From the Principal's Desk
At our recent Principal’s meeting at St. Andrew’s College the opening prayer had these lines;

I asked for strength ….and God gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for wisdom….and God gave me problems to solve.
I asked for courage….and God gave me danger to overcome.
I asked for favours…..and God gave me opportunities.

The message resonates with the following email from Ashleigh Witt a 2007 graduate of the College.
“I'm graduating from Medicine in December with a High Distinction average, the award in Paediatrics, the award for service to my cohort and will be making the valedictorian address. I am president of the Monash Medical Society and the student representative on the Australian Medical Association. I have founded the Monash Careers Committee, founded a study program in which 200 students joined in its inaugural year and founded the Monash Doctors and Students Mentorship Program. I have also run Mental Health destigmatisation forums, edited our year book, choreographed the med musical and convened the annual ball.
I achieved all of this despite the fact I am an Innisfail girl and grew up on a cane farm, despite the fact that I didn't get an OP1, despite the fact I went to a school in tiny FNQ not some prestigious Melbourne college.
I wanted to let you know that if you would like someone to speak at awards night this year, I would love to inspire some of the GCC kids that they don't have to do what is expected of them, and that being an Innisfail kid is a great start to your career, not a disadvantage.”

Ashleigh was a ball of energy here as well. The most important part of Ashleigh’s story is that you can, with the effort, go anywhere with an education at Good Counsel College. Ashleigh is one of many who have taken their talents and done the best that they could do. It does not matter what you do as long as you do your best at it. I look forward to seeing her later in the year.

It seems that education is taking up a great deal of time with politicians and newspapers presently. The Australian Newspaper released its Yourschool web site and now the Courier Mail has done so as well. It can be found at (http://www.couriermail.com.au/schoolsguide).

The information on the Courier Mail’s web page reinforces what Ashleigh says. The results and information show that Good Counsel College provides a very high standard of education for the area and compares very favourably with schools across the state. I thank the parents and care givers for the trust they you have with us to provide that education.

Year 9 students have their Naplan tests coming up and our Year 12 OP students have begun their programme to assist them in the QCS tests later in the year. The Naplan results are the basis of most of the school comparison web sites.

A demonstration of the qualities our students have was displayed on Anzac Day. Our captains, Hannah, Trileven, Kara and Michael were at the dawn service and lead a large contingent of students at the march later in the day. I received many compliments from spectators on the way the students presented themselves and their behaviour on the day.

As a College we work continually on relationships between the students, staff and parents. Our College has, if everybody is here, over 600 people in it. Having that many people together can cause problems. We do try to contact parents and care givers through letters, phone calls and emails. Last week our Imagine team (Grade 9 students) ran a survey on bullying. The group is presently looking at the results and how we as community can reduce and stop bullying at Good Counsel. Bullying is unacceptable behaviour and we take our responsibilities seriously should it happen. I ask should you be concerned about the issue with your child to contact the relevant Year Co-ordinator.

Enrolments for Year 8 2013
The College has begun taking applications for positions for Year 8 next year. As in previous years applications from our Catholic Primary feeder schools are processed first. This will continue to be the practice of the College.

Next year (2013) they are the millennium babies and there are a large amount of them. Good Counsel Primary and St. Rita’s South Johnstone have approximately 100 Year 7 students between them. Once applications from the Catholic Primary schools have been finalised applications from other schools will be considered. The College aims to cap the intake of students in each year level at approximately 130 students. We need to cap enrolments to enable the College to be able to take Year 7 students in 2015. Planning for the building for 2015 has begun and the College is looking at providing a specific Year 7 area and integrating those students into the College over the year.

We hope to provide a separate lunch and play area for the year 7 and 8 students.

Youth Mass
This Sunday at 5pm there will a youth mass at our church. I would like to thank Mr. Charles Di Bella for the effort he has made to organise the mass and we look forward to them on a regular basis. While I do not qualify as a youth I will be going.

Parents and Friends
The P & F for the College are seeking community advice on a time to hold a meet and greet. At the meet and greet food and drink would be available along with a raffle for $1000 voucher for electrical goods.

2 options are:

• When a disco is being held
• During and after Parent and Teacher Interviews

If you have a preference please e mail that to principal@gcc.qld.edu.au.

Paul Keenan
PRINCIPAL

"Budding Engineers Battle It Out Over Bridges"
These are the headlines from the Townsville Bulletin following the accomplishments of our Good Counsel College teams after they dominated the competition at the Aurecon 2011 Bridge Building Competition in Townsville. For the college, the girls team won the $1,500 first prize along with a $500 encouragement award to entice more of our girls into engineering studies, they also personally took home $250 each to aide them in furthering their skills. The boys won the $1,000 second prize for the college and were also awarded $100 each to continue their skilling. A great achievement by the students and a wonderfull outcome for the college. Follow the link to the Townsville Bulletin article to find out more.