A total of fifty students made up ten teams to represent Shalom College at the annual Bundaberg Mathematics Team Challenge held at the Civic Centre on June 11. The event is always strongly contested, and attracts schools from across Bundaberg and also from Gin Gin.

Our Year 8 teams performed exceptionally well, with our Year 8 No. 1 team (Matthew Aplin, Ned Freeman, Kate Jamieson, Jared Paul and Emily Stuart) winning the Year 8 section, and our Year 8 No. 2 side (Jemma Ballinger, Lilly McCracken, Chelsea Allport, Kaylee Mills and Elijah Freeman) following closely in second place.

Our Year 9 No 1 team (Michelle Rekow, Jack Lester, Brock Canniffe, Ben Freeman, and Brody Fox also “punched above their weight” by securing 3rd place in the combined Year 9 and 10 section of the competition.

Our Year 11 and 12 teams also performed creditably, but in a very difficult section of the competition they were unlucky not to secure a place.

Congratulations to all students who participated in what is both a challenging but enjoyable Mathematics competition. Thanks also to parents Lianne Bennett, Sandra Sexton, Phil Freeman and Rodney Allport for their assistance as supervisors during the competition.

Mr Trevor Barrett
Maths Coordinator

“Now is the time for our communities to make a difference....Welcome to our world....of teenagers” and so began the presentation for parents by Adair Donaldson on ‘Safe Partying’, a topic he is passionate about. With knowledge we can make a difference for our young people. Quite a large number of parents came along to what was a very informative and eye-opening presentation. The video clip he showed was of the parents of a sixteen year old giving their daughter a 16th birthday party. I am sure all the parents in attendance were horrified when they saw what the parents faced as a result of things going wrong. Unfortunately in the eyes of the law having good intentions is not sufficient. Adair stressed accessing the website set up by the Queensland Police Force when hosting a party. The site is: www.police.qld.gov.au  On it is a checklist to use which you will find very helpful.

Exams are looming once again for our students, particularly our Year 11 and 12 students. The exam timetable can be accessed on the College website. I would like to reinforce the guidelines set down by the College when students are on block exams:

Boys are to come for exams clean shaven
Girls need to have their hair tied back as they would for any normal school day
No makeup is to be worn; no nail polish is allowed
No handbags – College bags please
If coming to the College to drop off an assignment or to see a teacher full school uniform is to be worn Drama/Dance students have appropriate attire to wear
Correct uniform for both boys and girls – including the correct black shoes
All students must wear their hats in break times

The majority of our students are very good with their standard of grooming on a daily basis so the exam sessions should not present a difficulty.

If you are a parent of a Year 12 student then you will agree what a wonderful night the Formal was. Congratulations to all the students – the transformation from students to young men and women was amazing. I am sure everyone had a wonderful night. I have never been to a Formal where parents were included for the whole night so I found that to be a great addition... ...... and the dancing practice was worth it!!

Take care
Mrs Elizabeth Austin-Campbell

A group of eight students (Susan McDonald, Nathan Shelley, Ben Freeman, Ned Freeman, Shanae Barrett, Luke Pickard, Hayden Vincent and Joshua Collins) formed part of a bus-load of students from the Bundaberg region to travel to Brisbane recently to compete in the Southern Queensland Schools Table Tennis Championships. Over fifty teams participated in the tournament, which is increasing in size each year.

Leaving Bundaberg at 3:30am, the students arrived in Brisbane just as the competition was getting under way, and had to play almost non-stop matches until the tournament finished around 4:30pm. They then had a 5 hour bus trip ahead of them for the return journey. It was a fairly quiet trip home for most students.

Despite the long day, it was a very successful day for the Bundaberg students, with five of the six teams competing in the finals across the three divisions coming from the Bundaberg region, reinforcing the strength of competitive table tennis in the local area.

All students played very well but notable success for Shalom College went to Ben Freeman and Ned Freeman who won the Junior high school section. Shanae Barrett and Luke Pickard also finished third in this section.

Congratulations to all students on your efforts in this tournament.

Mr Trevor Barrett
Table Tennis