Good afternoon parents and carers

This week we mark the special occasion of Mother’s Day on Sunday, where many people will appreciate their mothers or mother figures, which include stepmothers, relatives, guardians, and close family friends in some family function, get together, or simply spend quality time together.

For me, I have always shared a special bond with my mother(mum), and on this day, I will have the opportunity to remind her how special and significant the impact on my life she has been.  

‘We offer this blessing to all mothers and mother figures for this Sunday.

Over the last couple of days, our students 7-12 have been competing in the NW Tasmanian Futsal tournament at the Devonport Recreation Centre.  I would like to thank Mr. Sam O’Keeffe for organising this opportunity for our students.  Particular congratulations to our Year 7 Boys who made the Grand Final yesterday, unfortunately going down 1-0 in overtime.  Today our Year 9 Girls and Year 10 Boys lost their finals, and congratulations to our Year 9 Boys who won their final.

Our senior students are looking forward to our College Ball on Saturday, 20th May.  I look forward to this wonderful celebration for our senior students.  Parents, please note that we welcome you to come and watch as your child arrives, noting that we will still be offering the live stream.

A reminder to all families that our first round enrolments and scholarships for Year 7, 2024, close tomorrow afternoon.  I am particularly pleased with our enrolment numbers from our Catholic feeder schools and students enrolling from the government sector.

To all our mothers, have a wonderful Mother’s Day!!

This week was our second last week of debating for 2023! 

Isabella Tilt, Melanie Gerrard, Sadie-May Wilson, and Felicity Purton represented SBSC1 at Launceston Grammar School. We faced an experienced team from Scotch Oakburn, debating 'that a summer vacation is better than a winter vacation.' Everyone spoke clearly and passionately, identifying flaws in the opposing team's case and building up our four points: 

1. Risks of a winter vacay 
2. Opportunities on a summer vacay 
3. Environment + Climate (as places like Bali don't have a winter! Only a dry and wet summer) 
4. Expenses (like the cost of hiring snow gear for the slopes) 

Unfortunately, we did not come away with a win. Still, there was only a singular point separating us and SOC3, an incredible achievement for a few first/second-time debaters! 

We would love to extend a welcome to any staff or parents who want to watch our two SBSC teams go head-to-head with Colleges from around Launceston NEXT WEEK. 

So please, join us at the College next Wednesday, 17 May, at 5:30pm in Westcourt! There will be delicious warm food for spectators to enjoy, and our young debaters will appreciate your support for their last debate for this competition.

- Felicity Purton 

UP AND-COMING EVENTS

Sleepout:
The sleepout happens annually. Hosted by Vinnies, we raise awareness and experience the struggle felt by homeless people. For this, we sleep out in the gym! It will occur in Term 3.

Breakfast Club:
Breakfast Club is an upcoming subgroup from Vinnies that will provide free breakfast for all students. It will include free breakfast foods like toast, cereals, and juices. It is there for all the students who haven’t had the opportunity to eat food in the morning. 

Giving Tree:
The Giving Tree is an activity the Vinnies group does at K-Mart during the holiday season to give to children who are less fortunate in Devonport. This will be commencing later in the year, and we are hoping to connect 

Enhance the work Vinnies does within the community- 

‘The St Vincent de Paul Society is a lay Catholic organisation that aspires to live the gospel message by serving Christ in the poor with love, respect, justice, hope and joy, and by working to shape a more just and compassionate society.’- https://www.vinnies.org.au/page/About/Mission__Vision/

We aspire to help the less fortunate and give to the community as much as possible. We also have fun too! This club is a good opportunity for people to build a stronger sense of community and make friends at the same time!

2023 marks the hatching of the College's very first school poultry club! You read it right; poultry... not rhyming literature! Poultry includes but is not limited to chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, quail, and swans. Our club has been meeting fortnightly to discuss and share our interests and learn about caring for, breeding, and even showing birds in competitions. 

On Saturday, 6 May, Jordan Hingston, Cadel Myers, and Mrs Christie entered various birds into the Ulverstone Poultry Show, hoping to make a splash. Birds are judged on many features and ranked according to their closeness to the standard. They are judged on features such as body shape, colours, feet and legs (colour, health, and shape), comb/wattles, and even the bird's posture and temperament. Cadel entered two Australorp pullets and 2 Coronation Sussex (cockerel and pullet). All of them placed, and his Coronations earned him reserve junior champion. Jordan entered a nice little Australorp bantam rooster that showed great promise but was a little young compared to the competition on the day. A few extra weeks and months can make all the difference!

It was a fantastic day, and we are proud to share pictures of the quality birds entered. Jordan and Cadel represented themselves magnificently on the day, and their birds stood out. We can't wait to see more of our Poultry Club members show their birds. All students are welcome to attend meetings in Lab 2, Day 5, at lunchtime.

Our Year 10 Automotive class has recently been working hard with their current projects. Mitchell, Jack, Thomas, and Oscar are proudly working on the school go-kart. We are very excited to see the finished product!

A reminder that applications for College Scholarships are open for 2024. Scholarships are offered for entry in Year 7. Scholarships offer discounts on tuition fees up to 50%. Scholarships are granted for the duration of the student’s education. They are subject to the maintenance of excellent performance levels as well as contributing to the life of the College.

Applications close on 12 May 2023.
Late applications will not be considered.

For more information, please contact our Executive Assistant to Principal PrincipalsEA@sbsc.tas.edu.au or visit https://www.sbsc.tas.edu.au/enrolments/scholarships

First-round enrolments for Year 7 2024 will close on 12 May 2023, so act quickly to secure your enrolment interviews early! Interested students and their families can get more information by contacting the College Enrolment Registrar at enrolments@sbsc.tas.edu.au or visiting www.sbsc.tas.edu.au/enrolments.

Don't miss out on the chance to join our vibrant and supportive learning community, where we provide a quality education that fosters critical thinking, creativity, and lifelong learning.

Contact us today to start your educational journey.

Positions Available!

Marketing Coordinator - Full-time parental leave cover until July 2024.
Events Coordinator & HR Support Officer - Full-time.

Applications for both positions close Friday, 12 May. For more information or to apply, please visit here

The 2023 All Schools Mountain Bike Championships held last Friday at Trevallyn was an exciting day of high-speed competition! Our students fearlessly tore up the course despite the weather conditions being very wet.

Congratulations to brothers Monty and Vinnie Manion, who secured wins in their age category for the main Cross Country event the day. They also placed second in their timed U15 and U17 men's events.

Well done to all our riders who represented our College with great pride and spirit!

Over the last two days, some of our year 7, 8, 9, and 10 students entered into the 2023 Tasmanian School Futsal Titles held in Devonport. Our students did a fantastic job, giving it their all, and displayed wonderful College pride and sportsmanship over both days. Thank you to Year 11 students Xavier Williams for coaching our Year 7 students and Jonah Evans for refereeing all the games.

The 2023 Senior Ball is fast approaching. Parents are welcome to attend the arrivals.
Details below!

Date: Saturday, 20 May
Time: Arrivals from 5:45pm
Where: Devonport Country Club
Theme: Masquerade 

Join us on our upcoming Principal's Tour next Tuesday, 16 May. During the tour, you will explore our College while in operation, meet key staff members, and learn more about what St Brendan-Shaw College can offer for your family.

Our walking tour begins at reception at 9:15 am and concludes at approximately 10:45 am. All family members, including future students, are encouraged to attend.

Please register your interest online by visiting https://www.sbsc.tas.edu.au/enrolments/tour or phoning the College directly on 6424 7622.

 I am a mad sports fanatic. It doesn't matter if it is basketball, AFL, golf, darts, etc., you get the picture. However, this passion can get on the nerves of my wife of 4 years with my obsession to have sports on TV at any opportunity. She is a strong independent woman who provides much laughter in my personal life. I support St Kilda in the AFL, so please don't hold that against me. It was encouraged by my late grandparents and an old memory of watching a practice match at the North Hobart Oval. In my spare time, I am the Senior Men's coach at Devonport Football Club and enjoy playing golf with my mates. 

I am a previous student of St Brendan-Shaw College, graduating in 2009 from Dillon House. My next goal was to complete a Bachelor of Health and Physical Education at UTAS, which I graduated at the end of 2014. During my studies, I completed work experience at Nixon Street Primary, Sheffield District School, Latrobe High, and St Brendan Shaw College. In 2015, I undertook relief teaching along the North West Coast, which was an excellent experience for me to learn numerous schools' daily routines and practices. In 2016, I completed a full circle returning to St Brendan-Shaw College as a Health and Physical Education teacher before adding a shared House Coordinator Role for the Dillon House in 2019. This year marks my eighth year teaching at the College and my fourth year as caretaker of the MacKillop house. 

The MacKillop house, named after Saint Mary MacKillop, lives by the values of Equity and Action. All MacKillop students try to emulate these values as a house through our daily interactions and participation in school activities. Like these values, I live by the motto of treating others as you would like. This motto stems from the strong values I experienced growing up and the awareness of how words and behaviours can affect the people around me. This awareness is something I pass on to students to give them perspective when dealing with Pastoral Care issues. It is a role that comes with challenges but has many successful outcomes too. Every member of the student body is essential to the environment that is created and experienced daily. As a member of the Pastoral Care Team, we strive to provide a safe and positive environment where all students can strive for excellence. 

I am signing off with our loud and proud house chant. Macca, Macca, Macca. Oi. Oi. Oi. 

Kurt Byard
MacKillop House Coordinator

Congratulations to Year 8 student Maggie White, who recently competed in the National Gymnastics Competition held in Queensland. Maggie finished 16th overall in the Level 8 U15 division, a wonderful achievement! Well done, Maggie!

The North West Junior Football Union (NWJFU) provides a school football pathway for the region's boys and girls.

A new NWJFU website has been developed to showcase the region's high school boys and girls competitions, available at www.nwjfu.com.au. 

In the future, we hope to expand the site to include the NWFL and club/association-based primary school rosters and AFL 9's events for our colleges and smaller secondary schools.

Key features of this site include:

• School and team pages
• Rosters and results
• Ladders
• Venue information (including maps)
• Competition resources (rules, procedures, templates)
• Competition history
• Match reports and previews
• Latest news
• Photo galleries and videos

You can also follow the NWJFU on social media, with the association developing Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube channels.