St Anthony's School Term 2 Week 4 2022
Principal's News
Welcome to our Week 4! I hope you’re all surviving these interesting weather conditions. Let’s hope we see the sun very soon! Our students are coping remarkably well considering.
NAPLAN
This week our Year 3 and 5 students are participating in the annual NAPLAN testing. Writing – Tuesday, 10th May, Reading – Wednesday, 11th May, Conventions of Language – Thursday, 12th May, Numeracy – Friday 13th May. We have scheduled the tests so students will access one assessment per day, with time over the coming week available for catchups in case of absence due to illness. These tests will take place in the morning session each day for Year 3 and the middle session for Year 5.
Please be mindful that NAPLAN provides literacy and numeracy data about how a student is performing at a point-in-time. NAPLAN can also provide additional information about a student’s progress to the classroom teacher which may guide teaching and learning practices at our school. To prepare your child for NAPLAN testing days, please maintain normal routines at home. Ensure your child has a good night's sleep, eats a substantial breakfast, has nutritious food in his/her lunchbox, and comes to school with a positive attitude.
The testing results will be provided in a report to parents in July which will be uploaded to the portal.
Mother’s Day
Even as Jesus was dying, His thoughts were with Mary, who was present at the foot of the Cross as a loving mother; present for Him despite the pain it caused her. When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. John: 19 26-27 This well-known Bible verse captures not only the devotion and sacrifice of motherhood, but the respect and love that we should show our mothers, and those who take on a maternal role in our lives. Last Sunday, we celebrated Mother’s Day – an opportunity to give thanks for the women in our lives who do so much to support and strengthen our families. ` On Friday morning, our staff catered for a Mother’s Day breaky which was very well attended. Thank you to Alicia Fitzpatrick and Tracey Page for preparing and selling the goodies at our annual Mother’s Day stall. Our assembly on Friday morning led by 3RM provided a very meaningful and beautiful tribute to mothers. On a personal note, let’s hope all those in our community who are mothers, mother figures, grandmothers, guardians, and aunts felt surrounded by love on Sunday.
2023 Prep Interviews
This week, Mrs Foster and I are conducting our first round of interviews for our intake of Prep students for 2023. Just about every family so far has told me that they know about St Anthony’s from word of mouth and the positive image in the community. This occurrence is really two signs of a great school, one being the high level of interest and the other is those within the community are very happy and proud to speak positively about life here at St Anthony’s. For this, I sincerely thank you as word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool any organization would dearly love to have.
Pizza and Disco Evening
We are looking forward to our first whole school Disco and Pizza evening this Friday 13th May from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. All pizza orders have now been placed. Pizza will be served at 5.30pm and the disco will run from 6.00 – 8.00pm. Softdrinks, poppers and water will be available for purchase with cash only.
We can’t wait to see you there!
Until next newsletter….God Bless!
Louise
Louise.Pfingst@twb.catholic.edu.au
APRE News.....
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the Mothers and female role models within our community. What a special morning it was last Friday to see all the Mothers who were able to attend the breakfast and those who could come to the Prayer Assembly. I was reminded of our St Anthony’s School Prayer when I reflected upon the lovely morning generously organised and prepared by staff and students in recognition of all mothers.
“Let love abide here,
love for one another and love for life itself.
Let us remember;
That just as many hands build a house;
So many hearts make a school.”
Our core business as a school is to educate young minds, however what makes our school so special is the way we educate the hearts and hands of our students as they travel the St Anthony’s Way. Our sense of community comes alive as we follow the ‘love of others’ pathway.
We continue to keep in our thoughts and prayers the students travelling along their sacramental journey; Florence, Kristopher, Jennessarae, Jaxon, Charly, Kaleesha, Abut, Emily, Liam, Taysean, Sophia, Charlotte and Leonardo. These students will make their Confirmation on Wednesday the 25th of May at 5pm in the church. Just a reminder to those students, that there will be a Confirmation practice on Monday the 25th from 5.30-6.30pm
Middle Leader
NCCD
In August this year, once again, we are required to complete the National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD). The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) takes place every year.
The NCCD is a collection that counts:
- The number of school students receiving an adjustment or ‘help’ due to disability.
- The level of adjustment they are receiving to access education on the same basis as other students.
Students are counted in the NCCD if they receive ongoing adjustments at school due to disability. This ‘help’ allows them to access education on the same basis as a child without disability. The NCCD uses the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Schools provide this information to education authorities. The period of time must be at least 10 weeks of support from the previous 12 months of learning (August 2021-August 2022). The disability could be temporary or permanent in nature.
All schools in Australia must collect information about students with disability.
The NCCD:
- Ensures that the information collected is transparent, consistent and reliable.
- Provides better information that improves understanding of students with disability.
- Allows parents, guardians, carers, teachers, principals, education authorities and government to better support students with disability.
The following students are examples of those who may be included in the NCCD if they need monitoring and adjustments:
- Students with an existing verification under the Education Adjustment Program.
- Students with learning difficulties (such as dyslexia, ADHD).
- Students with chronic health conditions (such as epilepsy or diabetes).
- Students receiving support from welfare team on an ongoing basis.
Previously, we alerted families that NCCD was occurring via the newsletter. For the 2022 collection, we are required to contact each family to notify you that your child will be included in the NCCD count. Your child’s identifying details ARE NOT included in the count. You may have already had a conversation with your child’s teacher about the types of adjustments that he/she requires to access learning. You will receive communication from the school in coming weeks if your child is to be included in the NCCD count.
Please refer to the NCCD factsheet below for further information or contact the school and we’re happy to discuss further.
Prep SR & TF
Welcome to Week 4! Thank you to all the Mothers and Grandmothers who attended our Prep Mother’s Day pampering afternoon. The children had a lovely time planning and preparing for the event. In Science we are continuing to investigate the weather, changes in the weather and how it influences the clothing we wear. In Maths, we are continuing to develop our number knowledge as well as exploring patterns and collecting data through answering yes/no questions and we have started learning how to subitise. In Religion, we are learning Good News Stories about Jesus and we visited the church last week with Mrs Hauser. The Preppies are being ‘detectives’ each week and are asked to find 1 thing in their home that starts with the “Letter of the Week” and bring it in for the week.
Tracey and Siobhan
Siobhan.Rush@twb.catholic.edu.au
Tracey.Francis@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 1 ED
As we continue to learn about Australian animals we are excited that we will be seeing a show at the Empire theatre in the upcoming weeks on one of the books we have studied. Keep tuned for more information!
Over the next few weeks the students will start to write simple reports on an Australian animal. We have had great fun learning about Australian animals and I look forward seeing this learning in their reports.
In maths we have started to investigate addition. This will continue to be a focus all term. Some great homework opportunities here for students to practise counting on to help with addition.
Library has returned to Monday and I look forward to seeing everyone borrowing again weekly.
Thanks Emma Daniells and Jo Keleher
Emma.Daniells@twb.catholic.edu.au
Jo.Keleher@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 1 KS
Well, another exciting fortnight has unfolded in Yr 1 and we have been continuing our learning about fiction and non-fiction. As part of our study, we have been reading stories and information about Australian animals. Last week we read a story about Edward the Emu. It was a great story. The very next day it was advertised at the Empire Theatre! So Yr 1 will now be having an exciting excursion to the theatre on Tuesday 24th May. It was lovely to see so many mums at the Mother’s Day breakfast last Friday. We hope you enjoyed your little bag of heartfelt and hand made goodies from your child!
Take care and God’s blessings on you all!
Kathy Spencer
Yr 2 BH
With our first five day week in a while, this week has seen the resumption of Show and Tell. The format is that the children speak for 1 to 2 minutes on a nominated topic. At this stage, no preparation from home is necessary.
Last week we were introduced to the Ben and his dragon friends in “Rascal” by Paul Jennings. This week we continue getting to know the characters in this fun book series and start to write descriptions of them. Ask your child about a character they like. See what they can remember!
Monday is again the day when Library books and homework readers are due back at school ready for new books to come home.
We’re still trying to collect 1000 milk bottle tops. So far we have 10, so just 990 to go!! Please wash them and send to the Year 2 room.
Thank you,
Mrs Hair
Barbara.Hair@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 2/3 VN
Welcome to Week 4! This week has been a bit of a different week as it is NAPLAN week for our Year 3 students. On Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday our Year 3 students spent the morning session completing their NAPLAN testing while the Year 2 students remained in class. During this time, we optimised the opportunity to teach Year 2 specific learning- for example, Science where they learnt about mixtures.
In English this term we are learning about nouns and verbs and our genre is persuasive writing. We have been focusing on sentence and paragraph structures used in this genre.
Reminders:
Library: FRIDAY
Homework: Ask Ms Nauschutz or Mr Tattam if you want homework to complete at home.
Disco: This Friday
Vicki.Nauschutz@twb.catholic.edu.au
Ory.Tattam@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 3 RM
In English we have been working on our persuasive writing skills. In Maths we have started working with fractions. We have named the parts of a fraction and learned that fractions are all around us in everyday life. In HASS we have continued to compare places and are consolidating all of our learnings from the unit. In Religion we have posed questions about the Sacrament of Baptism and have started an inquiry to learn more. We also discussed some of the early history of our school and parish.
Rebecca.More@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 4 SC
As the workload picks up it is pleasing to see most students trying their best to meet learning expectations. Fractions and decimals has been a challenging concept and many students are finding themselves in the learning pit. We are working hard to climb out by repetition and practise. We investigated the differences between rules and laws and identified the difference between equality and equity. Sr Maria came to visit and shared some of her insights into how St Anthony's Parish supports the community. She shared some of her journey and answered many questions the students had about what it is like being a nun. You may find your children a little more argumentative (sorry!) as we learn to use tier 2 and 3 words to express our opinions when discussing persuasive topics. It was wonderful to see so many of you attend our Mother's Day breakfast. Thank you for your support! God Bless. Mrs Cox
Sharon.Cox@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 4/5 PK
We have been extremely busy in 4/5PK! Happy Mother’s Day to all our mums and special women who protect, inspire, teach, and love us in our lives. Each student put great thought and lots of love into their gifts last week. We sadly farewelled Miss Morton who had joined us over the last couple of weeks. It was wonderful having a pre-service teacher in our classroom. This week has seen Year 5 begin the NAPLAN testing process. I have been so proud of our Year 5s – it has been a busy week and they have been coping tremendously well. In our mathematics lessons we have been exploring fractions. Last week we enjoyed getting outside as a group and creating a fraction number line. We have been working on our persuasive writing skills by exploring different topics and studying cereal boxes. We have decided that the power of advertising is quite persuasive!
Peta.Kingsford@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 5/6 TN
Week 4 and we are finishing up our first cycle of English for this term. Reading 'ANZAC Girl' together and then being able to create our own bookends was so much fun. Our next cycle of English is going to be a novel study. Together as a class we are going to read 'Rowan of Rin' by Emily Rodda. I can’t wait until we are able to dive into the characters of this book and share with you all the wonderful things we learn about the writing of a narrative.
Congratulations to the Year 5 students of our class participating in the NAPLAN testing this week. I appreciate your positive attitudes and love the positive support you have shown each other over the course of the different testing.
Until next time, stay safe and warm!
Mrs Terri-An Nolan
Yr 6 LW
At the moment, Year 6 is examining information texts in English specifically, learning how to write and follow a procedure. This is integrated with our Science unit on reversible and irreversible changes, where everyone will demonstrate an experiment to the class and write it down as a procedure for the rest of us to follow. This task is due in Week 6, with the experiments being demonstrated on Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th May.
After spending some time conducting a chance and data investigation, we are now moving on to understanding one of the very important concepts in maths; the order of operations (or BODMAS) before exploring negative integers.
For Design Technology, we’re designing a bird house for our back yards. Students have already been given the assessment task and are planning their designs. This will be constructed at school in Week 7 – Thursday 2nd June.
Australia’s civics and citizenship history is our current focus in HASS, which will lead into a research task in the near future.
Please note that all assessment due dates are recorded on a Teams calendar which all students have access to. It's in the General tab of 6LW Teams. They should also be writing important dates in a diary so as to not miss these deadlines!
Did somebody say holiday??
Sumpai Jumpa!
Leigh.Winters@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yammer Group
The past week in Yammer Group has been busy! During our Wednesday afternoon vocabulary session, we started looking at different environments and the animals that might live in each one. It was great to listen while the older and younger students worked together sharing their knowledge and learning new ways of describing places and animals.
Also last week we prepared for Mother’s Day. Each student painted a pot for their mum or special female role model. It was truly lovely to see how differently each pot turn out.
I hope you enjoyed your weekend together celebrating Mother’s Day.
Until next time, keep safe.
Mrs Terri-An Nolan
Terri-An.Nolan@twb.catholic.edu.au
Mathematic Team Challenge
Last Tuesday, nine students from Years 5 and 6 attended the annual Mathematic Team Challenge hosted by St Ursula’s College.
We had two teams who spent their morning putting all their skills and knowledge to the test to solve some very tricky problems.
Mrs Doherty and I were very proud of the way that all the students worked together, tried their best and never gave up.
Congratulations on a fabulous morning.
We can’t wait to go back and have another go next year!
Mrs Terri-An Nolan
Terri-An.Nolan@twb.catholic.edu.au
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
Recently Mrs Pfingst, Christian and Keesha attended the Mayoral Morning Tea. They are pictured here with Cr Geoff McDonald and Cr Megan O'Hara Sullivan. Cr O'Hara Sullivan's children all attended St Anthony's.
