St Anthony's School - Term 1 Week 8 2022
Principal's News
Welcome to our Week 8 newsletter and happy St Patrick’s Day!
Parent Partnership Forum
Thank you to everyone who came along to our first PPF gathering for the year last Tuesday. We only had a few new faces and still hope that we have new faces coming along to our other gatherings. We only have 8 a year (2 each term and a dinner at the end of the year as a thank you on behalf of the school). We keep the meetings times to a minimum and work from an agenda.
We have our PPF AGM coming up on Tuesday, 29th March at 6.30pm and we will be looking to fill the positions of Chairperson, Secretary and also a delegate to attend the Diocesan P and F Gatherings as a St Anthony’s representative. Sadly, if we can’t fill these positions, we won’t be able to continue with a PPF in 2022 and ultimately it is the students most impacted. These gatherings are a great way to meet other parents and have input into your child’s education and to discuss and collaborate various ways we can engage as a school community.
Our first event co-ordinated by the PPF will be a school disco and pizza night on Friday, May 13th. Please save this date………..
Prep Interviews for 2023
It’s that time again when we are looking at our Prep enrolments for 2023! One of my favourite tasks as Principal is telling new prospective families what a great place St Anthony’s is to learn and grow. Quite often when asked why St Anthony’s is the school of choice, the most common response is our small school setting and the wonderful things they’ve heard from current families. We may be small in size, yet we have so much to offer. This reflects the professional teachers and staff as well as the wonderful community of families who work together to create our amazing school.
If you have a child born between 1st July, 2017 and 30th June, 2018 please come in and pick up an enrolment package and we will conduct interviews next term. Preference is given to siblings. Please also spread the word with family and friends about what an amazing school St Anthony’s is - ‘Harristown’s Hidden Gem’. One of the most effective (and cheapest) marketing strategies is word of mouth.
We are having an open morning on Thursday, May 19 from 9.00 – 11.00am which will coincide with our Under 8’s morning. I am more than happy to take new families on a tour at any time and have a chat at any time about what we have to offer. Come and see first hand our calm classroom environments conducive to learning!
School Fees
School Fees for Term One of 2022 are now overdue. If you have not yet settled your Term One Fee Account, please do so as soon as possible. Parents who have a direct debit, must ensure there are sufficient funds to cover the nominated payment. As a school we incur a fee of $2.50 for every rejected payment which will be added to the total of the outstanding fees.
Why do school fees exist?
They exist because non-government schools which include Catholic schools, only receive approx. 75% of the funding per student from the Federal Government of the total cost associated with per-student funding in Government schools. School fees and levies exist to bridge the funding shortfall. Ed. Qld schools are fully funded by the State Government. The majority of funding for Catholic Schools is sourced from the Federal Government.
Where do school fees & levies go?
As mentioned before, the fees and levies you pay are our major source of income and are directed towards additional teacher and support staff wages, classroom resourcing, IT upgrades, building & grounds maintenance, library and curriculum resourcing and of course general operating and administrative expenses such as insurance, rates, electricity etc.
Families also need to keep in mind that the school has always strived to keep fees and levies to an absolute minimum. When you consider the resourcing levels and amount of free of charge opportunities available for students here at St Anthony’s, the level of fees is extremely reasonable. Of course, we do understand that from time to time, families fall into financial hardship. Our fees and levies are not designed to be a burden on any family. All we ask is that you contact the office and make an appointment to come in and discuss alternative payment options or concessions
NAPLAN Online 2022
Year Three and Year Five students will be participating in the national literacy and numeracy assessments from May 9th – 13th this year. The purpose of this is to assess the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allow parents to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time. It is just one aspect of our school’s assessment and reporting process. If you are interested in learning about these assessments, please read the information for parents and carers at this link:
There will be more information to come for families of our students in Year Three and Year Five.
Late for School
I wish to stress the importance of arriving at school on time. Being consistently late for school has a similar negative effect on a student’s progress to that of absenteeism, as they miss initial instruction and spend less time improving their skills, especially as most classes commence reading groups shortly after the bell. Late arrivals disrupt lessons, other students and routine. Being punctual for school, appointments, sports training etc. is part of common courtesy and showing respect for others. Being regularly late indicates that you do not place importance on the event that you are attending. Regular late comers give the impression that they do not value the time and effort put in by the teacher, coach etc. in preparing lessons for the class or team.
As with absenteeism, there will be times when being late is unavoidable. However, these instances should only occur on the rare occasion.
With this in mind, I certainly urge all parents to continue the great work that occurs in households each morning to ensure your children are fully prepared for the day ahead and arrive at school on time. This will provide them with a definite advantage to achieving ongoing success in the years to come.
Disabled Parking
Just a reminder to parents to refrain from parking in the allocated disabled parks in the church carpark. We do have members of our school and wider community who need access to these carparks and it is an offence to park in a disabled park without the correct permit.
Year 6 Fundraising
Our Year 6 students are currently co-ordinating a raffle of 8 different hampers of Easter eggs. Tickets are available for $1 each. Each family should now have a book of 10 tickets. Please return the tickets once sold and also return the tickets if you’re unable to sell them.
Students can also bring 50c to guess how many easter eggs are in the jar. All proceeds go towards out Year 6 camp to Tangalooma Island in Term 4.
Until next newsletter………….God Bless!
Louise
APRE News.....
Parish Family Mass
Thank you to all the students and families that attended the first Parish Family Mass last weekend. It is always a lovely opportunity to join our parish friends and come together as one St Anthony’s community. Thank you to the students of 4SC and 1RS who helped to lead the service and those students in the sacramental program who also assisted. Next Parish Family Mass will be on the first weekend in April.
Year 6 Leaders
Last week the Year 6 students were finally commissioned as our student leaders for 2022. During their Leadership Retreat the students pondered what makes a ‘good leader?’ They reflected upon the leadership shown by Jesus and Nano Nagle (founder of the Order of Presentation Sisters who began and led our school for many years) and identified the qualities that enabled them to inspire and lead so many. The Year 6 students all made a leadership pledge to define how they intend to lead in their final year of school. We congratulate all of them on accepting this important role in our school. We look forward to them carrying on the tradition of being dependable, compassionate and hardworking school leaders that has been set in years gone by.
Project Compassion
Thank you to Year 5/6 TN who led the school in prayer assembly this week. The students watched the story of Anatercia from Mozambique, a young girl whose village was helped by Project Compassion. Funds raised through the Project Compassion appeal enabled the infrastructure to be built for fresh water to flow into her village, rather than her having to carry it herself for many hours in the day. The students reflected upon how different their life experiences were and saw firsthand how the money raised by Project Compassion could help to change the future for Anatercia and other vulnerable people like her.
As the Lenten season continues and we think how we can be more like Jesus in helping others, the Project Compassion appeal is a simple way for children to make connections between how their actions can have real world positive outcomes for those who have less than them. The Mini Vinnies group are putting together an event to raise awareness around access to clean running water as well as offer an opportunity to donate to the Project Compassion Appeal. This ‘water run’ event will occur on the last day of Term 2. Please watch the portal for more information to come.
Middle Leader
How often have you asked your child, “What did you do at school today?” If your children are like mine, a common response may be “nothing”, which of course finds me questioning my sanity!!?? We all know that being at school all day must mean they did something of interest or importance! Don’t we?? Obviously, we want to ensure that our children are happy, are socialising with their peers and their general wellbeing is healthy. The tone with how your child may answer this question can probably tell you a lot about the above factors. At different points in time, these factors can be the most important ones to focus on. I have learned from 12 years of being a parent of school aged children, that a much more interesting question to ask is, “What did you learn today?”
We tell students every day that their ‘job’ is to be a learner. Our St Anthony’s Way pathway of “Love of Learning” describes how students at our school can achieve at their job! Being engaged, curious, a communicator, persistent and proud are all learning behaviours that, if developed, will ensure students are ‘learning.’ Research has revealed that there is a positive correlation between a child’s academic progress and the involvement and interest of their significant care giver. One way to do this is to have conversations daily with your children around their ‘job’ as a learner. Ask them what they are learning about and question them to find what subjects or content engages them. Ask them how they are progressing with their learning behaviours, for example: “Were you persistent today?” “What made you proud today?” “What other questions do you have about what you learnt about today?” The other important way to show an interest in your child is to attend a Parent/Teacher Interview with their teacher. Please book a time prior to next week via the portal if you have not done so.
Prep SJ
Thank you to all the parents who came to support and cheer us on at our first Cross Country. We were very proud of the Prep children as they ran their hardest around the oval.
Next Thursday the 24th of March is our Farm Day, the students are getting very excited.
The students can wear free dress on this day, dressing as a farmer. Please remember that they will need a wide brimmed hat for the day as well as closed in, comfortable shoes. We will also be providing a sausage in bread for the students at first break and a pikelet with butter and/or jam at second break. We ask that they still bring their regular fruit break snack and other food in their lunch box if they are unlikely to eat the sausage in bread or pikelet. There will be no cost for this day.
We would also like to remind parents and carers of the Science 'My Pet' Sheet that went home this week. It needs to be completed and returned by next week please. Pictures can be drawn, printed or emailed.
Thank you for helping your child be ready and organised for the morning when they come into the classroom. As we have now stopped fine motor and are beginning learning at 8:30, I would like to remind parents that we commence learning straight away.
Thank you,
Samantha.
Prep SR
Almost the end of Term 1! We have been very busy learning our letters, numbers and investigating patterns. Thank you to all the parents and friends who came to support and cheer for us at our first Cross Country. We were very proud of the children as they ran their hardest around the oval. Just a reminder that Thursday the 24th March is farm day. We are all very excited about the farm animals that will be visiting. In science we are continuing our unit ‘Staying alive’. Children are invited to bring in a picture of their pet to display in the classroom. Next week we will have Parent/Teacher interviews.
Siobhan and Ange
Yr 1 ED
We have continued to work on our number knowledge and have started to talk about patterns in the last two weeks.
In English we have moved on to creating our own piece of writing using the 'Pig the Pug' books as a stimulus. I am so proud of the hard work students are putting into their spelling knowledge and the have a go attitude they have with spelling more difficult words.
Some of our favourite times of the day in Year 1 at the moment is our morning exercise routine. This is key to helping students develop skills in balance, crossing their midline and building strength in muscles which has profound impact on their learning. We also love singing and actions to number songs which is not only a physical break but helps us to learn by practising every day in a fun and physical way.
I am sure they could sing some of the songs for you!
Well done to everyone for the great participation effort in Cross Country.
It will be great to see you at Parent/Teacher Interviews.
Emma Daniells and Jo Keleher
Yr 1 KS
In the last couple of weeks 1KS has busily been looking at “Family” in HASS – What makes a family? Who is in my Family? Can families live in separate houses? And many other questions. As a result, we have found that there are many types of families but the thing all families have in common is love for each other and support for each other as we go through our journey of life. This week we will begin our science unit which involves looking at Mini-Beasts … those little creepy crawlies that we find in our garden and sometimes even in our house! Don’t be surprised if you find your child out and about in the garden taking a look for some mini beasts to tell the class about!
The children have also been working very hard on the difference between “teen” and “ty” numbers. Teen numbers – obviously those numbers between 10 and 20. The “ty” numbers are the numbers that end in “ty” twenty, thirty, forty etc. Believe it or not getting their mouths around teen and ty is a skill that takes a lot of practice and the spelling and identification of these numbers is probably the most important skill children learn in math early in Year 1. I’m very happy to say most of the children are nailing it!! But a few of us still need a little more practice!
Don’t forget Library books on Mondays!!
Have a great week!
Kathy Spencer
Kathleen.Spencer@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 2 BH
All living things grow and change! Our pupae certainly looked dead, but they are definitely alive and they’ve been busy changing – unseen by us! We now have a container of fully grown adult darkling beetles! Now we start to turn our scientific observations into written information reports which includes a diagram of a lifecycle.
In other learning, we are adding to our repertoire of 2D shapes and counting in patterns to 999. (That’ll take a while!)
Remember to bring home readers back on Friday (or Monday at the latest) so as to collect another set of books to read!
Looking forward to meeting you at the upcoming Parent-Teacher interviews….
Mrs Hair
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” St Francis of Assisi
Yr 2/3 VN
Welcome to Week 6. Currently, in class, we are assessing our learning on numbers to 1 000 and 10 000. We have been learning how to count, order, represent and write these numbers. We will continue to work on these concepts throughout the year, but this will be used as data and information for our Parent/Teacher interviews and reporting occurring next week. In Math we are also looking at shape; features of 2D and 3D shape. We have also been busy doing our reading testing, so we have current data to help extend each student in this area, focusing on their current needs. In Science we are characterising things as living and nonliving and identifying what characteristics a living thing must have. NOTE: Parent/Teacher Interviews are next week. You can book through the Parent Portal.
Yr 3 RM
It has been a very busy few weeks in 3RM. In English we are using our senses to write descriptions of settings. In Maths we have continued working with place value and learnt about comparing and rounding numbers. In HASS we have been interpreting and representing climate data using graphs and tables. In Religion we have analysed the stories of Zaccheus and The Good Samaritan.
Yr 4 SC
The last fortnight has been very busy. We managed to get our garden beds organised and were able to plant our science experiments - snow peas, sugar snap peas and broad beans. We also planted tomatoes, capsicum, chillis, cucumber, watermelons and zucchinis. Hopefully, if we look after it, we will have a wonderful harvest next term. We continue to work on our research and projects about life for Indigenous Australians before the arrival of the Europeans. We began our speaking roster last week. Well done to the brave souls who stood before the class to present their first speeches. We are working hard on learning our times tables and number facts as these will help us to work well in other areas of Mathematics. We have a small group who come to school on a Tuesday to work on basic math concepts (8:10am). On Wednesday mornings we are meeting to work on spelling and vocabulary (8:10am). If you think your child would benefit from attending our morning tutorial group please ask him/her to meet at the waiting area outside the office. God Bless. Mrs Cox
Yr 4/5 PK
What another great fortnight of learning. We have been very busy in all subject areas. A highlight for many of us has been engaging in our visual arts lessons. This term we have been exploring the seven elements of art. The elements are line, shape, colour, form, space, value and texture. We have been making connections around how art can help us express our feelings. We were able to connect different colours to different feelings and different cultural beliefs. We spent some time exploring the differences between organic and geometric shapes. This led us into exploring the abstract mobile work of Alexander Calder. Calder’s work gave us inspiration to create our own organically abstract mobiles. This has added some extra colour and fun to our classroom too!
Until Next Time,
4/5PK
4/5PK Abstract Mobiles
Yr 5/6 TN
How are we so close to the end of Term One already? Everyone has been very busy working on their editing skills and we are very close to completing our first piece of written assessment for this year. This week in Mathematics we have dived into the world of telling the time and converting between 12 and 24 hour time. We have even had a very interesting conversation about daylight savings and if they would like us to have it here in Queensland. Year 6 students are taking it one step further and applying all of this knowledge to reading timetables and planning trips. Telling the time is a life skill and we do find ourselves surrounded by digital time pieces now, however, if you have an analogue clock feel free to occasionally check in and ask what the time is to allow your kiddos to keep these skills fresh.
Thank you to the Year 5 parents who have been very quick to reply and give permission for our excursion next week. It is a jam packed day, however, I can assure you the student's are going to love every minute! If you haven’t completed the online form for this excursion or need further information, please contact me via email.
Year 6 will attend their Brisbane excursion in Term 2, so watch this space!
Thank you to the Year 6 parents who have been living with mouldy bread around their homes for the past few weeks. The students had a wonderful time on Wednesday afternoon looking at all the grossness with the magnifying glasses. YUCK!
Until next time, stay safe.
Mrs Terri-An Nolan
Yr 6 LW
We’ve reached the stage in our English unit where we are drafting and editing a narrative, using all that we’ve been taught about paragraphing, vocabulary and structure.
Since mastering shapes in maths, we’ve moved onto exploring prime and composite numbers, and will begin working with decimal numbers before the end of term.
Thank you for your patience while mould was being grown for our Science unit – there were some spectacularly gross results! We spent time in class using magnifying glasses to examine the various strains of mould that had appeared
Parent teacher interviews are coming up and I hope to have the opportunity to meet with all the Year 6 parents, so I can let you know just how wonderful your children are and how much I enjoy working with them.
Take care,
Leigh Winters
Yammer Group
Awesome Emu is a brand new book in our school library and the Yammer Group has been working with the story during their vocabulary sessions on a Wednesday afternoon. The focus of this group is to have the students using as much rich language as they can and explore every aspect of the text. Awesome Emu is a story set way back, before once-upon-a-time time, in the Dreamtime. Awesome Emu is a very confident emu called Dinewah. He is tall, fast and colourful. Most of the other animals in the story believe that he is a show-off, but he is too busy talking about himself to take any notice. Dinewah is determined to show everyone that he can run and fly the furthest and the fastest. He even tries to fly to the Sun, but he never made it. At the end of the story it explains that Dinewah is still up in Father Sky and that you can see him on dark nights, when the Moon isn’t very bright. Many people know him as the Milky Way.
Over the past two weeks we have been exploring the Emu and Kangaroo characters from the book. The students have been brainstorming different vocabulary to describe them and posing lots of interesting questions.
This week Yammer Group students have also brought home patient forms for Goolburri Aboriginal Health Advancement. These forms are a part of an invitation for our Yammer Group students to have their 715 Health Checks completed at school during Term 2. Please check your emails to find further communication about this.
Until next time, stay safe.
Mrs Terri-An Nolan
Terri-An.Nolan@twb.catholic.edu.au
Don't forget to check the Calender in Sentral for important dates and happenings.
St Anthony's Outside School Hours Care
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.
St Anthony's OSHC Toowoomba
Coordinator: Jacinta Rixon
Phone: 0458 937 154 or 0458 897 293
Email: ANTcare@tckc.qld.edu.au
Story Box Library
Dear Parent/Carer,
We are delighted to let you know about an education resource that is available to your child
at home as part of our school subscription – Story Box Library .
Your child can watch favourite stories, read aloud by fabulous storytellers, at home as well
as in the classroom.
Reading aloud to children, in particular by diverse and engaging storytellers, greatly
improves language and literacy skills, especially in the early years of a child’s development.
Story Box Library is committed to supporting and engaging the practice of storytelling. It is
intended for use as a complementary form of delivering the precious experience of being
read aloud to, in order to improve children’s lives. Connecting children with literature
through the complementary medium of film, providing a vibrant, interactive experience via
a diverse range of storytellers sharing the best of our local children’s picture books.
To access Story Box Library at home:
1) Visit www.storyboxlibrary.com.au
2) Choose Log In from the top right corner of the screen
3) Log in using the username and password provided below
4) Enjoy the library of stories on any device with internet connection
Please note the following features:
● Story Box Library regularly adds new stories, so is an ever-growing library
● Content is aimed at Prep/Foundation through to Year 6 students
● Includes a range of short films to inspired by our stories, creators and storytellers
● Resources are provided for each story, including Classroom Ideas, Activity Time and
Student Task Sheets – all designed to assist at-home learning
● Captions can be turned on or off for each story
● Story Box Library is a safe online space free from advertising
