Dear Members of the Terrace Family,

Last week we farewelled our Year 12 students, and at the same time we welcomed our new leaders for 2019.  The Farewell Assembly, along with the Graduation Mass and Valedictory Dinner, were special events for all involved.  I thank all those who played a role in ensuring all the events were successful, well done.   

Our Year 12 group has been an excellent cohort as they stood Shoulder to Shoulder with each other throughout 2018.  That spirit of support was never more evident than last Saturday, after the boys had actually finished school.  Jason Lee (Year 12) recently lost his mother, Lavinia, after a long battle with cancer, and her funeral was held on Saturday 17 November.  Over 60 former Year 12 students attended the funeral to support Jason.  Their presence, strength and genuine concern for Jason was something very special and highlighted our most recent Old Boys standing Shoulder to Shoulder.  We should all be very proud of these young men.

It is a reality that the end of the year is upon us and final exams have commenced for all students.  While the excitement of the end of the year is near, it is very important that all students finish well, in and out of the classroom.  During the next week, there needs to be a focus on study, exam preparation and finishing well.  I ask all parents to ensure normal expectations and routines around uniform and behaviour are maintained and that the students are well prepared for their exams.  The school year will finish on Friday 30 November with a Thanksgiving Liturgy being held in the Campbell Centre at 12pm.  Students will be dismissed at 12.30pm.

As part of the end of year process, all students should empty their lockers and desks, return all library books, College text books and any other College property.  This will greatly assist with finalising all end of year procedures.

Finally this week, could I remind all parents to exercise caution and consideration when driving near the College or doing ‘drop off’ and ‘pickup’ each day.  Can I particularly ask parents to minimise their movement in Victoria Street as it appears to be increasing in congestion.  Please continue to use the Centenary Pool carpark for pickup, rather than Victoria Street.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Have a great week.
God Bless.

Dr Michael Carroll
College Principal

Staff News

Mr Mark Shori continues his journey with ill health. Thank you to the many parents and students who continue to pray for Mark and extend their messages of support and friendship. Thank you for the support of our staff at Waterford who are finding their friend and colleague being unwell a challenging time.

Warm congratulations to Ms Zoe Morgan, our Dean of Communications and her husband Tim on the wonderful news that they are expecting their first child together. Ms Morgan will take maternity leave from mid-Term 1. The College is currently recruiting internally for this acting College Leadership Team position.

Mr Andrew Ebrington has tended his resignation from the College to take up a teaching position at St James’s College in 2019. We thank Mr Ebrington for his service at Terrace and wish him well for his return to St James’s where he has been Sport Coordinator previously. We will have the opportunity to thank Mr Ebrington formally later in the year. The College is currently recruiting for a full time continuing Health and Physical Education teacher.

The final days of last week were so very special, not only for our Seniors of 2018, but also for the generosity of the community in recognising my leaving the College. I am truly humbled by the effort and planning that went into producing the most magnificent painting completed by the boys. I shall treasure these special memories and the personal messages from the boys.

With only one final week until the completion of the term, it is important that all students are ensuring that they are working hard until the final exam has been completed. As we often discuss, the enjoyment in a holiday is far greater if there is a sense that hard work has earned the break.

Many great stories emerge after each round of testing and reporting. The stories all have a common theme,  the commitment to making a difference and the time invested in study.

Deliberate practice, as it is aptly named, is a key to success. This is especially valid within the new ATAR system where knowledge needs to be retained across longer time periods. Below is some of the research completed in this area.

Let’s make sure our commitment is to finish the term strongly and to work hard until the final pen stroke is made on that final exam.

Deliberate practice

Psychologist K Anders Ericsson, a professor of Psychology at Florida State University, has been a pioneer in researching deliberate practice and what it means. According to Ericsson:

People believe that because expert performance is qualitatively different from a normal performance the expert performer must be endowed with characteristics qualitatively different from those of normal adults. We agree that expert performance is qualitatively different from normal performance and even that expert performers have characteristics and abilities that are qualitatively different from or at least outside the range of those of normal adults. However, we deny that these differences are immutable, that is, due to innate talent. Only a few exceptions, most notably height, are genetically prescribed. Instead, we argue that the differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain. 

Duckworth describes how deliberate practice affects education, motivation, and learning outcomes. In a presentation she gave at the American Educational Research Conference in 2014, she spoke about the importance of grit – of student's focusing on material with which they struggle. In her view, grit allows a student to persevere and succeed in the face of adversity. Duckworth says that if a student can apply grit in their academic work, their effort will increase. Duckworth says that effort is equally important as talent in achieving academic goals. In a study she conducted at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C, she found that the students who used the grit tactic tended to advance to the finals.

Adolescent mental health is a topic of particular concern to educators and parents alike.  Education expert, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg refers to it as an epidemic.  Hence, anything we can do to assist our young men with staying mentally as well as physically healthy is worth looking at.  Parents will be familiar with the resource SchoolTV to which Terrace subscribes; this month’s topic is mindfulness.  Mindfulness is a popular topic of discussion and has grown significantly in recent times, with many individuals practising it on a regular basis. Evidence based research has found that there are many benefits to mindfulness.  Mindfulness can be described as attention training for your brain, enabling you to focus on something without judgement and to stimulate curiosity.  It has been practiced by many cultures around the world, but it is not exclusively affiliated to any particular philosophy or religion.

Mindfulness helps improve memory, engagement and performance.  Its positive effect on the brain can improve immunity, mental wellbeing, learning ability, emotional health and even time management.  It is especially important in this era of information overload as our attention is constantly being pulled in many directions making us more distracted.  As always, I recommend SchoolTV to our parents, caregivers and students.  A link to SchoolTV is available via the College App.

Our Year 12 students left us on Friday and did so with great class.  The departure of the Senior students marks the time when our Year 11 students become the College's most senior cohort and thus, they take over the role as leaders.  We look forward to their contribution, but first they must focus on their exams over the next week or so.  A reminder that exam block for Year 11 students commenced on Thursday this week and the students are only required at school when they have an exam.  For all other students, school continues until 12.30pm next Friday 30 November.  We look forward to our young men giving their very best, both inside and outside the classroom until the term is completed.

Lost Property

All lost property from Maroon has been returned to Student Services.

If your child has left any items of clothing or sleeping bags at camp, please ask them to come and collect the items before the end of term.

Any unclaimed items will be given to charity.

White Ribbon Day 2018

This week, as a College community, we recognise White Ribbon Day, an opportunity to acknowledge that violence against women still pervades various parts of our society and be reminded that it the responsibility of each of us, particularly as members of an all boys' school, to continue the work of strengthening a culture that emphasises respect and equality for all.

As the father of two girls, like any parent, it is my hope that my daughters will grow up in a world not only where they feel safe from harm and from all forms of violence, but also that they know they will always be treated with respect, that women will always be talked about respectfully, and that those who do not will be called out.

The statistics around domestic violence are still staggering. One in six women experienced abuse before the age of 15. One in two women has experienced sexual harassment during her lifetime. One in four women have experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner since the age of 15. It is clear that there is still so much work to do, but it begins with our attitudes, our actions and our words from a young age.

On Tuesday, our 2019 School Captain Oliver Seawright, addressed the College and challenged our young men to speak out when they hear disrespect towards women. He reminded us of the quote – ‘The standard we walk past is the standard we accept.’ Each of us are responsible for keeping the bar high and that a culture of inclusivity, equality and respect is strengthened by breaking apart some of those traditional gender norms that are no longer acceptable.

Disrespect of women does not always lead to violence against women, but that is where all violence against women begins. On White Ribbon Day we are challenged to think about what we will do to advance equality - as dads, sons, brothers, colleagues, mates. When the graduates of 2018 walked out of the gates for the final time last week, and when they enter the workplaces, sporting clubs and universities of our community, it is our hope that they will continue to demonstrate the qualities of true Terrace Gentlemen who respect women in their actions, behaviour and language.

So as we wear our white ribbons this week, we keep in mind those who are affected by domestic violence in all its forms; for both men and women who suffer in silence and for those who are healing. We ask our leaders to provide structural and financial support for the victims and families, and for those in our society who walk alongside them. We hope that we, as members of our College community, may be agents of change; people who help build and strengthen a culture of respectful and healthy relationships. And we pray that we will always stand up against all forms of disrespect against women, in both words and actions.

 
We always talk about juggling the three academic areas of homework, assignments and revision for exams. Going into exam block, students need to have a clear plan for each night (usually revising two subjects per night) and also a clear plan to work on all exam subjects over the weekend. While we know that good processes throughout the entire term are key (such as Friday Roll Call/weekly review, logging hours in the diary, attending tutorials and rolling revision) exams are upon us and the focus squarely shifts onto this area:

 Questions to ask oneself include:

• Which subject/time duration/which chapters or sections?
• What methods will I use that will be effective?
• Have I used all of the resources available to me?
 
The HOW of revision is something students should be well versed in from Formation lessons, whole school assembly messages and year level specific messages. Students must ensure that they revise ACTIVELY (handwriting notes, writing flash cards, drawing labelled diagrams, writing mind maps, writing flow charts and, importantly, answering questions). Passive revision plays an important role (reading, looking over PowerPoints, highlighting, answering pre prepared quizzes and watching clips to enhance understanding), but certainly needs to be used in conjunction with active revision.
 
When watching boys revise just before exam block, most automatically go to the passive methods as they are ‘easier.’ Like everything in life, there is no getting around hard work.
 
As this is my final article for the year, I would like to acknowledge the career of Mrs Julie Quinn, who your sons have had the privilege of listening to when it comes to academic advice.

Cultural activities 2019

Sign on for many of our 2019 Cultural programs is now available via the Parent Lounge.  To assist with planning your family commitments for next year, we have included schedules to allow you to plan your week.

Some cultural activities have a membership that rolls over from year to year – e.g. Music (Voice and Instrumental) and Speech and Drama lessons.  If you no longer wish your son to participate in private tuition, please email music@terrace.qld.edu.au .

Instrument for sale

The following instrument is for sale by one of our College families.  If you are interested, please contact them directly: P: 0408150036 (Cathy Nash)    Email: nashx@bigpond.com

For Sale - $3500 ono Saito MS-55P 4.3 Octave Concert Marimba

• Concert Marimba 52 bars
• 4.3 Octave A2-C7
• Bar: High grade African Padouk
• Bar Size: T24 – 20 x W58-38 (mm)
• Pitch: A = 442Hz
• Height adjustment telescopic 83-90cm
• Drop cover included
• Seven years old in excellent condition

Support Group meetings   

Part of the success of our Cultural activities can be traced to our support groups.  If you would like to be involved, meetings are outlined in the College calendar and on the App.    

Terrace Performing Arts AGM – Tuesday 27 November. Details as above.

TPAChair@terrace.qld.edu.au    

Debating Support Group – Tuesday 27 November, 5.30pm in the Old Boys’ Room   

DSGChair@terrace.qld.edu.au   

Staying in touch   

To keep in touch with all things Cultural, we would suggest you download the Terrace App and also follow us on Twitter (@GTCulture) and Instagram (terrace_gtculture) to ensure you don’t miss anything.   

  https://twitter.com/gtculture        https://www.instagram.com/terrace_gtculture 

Our thanks to Mrs Debattista and Mr Esbensen who, with the Terrace Choir, provided musical support for the Valedictory Mass in St Stephen’s last Friday.

Congratulations to all our Trinity percussion candidates who sat exams on Monday. Bravo to the 19 boys who sat their Practical Music exams. 

All Year 6 students who are not continuing on with Co-Curricular Music after this year will be handing back instruments in Weeks 7 and 8 in class time.

As the end of the year approaches and we begin planning for 2019, could you please notify the Music Department ASAP of any enrolment changes to your son’s lessons for 2019; students currently enrolled in the program will automatically roll over. During these final weeks and early in the New Year, you will be receiving information regarding lessons and ensembles.

Premier Ensembles Camp 

Preparations are underway for the Premier Ensembles Camp in Staff Week January 2019. This will be held both at the College and at QCCC Brookfield. The camp is a great opportunity for our Premier Ensemble musicians to engage in several days of intensive rehearsals to hone their skills and to develop a sense of teamwork and camaraderie within their ensembles. Please respond to the Parent Lounge request (once posted) by the due date as numbers need to be finalised with the camp site before the end of the term.

Music Practice Hall

Music Practice Hall continues apace on Mondays. This is held in the Music Centre, from 3.15-5pm. I ask that you actively support this so that we can support the boys in attaining quality practice habits. The response from participants to date has been very positive, with students seeing an immediate improvement in their playing. 

Term 1 2019

• Music Camp: 21-25 January
• Red Concert Band Workshop: Sunday 3 February
• Strings Workshop: Sunday 17 February
• GPS Music Showcase: 18 February
• Chamber Music Concert: 27 February
• String Soirée: Wednesday 20 March
End Term 1 Friday 5 April
• ANZAC Day Rehearsals: 15/16 April

Term 1 2019 Sign on

Sign on for Term 1 activities is now live and available via Parent Lounge.

Please assist the College and respond to the email sent to parents requesting the sign on.

The attached information booklet should be used to help choose your activity: 2019 TERM 1 SPORT INFORMATION BOOKLET

#KeepReading

The Holidays are nearly here and we in the Terrace Library would like to encourage everyone to keep reading over the summer. Reading is such an important and beneficial habit and it is vital to keep it up especially over the holidays. We surveyed one hundred Terrace readers about their summer reading habits and here are the results:

You can borrow up to ten books for the holidays – fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, DVDs & magazines (due back 29 January). Drop by the library to pick up your holiday reading today. Talk to our friendly library staff for help if you don’t know what to read. 

Please note that the Terrace Library will be closed from 12.30pm on the final day of term (30 November)

Conor’s Long Lunch 

We are all looking forward to Conor’s Long Lunch this Saturday 24 November. A comprehensive letter went out on Tuesday 13 November to Table Captains for circulating to their attendees. Details on beverage purchases, table settings, entertainment and transport are all in that letter, so chase up your captains if you haven’t seen it yet.

You can purchase your raffle tickets for the many amazing and generous prizes ahead of time on the College Events using this link: raffle tickets. Prizes include: Several different sporting event and group prizes (Big Bash, Broncos, Brisbane Heat, Reds and State of Origin); concert tickets (including Phil Collins in January); weekends away (Stradbroke, Spicers Maleny, Royal Pines, boating); wine fridge; barbecue; an amazing weekend with your own sports car (e.g. Mustang). There are many other prizes, in fact too many to easily list here.

Another exciting event on the day is the Golden Nugget draw – where you get a chance to win $10 000 by partaking in the Michael Lynagh Field grid competition. Go to College Events for more details on this fun competition. Tickets can be bought on the same link as the raffles – listed at the bottom of that page. Once you have bought your tickets online, you need to collect your allocated number/s at the Welcome Desk on Saturday. The lovely horse will be walked around the field from 2pm, and who knows after that when the “deed” will be done and fall onto the “lucky” square!

A terrific day has been planned in all respects, and everyone will certainly be having a fun day. Don’t forget the purpose of the event is to raise much needed funds for Conor Tweedy’s care and rehabilitation, so be sure to buy raffle tickets. Online sales close at the end of Thursday 22 November (today). Tickets can be bought on the day.

Staff Christmas Lunch – Wednesday 5 December

The annual Staff Christmas Lunch is a wonderful celebration of our staff in appreciation for all their efforts and support of our boys throughout the year. The TLG hosts this directly through the generosity of our families with contributions of food, time, and monetary donations. The Luncheon will be held on Wednesday 5 December from 12noon in the Campbell Centre. We cater for approximately 200 staff – a big job and certainly, the more hands, the lighter the load.

We are seeking your assistance to make this occasion the wonderful celebration it always is. There are three ways to get involved:

1. Food Donations - Link : A plate of savoury or sweet can be delivered to the Campbell Centre kitchen from 9.30am (no later than 11am). At the bottom of the sign-up link is a guide on what sorts of food we are hoping to provide so we can offer a delicious variety and appropriate quantities. Equally, if you have a special dish that you would like to contribute it would be just as welcome. You can add what you’d rather provide at the bottom of the signup link to assist with our planning.

2. Assistance on the day - link: We will also require assistance with set up, from 10.00am and then serving/packing up between 12 and 2pm. If you’d like to dedicate the day for this, you are most welcome to sign-up to both time slots.

3. Cash Donations - link:  If you do not have time to provide food and are unable to assist on the day, an alternate way to contribute is by a cash donation either using the link or dropping a clearly marked envelope “TLG – Staff Christmas Lunch” to Financial Services.

Keeping track of, and returning, precious platters and serving spoons is not always possible on such a busy day, especially once school has finished for the year. Therefore, please deliver all food donations in either disposable containers or containers that do not need to be returned. Of course, if you are coming to help, and bringing a plate along, just remember to take it home with you before you go.

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up, it is very much appreciated. If you are planning on donating food, but haven’t signed up yet, please do so if you can by early next week. We will need a little time to work out where we need to order in extra items to cover the catering requirements.

Any questions please contact Leonie Flynn on lkflynn@bigpond.net.au. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Year Level Coordinators

We have put a request out to our current Year Level Coordinators seeking their thoughts on continuing in the role for next year. We have had a few say they are able to continue on, but certainly not enough across all year levels. At this point there are no names forward for Years 10 and 12, and we are short on other years as well.

If you feel you’d like to facilitate some of the social aspects for next year, please get in touch with Lou Weir on email louweir9@bigpond.com. Generally, we plan for a coffee morning a term, and one or two evenings out for the year. With the online booking systems and ease of communications, these jobs are achievable, especially when shared between two or three people.

Eddie’s Van

The organisers of Eddie’s Van are seeking new recruits to go on the roster for providing meals to assist the College in this very worthwhile and relied upon community service for the homeless on a Tuesday night in Roma Street. Please follow this link - Eddies Van Roster – to view the dates that are needing to be filled. You can also see on this roster the sorts of food that are provided to use a guide.

TLG Date claimers

 Term 4

• Week 7 – Saturday 24 November – Long Lunch for Conor Tweedy, Tennyson
• Wednesday 5 December – Staff Christmas Lunch (First Week of Holidays)

Term 1 – 2019
Week 1

• Tuesday 29 January – Welcome Morning Tea for Years 5 and 7 parents after Assembly

Week 2

• Monday 4 February – TLG Meeting, 7.30am GT125, Welcome by new President Kirsten Carroll
• Tuesday 5 February – Years 5 and 6 Welcome Drinks, after Information Evening, no RSVP necessary
• Wednesday 6 February – Year 7 Welcome Drink, after Information Evening, no RSVP necessary
• Thursday 7 February – Year 10 Welcome Drinks, after Information Evening, Waterford Place, no RSVP necessary

Week 6

• Friday 8 March - TLG Welcome Mass and Morning Tea, 7.30am, Chapel of the Holy Family, then morning tea on the veranda outside Old Boys' Room.

Week 9

• Monday 25 March - TLG Meeting, 7.30am, College Museum then veranda outside Old Boys' Room for breakfast/morning tea

TERM 2
Week 2

• Friday 3 May, Years 5-9 Mothers’ High Tea, Victoria Park

Contact |TLG President | Mel Josephson

We pray for the families of the following members of our Terrace Family who have gone to their eternal rest:

Mr Brian Gerald FLYNN, GT 1952-53

May they be consoled by their many memories of those they have loved and lost.

Parents and carers may like to visit the Terrace Shop to purchase end of the year gifts for their sons.

• Popular items include the Terrace golf umbrellas, cufflinks, key rings and a stunning Terrace album.
• We also have the limited edition GPS100 sports cap available for purchase at $25 each.

Secure your spot in the Terrace Family Directory and The Terracian throughout 2019. Various opportunities to advertise are available. Please see the below link for further information. To apply to advertise, please email Terrace Communications linked below.  

Welcoming donations towards catering the staff Christmas lunch provided by the TLG. Please use link below to contribute.

Induction Mass - Year 11 2019 Assistance
The Year 12 Induction Mass and Lunch will be held on Friday 8 February 2019, at the University of Queensland, St Lucia. To make this a memorable occasion, it is tradition that the Year 11 parents provide and serve the food for this function. 
To assist with planning, please identify where you can assist by Wednesday 28 November using the links below.

Date and Time: Sunday 2 December | 1pm - 4pm
Where: Tennyson Playing Fields, Vivian St Tennyson
RSVP: RSVP not required. Please feel welcome to attend on the day.
For further details or enquiries, please contact 
Blair Copelin | blaircopelin@terrace.qld.edu.au

Date and Time: Tuesday 4 December & Wednesday 5 December | 4 sessions to choose from - 8am - 10am; 10am - 12pm; 1pm - 3pm or 3pm - 5pm
Where: Victoria Park, Gilchrist Ave Herston
Cost: $175 (+ booking fees) | Includes 2 hours coaching with world leading power hitting and fast bowling experts AND a force train better weighted cricket bat, valued at $200
For further information or enquires, please contact
Blair Copelin | BlairCopelin@Terrace.qld.edu.au | 0411 042 768

In celebration of 100 years of the GPS Association, Spirit of Fellowship caps are currently available to purchase. Pick one up before they sell out!
Where: The Terrace Shop (open Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 7.30am - 3.45pm, closed for lunch 12pm - 12.35pm)
Cost: $25 | All proceeds from the sale of these will contribute directly to injured students within the GPS rugby community

Date and Time: Saturday 19 January 2019 | 4.00 - 7.30pm
Where: Chapel of the Holy Family, followed by College Hall, Gregory Terrace
RSVP: Please RSVP via email to JudyMcGuire@Terrace.qld.edu.au or telephone 3214 5245

The cookbook every Terrace Family should own a copy of is available for the special Welcome to Terrace price of just $50. 
Details: This hard cover, full colour cookbook is full of beautiful historical photographs from Terrace's rich history, as well as great family favourite recipes.
Cost: $50 | For sale now at the Terrace Shop
For further information or enquiries, please contact
Leisa Low | bllow@bigpond.com

Year 11 End of Year Parent/Caregiver Lunch

Details: Friday 30 November | 11.30am
Where: Bar Alto, Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington St New Farm
Cost: $61.00 (+ booking fees) | Includes 2 course set lunch. Cash bar
RSVP: Please RSVP by Friday 23 November
For further details or enquiries, please contact   
Kate Pearson | kate@ourproperty.com.au | 0422 646 842