Hi everyone,

It has been lovely to be back at school this week but boy it has been a case of hit the ground running with the joblist at hand. We spent the beginning of the week interviewing a number of teaching candidates for next year and for Year 1 next term. It was a wonderful opportunity to see many experienced and graduate teachers really keen to work at St Benedict’s and to be a part of the style of teaching community building we are working on. Our leadership team was quite excited to have such a number of high quality teachers to choose from and we are not making our decisions lightly.

Over the time that I have been away I have been really engaged in professional development that both affirmed many of the things we are implementing here at St Benedict’s and also allowed some deep critical review. I look forward to discussing more of this with you as we set our goals  2020 over the term ahead

Parent Teacher Interviews

Thank you for your participation in our Parent Teacher Interviews this week. It was wonderful to see so many families coming along to discuss how their children are progressing academically and socially during their school time. Teachers always love being able to share the progress children have made and to discuss the different interactions they have had throughout the term. Please note you can always email your teacher to arrange times to catch up.

Ecofest

We are thoroughly looking forward to our Ecofest on Monday at 1.30am in our hall. Each year level has something to share from their eProjects and we have many community groups joining us to showcase their environmental messages or actions. Please make every effort to come along if you can.

School uniforms

With the holidays coming up, it might be a good opportunity to review school uniforms. Please remember shoes need to be all black including soles, laces and markings; hair bands need to be natural hair colours or school colours only and hats need to worn each day. We had a suggestion at the P&F of having a selection of hats available for sale at the school office which we will look into. Some of our hats are looking a bit shabby and may need a good wash or soak over the holidays :) 

Best wishes to all our kids in Years 2- 6 who are participating in the Townsville Eisteddfod next week. Have a fabulous week.

Cheers 

Penny

APRE News

We started this week with Year 3 Kookaburras presenting their assembly on Child Protection Week.  This finished off nicely the work which all of our classes had done in the previous work, and Year 3 shared some great messages with the other students.  Our assembly in Week 10 is actually a Whole School Meditation. I’d like to invite all members of our community along to ‘the Hall’ at 8:45am and join us for whole school meditation.

Staff Contemplative Spirituality 

On Sunday many of our staff attended a Contemplative Spirituality day which I got the pleasure to lead.  This is a yearly event for our staff and brings a focus on the contemplative nature of Benedictine spirituality.  We started the day meditating on the Strand then moved to Queens Garden where they participated in several contemplative practices, including Lectio, Visio and Nature Divina, stations of contemplation and the creation of Mandalas using coloured rice.  It was a wonderful day for staff to enhance their understanding of contemplative spirituality, equipping them with practices for their personal life as well as with practices that can be used in their classrooms.

EcoFest

Again a big invitation is extended to our whole community to attend this years EcoFest organised by the 5/6 Turtles.  Our event this year has even garnered interest from other schools in Townsville, with Ryan Catholic College sending some students along to see what’s been put together.  If you are attending the event you may wish to bring a small amount of money as there will be coffee available (discounts if you bring a reusable cup), some businesses may have some items for sale, a raffle for products from Family Life Organics, sausage sizzle by the P & F as well as donations for Passata (made by the Turtles).  It is sure to be a wonderful event! 

Eisteddfod

Our students in Years 2 - 6 have been working busily on their items to present at this years Townsville Eisteddfod.  Year 2 and Year 3 are presenting a poem and Year 4 and 5/6 will be presenting a group drama. Please see the timetable below for times and venue information if you are looking to watch your child.  Please note that there is a small ticketing price for attending.

Have a great week and God bless,

Nick