Thank you for everyone’s participation in Crazy Sock Day so we can contribute to Catholic Missions’ effort to ‘Sock it to Poverty’. Our community seems to have a wonderful understanding of reaching out to support others. We have certainly seen this recently within our own community as well.

Swimming lessons

Next week sees the beginning of our swimming lessons for all classes each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with Friday 5 November being our Swimming Carnival at Long Tan. Please ensure you have kept up to date with communication from your class teachers about what to bring each day and how to assist the students to be as prepared as possible.

Building Progress

As you may have noticed, our building project is running a little behind schedule but we are hoping everything will be complete before the end of this term. I have been able to inspect the progress a number of times when we have our site meetings and I am very excited about how it is all coming together. The library space in particular is going to be an amazing space for students to enjoy reading and engaging in other quiet activities. There are multiple meeting spaces that will service our growing community needs and two multi-purpose classrooms attached to the breezeway at the library will serve us well for Technologies and Dance/Drama. There is plenty of space for our students to prepare performances and there is even a kitchen space for students to use when doing Design Technologies.

Next week our school leadership team will be away from school for a couple of days to do our 2022 strategic planning. We are thoroughly looking forward to this time where we can fine tune our goals and strategies for the coming year. We have initial plans to develop a Service Learning Project for the students to engage in good works for others and a Pastoral Care Plan that will teach our students how to become good role models for each other and develop a number of other personal skills as well.

Have a fabulous week. 

Cheers

Penny Collins

We’ve made it to the end of Week 3 - it’s crazy to think that there are only 6 weeks left in the term!  The 4/5/6 Dolphins led us in assembly today on the theme of Mission Month.  They used the example of Jesus who showed us to look to the needs of others to reach out with compassion and love, as we do during Mission Month.  The Dolphins explained beautifully the purpose behind the ‘Socktober Challenge’, where classes kicked a ‘normal’ soccer ball and then a handmade ‘sockball’, as they use in countries like Thailand.  Our students compared the two and thought about how lucky we are.  The school wore crazy socks today for ‘Socktober’, with all gold coin donations supporting the work of Catholic Mission Australia.  

SAVE THE DATE

Our whole school swimming carnival will be on Friday November 5 at the Long Tan Pool.  ALL students are given the opportunity to participate in a race as well as other fun events in and around the pool.  Races begin at 9:30am.  We would prefer parents to drop children at school for transport to the carnival, however, parents are welcome to take their children home once they have participated in their races - we only ask that students are signed out with one of our office staff.

This year we are having an End of Year Mass, led by Fr Clement.  This will be a great celebration of the year that has been at ST Benedict’s, and also a way of farewelling our Year 6 students as they depart for high school.  ALL are welcome to attend - with a special invitation extended to the parents/families of our students in Year 6.

O Holy Night is certainly a favourite on the events calendar.  This year it is taking place on Wednesday December 1.  The event will be taking place on the low oval, gathering at 6:00pm for a 6:30pm start.  

Pax,

Nick 

Mission Month

What a busy week we have had.  It has been wonderful to see so many classes connect with the Mission Month Socktober challenge and for the students to have fun with their crazy socks today.  It is always a great way to reflect on the wonderful opportunities we have in our lives and be mindful of others who need our support.

Student behaviours and expectations

As we near the end of the school year, excitement builds for the prospects of the future.  This does not mean however, that we don’t adhere to the expectations.  Unfortunately, there has been an increase in the number of students needing to be reminded of this.  Several classes have had visits from the Leadership team this week to reestablish expectations for behaviour.  Please talk with your student(s) about this also and remind them that their behaviours will carry consequences.  The best kinds are always the positive things that come from supporting one another and making great choices.  We hope to see improvements in this area.

P&F Events

In week 5, there will be a sausage sizzle at our school swimming carnival.  The P&F will be looking for volunteers to assist with the set up, cooking and pack down on the day.  Please let the P&F know if you can offer a hand in anyway at all.

There will also be a sausage sizzle in week 6 at the Disco.  Support for this event will also be greatly appreciated.  Please keep an eye on the FB Parent Page for further info and of course, the newsletter.

This month is Mission Month, which is run through the Catholic Missions to support people and countries in need. Students in 4/5/6 participated in a Socktober Challenge in which they had to take two shots each using a regular soccer ball and a ‘sockball. Students were able to gain an insight into the lives of children who are less fortunate and how they play soccer. They all enjoyed getting to test Mr Daniel’s and Mr Matt’s goalie skills. They were able to put up a good effort but the 4/5/6 cohort definitely came out on top by scoring over 20 goals 

Students definitely found it much more difficult to kick the ‘sockball’ as it needed many repairs along the way. 

Information about Compass Kiosk in the Office for parents.

If your child is LATE, after 8.30am it is a requirement that a parent or guardian must sign the child in via the Compass Kiosk, which is located at the front counter of the Administration Office.  A late slip will be issued to the student to take to the teacher.

EARLY DEPARTURE If you are signing your child out early a parent or guardian will need to sign the student out via the Compass Kiosk.