As I write, our Year 12s are coming to the end of their retreat for 2020 … something that they wanted to occur and something I was doubtful we would be able to offer.  However, persistence and determination, and broad support from parents, students and staff has seen it come to fruition (even if truncated).  We are also able to offer the Year 11s a taste of their camp (minus the ‘camp’).  I want to acknowledge the staff for their generosity of spirit in working so energetically, over such a short period of time to be able to develop worthwhile programs for these two events.

I am pleased to have been able to provide most of the events that students would have experienced had the year not been disrupted in such an unimagined way.

We now undergo annual School Registration Board Audits, with the most recent occurring late last week.  We have also rationalised all our Policies and Procedures and use the Google Suite’s collaborative functions to ensure that our documentation is live to the School Registration Board and the Tasmanian Catholic Education Office as we make any change.

We have concluded interviews for the majority of the vacant Positions of Leadership at the College, and I will be able to publish these next Term.

This week we farewelled two long serving staff members. Mr James Saltmarsh (Human Resources) and Mrs Dawn Banham (Principal’s Executive Assistant) both finish their journey as employees of the College.  Both have been amongst the closest people to me, and I will lose two people who have the most insight into the trials, tribulations, and joys that a Principal experience.  Mrs Karen Chugg has moved into the Human Resources in a full-time capacity, with Ms Leah Rootes taking full responsibility as our Accountant.  Mrs Iola Turner has been appointed to fill the Principal’s EA vacancy and will commence early next week.

May the end of the Term be smooth for everyone in our community, leading to a time of rest and peace in preparation for what I trust will be a positive final term.

May God bless you, keep you safe and I will keep you in my prayers,

Frank Pisano

 

Students were asked to design a system with six inclined planes, using only the given materials, to run the marble from the top of the retort stands to the bottom in the slowest possible time.

Pictured above are students Imogen Ward, Charlie Casey and Ryder Bellchambers. There system broke the four year SBSC record for the slowest time down the ramps by a whole six seconds, with a time of 14.2 seconds. Well done!

For 6 weeks, from the 29th of July to the 9th of September, seven teams of 7 (years 7-10) participated in the Tasmanian final of Tournament of Minds. This year, the competition combined the fields of Arts, Social Sciences, STEM. Due to the circumstances that have presented themselves this year with COVID, the normal performance format in Hobart was changed to a digital presentation that presented a number of challenges, however, we were able to overcome these and create outstanding responses to the ‘Super Challenge’ we were assigned. All teams placed with either credits or merits, with feedback such as “amazing” and “stunning” received from the judges. Overall, we all loved this experience and the final results were incredible.

What Tournament of Minds is:

Tournament of Minds gives students the opportunity to solve authentic, open-ended challenges that foster creative, divergent thinking whilst developing collaborative enterprise, excellence and teamwork.

The 2020 Super Challenge:

People often come across unusual things in unusual places.

Something extraordinary has been found… in an unexpected place by an out of the ordinary group. People are asking many questions, there are so many questions but so few answers. Your team embarks on a journey to find the answers.

During the third term, the Vinnies Group at SBSC instigated a program called the Men's Dignity Swag Bags. This program was in response to the need on the North-West coast for essential items and clothing for the male clients of St Vincent Paul. We collected a total of 40 bags due to the generosity of the students, staff and teachers at St Brendan-Shaw College. We would like to thank Mrs Clark, Mrs Woodhouse and Leah from Vinnies for supporting us in this endeavour. A big shout out to the Vinnies Group for a job well done.   

Visual proof that a nutritious and equally delicious meal is possible to make in the same (if not less!) time it takes to go get takeaway.

Senior Food And Hospitality Enterprise created this meal in 30 minutes. Yum!

There is a casual clothes day on this Friday, 25th September - no gold coin donation is necessary.

Who: Students and Staff

What: Book Week 2020

When: Thursday 22nd October

Where: At the College, of course!

Why: You are invited to dress up as a book character or a curious creature to celebrate Book Week. 

• Find a book cover with a face (there are some great possibilities in a box in the library)
• Use the book cover you choose to create a striking photo that will blur the lines between reality by replacing the book’s cover with parts of your face (see the above examples)
• Email your bookface picture to library@sbsc.tas.edu.au
• Make sure you include your first and last name and the word "bookface" in the subject line of your email. Don’t forget to attach your photo!

Tips:

• If the face on the book cover is the same size as your face, hold the book close.
• If larger than your face, hold the book further away.
• Get your friends involved!  Either to hold the book, take the photo, or to pose with you with their own bookface.
• Great Prizes up for grabs. Winners announced  during Book Week 19th - 23rd October 2020.