St Anthony's School, Toowoomba eNewsletter

Principal's News

Welcome to Term Three of yet another tumultuous time in the 21st Century. So many staff and families spent Term Two working so hard and meeting all the demands of family and work life. I hope families took this time to unwind and enjoy each other’s company. Sometimes it’s the simplest things in life that fill us with most riches.

The impact of Covid in various parts of our country at the moment is always at the forefront of our minds. We continue to remind students of the importance of maintaining good hygiene practices. Adults signing in wherever we go, including school, via the QLD App is our new normal and students staying home if presenting with any cold or flu like symptoms is vital. Let’s all do our bit!

This term, we have welcomed 11 new students to our school community bringing our total enrolments to 259. I want to pass on a personal thanks to those members of our school community who continue to promote St Anthony’s as a great place of learning and where students have a face known to all, are valued and thrive personally. During enrolment interviews, 9/10 prospective parents voice choosing St Anthony’s due to the size of the school where students are known and more often than not the choice of our school is based on the opinion of someone they know who has recommended St Anthony’s. Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool!

Catholic Education Week

Catholic Education Week will be held next week from 25 –31 July providing an opportunity for all Catholic education communities around Queensland to celebrate and promote the distinctive mission of Catholic schooling.

The theme of Catholic Education Week in 2021 is A Spirited Tomorrow.

This theme acknowledges the long tradition of Catholic education and its continued relevance in preparing students for the future.

The theme references the work of the Plenary Council in discerning the way forward for the Church in Australia and complements the Faith in the Future theme of the 200 years of Catholic education celebrations.

During Catholic Education Week this year, our school will be participating in a School Review and Improvement survey managed by Research Australia Development and Innovation Institute (RADII). As well as school staff and students from Years 5 - 12, all parents are invited to participate in the survey. The survey provides valuable feedback for the future directions of our school. On Monday the 26th July 2021, RADII will send all parents a personalised invitation to complete the survey online. If both parents' email addresses are on file at the school, the invitation will be sent to both parents. However, the survey will close once the first person has completed it. If you do not wish to complete the survey, simply delete it. The survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. You can complete the survey from anywhere you have access to the internet. The survey will close on Sunday 8th August 2021. We encourage you to be very honest in your responses to the surveys. All responses go directly to RADII so they are confidential and anonymous. When the surveys are completed, and responses aggregated by RADII, overall data is sent to us so that we can then share the findings with you.

Just a reminder that as part of Catholic Education Week, Friday, 30^th July is a Pupil Free Day as staff gather for a day of formation and reflection for the annual Bishop’s Inservice Day. PCYC will offer care on this day.

St Anthony’s Way

As part of our 4 year School Renewal and Improvement Plan, following our school review in Term 4 last year, we endeavoured to develop our ‘St Anthony’s Way’ in 2021 to be actioned in 2022. This involves developing the dispositions of a learner at St Anthony’s. As a staff, we have spent professional development time since the beginning of the year formulating these dispositions. Through a process of brainstorming and refining, we have come up with the dispositions of a St Anthony’s learner, which are to:

Be Engaged
Be Curious
Be Proud
Be Persistent
Be a Communicator

These dispositions all fit under our St Anthony’s Pillar of ‘Love of Learning’.

Our main task now is to involve the students and using a process, teachers will now break down these dispositions with the students, who will brainstorm and refine what each means to them. The first is ‘Be Engaged’ and from here, with the students’ voices, we will come up with 5 mini statements for each disposition as to what it would look, feel and sound like to be an engaged learner, or a curious learner etc.

We will also have the opportunity for parent voice through our PPF. Parent voice is very much welcome!

Thank-you St Anthony’s Parents

Over the holidays, the installation of noise cancelling battens went ahead in our sports hall and the difference this has made is phenomenal!! The cost of this process was $49 000 and was funded by the PPF. These funds have been accumulated over a number of years by many parents organising and attending various fundraising ventures and functions. On behalf of the students and staff of St Anthony’s, I extend a HUGE thank you!! This now provides a space that is so much more user friendly and the opportunities to hold events in this space now are endless. Our next big purchase for this space will be an electronic screen and projector.

80’s Trivia Night

Our PPF are co-ordinating an 80’s Trivia Night on Friday, 27^th August with everyone seated and ready to commence by 6.30pm.

You can book a table of 10 for $100 or an individual seat for $10 and all bookings can be made through the front office. There will be a bar operating on the night and you can bring a plate of nibbles to share for your table. There is the option of ordering pizza through the night.

This event is for adults and no babysitting is provided. Book a table before they all sell out.

There is a PPF gathering on Tuesday 27^th July, at 6.30pm in the staffroom to finalise the organising of this event. All welcome and many hands make light work!!

Uniforms

Thank you!! It is lovely to see so many students wearing the correct uniform. I appreciate parents taking our feedback on board, providing children with the correct uniform and encouraging them to wear it respectfully. Everyone just looks that much sharper.

2022 Enrolments

We are in the process of considering our income and expenditure for the 2022 school year and as you can imagine, our budget is very dependent on our 2022 enrolment numbers. For this reason, we request that if you are aware of a change in your family situation that means your child/ren will not be returning in 2022, click on the link below and submit the response form so we can keep our records as accurate as possible. Many thanks in advance for supporting us with this trajectory.

Students not returning in 2022

Until next newsletter……God Bless!

Louise

louise.pfingst@twb.catholic.edu.au

APRE News.....

Catholic Education Week

Next week we celebrate Catholic Education Week. The theme of this year’s celebration is A Spirited Tomorrow. We focused earlier in the year during the 200 Years of Catholic Schools celebration on the 200 year history of Catholic Education in Australia. During this week we will be focusing on the role of our Catholic schools in preparing students for the future. Classes have been reflecting upon what makes our school distinctly Catholic and how what we do at St Anthony’s helps to shape them into people that they aspire to be.

We will be celebrating next week with a whole school mass at 9.15 on Wednesday the 28^th of July. Students have also contributed to our ‘art walk’ leading to the music room with drawings that depict their hopes and dreams for a spirited tomorrow. If you wish to come to mass or have a look at the ‘art walk’ you will need to remember to check in with the Check In Qld app on your phone. On Friday 30^th July, all students have a Pupil Free Day, whilst teachers across the diocese participate in the annual Bishop’s Inservice Day.

God of Hope, you have given us a mind to know you, a will to serve you, and a heart to love you. Be with us in all we might do, so that your light of hope may shine in our lives.

Parish Family Mass

Next Sunday the 1^st of August is our first Parish Mass for Term 3. Prep SJ and 2 OT are coordinating the mass and we would love to see as many children as possible, and their families from these year levels attend, however EVERYONE is invited. The Mass is at 8.30 Sunday morning, and everyone is invited to stay for morning tea afterwards in the Parish Centre.

Middle Leader News

Welcome back to Term 3! This term is usually the term that teachers love the most, as it is often when the most effective learning occurs during the year! Students have developed a good base of knowledge, are able to extend their thinking and flourish with a good stretch of focused learning time.

This term we will continue to explore the learning dispositions that lead to a ‘Love of Learning’. For the next two weeks we are focusing on the learning behaviour; ‘Be Engaged’. On first consideration of what it means for students to be engaged thoughts often move to describing how a ‘good student’ behaves, such as, always listening to the teacher, finishing their work, never talking in class. However, many would argue this is what being a ‘compliant’ student looks like. There is no denying that students who do these things should be praised for their work habits, however, we are asking students and teachers to go a step further and really think about describing what it means to be engaged in learning, not just the task at hand. I am sure you have seen moments with your children when they are totally absorbed in something they are investigating or playing with. Often it is when they are personally motivated to achieve a purpose or are really enjoying what they are doing that you see true engagement. Some simple statements that may describe a student who is engaged in their learning is that they resist distractions, will persevere when they face a challenge, they are excited about their learning, and they are ready to learn. We have and will continue to delve into the concept with students over the next few weeks with the goal being that they can verbalise how to demonstrate the learning behaviour, identify what they need to work on in this area, and develop some strategies with their class to develop this learning behaviour. Being a learning community, teachers also will be investigating how they contribute to ‘engaged’ learners and working on strategies they can learn, adapt or improve to ensure they are creating learning environments that encourage engagement.

Love of Learning

Be engaged | Be curious| Be a communicator| Be persistent| Be proud

This year we are extending an invitation to students in Years 2-6 to complete an ICAS assessment in Maths or English. ICAS assessments are international assessments designed to target students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English and Maths. These assessments are based on the curriculum for the relevant year however students are asked to demonstrate a deeper, integrated and thorough level of knowledge. They provide an opportunity for students to extend themselves academically and take up the personal challenge of completing an international assessment. All students that sit the assessments receive recognition for their participation and a report of their results in comparison to all the participants. It is completely optional for all students. If you would like your child/ren to sit these assessments parents will need to register and pay prior to the cut off dates. The cost for sitting each assessment is $17.05. If you would like your child to participate, please email me and I will forward the information you need. The cut off for payment for the English assessment is Sunday the 1^st of August and the Maths assessment is Sunday the 15^th of August. The students participating will sit the assessments at school in late August.

Prep KJ & SJ

Welcome to Term 3! We hope everyone had a good break. This week was very exciting as we reached our 100 days of learning in Prep!! On Tuesday, we celebrated with lots of fun activities and a special morning tea with cake. Some of the activities the children took part in included making 100 day hats, 100 shaped glasses, bookmarks and taking on the challenge of creating structures made of 100 cups and 100 pieces of Lego. At the morning tea, each of the Prep students were presented with a special certificate to commemorate this fabulous achievement. We are very proud of just how far our Preps have come. Fairy Tales are our fun focus in the classroom this term. Last week we looked at what fairy tales often include: the beginning, Once upon a time, a nice character, a wicked character, royalty, magic and the ending, And they all lived happily ever after. We look forward to learning more about fairy tales as the term progresses, as we focus on the characters, setting, problem, solution and if there is a special message or something we learnt from reading the story.

kylie.jones@twb.catholic.edu.au

samantha.jaeger@twb.catholic.edu.au

jo.keleher@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 1 HS

Welcome to Term 3! We have hit the ground running with our learning this week. In Math we are learning to sort, describe and represent 3D shapes. In English we have started our exploration into the “The Very Cranky Bear” series focusing on making a connection and identifying our personal preferences to the various text. In science this term our focus is on Earth Sciences including weather, seasons and changes in the world around us.

On Thursday we had the privilege of watching the Year 6 musical, ‘The Cat and the Riddle’. It was a wonderful journey to Egypt. Certainly, the highlight of our week.

holly.sheehan@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 1 KS

Hello from 1 KS

We have had a lovely start to the new term. The children have settled well into their learning – although they do miss their beloved Miss White! I’m very excited to be teaching Year 1 again. I have been teaching for a very long time, but Yr 1 is always a rewarding and exciting challenge.

This term we are working on some exciting concepts including our unit on The Cranky Bear Collection of books written by Nick Bland. We have some very good story tellers in our class!!

Homework for the term has been sent home. Please feel free to complete it in a way that suits your home circumstances – weekly, nightly etc. Sight words and reading every day would be a wonderful idea for our little learners if you are able to manage some time for it each day.

As things settle a little in the term – and all going well with COVID – I am looking forward to getting to know the parents and siblings of all of these lovely little cherubs. Have a good week!!

Kathy Spencer

kathleen.spencer@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 2 OT

Welcome back to Term 3! I hope our families in 2OT enjoyed the winter break. We have another exciting term ahead and I look forward to sharing lots of great news with you all. We have welcomed two new students into our team which is very exciting for us. The students will continue to engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment, they will listen to, read and write multimodal texts in which the primary purpose is to inform. This will be based on the Olympic Games which is close to my heart!! In mathematics we are continuing to explore the connection between addition and subtraction and solving such problems with mental and written strategies. Thanks for taking the time to catch up with our news.
Until next time,
Mr. Tattam

ory.tattam@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 2/3 VN

Welcome back to Term 3! I cannot believe how fast this year is going already. In Math currently we are looking at fractions. Year 2 is learning to interpret and recognize ½, ¼ and 1/8 of shapes and collections while the Year 3 students are modelling and representing ½, ¼, 1/3 and 1/5. In English we are learning to write information reports and in Grammar we are focusing on nouns- common, proper and pronouns and verbs- doing, thinking, saying and relating. This term the Year 3 students are joining Mrs. More for HASS to have some consolidated explicit teaching of HASS components- they are looking at our near neighbours. The Year 2 students are looking at how celebrations connect people from around the world. We are going to be focusing on the Olympics and integrating Health components at the same time.

Library: Monday Sport: Wednesday Music: Friday

vicki.nauschutz@twb.catholic.edu.au

emma.daniells@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 3 RM

Welcome back. This term we have welcomed two new students to 3RM, Summer and Rhylie. In Maths we have been working with fractions of a group and sequencing fractions on a number line. In English we have been examining the text features of informative texts. We have also discussed the BIG QUESTION, "What is reading?". Initially, students said reading was about saying the words on the page. However, we soon reached the discovery that READING IS THINKING, because we need to be thinking about what we are reading to be able to understand what unknown words mean or to comprehend. In HASS, we have started our unit about neighbouring countries by revising natural and human features and using alphanumeric grid references to locate places on maps. In Religion we have been examining Baptism as a sacrament of initiation, beginning with the baptism of Jesus.

rebecca.more@twb.catholic.edu.au

barbara.hair@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 4 SC

Welcome back to Term 3. All students seemed to have had a wonderful break and are all ready to learn. Our theme this term is 'Sustainability'. You might notice some mini research activities in Homework. This is to add depth to our classroom studies.
We are also using Teams and Class Notebook as a communication tool. The students are all aware of netiquette and the importance of not using these tools for fun. If students do not have access to the internet at home, paper copies of the Homework are given each Monday and online components can be completed in class.
We look forward to bike safety classes over the next 2 weeks and are asking you to begin collecting clean recyclables (boxes, plastics, materials etc.) to use for our Science and Technology assessment later in the term. God Bless

sharon.cox@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 4/5 RS

Welcome back for Term 3! We commend the students who have settled calmly and happily back into our routines.

It was a treat to be part of the audience for “The Cat and the Riddle” musical. We are inspired to find out more about ancient Egypt.

We extend a warm welcome to our new Year 4 student, Sienna and trust that she and her family thoroughly enjoy becoming a member of the St Anthony’s community. We are looking at the “Be Engaged” aspect of our St Anthony’s way and focusing on how that looks in our classroom.

The units we have commenced for this term are:

RELIGION: The Trinity Relational Nature of God.

ENGLISH: Reading Groups, Quality Literature - 'The Lorax' by Dr Seuss, 'Toad Rage' by Morris Gleitzman, Daily Writes & 'Bump it up Walls', with examples attached for Writing Assessment, Spelling, Grammar and Sentence Types.

MATHS: Number Talks, Operations, Daily Mental Maths, Measurement – Mass, Capacity and Volume, solving Word Problems, Chance & Data.

HASS: Sustainability. NAIDOC Week

SCIENCE: 'Material World' & 'Package It Better' integrated with Technology unit.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION and HEALTH: You Can Do It, Swimming Week 10.

REMEMBER:

Library borrowing day is Thursday.
Speaking roster is each Friday.

Have a great week, everyone!

Robyn and Barbara.

robyn.smith@twb.catholic.edu.au

barbara.hair@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 5/6 TN

Welcome to Term 3. I hope that you have all had an opportunity to recharge and spend time with family and loved ones.

This term we have jumped straight into learning. Please check your emails over the next few days as I will be sending out the term overview for each of our subjects. However, as a sneak peek:

HASS: Geography
Science: Space (Year 5) and Natural Disasters (Year 6)
English: Editing – for correction and improvement
Maths: Multiplication, Division, Area, Time, Money, Fraction & Angles (Plus MORE)
Religion: What is God asking of me? (Year 6), How can Jesus’ message challenge me today (Year 5)
LOTE: German (Year 5), Indonesian (Year 6)
Visual Arts
Technology
Health: Emotions (Shame, Pride, Sorrow)

And can you believe there is still more to share.

I can’t wait to see what your clever children achieve this term and how they challenge themselves to do better.

Until the newsletter, please stay warm and safe.

Mrs Terri-An Nolan

Terri-An.Nolan@twb.catholic.edu.au

YR 6 LW

We’ve hit the ground running – having had a very busy Week 1. The musical was a great success – and will always be a treasured memory. Well done Year 6! For technology, we’ve designed and built birdhouses; a task most students enjoyed doing. The range of different designs is astounding!

We’ve begun learning about volcanoes and other natural disasters in Science, introduced mapping and studying Asia for HASS, as well as exploring at latitude and longitude in Maths. We’ve introduced The Examen in Religion and made a start on this term’s English by learning all about commas. (And all this in the first two weeks!)

With all this activity, we definitely have a busy term ahead of us; and it is up to each one of us to stay focused and make the most of every learning opportunity. Perhaps this snippet will help us stay on task.

“It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort. And when you bring that effort every single day, that’s where transformation happens. That’s how change occurs.”

leigh.winters@twb.catholic.edu.au

I can’t wait to share with you all the experiences we have planned for Yammer Group this term!

This week the students began a 10 week Tucka Time cooking program. This program aims to improve knowledge and skills around healthy eating, budgeting, shopping, cooking, mental health and wellbeing.

Next week the Yammer Group will be planting their hanging basket to enter in the Carnival of Flowers hanging basket competition. This year’s theme is colour. I can’t wait to see our beautiful creation. Fingers crossed we can keep it alive during these chilly weeks leading up to Spring.

During Week 4 our whole school community will be celebrating NAIDOC Week. I am currently putting the finishing touches on the weeks program, and it is looking full of fun!

Check out a sneaky peek of what will be happening:

Competitions	Year 4-6 students will be designing a social media hashtag# post promoting this year’s theme of Healing Country. Prep to Year 3 students will have a colouring in competition. The winners will be announced at Assembly Week 4.
Lunch Time Activities	Monday and Friday 1^st break.
Indigenous Games	We have a special guest coming to school on Wednesday who will spend some time with each class teaching and playing outdoor Indigenous Games.
Yammer Group Excursion	Year 1 to 6 Indigenous students who are a part of the Yammer Group have been invited to an excursion at the Cobb+Co Museum on Tuesday 3^rd August. Please check your emails to complete the permission form. If you have any questions about this, please let me know.
NAIDOC Liturgy	During Assembly Week 4 the Yammer Group will be leading the NAIDOC Week Liturgy. This is presented at the beginning of the assembly if you would like to come and watch your child (please remember to sign in using the QLD app)

As you can see there is lots going on and I can’t wait to share with you all what we have learnt, what we enjoyed and of course some photos.

Until next time.

Mrs Terri-An Nolan

Terri-An.Nolan@twb.catholic.edu.au

Please notify the school office if you have updated your residential address, your email address, your phone number, household structure or if your child has had a change in Visa, medical details, eg asthma plan, allergies, medication.

These records are very important for our files.

If your child is sick or complains of feeling sick, please DO NOT send them to school.

Book Week - August 23rd - 27th

We have a variety of Book Week activities this year, which will take place in Week 7 the theme is “Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds”.

Book Week Dress Up – Tuesday 24th August, Students will be invited to come dressed as their favourite book character or dress up around this years’ theme.
Reader’s Cup Competition – 23rd August to 25th August.
Book Fair – we will be holding a book fair during Book Week. Books will be on sale in the library, with an online option available.

Year 6 Musical

Well done to the entire Year Six cohort for their amazing efforts last week. Every student stepped up and presented their very best work and together they created a wonderful musical experience that was enjoyed by the whole school and their families.

Very proud of you all!

anne-maree.spalding@twb.catholic.edu.au