Beginning Year Liturgy

We are excited to host our Beginning Year Liturgy next week.  Our theme will be ‘Shining a light on Peace’ and we will have a special section for our Year 6 seniors.  Please see Mr Christie’s section for more details.

Items from Home

We have noticed there has been an increase in items from home coming to school - soft toys, beyblades and pokemon cards.  These items are often very precious to students and can get lost, broken or damaged when at school.  We request items from home don’t make their way to school.  Pokemon cards were made an exception last year by Mrs Collins in response to wet weather days and a quiet activity to engage in.  There are, however, some rules in place around this.  Pokemon cards can be looked at in the morning in the hall.  They are not to be taken out of bags at break time, in the library or during after school pick up.  Trading of cards at any time is NOT permitted.  If students are repeatedly needing reminders about these parameters, then the cards will be taken by teachers and if there is no improvement then we need to look at banning cards.

Construction Works

We are excited to announce that Simon Bell Constructions has been appointed to build stage 4 at St Benedict’s.  Simon Bell Construction has undertaken other works with Townsville Catholic Education in the past.  We can also announce that Mendi Group Constructions has been awarded the tender for the upcoming roadworks.  There will be site meetings with the Architects, Construction firms and Townsville Catholic Education commencing on 20th February.  Please keep an eye on the newsletter for further information regarding any developments as your source of up to date and accurate data. 

Students with Additional Needs

As teachers and students are now settling into their classrooms, routines and learning we can turn our attention towards meeting with parents to have formalised discussions about learning adjustments.  These discussions may be with the classroom teacher or our Inclusive Education Team of Mrs Herron and Mrs King.  St Benedict’s is proud to be supporting over 140 students with additional learning needs within our student community.  Please be assured that our Teachers and the Inclusive Education Team work together behind the scenes to ensure that adjustments are in place from the start of the year to promote success for all students.  Please keep an eye out for communication from your teacher about any upcoming meetings if your child has additional learning needs.  As always, we have our whole school Parent/Teacher interviews in Week 9.

Blessings

Ros

APRE NEWS

It’s week 3, and we’re into the swing of things.  You may not have realised, but today is the Feast Day of St Scholastica!  St Scholastica is St Benedict’s twin sister and the saint who our library is named after.  Similar to Benedict, Scholastica was instrumental in beginning female Benedictine communities which allowed women to lead monastic lives.  She is the patron saint of students, books, nuns and Benedictines.  She is also invoked against storms and rains.  She is particularly known for her prayerful life and communication with God, on one occasion, calling for a storm so that she could spend more time with Benedict in her final days.  You may be interested in the following short video (it is also child friendly), to learn a little more about the life of St Scholastica.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm9bmSrk_NY

DATE CLAIMER

Our assemblies this year will remain on a Friday at 8:45am in the Hall. I will include a timetable with classes in next weeks newsletter.  These will begin in Week 5, Friday 24th Feb.  Our Beginning Year Liturgy will be taking place on Friday 17th Feb at 9:00am in the Hall - our entire school community are invited to attend this event.  I would particularly like to extend a welcome to our parents of Year 6 children, as we will be recognising them as leaders in front of the school for 2023.

Pax,

Nick

Homework and Reading

As you know, we do not have homework at St Benedict’s, however we DO expect all of our students to be reading (or read to) at home - this is not considered homework, but an action that is integral to learning and life skills. If you are not in the habit of reading in your household I encourage you to change habits by starting with a  21 Day Reading Challenge. Small changes can build habits and last a lifetime. 

“Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or a duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift.” (Carl Sagan)

Library books and Home Reading Books have started to go home. 

• Please help your child to remember to bring back their books every week (unless it’s a novel they are still reading)
• Know your child’s library day, and show them how excited you are when they bring a new book home
• Model reading at home
• Do you have texts around your house? (Magazines, newspapers, books, catalogs etc)? In a digital world, children are seeing less and less adults reading. How can you change this? 

Reading at home is one of the most important things you can be doing for your child’s education. In the words of Dr Seuss “You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.”

Yours in Learning, 

Aleesha Rockemer (Learning and Teaching Adviser and Acting Assistant Principal - Administration)

Robyn is an experienced educator who will give an overview of what is in this curriculum and guide us through the ‘Respectful Relationships Education Hub’ website, particularly what is available for parents. For example ‘The importance of respect’ and ‘Talking to your child about respectful relationships, consent and sexuality’.

Click on the link to register:
https://www.eventcreate.com/e/respectful-relationships

Welcome to the 2023 school year! 

The Ronald McDonald Learning Program (RMLP) team would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the student services we offer, that are fully funded by Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Students whose education has been impacted by their serious illness or injury, including mental health diagnoses, may be eligible for:

• Individual tutoring for 12 months (minimum 40 hours).
• Educational/cognitive assessment, if necessary.
• Occupational, speech, and/or other therapy, if recommended.

Please feel comfortable to refer your students to me using the attached form, or to pass my details directly on to families.

I would also appreciate it if you would kindly add our poster into your school newsletter, to share with families if possible.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please reach out. I am here to help!

Kind regards,

Belinda

Belinda O’Neill

Education Services Manager

(Monday-Thursday)

Ronald McDonald House Charities North Australia
100 Angus Smith Drive, Douglas QLD 4814

t. (07) 4775 5600belinda.oneill@rmhc.org.au w. rmhc.org.au/na

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land and pay respect to their Elders past, present and future

Prep Bilbies - Meg Durnford

mdurnford2@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Prep Wombats - Kate Andrews

kandrews10@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Prep Koalas - Amanda Prideaux

aprideaux1@stbenedics.catholic.edu.au 

Prep Platypus - Elly Caspanello

ecaspanello3@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Year 1 Possums - Katrina Slocombe

kslocombe1@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Year 1 Wallabies - Chantel Redgen

credgen2@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Year 1 Bandicoots - Bridget Horton

bhorton2@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Year 1 Echidnas - Charley Favalii & Gabby Torrens

cfavalii1@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

gtorrens@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Year 2 Curlews - Toni Pilcher

tpilcher3@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Year 2 Magpies - Lizzy Christie & Sara Marrington

echristie3@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

smarrington2@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Year 2 Kingfishers - Renee Macala & Kandis Orr

rmacala2@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

korr@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Year 2 Lorikeets - Anne McGrath

amcgrath4@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Year 3 Brolgas - Sally Woolcock

swoolcock@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Year 3 Kookaburras - Belinda Fern

bfern7@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Year 3 Emus - Jamie Eggins

jeggins4@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Year 4 Dragonflies - Samantha Garbutt

sgarbutt2@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Year 4 Butterflies - Abbey Huckvale

ahuckvale@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Year 4 Grasshoppers - Steve Cromb

scromb@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Year 5 Jellyfish - Rebecca Curley & Theo Papazis

rcurley4@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

tpapazis@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Year 5 Dolphins - Ange Cowie

acowie@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Year 5 Turtles - Alicia Stokes

astokes4@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Year 6 Crocodiles - Kirsty Atkins

katkins@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Year 6 Scorpions - Elissa McCoy

emccoy1@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Technology - Sara Pemberton

spemberton1@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

PE - Theo Papazis & Stevie-Lee Rowe

tpapazis@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

srowe@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Spanish - Gabby Torrens

gtorrens@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Dance/Drama - Sarah Pugh

spugh@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Music - Cecilia Robertson

crobertson9@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

APRE - Nick Christie

nchristie2@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Inclusive Education Coordinator - Laura King

lking6@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Learning & Teaching Adviser  - Aleesha Rockemer

arockemer1@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Pastoral Care Coordinator - Rhylie Mathiesen 

rmathiesen1@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Defence Mentor - Leza Triffitt

ltriffitt@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Library Technician - Jacki Whalley

jwhalley1@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Library Officer - Jen Bowater

jbowater@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au