Inter-school Swimming Carnival- Monday

Congratulations to our Inter-school Swimming team who represented St Benedict’s on Monday. Through their efforts, we achieved third place overall which is wonderful. I was especially pleased to hear of the great sportsmanship our students showed particularly when supporting their team. 

Early Years Testing Feedback

Over the last few weeks you would recall our early years teachers being released to conduct testing using the Townsville Catholic Education Early Years test. This test is designed by a Numeracy Specialist and Speech Pathologist to assist in identifying students academic needs. This week our teachers met in their year level groups with the TCE Numeracy Specialist and Speech Pathologist to analyse the result, identifying any patterns and any support we can provide with small group interventions. We were particularly pleased with the data as it mostly confirmed what we already knew about how our students were travelling but it is always reassuring to see that compared across our diocese. We look forward to seeing the progress these students make when we see their post-test data at the end of this year.

Wulgurukaba Community engagement

This week we were excited to welcome representatives from the Wulgurukaba community to our school this week to discuss our ideas around embracing more cultural experiences in our school, particularly starting with our Bush Tucker Trail. We are very grateful to Ashley Saltner Snr, Ashley Saltner Jnr and Brenton Creed for their feedback and advice. We are particularly looking forward to working with them on future projects.

Townsville City Council Water Smart Campaign

This week we were pleased to be invited by Townsville City Council to take part in their Water Smart Campaign. We had a number of students interviewed to share their views on how the Townville community can be water smart especially in relation to what we have been doing in our own school community. We can’t wait to see the completed campaign. 

National Day of Action Against Bullying

Today our students have engaged in lessons about the importance of being kind and caring and saying ‘No to Bullying’. Each class has had a chance to showcase their own class super power by being a  ‘No Bullying Superhero’’  

Please note we have just been advised that NAPLAN 2020 has been cancelled.

Have a fabulous week. 

Cheers

Penny

APRE NEWS

We have already reached the end of Week 8 and no doubt many students are looking forward to the upcoming holidays.  Over the next 2 weeks in class, students will be learning about Lent and the Journey of Holy Week, ending with the death of Jesus on Good Friday and his Resurrection.  Of course for some students, thinking about Jesus dying on the cross can be quite traumatic, and no doubt spark many questions. As parents the question might then be, how do I talk to my children about Jesus dying on the cross?

I began looking at different responses in regards to this, and would encourage you to do so if you are finding difficulty in answering these questions.  One source I found suggested two things to focus on when approaching the subject of Jesus’ death:

1. Sacrifice - Kids might not understand death but they get sacrifice.  For kids, giving up a favourite toy is as hard as anything they’ve ever done.  Talk to your kids about the hard things they’ve had to do. Jesus loves us so much he was willing to pour Himself out, to sacrifice all of Himself for us
2. The best part about the story of Jesus’ death is not that He died, but that He came back to life!  When talking to your kids about Jesus’ death, stay on it for a minute, then keep going and talk about life.  We see death-to-life all around us and it’s easy to make comparisons, like seeds buried in the ground to bring new fruit.  The purpose of talking to our kids about Jesus’ death is so they see the miracle of new life.

Of course all of our children are different, and what might work for one, may not work for another.  You know your children best! Hopefully some of these tips might help as we move into the Easter season and students take some of these messages home.

INTERSCHOOL SWIMMING

On Monday we had a group of students represent St Benedict’s at the interschool swimming carnival.  After winning last years ‘F Schools’ carnival, we “moved up” to ‘E Schools’. Our swimmers represented us very well, with many students placing in their races.  Miss Rowe was especially impressed with how well the squad performed in the relays, showing great teamwork and sportsmanship. The squad finished the carnival in THIRD PLACE, which is a wonderful effort for our first time in E Schools.  Our students are to be commended on their efforts in the carnival, and a big thank you to Miss Rowe and Mr Daniels who assisted the students on the day.

I’ve attached some of the placing results below (all races Division 1):

Liam T - 2nd 8yr Boys

Nate H 2nd 9yr Boys

Megan B 1st 9yr Girls (Div 1)

Isabella N 1st 9yr Girls (Div 2)

Sam B 2nd 10yr Boys (Div 1)

Bilvit H 1st 10yr Boys (Div 2)

Declan M 1st 10yr Boys (Div 3)

Macy S 3rd 10yr Girls (Div 1)

Anthea C-S 2nd 10yr Girls (Div 3)

Zac S 2nd 11yr Boys (Div 1)

Alex B 2nd 11yr Boys (Div 2)

Alannah G 1st 11yr Girls (Div 1)

Ella B 1st 11yr Girls (Div 2)

Madeleine M 1st 11yr Girls (Div 3)

Jack S 3rd 12yr Boys (Div 1)

Junior Boys Relay 1st

Junior Girls Relay 1st

Senior Boys Relay 3rd

Senior Girls Relay 1st 

Have a great week and God bless,

Nick