• All Parents Invited - Tuesday 10th September - Eisteddfod Year 6, Year 4, Year 1 (Times TBA) 
• All Parents Invited - Wednesday 11th September - Eisteddfod Year 5, Year 3 (Times TBA) 
• All Parents Invited - Thursday 12th September - Eisteddfod Year 2, Prep (Times TBA) 
• U10's Blackhawks Challenge - Friday 13th September

As we lead into the last week of Term 3, I would like to again thank everyone for their wonderful support and contribution to St Benedict’s. As the school year has progressed I have witnessed the growth and development of our students and the incredible commitment of our staff and parents to the children in our care. When the school holidays arrive, I wish everyone a safe and happy time with family and friends.

School Officer Day

Today we celebrated the important role our school officers play in supporting the learning, teaching and well being of our students. Thank you to our dedicated school officers for their ongoing commitment to our school community.

Child Protection Week

This week was Child Protection Week in Queensland. St Benedict’s, along with all Townsville Catholic Education Schools, is committed to ensuring safe school environments for all students, with a focus on the critical area of student welfare. Townsville Catholic Education has a comprehensive Student Protection program for all staff (teachers, school support staff and office staff) in the Diocese. 

This week our students have been participating in Child Safety Lessons.

School Assemblies and Open Classrooms

Today our Prep Bilibies Students hosted our school assembly. We had a great number of parents, grandparents and family members attend our assembly. Year 6 students invited Grandparents into their classrooms as they have been working on biographies on their grandparents.

Festival of Sport

Congratulations to the Year 5 and Year 6 students who represented St Benedict’s at last Friday’s Townsville Catholic Education Festival of Sport Carnival. St Benedict’s joined other Townsville Catholic Education Schools in participating in a variety of sports, including Oztag, Netball, Soccer and Basketball. Our students competed very well in their respective sports, with the Oztag girls and boys team making the final and our Soccer boys team winning their final. Thank you to Mrs Rowe and Mr Christie for organising this day and to our teachers and staff who prepared, coached the students. Thank you to the parents and carers who were able to come along and support the students on the day.

Last day of Term 2 and First Day of Term 3

The last day of Term 2 is this Friday 13th September. The first day of Term 4 is Monday 30th September.

Welcome to the end of Week 9 and our last newsletter for the term!

This morning, our Prep Bilbies presented assembly on the theme of Father’s Day.  During their assembly, they thanked all of our fathers, grandfathers and father figures in our lives, who throughout our lives show us love and care, which we reflect is like the love that God gives to us.  I am very grateful for my own father, who I have learnt so much from in my life.  I am also grateful every day for the chance of being a father, my greatest joy.   

St Benedict’s NAIDOC Celebrations

Last week, we welcomed Big Eye Theatre company to St Benedict’s to run a series of dancing workshops with all of our students, culminating in a whole school dance on Thursday afternoon.  We received wonderful feedback from the students, staff, as well as the members of Big Eye, about the shared storytelling and participation of students in these workshops.  A big thanks to Mrs Christie, who organised this visit as well as a range of other activities for our students throughout the week to “keep the fire burning”.

Sports at St Benedict’s

We have had a lot of students representing St Benedict’s recently on the sporting field.  Some of the highlights include:

Cricket Blast Challenge - Mixed team - 1st, Boys team - 2nd 

Festival of Sport

Basketball - 4th in pool

Netball - 3rd in pool

Oztag - Girls team - 2nd, Boys team, 2nd 

Soccer - 1st

We would also like to pass on our congratulations to Conor (Year 4) and Brooklyn (Year 5) for participating in the Northern Region trials for Track and Field.  Brookly finished 1st in both his 100m and 200m events and was selected in the Northern team.   

2024 Eisteddfod (REPEAT)

Each class at St Benedict’s this year will be participating in the 2024 Townsville Eisteddfod.  Classes have been learning and will present a poem at the Townsville Eisteddfod on the Civic Theatre Stage.  This will be taking place in the last week of Term 3.  The schedule for when classes are performing has been included below, with a separate Compass Event being sent out to parents this week.    

All Performances at the Townsville Civic Theatre

Please note that there is an entry fee to attend any Eisteddfod Session

Pax,

Nick 

Term 4 P&F Meeting - Save the Date

Please save Tuesday 8th October at 6.30pm as the date for the Term 4 P&F Meeting.  A zoom link will come out next term.

Fire Drill

On Monday 9th September the school will have a fire drill in the morning session.  The teachers will chat with students about the drill on Monday for the event.  If you feel it necessary, you may wish to speak with your child over the weekend about the upcoming drill, their purpose and that it is a practice only.

Term 4 Swimming

As Term 4 approaches, plans are now confirmed for swimming lessons.  We will again be doing 1 week of lessons followed by a wet play for Junior Years (P-2) followed by a Wet Play Day with water play activities at school, and 1 week of lessons followed by a Carnival for the senior years (Yr 3- Yr 6).  

This year will be our final year of hosting a swimming carnival in Term 4.  The carnival will be held for Yr 3- Yr 6 students and count towards house points only.  There will be a competitive carnival in Term 1 2025 for Year 3 - Year 6 students that will form the qualifying event for Inter-School Swimming Carnivals for 2025.

The format for this year will ensure that all students have the opportunity to engage in swimming lessons and learn water safety.  The  senior carnival will allow our current Year 6 students to have their last Primary school carnival as they do deserve.  The move to a Term 1 swimming carnival will ensure students who are age eligible for interschool swimming (Year 3 - Year 6) will have had a whole summer period to build their swimming skills and confidence.  The move also brings St Benedict’s into line with other Townsville Catholic Education primary schools of a similar size that we will be competing against.

Key Dates:

Swimming Lessons:

Prep-Year 2

45 Minute Lessons

Mon 11th Nov - Thurs 14th Nov (4 days)

Year 3 - Year 6

30 Minute Lessons

Mon 18th Nov - Fri 22nd Nov (5 days)

Carnivals:

Prep - Year 2 Wet Play Day

Friday 15th Nov

9.30am - 12.30pm

Year 3 - Year 6 Carnival

Monday 25th Nov

9.00am - 1.00pm

Pupil Free Day - Reflective Practice Day (Spelling) 

We hope your children had a fantastic pupil free day last week. While they enjoyed their day off, our dedicated teachers and school officers were engaged in professional development activities, aimed at enhancing their knowledge of curriculum and teaching practices. They spent more time engaging with the new Version 9 Australian Curriculum and specifically focused on Grammar and Punctuation (Spelling), in line with our School Improvement Plan.

Did you know that for children to become effective at spelling they need knowledge and skills in all of the following areas?

• Auditory Processing 
• Oral Language
• Semantics (vocabulary) 
• Phonological Awareness / Phonemic Awareness
• Morphology
• Spelling Conventions
• Etymology

All of this intricate content is taught at St Benedict's in a systemised and structured way as students progress from Prep to Year 6, using evidenced based pedagogy (this means we research best practice, teach each child within their developmental level, and create consistent processes across the school!). Spelling is also integrated into reading and writing, forming what we call ‘Literacy Block.’ During the day we also had Miss Anne McGrath showcase the work she has been doing, alongside the year 2 team and myself, in regards to teaching spelling; and Mrs Toni Pilcher updated the teachers on her learning and work for Maths Planning using the Version 9 Curriculum. Both teachers did a wonderful presentation and shared a wealth of knowledge and ideas with other staff.

For more information and ideas to support your child with spelling, see the website Reading Rockets: Writing and Spelling: Practical Ideas for Parents.

RACQ Streets Ahead

This week, the RACQ Education Team visited our school and delivered the Streets Ahead program to Year 3-6 classes. Our students were taught valuable road safety lessons including how to cross the road safely, how to correctly wear a helmet and how they can be a safe and helpful passenger when travelling in a vehicle. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the program and gained practical strategies they can use when out in our community as pedestrians, bike/scooter riders and passengers.

Free Apps until September 11th 

Normally $15.99, both 'Teach Your Monster to Read' and 'Reading for Fun' are for free until Wednesday 11th Sept! 

Teach Your Monster to Read is an award-winning, phonics and reading game for kids. Enjoyed by over 30 million worldwide, Teach Your Monster to Read is a truly ground-breaking kids reading app that makes learning to read fun for little ones aged between 3-8.

Reading for Fun is a magical world packed full of over 70 books and ignites a love of reading.

Together, these teacher-approved games have been played over 500 million times! 

‘Teach your Monster’ is a non-profit organisation, on a mission to help millions of children achieve the best start in life, through games, learning and fun. They rely on the funds raised through app sales to maintain and improve games, but every so often they are able to run special free promos like this one - with the goal to reach as many children as possible…

Download the Apps by going to: 

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/.../teach-your-monster/id828392049

Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev...

School Holidays

The school holidays are fast approaching with one more week to go! For suggestions and ideas of engaging and educational activities around Townsville see the TSV City Council School Holiday Guide.

This is also a time worth noting the importance of monitoring your child’s screen time.  VerySpecialTales.com offers some insightful information and strategies on the positives and negatives of screen time for children. They also have these following PRINTABLES you may like to use with your child: 

Did you also know that Google offers an App called “Google Family Link” where you can track, restrict, and manage your child’s devices? “Family Link provides tools that respect families’ individual choices with technology, helping them create healthy, positive digital habits. With easy‑to‑use tools, you can understand how your child is spending time on their device, share location, manage privacy settings, and find the right balance for your family.”