NEWS Archives

Rising Stars of STEM at TCS

by tcstownsville | Nov 10, 2020 | Robotics, STEM

The Cathedral School Robotics Club ventured to Brisbane on the first weekend of December to compete in the First Lego League National Championship (North) Finals. The Middle School team – accompanied by Mrs Patricia Lonergan & Mr Chris Anderson, left with the Rising All-Star Award, and some memories to last a lifetime.

The excursion also provided a great opportunity for the students to explore some of the landmarks of Brisbane including the ‘Cube’ – the Science and Technology Centre at QUT, the eSports Centre at QUT, Geocaching in the Botanical Gardens, and some team building at ‘FOX in the Box’ Escape Rooms.

Before the students switched into holiday mode, we asked a few of them about their adventures and the challenges they faced.

As a Robotics Programmer, my job was to program the robot to do each challenge. The best part of this job was being able to test the robot.
On the competition day, my job helped the team fix robot errors. My favourite part of the trip was going to Brisbane Fox In The Box Escape Rooms.

Lauren Pratchett (Year 7)

As a Robot Engineer, my main task was to design the robot so that it was compact and could complete given missions with specific attachments. The best part about my job was the laughter that went through the room every time our robot failed to accomplish what we wanted. On the day of the competition, things did not go accordingly; nevertheless, we tried our hardest to improve everything, so from the start of the day to the end, we were able to spread only positive messages. Another exciting part for me was to share this experience with my dad, who as a Robotic Engineer, has always taught me the love for technology.

Overall my favourite part of the trip was all the fun team moments that allowed as to forge such great friendships with each other.

Bjorn Hyseni (Year 7)

As a Robotics Programmer and engineer, my job was primarily to solve challenges on the robot game board. The best part about this job was to work with my other coders and robot builders to achieve the missions. On the day of the competition, on our first run, we ran into some problems, such as the four-motor rule and not being allowed to have overhanging parts of the robot outside the start zone. To get around this, I changed one of our attachments to a pusher so that we got rid of a motor and changed the code and I also changed the code of one of our other challenges to get it to start inside the zone. My favourite part of the trip was definitely the competition day, where we all got together and got to present our innovation project, and complete the robot challenges. I think it was a great day for our team to bond and work together.

Do Young Park (Year 7)

The pancake metaphor: the first pancake of a batch is always burnt- you need to learn how many bubbles it takes for that specific batch to cook before they taste good. We came up with this metaphor on the competition day after we had the most delicious pancakes for breakfast and we now refer to the whole event (and our robot) as the first pancake – terribly burnt, but a necessary experience. I think we did alright with the robot design, innovation project and core values, but the robotics side of it was, uh, severely overcooked.

However, though winning is nice and all, I guarantee you that we wouldn’t have laughed nearly as much if our robot had actually behaved. I figure in 20 years’ time, we’d all have probably forgotten about an event in which everything went right for us. But I bet we’ll always have a good laugh remembering the time where it seemed almost everything went wrong… except for the food, of course.”

Rose Ioannou (Year 9)

The excursion also provided a great opportunity for the students to explore some of the landmarks of Brisbane including the ‘Cube’ – the Science and Technology Centre at QUT, the eSports Centre at QUT, Geocaching in the Botanical Gardens, and some team building at ‘FOX in the Box’ Escape Rooms.

Before the students switched into holiday mode, we asked a few of them about their adventures and the challenges they faced.

As a Robotics Programmer, my job was to program the robot to do each challenge. The best part of this job was being able to test the robot.
On the competition day, my job helped the team fix robot errors. My favourite part of the trip was going to Brisbane Fox In The Box Escape Rooms.

Lauren Pratchett (Year 7)

As a Robot Engineer, my main task was to design the robot so that it was compact and could complete given missions with specific attachments. The best part about my job was the laughter that went through the room every time our robot failed to accomplish what we wanted. On the day of the competition, things did not go accordingly; nevertheless, we tried our hardest to improve everything, so from the start of the day to the end, we were able to spread only positive messages. Another exciting part for me was to share this experience with my dad, who as a Robotic Engineer, has always taught me the love for technology.

Overall my favourite part of the trip was all the fun team moments that allowed as to forge such great friendships with each other.

Bjorn Hyseni (Year 7)

As a Robotics Programmer and engineer, my job was primarily to solve challenges on the robot game board. The best part about this job was to work with my other coders and robot builders to achieve the missions. On the day of the competition, on our first run, we ran into some problems, such as the four-motor rule and not being allowed to have overhanging parts of the robot outside the start zone. To get around this, I changed one of our attachments to a pusher so that we got rid of a motor and changed the code and I also changed the code of one of our other challenges to get it to start inside the zone. My favourite part of the trip was definitely the competition day, where we all got together and got to present our innovation project, and complete the robot challenges. I think it was a great day for our team to bond and work together.

Do Young Park (Year 7)

The pancake metaphor: the first pancake of a batch is always burnt- you need to learn how many bubbles it takes for that specific batch to cook before they taste good. We came up with this metaphor on the competition day after we had the most delicious pancakes for breakfast and we now refer to the whole event (and our robot) as the first pancake – terribly burnt, but a necessary experience. I think we did alright with the robot design, innovation project and core values, but the robotics side of it was, uh, severely overcooked.

However, though winning is nice and all, I guarantee you that we wouldn’t have laughed nearly as much if our robot had actually behaved. I figure in 20 years’ time, we’d all have probably forgotten about an event in which everything went right for us. But I bet we’ll always have a good laugh remembering the time where it seemed almost everything went wrong… except for the food, of course.”

Rose Ioannou (Year 9)

Caleb Ready To Launch Project Roger Pen

by tcstownsville | Nov 8, 2020 | Filmmaking, Media, NEWS

Cathedral is a school with students of many talents. We have talented musicians, emerging engineers and developing lawyers. As students progress through school, the burning question of what they wish to do with their lives after school always exists.

Fortunately, Year 11 student Caleb Campbell knows exactly where his passion in life lies. Caleb has always been interested in filmmaking and intends to make it his career. “Filmmaking began for me,” he says, “when I realised I really loved watching films. I especially enjoyed watching their special features, and understanding how they were made and the complexities involved. The first inspiring moment for me was when I watched UP and the process behind making it. That was when I realised I wanted to tell my stories through film.”

To kickstart his budding career in film, Caleb has already begun his filmmaking journey through the production of Project Roger Pen. “The idea for this film had been building for some time,” he says. As Caleb travelled home from the cinema one evening, he began to reflect upon his experiences at the Year Eleven Development Day. Caleb, who has a hearing disability, was asked to dance by several of his peers, and found, to his disappointment, that he could not. “Some people had asked me to dance…but it was too loud for me, and I just backed away. I tried to figure out how to tell them that my disability affected me in that way, how it prevented me from being like everyone else.”

So, true to his dreams, Caleb decided to tell his story through film. Thus, Project Roger Pen was born. “[The film] investigates the life of a person who has a disability that prevents him from participating in activities that others do, like going to parties or hanging out with friends. The story also focuses on how the main character, Rider, enjoys writing stories in order to cope with the world he must face. The film really looks at the disabilities we don’t always see, like hearing disabilities.” Caleb has drawn from his own experiences in order to direct the film. “I also act in the film, and through this, I was able to add some of my own insights into the actual drama of the film.” The film is a project for Caleb’s Townsville Creative Technologies College assignment, an outside-school commitment.

To make a film requires a cast, and Caleb considers himself very lucky to have such eager participation from the talented students at Cathedral, many of whom volunteered their lunchtimes to act in the film, either as the main cast or extras. “The disco scene saw the involvement of many Year Elevens particularly, and some help from younger boarders.” As a boarder himself, Caleb has called upon the support of his boarding mates in making the film.

Caleb is pleased with the result, and believes the film is a great way to understand what it is like for a person with an ‘invisible disability’. When asked what advice he would give to other budding filmmakers, Caleb quotes lines from one of his favourite movies, The Flash: “Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan, succeed anyway.” Project Roger Pen is due to be released via YouTube in the coming months.

Fortunately, Year 11 student Caleb Campbell knows exactly where his passion in life lies. Caleb has always been interested in filmmaking and intends to make it his career. “Filmmaking began for me,” he says, “when I realised I really loved watching films. I especially enjoyed watching their special features, and understanding how they were made and the complexities involved. The first inspiring moment for me was when I watched UP and the process behind making it. That was when I realised I wanted to tell my stories through film.”

To kickstart his budding career in film, Caleb has already begun his filmmaking journey through the production of Project Roger Pen. “The idea for this film had been building for some time,” he says. As Caleb travelled home from the cinema one evening, he began to reflect upon his experiences at the Year Eleven Development Day. Caleb, who has a hearing disability, was asked to dance by several of his peers, and found, to his disappointment, that he could not. “Some people had asked me to dance…but it was too loud for me, and I just backed away. I tried to figure out how to tell them that my disability affected me in that way, how it prevented me from being like everyone else.”

So, true to his dreams, Caleb decided to tell his story through film. Thus, Project Roger Pen was born. “[The film] investigates the life of a person who has a disability that prevents him from participating in activities that others do, like going to parties or hanging out with friends. The story also focuses on how the main character, Rider, enjoys writing stories in order to cope with the world he must face. The film really looks at the disabilities we don’t always see, like hearing disabilities.” Caleb has drawn from his own experiences in order to direct the film. “I also act in the film, and through this, I was able to add some of my own insights into the actual drama of the film.” The film is a project for Caleb’s Townsville Creative Technologies College assignment, an outside-school commitment.

To make a film requires a cast, and Caleb considers himself very lucky to have such eager participation from the talented students at Cathedral, many of whom volunteered their lunchtimes to act in the film, either as the main cast or extras. “The disco scene saw the involvement of many Year Elevens particularly, and some help from younger boarders.” As a boarder himself, Caleb has called upon the support of his boarding mates in making the film.

Caleb is pleased with the result, and believes the film is a great way to understand what it is like for a person with an ‘invisible disability’. When asked what advice he would give to other budding filmmakers, Caleb quotes lines from one of his favourite movies, The Flash: “Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan, succeed anyway.” Project Roger Pen is due to be released via YouTube in the coming months.

First Lego League Challenge 2020

by tcstownsville | Oct 27, 2020 | NEWS, STEM

On Sunday the 25th of October, two Cathedral School teams competed in the First Lego League Challenge Regional Finals at CQ University, Townsville. The two teams were mentored by Mr Dallimore (Junior School Team) and Mrs Longergan (Middle School Team).

What is the First Lego League Challenge?

‘FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge is a competition catering for upper-primary and lower-secondary school students. Every year, teams of up to 10 students build, program, and compete with a robot, while also learning about a modern problem in science and engineering and developing solutions for it. The entire competition for the year is based around one of these themes: Past themes include natural disasters, senior citizens, food health & safety, climate change, medical science, and nanotechnology. Tournaments are run with the feel of a sporting event, and teams compete like crazy while having the time of their lives. What FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge teams accomplish is nothing short of amazing. It’s fun. It’s exciting. And the skills they learn will last a lifetime.’ CQ University.

Both teams were successful with the judges awarding the Middle School team, the Engineering Excellence Award, and second place in the overall competition. The Junior team tied for third in the overall category and also collected the Excellence in Robot Design Award.

The Middle School team is aiming to build upon their success with an invitation to the State Finals in Brisbane later this year… stay tuned!

Brooke admits to feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement at the experience. “Mum was there for support, but once I was on the field and started playing, nerves went away,” Brooke said. Brooke ended up being selected for the state team, but plans are on hold due to the current pandemic.

Brooke started playing the sport in HPE whilst in Junior School, and she really enjoyed it. She now plays in under-15s for local team, Wests, in a mid-field position. She trains twice a week unless preparing for a big competition when she trains four to five times a week.

Both teams were successful with the judges awarding the Middle School team, the Engineering Excellence Award, and second place in the overall competition. The Junior team tied for third in the overall category and also collected the Excellence in Robot Design Award.

The Middle School team is aiming to build upon their success with an invitation to the State Finals in Brisbane later this year… stay tuned!

‘Station Life’ The Cathedral School’s Outback Community Boarding Tour

by tcstownsville | Sep 30, 2020 | Boarding, NEWS

I am sure many boarding staff would have the same response as I do when I ask my boarders ‘How were your holidays?’ and they reply with, ‘Busy Tom, we worked hard mustering, checking waters, feeding out lick and of course fencing.’ Boarders are an essential part of the working team on the stations when they are home from school.

In my new role as Boarding Ambassador at The Cathedral School, we realised that it’s essential for me to understand how our boarders live and also to support their local communities … so over the September holidays, I hit the road for a 3500km trip visiting local towns to speak with potential students and also spend time with two boarding families, the Kath family on Mt Leonard Station and the Whitehead family on Mentone Station.

The Kath family has managed Mt Leonard Station in Betoota for 19 years. Lorraine and Henning (aka “Chook”) Kath have three children – Cassandra and Leah who have graduated from The Cathedral School, and Jacob who is currently in Year 10. It was great to see Jacob, one of my boarders, hard at work mustering, motorbike riding, drafting cattle and enjoying the country life. Never would I have thought that Chook would take me flying but every Sunday he inspects the waters and dams on the station – so I was very privileged to join him in his four-seat Cessna as we checked the 2 million acre station.

He answered my many questions about this fantastic place. Chook got me into the yards with the cattle (but I wasn’t going to leave his side), and I found out how to jump up the rails to get out of the way of the cattle. He taught me about branding, drafting and preg testing cows. We even did a killer! Lorraine Kath gave me an understanding of what it takes to be a female on one of these stations and the work the manager’s wife has to do as well. She gets up and makes sure there is a hot breakfast by 6 am, a hot lunch by 1 pm and dinner ready at 7 pm. Then there’s smoko for the staff as well as keeping the kitchen, dining room and accommodation clean and the office work for the station. Being on the edge of the Simpson Desert, 200 km from Birdsville and 200km from Windorah, this is a remote station. The quiet hum of the generator runs all day and night, supplying power to the homestead and staff accommodation.

The next property I visited was Mentone Station, 100km north of Winton. It’s home to John and Philippa Whitehead and their children Nathan (Year 8) and Jess (Year 10) who board at The Cathedral School – and Ashley who is in Year 6 at Distance Education, and is ready to join Cathedral boarding in 2021. When I arrived at Mentone Station, we headed out for a lovely evening in the paddock with nibbles and a fire with some great footage taken by a drone. Over the next couple of days, we worked on putting a tyre on a loader, went out feeding lick to the cattle and I had a grand tour of Mentone Station. I had my first experience of clay target shooting, and wow it’s a great sport! It was wonderful spending time with the Whiteheads learning about their property, and Jessica Whitehead’s pumpkin scones were amazing.

I am so lucky to be given this opportunity, and it’s so essential in my job to understand where our boarders come from and what they do when they are home, working hard over the holidays. It’s very important that boarding staff can relate to boarders in their care. Once again, I am so thankful for the whole experience and so keen to get back out on the property and visit many more of my boarding families.

Tom Porter

Boarding Ambassador and Boarding Activities Coordinator
The Cathedral School, Townsville

In my new role as Boarding Ambassador at The Cathedral School, we realised that it’s essential for me to understand how our boarders live and also to support their local communities … so over the September holidays, I hit the road for a 3500km trip visiting local towns to speak with potential students and also spend time with two boarding families, the Kath family on Mt Leonard Station and the Whitehead family on Mentone Station.

The Kath family has managed Mt Leonard Station in Betoota for 19 years. Lorraine and Henning (aka “Chook”) Kath have three children – Cassandra and Leah who have graduated from The Cathedral School, and Jacob who is currently in Year 10. It was great to see Jacob, one of my boarders, hard at work mustering, motorbike riding, drafting cattle and enjoying the country life. Never would I have thought that Chook would take me flying but every Sunday he inspects the waters and dams on the station – so I was very privileged to join him in his four-seat Cessna as we checked the 2 million acre station.

He answered my many questions about this fantastic place. Chook got me into the yards with the cattle (but I wasn’t going to leave his side), and I found out how to jump up the rails to get out of the way of the cattle. He taught me about branding, drafting and preg testing cows. We even did a killer! Lorraine Kath gave me an understanding of what it takes to be a female on one of these stations and the work the manager’s wife has to do as well. She gets up and makes sure there is a hot breakfast by 6 am, a hot lunch by 1 pm and dinner ready at 7 pm. Then there’s smoko for the staff as well as keeping the kitchen, dining room and accommodation clean and the office work for the station. Being on the edge of the Simpson Desert, 200 km from Birdsville and 200km from Windorah, this is a remote station. The quiet hum of the generator runs all day and night, supplying power to the homestead and staff accommodation.

The next property I visited was Mentone Station, 100km north of Winton. It’s home to John and Philippa Whitehead and their children Nathan (Year 8) and Jess (Year 10) who board at The Cathedral School – and Ashley who is in Year 6 at Distance Education, and is ready to join Cathedral boarding in 2021. When I arrived at Mentone Station, we headed out for a lovely evening in the paddock with nibbles and a fire with some great footage taken by a drone. Over the next couple of days, we worked on putting a tyre on a loader, went out feeding lick to the cattle and I had a grand tour of Mentone Station. I had my first experience of clay target shooting, and wow it’s a great sport! It was wonderful spending time with the Whiteheads learning about their property, and Jessica Whitehead’s pumpkin scones were amazing.

I am so lucky to be given this opportunity, and it’s so essential in my job to understand where our boarders come from and what they do when they are home, working hard over the holidays. It’s very important that boarding staff can relate to boarders in their care. Once again, I am so thankful for the whole experience and so keen to get back out on the property and visit many more of my boarding families.

Tom Porter

Boarding Ambassador and Boarding Activities Coordinator
The Cathedral School, Townsville

NAIDOC Provides a Platform To Celebrate Culture and Diversity

by tcstownsville | Sep 17, 2020 | Naidoc, NEWS

NAIDOC Week is not only a celebration but a way for Indigenous Australians to express themselves and teach others their culture. It is also a way to remember the cultures lost through time and pay respect to Elders, past, present, and future. For Cathedral’s Indigenous students, NAIDOC is a highlight of the school year.

Indigenous students at Cathedral celebrated the culture of Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in its own NAIDOC week commemorations recently from Monday, August 31 to Friday, September 4. Head of Indigenous Support Mrs Linda Pradhan and Indigenous Support Assistant Ms Velma Gara organised this special week, which began with a flag-raising ceremony and ended on a high, sweet note with cupcakes and song lines.Monday’s flag raising ceremony was accompanied by Bob Bowie (Yr 11) playing the digeridoo, followed by hand painting for Middle School students and Move It Mob Style, where students and several keen teachers learnt NAIDOC-inspired dances.

Good Things Come In Small Packages

by tcstownsville | Sep 15, 2020 | Club News, Leos

Two hundred women will have access to a more hygienic birthing environment thanks to the students of Cathedral’s Leos Club.

On Thursday the 27th of August, club members assembled 200 birthing kits that will help many women in developing countries across the world.

During lunch, 15 members of the Leos Club assembled the kits, putting together a sheet of plastic, gauze, a scalpel, string, soap and gloves, which will help provide a more hygienic and safer childbirth for women who do not have access to medical resources or facilities.

The Leos purchased the birthing kits from Zonta International. The organisation has revealed that every hour, 33 women die of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, and an estimated 385,000 women die annually in childbirth, many from preventable infections. Zonta representative Beth Snewin managed the school project and educated Leos on the importance of the birthing kits.

The project is part of a wider initiative conducted by KIT (Know, Innovate, Transform) International, which has distributed 2.2 million Clean Birth Kits to women in need. By providing these valuable birthing kits to women in developing countries, the Leos Club aims to help improve maternal and newborn health and reduce infant mortality rates.