Term 4 - Week 9

Term 4 - Week 10

Tuesday 03 Dec: Final Assembly 

Tuesday 03 Dec: Christmas Themed Free Dress Day

Wednesday 04 Dec: Christmas Chapel

Wednesday 04 Dec: Urban Xtreme 7-11

Wednesday 04 Dec: Term 4 Concludes

Coming up 2025

Friday 24 Jan: Yr 7 Book Drop, Laptop collection, and Meet the Teacher

Monday 27 Jan: Public Holiday

Tuesday 28 Jan: Meet the Teacher Night

See you when school resumes 28 January 2025

A note from the Head of Middle and Senior School (Mr Wilson)

Dear Parents and Carers

As we conclude this year, I would like to thank you for the many hours you have put into helping your child be ready, organised, and positive about coming to school. Being a parent is hard work and the positive influence of caring and helpful parents permeates through the life of our students. I would also like to thank our students for the efforts and hard work they have put into their studies this year and I would encourage them to have a restful break (but it is a long one, so before they go, I will be encouraging them not to spend the whole time in front of a screen).

I pray that you and your family have a blessed and peaceful Christmas and a rewarding holiday break. May the Lord bless you and keep you, guide you and protect you, and demonstrate His great love to you and your loved ones over this break. If you are around for Christmas, and looking for a church to visit, please know you will be welcome at Real Life Christian Church (https://www.rlcc.com.au/) – their carols are also on this weekend (1^st December – see the invitation below).

Mr Josh Wilson
Head of Middle & Senior School & Innovative Learning Design

General Notices from Mr Arraiol (Head of Wellbeing and Culture)

Laptop Updates:

Our annual laptop update and inspection schedule for students in years 7, 8, and the majority of year 10 will require students to hand in their laptops, Targus protective carry bag and A/C power adaptor to the ICT department by no later than the 2nd of December 2024. During this time, student laptops will be wiped clean to allow for the fresh installation of software. Students have been requested to move any important documents or files to their cloud storage to avoid the loss of potential work. As this is a large scale refresh of student laptops, student laptops will only be available for collection on the first day of term next year. 

Please note that parents will be charged $100 for repairs due to any physical damage to the laptops. Additionally, there will be a $45 fee for replacing any missing chargers. In light of this, it would be advisable to ensure that your child has all the items listed above in good working condition and ready for the upcoming inspections.

Student Uniform schedule for the final week of school:

Middle and Senior School students will be required to wear the following uniform on the following days:

• Monday 2 December - Sport uniform for years 7 -9 and normal uniform requirements for Years 10 -11
• Tuesday 3 December - Christmas Themed Free Dress (gold coin donation for Child of Compassion required)
• Wednesday 4 December - Sport Uniform

Mango Cafe Food Orders 4 December 2024

As we are departing the College before our normal first break on the last day of term, we ask that all lunches ordered from the Mango Cafe be pre-ordered by the afternoon of Tuesday, December 3. This will allow our team at the Mango Cafe to provide food for our MSS students to fuel themselves for our Urban Xtreme excursion and avoid potentially long wait times for food at the venue.

Uniform Expectations 2025

As we look ahead to 2025, I wanted to share some important updates regarding uniform and appearance expectations. These guidelines are designed to ensure our Calvary students continue to present themselves neatly and professionally while aligning with the standards we uphold as a school community.

By maintaining consistent expectations both at school and at home, we aim to teach our students the value of presenting themselves appropriately. This important life skill will prepare them for future workplaces where similar standards are often required.

These expectations will be emailed to our students, so they are clear on what is required. Please note that failure to meet these guidelines may result in students being asked to leave the college to make the necessary adjustments before returning to school.

Hair should always look neat, tied up, and presentable.

• You must be able to wear a hat – if your hair impedes this, it is not an acceptable style.
• You must have a natural-looking hair colour.
• Mullets, rat-tails, and undercuts (and all varieties thereof) or any extreme hairstyle that draws attention to you are not permitted.
• Afros are permitted if this is the natural way your hair grows (they must be neat, hair must still be off the eyes, collar, and ears, and you must be able to wear a hat).
• No extensions or braiding without discussion with your Head of School.

Hair length:

• Hair at the sides and back of the head must be similar in length and suitably blended.
• Hair at the top of the head must be tied up if it is long and falls over the sides and back.
• Hair must be off the ears, off the eyebrows (1cm above), and off the collar.
• You may shave your head, but you are not permitted to carve patterns, symbols, lines, etc. into your hair.

Hair that is collar length or longer must be securely tied up with:

• Slide combs, bobby-pins, clips, hair elastics/bands to be hair colour
• A narrow headband (maximum width of 1.5 cm) is permitted in a colour similar to the hair colour or school colours.
• Scrunchies and ribbons in school or hair colours only (purple, bottle green, white)  
• “Snap closed” hair clips in plain silver or hair colour

Make-up

• Makeup is not permitted. This means, no mascara, visible foundation, eyeshadow, etc.
• No false eyelashes are permitted.

Nails should be clean and tidy

• No false nails are permitted
• No coloured nail polish is permitted
• Nails should be at a practical length for safety during practical classes (E.g. HPE)

Linewize

We have recently partnered with Linewize (a software development company) to take additional steps to address the challenges that come with our students engaging in the digital space. From  the start of 2025 Linewize will be assisting teaching staff to protect your child’s digital experience while they’re at school  by improving the  monitoring and managing of student digital devices during class times. 

From February 2025 we’re excited to offer our parents tools (powered by Qustodio, one of the world’s leading providers of parental controls software) to help you take an active role in supporting your child’s digital development. With these parental control tools, you can improve online protection for your children at home—at no cost to your family. These tools are designed to give you greater visibility into your child’s online activity and empower you to set healthy boundaries and routines that fit your family’s needs. Qustodio will be available to your family from February 2025.

With Qustodio, you will be able to:

• Ensure your child stays focused on homework by disabling distracting apps and games during study time.
• Give your child the freedom to explore online safely by blocking inappropriate websites, apps, games and content.
• Help your child get the right amount of sleep by scheduling screen-free time in the evening.

With the support of a strong parent-school partnership, we can create a safer, more empowering online environment for our students. We’re thrilled to offer these tools as part of our ongoing commitment to your child’s online safety and wellbeing. Stay tuned for more updates!

General Notices

Coming Up Events @ Calvary

Our current College events can be found on our website: https://www.calvarycc.qld.edu.au/events/

Real Life Community Church Christmas Event

You are invited to the Real Life Church Christmas Event.

A free, family friendly event supported by various community groups and businesses. From 3:30-5:30pm, there will be food, sport, craft, a live nativity scene, and more. Followed by Carols in the evening in air conditioned comfort from 5:30-6:30pm. A great way to kick off the Christmas season on the first day of December - all are welcome!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Y2LoNuxMN/