Well we have made it through our first full week back with a few kids actually struggling to get back into the routine of school though most have done exceptionally well. All classes have enjoyed their visit to the Life Ed van, catching up with Healthy Harold and his messages about living a safe and healthy life.

Green Star 6

Over the holidays we were advised that St Benedict’s has earned enough points from Green Building Council Australia to achieve a 6 star rating. While we initially projected a goal for a five star rating we found that with 74 points, we were only one point off the 6 star requirement and our team were able to identify an area for additional points to bump us up. A 6 star rating is the highest you can achieve and is considered World Leading. Most of our points were accumulated in the areas of innovation (10 out of a possible 10 points), energy (20.2 out of a possible 22 points), emissions (scoring 4 out of a possible 5 points), management (13 out of a possible 14 points) and water 11 (out of a possible 12 points. Areas we missed points in included land use and ecology, transport and materials. Townsville Catholic Education is working with the Green star team to discern the best ways to showcase this achievement.We are the only school in Australia to achieve a 6 Star rating, with only one school having achieved the 5 star below us as well. We can be very proud of this achievement for our school.

Prep Open day

This morning we welcomed about 100 families who came to visit for our Prep Open Day. These families enjoyed tours conducted by our senior students who were fabulous hosts yet again. Our seniors showed these families around the school and gave some interesting commentary about how things at our school work and they explained some of the things we have yet to come. It is wonderful to see the excitement on parents faces about the prospect of their little ones starting school with us next year and it is very affirming to hear about the positive reputation we are building across the community.

Athletics Carnival Friday 10 May

Next week is our Athletics Carnival. We are sure to have an enjoyable day especially because Mr Christie and Mrs Rowe have put in so much work preparing the plan for day. We have extra shade tents for the kids and staff this year but would encourage families to bring their own or group together to share. Parents will be sitting up on the hill this year with the kids in the middle of the oval so you will all have a great view of the races. Our P&F have organised a sausage sizzle and a coffee van for your convenience. If any parents are available early in the morning from about 7.30am, we would appreciate some help with setting up tents etc. Let’s look forward to a fabulous day of athletics. Unfortunately I will not be there as I have a meeting at Catholic Education.

Cheers

Penny