Dear Parents and Carers,

As we begin another wonderful year of learning and growth, it was with great joy and reverence that we gathered as a school community for our Opening School Liturgy. The Liturgy marked the official start of the school year and reminded us of the importance of faith, unity, and commitment to the values that guide us at St Benedict’s Catholic School.

Our students, staff, and families came together in the spirit of prayer and reflection, celebrating the gifts that God has bestowed upon us and asking for His guidance as we embark on the year ahead. The Liturgy was a beautiful opportunity to strengthen our connection to the Church, to one another, and to the mission of our school. We are reminded that our faith forms the foundation of all we do, and that each student is a unique creation with the potential to make a difference in the world.

During the celebration, we were led by Father Joe , who led us in prayer and shared a message of hope and encouragement. His words emphasized the importance of embracing both challenges and successes with gratitude and trust in God’s plan for each of us. We also took a moment to pray for the well-being and success of our students, staff, and families, and for peace in our world.

As we look forward to the year ahead, let us remember that the values of faith, service, and love are the guiding principles that will shape our journey. Together, we will continue to build a supportive and nurturing environment where every child can grow spiritually, academically, and personally.

Thank you to all who attended, and to those who helped prepare the event. Let us continue to pray for one another and for the success of this school year.

Thank you to our Assistant Principal/Religious Education Mr Nick Christie, for organising the liturgy and to our Year 6 teachers who prepared our Senior Students.

Mary Help of Christians 

This week marks an exciting milestone as our new Townsville Catholic Secondary School, Mary Help of Christians opened its doors just across the road from our primary school. With the launch of this new school, we are blessed to expand our education community, and we look forward to the opportunities it will provide for our students, staff, and families.

However, with this growth comes the challenge of increased traffic during morning drop-offs and afternoon pick-ups. We kindly ask for your patience and cooperation as we adjust to these changes. The arrival and departure times have become busier than usual. 

To help manage the increase in traffic, we ask that families be mindful of the following:

1. Plan for Extra Time: With both schools in operation, traffic congestion will occur, particularly at peak times. Please allow yourself a bit more time when dropping off or picking up your child to avoid feeling rushed and to help keep the flow of traffic moving smoothly.
2. Follow the Flow: Staff and traffic personnel will be present to assist with directing traffic safely. Please follow their instructions and be aware of any changes in traffic patterns that may be put in place for everyone's safety and efficiency.
3. Carpooling: Carpooling with other families can help reduce the number of vehicles on the road.

We truly appreciate your understanding and cooperation. 

We look forward to the car park of Mary Help of Christians being opened to their school community. When the car park is opened we will communicate this to our school families.

With your continued support, we will ensure that our students, families, and staff have a safe and smooth transition during drop-off and pick-up times.

Thank you for your patience. 

If you have any concerns or questions please feel free to email me so that I can be in contact with you by phone or in person.

Happy St Valentine’s Day everyone,

God In All Of Life

Patrick Dempsey

pdempsey2@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Welcome to the end of Week 3 - what is now our first full week (Monday - Friday) for the school year!

It was lovely to come together as a community and celebrate the start of the school year in prayer.  Part of our theme this year is celebrating the Catholic Churches Jubilee Year.  The Catholic Church's Jubilee Year, themed Pilgrims of Hope, invites families to deepen their faith journey together. This special year encourages prayer, acts of kindness, and trust in God's guidance, reminding us that hope shines even in difficult times. Fr Joe reflected that we see hope in each other, using our eyes to see the light filled actions of each other.

Weekly Assemblies DATE CLAIMER

Our assemblies this year will remain on a Friday at 8:45am in the Hall.  These will begin in Week 4, Friday 21st February.  Please see the timetable below, as well a which buddy classes will have ‘Open Classrooms’ following Friday assemblies.  We will share more information about our Open Classrooms later in the term!

Parent Engagement 

As parents and carers, you play a primary role in supporting your children’s wellbeing and learning, guiding and supporting them successfully through educational processes. At St Benedict’s we recognise and value the partnerships between parents and carers, the community, and the school to promote student learning and high expectations for student success and personal growth. We foster positive parent engagement through a variety of ways, some of them being: 

Year Level Parent Updates: These are emailed by one of the teachers in your child’s year level on a fortnightly basis. These newsletters have important information, please take the time to read them each fortnight. 

Open Classrooms: Once Assemblies begin, classes will take turns inviting their families to the classroom to showcase work. Students will generally share their learning portfolio and other work they have been doing throughout the term. Open Classrooms are held after assembly each Friday morning, from around 9:20am - 10:00am. 

Library Books: Library books foster parent engagement by bringing learning experiences home and creating opportunities for shared reading. This not only enhances literacy skills but also strengthens the parent-child bond through meaningful conversations. When parents engage with their children’s reading, they show that learning is valued and fun, helping to build a lifelong love of books.

Attend School Events: Participating in school events, assemblies, or volunteering opportunities allows you to connect with teachers, other parents, and the school community.

Celebrate Achievements: Recognising and celebrating your child’s progress, no matter how small, boosts their confidence and motivates them to keep trying their best.

Stay Positive About School: Speaking positively about school and learning helps your child develop a positive attitude towards education, encouraging them to embrace challenges and enjoy their learning experiences.

Open Conversations: Regularly talking with your child about their day at school shows you’re interested and supportive. Asking open-ended questions helps them share their experiences, challenges, and achievements.

10 Questions To Ask That Gets Kids Talking About School

1. Tell me about the best part of your day.
2. What made you laugh?
3. Who did you play with? What did you play?
4. What are you looking forward to about tomorrow? 
5. What did you learn about in PE/Music/Drama/Dance/Spanish/Technologies?
6. What games did you play at lunchtime? 
7. Tell me about what you read in class. 
8. Can you show me something you learned (or did) today?
9. What was the most interesting thing you learned today?
10. What was the hardest/most challenging thing you did today? 

Your involvement, no matter how big or small, makes a world of difference in your child's educational journey!

NAPLAN 

NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. Year 3 and Year 5 students complete NAPLAN Online, with the exception of the year 3 writing test which is completed on paper. Coming up to the tests, students will be engaged in learning about the types of questions that will be on the NAPLAN test and how to navigate the site. Students will also participate in a practice test in order to become familiar with the platform. 

If you would like to, you and your child can access the Public Demonstration Site  to familiarise yourselves with the type of questions and related functionalities available in the NAPLAN Online assessment.

This website ‘NAPLAN For Parents & Carers’ provides further information and resources about NAPLAN for parents and carers.This year, the ‘Queensland Joint Parent Committee’ are also offering a free Parent Webinar. Please see details in the flyer below and register your details through the link. 

Parents or carers may choose to withdraw their child from the tests for religious beliefs, philosophical objections, or your own other reasons. It is recommended that withdrawal be considered in consultation with your child's teacher. If you would like to withdraw your child from NAPLAN please contact your child’s teacher as soon as possible and you will need to sign a form along with the Principal by Monday 3rd March (forms can be found at the office). 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding NAPLAN please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. As stated, we appreciate that NAPLAN is a point in time assessment, and we know your children for all their strengths and achievements outside of standardised testing. 

Yours in Learning, 

Aleesha Rockemer 

Assistant Principal Pedagogy and Learning (APPL)

Welcome to the New School Year!

As a family, you are about to embark on an exciting journey into a new year level. The purpose of this email is to introduce the new Inclusive Practices Teacher (IPT) team at St Benedict’s. Mrs Charley Favalli (Prep and Year 1), Ms Tegan Barter (Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4) and Mrs Rhylie Mathiesen (Year 5 and Year 6). 

Inclusive Practice Teachers work cooperatively and in collaboration with school leadership personnel, teachers, other student support services team members and parents/carers to ensure that all students, including students with a disability, in primary and secondary schools across the Diocese are supported to engage purposefully in learning. Inclusive Practice Teachers will work to develop the capability within schools to cater for the diversity of these learners within the school population.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Open communication underpins learning here at St Benedict’s, and we extend an open and ongoing invitation for you to contact us at any time.

We look forward to supporting your child alongside our colleagues and warmly welcome your family to what is going to be a great year at St Benny’s.

Prep - Year 1  Charley Favalli - cfavalli1@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Year 2- 4 Tegan Barter- tbarter7@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Years 5-6     Rhylie Mathiesen  - rmathiesen1@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Exciting New Support for Our Students

We have some important news about how we help students at St Benedict's. We are starting a new way to support our students with Individualised Education Plans (IEPs).

Why the Change?

We want to make sure every student gets the help they need to do well in school and in life. This change follows new rules that say we need to give personalised support and check in regularly.

What’s New?

• IEP Replacing ALP: The new Individual Education Plan (IEP) will replace the current Adjusted Learning Plan (ALP).

• Working Together: We will work closely with parents, teachers, and specialists to create and review IEPs.

• Support Adjustments: We will find out what your child needs and make specific changes to help them learn and grow.

• IEP Meetings: We will have IEP meetings in Term 1, Term 2 (Prep Only), and Term 3 to talk about and develop your child's IEP.

• Better Communication: We will keep in touch with you through emails, phone calls, and informal meetings to talk about your child's progress.

Next Steps

We will schedule meetings with parents and guardians in the coming weeks to explain the new IEP process and start developing or updating your child's IEP. You will get an invitation to schedule a meeting soon.

Thank you for your support and cooperation.

Best regards,

The Benny’s IPT Team

Hall Use in the Afternoons: PE lessons run until 2:50 pm, Monday to Thursday. To minimise distractions for students finishing their lessons, we kindly ask parents and caregivers to wait to enter the hall while lessons are still being conducted. Your support in maintaining a focused learning environment is greatly appreciated.

Footwear Reminder: With the recent wet weather, students have been allowed to wear Crocs to school. However, they do pose a tripping hazard. To ensure student safety, we kindly ask that on PE days—especially when it's raining—students bring their school shoes to change into.

Swimming Carnival Update/ Swimming Trials: Unfortunately, due to the weather and bus availability, we had to cancel the Swimming Carnival in Week 2. We are working hard to reschedule the event and will provide an update as soon as possible. In the meantime, we are organising a before school swim trial to ensure students can qualify for the Interschool Swimming Carnival. More details will be shared next week.

Netball and Rugby League Update: The netball and rugby league teams have now been selected. These competitions are initially offered to Year 6 students, and if any spots remain available, Year 5 students will be invited to participate.

We currently have a handful of Year 5 girls playing in the netball team. However, the rugby league team has been filled entirely by Year 6 students. If any spots in the rugby league team become available, I will reach out to the Year 5 students who have expressed interest.

• Netball Training: Monday (second break: 1pm-1.30pm) 
• Rugby Training: Friday afternoon (2.00pm - 2.50pm)

Futsal Update: We are currently in the process of organising and submitting teams for the Futsal Carnival in Term 2. As the carnival is held over multiple days, we are in the process of determining which age groups we can send as a school. Teams and training schedules will be finalised by Week 5. Students interested in participating will be asked to meet during lunchtime next week to sign up. Depending on the number of sign-ups, we may need to run trials. More details will be shared as we progress. 

Other sports in 2025: There will be other opportunities this year for students from grades 4-6 to participate in various other carnivals and these will be communicated in the school newsletter as they become available to me. 

School Calendar: To help keep you informed, all upcoming carnivals and gala days will be listed on our school website calendar. This calendar will be regularly updated to reflect any changes or new events, so please check it frequently to stay up to date.

Key Dates and Events for Term 1 

Townsville Representative Team Trials: These trials are for Townsville representative teams and are not affiliated with St Benedict’s. They are only open to students who compete at an exceptionally high level and are turning 11 or 12. For more information, please contact me at khuston2@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au 

Community - Parents and Friends

With our school term now settling into its regular rhythm, we would like to invite our community to come together to meet our Principal, hear the upcoming community events for the year and find out how you can be involved with all things St Benedict’s. We host our meeting face to face in the boardroom in the administration building.  

We will be exploring: 

What the role of the P&F is

How the P&F can be a voice of the parent community to the School Leadership Team

What events the P&F can arrange and run for the school community

How parents and friends can be involved in our school community.

Our first meeting is Tuesday 4th March at 6.30pm.  We look forward to welcoming many familiar and new faces.