Hi everyone,

It is so wonderful to be back in school this week after being away all of last week but boy has the catching up been exhausting :) I have well and truly earned my weekend this week. 

Last week our Missions Month Markets raised some questions around why we choose Project Compassion- Caritas (Lent), Catholic Missions (October) and St Vincent de Paul (winter and Christmas appeals) as our main charities to support rather than things like eg. drought relief. As a Catholic School, we are very proud to be part of the wider ministry of our Church and therefore to contribute to Catholic Church initiatives like the ones mentioned above. These charities have a long standing commitment and calling to serve both local and global communities. They have outreach projects that provide much needed medical, heath, education and community support for people in desperate situations. Locally, our very own North Qld St Vincent de Paul Flood Appeal earlier this year was one of the main contributors to supporting people to get back on their feet with food, clothing, furniture and most importantly moral support. As a school I am very happy to support local initiatives where possible but I am passionately committed to these Catholic Church Projects. Believe me, we are all well aware of where our Church has got things completely wrong but their charitable work is one of many things we can all be immensely proud. Fundraising at our school outside of these opportunities is decided at our P&F at the beginning of each year when we set our priorities and goals. All families are welcome and encouraged to contribute to these discussions.

This week we have also acknowledged Day for Daniel by wearing our red shirts if we had one at home remembering the messages from the Daniel Morcombe Foundation especially in terms of Recognise, React and Report. Child safety is everybody’s business.

Finally, as it is World Teachers Day, I would like to acknowledge the wonderful work of our teaching staff. We have a very dedicated and passionate team of professionals who genuinely love the job they do and the children they teach. I am always grateful to have a team of people who are committed to the journey we are on at St Benedict’s, creating an inclusive learning environment that engages children in the love of learning.

Tomorrow, we have our P&F event, Burgers by the Billabong which is planned to be a wonderful family event with old fashioned outdoor games and great food. Please bring along some cash, a blanket or chair to sit on (though there are games for Mums and Dads too) and enjoy a couple of hours in our Billabong setting within the Early Years Playground. See you there :)

Cheers 

Penny

Wow!  Thanks for everyone’s support of our Mission Month Markets last week.  It was great to see our students enjoying themselves in the name of a good cause.  It’s also important to note that there is an educational focus as well, with most of our classes in the school having looked at the work of Catholic Mission Australia during Religious Education lessons to build a greater understanding of the projects that funds raised go towards.  Tom and Helen, our diocesan representatives for Catholic Mission Australia, were able to attend for a little bit on Friday and were extremely impressed by how our students conducted themselves. In total we raised over $1000 to support the great work that Catholic Mission Australia does around the globe.  If you would like to watch a short clip about just some of the work they do, please click on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxYaGqGimVI 

World Teachers Day

Please see a prayer below to celebrate World Teachers Day today.  We are certainly blessed with a group of teachers at St Benedict’s who give of themselves every day to support the students in their classrooms!

Swimming 

Swimming lessons start in Week 5 for  ALL classes running between Monday and Thursday at the North Shore Pool.  This will be followed by our swimming carnival in Week 6 on Thursday 14th November, also at the North Shore Pool between 9:00am and 1:30pm.  All parents and friends are invited to attend this event. A rough order of events will be released for this in the coming weeks prior to the carnival.

Remembrance Day

I would like to invite our community to our Remembrance Day assembly, being led by our students from Defence families on Monday November 11 at 8:45am in the Hall. 

Thank you to all the parents for supporting our Book Fair this week.  Every dollar spent earns commission to help buy more resources for your children's school library.   Happy Reading.

Our Year 4 and 5/6 students got to test out their new playground. By the photos below it definitely has their seal of approval!