Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome Back to Term 4

Welcome back to Term 4 at St Benedict’s Catholic School, Shaw. It has been wonderful to see the children return to school this week, full of energy, smiles, and enthusiasm for the final term of the year. I hope all families enjoyed a restful break and are ready for a positive and productive term ahead.

Supervision before and after school reminders

A reminder to all parents that, for supervision and safety purposes, children and parents are not permitted to enter the school grounds or the school hall before 8:00am. The school hall is licensed for use by Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) until this time.

Please note that the school is considered open for before-school supervision once the hall roller doors are opened at 8:00am. We have recently had a few incidents involving children arriving prior to this time, so we ask for your continued support in ensuring children arrive after 8:00am.

In the afternoons, students are supervised in the hall from 2:50pm until 3:20pm. We ask that all children are collected promptly during this time.

Thank you for your ongoing cooperation in helping us maintain a safe and well-supervised environment for all students.

School Assembly and Open Classrooms

Our first school assembly for the term was hosted by the Year 5 Dolphins, who led us through some thoughtful reflections on St Francis of Assisi, the story of the Good Samaritan, and one of their literacy texts, the classic Australian poem Mulga Bill from Eaglehawk. The students spoke and performed beautifully, sharing messages of kindness, faith, and perseverance.

It is always wonderful to come together as a school community each Friday for assembly. These gatherings are a special time to celebrate learning, faith, and achievement. It’s also lovely to see so many parents and family members joining us for assemblies and open classrooms . Your presence means a great deal to the children and staff alike.

God in All of Life

Patrick Dempsey

pdempsey2@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Welcome back to Term 4!

It’s sure to be a busy term with plenty happening between now and the end of the school year.  I would encourage everyone to keep up to date with upcoming events through checking the school newsletter as well as your child’s year level updates!

I have included below the Assembly and Open Classroom roster for the remainder of the term, as well as some key events for the rest of the year.

SAVE THE DATES - TERM 4

WEEK 2 - Oct 13 - 17 - Book Fair

WEEK 3 - Fri 24 October - Crazy Sock Day - Gold Coin Donation for Catholic Mission

WEEK 4 - Oct 31 - Day of Daniel - Students Invited to wear a red shirt

WEEK 7 - Nov 17 - 20 - Swimming Lessons Prep - Year 2

WEEK 8 - NOV 24 - 28 - Swimming Lessons Year 3 - Year 6

WEEK 8 - Wed Nov 26 - Oh Holy Night (more information to come)

WEEK 8 - Fri Nov 28 - End of Year Mass - ALL WELCOME

WEEK 9 - Mon Dec 1 - Year 6 Rite of Passage

Pax,

Nick

Welcome to Term 4.  This term presents us with lots of fun activities such as swimming lessons, carnivals, wet play days and more.  Additionally there will be some strategic planning ahead of our 2026 school year.  As part of this strategic planning, there are a number of processes that take place.

Curriculum Reviews and Planning

Our classroom teachers will engage in a range of Curriculum Review and Curriculum Planning sessions at school, supported by Mrs Rockemer - our Assistant Principal for Pedagogy and Learning.  This process may mean that your students’ teacher is out of the classroom for a period of time and Relief teachers will support the class to deliver the learning plan for the day.

2026 Class Allocations

A range of Class Planning activities are underway.  Thank you to parents who have taken the opportunity to pass on their concerns regarding their student for consideration regarding 2026 placement.  If you have not yet sent your concerns, these MUST be received no later than Tuesday 14th October.  Our teachers will be commencing the initial stages of generating proposed class lists for 2026.  Once the initial lists are generated, these are reviewed by the Leadership Team, who have the final approval.

Transitions

Students will begin to engage in a period of ‘soft transition’ to their new year level.  This looks different depending on the age of the students and the support needed.  For some year levels this involves short trips to play in new areas supported by the teacher, visiting the new year level block to complete a ‘job’ for their teacher or show other teachers their wonderful work.  Transitions can also include the development of greater independence such as walking to class, managing classroom and personal items with greater independence or following a ‘timetable’ for events within the school day. Students for whom a more intensive transition plan is required, personalised plans are developed in consultation with the classroom teacher and our Inclusive Practice Teachers, which usually involve a personalised visit to their new room or to meet their new teacher.  These such visits happen later in the term and sit alongside whole class transition support as already outlined.

Swimming Lessons

We will again be engaging in our swimming lessons for all students in the school.

For students in Prep - Year 2: These lessons will be 45minutes in length and will take place on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of Week 7 (17 - 20 November).  The week will culminate with our annual ‘Wet Play Day’ on Friday 21st November.

For students in Year 3 - Year 6: Lessons will be 30minutes in length and will take place every day in Week 8 (Monday 24th November thru Friday 28th November).  The Friday lesson usually incorporates a “free swim” style lesson.

All students will be required to wear footwear when travelling on the bus to the pool.  This can include thongs, ‘crocs’, reef shoes or similar.  Of course, students are welcome to wear their school shoes also.  If a student does not have alternative footwear available on their lesson day, they will be required to wear their school shoes.  You are able to support the preparation of your child’s lesson by ensuring ALL items are named and labelled - this includes, shoes, socks, underwear, goggles, thongs, crocs, towels, swim caps etc.

We look forward to a full and exciting Term ahead.  If you have questions or concerns at anytime, please do not hesitate to reach out by email or make an appointment via our Administration team.

Blessings

Ros Baumann

Pedagogy & Learning New

Life Education - Let’s Talk About it Program (Year 5 & 6)

This week our year 6 students had a visit from Samantha from the “Life Education - Let’s Talk About it” program to learn about changes associated with Puberty. Learning about the changes associated with puberty is in the Australian Curriculum for upper primary school (Health and Physical Education). Life Education delivers this information in a sensitive and age-appropriate way. I received very positive feedback from the presenter about the types of questions and discussions our year 6 students had, and we look forward to having Samantha back next week for Year 5.  

The first conversations about Relationships and Puberty should start at home. 

Children are entering puberty earlier, with the average age between 10 and 12 years. Early discussions can: 

• Prevent Misunderstandings: Separating fact and fiction and correcting any rumours or false information they have heard from friends or read online

• Promote Safety: Educate them about consent and how to seek help, reducing the risk of sexual abuse

• Normalise the Conversation: Reduce stigma, making it easier for your child to approach you with questions as they grow  
  (Life Education: Tips for Parents)

Pupil Free Day - School Improvement

We hope your children had a fantastic holiday and pupil free earlier this week. While our students enjoyed their extra day off, our dedicated teachers and school officers were engaged in professional development activities, aimed at enhancing their knowledge of curriculum and teaching practices. The last 2 Pupil Free Days have been focused on new and relevant policy documents and how they may impact our school. The policies include the ‘Better and Fairer Schools Agreement 2025-2034’, and the ‘Non-State Schools Accreditation Board Guideline for Educational Programs 2025’. These 2 documents immensely influence our Pedagogy, Assessment and Curriculum Excellence Requirements, advised through our System - ‘Catholic Education Townsville.’ Over the next 10 years, the Federal and State Governments have agreed to focus on the following three reforms: 

• Equity and Excellence
• Wellbeing for Learning and Engagement
• A Strong and Sustainable Workforce

Our Governments will measure outcomes by increasing the number of students obtaining a year 12 certificate or equivalent; Improving NAPLAN results in Reading and Numeracy; increasing student attendance; and increasing the number of people studying Education at universities. 

At St Benedict’s, we are continuing to focus on strengthening our practices in Literacy to ensure consistent, evidence-based practices, while supporting teacher workload. In doing so, it is our students who greatly benefit from consistent practices to support their literacy development. It is very exciting to continue to work together to help our students succeed as proficient readers and writers! 

Yours in Learning, 

Aleesha Rockemer 

Assistant Principal Pedagogy and Learning (APPL)

We are gearing up for our last term of the year.  Our next P&F Meeting will be in Week 3 on Tuesday 21st October at 6.30pm in the school board room.  We invite everyone to attend.  The meeting will review the Disco from Term 3, look towards our O’ Holy Night at the end of Term 4 and begin to look at the start of 2026.