Hi everyone,

It has been quite a busy week with a number of inter-school competitions, a visiting performer, sick kids and sick teachers but we are getting so close to the break now. I have a number of things to bring to your attention this week so if you could stick it out for a lot of messages that would be fantastic.

Report Cards

Our teachers have been working diligently to collate the assessment data from the semester to formulate report cards over the last few weeks. It is heartwarming to hear the success stories most students are having with the progress in their learning. Reports cards will be available to families on Monday of the last week of this term.

Quest for Knowledge

Congratulations to our students who participated in Quest for Knowledge competition at Holy Spirit Catholic School. Our boys won each of their three rounds and the semi final making it into the grand final where they were beaten by St Joseph’s Catholic School, North Ward. Quest for Knowledge is a Trivia competition for Year 5 and Year 6 students. We were so proud of this team’s effort but t especially, their support of each other.

Reader’s Cup

Big thanks to Mrs Christie and Mrs Whalley who worked with our Reader’s Cup team for nearly 3 months preparing for this competition. While we didn’t place in this comp, the camaraderie and fun these guys had throughout demonstrated wonderful commitment and school spirit.

Horses

We know that our school community loves seeing the horses in the paddock next door and they seem to love the kids. However, the owner of the property has asked that we do not feed the horses or interact with them as they are not always as friendly as they seem. For your safety and the safety of our students, please avoid even patting the horses.

Toys

We have had a number of students bringing toys (eg. beyblades etc.) to school that only end up causing issues. Please check that your children are not bringing toys to schools as these will be confiscated.

Class Parents

We have had a number of parents indicate an interest in being a class liaison for organising playdates and social get togethers (parents and/or students). I think this is a fabulous idea and would encourage our community to get to know each as much as possible, especially when it comes to building positive relationships. I will coordinate with our teachers to get this started for next semester.

Parents and Friends

We had a very small number of parents attending our P&F meeting over the last two months and would like to encourage more of you to get involved. We will assist this with improved communication about meeting dates and agenda items. We like to talk about more than just the next event coming up as it is also a valuable time to chat about school life in general.

State of Origin 2

I would like to see lots of families at our upcoming P&F hosted event- State of Origin 2, Sunday 23 June @ 7.00pm We have our assembly chairs for you to use but feel free to bring a comfy camp chair or a bean bag for the kids. We will have a movie set up in the music room for those kids that don’t want to watch the footy. This will be a parent supervised event though.

Name Clothing Labels

Please ensure all items coming to school, especially hats and jumpers have students names clearly marked on them.

Children in parked cars

While we can appreciate how difficult it can be at pick up and drop off time if you have little ones in the car, please do not leave them alone when the car is parked. It is simply not safe.

Have a fabulous week.

Cheers

Penny

APRE News

Week 8 has drawn to a close, and just like that we are down to 2 weeks left of term!  A BIG thankyou to Year 4 Dragonflies who presented Assembly on the Pentecost - which celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles.  During their assembly, the students spoke about the Fruits of the Spirit which live in all of us - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.  Each of us are given these gifts and the ability to use them. This would certainly make a worthwhile conversation with your children about how they might use these every day! I’ve attached some photos of some of the singing and dancing which the Year 4 class treated us to during their assembly.

St Benny’s Got Talent

Some students this week may be coming home talking about ‘St Benny’s Got Talent’ which forms a part of our Feast Day celebrations.  What happens for this is, students nominate to their classroom teacher if they would like to present their talent - whatever that might be.  Students do not require costumes for ‘tryouts’, with an expectation that talents are pre-existing From here, in Weeks 9 and 10, Mr Christie will view these entrants at lunchtime and create a list of performers to take part in our official ‘St Benny’s Got Talent’ for our Feast Day celebrations.  These students will be notified before the end of the term, which will leave them with the holidays and start of Week 1 to prepare their performance for the whole school. The event itself takes place at 2:00pm in the Hall on Friday 19 July.

REPEAT MESSAGE

Save the Dates

With the end of term rapidly approaching, I thought it would be worthwhile to share information about some upcoming events which you may wish to attend:

• Whole School Meditation - Monday June 24 @ 8:45am

If you’ve ever wanted to know what Christian meditation is about or how it runs, we will be hosting a whole school Christian Meditation session in ‘the Hall’.  It will only be a short session, but you are very welcome to share in this time with us.

• NAIDOC Week Celebrations - Friday June 28 - starting at 8:45am

As NAIDOC Week falls during the holidays, we will be having our NAIDOC celebrations on the last week of this term.  We will begin with a short liturgy on Friday morning at 8:45am, followed by a performance from the Marian School Indigenous Dance Troupe.  This will then be followed by a range of activities offered to ALL of our students happening throughout the school, mainly surrounding the Early Years Precinct, including ‘Storytime’ in the yarning circle with Uncle Russel Buttler, which I am very much looking forward to!

• St Benedict’s Feast Day - Friday July 19 - starting at 9:00am

This year our Feast Day will be held on Friday Term 3, Week 1.  It will begin with a Whole School Mass, celebrated by Fr Dave Lancini, followed by rotational activities for ALL the students and our 2nd Annual ‘St Benny’s Got Talent’ from 1:50pm.  We would love all parents, friends and families to attend the Mass and St Benny’s Got Talent.

St Benedict's Feast Day - Donations

This year for St Benedict’s Feast Day, we have Townsville Multicultural Support Group coming in to speak to our students as special guest presenters.  TMSG is a not for profit organization who welcomes every new refugee to our region and supports newly arrived migrants. Their mission is a commitment to bringing people together of different cultural backgrounds working in the spirit of friendship.

To further support the work of TMSG, we are asking St Benedict’s families to donate items to be put together to create Personal Care/Hygiene packs for men, women and teenagers, Newborn Baby Packs and Start Up School kits to families new to our region.  Please see the information below for items that you might be able to contribute. All donations can handed in to the school office.

Quest for Knowledge / Readers Cup

A huge congratulations to both our Quest for Knowledge and Readers Cup teams who performed admirably during the week.  The Quest for Knowledge team of Cooper, Matthew, Haydan and Jack proved quick on the buzzer, with the knowledge to back it up, placing 2nd out of 15 others schools!  Although not gaining a place, our Readers Cup Team of Cooper, Alannah, Ashlee and Maddison played with tremendous spirit! Well done to both teams and their teachers for their dedication in preparing them for these events.  

Have a great week and God bless,

Nick

An interesting read about natural playgrounds.

The school Dental Van will be available during the school holidays on Wednesday 3rd July, Thursday 4th July, Friday 5th July, Monday 8th July and Tuesday 9th July