Issue 11
24 July 2009
Contact our school
Executive PrincipalJeff Davis
PO Box 2685
Burleight MDC Q 4220
P-6 Campus
Bridgewater Drive Cnr
Varsity Lakes Q 4226
7-12 Campus
Varsity Parade & Assembly Drive
Varsity Lakes Q 4226
Prep School:
Ph: (07) 5576 9333
Fax: (07) 5576 9300
Junior School:
Ph: (07) 5576 9388
Fax: (07) 5576 9380
Middle School:
Ph: (07) 5562 3555
Fax: (07) 5562 3500
Senior School:
Ph: (07) 5562 3575
Fax: (07) 5562 3570
Email: soffice@varsitycollege
.eq.edu.au
Web:
www.varsitycollege.eq.edu.au
Parents & Citizens’ Association
Meets 3rd Wednesday of the month
Our Sponsors
Please click on the advertisments to view more details
 Dear Parents and Guardians,
Semester two is now well
underway.
Staff and students have
settled in well after what has hopefully been a restful mid-year
break. I
would like to welcome the
many new families who have recently made the decision to join
our
Varsity College community.
We know you will benefit from the wonderful opportunities afforded
to
our young people from Preparatory
to Year 12.
Jeff Davis is on leave for
the first four weeks of Term 3, enjoying a touring holiday through
central
Australia with his family.
I will be acting on his behalf during this time and will return
to Middle
School in Week 5.
Our community warmly welcomes
Mr James Forrest, our new Head of Preparatory School. James
comes to Varsity College
with a wealth of experience garnered from a range of schools and
is
looking forward to engaging
with our Preparatory students and building on the Preparatory
School's huge success.
Once again, Varsity College
has been successful through the Building the
Education Revolution
in
being awarded 1.97 million
dollars to design and construct a Chinese Language Centre.
This building will accommodate
both Chinese Immersion and Chinese LOTE students and will
complement the new senior
building on the senior campus. This is a great outcome for our
college
and represents the final
stage of the federal government's economic stimulus package. The
$200,000 refurbishment of
the hall on the Junior campus as part of the National
Schools'
Pride
project is well on schedule
and will hopefully be completed mid Term 3.
The H1N1 Human Swine Flu
has now moved from the containment phase to protect phase. School
closures will no longer
apply as an automatic consequence. Confirmed cases will now be
handled
case by case and school
by school. In light of recent reports, there is still considerable
need for
preventative measures including
good hygiene practices and a common sense approach during flu
season.
I would ask therefore for
families to contact the relevant Head of School if there is a
concern so
that we may work together
to minimise any unnecessary impact on our school community. Staff
and students are advised
to stay at home if they have flu-like symptoms to help prevent
any
potential spread of influenza.
Please refer to the link included in this Newsletter clarifying
questions
and answers for parents
regarding this issue.
The Preparatory School held
its Athletics Carnival in Week 1. This was a huge success with
many
very excited children engaged
in a range of activities with proud teachers and parents looking
on. A big thank you is extended
to the organising teachers and the senior school students who
coordinated student activities
on the day.
Students will have now received
their Semester One report showing their achievement levels and
ratings for effort and behaviour.
I urge parents to help their child reflect on report comments
describing how they can
improve their learning outcomes by developing their strengths
and their
weaknesses.
I wish all our students
every success throughout Semester two.
Ray McConnell
Acting Executive Principal
 Dear Parent,
As a part of our school's
new approach towards the way we communicate with you, we are excited
to inform you that we now
offer interactive, graphically rich, full colour electronic newsletters
to all
our parents.
The concept of eNews is
similar to the printed paper but with added benefits - eNews
is personally
delivered directly to your
email inbox via the Internet. This delivery method has many advantages.
It is cost effective, time
efficient and personalised to your name. Most importantly the
school
receives this service completely
free of charge from Australian Newsletter Services who also
supply our paper newsletters
with the help of advertisers.
To receive this service
all you need is a computer with internet access and email. Those
who
currently do not have internet
access at home can still receive our traditional paper newsletter,
which are available from
each subschool office.
With our eNews service the
distance between the school and the parents will be further shortened
as the parents will be able
to experience firsthand what activities the school is currently
undertaking and the latest
information on Academic, Health, Sport and other areas that may
interest you. This way the
whole family can share the success stories of your children as
these
eNewsletters can be forwarded
to anyone with email.
To sign up for our eNewsletter
please type the link below into the address bar of your browser.
Australian Newsletter Services
has made the signup process automated and only takes a few
minutes when prompts are
followed. Your email address will only be used to send out school
eNews and nothing else.
This environment friendly
approach to communication means that hard copy distribution of
the
Newsletter will be drastically
reduced over the next 10 weeks. Classroom Newsletter distribution
will cease at the end of
Term 1. Hard copy Newsletters will be available at
Campus Administration Offices
from the beginning of Term 2.
If you experience any difficulties
please feel free to contact AustNews IT Department on
1800 245 077 or email help@austnews.com.au
Thank you
Yr Level
Date
Event
Year 3
Fri 24 July
Brisbane Science Centre
Year 10
Mon 27 July
Subject Selection Evening
Years 7 -
12
Tues 28 July
Athletics Carnival
Yrs 5 & 6
10 Aug
District Athletics
Prep -
6
10 -
25 Aug
Gold Coast Eisteddfod
Yrs 7, 8 & 9
Tues 11 Aug
Parent Information
Evening for Camps
Year 9
Mon 10 Aug
Subject Selection Evening
From the Head of Preparatory
School
Welcome Back To Term 3
It is with great enthusiasm
and anticipation that I welcome you back to another school term
at
Varsity Prep School. I am
delighted to be appointed as the Head of School and look forward
to
forging positive relationships
with parents, students and staff in the coming months. First
impressions from my perspective
have been very positive -
bright and friendly children,
a proactive
parent community, excellent
facilities, as well as a very dedicated and talented staff which
together
make for a dynamic, exciting
learning environment. The members of the community I have spoken
to already have impressed
upon me the excellent characteristics of the school so I will
endeavour
to ensure that these remain
a major part of the schools ethos in the years to come.
As a family man with two
young children of my own, I am very aware of the difficult tasks
we have
as parents in raising young
children in this modern world. My main role will be to ensure
that our
curriculum and our teaching
practices meet these demands and support children in their academic,
physical, social and emotional
development. I will be seeking your support in ensuring that the
partnerships and relationships
we develop over time will build a network of support which will
enable your child to have
the greatest possible success now and in the future.
I look forward to meeting
you this year and hope the service we provide you at Varsity College
exceeds your expectations.
On a lighter note -
I am proud to announce
that I am a big fan of the Gold Coast Titans and
Queensland rugby league
teams. You may even see me wearing a team jersey from time to
time ¡
especially if Queensland
wins !
Important Announcement -
Bell Times
The first two hours of the
school day are extremely important for your child's learning.
This is the
time of the day when their
brains are most receptive to information and when the best learning
can
occur. In our Prep school
we utilise every minute of this time to support your child's Literacy
and
Numeracy skills. We have
noticed this week that many children are arriving up to 25 minutes
late ¡
therefore missing out on
much of this very important instructional and learning time.
Our bell times in the morning
are:
8:25 -
Prepare for class
8:30 -
School day begins
10:30 Morning Tea
By ensuring your child arrives
to school on time, you are not only supporting your child's learning
but decreasing disruptions
to the class during this important period of the day. Your support
on this
matter would be much appreciated.
Preparatory Sports Day -
What A Great Day !
The Preparatory Sports Day
was held (finally) last Wednesday on a perfect Gold Coast winter's
day. The range of activities
for the kids to participate in was fantastic and I must thank
the HPE
teachers, Mr Frazer and
Mrs Austen for the outstanding organisation of the day. I am certain
the
parents, teachers and students
appreciate the hard work and effort that went into making the
day a
success. It was also a great
chance to show off my athletic ability -
I came second last in a
race
against Preparatory kids!
I do not think the Titans
will be seeking my services any time soon !!
Thanks for your support
in coming along and making the day special for your child.
James Forrest
Head of Preparatory School
6 NEWS
Thank You for the Ribbons
A big thank you to the
P & C who organised all of the ribbons for our Preparatory
Athletics Day.
They looked fantastic and
the kids thought they were great.
Jared Frazer
PE Department
P-6 Pick-up Zone
It is quite encouraging to
see so many parents using the afternoon pick-up zone on Christine
Avenue in a responsible,
efficient way. Alert drivers know that the loading zone adjacent
to the
footpath works best when
cars move forward as much as possible before stopping to collect
children, allowing others
to enter the car park and traffic to flow.
The worst case scenario
occurs when a driver illegally leaves an unattended parked car
by the
kerb, blocking the thoroughfare.
Drivers who need to leave their car should seek a vacancy in the
central car park. Stopping
to collect students in the narrow car park entry can also cause
a back-up
of vehicles.
Parents who are frustrated
by traffic jams should consider collecting students a little later
as the
worst of the congestion
only occurs for about five minutes before and after 3pm. By 3.10pm
the car
park and drive-through
area are almost empty.
Tolerance is a virtue that
Varsity College fosters among students - please practise tolerance
in the
carpark as well as common
sense and careful driving skills for the safety of our students.
Senior For A Day
The very successful Senior
for a Day Program has commenced for selected students throughout
Term 3. A group of about
28 Year 6 students walks to the Senior School one afternoon each
week
to engage in a series of
lessons on a range of topics. Week 1 involved a study of the persuasive
language of advertising
with English Head of Department, Megan Roderick.
Students were excited to
be learning in the Senior School environment and performed extremely
well, despite the long day.
They finished at 4.45pm! What a great effort! The series of lessons
covered topics including
biology, chemistry, geography, theatre, history, business, fine
foods and
computer gaming.
We are extremely fortunate
to have these lessons so generously provided by senior school
teachers and appreciate
the extra time and effort involved.
From the Head of Junior
School
Welcome back to what promises
to be another exciting and successful school term. The Calendar
is once again filled with
numerous events to complement the classroom learning and teaching,
ranging from Musical Eisteddfods
to Public Speaking. I encourage all students to participate in
activities that align to
their interests and invite parents to maintain a close partnership
with their
child's classroom teacher.
This term, students in Years
5 and 6 will participate in an Elective Program every Friday afternoon.
The Program consists of
a number of activities aligned to the Varsity College Four Pillars;
Sports,
The Arts, Academic and the
Community. After selecting their program, students will engage
in a
variety of learning experiences
led by classroom teachers and community partners. As a lead in
to
interschool sport next year,
Year 4 students will engage in an introductory sporting program.
Rehearsals are well underway
for this year's school musical, Aladdin. The musical will be
performed at the end of
this term, with tickets going on sale mid Term 3. We would like
to thank all
parents and staff who have
volunteered to assist with musical preparations and encourage
members of the school community
to\ support the event by attending one of the Aladdin shows.
Over the coming weeks students
who achieved selection times and distances at the recent school
Athletics Carnival will
be offered a place on the school team for the District Athletics.
Students will
represent Varsity College
at this carnival. Further selection will result in students representing
District and possibly State
teams. We wish all students the best of luck in these upcoming
events.
Also this term, arrangements
will be finalised for the selection of the Year 6 Chinese Immersion
class for 2010. Year 5
students will be offered a place in the program based on academic
results,
behaviour and commitment
to school work. Placement offers and information evenings will
be
scheduled for late Term
3.
 Uniform Reminders
- Sport / Dress Uniform
must be worn on the correct days
- Black, polishable,
leather, lace-upshoes must be worn with the dress uniform
- Varsity jacket / jumper
to be worn as Winter Uniform
- Varsity College hat
to be worn foroutside activity
Stephen O'Brien
Head of Junior School
12 NEWS
Middle / Senior School Sports
Athletics Carnival
Tuesday 28 July marks the
date of the Varsity College Athletics Carnival. This will be held
at
Pizzey Park Athletics Field
starting at 9:00am with the last event finishing at approximately
1:50pm.
Students are encouraged
to participate in as many events as possible. Participation is
the key to
events such as these. I
also encourage parents to come along and support their child.
Students are requested to
be dressed in either their Varsity sports uniform; sporting attire
in their
house colours; or novelty
dress. Appropriate footwear must also be worn. Enclosed shoes
will be
the only form of footwear
acceptable on the day. Thongs are not permitted.
Prior to this day, some
students will have participated in some of the events here at
school. Javelin;
1500m races; and high jump
for 12 -
14yrs will have been completed
with many students expected
to compete.
Should the weather prevent
this day from going ahead, the reserve date is Thursday 30th July.
Micah Davis
Acting Sport Coordinator
Hip Hop Avenue
On Friday 7th of August,
our Senior and Middle Hip Hop Group are competing in the annual
BRING IT ON dance competition.
This will be held at the Suncorp Piazza at Southbank Brisbane.
Tickets will be available
from the school in the next couple of days. Before the end of
the term, Hip
Hop Avenue will perform
their dance routine for the Senior/Middle and Junior assemblies.
Thank
you to the parents and families
who have supported our group.
Mr Grace
Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (Human
Swine Influenza)
Questions and Answers for
Parents and Carers
Education Queensland is
working closely with Queensland Health and will continue to be
guided
by the advice provided by
their medical experts in relation to any situations where action
by
schools would benefit the
school and broader community.
The symptoms of swine flu
are similar to those of seasonal influenza, including: fever,
cough, sore
throat, runny or blocked
nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.
Preventative measures include:
- washing hands frequently
with soap and water or using an alcohol based hand gel
- washing hands prior to
touching eyes, nose or mouth
- when coughing or sneezing,
cover the mouth and nose with tissues which should be disposed
For Question and Answers
for Parents and Carers click on the link below:
From the Head of Middle School
Welcome back to a very busy
Term 3 in Middle School. Special events this term include the
Athletics Carnival on Tuesday
July 29, the Eisteddfod, Middle School Camp Week, Middle School
Public Speaking Competition
and Parent/ Student conferences. As you can see, Varsity College
is
indeed a very busy place.
On the holidays you would
have received your child's report. These reports detailed areas
for
improvement as well as areas
where your child has performed very well. It is important when
reading these reports to
not just focus on the academic achievement but to take notice
particularly
of the behaviour and effort
grades. Take time to sit with your child and discuss the report
and try
and set some goals with
them for the future. Should you wish to discuss any aspect of
the report,
please contact your child's
foundation teacher to make
an appointment.
Middle School Camp Week
is an important date on the school calendar. This year Camp Week
takes place in Week 8. Some
campers still have outstanding payments as the final date for
payment was Friday July
17. If you have overlooked this date or need to discuss your payment
options, please contact
Micah Davis (Middle School Camp Coordinator). Please note that
Camp
Week is a normal school
week. If your child is not attending one of the camps including
the School-
based Camp, then you need
to send a letter to school as soon as possible detailing the reasons
for
their absence that week.
This then enables us to structure activities for those students
who will be
attending the schoolbased
camp.
Russell Williams
Acting Principal Middle
School
Middle School Sport
Week 2 sees the beginning
of Term 3 Middle School Sport. This will take the form of a Class
Challenge whereby classes
in each year level will compete against each other in a Round
Robin
competition. Year 9 will
be on Tuesday afternoons; Year 8 on Thursday afternoons; and Year
7 on
Friday afternoons.
Activities including Soccer,
T-ball, Novelty Events, Continuous Cricket and Indoor Sports
games
will form the basis of this
competition. The focus of this term is to further develop the
sportsmanship and camaraderie
within each class and the year level. Winning is simply a bonus.
Middle School Futsal
Mr McLaughlin will be coaching
both a boys and girls Futsal team to compete against Miami High
School on Wednesday afternoons.
Varsity College is quickly developing a reputation as having
highly skilled and well
organised Futsal teams. We thank Mr McLaughlin for his time in
running
such an event and we wish
the teams all the best.
Micah Davis
Acting Sport Coordinator
Middle School Camps
A big thank you to students
and parents for their commitment to the camps this year. In these
difficult financial times,
the payments being made to the College have been very pleasing.
This is
making our job much easier.
For those parents who still owe money, it is now OVERDUE and must
be paid by Monday 27 July.
Tuesday 11 August has been
allocated as the Parent Information Evening with the individual
camp
coordinators. The evening
will begin at 6:00pm and will go for approx 30 minutes. I encourage
parents to come along and
have any concerns addressed. A specific notice will be sent home
via
your child in the coming
week. I look forward to seeing you there.
Micah Davis
Camp Coordinator
 From the Head of Senior School
Parents should have received
Semester One reports by mail earlier this week (20/7). Any parents
who have not yet received
their student's reports should contact the Senior School Office
to
request a copy of the report.
Follow up interviews with teachers will be offered in Week 4 this
term
on Tuesday 4th
August. Students will bring home information about the
meeting very soon.
The opportunity to talk
to your son/daughter's teachers is important for all parents.
If your
son/daughter has received
pleasing results or if there is cause for concern, much more insight
can
be gleaned by talking with
the teachers. Most teachers will be available from 3.10 until
8.00pm in
the evening. However, if
you are unable to attend that night you might like to phone or
email the
school.
The Senior School has now
embarked on the busiest term of the year for senior students.
By the
end of this week (24/7),
students in Years 10, 11 and 12 will have completed the process
of
requesting any desired subject
changes for second semester. Next week on Tuesday (28/7), the
Senior and Middle Schools
will participate in the Athletics Carnival. Hopefully the weather
will be
fine.
Wednesday of the following
week (12/8) will be a holiday (Ekka Show Day) for all students
except
those in Year 12 who will
be undertaking the QCS exam in September. For these students,
there
will be a compulsory full
day of exam practice to assist in the preparation for this very
important
test.
And all this will happen
in the first half of the term. We look forward to seeing you at
some of these
upcoming events.
Jo MacDonald
Acting Senior School Principal
Uniform Shop News
Have you purchased 2 Mid/Senior
shorts and 2 checked shirts on Thursday 16th
July from the
Senior Uniform Shop? If
so, please contact Robina at the Senior Uniform Shop on 5562-3512.
$10 Sale Items
Fantastic news! The $10
sale items will be continued until stock has sold out. This is
a great offer,
so be sure to get in quickly
and purchase your requirements for next year.
Winter Items
We still have plenty of
winter stock available, including navy tights at both shops.
Bike Pants
A friendly reminder that
bike pants are to be worn under dresses and skirts from Prep to
Year 6 for
sports activities. These
can be purchased from our Prep/Junior Uniform Shop for $11.00
each.
Hats
Wide brim hats are heavily
reduced to $5.00, so be sun-smart and grab a bargain to boot!
It's
always handy to have a spare
in the cupboard. Cotton bucket hats in sizes 59cm and 61cm are
included in our sale items
for $10.00. Bucket Hats in the cool-mesh fabric are $11.00.
Caps have
increased to $15.00.
Volunteers
Prep/Junior Uniform Shop
Ph: 5576 9308
Monday & Wednesday
8:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m
Thursday
1.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m
Middle/Senior Uniform Shop
Ph: 5562 3512
Monday, Tuesday & Thursday
8:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
Once again I would like to
thank each and every one of our volunteers who do an exceptional
job
with fittings and all the
requirements of running the uniform shop. Whether it is one hour
or three,
Nicky and I appreciate your
efforts. Volunteers are still required for our Mid/Senior Uniform
shop on
Monday Tuesday and Thursday
mornings. I would like to hear from you if you can spare a morning.
For further information please
contact Robina on 5562-3512.
Robina Hoogendoorn
Uniform Convenor
P & C Meeting
When:
29 July
Where:
Chinese Immersion Room, Senior Campus
When:
6.30pm -
8.30pm
School aged child minding
available Please call Sue on 55769394 if you would like to access
this
service.
P & C Minutes are available
to read on the Varsity College web page. Go to community news
and
follow the prompts to the
P & C Minutes.
P&C Vice President Vacancy:
P&C Vice President for
Years 7 -
9. Nominations for this
position will be accepted at this P&C
meeting. For details contact
Sue on the above number.
Chocolate Drive
We are keen to hold a chocolate
drive this term but need a number of volunteers to ensure this
is
successful. If you are interested,
please contact Sue on 55769394 or
pandc@varsitycollege.eq.edu.au
There is the potential to raise a huge amount of money for the
school, so please lend your
support.
Collect a Caps
Don't forget to bring in
your caps. Every cap raises Norco Community Cash of 10
cents for the
school. It is amazing how
quickly this adds up!!!
School Banking
The Commonwealth Bank offers
school banking which the P & C receive $5 for every new account
opened. If you are interested,
we have application forms available at the P & C Office, situated
in
the Junior Resource Centre.
Rebel Sport
Rebel Sport supply Varsity
College with Member Value Program cards. Each time you purchase
anything from Rebel Sport
just mention Varsity College to receive a 5% discount. In addition,
the
school receives 5% of the
sale in a reward system. MVP cards are available from the P &
C Office.
Entertainment Books
Entertainment Books are
still available for purchase for just $50! From each sale, $10
is donated to
the school. Savings of up
to $10,500.00 can be had from this book!! So why not take one
home,
have a look at it and see
what savings you can make. If interested, please see Sue in the
library or
call on 55769394.
Varsity College Senior School
Study Tour: Gallipoli/France
(for Varsity Senior Students only)
July 2010
Dear Students and Parents/Guardians,
The purpose of this newsletter
is to announce a proposed tour of Gallipoli/France in 2010
(September holidays)
Planning for this tour has
highlighted the fact that this is a unique opportunity to broaden
students'
learning experiences and
the proposed itinerary certainly supports this aim. While the
Australian
cemeteries at Gallipoli in
Turkey and the various cemeteries in France are the focal point
of the
tour, the itinerary includes
brief stopovers in Istanbul and Paris, both fascinating cities
to explore.
Estimated Cost? Approximately
$5000 - $6000
(This is based on a 2008
quote from one tour organiser).
I am not in a position to
provide an up to date figure as I am yet to receive costings from
the tour
companies. A proposed itinerary
is attached. The key word here is the word proposed. Please be
aware that a number of different
tour operators are offering similar schedules/itineraries with
some
variations and the tour
we do will depend on the best quote that is provided. The final
itinerary will
hopefully be similar to
this one which is the itinerary of one of the tour operators.
The attached itinerary includes
-
international flights
-
an internal flight from
Istanbul to Brussels
-
transfers
-
air-conditioned tour
coach & tour guide in both countries
-
3 star accommodation
-
meals as per itinerary.
This does not include
-
personal costs such as passports
-
visas
-
tips
-
entrances to museums or
to tourist attractions (eg EuroDisney)
-
spending money.
An Expression
of Interest form has been included. If your daughter/son
has not collected a form
from me and is interested
in the trip, please print the Expression of
Interest form, complete it and
return it to me as soon
as possible.
There will be a meeting
of interested students and parents/guardians in early August to
discuss the
tour, the options, costs
involved and any other relevant information pertaining to the
tour.
Where to from here?
Students need to complete
and return the Expression of Interest form as soon as possible.
This will enable me to:
- determine
the viability of the tour.
- contact
you if necessary by phone/email.
- organise
a meeting for interested students and parents/guardians
as soon as possible.
- ensure
that students and parents/guardians are informed as to the date
of our meeting.
Contact Details:
Mr. Brkich:
Ph: 55623575
Email: ibrki1@eq.edu.au
Thank you for your interest
in the tour.
Please contact me if you
do have any queries but, as I stated earlier, a meeting will be
held at a
later date at which more
information will be available.
Welcome aboard
Ivan Brkich
(Tour Organiser)
Please
click here to download the Express of Interest form
Please click here to view the tour itinery |
