Term 4 Week 3 2022
From the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
It is hard to believe that we are into Week 3 of Term 4! There are now only 33 school days left of the 2022 school year. I don’t know about you but I’m not exactly sure where the year has gone. It only feels like yesterday we were welcoming our new Prep students and making arrangements for a delayed start to school due to Covid and now they are almost ready for Year 1. Our last 33 school days will be incredibly busy with learning and end of year events. This Thursday we have Crazy Sock Day. Students are asked to bring a gold coin donation which will go towards helping the people of Ethiopia.
As I mentioned in last week's newsletter we will be trialing a flipped lunch break for the remainder of 2022. What this means is that students will be playing first and then eating. They will still have the same amount of both eating and play time. There are many schools who have made this change and they have seen positive results ranging from students being calmer in class after lunch consequently demonstrating greater engagement in learning, students eating their lunch instead of being eager to get to play and the ability to solve minor playground issues before heading back into class. We are looking forward to seeing how this works and gaining feedback on the trial from students, staff and parents.
As part of the School Renewal process, last week we participated in two days of School Verification. These two days involved a visiting team of four consultants and advisors from Townsville Catholic Education visiting our school where they toured the school, visited classrooms and talked with students, staff and parents. This process focuses on the wonderful things that are already happening in our school and assists with identifying future goals and areas for development that will be included in our next five year plan. Preparing for verification happens over many months and I would like to thank all those who were involved in providing feedback or speaking with the verification team. Overall, the visit was a very positive one and I look forward to sharing some of the commendations and recommendations with you once we have received the report.
Have a wonderful week
Take care and God Bless
Amanda
Religious Life of the School
Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 18:9-14) tells the story of the sinner who sat in the back of the Temple beating his breast while seeking mercy and the Pharisee who sat up in front reminding God what an impressive and holy person he was. The two men behaved very differently in the temple that day. The Pharisee was proud and thought he was better than other people but the tax collector knew that he wasn't better than other people and that only God could give him the forgiveness and mercy he needed. We encourage our students to care for everyone and try not to judge others just because they do things differently or have different skills they should try to treat all people with respect and encourage each other to do their best in all activities. This is the way to live the T in PATH: Treat all with respect.
Catholic Mission: 2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the foundation for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, a worldwide network of lay missionaries and church leaders working together with communities most in need, which in Australia is known as Catholic Mission. It was born from the vision of one woman, Pauline Jaricot, who, after the bloody reality of the French revolution was concerned for those missionaries across the world who faced extreme poverty and desperately needed support. She saw a need for an international network of prayer and fundraising for the work of mission. In May 2022, Pauline Jaricot’s beatification took place, a key milestone on the journey towards being recognised as a Saint.
Crazy Sock Day: This Thursday, October 25th we will be having a crazy sock day to raise funds for the people of Ethiopia through Catholic Mission. Students may decorate their uniforms by using their imaginations to make crazy accessories using socks so their outfits are fashionably accessorised. This day does not include crazy hair. We encourage students to bring a gold coin which will go to Catholic Children’s Mission. This is a great way to achieve the H (Help your neighbour) in our PATH behaviour framework and live a love of neighbour as students.
Lord
We thank you for the love of your Mother,
who is our mother too.
May she take care of us
and protect us on our journey,
May she make us disciples like herself,
missionaries like herself.
May she teach us to go out
to help our neighbour.
May she teach us to step outside ourselves
and see the needs of others.
May she, by her strength and by love of God,
show us the way to live love for others.
Let us pray for the people of Ethiopia…
Hail Mary full of grace,
The Lord is with you,
Blessed are you among women
And Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen
School Youth Mass: We have our first school youth mass this Sunday at 5:30 pm, at Sacred Heart Church. If your family is attending and your child would like to read or join in the singing please let Mrs Ferguson or Mrs Jones know. Everybody is welcome to come along and participate in mass with the Parish.
God Bless
Mary
Aiming for Excellence
Ready Set Write!
Our focus this week is back on punctuation. We still have students using ‘i’ for ‘I’, leaving out capital letters and full stops and still mastering the use of colons and semi colons. Once directed to edit carefully, most children are able to self correct. However, in our aim for excellence, we are aiming for all students to correctly use the punctuation marks appropriate for their year level.
What does it mean to ‘Aim for Excellence?
Everything: technology, medical breakthroughs, structures, transport, sporting records, high quality musical or theatrical performances and the dedicated service providers we have today, we have because some people aim for excellence. These people have asked the questions: ‘Is this the best I can do?’, Is there a better way of doing this?’.
The high achievers of excellence, in many cases, are people who as children, faced challenges with learning but persevered. Their parents focused on what they could do and encouraged them to extend themselves to keep setting goals within their reach. Although it helps, intelligence and lack of learning disabilities do not guarantee the achievement of excellence.
In classes, we see both sides; the child with challenges who makes excellent progress and the talented child who achieves ‘good’ results but is not achieving personal excellence. The difference between the two is attitude and perseverance. A friend recently told me the hardest thing she had to do was to allow her child to fail so he could learn how to succeed. This worked where her words and help had failed. Once the child had learnt to accept the consequences of actions, progress began to be seen.
Excellence in sports is achieved through practice and perseverance to achieve a goal. Those marvellous tricks we see children perform on ramps happen because they have a goal and practise until the goal is achieved before they set themselves another goal. Our musicians are brilliant because they follow the same pattern of goal, practice, and perseverance until excellence is achieved.
The path to success is no different in school. The difference is the child has no choice about attending school to learn. However, aiming for excellence in learning transfers into all areas of life. I admire the many parents in our school who have and relay realistic behavioural and learning expectations to their children. They make sure their children know the consequences, both positive and negative of their responses to expectations. Congratulations to parents who allow their children to be responsible for their actions and learning but sit beside them and guide them with advice rather than directives.
Do meet with your child and their teacher to set learning goals and then proceed with practice and perseverance to achieve excellence.
SAVE THE DATES
NAPLAN 2023 The dates for NAPLAN 2023 are March 15 to 27. The final 5 days are available for catch - up tests. The writing MUST be administered on Day 1. More details on timing will be provided as it becomes available.
By Week 7 we plan to finalise the adjustments required by students to access NAPLAN.
R.O.& B.M. COLLS Memorial Lecturette Competition
Two Year 6 students will be competing in the above competition on Wednesday, November 2 commencing at 7.15pm at Home Hill State School Performing Arts Centre
Rita Cranitch
Leaning and Teaching Adviser
Inclusive Practices Teacher
The Good Samaritan's P.A.T.H.
This week we turn our focus to what P.A.T.H means in our learning spaces. Teachers will be continuing to hand out positive praise notes for students who are demonstrating our rules and expectations.
From the Guidance Counsellor
In this edition of SchoolTV - RAISING GIRLS
Raising girls in today’s modern world can be a difficult path for parents and carers to navigate. These days, girls are transitioning to puberty a lot earlier than they used to and the physical, psychological and emotional changes they experience are challenging. As a result, by mid-adolescence, girls are twice as likely to develop mood disorders more so than boys.
Some parents and carers may feel uncertain about how best to support their daughter through the ups and downs of adolescence and how to keep the lines of communication open. With the rise of social media and technology, mental health difficulties in girls are increasing as often they are faced with online images that make it difficult to see themselves as acceptable. Ensuring a daughter’s opinions are heard and her views listened to, will go a long way towards making her feel loved and supported as she tries to establish her own identity.
In this edition of SchoolTV, adult carers will attain a clearer picture of what girls are wanting from their adult carers and how best to support them through adolescence.
We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school guidance counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.
Here is the link to the Raising Girls edition of SchoolTV
https://sfatsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/raising-girls
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