Week 1 Term 3 2021

Acting Principal

Just as we were beginning to enjoy a level of normalcy, including inter-state travel, going to sporting events, attending big festivals and thinking that we might be back to normal in most respects, we again braced ourselves for further disruption and lockdowns due to the COVID-19. The speed at which the latest outbreak in Sydney has travelled has been appalling. I think we have been ‘lucky’ here in the southeast corner to not see a similar outbreak. I really feel for people south of the border who were plunged into this circumstance in a space of a few days, but the magnitude of this super spread cannot be underestimated and I know most involved understand the necessity to take lockdown action.

What I cannot understand is that with over 18 months’ experience and the best minds in the medical field, we still cannot implement robust systems of quarantine to prevent breaches which lead to lockdowns and a huge burden to our communities. The failure of states and the Commonwealth to work together on a national strategy led by our Federal Government is somewhat puzzling.

What I have observed first-hand is the human cost. People now stressed about no income, many living from pay packet to pay packet. Most are already living on the margins with bills that are mounting up. Small businesses that are just getting their heads above water, again shut down for the time being. Many feel that life is like one step forward and three steps back.

I have noticed a level of complacency in our own backyard. People not scanning QR codes as they enter a premises, people not using sanitiser when in public areas and maintaining hand hygiene at the highest standards. Social distancing is going by the wayside. These were the practices that kept us safe last year and continue to be critical if we are to be safe into the future.

Nothing has changed. Wearing masks should be a common practice in crowded areas at the moment. This is no big deal really and until we have our population fully vaccinated and further measures in place to lessen the impact of this dreadful virus, we need to be prepared to live with this for the foreseeable future. This is complex and it will take time for the world to recover from this pandemic.

For the time being at Nudgee College, we continue to be vigilant and ensure we are always ready to respond to the extreme scenario, like a snap lockdown. We want our community to be safe and we want to make sure that no student is missing out on their learning. Please help us and use the QR codes around the College if you're on campus, remember hand hygiene, carry a mask and if necessary don’t be afraid to wear it. If you or your son are not feeling well, have a cold or sniffles, stay home, get tested and be glad to receive a negative result.

Mid Year Prefects were presented at this week's assembly. These Year 12s were acknowledged for their leadership as Seniors that they have displayed throughout the year in various dimensions of College life. While not common in all schools, I have always found the awarding of Mid Year Prefects a great acknowledgment of perseverance. Often, these young men have overcome the disappointment of missing selection and displayed standout qualities of resilience and commitment. Congratulations to Jacob O’Mealley (DU) Ben Wyatt (FO) Zac Smullen (MA) Cooper Percey (RI), Jamie Knight (RO) Jameson Jameson (TI) and Samuel Rogers (SH).

We also acknowledged the Captains and 1st teams for the Term 3 GPS competitions. Congratulations to Tony Fuimono as Captain and Daniel Maiava-Tapusoa (Rugby Union), Josh Clark (Basketball) and Patrick Kennedy (Chess). We look forward to performances, on and off the field this term.

Finally, I welcome the new families who have joined the community over the holidays. We hope that these first few days and weeks of settling into the school go well for our newest Nudgee College men.

With every best wish for the week ahead.

Mr David Johnston

Acting Principal

Acting Deputy Principal

COVID-19 Fatigue & Youth Mental Health

The COVID-19 crisis has certainly had a resurgence in recent days and the College has again had to pivot on an organisational, health and safety front. I also remain ever mindful of the potential mental health strain on many during this time.

I draw the College community’s attention to our SchoolsTV special page, which has many resources to assist us all manage this pandemic in terms of our wellbeing.

The physical impact of the pandemic has mostly spared our young people, however as the nation remains to be on alert and in various stages of lockdown with restrictions continue to be mandated. The pandemic has had a great affect on our young people with many paying a heavy emotional and developmental price. Psychological disorders are on the rise and emergency interventions have skyrocketed.

As hard as it is being a young person today, it's also draining being the parent of one. It has been reported that many parents are struggling to keep their child's mental health afloat, often proving it is difficult to juggle parenting responsibilities whilst at the same time providing much needed emotional support for their children.

Unlike the COVID-19 itself, the emotional blowback of the pandemic cannot be vaccinated away. Psychologists are seeing more depression and anxiety across all age groups, but in adolescents it seems to be heightened, with some choosing to self-medicate using alcohol or other drugs. When they look into the future now, they're looking at one that wasn't what they envisioned before.

This report explains the current state of youth mental health in a post-COVID era and offers guidance on how best to support young people today. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If this Special Report raises any concerns for you, a loved one or the wellbeing of your child, please seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report https://nudgee.qld.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-covid-fatigue-youth-mental-health

Mr Peter Todd

Acting Deputy Principal

Student Formation

Like many of you, I felt a little more tired than usual as I woke on Sunday last week after staying up late to witness sporting history. When Ash Barty won the Wimbledon women’s final, it was a win for the ages - the young woman from Ipswich overcame injury to take out tennis’ most prestigious prize. And there were other reasons this was special. Not only is Ash a consummate professional, dedicated to her chosen field, but she is ultimately a decent human being, humble in the extreme and proud of who she is and where she comes from.

She is also a proud Indigenous woman who walks in the footsteps of her hero, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, who won the same title 50 years ago. As we begin Term 3, we look forward to celebrating NAIDOC week in our community later this Term and acknowledging the part we have to play in helping to Heal Country, the theme of NAIDOC for 2021.

And on the same night, another great Australian gave us even more reason to be proud when Dylan Alcott won his second Quad Wheelchair Singles final. Dylan is different to Ash in so many ways - far more outgoing and at times brash but his steely determination to be his best and to take life for every chance it offers is breathtaking.

What can we take from the Alcott/Barty example? Nothing that is worth having will come to you easily. Humility will win you far higher praise than natural ability squandered. Ultimately, winning and losing are really just a state of mind - your ability to impact others is far more important.

Looking at the busy term ahead, our students don’t have to go far to find opportunities to engage in our community and positively impact others. The Term 3 calendar is flooded with year level retreats and events, subject selections, inter-house athletics and debating to name just a few. While all our students have had a wonderful start this week and are already involved in many activities across the campus, I’d especially like to welcome the 21 new students and their families to the Nudgee College community.

At the end of Term 3 last year, our current seniors underwent a rigorous process for the election of prefects and captains. Often, there are often young men who aren’t successful in their application. However, in front of them is the opportunity to lead and serve our community nevertheless. When this is done to an exceptional standard, they are awarded with a mid-year Prefect position.

What is unique to these positions is that importantly students have demonstrated resilience following an initial disappointment and perseverance in their own personal journey of leadership.

Congratulations to College Prefects: Jacob O’Mealley, Ben Wyatt, Zac Smullen, Cooper Percy, Jamie Knight, Jameson Jameson and Samuel Rogers.

Week 2 School Photos

A reminder that next Wednesday and Thursday in Week 2 is School Photo Day 1 and 2

Day 1: Wednesday 21 July

Year 5-12, PC Groups, Individual photos and Group photos (Seniors, Boarding, Indigenous, Sons of Old Boys)

*If you would like your Son to be part of the Sons of Old Boys photo please register HERE

Day 2: Thursday 22 July

Year 5 and 6 Core Classes, Catch-up Portraits and Sibling photos.

Please see below for details on how to place your order. If you have any questions, please contact Silver Rose Photography on 07 3262 5788. You can order photos by going to Silverrose.com.au and use code XSJNC21 to order.

We encourage all families to place their orders as soon as possible prior to photo day. Sibling photo orders MUST be placed by this Friday 16 July.

As always, can I ask parents to be mindful of their son's haircut and personal grooming standards - these photos make a great memento of your son’s years at the school.

Hair and Uniform Reminders

As I mentioned to our students on Assembly this week, the importance of looking sharp for our school photos is a timely reminder that our standards of presentation in terms of hair, uniform and personal grooming should be met every day at the College.

Walking around this week, it’s been wonderful to see almost every student wearing his blazer to and from school and looking impressive in his formal winter uniform. I’d like parents and students to be aware that in the event that uniform and grooming standards are not met students will be challenged on this. I thank you in advance for your support in working to ensure actions are taken if and when required to address breaches of the uniform and grooming policy. Please find HERE a link to the College Policy.

Further to that students have also been reminded that correct uniform for weekend sport and activities is also expected. When participating in sport students are required to wear the correct sports kit for that activity. If students are then spectating and supporting at GPS events on weekends the full formal winter uniform is expected.

Bag Tags

If you have ordered a bag tag for this term, please ask your son to see their House Dean. This includes any New and Junior Students. These are ready to be collected. House Deans also have all pre-ordered bus cards for Years 7 to 12. Junior school has any of the junior bus cards ready for collection.

Lost property

We received a considerable amount of unnamed lost property over the holidays. Please note the following information regarding Lost Property:

Named Lost Property is processed via an email to students and parents for the item/s to be collected from the Student Office
Please encourage your son to check his emails regularly
Clearly identifiable naming (with the PC class ideally) is essential in the effort for property to be found and returned.
Anything unnamed or not clearly named is kept at the Student Office until the end of the term, with the exception of lunch boxes that will be kept for a maximum of two weeks before being discarded.
If an item is missing and no emails have been sent, students are still encouraged to check into the Student Office

Ms Joanne Barrett

Acting Dean of Students

Learning & Teaching

Parent and Teacher Interviews

Welcome back to Semester Two. Thank you so much for participating in the parent and teacher interviews. A total of 729 families were involved in 3102 interviews across the day. The online format proved effective and I thank teachers and parents for nimbly shifting across to this format in light of COVID-19 restrictions.

'communication with parents and families provides information about where students are in their learning, what progress they have made over time, and what they might do to support their children's further learning...' National School Improvement Tool (ACER)

If you were unable to complete an interview or have further questions, I encourage you to email a teacher using the Parent Lounge. If you are unable to login to Parent Lounge please contact itavservices@nudgee.edu.au

Subject Selections and Pathways

The College website has been populated with the Subject Selection Guides for Years 8, 9 , 10 and 11 2022. Please refer to these publications to gain an understanding of courses and how to plan them into a subject pathway.

Parent information evenings, Student formation lessons for boys, logins for making subject preferences and SET plan meetings (Year 9 into 10 and Year 10 into 11 only) are scheduled in the coming weeks. Details will be forwarded to parents, but please note these dates in your calendar.

Year 10 moving into Year 11 2022: Follow up SET plan meetings, Wednesday 21 July from 2:15 to 6:15pm, appointments available though Parent and Teacher Online. Email ptint@nudgee.qld.edu.au for support.

Year 9 moving into Year 10 2022: Parent Information Evening Monday 26 July. SET plan meetings, Monday 9 August from 2:15pm to 6:15pm, bookings via PTO to be sent shortly.

Year 8 moving into Year 9 2022: Parent Information Evening Monday 2 August

Year 12

Speaking to them, follow up event Monday Week 7, assessment, mocks going into orbit planners

Year 11 formative assessment, no changes after Unit 2, calendars.

Mr Jason Sepetauc

Dean of Learning and Teaching

State da Vinci Decathlon

As the Queensland host school of the state da Vinci Decathlon, we were invited to participate in the national competition. On the first official day of school holidays, 16 eager members from Years 8 and 10 competed virtually with Knox Grammar School along with the winning teams from the state events across Australia. Nudgee College boys competed with some of the most elite schools throughout Australia including Knox Grammar School, Scotch College, MLC, Pymble Ladies' College and Korowa Anglican Girls' School who were some of the other prize winning schools across the disciplines.

We are proud to announce that both teams were highly successful and placed in the competition. Year 8 team members included: Dermot Clancy, Matthew Heath, Sejin Lee, Will Neubecker, Riley Nixon, Alex Smith, Baxter Witteveen (Year 7) and Fergus Wright who placed 3rd overall in the discipline of Cartography.

Participating students from Year 10 included: William Duffield, Aidan Easton, Oliver Kele, Anthony Mineo, Oscar Roati (Year 9), Padraic Townsend, Jack Weaver and Joseph Wesche who placed 3rd overall in the discipline of Ideation.

Congratulations to all team members on their dedication in preparing for the event and as a result, their significant achievement in the da Vinci Decathlon.

Ms Stephanie Spicer

Program Leader - Enrichment

Latest update from the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre.

Get ready for 2022 QTAC Admissions!

Welcome to the launch of FROM THE DESK @ QTAC - our newsletter update to our school communities. As we approach the opening of admissions, you will see regular updates from QTAC, including our higher education partners. In this edition we will share information on: Opening dates, QTAC Guides, 2021 School Presentations, Professional Development Workshops and Opening of Admissions.

QTAC applications will open on Tuesday 3 August. You will start to notice website updates for the 2022 admissions year once our final Semester 2, 2021 offer round takes place on Friday 16 July.

ATAR Portal

2021 Year 12 students can register for their ATAR here from Tuesday 3 August. To register, students must have the following personal details ready:

Full name (as displayed their QCAA learning account)
Date of birth
LUI number
Personal email address (do not use school email)
Year 12 Guide

Due to circumstances beyond our control, there has been a delay to the Year 12 Guide going into production. Hard copies will now be distributed to Queensland high schools in week one of Term 3. We apologise for this inconvenience. We will notify you as soon as the eBook goes live.

Year 10 Guide

The “Year 10 Guide to Career Pathways and Tertiary Prerequisites” is now available as an eBook here. For those that ordered hard copies prior to June 8, these guides will be distributed over the next two weeks. If you would still like to order hard copies, you can do so here. Final orders will close on Friday 18 June and these orders will be delivered in week one of Term 3.

ZOOM Delivery

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic QTAC has always prioritised the safety of our staff and our customers. We continue to closely follow restrictions around indoor events and monitor the constant changes occurring with the unpredictable nature of the pandemic. Considering this, the QTAC Executive has decided that all external facing school engagements including School Presentations and Workshops will be conducted online via Zoom for the duration of 2021.

Setting this as our position ensures the safety of our staff, students and the wider QTAC community and will guarantee us the ability to deliver these services without interruption or displacement to your scheduled event. We thank you for your understanding and look forward to seeing you online very soon.

2021 School Presentations

Our online booking service is LIVE and registrations are open for 2021 school presentations.

QTAC offers ATAR presentations for Year 10 and 11 students and How to Apply presentations for Year 12 students.

Presentations can be scheduled Monday to Thursday during school hours, after school, or in the evening so parents can attend. Presentations are designed to be approximately one hour with Q&A time at the end. Bookings can be made here. Please forward any presentation enquiries to presentations@qtac.edu.au

2021 PD Workshops for Educational Professionals

This year we have two workshops available.

QTAC 101: Designed specifically for those that are new to the sector.

QTAC Insights: Featuring presentations from QTAC specialists, these workshops will provide a greater in-depth overview of QTAC and tertiary admissions processes. Book your session here.

We’re here to help

For further information please continue to check the “School Staff” page on our website, or contact us on the dedicated school channels below.

Ph: 07 3858 1299

Email - go.enquiries@qtac.edu.au

University Open Days

Various universities are hosting open days throughout July and August. Specific dates and details can be found here.

Ms Dee Lyon

Director of Pathways

Digital Technologies

Last term, Year 10 Digital Technologies students were tasked with designing and coding a Mathematics game, using Python, to help a Year 5 student revise and improve their mathematics skills in an area of the Australian Primary Maths Curriculum. Choices included a times table, geometry or number patterns/sequences game. The challenge was to make this game fun and interesting for a primary student. On Wednesday 16 June, a group of Year 5 students visited the Year 10 Digital Technologies students to test their programming creations and provide valuable user experience feedback to them about their digital solutions. The visit was a big success, with both Year 5 and Year 10 enjoying the opportunity to play with the games, and to discuss the programming and functionality behind the games. Thank you to Mrs Heather Hume and her Year 5 class for visiting our class, and helping to end Term 2 in a fun, supportive and exciting way.

Mrs Cathy Lamb

Coordinator of Digital Technology

Work Experience - Year 11

Work and Further Studies Students Only

(Registration cut off date is strictly Wednesday 21 July, 2021)

Year 11 Work and Further studies students are invited to participate in our formal work experience program between Monday 6 and Friday 10 September. This is a wonderful opportunity to gain skills and experience in a career of interest. In addition, several of our past students have gained employment and/or apprenticeships and traineeships as a direct result of participating in this program.

To register, go to this link: www.studentrego.com

And enter class code: 89995

Complete all questions including 3 preferences for placement and any details of a preferred employer arrangement. (If you are currently employed in a school based apprenticeship, you do not register for this program. You can negotiate with your employer to work for these days and advise the school by emailing Mrs Morley on bmorley@nudgee.qld.edu.au)

Agree to conditions and submit application

Our Year 12s participated in a very successful program last term. We look forward to receiving the same positive feedback about our 11 Work and Further Studies students.

Boarding

Welcome back to Nudgee College, hopefully everyone had a wonderful and restful break. It is great to finally have most of our boarders back and for everything to get back to normal. On Monday night, we welcomed 15 new boys into our community, taking the total to 301….such a vibrant community.

Term 3 at the College is typically the busiest term of the year but also the most important academically. The challenge will undoubtedly be to ensure a sense of balance is maintained with our academic rigour and co-curricular activities. Boarding staff will be working closely with all boys this term to work on developing the important skill of ‘time management’. This will be done by utilising their Google Calendar and our Term 3 Study Planners. A copy of the Term 3 Study Planner will be placed on TeamApp soon for parents to use at home as a reference, but I also encourage you to connect with your son's Google Calendar to have those important conversations with boys about their academic progress.

I spoke on Monday evening with the students about the crucial areas of focus this term.

Year 12s - Finishing well, and embracing everything ahead of them.

Year 11s - Establishment and natural transition into their leadership journey

Year 9s/10s - The important Set Plan processes over the coming weeks, as they start tracking their senior pathway choices

Year 5-8s - The real establishment of their learning habits during the day and during evening study, under the tutelage of our new O’Brien study program.

Our families can use the same language when talking to our students and ensuring they are aware of the offerings on particular evenings (Click here for Google site).

First Weekend Back - Activities

As always at Nudgee College, it is a busy weekend coming up with many of our Boarding Students commencing GPS Rugby and Basketball against BSHS. Good luck to all students playing their first games for the College. I am sure you will wear the blue and white with pride. For those students playing ‘supplementary matches’ at the College, we will be putting on a bus at 1:30pm to BSHS for you to watch the First XV.

Friday night is a “compulsory night-in” with great activities organised for boys to reconnect after the last 3 weeks away. We have a number of house based BBQ’s planned to enable boys to reconnect with their house.

Saturday night, our Rec Coordinator Mr Theo Betteridge has organised some tickets for the France vs Australia Rugby Test at Suncorp.

Sunday will be our first Boarders Mass for the term

Photo Competition

Over the mid-year holidays, I encouraged all students to use their phones or cameras and capture images that represent their community. It is not too late for students to enter their photos and we hope to see many more images coming in over the next couple of weeks. Don't forget to put your name on the photos so we can identify you. The winners will receive a $50 E- voucher and have their winning photo printed onto canvas and displayed at the Dimensions Art Expo in August. Please submit your photos by next Friday 23 July.

PHOTO REQUIREMENTS:

The photos MUST be in High Resolution (minimum 300dpi - but preferably 600dpi) so that we can print the winners and runners-up onto canvas for the Arts Festival. The higher resolution you use, the better the quality of image.

Email these photos to boarding@nudgee.qld.edu.au (please include your name and house).

Upcoming Events

Thursday 29th July - Boarding Formal Dinner

Thursday 12th August - Semi Formal (Year 11)

Saturday 14th August - Gregory Terrace Home Day and Boarders Bash

Mr Sean Toovey

Dean of Boarding

Sport

Rugby Season Launch

Tennis Season Wrap-up

We have had quite a bit of success with the GPS Tennis season and also our tennis program at Nudgee College.

Second place finish in the 2021 season for the First IV
Increase in players participating in GPS teams. From a total of 75 players competing in 2019, we now 120 players and have full teams in every age group. A, B, C, D and most with 5 or 6 players in each.
Some talented individuals have enrolled into Nudgee College to be a part of the tennis program in the younger age groups ensuring Nudgee College will be competitive in the coming years.
A Term 3 and 4 Talent Squad implementation: meaning a year round dedicated tennis program for the A players of all age groups
The Nudgee College contribution to tennis players private lessons and squads in addition to the GPS trainings had a total of 45 players opting to do more tennis with Nudgee College Sports Program contributing a portion of the fees.
Extra performance programs for the First IV including sports psychology sessions, year round strength and conditioning program at the Nudgee gym and tournament assistance.
Nudgee College Tennis has competed in the Met North Tennis Trials as a team for Opens, and the school provided teams that competed in the Green ball level for the Brisbane International schools challenge.
Nudgee College Tennis facility has successful and professionally run weekly programs including Super League with Tennis Brisbane, Hot Shots lessons and Ladies Day.
Tennis Australia has chosen Nudgee College to host major tournaments in QLD: Junior Teams Carnival, AMT Gold tournaments, Junior Tour tournaments with National Ranking points. Along with JDS and club tournaments.
Nudgee College Tennis has had Australian number 5 and world number 82, James Duckworth come and attend training sessions with the players and hit balls with Nudgee boys.

A huge thank you to the players, parents and coaches who helped make the season so successful. We look forward to seeing you all next year. Keep an eye out for the Nudgee College Tennis Summer programs.