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ATConnect
Volume 5 I 19 February 2015
Dear Parents
On Wednesday we marked the beginning of our Lenten journey at the College
with our Ash Wednesday liturgy. Traditionally Lent is a time to review our
spiritual health - reinvigorating those basic principles of love and kindness.
While part of our pattern of Lenten discipline is based on a tradition of fasting
and intensive prayer, Lent is also opening up our hearts, looking outside ourselves and focusing on the needs of others. For all of us, Lent should be one
of those “stocktaking” times in the life of the church. It is a time where we are
asked to revisit the fundamentals – what is important to us, where is the
meaning in our lives, how do we express our faith both individually and communally. The traditional three pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting and acts of
charity. The Lent challenge is to consider how we might find some extra time
for prayer (early morning, late at night, in the car?), so that we get beyond the
idea of God as a cultural or cognitive conception only. We are also challenged
to make our faith real and practical by some personal acts of self-discipline
and acts of Christian giving. At the College we have focused on the notion of
looking outward as we work together as a community who cares for each
other. In many ways the ashes of Ash Wednesday represent our past, our
present and our future. They mark us as a person on a journey. They mark us
as a community on a journey.
Opening Mass
Last Friday was a moving occasion as we celebrated as a prayerful community
with a mass in at Stephen’s Cathedral. Whilst we were disappointed that an
unforseen event prevented His Grace Archbishop Mark Coleridge from celebrating the full mass with us, the celebration was a significant milestone in our
new school community. Although I have said many times it is important that
we celebrate that we are proud to be a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice
Tradition. As a part of our Catholic tradition, this celebration is in the form of
gathering as a faith community around the Eucharist. For a number of our
students this may have been a new experience or an infrequent experience. I
would like to congratulate all our students on their involvement in the Mass,
their commitment added to the wonderful occasion. I would also like to thank
and acknowledge our special guests for the day, Br Paul Oakley (President of
the EREA Council), Mr Graham Goerke (Chair of the EREA Board) and Mr Peter
Chapman (newly appointed Director of Regional support for EREA). Their continued interest and support for the College is greatly appreciated.
New Bus services
We have been investigating the option of being able to re-introduce a chartered bus service from the western corridor out to Bellbowrie and surrounding suburbs. This service will be a joint initiative with Brigidine College with a
dual aim to provide a safe and reliable bus service to and from both Colleges
to assist parents and also to ease congestion around both Colleges by decreasing the potential number of cars transporting students to and from the College. I am pleased to announce that this service will commence on Monday
March 2. A letter will sent out by the end of the week to outline all details for
this service including the routes for the two separate services, as well as pick
times and costs involved. The costs will be based on two levels i.e. high school
students eligible for the State Government Travel assistance scheme and all
junior school and non–eligible high school students. This service will be run by
Southern Cross Transit and I would like to show my appreciation for their
support as we have investigated this service. Early next week I would hope to
Ambrose Treacy College
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Reception: 38780500
I
have details out to families regarding an expanded service to our current Bus
2 Service through Graceville, Oxley and Jindalee areas.
Congratulations
In considering what we’re going to be, the foundation on which we were going to build our formation program we discerned that learning, leadership and
service would be the touchstones we would build on. These concepts were
incorporated into the development of our College crest – the book (learning),
the star (leadership) and the Celtic cross (service) to provide us with a connection to base our formation program on. I am confident that students who have
heard us talking about this and challenging them to understand that all students have the capacity to achieve personal excellence in their learning, that
everyone has the capacity for leadership and that we are called to look out
and reach out in service to others. I would like to acknowledge the wonderful
work of two of our Year 8 students who have shown great leadership and
service already this year. Liam Warriner and Jack Steel are two Year 8 students
who not only share a great passion for kayaking, but also a great skill in this
area and achieved great success in the recent State Kayaking championships.
Their gift back to the College has been their willingness to volunteer their time
and expertise with our new Year 4 students in the Saturday morning Paddle
Play program. I have been thrilled to see them enthusiastically sharing their
passion for their sport of kayaking with the Year 4 students and I have been
proud to see them patiently sharing their knowledge to the novices. It is this
example of selfless giving that I applaud; it is the awareness that it is not all
about me and what I can seem to get out of it but rather what can I give back
so that others can, that impresses me. Well done Liam and Jack, this is exactly
the generosity of spirit and culture we seek to develop in our community and
in particular in our student leaders.
Service
As I mentioned above in congratulating Liam and Jack on their great work, the
notion of service is something that we seek to build a framework around. We
are aware that when we talk about what we can do as a community in living
out the value of service, we need to look at it being lived throughout our lives
and not just in the framework of what we can do at school. Reaching out to
the outside community is important as well. Over the past few years we have
run a very low key program where we took a few volunteer Year 7 students
out into the community and assisted with a Meals on Wheels session. Whilst
not an earth shattering event in its isolation, it gave boys the opportunity to
understand that there are many people, in this case mainly older people, who
need support from the rest of society to be able to look after themselves. We
are looking for any parents who may be in a position to assist us in continuing
this program. The ask would be an availability to give about 90 minutes a few
times a year to transport two or three of our Year 7 or 8 students around to
homes in our local community. The benefits are substantial as the students
experience the gift of giving and their eyes are open to a group of people in
need that they may not have previously experienced. If you feel that you are
able to help out I would encourage you to email either Conor Finn or myself
for further information.
Best wishes to all,
Michael Senior
Wet Weather Line: 38780511
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www.atc.qld.edu.au
Our Teachers
One of the important ‘Signs of
Faith’ in our community is Jesus
from whose example, in forming
your son as an Ambrose Treacy
Gentleman, we aspire to produce
faithful servants who build relationships that empower the marginalised. The ability for young men
to maintain meaningful relationships is critical to the success of
their life journey in the light of increasing male unemployment, marital failure, incarceration and suicide. Indeed, for boys in schools,
relationships are king as they are
relational in their learning and tend
to learn teachers and not subjects.
If boys are to be productively engaged, meet and even exceed our
expectations the relationships they
develop with their teachers are
critical. It has been my experience,
that our teachers are exceptional
professionals who are dedicated
to the best interests of your son in
the midst of their feats and failures. It has been my experience,
that our boys, as a result of the
relationships with their teachers,
learn to be resilient, believe in
themselves, excel in academic,
sporting or cultural pursuits and
develop habits, values and beliefs
that change not only their school
fortunes
but
their lives in general. How is this
miracle achieved over time? Faith
and courage. Edmund Rice encouraged his Christian Brothers to
“have courage the good seed will
grow in the children's hearts”.
What does this look like at ATC? In
my experience, our teachers reach
out to students and improvise in
order to meet their needs. Our
teachers maintain consistent and
high expectations of our students
and of themselves. Our teachers
accommodate a measure of opposition and defiance. Our teachers
creatively manage the relationships
with our boys even when they are
intentionally or unintentionally
hurt. Our teachers reflect on their
assumptions and to improvise new
approaches. Our teachers know
that rarely are there relational
quick fixes and relationship building occurs over an extended time.
Our teachers know that relationship building is a two-way street
and that our boys also have to
choose to ‘come to the table’. We
are certainly lucky at ATC however
I believe it is the partnership we
work hard to establish between
staff, students and parents that
creates our own ‘luck’. Why? Research reveals that relational
breakdown between a teacher and
a student can be attributed to factors such as unsupportive families,
boys who were unprepared to
work and the impact of so-called
masculine pressures in popular
culture. This has not been my experience of this community as every
day I meet and am inspired by
boys, parents and guardians who
courageously trust the above transformative wisdom of our teachers
also. Thank you for being courageous ‘Signs of Faith’ in our teachers for your sons.
ATConnect
Mr Senior has commented on Student Service in his article today. This is
one of our three touchstones at Ambrose Treacy College the other two
being Leadership and Learning.
In addition, an Academic Coaching program has been established. Academic Coaching will commence next week, details as follows:Term 1 Start Date:
Tuesday 24 February 2015
Term 1 End Date:
Thursday 26 March 2015
Days:
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
Time:
3.15pm – 4.30pm
Location:
Mt Sion iCentre
6 Treacy - Sullivan Parle, Miles Bojorge & Reily Allan
Cost:
$10.00 per session – min 2 sessions per week
6 Bodkin – Cameron Burgin, Elijah Bolton & Sasha Haritinoff
Other:
1 tutor per 6 students.
6 Lynch – Owen Griffin, Charlie Neumann & Sam Jones
6 Nolan – Eden Chan, Bailey Gunther & Josh Migotto
Students are to bring any material/work relevant to their specific needs
with them to the session.
A similar Student Leadership Council will be set up in the Middle School
involving representatives from Year 7 and Year 8 homeroom classes.
Students arrive at the iCentre and notify supervising teachers they have
arrived for Academic Coaching and they will be introduced to the tutor.
Student Learning—One of our aims is to develop a very strong learning
culture at Ambrose Treacy College. To support this we have set up a
Study Centre in the iCentre every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
afternoons. The sessions will operate from 3.15pm to 4.30pm and students must have homework/assessment to work on. The aim is to create an environment where boys can extend their learning. Staff support
will predominately be a supervisory role.
Please note there is a minimum of 2 sessions per week. The cost for
Term 1 (5 weeks, 2 sessions per week) will be $100.00.
Student Leadership—Leadership is an area in which we will continually
investigate avenues to develop leadership skills for the boys. This year
we have created a Student Leadership Council in the Junior School. Each
term, three boys will be nominated by their peers to represent their
class on the council. Following the nomination process I would like to
congratulate:
Payment can be made via our website Online Payments. Select
“Other” and you will see Academic Coaching listed under
“Activities”. Please note the Online Payment system will only be set up
by Friday afternoon.
The Cu Chulainn Award Week 4
4 Bodkin Sean Bennett
4 Lynch George White
4 Nolan Jack Sadler
4 Treacy William Reid
5 Bodkin Connor Barnes
5 Lynch Alexander Sherratt
5 Nolan Ziggy Bickle
5 Treacy Hugh Mowbray
6 Bodkin Jacob Meehan
6 Lynch Zach McArdle
6 Nolan Cooper Nasagavesi
6 Treacy Zayden Stevens
ATConnect
Mr Mark Watson
Head of Faculty
STEM
Robot programming in Digital Technology
Ambrose Treacy College has taken a STEM approach to the teaching of Maths, Science, HPE and Technology in the Middle School.
Integrated STEM education is an effort to combine the four disciplines (science, technology, engineering and maths) into tasks
that are based on the connections between these disciplines and
real-world problems (What is STEM? video: http://
bit.ly/1yPeq3X). There are many reasons that this is the most
effective way to teach these subjects to middle school students
but first we should look at the weaknesses that have been identified in traditional methods of teaching Maths and Science.
In 2012 there were 30,800 more students than in 1992, but there
were:
8,000 fewer Physics students;
4,000 fewer Chemistry students; and
13,000 fewer Biology students.
The decline in the number of students choosing to study senior
science leads to a much smaller pool of students capable of studying STEM courses at University and entering STEM professions.
In a survey conducted by Lyons and Quinn (2010, QUT), they
found that more than half of students surveyed did not choose to
study senior science because they found it uninteresting and a
quarter of students said they did not have a good middle school
science teacher. How can we engage and excite students about
Science to arrest this trend?
It has been regularly reported in the media that Australian students are sliding down the international PISA rankings in the areas of Maths and Science. It is
rarely reported that the actual mean score of Australian
students has not changed
significantly since they were
first ranked in 2000, however
many other countries have
improved their results. In
2012 (most recent PISA report) we were ranked 16th in
Science and 19th in Maths of
the OPEC countries. What
are these countries doing that is making them more successful in
the delivery of these subjects?
“This (integrated STEM approach) is part of a bold initiative by
the Chief Scientist to try to make a serious and significant change
to the way in which science and mathematics are being taught.
Science and mathematics should be taught far more like they are
practiced. Doing more of the same is not going to be good
enough.” Professor John Rice, June 2014
The STEM faculty at ATC is primarily responsible for fostering a
love of STEM subjects. We will develop critical thinkers who are
curious about the world around them and creative problem solvers. We will engage and enthuse the students about STEM and
demonstrate the real-life links of our subjects to ensure they see
their value and have a life-long interest in STEM.
The ‘Authentic integration triangle’ is the model of delivery we
have adopted in order to achieve these stated goals. Knowledge
development, synthesis and application is achieved as a result of
direct instruction by teachers. Students are engaged by the passion and pedagogy of the teachers in the STEM department. Inquiry tasks allow the
students to construct
their own understanding
of the world around
them.
A balance of
these techniques will
provide students with
the knowledge required
to tackle real-world scenarios and problems.
Finally, rich tasks are
extensive investigations
requiring
knowledge
across STEM subjects
and will help students to see the links between them.
An example of a focused inquiry task involving real-world scenarios across STEM disciplines can be found at this link
http://bit.ly/17k65yL. It is the current Year 8 maths assignment
and involves investigating indices in the PE context of a tennis
tournament and the Technology context of binary numbers.
I’m very excited about the future of STEM at Ambrose Treacy
College. We have great resources and a passionate and knowledgeable staff. The boys have limitless potential to achieve great
things in STEM.
ATConnect
The College Autumn Concert is on Thursday 26 March at 6.30pm in the Nudgee Junior Hall (performance uniform required)
For all new parents to the Instrumental Music Program- ATC Instrumental Music Program is for all new students in the area of
woodwind, brass and percussion. Our Junior School Beginner Band Day is
Tuesday 24 February starting at 9am in the Hall and will finish with a concert at 2pm. Only students who are starting a new instrument will be involved. All are welcome and light refreshments will be served at 2.30pm.
Middle School Beginner Band Day is on Thursday 26 February 3.15-5.30pm
in the Hall for students starting a new instrument. Please ensure your son
has their book (Tradition of Excellence Book 1 for their instrument) a display folder, pencil and instrument for the respective days.
Band rehearsals for Junior School will commence Wednesday 4 March at
7am in the Hall. Lessons will also begin on this day, unless otherwise notified by their teacher.
Band rehearsals for Middle School will start on Thursday 5 March 7am—
8am in the Hall.
Lessons for Middle School will start in Week 6.
We look forward to next week and the many students who will start on
their music journey.
If you have not returned the form, could I ask that you either send an email
or a hard copy ASAP. If you have any questions about the program please
email and I will respond as promptly as I can.
Continuing students
All rehearsals and lessons are well underway. The ATC music team would
also like to thank students for their prompt and conscientious effort in being on time for lessons and rehearsals. Well done gentlemen.
Guitar and Piano Lessons
If your son has not enrolled in either piano or guitar and would like to do
so, please email our Middle School Instrumental Music Coordinator, Mr Jonathon Bolt. Lessons are run during school time with
some lessons before school still available.
Opening School Mass- Huge congratulations to the ATC Singers and Ringers who performed so successfully at the
Opening School Mass at St Stephen's Cathedral last Friday morning. I was very proud of your first ever performance
together. Our blend and strength of voices and ringing can only get stronger as the year progresses. Thank you to all
who helped with the organisation in front of and behind the scenes. A special thank you to the band - Mrs McGuiness
and Mrs Esbensen, Messrs Bolt, Bannon and Cullen, and to supervisors Mrs Ebbage, Mrs Black, Dr Finn, Mr Greene and
again, Mr Cullen.
Blessing and Official Opening of the College- Our next performance will be on Tuesday, March 24 th at 5pm when the
Archbishop blesses our new classrooms.
Middle School Music Theatre Showcase- The songs have been chosen for our inaugural Brigidine/Ambrose Treacy Music Theatre Showcase. More information will be sent home very soon about rehearsals and small cost involved. Venue and date are back to as originally
planned i.e. ERPAC and Saturday 6th June. As a once only, 2015 will
provide interested selected Year 6 students the opportunity to be in
this Showcase. Please email me if your son is interested in being
involved. Tuesday 7am to 8.15am is the main rehearsal time.
I am very happy to hear from you with questions regarding Middle
and Junior School Voice and Handbells and Junior School Classroom
matters. Please email me or call 0414 983 000.
ATConnect
Book Club
This week boys in our Junior School will bring home a catalogue from Redgum Book Club - a
new Australian owned children’s book club supporting Australian authors, illustrators and independent publishers. Ordering is easy. Books are to be ordered either online, via email, fax
or phone. The last date for book orders is 9th March.
eBooks
We now have eBooks available for student loan. Students can access our eBook collection
through our Mount Sion iCentre homepage at; http://oliver.atc.qld.edu.au/oliver/
libraryHome.do Boys can download an electronic book to their laptop, home PC, iPad, tablet
or smartphone. There is a short video on our library webpage at: http://
mtsionicentre.weebly.com/book-stuff.html that gives instructions. Please contact library staff
for more information regarding our eBooks if you’re not sure how to access.
Technology
From next week students will only be able to bring their personal electronic devices to use in
the library before school and during their second break. Our first break will be a technology
free time. Students are more than welcome to still come to the library during this time for
reading and borrowing, playing chess and other board games and to use the construction
blocks.
Welcome students and parents to the Ambrose Treacy College Chess program—“Chess Chatter”
Here at ATC we offer all boys the opportunity to join our chess program. No matter what their skill level is, all
boys are welcome and encouraged to join.
Lessons
Free chess lessons are offered as part of the school extra-curricular program. Chess is often referred to as
‘sport for the brain’ and has proven to have valuable skills which enhance learning.
Competitions
Opportunities to practice their chess skills are offered by entering external and internal competitions
throughout the year. One inter-school competition is held each term at Somerville House and the Brisbane
Independent School’s Public Speaking, Debating and Chess Competition is held in Term 2. The ATC intraschool competition is held in Term 3 and in Term 4, “Halloween Chess”.
Professional coaching
Professional chess coaches from Gardiner Chess teach our boys in a fun and professional manner. Coaching is
offered on a Friday morning for one hour starting at 7.20am. If this is something you would like your son to
attend, please email me as soon as possible.
ATConnect
0403 507 169
Great news, the Student cards are now ready to be added to Flexischools. Please go to http://
www.flexischools.com.au and select 'Register'. Follow the prompt to set up an ONLINE ACCOUNT and
STUDENT CARD. All morning teas and lunches are to be ordered ONLINE. The student card which is
linked to your Flexischools account, is for breakfast, snacks and treat only. If you have already set up
an account, find your child and click on 'SET UP CARD NUMBER' and follow the prompts. (see below
picture). This might be a good time to set some ground rules with your son about use of the card at
the tuckshop outlining any foods or drinks that you do not want them to buy.
Breakfast
Help is needed for Breakfast roster. Tuesday morning breakfast is very busy, so if you are free any time
from 7am on please email me.
0419 772 664
Second Hand Joggers
With camp on the horizon for most year levels, we are again collecting any old joggers that you may
have lying around home. These can then be purchased by other families for $5.00 to be used as the
second pair of joggers needed for camp. Any donations can be left at the uniform shop and it’s a great
way to recycle!
There is still a number of Suit Coats, which were brought in for rebadging, to be collected. Student and
Supporters caps are now available for $18.50.
The 2015 uniform shop roster should be emailed out this week. A very big thank you to Danielle Thygesen for undertaking this enormous task. It is very much appreciated.
Uniform shop opening hours
Monday
7.30am-11.00am
Wednesday
7.30am-11.00am
and
and
2.30pm-3.30pm
2.30pm-3.30pm
ATConnect
Year 6 parent coffee morning (Welcome to ATC 2015) – Friday 20 February, from 8am (after drop-off). The event will
be held at Simon’s Gourmet Deli at 620 Moggill Road, Chapel Hill. Queries: Sandy Nasagavesi via 0422 413 680 or class
representatives: Bodkin – Lisa Craven, Lynch – Michelle Aspinall, Nolan – Therese Reid, Treacy – Linda Herden.
Year 5 family welcome event (Chilled Out on the Green) – Saturday 28 February, 3.30-7pm-ish. This event will be
held on the ATC Brothers' Oval, Indooroopilly, and will be a great opportunity to meet and catch up with other ATC Year
5 families. To book, please go to the TryBooking website.
Not Just A Cookbook—Don’t miss out on grabbing your copy full of easy and practical family recipes. Available from College Reception or Gentleman Junior for $30. Any enquiries please email Fiona Wright.
Parent Workshop—UBalancer Coaching is running Life Balance workshops to help parents gain a greater insight into the issues their son may face in their senior school years and how they can help them thrive. The
workshops commence on 26th February, the cost is $120 for three, 2 hour workshops. Please email for more
information or go to the UBalancer website.
Instruments for sale- Trombone (JUPITER) - Beginners Trombone, Case, Cleaning Equip, Music Stand. $250
Please contact Guy on 0403 458 852. Alto Saxophone – Yamaha Yas-23 plus music stand $350. Please contact Jodie on 0438 843 398. Ludwig Percussion kit, bag with wheels, very good condition. Purchased $480,
sell for $300. Please phone Chris on 0408 887 040.
ATConnect