On Thursday afternoon, as part of our build up to the opening of the new car park, the College invited representatives from Transport and Mains Road (TMR) and Queensland Police Service (QPS) to meet with the Principal and the Heads of School to discuss our current and future car park safety strategies.

TMR and QPS were impressed with the flow and conduct of traffic on Thursday afternoon and they support the plan the College has for the flow of traffic. This plan was sent to all families on the 27th of February. If you haven't already, please familiarise yourself with the plan. The safety of our students, staff, and families is paramount. 

Whether you are dropping off or picking up your child from school, it is important to be aware of potential hazards and take the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of everyone in the car park.

Here are some important tips to keep in mind when using the car park:

• Follow the rules and signs, especially the no waiting zone. Traffic starts to back up when parents use this zone to wait for their child. We cannot stress enough the importance of this to ensure a smooth flow of traffic.
• Stay alert and aware: Always keep an eye out for pedestrians and other vehicles in the car park. Avoid distractions such as using your phone or listening to loud music that may prevent you from being aware of your surroundings.
• Slow down: The car park can be busy and crowded, so it is important to drive at a safe speed. Be prepared to stop at any time and be aware of blind spots when reversing.
• Keep children close: If you are walking with your child in the car park, always keep them close to you and hold their hand. Teach them about car park safety and the importance of staying in designated pedestrian areas.
• Be patient and courteous: Car parks can be stressful and frustrating, but it is important to remain patient and courteous to other drivers and pedestrians.

By following these simple tips, we can all help ensure the safety of everyone in the car park. Let’s work together to create a safe and positive environment for our students and families.

Mrs Fiona Stevens - College Principal

Dyslexia is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that impairs a person's ability to decode and read words fluently. There is no link between dyslexia and having lower intelligence. 

All children make errors when learning to read. Children with dyslexia may consistently exhibit several types of reading errors, such as:

• Reading slowly and with difficulty: Children with dyslexia may take longer to read words and have difficulty decoding new words. Words made appeared blurred or letters and words may appear to move or disappear completely.
• Phoneme substitution: This type of error involves replacing one phoneme (the smallest unit of sound in language) with another. For instance, a child may read "sat" as "pat" or "map" as "man."
• Omission: This occurs when a child skips over a word or part of a word. For example, a child may read "reading" as "read" or "napkin" as "kin."
• Addition: This type of error involves adding a word or letter that is not present in the text. For instance, a child may read "cute" as "acute" or "stone" as "stone-uh."
• Letter reversal: Children with dyslexia may confuse letters that look similar, such as "b" and "d" or "p" and "q." This can make it challenging for them to read and spell words accurately.
• Whole-word substitution: Children with dyslexia may replace a word with another that looks or sounds similar. For example, they may read "girl" as "woman" or "sleep" as "rest."

Scan this QR Code to reveal what a page of text may look like to someone with dyslexia:

Dyslexia is more common than you probably expect. It is estimated that anywhere between 10% - 20% of the population has dyslexia to some degree. But the good news is that having dyslexia does not mean a person cannot be successful. Children with dyslexia are often highly creative, puzzle solvers. They are are entrepreneurs and designers. They can find great success as adults using these enhanced predispositions to create new businesses, inventions and solutions. In fact, a survey conducted in England found that 40% of self-made millionaires are dyslexic - what a staggering statistic!

If you suspect that your child may have dyslexia, we encourage you to talk with your healthcare provider or teacher. Your GP can help you with a diagnosis and provide the College with guidance on the appropriate support that your child may need.

Remember, dyslexia does not define a child's intelligence or ability to succeed. With the right support, children with dyslexia can thrive and achieve their full potential.

On Wednesday of Week 6, Year 11 embarked on a journey that was a perfect mix of thrills, challenges and most importantly, strengthening of bonds. Together, we experienced abseiling, high ropes, an 8km hike, an overnight of camping and a 7km canoe paddle. Some activities were pure fun and others required both mental and physical strength. Through it all, we can collectively agree that each student felt immensely supported by their peers, teachers and instructors. Overall, camp was an incredible experience, allowing us to step out of our comfort zones and defy our fears.

Upon arriving at Bornhoffen PCYC Leadership, the students were met with team building exercises to settle a few nerves before being catapulted into the intense heights of abseiling and high ropes. Though we knew our fellow classmates before stepping into camp, after the challenges faced and the tears shed, the friendships in each form class grew to a deeper level. As the 11 Vic class stood by the ledge of the cliff and Val was met with the towering sights of high ropes, the doubts and panic set in. However, the sounds of our fellow classmates cheering us on was the light at the end of the tunnel. The encouragement that roared through the trees and hills of Numinbah was unmeasurable and our fears were outweighed by the smiling faces beaming up at us. Even though many didn’t make the most graceful of descents, it didn’t stop them from standing back up, brushing themselves off and showing what true resilience was.

On the second day, the classes switched activities with VIC taking on the high ropes course and VAL facing the abseiling. After lunch we departed on our expeditions with Val heading off on an 8km Hike, carrying all our clothes, food, tents and cooking equipment, and Vic facing the gruelling canoe paddle from the northern end of Hinze dam to its southern tip against a constant head wind. The challenges proved themselves to be an incredibly important opportunity for each of us to dig deep and find strength; mentally, physically and with regards to relationships between the students. Despite falls, doubts, strong winds, heavy weights and debilitating fatigue, both classes successfully reached the campsite where we pitched tents and cooked our own dinner (yes, believe it or not we cooked and no one got food poisoning). It’s safe to say we couldn’t have done it without the support, encouragement and helping hands from our classmates, instructors and teachers. 

Despite the rough ground, humid conditions and dulcet tones of Mr Haskins’ snoring, we all managed to sleep the sleep of the exhausted and in the morning it was time for us to make our way home. We packed up our 30 kg bags and proceeded the long walk and canoe ride home. Many songs were sung, a few choice words were mumbled and one canoe was capsized (shout out to Poppy’s dad’s cricket hat which was condemned to the depths of Hinze Dam, never to be seen again). Ultimately each group made it back to Bornhoffen tired but filled with a sense of achievement.  

Collectively, year 11 achieved an accomplishment, in defiance of their fears, through companionship and perseverance. We overcame tears, anxiety and challenges that we previously thought were impassable. We think we can speak for all of us when we say, we could not have done it without our classmates, teachers and the camp employees. We want to give a huge thank you to Mr Haskins, Mr Andrews and Ms Macpherson for giving up their time and comfort and for encouraging us all the way and never doubting we could get there. 

This week, year 12 Chemistry have been working hard to complete their second internal assessment, a student experiment. Students decided to modify an experiment conducted in class; the electrolysis of copper sulfate to produce pure copper. This experiment is a small scale example of how pure copper is manufactured through industrial processes. Originally, the class found their experiment wasn't working the way they were hoping. They showed resilience and team work to modify their experiment further and found these changes successful. Well done to Deegan A, Keane D, Charlotte F-G, Ashlee H, Annia R and Keira W.

Mrs Rebecca Smith

A new initiative had been set up in Y7 and Y8 for a Collaborative Homework Diary!

The diary has been created so every student has access to the list of homework tasks that have been issued by each teacher. Each form class has 4 monitors who update the form class diary daily and this can be accessed on the ARC (Academics, Resilience, Careers) google classroom. 

This initiative supports students in so many ways towards academic success but for our monitors it also develops skills of collaboration, independence and communication techniques that will support them in their future studies. 

Parents - ask your child to show you their Class Homework Diary so you can see what they should be doing when they say they have no homework!

The Homework Monitors, who all received their monitor pins today, are

7 VIC Isobel, Jasmine, James, Ruby 

7 VAL Eve, Jackson, Levi L, Lottie 

8 VIC Allirah, Archie, Chloe, Shaun

8 VAL  Angel-Rose, Archie, Kaiden, Maison

I’m so proud that we have leaders in our classes who are willing to support other students by contributing to this initiative - Thank you to our homework monitors.

Mrs Helen Garnar - Year 7/8 Coordinator

All our students who completed Year 12 last year will soon receive an invitation to do the Next Step survey. The short five-minute survey asks graduates about the study and work they have been doing since finishing school. The results from the survey help our school improve our senior programs and prepare students for work and further study.

We ask parents, siblings and friends to encourage our graduates to complete the survey. If their contact details have changed, please assist survey interviewers with their updated details or forward the survey to their new address so they can participate. Graduates may receive an invitation by mail, email or phone. The survey can be completed online or by phone.

For more information about Next Step, including previous results, visit www.qld.gov.au/nextstep.

This week our Drama Excellence students participated in their first workshop at the Zamia Theatre. They were very excited to use this wonderful space, and are looking forward to performing Kate Mulvany's Masquerade at the end of the year.  

Ms Laurinne McQueen

On Friday, our Year 11 cohort had the opportunity to work with Kula and Dave from RACQ as a part of the RACQ Driver IQ program. The program seeks to develop learner driver's skills and knowledge regarding the best ways to develop their driving and how to handle difficult situations when learning to drive. The session was highly engaging and all the students took away some valuable information. 

Mr David Haskins - Year 11/12 coordinator

Every Wednesday Mr Schonherr and Mrs Kramer run the Ultimate Frisbee club (open to everyone in grades 3-6). We couldn’t be prouder of the regular attenders who are, after just a few short weeks, showing great improvement in their skills and technique! The sessions consist of a quick warm up where players are on opposite sides of the pitch and throw to a buddy, followed by a game of ‘doggy fetch’ where the teachers call out a name and the others have to try and clog (block) the student trying to catch the disc. Each week we finish up with a match between yellow and orange, which always involves great excitement! Special shout out to the Year 6 students, (truly resembling pro-players for all the skills they possess!) for helping the younger students understand the game.

We’ll see you all on Wednesday!

Mrs Martine Kramer and Mr Robert Schönherr

Year 1 were lucky enough to visit the Year 4s and have a look at their amazing animal habitat dioramas. We loved listening to the Year 4's explain what they have made to build shelter for their chosen animal and the materials they used. Next week Year 1 are making animal habitat dioramas and are even more excited now that Year 4 gave them lots of fantastic ideas. Thank you for having us. 

Miss Chloe Scholes

View the schedule for the Tamborine Mountain Show Here

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