St Benedict's Catholic School Shaw eNewsletter

Welcome back for Term 3, we are now half way through our year already. I hope that you have had an opportunity to spend some time with family and at least enjoy a break from the routines of school if you weren’t able to have a break yourselves. It has been such a pleasure to have the students back at school with many stories to tell and mostly being ready and eager for school.

It continues to be quite pleasing to see the progress of our building project and the road and traffic lights construction. We hope to have Orange Block completed by the September holidays and the rest completed by early November. It is still a way to go but very exciting nonetheless. I have started getting quotes for furniture, technology and whitegoods so we have all that ready to go when the buildings are complete.

We have much to look forward to this term with NAIDOC, Catholic Education, Science and Book Week celebrations, our St Benedict’s Feast Day and Benny’s Got Talent, opportunities for parents to engage with a Literacy Workshop and a Weaving Workshop next week and with Mulkadee and a few class excursions, we will have quite a well rounded school experience. Please keep up to date with communication through our newsletter, class newsletters, Facebook and/ or our school sign.

Please note that as we are all feeling the pinch with rising interest rates and cost of living it is important to stay on top of our school fees as these can rack up a debt very quickly otherwise and it becomes very challenging to get back on track. If you are struggling financially, please make an appointment with me to discuss a payment plan or other potential options for support.

This term we have welcomed some new school officers to our staff including Ainslee Tolcher in Prep, Amy Buttery in Year 1, Elizabeth Tompkins in Year 3 and Jessica Buckingham in Year 5. I am sure you will all join us in making them feel very welcome.

Please have a fabulous week.

Cheers

Penny

Welcome back to the start of Term 3 - a term that is sure to be very busy. In the next month alone we will celebrate NAIDOC Week as a school (Week 2), St Benedict’s Feast Day (Friday Week 3), Catholic Education Week (Week 3). We will also have students participating in Mulkadee Youth Arts Festival (Week 2), Robotics Competition (Week 5) and Interschool Athletics (Week 5). This plus the day to day work that happens in the classroom - we have a very busy first half of the term. In looking at all the events though, a lot of them include celebrating and participation, and I’m sure all of our students will get a lot out of everything we have coming up!

St Benedict’s NAIDOC Week

As a school we will be celebrating NAIDOC Week in Week 2 next term (July 17 - 21). Students will be engaging with a range of activities in class time throughout the week. We are inviting ALL members of our St Benedict’s school community, children, parents, grandparents and friends, to join us on Thursday afternoon in and around the Library for a Weaving and yarning session. No prior experience of weaving is necessary - we will have staff and students, and the necessary equipment available to allow you to join in, and have a yarn together. We look forward to welcoming anyone who can attend!

FEAST DAY

Save the date! Our annual Feast Day event will be taking place on Friday of Week 3 - July 28. ALL members of our community are invited to attend our whole school mass, which will begin at 9:00am and presided over by one of our parish priests. Students will then engage in a range of activities in their buddy classes in the middle session around St Benedict and our schools Charism. The Day will conclude with ‘Benny’s Got Talent’, which all members of our community are invited to attend, from 2:00pm in the Hall.

Assembly and Open Classroom Timetable

Please see below the timetable to assembly and open classrooms this term. We look forward to seeing you at one of these if your child’s class is rostered on!

Week	Assembly	Classroom Showcase
1	Meditation	NA
2	5T	2K & 5T
3	Feast Day	NA
4	PP	PP & 3K
5	2L	2L & Y6
6	4G	4G & 1P
7	PW	PW & 2M
8	1B	1B & 5J
9	PB	4D & PB
10	EcoFest	NA

Pax,

Nick

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As another week comes to an end, we have much to be thankful for and reflect on. Our whole school meditation today was a prayerful and peaceful way to take time to slow down, be still and see God in all of life.

There are other little things that can make a big difference to our day too. We are very thankful to have Chloe from Frankie’s Beans joining us each Friday morning for that little coffee hit to get us through to the end of the day.

Our P&F are working away behind the scenes to organise a wonderful activity for Father’s Day later this term. We will hold our Term 3 meeting on Tuesday 25th July. This meeting will again be face to face in our school board room in the Administration building or online via the Zoom link. We look forward to welcoming many of you to discuss the issues that matter to you.

Next week we look forward to engaging in activities and celebrating NAIDOC week. Our indigenous heritage forms an important part of who we are as a school community. All are welcome to join us for the weaving session on Thursday afternoon.

Blessings

Ros

Parent Reading and Writing Workshop

Tegan Golding, our Speech Pathologist, and myself will be presenting a ‘Reading & Writing Workshop’ for Prep - 2 parents. Come along to learn about the mechanics and science behind children learning to read and write, how we teach literacy at St Benedict’s, and how you can help at home! There are 2 sessions for you to choose from. Please click ‘going’ on our facebook event!

NAPLAN Results

The year 3 and year 5 NAPLAN results will be available for parents later this Term. For those who are familiar with NAPLAN reporting, there have been some changes this year. NAPLAN results are no longer reported by bands (1-6), and will now be reported by a ‘proficiency level.’

Exceeding: the student’s result exceeds expectations at the time of testing.
Strong: the student’s result meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing.
Developing: the student’s result indicates that they are working towards expectations at the time of testing.
Needs additional support: the student’s result indicates that they are not achieving the learning outcomes that are expected at the time of testing. They are likely to need additional support to progress satisfactorily.

Please read more information in this brochure: ‘NAPLAN Information for parents and carers;’ and watch ‘Reading the NAPLAN Individual Student Report’ clip from ACARA in preparation for when you receive your child’s report.

You can also view example NAPLAN Student Reports here:

Yours in Learning,

Aleesha Rockemer

Learning and Teaching Adviser

In this edition of SchoolTV - FRIENDSHIP & BELONGING

Learning how to make new friends and keep them involves a number of skills every young person needs to understand and develop. For some these skills will come very naturally, allowing them to easily move between different friendship groups, sharing their experiences and opening up to new people. For others, this can be much harder to navigate. Belonging to a group that is like-minded with similar interests is highly beneficial to a young person’s wellbeing. It gives them a sense of security helping them feel valued which in turn builds their confidence.

Positive friendships are an important part of the journey to adulthood. Adult carers can support their child or teenager by providing guidance in the many social and emotional skills required for a healthy relationship. This will help them to obtain, retain and maintain friendships. However, not all friendships are regarded as positive. Sometimes young people develop negative or toxic friendships. Therefore it is also important for them to learn how to identify, avoid or deal with such a friendship.

In this edition of SchoolTV, adult carers can learn how to support their young person’s friendship so that they experience a sense of belonging.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Friendship & Belonging edition of SchoolTV
https://stbenedicts.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/friendship-belonging

Yours in Support

Rhylie Mathiesen

Pastoral Care Coordinator

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Please drop books into the box in the Administration Office. Last day for drop off is Wednesday 9 August.

Last chance to purchase tickets.

Mendi run an annual fundraising event to support the Unlock the Lach’s non-profit association, Women in Construction and the Women in League Round of the NRL.

Prizes are drawn at the Blackhawks home game that weekend, 29/07.