catering for the higher needs of the Silver and Gold levels of the Award. Training meetings and some practical sessions with equipment are coming their way in preparation for their adventurous journeys this year. Our practice jaunt will take us 4 days in Conway National Park in the Whitsundays and then the ‘pièce de resistance’, the beautiful Thorsborn Trail on Hinchinbrook Island.

A tired bunch of Bronzies at the end of their training day.

A potential river crossing ahead… no crocodiles!


2021 Secondary Student Exam Blocks Term 2 Years 7 - 12 Monday 14 to Friday 18 June Term 3 Year 12 Monday 9 to Friday 13 August Term 3 Years 7 - 12 Monday 6 -Monday 14 September Term 4 Year 12 External Exams set by QCAA Monday 25 October to Tuesday 16 November Term 4 Years 7 - 11 Wednesday 10 - Tuesday 16 November This is just before Preliminary Prize Giving, Awards Day & Valedictory at the end of that week.

Staff Profile Cassie Windsor Where are you from and what School did you attend? I am originally from country NSW however I've spent most of my life moving around and living in different places in NSW, Victoria & Queensland. I went to 3 different high schools - St Francis De Sales Regional College in Leeton NSW, Catholic Regional College (now St Ignatius) on the Bellarine Peninsula in VIC & Clonard College in Geelong VIC. What is your position, other roles & time at the school? I have been employed at All Souls St Gabriel School since the beginning of 2021 as Academic Registrar. My experi-ence is primarily based across 2 industries (Hospitality & Finance) where I worked for many years in Event Man-agement, Business Lending, Account/Business Development & Sales for a number of large corporations. What are your personal interests/ volunteer work outside of school? I'm a keen crossfitter and enjoy feeling fit and healthy so I'll generally get involved in anything sporty! I also love being outdoors and spend a lot of time fishing and boating with my partner and we have lots of plans this year to go camping in the winter. I also love to do anything creative which means I spend what time I have left either painting, drawing or cooking up a storm - there's nothing better than having your family and friends over to enjoy some low-n-slow American-style BBQ meat straight out of the smoker! Why do you love working at Souls? All the staff and students are very collaborative and approachable, which makes it such a positive environment to work in everyday, particularly for a new employee! One of my goals when moving to Charters Towers was to find a role that allowed me to actively contribute to the school/wider community and use my current skills to add value within the workplace. I feel that I have ticked both of those boxes and I look forward to learning more about my role and the school as a whole over the coming year. What is your advice to our students? Thinking back to when I was a student and what I wish I had been told by my teachers...make the most of every day at school by working as hard as you can, getting involved and helping each other. Nothing can prepare you more for what is out there beyond High School and this way, you'll be more equipped to deal with whatever life can throw at you!

Souls and Famous

Cassie Windsor Academic Registrar


School Happenings

Miss Taylor, Sarah Milton and Abbey Haines travelling to Brisbane for the Gabes Old Girls Lunch

ASSG 1st Team. Ready for a pre-season

trial game vs CCC

Caitlyn Elliott, Chloe Wolfenden, Layla Davies, Grace Kirkwood and Jacalyn Elliot attended the ZONTA International Women’s Day Dinner. Mrs Kylie Kempster, Mrs Deb Sellars and Mrs Wendy Fleming also attended. The event guest speaker was Author and Gabes Old Girl Krissy Regan (nee Briggs).

Chloe Wolfenden & Layla Davies

2021 Phoenix Rising Issue 3 · 2021. 3. 23. · Front: Father Kenneth, Sonny Mihill, Danny Clark,...

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Transcript of 2021 Phoenix Rising Issue 3 · 2021. 3. 23. · Front: Father Kenneth, Sonny Mihill, Danny Clark,...