Hi everyone,

Thankfully we have had a much better week with student behaviour around the school this week even though we did get off to a rough start early on. We are very grateful to the parents who have been quite proactive in addressing concerns and working well with the school to support the students. These things are always much better when we can work in partnership. Having a consistent understanding of what is expected at school being backed up by parents at home generally leads to a successful solution for all.

OSHC building

I don’t want to jinx anything but it looks like our double classroom demountable building for Outside School Hours Care will be loaded onto the truck in Proserpine on Monday and be installed here at school by next Saturday. We have some landscaping planned for around the new building to ensure it fits in with our beautiful space but I know that our families accessing the OSHC service will be very pleased by this additional space.

THRASS Conference

Last weekend we sent three of our staff , Bernie Herron, Caitlin Smith and Rebecca Curley to Melbourne for our THRASS conference. THRASS is a system for teaching our students the building blocks of reading and spelling - the 44 phonemes (speech sounds) of spoken English and the graphemes (spelling choices) of written English. While our teachers are quite well versed in many aspects of THRASS, they still came back brimming with excitement about new strategies and eager to implement some new ideas. THRASS will form a key part of our professional development days in January, especially for our new staff.

Year 5 / 6 Campers

We are exceptionally proud of our Year 5 / 6 Campers this week who have had a fabulous experience at Magnetic Island. Our staff were so proud of the way the kids conducted themselves and had a go at most activities, even some that were well outside their comfort zone. I would especially like to thank Mr and Mrs Christie, Mrs Moore, Ramon Fenton and Daniel Kendall for your assistance throughout the camp. I hear all the adults were enthusiastic adventurers too.

Science Week

Next week we celebrate Science Week where we will have classes buddying up with each other to explore different elements of Science, conducting some interesting experiments and generally having some fun with the world around them. 

Don’t forget our Book Week Parade on Tuesday August 20 where the kids can come dressed up as their favourite book character. The theme for this year’s Book Week is Reading is my Super Power (Benny’s version anyway)

Have a fabulous week. 

Cheers 

Penny

Echidnas are working really hard during reading groups. We have been doing lots of activities around the books like sequencing the story, studying the words and vocabulary, exploring the setting and the characters of the book. Lots of great work this week.

Hello our Catholic School Community,

Catholic School Parents Diocese of Townsville are hosting a ‘Free’ event next week.

Friday 23rd August – Student Wellbeing, Resilience and Positive Thinking

Special guests – Ms Tracey Walker “Minding Family”

                         - Dr Joann (Jo) Lukins “Think like an athlete, succeed like a champion

Time: Arrival 6.45am with 7am sharp start, finish at 8am.

Location: Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School. (Hatchet Street entrance)

Supervision of children will be provided. (Please RSVP for child supervision)

Kind regards,

The Townsville Diocesan P&F Council Executive

(Now know as Catholic School Parents Queensland-Diocese of Townsville

Chair: Rachell Tyrie-Nucifora email: tsvdiocesancouncil@gmail.com

Deputy Chair: Anthea Lewis

Secretary: Tanya Rogers