St Benedict's Catholic School Shaw eNewsletter

What a fabulous week we have had! We are so proud of our students that represented our school at Redtrack with inter-school athletics yesterday and at St Anthony’s with the Robotics Competition too. So many students achieved personal bests and we even had a couple of students break some records as well. Our students at the Robotics Competition were very creative with their coding and demonstrated some excellent problem solving skills.

Next week we look forward to celebrating Science Week with an interactive display in our library. Each class will get an opportunity to visit the display throughout the week. The students have been asked to provide some questions they have about science which will form part of the display. We have some very inquisitive minds that will be quite inspired next week.

I am absent from school for the first couple of days next week as I am heading to Melbourne for the Australian Catholic Primary Principal Association Board Meeting where I am one of two directors from Queensland. This is a new role I have taken up this year as a representative of the Qld Catholic Primary Principals Association of which I have been on the executive team for about 4 years. The work of these organisations is very important to me as we can have the op[portunity to liaise with principals in catholic schools across our state and across our country to discuss the factors impacting education now and going forward. We also have the opportunity to interact with key stakeholders from different national bodies that are connected to the education sector to work collaboratively on matters that inform the work that we do in schools. This will only be my second meeting with ACPPA but I am thoroughly looking forward to it. There is nothing like getting perspectives from other colleagues in your own profession about the different things that excite us and challenge us to keep working to make our schools the best they can be.

Finally, I just wanted to share an excerpt from one of our Year 6 student’s writing this week. I was so impressed with this, I wanted to share it in our newsletter. She has the making of a great writer with these sorts of examples.

My Monster

By Abigail Williams

As I walked down the stone path, covered in what looked like a millennia of frost and moss, the shadows crept behind me, including my own personification of woe on the ground. The fond smell of pine wafted towards the long, cold road, coming from the almost perfect-looking mountains. I gazed down at the jagged corners of cobblestone beneath my feet, and thought of my closest friend, Georgie. His little helmet, covered in a small layer, a world of its own. His little smile, that could change hatred into love in a heartbeat. His warm body, delicate, soft and warm to the touch of my icy fingertips. If I could, I would keep him in my pockets, safe from everything harmful. I’ve had to translate everything he says through my head, but it's still understandable, even to people who don’t know sign language like me. When I reach my car, the air is still and cold, like most of my life. I open the heavy door and sit down on the padded seat. I start the engine, and it starts, just like that. One turn of a key. One movement. But it's not like I care. I’m too tired and lazy to care. The air of silence is disrupted by the car coming to life, my ticket out of the uninviting frost that is the road. It starts, I check for anyone, but of course there’s no-one. There never is, at least, not this late at night. I step on the accelerator, and speed into the night……

Please have a fabulous week.

Cheers

Penny

Student_Behaviour_Policy_draft_for_consultation.pdf

Student_Behaviour_Policy_draft_for_consultation _pdf 174.85 KB

It’s the end of Week 5, and we’re now half-way through the term. The Year 2 Lorikeets lead our assembly today on the theme of the Feast of St Mary MacKillop - Australia’s first saint. The Lorikeets spoke about how Mary lived her life for others and prayed that we might listen to the Spirit speaking to us and be willing to live the Gospel message of love, peace and joy. Mary MacKillop’s work spread the breadth of Australia and with her group, the Sisters of St Joseph, opened schools around the country so that education could be available to all. One of my favourite quotes of hers is, “Never see a need without doing something about it”. This attitude and way of thinking is certainly one that we can all be inspired by.

Assembly Schedule Update

Please be aware that we have had to update the assembly/class showcase schedule for the remainder of this term. This is due to Book Week Parade and Pupil Free Days. This has meant that some of the classes that were scheduled (Prep Wombats and 1 Bandicoots for assembly and 2 Magpies and 5 Jellyfish for showcase) will now be moved to next term. We appreciate your understanding, with Term 4’s scheduled due out at the end of the term.

Week	Class	Showcase
6	4G	4G & 1P
7	Book Week Parade	No Showcase
8	Pupil Free Day	No Showcase
9	PB	4D & PB
10	EcoFest	NA

Swimming Carnival Update - Term 4

Please note that the date of the Interhouse Swimming carnival has been booked for Friday November 17 at the Long Tan Pool for our students in Year 3 - 6.

As our school has continued to grow, we have had to look at changes to which students we are able to accommodate at the carnival, as it has logistically become quite difficult for our entire school to be able to join in at the pool. As such, we have made the decision that students in Year 3 - 6 will attend the carnival, as it will act as a selection for the Interschool Carnival at the start of 2024. We are now in the planning process for students in Prep - Year 2 to have a “wet play” day at school on the same day, with more information to come at the beginning of Term 4. Please be aware that at this stage, we are still planning swimming lessons for all students at St Benedict’s, with the final details currently being organised.

Pax,

Nick

As we reach the middle of the term, it is timely to review our school policies. Our school website is a great place to find a variety of information, including our school policies (Link to School Website).

In particular this week, I aim to highlight the Personal Devices Policy (Link). We have noted a number of students who are wearing smart watches that can have parental settings applied to “lock” the watch during school hours. We do note that as per the school policy, these devices are still not to be worn at school. We know some students love to track their movement throughout the doy, and there are a number of other options that can be used for this. The Qld Government has also announced that from 2024 phones and smart devices will not be allowed in schools. Now is a good time to begin to transition away from these devices. If you have concerns, please feel free to reach out.