Media releases

RURAL SCHOOL PRINCIPAL RETIRES AFTER 39 YEARS IN CATHOLIC EDUCATION

December 2018 marked the conclusion of a long and successful career spanning 39 years for Principal, Mr Roland (Roly) Poulton.

ST JOSEPH’S COLLEGE PROVIDES MORE THAN AN EDUCATION

St Joseph’s is a Year 7 to 12 co-educational Catholic College where Catholic principles permeate all aspects of College life. Two of the Year 12 students were asked about their experiences at the College.

STEM CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN TOOWOOMBA IN 2019

The “It Takes a Spark” Conference for girls and their teachers will be held in Toowoomba on May 9, 2019. This is the first time this unique Conference will be held in a regional city and will be hosted by St Saviour's College.

TWO MEMBERS OF ST SAVIOUR’S COLLEGE NOMINATED AT WOMEN IN BUSINESS AWARDS

At this year’s Women in Business Awards Jana Mari Dela Cruz, St Saviour’s College Captain was shortlisted in the “Empowering Young Women” category and Principal, Sharon Collins was nominated in the “Women in Business" category and was announced as a finalist for this award. An outstanding achievement for two inspiring leaders.

MATER DEI PRIMARY SCHOOL OPENS NEW BUILDING

On Wednesday, November 21 Mater Dei Primary School celebrated a significant milestone with the Official Blessing and Opening of the newly built Good Samaritan Building.

Bishop Robert McGuckin, Bishop of the Diocese of Toowoomba conducted the ceremony with school leaders and the Mater Dei Choir participating in the service.

ST MARY’S KINDERGARTEN WARWICK WINS CENTACARE AWARD

At the inaugural launch of the annual Centacare Child Care Services Awards of Excellence ceremony held recently in Brisbane, St Mary’s Kindergarten, Warwick were announced as winners of the Parish, School and Community Engagement Award.

GOONDIWINDI STUDENT WINS ICAS AWARD

Thomas Masel, a Year 3 student at St Mary's School, Goondiwindi has achieved the highest score in the ICAS science exam for Year 3.

SACRED HEART PRIMARY SCHOOL CELEBRATES 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Sacred Heart Primary School, Toowoomba is 50! The Sacred Heart Church was opened in 1964 by Bishop Brennan. At that time, the Sacred Heart nuns were based at Freneau Park opposite Clifford Park Race Course. They had set up here at the height of the Second World War when Australia perceived a very real threat of a Japanese invasion. The sisters were planning to return to Brisbane and they gave away their wooden buildings to the various Parishes. The Sacred Heart Church was lucky to receive one of these buildings. The building was repaired and made suitable to be used for meetings and fund-raising functions. This building is now the school’s current day prep building.

THE GROWTH OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS IN THE TOOWOOMBA DIOCESE

All 31 schools within the Toowoomba Diocese have their individual School Master Plans that are regularly revised to ensure that we are planning for the provision and sustainability of Catholic schooling in the Diocese. These plans take into consideration areas of growth, not just buildings, but overall space including the purchase of land for future schools in areas of growth and need. Sustainability projects also form a part of future initiatives that will include solar PV cell batteries, LED lighting and maintenance planning.

KINDY CHILDREN VISIT ST PATRICK’S PRIMARY SCHOOL, MITCHELL IN PREPARATION FOR 2019 SCHOOL YEAR

Children from the Mitchell Kindergarten will be visiting St Patrick’s Primary School for four Kindy-Prep Transition sessions on a fortnightly basis from 9.00am to 11.00am commencing on Thursday 18 October 2018. The dates for Transition sessions are October 18, November 1, November 15 and November 29. Parents are very welcome to attend these sessions with their children.

DIOCESE OF TOOWOOMBA CATHOLIC SCHOOLS MASS FOR YEAR 12 ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER GRADUATION

The 2018 Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools Mass for Year 12 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Graduation will be held at St Patrick’s Cathedral at 10.30am on Tuesday 16 October. Thirty- four students from across the diocese will participate in the Graduation Mass. In addition to students graduating from Toowoomba schools, students from Dalby, Roma and Stanthorpe schools will also attend the Mass.

LEADING TOOWOOMBA STEM EDUCATORS INVITED TO SPEAK AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Three leading STEM educators from Toowoomba Catholic Schools have been invited to speak at a national conference in Melbourne on 16-17 October. Peter Horton and Wayne Williams from St Mary’s College and Stephen Broderick from St Ursula’s College will all speak at the Improving STEM Education Conference.

ST MARY’S COLLEGE, TOOWOOMBA FILLS OVER 400 BACKPACKS FOR THE BACKPACK PROJECT

St Mary’s College Toowoomba’ students have shown their generosity, and want to help others, collecting items that may seem like basic items to many of us, from pencils, to notepads, clothing, towels, toothpaste and soap, all to help others in need. It’s all a part of The Backpack Project, an initiative of Mary’s Meals.

TOOWOOMBA CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE ENGAGE FOR PLENARY 2020

Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office staff recently held a Reflection Morning to commence their own local engagement for Plenary 2020. The theme of the morning was “Permission to Speak”. Staff had the opportunity to openly listen to, and dialogue, with one another in an informal setting as they discerned how the Catholic Church in Australia might best move into the future.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION AWARD RECIPIENT TO USE BURSARY TO SUPPORT STAFF FORMATION

Cecily Fitzpatrick was recognised for her remarkable contribution to Catholic schools during Catholic Education Week, being named one of Queensland’s Spirit of Catholic Education Award recipients.

ST SAVIOUR’S COLLEGE, TOOWOOMBA OFFERS 8 BURSARIES TO SUPPORT DROUGHT CRISIS

St Saviour’s College is a Catholic day and boarding school for young women in Years 7 to 12. The College is doing their bit for the drought crisis by offering eight bursaries for young women, from Years 7 through to Year 12. The bursaries begin in 2019 and cover 75% of all boarding and tuition fees for the entire duration of the Student’s stay at the college.

ST SAVIOUR’S COLLEGE STEM WORKSHOP–Thursday 13 SEPTEMBER

On Thursday, 13 September, St Saviour’s students will create a virtual landscape of pre-colonial Toowoomba in a STEM Workshop with Brett Leavy. Brett is a Kooma man from Western Queensland who specialises in virtual cultural heritage and digital landscaping.

Media conference to launch a locally produced video called ‘It’s ok to speak up’ for Child Protection Week

Dr Pat Coughlan will launch the ‘It’s ok to speak up’ video at this media conference.

ST JOSEPH’S COLLEGE, TOOWOOMBA – CIRCLE OF SILENCE

St Joseph's College social justice group, Just Joeys, and students of Study of Religion led the whole St Joseph’s College community in a Circle of Silence during assembly on Friday, 24 August.

School expanding for growing Chinchilla

St Joseph's Primary School in Chinchilla is gearing up for exciting facility upgrades, with their latest development application receiving Council approval.

Work commences on new central administration buildings for Toowoomba Catholic Schools at the historic former South State School site.

The site of the former South State School is humming with activity once again as work gets underway on a new central administration building for Toowoomba Catholic Schools.

The Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba purchased the site in 2015, naming its central location and proximity to existing church buildings, St Patrick’s Cathedral and Parish centre, as key in making it a logical choice to accommodate all Catholic Schools Office staff at one location.

CSIRO program brings real Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) to the classroom

A number of Toowoomba Catholic Schools are partnering with local science professionals to enhance the offering of STEM opportunities in the classroom.

The CSIRO’s STEM Professionals in Schools works to drive innovation and looks to meeting Australia’s future job needs by exposing school students to real STEM experiences and hopefully, sparking an interest in the area.

Associate Professor Bernadette McCabe - Principal Scientist, University of Southern Queensland (USQ) has been visiting St Saviour’s Primary School in Toowoomba for almost a decade and says the benefits for herself as a professional, and for students, are reciprocal.

Students explore the benefits of mindfulness and yoga on International Yoga Day

Today is International Yoga Day and for one group of St Anthony’s Primary School students that meant starting the day with mindful practice.

Yoga teacher Catherine McAleer took Year 1 students through their paces on the yoga mat this morning.

E-learning experts from around Australia gather to discuss digital learning and e-safety in schools

Educators from across Australia gathered in Toowoomba today to look at ways of further enhancing the role of technology in classroom teaching in Catholic schools.

Dr Pat Coughlan, Executive Director: Toowoomba Catholic Schools, who welcomed The Catholic Network Australia Digital Learning Network to the region, said the group’s work included the creation of e-safety resources, professional development to improve the digital literacy of teachers, and building teachers’ capacity in delivering the national Technologies curriculum.

NAPLAN testing goes digital

In May of every year, students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 take part in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN).

NAPLAN was first introduced in 2008 and has become a routine part of the school calendar in Australia.

Dr Pat Coughlan, Executive Director: Toowoomba Catholic Schools said NAPLAN provides an important snapshot of how students are tracking.

Budget delivers mixed results for Catholic schools

The federal budget has delivered mixed results for Queensland’s Catholic school sector.

Roma’s newest Kindergarten opens its door to more than 30 students

St John’s Catholic School in Roma was abuzz with excitement this week as the inaugural group of kindergarten students and their parents checked in at the brand new facility.

The kindergarten which has been established by Toowoomba Catholic Schools through a partnership with Centacare Brisbane, offers a play-based education program for children three days a week as they approach formal schooling.

Police incident near St Mary’s College Toowoomba

Just after noon today, Wednesday, 14 March 2018, St Mary’s College, Toowoomba was advised by the Queensland Police Service to enact lockdown procedures as a result of a police incident which was unfolding close to the college.

As a precaution, because of its geographical proximity, Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School Toowoomba also went into lockdown.

Just after 1pm, Queensland Police Service advised it was safe for the schools to return to operating as normal.

Evacuation at St Joseph's College, Toowoomba

The students and staff of St Joseph’s College Toowoomba underwent a safe and orderly evacuation from school buildings this afternoon, Wednesday, 14 February 2018, after a small fire was detected in one of the server rooms.

New leadership for a number of Toowoomba and South West Queensland schools in 2018

Whilst families still have a few weeks to prepare to head back to school, work is already underway for a number of new principals joining Catholic schools in Toowoomba and the south west.