St Benedict's Catholic School Shaw eNewsletter

Wow, what a week we have had celebrating Catholic Education Week! The theme - ‘Communities of faith, hope and love’ is particularly lovely as I feel it represents our school community very well. On Monday evening, Aleesha Rockemer, our Learning and Teaching Advisor was recognised for outstanding contribution to catholic education at the Spirit of Catholic Education Awards. Aleesha has been an integral member of our leadership team, especially in developing our approach to learning and teaching at St Benedict’s. Aleesha is a relational, committed, collaborative and critical thinker in all that she does and staff and students have all benefited from her measured approach. Aleesha has worked tirelessly to develop effective partnerships with her colleagues; working productively together to effect change that has built confidence in our teachers and determined the learning culture of our school. We are so blessed to work with such a passionate, professional educator.

On Tuesday we had a number of our students who completed their Sacraments this year, attend the Diocesan Catholic Education Week Mass which was actually the Qld State Launch so we were able to meet the Arch Bishop Mark Coleridge as well. On Wednesday we had a number of students participate in the Challenge Games with a number of our staff providing support. These children were so supportive of each other throughout the day truly demonstrating our St Benedict’s Catholic School spirit and care for each other.Our Prep students celebrated one hundred days of school on Thursday and Friday has been our big finale with our St Benedict’s Feast Day and Benny’s got Talent, always an annual highlight.

This week you would have received an email from me regarding toys at school and our preference for these to remain at home. Please be aware that our school is well resourced for sporting equipment and sensory tools for students and therefore there is no need for anything additional to come to school. We also prefer that students don’t bring any other toys, including keychain toys for bags etc as these are not necessary and can cause distraction or issues with other students. Our students are able to have their own choice of school bag so we believe this is enough for them to have some expression of personal interests (at least in terms of ‘stuff’). We do have one exception to these expectations and that is that students can have cards to play with in the morning session at school. We appreciate your support in helping us reduce the issues we are dealing with regarding all these unnecessary things being brought to school.

We still have much to look forward to this term so please keep up with our communications. We have excursions, inter-school athletics, Science Week, Book Week Parade (dress up for all our new families), Ecofest and Eisteddfod to go along with all the fabulous learning experiences our students have yet to enjoy too.

Have a fabulous week.

Cheers

Penny

Welcome to the end of Week 3! It’s a special day at St Benedict’s today as we celebrate the Feast Day of St Benedict (which actually occurred on July 11). As this date fell on the second day of term, we have used Catholic Education Week as a time of also celebrating the saint who our school is named after - and what an inspiration to us St Benedict has been!

Our special mass this morning, presided over by Fr Joseph, asked for us to be inspired by St Benedict’s spirit of hospitality and generosity, and that we may be able to listen with the ear of the heart, respond with kindness and be people of love. During Joseph’s homily, he spoke about our school motto, ‘God in all of life’. He sent the Year 6 seniors out during the mass to find things in the school which they see God in. It was a lovely reflection; some students brought back flowers and leaves, but one which was surprising but also poignant, one student brought up their teacher, they brought a person (this was unscripted I would like to add). Fr Joseph reminded us all that we are part of God’s creation, and if we see each other as that, then perhaps we will have a more peaceful world.

And then of course - what is feast day without cake!

I write this today after we’ve finished our liturgy. Our students are currently engaging in activities with their buddy classes around St Benedict, Catholic Education Week and our St Benedict’s Way of Peace, and of course we finish this afternoon with our very popular, Benny’s Got Talent. It’s wonderful to get the opportunity as a school community to come together and celebrate what makes us who we are!

Pax,

Nick

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Gradual Release of Responsibility - Did You Know?

Have you heard about the Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR)? It's an exciting approach that our teachers are using to help your primary kids develop their skills and become more independent learners.

Think of it as a step-by-step process. First, the teacher models the new skill, showing your child how to do it effectively. Then, they provide guided practice, offering support and feedback as your child practices with assistance. Next, your child gets to collaborate with their peers in small groups, enhancing their communication and teamwork skills. Finally, they transition to independent practice, applying what they've learned on their own. Depending on the concept, students could be on all different stages of the GRR process within the classroom. Our teachers are well trained and capable of identifying what each child knows, what they need to know, and selecting the most effective teaching strategies to help them succeed.

Reading and Writing Workshop for Parents - Last Session This Week!

Are you coming to the Prep-Year 2 parent workshop 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? The second session is this coming Tuesday at 8:45am. Please click ‘going’ on our facebook event!

Yours in Learning,

Aleesha Rockemer

Learning and Teaching Adviser

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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.