St Anthony's School Term 3 Week 2 2022
Principal's News
Let’s hope everyone has had a recharging break from the busyness of school routines and this term we look forward to continuing a productive partnership with you to ensure your children can achieve their highest potential. We recognize that in order to be successful in school, our children need support from both the home and school. We know a strong partnership with you will make a great difference in your child’s education. As partners, we share the responsibility for our children’s success and want you to know that we will do our very best to carry out our responsibilities. Please come and see me should you have any concerns or queries regarding your child’s education. No problem or issue is too big or small!
This term is already shaping up to be action packed. Please ensure you read the newsletter each fortnight and check the Sentral Portal each day to keep abreast of what’s happening! I am still frustrated when I hear parents say that they are not accessing the portal but are quick to point out about not knowing about school happenings. Please let Kim know in the office, if you are having issues accessing the portal. It is our main platform of communication between home and school and it is your responsibility to actively and regularly check for news and updates.
I would like to say a special thank-you to Anne-Maree Spalding for once again directing our senior school musical. I always admire the personal growth of these students under Anne-Maree’s guidance and tutelage. Dance and drama are both components of the Arts Curriculum and learning lines and lyrics, voice projection, pace, intonation and expression are just a few skills that are developed and refined through such an experience. Each year, there are students who would never voluntarily opt to participate in a stage performance but actually realise they enjoy it and aim to pursue acting at high school. We see them going from initial reluctance to blossoming on the stage. Like with learning any new skill, it’s a privilege to witness this growth.
At the end of this week, Anne-Maree is talking long service leave for the remainder of the term to enjoy some travel overseas and we look forward to welcoming Anne-Maree back in Term 4.
Catholic Education Week
Celebrated annually in Week 3 of Term 3, Catholic Education Week is an opportunity for all 309 Catholic schools in Queensland to celebrate and promote their distinctive mission and ethos.
Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.
Through next week, , we will be celebrating Catholic Education Week and what it means to us as a community here at St Anthony’s. We have a delegate of staff and students who are attending the official launch of CEW at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Tuesday at 10.00am.
On Friday, 29th July all staff from our Catholic Schools in Toowoomba will meet on their individual campuses for the annual Bishop’s Inservice Day, a day of formation and collaboration. This will be a pupil free day and TCKC will provide care if needed on this day.
St Anthony’s Student Protection Contacts
The safety and wellbeing of our students here at St Anthony’s is a high priority. As with all non-state schools, we have nominated School Student Protection Contacts, who are staff members that students can raise concerns of abuse, harm or inappropriate behaviour.
Here at St Anthony’s, our School Student Protection Contacts are
- Louise Pfingst
- Katie Hauser
- Leigh Winters
- Jennifer Fenn
All school staff regularly receive training and information to be able to respond to student protection issues.
Parent Partnership Forum
Thank you to everyone who came to our PPF gathering on Tuesday evening. It was lovely to see some new faces. At this gathering, we looked at our 4 Year Strategic Plan, outlining our strategic priorities that were identified in our Quadrennial School review at the end of 2020.
This is also available for perusal on our website.
We also had some discussion around a parent engagement event for this term and we decided that with the current situation with Covid that we won’t have an event as such but we will hold an information session for parents to come along one evening for a session around the teaching and assessing of reading. This will be valuable for parents of students of all ages and will also provide an opportunity for questions and answers and how you can assist your child at home with his/her reading. This session will be held on Tuesday, 30th August at 6.30pm in the Assembly Hall.
We will be holding our annual Christmas Concert and Fair on Thursday, 25th November where once again we will have market stalls, food vans and each class performing a song. This is traditionally a lovely night out for the whole family and a great way to celebrate another year of coming together as a community at St Anthony’s.
Until next newsletter…..God Bless
Louise
Louise.Pfingst@twb.catholic.edu.au
APRE News.....
Catholic Education Week
Next week we celebrate Catholic Education Week. Celebrated annually in Week 3 of Term 3, Catholic Education Week is an opportunity for all 309 Catholic schools in Queensland to celebrate and promote our distinctive mission and ethos.
Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society. The theme of this year’s celebration is Communities of Faith, Hope and Love. We have been asking the students this week what it means to be in a community of faith, hope and love. Their answers clearly show that St Anthony’s is a place where students can not only feel that they are a community defined by these values, but they can also articulate how they contribute to that community in through their actions. As we travel the St Anthony’s Way along the love of learning and love of others pathways, we are reminded of the touchstones of our school community that make us uniquely who we are and shape who we will continue to be long after our time in this community has come to an end. That is certainly something to celebrate this week!
We will begin Catholic Education Week on Monday the 25th with a liturgy of the word on parade at 8.40. On Friday 29th July, all students have a Pupil Free Day, whilst teachers across the diocese participate in the annual Bishop’s Inservice Day.
NAIDOC Week
This week we reflected upon NAIDOC Week which fell during the holidays. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians - whatever their heritage - to come together to learn about and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and their achievements, culture and contributions to our great land. The Yamma group proudly led the school in a prayer assembly. We have further activities planned later in the term to celebrate and explore Indigenous culture that unfortunately we had to cancel due to sickness this week.
God of love and compassion, you are the creator of this land and of all its people. We pray that we work together so that all people’s culture, spirituality, traditions and customs are respected and valued. May we get up, stand up and show up and build strong relationships that seek out justice and equality for all.
Middle Leader
ICAS Assessments
Parents of students in Years 2-6 are invited to consider if they would like their child 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 assessments is Sunday the 1st of August. The students participating will sit the assessments at school in mid to late August.
Life Education Van
Next week we are fortunate to have the Life Education Van visiting the school and conducting sessions with each year level. Life Education is a program designed to deliver components of the Health and Physical Education Curriculum in an engaging and thought-provoking way for students. All modules delivered are age appropriate and matched to each year levels curriculum. Some of the topics taught include nutrition, healthy eating and the importance of physical activity, personal safety, respectful relationships and emotional well-being, Cybersafety and strategies to combat cyber-bullying and legal and illegal drugs including alcohol and tobacco.
Prep SR & TF
It’s hard to believe that half the year has already flown by! Term 3 is looking to be action packed! On Tuesday, August 2, we will be celebrating our '100th Day of School' and inviting the Preppies to dress up as 100 year olds. Home readers have started this week and are to be returned each Monday with Library books. In English we are learning about all about Rhyme and Character Traits. In Maths, we are beginning to learn about concept of addition. In Science, we are learning all about Materials and their properties. In HASS, our unit is called 'Places We Belong', looking at our homes/our school and then our community. In Health we are learning all about 'Connie Confidence' and ways that we can show confidence. Book Week is in Week 7. The theme this year is 'Dreaming with Eyes Open'-so start thinking about costumes. We are looking forward to a terrific Term 3 and your continued support. Tracey and Siobhan
Yr 1 ED & Yr 1 KS
Welcome back! Term 3 is already well underway with our children settling back into their routines very well. This term we have a big focus – as always - on reading, so please remember that we have library every Monday and at home reading is one of the best ways to support your child in their learning. Our literary focus this term is 'The Very Cranky Bear Collection' by Nick Bland. We will be reading this series of books together and responding to the messages and illustrations of this group of very amusing stories. I am hoping you will hear all about these books from your child. In mathematics we will be investigating numbers to 120, shapes, measurement, and capacity of objects as well as probability of events occurring. We will also be investigating the weather and seasons, our special places and our environment – natural, constructed and managed. We will also reading and responding to stories from the Old Testament and discussing what we can learn from these stories.
We are gearing up for a busy term, so stay tuned for regular updates from the Year 1 classrooms!
Have a wonderful week and God Bless!
Emma Daniels and Kathy Spencer
Yr 2 BH
And so… it begins again! The students have bounced back in the door ready to learn and seemingly well rested! We have hit the ground running and are already working hard.
Homework begins this week. Please check TEAMS for the notes. All children get a paper copy in their ‘homework readers pouch’ on a Monday as well.
Read one book reading every night!
Listening to your child read each day is the most important thing you can do the help us help them progress at school. Readers are swapped at the library every Monday. Please remind your child to bring the old ones back on this day.
The next round of reading assessments begins next week.
Congratulations to Katy, and her family, on the birth of your new little brother, Hudson. We hope you are all getting enough sleep!
Mrs Hair
“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” -Plato
Barbara.Hair@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 2/3 VN
Welcome to Term 3! The year seems to be flying by, but thankfully our learning is still on a high. This term in English we will be learning about Information Reports that will be linked to our HASS learning on Celebrations. We will inquire about how the Commonwealth Games are a celebration and demonstrate how people from across the world come together for this event. Students will then write an Information Report based off an athlete from the Commonwealth Games. In Science we are going to learn about resources; what are they, what uses do they have and what happens if we run out of them? In Math, we are learning about money; Year 2s will count collections and Year 3s will find change to the nearest 5c. We will also be collecting data and representing them in graph form while still focusing on our quick addition and subtraction skills.
In other news, I (Ms Nauschutz- just to clarify) am expecting a new addition to my family in January next year. This will not affect this school year and I will be able to finish off the year as planned.
Reminders:
- Music is TUESDAY
- Library is WEDNESDAY
- PE is THURSDAY
Yr 3 RM
Welcome back! We have hit the ground running, getting straight into learning. In English we have been learning about the language and text features of information texts. In Maths we have been practising division as sharing and revisited some place value. In Religion, we have investigated Pentecost and the sacrament of Confirmation. In HASS we have continued learning about historical narratives and how we can find out about the past using sources.
Yr 4 SC
Welcome to Term 3. 4SC students are bringing their 'A' game to this term. As we enter into Semester 2 they realise how important it is to follow the St Anthony's Way of being engaged and being curious about learning. In Geography we are investigating how humans impact the natural environments of Australia, Africa and South America. Please test your child on the states, territories and capital cities of Australia as it seems their memories of Year 3 have faded! In Mathematics we wondered about the symmetry of faces, so we tested out our theories with some amusing results. In English we are looking at information texts and will be creating infographics about one of our Geography topics. Please continue to encourage your child to read every day for at least 20 minutes. In Science we are looking at our Earth's changing surface. Be prepared for the invitation to send in your soil samples later in the term! God Bless. Mrs Cox
Sharon.Cox@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 4/5 PK
Welcome back to Term 3! A very special welcome to our two new students in 4/5PK, Noah and Thais. We are so pleased you have joined us. We have certainly hit the ground running and we are working hard. This term we have started Geography lessons. In Year 4 we will be learning all about Africa & South America and in Year 5 we will be learning about North America and Europe. In English we are continuing to develop our reading and comprehension skills, spelling strategies and we will work towards publishing a piece of informative writing. To start the term off in Religion we will be exploring the sacraments. Maths has seen us continue working on measurement. Check out our photos to see the fun we had in the sandpit last week. We were busy estimating and calculating how much sand we could fit into certain measuring containers. We look forward to sharing more about our term and learning journey next fortnight. Until then, take care!
4/5PK & Mrs Kingsford.
Peta.Kingsford@twb.catholic.edu.au
Yr 6 LW
If the past two weeks are anything to go by, we are in for a busy term!
Year 6 have begun learning about volcanoes and other natural disasters in Science, introduced mapping and an exploration of Asia for HASS, as well as understanding time zones in Maths. Working with fractions will be our focus for the next few weeks. Our English unit is an in-depth study of the critically acclaimed novel 'Wonder', by R.J. Palacio. Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy are the first focus in Religion this term.
With all this activity, we definitely have a busy term ahead of us; and it is up to each one of us to stay on task 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.”
Thanks
Leigh
leigh.winters@twb.catholic.edu.au
Performing Arts
Calamity James
Congratulations to our Year Six Students and the Year Five Chorus who made last Thursday such a memorable evening for themselves, their families and their school. I know at times that I did not think we would make it – but we did! Well done.
Thank you to Mrs Hauser and Mrs Pfingst for organising the tickets and front of house details, to Mrs Doherty and Mrs Foster for supervising in the Library and Mrs Nolan who kept everything moving backstage in spite of a sore throat and scratchy voice. Thanks again to the students and parents who helped out along the way with working bees and organising props and sets. I’m very excited to have a new ‘black box’ to use on stage, to replace the one made for us in 2004! Thank you to the Salmon Family who noticed a need and who stepped up to do something about it. If anyone wants a copy of the programme for their ‘memory boxes’ – please let me know and I will print off some extra copies for the students. I loved the pictures Mrs Pfingst took during the show – it was great to see how much energy you showed and how great your costumes looked.
Eisteddfod Solo Poems
We have 9 students taking part in the next section of the Toowoomba Eisteddfod. These students should all have copies of their poems to rehearse with, as well as information letting them know the dates and approximate times of their performances. Remember – I will not be at the Eisteddfod to watch you perform. You don’t need me to play the piano for you! Family has the responsibility of bringing and supporting children at the Eisteddfod Hall. I will be very excited to find out how you went afterwards!
- Tuesday 2nd August 8.30am session
- Year 3 and Under Humorous Solo Poem – Caiden F
- Year 4 Humorous Solo Poems – Florence C, Tiffany G, Sophia S
- Year 6 Verse Speaking Novice – Chloe S
- Wednesday 3rd August 8.30am session
- Year 3 Verse Speaking Solo – Ivy S, Juliette L
- Thursday 4th August 8.30am session
- Year 2 Verse Speaking Solo – Scarlett W, Adut M
CHOIR and CHILDREN’S CHOIR
Choir will be put on hold for Term Three while I take a holiday and travel overseas! I am very excited to be able to attend the wedding of an ex-St Anthony’s student in Philadelphia, USA. Maybe I’ll be able to find some great new music to bring back for our choir. We will continue to have the responsibility of leading the singing on the first Sunday of each month at St Anthony’s Parish Church. I will be at mass on Sunday the 7th August if anyone is available to come along and join us at the 8.30am mass. Sr Maria will be playing for the mass on the 3rd September and would also appreciate your support. I will be back for the 2nd October!
Thanks,
Anne-Maree
Anne-Maree.Spalding@twb.catholic.edu.au
Social Development Fact Sheet
Installation of Flashing School Zone Signs
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
Phone: 0458 937 154 or 0458 897 293
Email: ANTcare@tckc.qld.edu.au
