St Benedict's Catholic School Shaw eNewsletter

Beginning Year Liturgy

Shining a Light on Peace - It was so lovely to welcome our community together to celebrate our Opening Liturgy and present our first stand alone Year 6 students with their senior badges. It was a lovely morning shared with parents, who were beaming with pride for their senior students. It was a moment of shared joy to have so many of our students singing and joining in prayer for a great year ahead at St Benedict’s.

Before School Supervision

We have noted there has been an increase in the number of students in the hall prior to 8am each day. Prior to 8am there is no supervision and students should NOT be left in the hall unsupervised by parents. As a school, we provide supervision from 8am with Leadership staff on duty. We ask that you do not drop students off prior to 8am. Keeping our students safe is a community responsibility.

Emergency Procedures Drills

We have had our lockdown drill this week and will have a fire drill in coming weeks. These drill’s help us ensure we are meeting the safety needs for our students, staff and parents. These drills have gone well, with a review of practices undertaken to respond to our needs as we grow over time.

Upcoming Community Events - Link to school calendar (link here)

21st February - Shrove Tuesday

22nd February - Ash Wednesday

27th February - Board Meeting

2nd March - School Disco

8th and 9th March - Sacramental Program

9th March - Indigenous Family Meet and Greet

15th - 17th March - NAPLAN

20th - 21st March - Parent Teacher Interviews

24th March - Prep Open Day (Prep’s for 2024)

31st March - Fun Run (9.00 - 10.00am)

Blessings

Ros

We’ve reached the end of Week 4, and it was lovely to join together today to celebrate our Beginning Year Liturgy together, with Fr Clement presiding. I am looking forward to our class assemblies starting next week, with Year 6 Crocodiles the ‘first cab off the rank’ so to speak.

Shrove Tuesday

Next Tuesday, 21st February, is Shrove Tuesday (often referred to as Pancake Tuesday), which marks the day BEFORE the season of Lent begins. This celebration came about with the custom of using up all of the fattening ingredients people had in the house before lent, so they can fast during the season of lent - Our St Benedict’s P&F have organised the delivery of pancakes to classrooms on the morning of Shrove Tuesday - a big thank you to the P&F and Mrs Baumann for ensuring this tradition continues.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday this year is on Wednesday 22nd February. After last year's success, we are continuing Ash Wednesday liturgies taking place in our Pastoral Care Buddy groups (between 2 classes) at around 2:00pm. Members of the leadership team and Fr Clement will be visiting some of these liturgies. This important celebration marks the beginning of the Catholic season of Lent. During this celebration, students will have crosses marked on their forehead with ashes (from last year's palms of Palm Sunday). Students will be learning more about Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent in Religious Education classes throughout the week.

Pax,

Nick

Early Years Testing (Prep-Year 2)

You may have noticed that teachers in Prep - Year 1 have been released from class over the last few weeks to complete ‘Early Years Testing.’ This is a Townsville Catholic Education Diocesan wide initiative to help our teachers know their learners and further progress their learning. The Early Years test has been developed through consultation with our Townsville Catholic Education Speech Therapists and specialist teachers of literacy and numeracy.

Prep and Year 1 students are tested in a one-on-one interview with their teachers, and Year 2 students complete a test on their chromebooks as a class. Each student is tested on their literacy and numeracy capabilities. After testing, teachers meet as a team with other key leaders from our school, to analyse the data and decide on next steps and goals for your children. Of course, this is one test on one day and the teachers use many other forms of data collection and understanding of students to know the children as a whole.

The Early Years Testing, however, is a valuable way to test our Prep-Year 2 students in a standardised way so we can assist each one of our students progress where they need to. Students will be tested again later in the year to compare data and identify learning progress. If you are discussing the testing with your children please keep the discussion light hearted and encourage your child to just try their best. Tests are used to help our teachers know and understand students so they know specifically where to prioritise their teaching - they are not meant to be scary.

While on the topic of testing, a reminder that our year 3 and year 5 classes are having a NAPLAN practice test this coming Wednesday. This is an opportunity for students to engage with the tests and ask their teachers any questions they may have about how to navigate the online platform. Results will not be marked. Please see your child’s teacher if you have any questions.

Yours in Learning,

Aleesha Rockemer

Learning and Teaching Adviser and Acting Assistant Principal - Administration

Change and loss are issues that affect all of us at some stage in our lives. At St Benedict’s Catholic School, we recognise that when changes occur in families through death, separation, divorce or related circumstances, young people may benefit from learning how to manage these changes effectively. We are therefore offering a very successful education program called Seasons for Growth. This program is facilitated in small groups and is based on research that highlights the importance of social support and the need to practise new skills to cope effectively with change and loss. The program focuses on issues such as self-esteem, managing feelings, problem-solving, decision-making, effective communication and support networks.

Seasons for Growth group will be facilitated by Pastoral Care Coordinator Rhylie Mathiesen and Guidance Counsellor Barbara Salisbury. If you require more information about the program or wish to indicate an interest in your child becoming involved please send an email to rmathiesen1@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au. If your child has participated previously and you would like to express your interest in them being a part of the program again, please reach out so we can discuss.

Yours in Support

Rhylie Mathiesen

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