St Anthony's School - Term 4 Week 2 2021
Principal's News
Welcome to Term Four… the term that keeps us on our toes with its busyness. It is also a time where we tend to experience mixed feelings of sadness and joy. Sad for what is ending for those who are moving on and the joy and excitement of the anticipation of the birth of Jesus and the new year ahead. I tend to try and be grateful. Although I am sad for families and staff who may move on, I am more grateful that I was blessed with the opportunity to experience their presence in my life.
Yr 6 Tangalooma Trip
If you were lucky enough to view our snaps on facebook from the Year 6 trip to Tangalooma last week, I’m sure like me you were somewhat envious of their adventures. Feedback from the teachers is that everyone had an amazing time, the weather was perfect and our students received many compliments from staff and tourists on their impeccable behaviour. Opportunities like this are not possible without staff who are willing to accompany the students and go above and beyond the hours of work they are paid. Thank-you Leigh Winters and Terri-An Nolan!
Staffing & Class Arrangements 2022
I am currently making staffing and class arrangements for 2021, so if you definitely know that you will not be returning to St Anthony’s in 2021 it would be appreciated if you could let me know, as the number of class teachers is directly linked to the number of students in the school. Your ongoing support of our school is greatly appreciated and should you know of friends, relatives or work colleagues who are considering schooling options for 2022, I ask you to encourage them to consider St Anthony’s as a preferred option. Should you or they require any further information regarding enrolment at St Anthony’s, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I am always happy to meet with people to talk about what St Anthony’s has to offer and for people to see firsthand the great learning that takes place in our calm classroom environments. Word of mouth is the single most effective marketing strategy (and cheap too) so let’s get out and spread the word!! We currently have vacancies in all year levels.
2021 Class Allocations
Here at St Anthony’s we follow a procedure for the allocation of students into classes each year. The construction of class groupings is a collaborative process that involves input from students, parents, class teachers, specialist staff and the Leadership Team. We seek to ensure the process is fair and just and it is our intention to develop class groupings in a way that best meets the educational needs and interests of all students.
We consider numerous factors and variables when forming class groupings and these include:
- Academic abilities
- Student Behaviour
- Social, Emotional Factors
- Factors arising out of Student Support Team Meetings
- Gender balance
- Balancing overall needs of the class
- Reasonable requests made to the principal
If you have a sound educational reason for a particular placement that you feel should be considered during the class placements process, I invite you to forward this consideration to me via email or in writing to louise.pfingst@twb.catholic.edu.au by Friday 22nd October and mark the correspondence Attention Principal – Class Lists 2022. Please note that we will not accept any requests for a particular teacher as all teachers in our community are proficient at differentiating the curriculum, recognising a variety of learning styles and building strong relationships with students. All requests must be made by Friday 6th November.
Despite the very involved process of developing final class lists, it is impossible given the number of potential combinations, to arrive at classes which will be most preferred by every student or parent. It is also impossible and professionally inappropriate, due to privacy, for parents to be consulted during this process. It is important that all parties appreciate the multiple factors which influence the final groupings and have trust in our ability to make good decisions for the benefit of all students.
We are unsure yet of our definite class compositions for 2021 but will inform our school community once these are finalised. This will not be until later in the term.
Information outlining the class allocation and teacher will be sent out through the school portal once finalised towards the end of term.
Out of respect to a child’s current teacher and the procedure for establishing class configurations, if after publication there is an issue of significant concern, parents should contact the school office to speak with a member of the leadership team who give final approval to each class allocation. Class teachers should not be approached regarding requests, concerns or grievances. This puts them in an uncomfortable and professionally inappropriate position.
Thank you for your support as we move into the process of class list development.
Toowoomba Catholic Kindergartens and Care (TCKC)
As of early January, our outside school hours and vacation care service here at St Anthony’s will be co-ordinated by Toowoomba Catholic Kindergartens and Care. This is a branch of our Toowoomba Catholic School’s Office and this service will continue to provide high quality care before and after school and during school vacations for our St Anthony’s students. In the coming weeks, a co-ordinator and staff will be appointed and we will keep you updated as to the process for utilising this service.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jasmin Scotney and the PCYC team for providing a very high standard of care for our students over a number of years here at St Anthony’s.
Prep Transition
There is much excitement in anticipation of our first Prep transition morning tomorrow. This will be the first of 4 sessions on Fridays from 8.30 – 10.30, concluding on 5th November. The purpose of the program is for the children and their families to become familiar with the school surroundings, classmates and teachers for 2021.
During each session, the children will be in the Prep classrooms and the parents attend information sessions in the school hall led by various school and community personnel.
Grandparents Day
Next Thursday, we are delighted to invite our Grandparents along to a Liturgy in the church commencing at 8.40am, followed by time in classrooms and the morning will culminate with a play on the oval and a sausage sizzle. A Microsoft form has been sent to each family to complete for catering purposes.
‘Grandparents create memories that the heart holds forever’
Day for Daniel
On Friday 29th October, we are supporting a very worthwhile cause. On this day students are able to wear red and bring a gold coin to raise funds to support the valuable work of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.
School Signs
You may have notice that both our School Signs on Memory and Stephen Streets are no longer in use. This directive has come from Queensland Health and Safety Commission as there are concerns around the safety of these boards and posing an injury risk. The directive was to all schools with similar signs. We have been advised to lower the signs and eventually they will be removed. We are currently in the process of costing the replacement of one of the signs with an electronic version.
Until next newsletter…..God Bless!
Louise
louise.pfingst@twb.catholic.edu.au
APRE News.....
Grandparents Day
Next Thursday the 21st of October we are excited to invite all of the Grandparents to our school community for a fun morning of activities with their grandchildren. Please follow the link to RSVP to the day.
Sacramental Program
Just a reminder that if you have a student who you wish to join the sacramental program, and you have not registered your interest with Sr Maria the parish coordinator, can you do so please. Students need to be in Year 3 and prepared to begin the journey. Students will prepare for Reconciliation this year, which will occur in November, followed by Confirmation and Communion in 2021.
Middle Leader News
Welcome back to Term 4! This will be a term for fast paced learning to round out the year! This final term we will continue to explore the learning behaviours along the St Anthony’s Way. Our current investigation is around how to ‘Be Curious’. When the staff were in the initial stages of prioritizing learning behaviours that contributed to a ‘Love of Learning', curiosity was one that consistently was suggested. There was also a great debate, however, in trying to determine if you need to be curious about something to learn about it? We were well aware that Year 5 students for example may not be very curious about what a subordinate or independent clause is, however, they are required to learn about them! Ultimately the answer is no, however, if we are striving to develop in children an approach to learning that they can take with them through out their lives, developing the ability to be curious about things that they see, hear, and read is a fundamental step. Often curiosity in a subject leads to more engagement and persistence, as well as the likelihood that the learning will stick for the long term. Expanding children’s ability to generate questions, develop theories, research gaps in their knowledge and test their thinking in hands on ways encourages children’s natural curiosity. The saying goes, 'curiosity kills the cat', but developing and harnessing a child’s curiosity can lead to excellent outcomes for both their academic learning and quality of life into the future.
Love of Learning
Be engaged | Be curious| Be a communicator| Be persistent| Be proud
Prep KJ & SJ
Prep has been off to a racing start this term with our Preppies completing their very first swimming block. The students all participated with enthusiasm and effort, a well done to all. Students have commenced musical practice for the end of year nativity play. They have been learning stage presence, lines and songs in preparation for the big day.
Early this term, the students will begin to participate in transition to Year 1 activities that include eating lunch with the Year 1’s and 2’s, having playtime in the Year 1 and 2 playground and attending morning parade and assembly with the rest of the school. The students will also have an opportunity to spend time in the Year 1 classrooms to help become familiar with their classroom surroundings and expectations for next year.
With the fantastic progress that has already been made with regards to the children’s writing so far, we are excited to have a focus on this in English this term, with a Writing Centre in the classroom. This will enable the students to explore letter writing, writing lists and postcards, creating their own books as well as free writing. We will continue to develop our knowledge of letter sound relationships, working on our reading during guided reading lessons and engaging with, responding to and making connections with a variety of texts. Again, we encourage you to make reading a priority for homework each night.
We have a feeling this term is going to go quickly. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns. Remember also to log into the Sentral Portal regularly for the latest school information and the weekly update.
Thank you,
Samantha, Kylie and Jo.
samantha.jaeger@twb.catholic.edu.au
kylie.jones@twb.catholic.edu.au
jo.keleher@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 1 HS
Welcome to Term 4! This term we have jumped in and hit the ground running as it will be a busy term with learning and assessment. In math we will focus on time, calendar, chance and data, money and direction. Students will also consolidate their prior number knowledge with regards to counting, subtraction and addition. In English our focus will be on the persuasive genre. Students will use their opinions to persuade the audience. So if they become extra persuasive at home you will know why! 😊
This term we are also introducing our rhyming bag show and share. Please help your child to find two objects that rhyme to place inside the bag. At school they will share one of the objects and the class will use their rhyming skills to guess the other. I will send home the bag on the Friday before your day.
Below is the timetable
holly.sheehan@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 1 KS
Welcome to the final term of Yr 1!
No doubt you are wondering where the year has gone. The children started the year fresh out of Prep and are now in serious training for embarking on the challenge of Year 2. The children have settled well as we resumed our routines for learning. This term will be very busy and we will be reading a series of persuasive books and writing persuasive texts. We will be revising all of the important math concepts and looking into changing materials in science. This fits nicely into our school learning disposition – Being Curious! In Religion we will be celebrating the Month of the Rosary – October- by learning about Mary. This leads nicely into the story of Christmas.
Have a great week!
Kathy Spencer
kathleen.spencer@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 2 OT
Welcome back to Term 4. I'm finding it very hard to believe that we only have 8 weeks to go! This term 2OT will be listening to and writing their own poetry. In numeracy we are focusing on multiplication, division, and time! If you would like to support your children at home please contact Mr. Tattam. Congratulations to this weeks student of the week, Callum.
Until next week,
Cheers - Mr. Tattam
ory.tattam@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 2/3 VN
Welcome to Term 4! We are on the home stretch with so much great learning to be had. In English we will be analysing poetry and identifying their literary features. We will be learning about similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme, and rhythm. Our class will use the text Fire by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley as an exemplar of writing that uses these features in a beautiful way.
In Math we will begin the term looking at collecting data and representing that data in different forms: bar graphs, picture graphs and tables using tally marks.
We also welcomed Miss Quan into our classroom who is a 2nd year Prac Students from USQ. Miss Quan has been a great asset to our class and has taken the responsibility of planning and teaching some Math lessons for us this week. She will leave us next week and we wish her the best as she continues her educational journey.
vicki.nauschutz@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 3 RM
Welcome to Term 4, which is already shaping up to be very busy. In English we are examining the language features of poetry. In Maths we have revisited fractions and are now starting to learn about collecting, representing and interpreting data. In HASS we are comparing features of places by using maps and photos. In Religion we are investigating who God is for us.
rebecca.more@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 4 SC
Term 4 is certainly motoring along! We are so interested in our unit about civics and citizenship - don't be surprised if your children share some road rules they discovered! In maths we are having some fun with digital representations of data. We are using Excel and Create-a-Graph to create bar graphs. In science we are looking at forces and motion. This week we had fun playing with familiar games and activities and identifying the forces we used while playing. We are also having lots of fun with poetry. We look forward to another fortnight of learning and fun too of course! God Bless. Mrs Cox
My Toowoomba by Jamil
The rain falls on animals.
Green grass, bushes and leaves blow around.
After the rain, a rainbow appears in the sky
Happiness and love fill my heart.
I love Toowoomba.
My Queensland by Jenna
This awesome sunburnt country,
A land of mountain ranges,
The far horizons too,
The sapphire misted moon
shines above the glowing stars.
Hot gold rush of noon will pass by me and you,
As we gaze across the thirsty paddocks
As it soon turns to luscious green,
The drought is now over,
We're lucky as we’ve seen.
We stare across the pitiless blue sky,
But as we stare grey clouds gather,
It patters on the roof.
As they disappear there’s a touch of rainbow gold glistening above.
We now see the thickening greenness
We are blessed again.
My Oueensland by Amelia
A sunburnt country, where droughts never stop,
and the hot dry grass flames as the animals roam around freely across mountains and rivers.
As the blue sky fills with grey clouds, little water drops start to fall,
and a beautiful rainbow appears.
Yr 4/5 RS
Dear Families,
Welcome back for Term 4! We completed our swimming block with all the fun of the bus trips, socialising .and swimming! Week 2 has brought a week of solid learning. The units we have commenced for this term are:
RELIGION: ‘How can relationships heal our world?’ We have read the story of Joseph and his brothers. Mrs Hair is teaching ‘How do we remember the story of Mary?’
ENGLISH – Deltora Quest, Guided Reading, Poetry, Quick writes, Bump it up walls with exemplars attached for writing assessment, Spelling, Grammar and Sentence types. We would like each child to recite a poem of their choice to the class and when we have grandparents visit us Friday in Week 3.
MATHS - Operations, Measurement, Chance and Data, PAT-Maths Testing, Solving Word Problems using Fish Strategy.
HASS - Civics and Citizenship - Federation, Democracy and Government in Australia. How can Local Government contribute to community life?
Our Learning Behaviours are
* Be Engaged.
* Be Proud,
* Be a Communicator,
*Be Persistent.
* Be Curious.
Each child is aware of the behaviour expectations throughout the school. We aim to teach focused and respectful conduct in class and consideration of others and to maximise learning.
- We listen attentively. (i.e., no talking during teachers ’instructions, no fiddling)
- We follow directions straight away.
- We show respect for ourselves others and the environment.
- We keep our hands, feet and objects to ourselves.
With Bella’s return to school with her broken arm in a sling, we have counted on everyone to walk in safety lines when moving carefully around the room/stairs/school and that the utmost care and patience is given to every student. There is a cream-coloured towel unclaimed after swimming. With only seven weeks to go for our term, we thank everyone for your continuing support and all the amazing work you do to prepare your child each day for school. Please email us at with questions or concerns at any time.
Every kind wish,
Robyn and Barbara.
robyn.smith@twb.catholic.edu.au
barbara.hair@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 5/6 TN
Welcome back to our final term for 2021.
We had a rather strange start this term with our class being in two different places. Year 6 was at school very early Tuesday morning and departed for their amazing camp, while Year 5 drove straight into their content for Term 4. I would like to extend how proud I am of both grades as the Year 6 students represented our school with the greatest behaviour and respect for each other, the environment and other travellers. Year 5 put in 100% and worked very hard towards the beginning of their new HASS unit – Business and Economics. This is the first time the strand of Business and Economics is introduced to the students in Primary school, so there has been lots of interest and thoughtful questions.
This term is going to fly by before we know it. We have some interesting units of work to complete and assessment items. I look forward to sharing more with you over the coming weeks.
Until next time, stay safe.
Mrs Terri-An Nolan
terri-an.nolan@twb.catholic.edu.au
YR 6 LW
Tangalooma! Our island adventure last week must surely be considered the highlight of our year. From dolphin feeding, to sand tobogganing and snorkelling, we were privileged to experience a range of activities, perfect weather and great food. During our stay, Mrs Nolan and myself were approached numerous times by members of the public who wanted to compliment us on the behaviour of the students – something which made us feel really proud.
With so much happening this term in such a short time frame, it is easy to overlook something – so please check the portal regularly for information or ask your child what event is coming up.
At the moment, I am chasing Prep photos of all the Year 6's, which will be included in the Farewell PowerPoint. If you have not yet done so, please either email a prep photo or send in a hard copy which I can scan and return. Thanks for your prompt help with this!
Leigh Winters
leigh.winters@twb.catholic.edu.au
Non-State Schools Transport Assistance Scheme
Applications for the Non-State Schools Transport Assistance Scheme are NOW OPEN! The initiative provides financial assistance for families transporting students to non-state schools in Queensland.
St Anthony's Outside School Hours Care
Commencing January 2022
Our Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) services provide the opportunity for children to grow and develop their social skills in a leisure based environment nurtured by our Catholic ethos.
The services offer a combination of before school, after school, pupil free days and vacation care led by a team of qualified educators. Our educators work with all children to create fun and recreational experiences so that a child’s wellbeing, learning and personal development are a priority. The services provide a variety of indoor and outdoor activities to support the diverse interests of all children.
