Thank you to everyone who engaged with our Book Week parade by assisting with costumes. There was a high level of creativity and commitment involved and it was lovely to have such a fun morning. 

Stage 2 Building Project Blessing and Opening

Next week we will be hosting a small event with a limited number of dignitaries in attendance to bless and officially open our new classrooms blocks- Yellow and Teal, along with the extended carpark and staffroom we had built last year. We are very grateful to the Qld State government for their continued funding support for our growing school.

We have also received confirmation that our stage 3 building proposal has been approved for funding and next year will see our new library built in the centre of our school. The library will have two multi-purpose classrooms attached and we will be building another two classrooms beside Teal Block. We will also include an extension to our Administration space as well. Stage 3 building will commence next year ready for us to occupy in 2022.

Pupil Free Day

Please remember that we have a Pupil Free day next week on Friday 4 September. This is a day where all state and catholic schools reflect on their practice, reviewing the data they have collected to make judgements about student learning. Please ensure you have made arrangements for children on Friday. Outside school hours care is available.

Please continue to make safe health choices over the coming weeks. Have a fabulous week. 

Welcome to the end of another week!

Today on assembly marked our first ‘Whole School Meditation’ that we’ve been able to have this year.  The students did a wonderful job in entering the Hall in a calm, peaceful, quiet manner, and were able to sit in relative stillness and silence for the allocated time.  It is clear that this is a practice that our students understand and undergo on a daily basis and forms the centre of our contemplative practices.

To celebrate bookweek this week, it was planned to have an author/illustrator visit of the book, ‘Frankie the Still Fox’.  The author happens to be my father, Ernie Christie, who was unable to attend due to the birth of his newest grandson (my nephew), so I was fortunate enough to attend 2 sessions with the Prep and Year 1 students and share the words he’s written with them.  Frankie teaches our students about the value of stillness, silence and simplicity and the skills involved in Christian meditation (although not explicitly stating that).  The students seemed to really enjoy the book, and some even started meditating when Frankie did in the book.  

In the book, Frankie talks about his special word, MARANATHA, which also happens to be the word which we use in Christian meditation.  I explained to our students the meaning of the word, and thought that you may be interested as well.  Maranatha is an Aramaic word, which is believed to be the language Jesus spoke.  It’s translation is simply, ‘Come Lord’, so when we say this word during meditation, we are welcoming Jesus and God to be with us and guide us.

You can’t purchase Frankie in stores in Australia just yet, however, if you jump onto the following website, you are able to order it in from the UK https://mediomedia.com/products/mtfra2.  It will also be available for our students to borrow from the library, and is sitting proudly on prayer tables in Prep and Year 1.  

I must also extend a big thank you to Mary Hosking, the illustrator of Frankie, and also the librarian at St Clare’s here in Townsville.  She shared some of the original drawings of Frankie and even brought along with her a special Franki puppet, which the students loved.  It was great that this could be a part of book week!

Pax

Nick

Contemplative Corner 

Over the next few weeks, I intend to give a range of different mantras and sayings  which you might like to use in your daily life.  The ideas are that these mantras and sayings are for you - read them, sit with them, take what you need out of them.  You might see something that you love and sticks out in your mind - it might become your theme for the week.  You may choose to pray with it or say it to yourself each morning before starting the day.  Enjoy.

“Be still and know that I am God” - Psalm 46:10

Be still and know I am

Be still and know

Be still

Be - Ernie Christie in Frankie the Still Fox

Last week the Year 3/4 Emus, along with our whole school celebrated science week. We investigated sea creatures and created our chosen sea creature, in which we researched. We were also lucky enough to make exciting discoveries and investigate ocean science in the schools science center. 

We are holding Parent-Teacher Interviews on Tuesday 8th September from 3.30pm - 7pm, and Wednesday 9th September from 3.30pm - 5pm. The interviews will be held in the Hall each day. We encourage you to book a 10-minute time slot for an interview to discuss your child's progress. Please note that this is not a compulsory meeting but a chance to catch up with your child's teacher to discuss their progress.

If you are using your phone to make your interview booking, please check that you are using the latest version of the Compass App to ensure you have all the features that have recently been added.  Please see instuctions to assist in booking an interview.

If you are experiencing difficulty booking your interview, please call the office and they will assist you. 

The booking system will close at 2.00pm on Monday 7th September.