Friday’s Athletics Carnival was a real highlight as far as community spirit in our school goes. It was absolutely sensational seeing so many parents, families and friends come along to enjoy the day. We were very proud of the students for having a go and participating to the best of their ability and I was particularly pleased with how they encouraged and supported each other. We have much to grow with our Athletics carnivals in the future but this one was a great start. Many thanks to Nick Christie and Stevie-Lee Rowe for their organisation of the event, to our P&F for the sausage sizzle and coffee van and also to parents who helped with set up and pack up on the day. Many hands certainly made light work.

Next week we are looking forward to promoting Book Week with Mrs Whalley planning lots of creative ways to celebrate the joy of reading in the library along with our Book Week Parade on Thursday afternoon at 2.00pm. Students are welcome to wear costumes to school for the day so long as they can function- ie. sunsafe, easy to move around in etc. and/or parents are welcome to come in before the 2.00pm parade to assist with costumes if need be. This is a fun opportunity to acknowledge a favourite book or favourite character though we are perfectly fine with costumes this year that are not purely book related if that is easier. There are no prizes for best costume (just a prize drawn out of a raffle for each class) so please don’t put yourselves under any pressure. We also have another author, Matt Zurbo, visiting on Wednesday, this time for our students from Years 3-6.  

We were very happy to open up our oval, cubby house, boat, swing sets and new sandpit play spaces this week with much excitement from the students. We do have some shade sails to come for the swing sets and cubby house area and we are in talks for more landscaping in the Early Years Precinct especially in terms of working with more sensory options that we know expand their gross motor development and promote creative play. Over the next few weeks however our landscapers will be working on improving some of our unbuilt areas like around the ovals and between the classroom blocks and the oval. The mound behind the oval will be turfed and we will see a number of trees and shrubs going in across the school. By the end of this term, we should see the result of some real progress.

Finally, I have found some articles from Michael Grose’s Parenting Ideas that may help you with a few things that have come up recently. The first article discusses how to approach things when something has gone wrong at school and the second article may help with getting some conversations started at home.

I hope you all have a fabulous week.

Cheers

Penny

Unfortunately I was away for assembly on Monday, but Prep Koalas lead us in prayer on the theme of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This commemorates the passing of Mary as we remember how she was especially chosen to be the mother of Jesus and the model for us to put our trust in God.  It’s also a great time to remember what great things all our mothers and mother figures do for us! You are all truly special!

Last Friday saw our inaugural Inter House Athletics carnival. Gumoo were the overall winners, but I must say, I was really impressed by the spirit shown by all students on the day!  For small groups, the war cries were very loud and full of passion, and it was so wonderful to see so many children cheering each other on as they crossed the line! It is these great acts of spirit and sportsmanship which make these days so special. Congratulations as well to our 4/5/6 Turtles who really lead from the front with preparing and organising the war cries on the day. We have no “house captains” as such, but they showed that in fact they are all leaders!

I was also able to attend the ‘E Schools Interschool Athletics’ carnival on Monday with a selection of students. We had some good results, but are still a little too small to take out any major trophies. Two things however stood out to me on the day:

1) How beautifully behaved our children were and the pride that they showed in wearing their uniform.

2)  How much spirit the students in St Benedict’s have. Even students who were being outpaced in their races or events never gave up and kept on sprinting til the end.  Not a single person's head was dropped, and there was great encouragement shown by all members of the team. Again, it is this level of sportsmanship that means so much more than any trophy does, and we can certainly be proud of our wonderful students.

Have a great week, and God bless,

Nick

Dear Parents/Carers

This will be our first Book Week as a school.   During this week the children will be engaging in various activities; these include 2 author visits covering all grades, craft, special lunchtime activities, gameshows for the older students and of course the famous Book Week Parade.

The mention of a parade can immediately cause headaches for some of our parents.  We would like the parade to be as stress free as possible for all. If your child has spiderman pjs - wear them.  If your child has dress ups at home - use them. If you would like to get crafty and ‘build’ a costume - keep it simple.  I myself will be borrowing clothes and using electrical tape for my costume!

Leading up to this week the students and I have been looking at the shortlisted books that are in the competition for this year.  

Our parade will be held on Thursday 23rd August at 2pm in the hall.   

Students are welcome to wear costumes to school for the day so long as they can function- ie. sunsafe, easy to move around in etc, there is also ample time at second break for the children to get changed if needed. If parents of our lower primary classes could come in and help with this process, that would be wonderful.  Please let your class teacher know closer to the date if you can help out.

Any enquiries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards

Jacki Whalley
Library Technician

On behalf of the Parent and Friends Committee, I would like to welcome you to the St Benedict’s Catholic School Community for 2018. The P&F Committee is an essential part of the St Benedict’s Community and as a family or friend of St Benedict’s, you are automatically a member. The P&F provides a valuable opportunity to:

• Engage with the school and the education of their children
• Be involved in school activities
• Be informed about and provide input into various school policies and procedures
• Support wherever possible the acquisition of various equipment and resources to continue to improve the educational environment for the students, educators and families of St Benedict’s; and
• Generally, have a say in what's happening 

The P&F Committee:

The P&F has some exciting events on the agenda already and are always looking for more people to assist and/or volunteer their time wherever possible.

We all lead busy lives, and we understand the daily pressure of work, family, home, so you don’t need to attend a meeting to help out. You can assist in any capacity you choose, at a time more convenient to you and your family. It might just be that you could make and/or donate items to the P&F for future prizes or even to build on our supplies, so we are more equipped to hold events. Any contribution is valued, and we endeavour to have fun and make some new friends along the way

So, if you don’t already know your P&F committee members or if you see us around the school hall, please come and say ‘Hi’.

Finally, I encourage and extend an invitation to all parents and friends to attend our monthly P&F Meetings which are held on the second Tuesday of the Month at 6.00pm (variable). Please check the school newsletter for details of exact dates/times. All meetings are held in the staff room in the Administration Building.

Amazing things can be achieved when the P&F and the School Administration and Educational team work together towards common goals.

To continue this great work, the St Benedict’s P&F need people from all walks of life, with a range of ideas, thoughts and suggestions who are committed to delivering great outcomes for our students and the school.

Everybody has a role to play and your ideas will be heard. The more people involved — the more exciting and successful it will be.

We want to grow and celebrate our St Benedict’s school community by encouraging Family and Friends to use their talents to help support our community and build on the great foundations the school has built so far.

Community spirit will help to give our children a more memorable and meaningful school experience.

Yours faithfully,

Angela Peterson

2018 P&F President

Our Executive Team: Donna Hazelton (Vice President), Jacinta Bancroft (Secretary), Angela Peterson (President) and Tanika Sampson (Treasurer)