Week  10

Tuesday, June 24

• 8:30 Parent Engagement - Coffee on the Deck

Wednesday, June 25

• Newsletter day
• Musician Gen Bryant visiting MoGC

Thursday, June 26

• Student reports available via the MyCE App

Friday, June 27

• 8:30 Assembly
• Whole school Hip Hop Concert
  • Free Dress Day - sunsmart with school shoes
  • Additional accessories welcome for the concerts
• 1:45 Hip Hop Concert - parent viewing
  • 1:30 enter via the Hall entry near the Year 1 gate OR  
  • 1:40 enter via Stop Drop Go gate, once play time has finished
  • If early exit is necessary, please leave via the Okeefe Street stairs and exit near Year 1.

Saturday, June 28

• 5:30 Parish Mass

Term 3

Week 1

Monday, July 14

• First Day of Term 3!

Tuesday, July 15

• 8:30 Parent Engagement - Coffee on the Deck

Thursday, July 17

•  Student Free Day (NO STUDENTS AT SCHOOL)

Friday, July 18

• Cairns Show holiday

Saturday, July 19

• 5:30 Parish Mass

Week  2

Monday, July 21

• Year 4 Camp
  

Tuesday, July 22

• Year 4 Camp
• 8:30 Parent Engagement - Coffee on the Deck

Wednesday, July 23

• Year 4 Camp
• 5:30 MoGC Connect Meeting - all parents welcome!

Thursday, July 24

• 3:30 TCC 1500m @ Barlow Park for nominated runners

Friday, July 25

• TCC Athletics @ Barlow Park
• 8:30 Assembly 

Saturday, July 26

• 5:30 Parish Mass

Week 3

Catholic Education Week

Tuesday, July 29

• 8:30 Parent Engagement - Coffee on the Deck
• 5:15 Family Engagement Event
• 5:15 - 6:15 MoGC Art Gallery Walk

Wednesday, July 30

• Grandparent’s Day
  • • 8:45 Whole School Liturgy on the basketball court 
    • 9:30 - 10:15 Grandparents visit classrooms
    • 10:15 - 10:40 Morning Tea on the deck (adults only)

Thursday, July 31

•  10:00 CEW Diocesan Mass
• Leadership Team + Student Leaders

Friday, August 1

• 8:30 Assembly 
• Year 3-6 Swimming Lesson #1

Saturday, August 2

• 5:30 Parish Mass

Week 4

Monday, August 4

• Liturgy Group visiting Holloways Beach Respite Centre

Tuesday, August 5

• 8:30 Parent Engagement - Coffee on the Deck

Friday, August 8

• Year 3-6 Swimming Lesson #2
• 5:30 MoGC Disco - Masquerade

Saturday, August 9

• 5:30 Parish Mass

Week 5

Tuesday, August 12

• 8:30 Parent Engagement - Coffee on the Deck

Friday, August 15

• NO Assembly this week
• 8:45 Feast of the Assumption Whole School Mass
• Year 3-6 Swimming Lesson #3

Saturday, August 16

• 5:30 Parish Mass

Week 6

Tuesday, August 19

• 8:30 Parent Engagement - Coffee on the Deck
• 5:30 MoGC Has Talent
  • 5:15 Doors open

Friday, August 22

• 8:30 Assembly 
• Year 3-6 Swimming Lesson #4 (final session)

Saturday, August 23

• 5:30 Parish Mass

Week 7

Tuesday, August 26

• 8:30 Parent Engagement - Coffee on the Deck

Friday, August 29

• 8:30 Assembly 

Saturday, August 30

• 5:30 Parish Mass 

Week 8

Tuesday, September 2

• 8:30 Parent Engagement - Coffee on the Deck
  

Wednesday, September 3

• Year 6 Camp 

Thursday, September 4

• Year 6 Camp
• MoGC Soccer Teams at JGFA Competition

Friday, September 5

• Year 6 Camp
• Father’s Day
• 8:00 Father’s Day Breakfast & play
• 8:30 Father’s Day Prayer Assembly 

Saturday, September 6

• 5:30 Parish Mass 

Week 9

Book Week 

Tuesday, September 9

• 8:30 Parent Engagement - Coffee on the Deck

Friday, September 12

• 8:30 Assembly  + Book Week Parade
  

Saturday, September 13

• 5:30 Parish Mass 

Week 10

Tuesday, September 16

• 8:30 Parent Engagement - Coffee on the Deck
  

Thursday, September 18

•  MoGC Year 3-6 Swimming Carnival @ Tobruk Pool

Friday, September 19

• MoGC Netball Teams at Mary Mills Cup
• 8:30 Assembly 

Saturday, September 20

• 5:30 Parish Mass 

On Friday, June 6 the school community celebrated Pentecost with a Whole School Mass. Presiding over our Mass was Fr John (as Fr. Roy has been in India on leave). Pentecost Sunday is the ‘fiftieth day’, which concludes the season of Easter, the continuous single festival of the risen Christ. 

Pentecost, the Jewish feast of harvest, also commemorates the giving of the Law of Moses. It was the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles. The event has been celebrated on this day since the third century. The joy of Pentecost is that the risen Christ breathes upon the Church and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit".

On Saturday, June 14, 19 students made their First Eucharist at the Parish Mass. Our priest was Fr. Robert. It was so lovely to see the church full of families.

On Thursday, June 19, Year 6 students led a liturgy, which their Year 1 buddies also attended. The liturgy was to celebrate Year 6 learning about the different images of Jesus. 

This term they have been exploring how Scriptural texts describe Jesus’ relationship with God the Father and with humanity.  

It’s time for an attendance data check in! Improving student attendance is a 2025 priority and part of the MoGC School Annual Improvement Plan. The Diocesan student attendance goal is 90% -  90% of students attending school for 90% of the time. When students attend for 90% of the time, they are attending for the equivalent of four days each week!

Our SAIP goal is: By the end of 2025 the number of students with a minimum attendance rate of 90% will improve from 71% to 80%.

We are currently sitting at 81.1%. While this is a drop from 83.4% at the end of Term 1, there is a lot to celebrate; we are on track to meeting our school-wide goal and our 2025 attendance is consistently higher than it was in 2024.

Families with students currently below 90% for Term 2 will receive communication next week. The purpose of this email is to raise family awareness of student attendance level.

Our Term 3 target is to decrease the Unexplained Absence data. This requires families to notify the school via MyCE app, email or phone call of their child’s absence. Notifying the school will also remove the automated text message received when a student absence is unexplained.

If you haven't set up your mobile device with MyCE yet, refer to this guide.

The Week 6 newsletter introduced our community to MoGC’s engagement with sporting Gala Days. In 2025, MoGC will participate in the Jamie Gosling Football Academy soccer competition (Thursday, Sept 4) and the Mary Mills netball competition (Friday, Sept 19). 

This week, Year 5 and 6 students registered their interest in participating in the Soccer and Netball Gala Days. MoGC is registering a boy and girl’s team in both sports. Unfortunately the Soccer clashes with Year 6 camp so these teams will comprise Year 5 students only. 

Once students nominate, a Edsmart Parent Slip will be sent to their families. This slip outlines the requirements of commitment and participation in the events which are derived from the recently developed Mother of Good Counsel School Representation Policy. Parents are asked to familiarise themselves with this document to establish eligibility for their child’s engagement. The slip will also invite parents to be actively involved in supporting these teams through coaching, umpiring and supervising. Without parental engagement, these events cannot successfully progress. 

If required, due to a high number of nominations, trials will take place in early Term 3. The MoGC staff Gala Day Committee is scheduled to meet in Week 1 of Term 3 to refine and document this process.

Stay tuned to Seesaw and future Newsletters for more information.

The Mother of Good Counsel School Representation Policy was developed in collaboration with the MoGC School Board and staff. This policy applies to all events where students represent MoGC.

In Term 3, we will welcome Mrs Sarah Nielsen to 3B and the MoGC community. Mrs Nielson is an experienced senior teacher, currently employed at Mastery Schools Australia, Cairns campus, and previously 17 years in the Diocese of Goulburn. She has an in-depth knowledge of child development and supporting students of varying abilities. She is also very excited to be joining our community. Mrs Neilson visited MoGC and 3B on Monday.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Ms Tania Cairncross and Ms Lisa Turner for providing 3B students and their families with consistency and familiarity over the past term.

Our Health Care and Administrative Officer, Roohie Kullar submitted her resignation last week, and had her last day with us on Monday.

From time to time parents ask staff to notify them when their child is receiving a Student of the Week award. The decision to not inform parents when students receive Student of the Week awards has been made in collaboration with staff a number of years ago, and revisited earlier this year. 

Staff create their awards according to varying timelines, some during the week, some the afternoon prior and some the morning of assembly. Notifying some parents the day before assembly provoked negative feedback that not enough time was given to change work arrangements etc. It would be difficult to determine the right timeframe for each family and staff member.

Sharing the joy of receiving an award when picked up and on the way home from school is hoped to extend the celebration and acknowledgment of students.  

Various year levels have swimming and movement through water included in their Health and Physical Education curriculum. Mother of Good Counsel includes swimming In Prep-Year 6 across Terms 3 and 4; Prep-Year 2 in Term 4, and Years 3-6 in Term 3. 

Year 3-6 Swimming

Swimming lessons are fully instructed by qualified Tobruk swimming coaches and supervised by MOGC staff. Swimming is part of the curriculum at Mother of Good Counsel, and costs are included in student Activity Levies. Students are expected to participate. Students are required to have a sun-smart shirt, goggles, slip on footwear, towel and plastic bag for wet items. Please ensure these items are clearly labelled with your child’s name.

Dates for Year 3-6 swimming lessons are:

Friday, August 1

Friday, August 8

Friday, August 15

Friday, August 22

The MoGC swimming carnival for Year 3-6 students is scheduled for Thursday, September 18. Please note this change of date which was made due to a clash with the Mary Mills Netball Gala Day. Unfortunately Woree Pool was not available on the dates we required so our carnival will be held at Tobruk Pool.

We kindly ask all parents and carers to ensure that their contact details are up to date with the school office. This includes your current home address, emergency contacts, phone numbers, and email addresses. Keeping your information accurate and current is essential for timely communication, especially in the case of emergencies, school updates, and important notices. If you have recently changed any of your contact details, please email the school office on secretary.nthcairns@cns.catholic.edu.au at your earliest convenience to update your records.

A huge thank you to our families, and MoGC Connect who are financially supporting the replacement of our bubbler system with a filtered and chilled Hydrabank over the holidays! The system has capacity for three water bottle refill stations and three water spouts.

The Year 1 and 2 classrooms are being bringhtened with a fresh coat of paint.

The Presbytery refurbishment that commenced at the beginning of Term 2 is on track for completion on July 14.

A very big thank you to Year 2 for clearing the weeds out from the raised garden beds. We appreciate you and can’t wait to start planting some goodies!

In Term 2, as part of their Arts curriculum, students participate in Hip Hop lessons with Miss Sian from Step It Up Crew. Each year, these lessons culminate in a Hip Hop concert. Families are invited to attend a concert on Friday, June 27 in the Hall from 1:45pm. 

Students are invited to wear casual dress on this day, with their usual school shoes, and encouraged to pack hats, sunnies, gloves, vests, jackets etc to accessorise.

Each class will enter the hall, present their dance, and exit straight away. To minimise disruption and ensure the concert runs on time, parents are encouraged to remain for the full duration of the concert. It is a fabulous hour of entertainment!

Parents are invited to enter via the Hall entry near the Year 1 gate from 1:30 or from the Stop Drop Go gate at 1:40, once play time has finished. Parents are encouraged to stay for the entire concert. If early exit is necessary, please leave via the Okeefe Street stairs and exit near Year 1.

On Thursday, June 12 Grace, Isabella, Izzy and Anna represented MoGC at the Readers Cup competition at Edge Hill State School. 

The girls were required to read the five books assigned to their division and met with mentors Tim Jackson and Martine Creighton throughout Term 2 to discuss the books and quiz each other. 

Our team came 6th out of the 42 teams in Cairns, the largest gathering in Queensland! We are so very proud of you girls! Thank you to Tim and Martine for giving up their time to support the girls in this competition.

Congratulations to Our Literary Eisteddfod Participants!

We are thrilled to celebrate the outstanding achievements of students who participated in this year's Literary Eisteddfod. Their creativity, dedication and passion for literature have truly shone through, and we are incredibly proud of each and every one of you.

A special congratulations goes to those who placed in their categories and to those who received highly commended awards:

• Creative Writing - Year 1-2: Holly 2nd Place
• Creative Writing - Year 3-4: Audrey 3rd Place 
• Creative Writing - Year 3-4: Pippa 3rd Place, Frankie and Jamie Highly Commended
• Creative Writing - Year 5: Zoe 3rd Place 
• Original Poem - Year 1-2: Marli 3rd Place
• Report Writing - Year 1-6: Sophie D 1st Place
• Speech Writing - Year 1-6: Emily N Highly Commended

Thank you to the participants for making this year's Eisteddfod a memorable event. Keep writing, keep dreaming and keep inspiring us all!

This Semester, schools in the Cairns Diocese are moving to a new reporting platform - The Learning Dashboard (TLD). 

Rather than accessing a PDF report, The Learning Dashboard will provide your child's report through a web interface, accessible via mobile phone, tablet or computer.

The new system brings some small changes and improvements to the look and feel of the previous student reporting system. 

• TLD follows students across CEDC schools, enabling parents to maintain visibility of academic reports throughout their primary and secondary school years.
• With the click of a button, parents can see comparative cohort information about their child.
• Parents can create a PDF copy of the report for their records.
• Students will no longer receive strand achievement judgements in Science and HASS. These learning areas will only receive an overall result.
• Students will receive a General Comment that provides an overall, individualised comment highlighting growth, progress and a goal to focus ongoing improvement.
• From Thursday June 26, parents can access reports through the Parent Portal, MyCE application and The Learning Dashboard website, using their Parent Portal credentials.

Cairns Help connects people in Cairns and Far North Queensland

with local community support agencies.

Term 2 TCC and Peninsula School Sport News

Throughout the term, students born in 2015, 2014 and 2013 had the opportunity to trial, and represent MoGC at the TCC trials. Successful students also represented TCC at the Peninsula Championships with some progressing further to represent Peninsula at the State Titles. We acknowledge the following students for their commitment to their sport and their achievements.

Hockey

Congratulations to Nathan (Year 6) and Jax (Year 4) for being selected in the boys Peninsula Hockey Team. A special mention to Henry (Year 4) who was selected as Shadow and attended every training session in the lead up to the state titles. Nathan and Jax braved the cooler weather in Toowoomba and their team was placed 5th overall in the state. A special congratulations to Nathan who was selected to represent Queensland at the Nationals in Redcliffe during August. We wish you all the best Nathan!

In the girls Hockey, congratulations to Jessica (Year 6) and Olivia C (Year 5) who were selected in the girls Peninsula Hockey Team. They also braved the cool weather in Toowoomba and were placed 4th overall in the State. Well done girls. 

Touch Football

Quade (Year 6) attended the TCC Touch Football trials and was successful in representing TCC at the recent Peninsula Championships. 

Scarlett, Emily F and Lily D (Year 5) as well as Skyla (Year 6)  trialled for the TCC girls Touch Football Team. Congratulations to Scarlett, Lily and Skyla who were selected to represent TCC at the Peninsula Championship. A special shout out to Scarlett who was selected to represent Peninsula at the State titles in Roma in the coming months. 

Cairns Representative Basketball 

Jett and Tayo (Year 5) have been training hard as they are representing Cairns Basketball at various competitions across the state against other major cities. In June, they will compete in Cairns, July in Townsville, in August they will travel to Mackay and their State Championships will be in Brisbane in September. 

Harriet (Year 6) has also been busy on the court representing Cairns Basketball, with recent competitions in May at Mackay and Townsville, with her State 

Championships taking place during the July holidays in Cairns. 

We wish all three students all the best in their upcoming events.

Iron Kids and Green Island Swim 

Well done to the many students who participated in the Cairns Iron Kids event on Saturday, June 14. Also on Saturday, Mia,Frankie, Skyla & Quade competed in the 1.5km Green Island swim with Skyla swimming a PB.

Congratulations to Bonnie, Tiara, Olivia D, Catherine, Beth and Maddie (Year 5) who played in the U10 Saints team on the weekend at the Fowler's Cup. These little netball superstars won their age group. Way to go girls! 

MoGC Connect Meeting

Our next MoGC Connect meeting is scheduled for 5:30 on Wednesday, July 23 in theMultipurpose Room, above the library. You are warmly invited. 

Agenda items can be emailed to mogc.connect@cnsstu.catholic.edu.au 

Fathering Project  

Grief is something no family can completely avoid. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, a pet, a separation, or even big changes like moving schools or losing independence - these moments impact kids, dads, and families in different ways.

Help kids understand and express grief

Kids look to you to understand how to handle big feelings. When you show that it’s okay to feel sadness, confusion, or even anger, you’re teaching them emotional strength. And when someone close to your family is grieving, simply being there and checking in regularly can make a huge difference.

Try this:

If someone in your life is going through loss, check in. Offer to grab a coffee or just sit with them. Don’t push conversation - just let them know you’re there. And if you’re grieving yourself, give yourself permission to feel it all. You don’t have to go through it alone.

Real strength isn’t about “staying strong", it’s about staying connected. Modelling this to your children is one of the most important things you can do. 

2025 Parent Contacts 

If you have a question about your child’s year level, are looking for information or need some guidance on where to direct an enquiry, these parents contacts are happy for you to reach out to them:

Prep: Stacey Watt staceylwatt@outlook.com	Year 1: Louise Bernstein: louise.bernstein@blueoceanic.com
Yr 1: Emma Smith: emmajb21@hotmail.com Yr 3: Paula Kelly: paulajkelly81@gmail.com	Yr 2: James Rickman jamesrickman@yahoo.com.au
Yr 4: Jenny Gangell jenny.gangell@gmail.com	Yr 5: Joeleen Bettini joeleenb1@bigpond.com  Bindi Cooper coopernb@outlook.com
Yr 6: Kate & Carl Vogler: katevogler@hotmail.com

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK