St Benedict's Catholic School Shaw eNewsletter

Congratulations to our 4/5/6 students this week for kicking off their ‘Litter free Lunch box’ Campaign with a flying start. It has been wonderful to see such community support behind their initiative and I believe this will become something we all can be very proud of. I’m not sure how it may already be affecting your practices at home but I know for me in my own place, it has required some different thinking around purchases and organisation which has not been difficult. It is funny how we can get caught up in practices designed to simplify our lives but create so many more issues especially in terms of our health and our environment.

A number of our senior class students are also to be commended for their participation in Mulkadee this week. Approximately 1000 students from Catholic Schools across our Townsville Diocese, (including Halifax to Mt Isa to Proserpine) have joined together for intensive workshops in Choir, Band, Guitar, Drama and Dance to create a showcase performance on Friday evening. I thoroughly enjoy this each year but am particularly looking forward to this one as it is slightly different being an actual show instead of just a series of performances around a theme. I would also like to thank Mr Christie for his organisation for this event and for his contribution to supporting Drama students at Mulkadee; I know he is very well respected for his talents.

Next week, we celebrate Catholic Education Week with a number of activities but mostly importantly with our Feast Day on Monday 30 July. We will have Mass at 9.15am and we’d love to see as many families participate as possible as it is our inaugural year and it is an opportunity to understand more about our Patron Saint- St Benedict. We will conclude the day with St Benny’s Got Talent at 2.00pm. We look forward to seeing families come along.

On a final note, I wanted to share an article from Morris Gleitzman (one of my favourite children’s authors) with you sent to me by Mrs Whalley, our Librarian. It highlights some interesting points on how important reading is in our society especially for young people and not using the usual arguments.The link below is the article, flick down to the heading ‘Transformative Power of Stories’ - if you have the time! So interesting to think how reading can play a part on children's future mental health.

The crux of the article is that in modern day media we see only fragments and usually negative pieces of information. We rarely see the end result good or bad - not a great thing for kids needing resilience. With good stories we travel with the character, hit the problem and then grapple, fail, endure, think about how to get through whatever it is - thus teaching the kids ways of dealing with 'life' in general. I thought it was a good point that many of us have not really thought about but it makes a lot of sense.

https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-105/stories-make-us-in-conversation-with-morris-gleitzman/

Interestingly, I also came across this image in the same week and it reminded me of what important role models we are and that we should model what you believe. I know I certainly don’t read as much as I used to or as much as I want to but will endeavour to make that a personal goal this year.

I hope you all have a fabulous week.

Cheers

Penny

I have seen an increase in the number of school shoes that are not complying with the school's uniform policy.

As you are aware the uniform policy states: Shoes and/or socks - all black shoes (joggers) are to be worn each day. Shoes should be suitable for active play for primary students and have no other colours on them including the laces (black only). Socks should be white socks worn above the ankle. Socks from The School Locker are not compulsory.

I have attached a photo of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable:

Thank you

Penny Collins

The St Benedict's School Board are seeking any feedback in regards to this policy before it is ratified.

Acceptable Use of Closed Circuit Television cameras

29 July – 4 August 2018

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Catholic Education Week will be celebrated across Queensland from 29 July – 4 August this year.

This annual event is held to promote the special ethos of Catholic schools and to highlight the great things that take place in Catholic schools every day.

The theme for this year’s celebrations is: Discovering New Horizons. You may have seen the fence banner out the front of our school.

Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.

During Catholic Education Week 2018, Catholic education communities across Queensland are invited to celebrate how they are discovering new horizons.

There are 304 Catholic schools in Queensland that educate around 147,000 students and employ more than 19,000 teachers and staff, and most will celebrate Catholic Education Week in some way.

Our school is planning a number of activities during the week and we hope you are able to join in the celebrations with us.

I thank you for your ongoing support and look forward to seeing you during Catholic Education Week 2018.

Yours sincerely

Penny Collins

Principal

Listed below is a schedule of activities/events at St Benedict’s Catholic School during Catholic Education Week:

Mon 30 July- St Benedict’s Feast Day including Whole School Mass at 9.15am, rotational activities from 11.15am – 1.10pm and concluding with St Benny’s Got talent at 2.00pm – All Welcome

Tues 31 July- Mass at St Anthony’s for State Launch of Cath Education Week- Choir and Sacramental students participating.

Wednesday 1 Aug- Year 1 Excursion to Reef HQ and Challenge Games

Thursday 2 Aug- Challenge Games, Year 2 Cath Education Week Art, Prep Throwback Thursday Dress Up

Friday 3 Aug- Year 3 Eco Warriors Excursion and Year 4/5/6 Excursion to Abergowrie for NAIDOC activities

Many students auditioned for ‘St Benny’s Got Talent’ last week. It was very hard to decide who got through and we would like to congratulate all students who auditioned. All of them were brave enough to perform in front of their class and should be very proud of themselves. A big congratulations to the following students who made it through auditions and will be performing on our ‘St Benedict’s Feast Day’ this Monday the 30th July around 2pm. We would love to see you there!

Isabella-Rose Steklebruk (Prep)

Piper Rabig (Prep)

Marly Batchelor (Year 1)

Ruby Antoniutti (Year 2)

Emmalisa King & Chloe Swanson (Year 3)

Kilahni-Kae Huston & Ella Johnstone (Year 3)

Ashlee O’Connor (Year 4)

Olivia Baumann (Y5) & Alannah Goodwin (Y4)

Scarlett Van Der Ros (Y5)

For our Eproject, Year 2 have been tasked with researching, designing and building a chicken coop for our school. We are very excited as this term, we will be constructing models and prototypes of the coops we think would best suit our needs and the needs of our hens. As a class, we have looked at many different designs and chosen several features that we think are essential for chickens in our climate and location. Some of these include; a slanted roof so that we can catch the water run-off for them to drink, an automatic door timer for when we are on holidays and the weekends and chicken wire that goes underneath the coop to protect our chickens from other animals.

We can’t wait to see all of our hard work turn into a wonderful chicken coop very soon!

Today our Year 3 students planted 6 native trees near the back oval. We were very fortunate to have these trees donated by our local Bunnings Store. The students enjoyed preparing the soil, planting, mulching and watering our native trees.

Scholastic Book Club Issue 5 catalogues have been distributed to all students. All purchases through Scholastic Book Club accrue reward points which helps the school stock up on resources for the classroom and library. More books means more choice, which means your child gets to read and borrow the books they want to read. And that right book can ignite a passion for reading which can inspire a lifelong commitment to learning.

Ordering and payment for Book Club orders are to completed online through LOOP, the online ordering and payment platform for parents. Please follow the link to register at SCHOLASTIC or type in www.scholastic.com.au/LOOP. If you have any queries please contact the school office or the school library. All orders for Issue 5 will close by 11am on Wednesday 8th August.

Head lice information

We have had a few cases of head lice and would like to remind parents to regularly check your children's hair. Please have a read of the above fact sheet as it provides some helpful information.

Even healthy kids can get seriously sick from the flu and they can spread it to others. Protect your child and others this flu season by: