Cultural Report
Our Year 7, 8, and 9 students participated in creativity workshops in May with visiting sculptor and artist Chris Mckenzie. Chris is a former student of St John’s and was generous in his desire to give back to his old school.
Chris’ stone and wood sculptures are featured in many private and public collections (‘True Blue’ at Nudgee College, ‘Mercy Memorial’ at St John’s Roma). He encouraged our students to approach life with passion – moving from the head to the heart and then to the hands. It’s important to really care about anything we are working on!
Chris has also sponsored a large cash prize to be awarded to the Junior winner of the upcoming SCULPTURES OUTBACK competition, so please take the time to view this amazing annual exhibition when it opens on the 14th of June.
SMALL SCULPTURES COMPETITION
ROMA ON BUNGIL GALLERY:
Some of our students took up the invitation to enter the Small Sculpture competition. Be sure to look out for works by St John’s students if you visit the Gallery once the exhibition opens on 13th June.
Art Club
The Art Club was introduced for a term last year, with an enthusiastic group of Primary Students meeting during lunch breaks to learn new skills. We would love to start up again in Semester Two and would welcome any parents, grandparents, or friends of the school who’d like to teach or guide in any artistic areas. Macrame? Decoupage eggs? Oil painting? Crochet? If you have some spare time and would like to share a skill, please contact carmel.treasure@twb.catholic.edu.au, and we will do our best to make it happen!
Optiminds
Miss Tarni McCosker will be facilitating our OptiMINDS teams this year. We are fortunate to have the expert guidance of Mrs Yenda Emery as well. Several students have expressed their interest in participating, but it is likely that we can only field two teams this year. Please pay attention to communications and expectations if you wish to be part of our St John’s teams this year.
“The Little Mermaid”
Three hugely successful performances of our school musical, “The Little Mermaid”, showcased the vision of our teachers, Miss Ellie Bradshaw and Mrs Jenny Shuss, alongside their incredible (and substantial) team.
We are incredibly proud of our talented senior students. The benefits of attending a P-12 school are so evident when we observe our younger students participating, learning, and excelling alongside their older schoolmates. The musical not only offered the chance to acquire various musical and dramatic skills but also strengthened social connections across the grades.
We are grateful for the skills of our dance teachers, Miss Bridget Bright and Miss Tilly Coogan, for the creativity they brought to our performance.
Primary Performing Arts teachers Mrs Catherine Vaughan and Mrs Carmel Treasure, along with Miss Katelyn Redinger and Miss Grace Gibbs, formed the team that helped The Little Mermaid sing. Working with such talented students made the task feel effortless! The large chorus of primary and secondary students collaborated effectively, creating many memorable numbers.
MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS!!!
Drama Excursion
Year 11 and 12 Drama in Practice and Year 12 Visual Art in Practice are going on their Cultural Tour in Week 1 of Term 3. As part of this, the D.I.P students are participating in a full-day workshop this Thursday with a ‘Teaching Artist’ from Queensland Theatre Company.
R&D CHORAL SPEAKING WORKSHOPS:
St John’s students and teachers will also be able to gain new skills when they attend.
POETRY CHORAL SPEAKING WORKSHOPS:
With the visiting Drama Specialist, Mrs. Anita McVeigh. Anita is a highly experienced Drama teacher and is able to visit St John’s (and many other schools across the Maranoa) thanks to a RADF grant facilitated by the Workshop Subcommittee of the Roma and District Eisteddfod.
Class groups and teachers will spend time with Anita, gaining stagecraft and conducting tips while exploring different ways to use their voices and bodies to communicate emotions and feelings.
It will be fantastic to see students and teachers using these lessons in the R&D Eisteddfod in September.
Dance
Highland dancers at St Patrick's Night
Three of our talented senior students, Maeve Moloney, Allie Ey, and Claire Lunney, brought some Celtic flavour to the All Saints’ Parish event. St John’s hosted the night in March this year at the P&F shed.
Instrumental Music
Mr. Michael Cahill and Mr. Vincent Kwan lead the school's Instrumental Program. Students from Year Three are able to join. This year, the popular Presto Strings (Thursday afternoon ensemble group) has been followed by Volante, a group for more advanced students. We are very grateful to Miss Cathy Cooper for her assistance with these groups. Orchestra and band rehearsals take place during lunch breaks on Monday and Friday to extend students' skill sets.
Students performed at the Roma Show and at the Anzac Day celebrations in town.
A large number of students were able to benefit from the skilled instructors of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra at the QSO Workshops, held at St John’s and the RSC. Special thanks to Mrs. Catherine Vaughan and Miss Catherine Cooper for their supervision. We appreciate all the work Mr. Cahill and Mr. Kwan do to make these events happen.
Easter in the Country
Approximately 50 St John’s students gathered to march in the annual Easter in the Country Street Parade. It was the perfect opportunity to advertise the school musical, “The Little Mermaid.” An interesting collection of sea creatures paraded down McDowall Street! Special thanks to Miss Nicole Southee and Mrs Toni Densley for organising our students and to all the staff members who participated in the parade!
Anzac day
We congratulate the 70 St John’s students who paid their respects to our servicemen and women as they proudly marched in Roma on Anzac Day. Many more St John’s students participated in other ceremonies across the Maranoa. Primary Choir students collaborated with the Community Choir to lead the singing at the liturgy.
Chess
On May 22nd, 18 students participated in the TCS online chess tournament where they had the opportunity to play against students from Toowoomba, Stanthorpe and Cunnamulla. They played seven rounds of chess during the day. Although quite challenging and most students competing for the first time, they remained focused and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Students had so much fun that they are already working on their game plans for next year’s competition.
Thank you, Mrs. Beattie, for making this opportunity possible.
