P&F Thanks

A huge thanks to all those parents who jumped in to help this week with the Ecofest and Athletics Carnival.  It makes all the difference when we have many hands to make light work.  Our value of Community is definitely alive and well on these days.

We look forward to Our Burgers by the Billabong, Disco and Father’s Day events next term.

Wow what a final week of term we have had! Today’s Athletics Carnival was well attended with students and lots of families. Our students did themselves very proud, having a go at so many different activities and really giving it their all in the running races. The Parent/Staff/ Year 6 student relay race was quite a highlight with the Staff narrowly taking it out at the end over the Parents. Dulgan (Yellow) House were the winners on the day but all house groups did outstandingly well in terms of effort, spirit and participation.

Thank you to all our parents who assisted with setting up, packing up, supervising activities and with cooking and serving at the Sausage Sizzle. Thank you to all our staff who really showed a lot of support to students and to the various activities to ensure our day was successful. It was a great way to end the term. Special thanks to Mr Chrisitie and Mr Papazis who did all the planning and organising for the day along with their special helpers Ian and Bob.

This week we also had another very successful Ecofest with many participants coming along to learn and experience the various activities we had available. We are always so grateful for the many businesses and community groups who participate in this event and make it such a success.

This year, we partnered with UPP (Unleashing Personal Potential) to run a workshop with our Year 5 /6 students around Positive Peer Relationships. I was so proud of the students' engagement on this day and so pleased to see them learn so much about each other and about the impact of their choices. We will be keen to continue this partnership each year. 

Finally, I would like to congratulate my staff for their continued professionalism and dedication to our students and to our school community throughout another term that has continued to have significant challenges; including ongoing illnesses for themselves, their families and their students. The constant disruption to learning and the unavailability of relief staff has meant lots of juggling with learning plans, class groupings and a sense of solid routine. Throughout all this, I have been so proud to work with such caring, considerate colleagues who just consistently find the positivity in each day.

Have a fabulous break from school. We’ll see you back at school on th 11 July. I’m heading to Melbourne to visit my daughter. It's going to be so cold!  

Cheers

Penny

Welcome to the holidays!  We’ve had a fabulous day today for the Athletics Carnival!  It was great to see all the students getting in and giving it a go - whether they were coming in first or last.  Congratulations to Dulgan (yellow) for taking home the trophy today!

As we are going into holidays, for many, it is time for a much needed rest.  I thought that I’d share an article that I shared with the teaching staff earlier in the week about the importance of rest:

A good rest - Joan Chittester 

We drive ourselves from one exhaustion to another. We pace our societies by the pace of our computers. We conduct the major relationships of our lives—both professional and personal—according to the speed of our communications. We measure ourselves by the amount of our productivity and every day we become more exhausted, less rested in body, spirit and mind, and so less capable of producing things, let alone of developing relationships, as a result. That’s not irony, that’s tragedy. And though we know it, we do not know what to do about it. 

Maybe what we all need most is time to process what we already know so that we can put it together differently, even more effectively than ever before. Maybe we need to think a bit, out on a porch in a summer breeze, down by the creek when the trout are running, back in the garden when it’s time to put the beets and beans in again. 

Turn off the television and read a good book. Quit texting and ride your bike. Close the computer and go to a movie. Don’t answer any email. Don’t try to “get ahead.” Don’t take any callbacks. And during the family dinner, turn off the phone. And when the television is on, watch it instead of talking through it. Reclaim your life, your thoughts, your personality, your friends, your family.

No, the world will not end. And no, the rest of the staff will not get ahead of you.  They’ll be too tired to even think about catching up.

 It’s time to sleep in like you did in the good old days. Have a late breakfast. Read the newspapers all day long. Call some friends in for a game of pinochle. As Ashleigh Brilliant says, “Sometimes the most urgent and vital thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest.”

As the proverb teaches, “A good rest is half the work.” At least, that is, if you really want to be productive.

I know many of our parents will still be working throughout the holidays, but I hope everyone is able to find some rest over the next fortnight, ready to start fresh next term!

Term 3 Assembly / Open Classroom Days 

Please see the table below for what classes are on assembly and open classroom days in case you are able to make these mornings.  

Pax

Nick

MS Readathon

Would you like to motivate your child to read many books, and raise money for vital support services to families with multiple sclerosis? Sign up for the MS Readathon and join our ‘St Benedict’s Catholic School, Shaw’ school page. We have set a goal to raise $1000. MS Readathon challenges kids to read as much as they can in August! You can sign up your child or children and start raising money any time from now. Read and log all of the books that you read during August! CLICK HERE TO REGISTER YOUR CHILD OR CHILDREN TO READ and then join our school! 

Fun Holiday Learning Ideas!

School holidays are a great time to relax and have fun! Here are some ideas to keep learning happening at home and have fun at the same time! 

• Keep a holiday journal. Draw or write with details of ‘who’, ‘when’, ‘where’, and ‘what’ is happening. 
• Cooking! Cooking with your child develops many fine motor, social, literacy and numeracy skills. 
• Visit the local library to help your child find a type of book they enjoy. 
• Write postcards, letters, or emails to family and friends.
• Play board games such as scrabble and scategories (great for spelling and social skills!)
• Design your own game! Get creative and design your own board game, materials and rules - lots of skills are practiced with this fun activity! 
• Go on an outing! Check out the Townsville School Holiday Guide. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful break.

Yours in Learning, 

Aleesha