St Anthony's School Term 4 Week 4 2022

Principal's Report

Here we are at about the halfway mark of the final term of our 2022 school year.  It is at this time of the year we are in the thick of finalising one school year but at the forefront of our minds is planning for the next!!

We have a number of contract teaching positions to fill for next year.  These positions have been advertised both internally within our St Anthony’s staff and externally. These positions have already attracted many quality applicants and after a process of shortlisting, interviewing and appointing, we will be able to announce our 2023 teaching staff in the next newsletter.

I can confirm that our class structure for next year is comprised of 11 classes - 2 x Prep, 2 x Year 1, Year 2, Year 2/3, Year 3, Year 4/5, Year 4/5, Year 4/5 and Year 6.

Composite classes for us at St Anthony’s are inevitable and are where children thrive and learn in the same way as those in a straight class. There is no classroom that exists where all students are at the same level and require the same things, delivered in the same way. Our teachers are experienced and supported in adjusting the curriculum to cater to many diverse learning needs. Regardless of classroom structure, a child’s education comes down to the quality and effectiveness of the teacher and whether the classroom environment is conducive to learning.  We take great pride at St Anthony’s in our classrooms being calm, conducive places of learning and where behaviour expectations are clear and consistent. We are committed to having expert teachers who are invested in developing learners who are engaged, communicators, curious, persistent and proud.  Our school wide data also shows that students are not at all disadvantaged by learning in a composite class.

School Fees

You would have recently received this term’s school fee invoices which are emailed to all families each quarter. As Term 4 is shorter, it is vital that all outstanding accounts are rectified. Some families will be receiving follow up correspondence in the coming week to double check current situation or change of circumstances. Chasing up overdue fees is a very time consuming task. Your prompt payment allows us to successfully pay for class resources and extra-curricula activities. It also enables us to confidently enter into the new year in a good financial position to continue to offer quality teaching and learning experience, state of the art facilities and desired staffing levels.

We expect some kind of regular payment commitment from ALL families and for debts not to be ever increasing.

World Teacher’s Day

This Friday October 28,  is also the day in Queensland when World Teachers’ Day is celebrated. The teaching profession, while a very rewarding one, is also very demanding. Teachers have enormous responsibility and a very high work load. World Teacher’s Day provides you with an opportunity to thank your child’s teacher for the significant contribution they have had in the life of your child this year. I know they will appreciate any kind words you offer them and I guarantee you will feel good offering your appreciation.

Christmas Concert and Fair

Last Tuesday evening, a number of parents gathered to check in regarding plans for the upcoming Christmas Concert and Fair on Thursday, November 24.

Keep an eye out for rosters for helpers to sign up via the portal in the coming week.

If we all do our bit to help, everyone can enjoy the fair and not one person is stuck manning a stall for the entire night.

Food vans attending will be – dagwood dogs and hot chips, hot potatoes, Dippin’ Dots ice-cream, coffee van – hot drinks and frappes.

The stalls for each class:

Prep – gourmet donuts

Year 1 – toy raffles

Year 2 – glow sticks

Year 2/3 – face painting, balloons and show bags

Year 3 – lolly bags

Year 4 – slot cars

Year 4/5 – fairy floss

Year 5/6 – homemade arts and crafts

Year 6 – drinks

5 half ham raffles throughout the evening. (ticket sellers needed)

Jumping castle

All students will be performing in the Christmas concert commencing at 6.00pm on the deck under the big tree.

Santa will be present and available for people to take their own selfies!

This will be a cash only event.

This is a great night out for the whole family.  Can’t wait to see you there!

Year 6 Farewell Liturgy

This year, our Year 6 cohort will be farewelled at a liturgy at 9.00am on Tuesday, 29^th November in the church.  Fr Jamie will lead this celebration to recognise this momentous occasion.  There is no limit on family members attending this liturgy and we invite all family members to join us for a shared morning tea following the liturgy.

Until next newsletter…..God Bless

Louise

APRE News.....

Farewell Sister Maria

On Monday the whole school participated in a farewell prayer assembly for Sister Maria.  It was wonderful to be able to join as a school to thank Sister Maria for the support she has provided to all members of our community for over seven years.  Sister Maria has played a vital role within our school by not only connecting us to the Parish, but being a member of the Presentation sisters, who began our school over 60 years ago. She has been an ever-present connection to our past and a real-world example of how to keep the Presentation charism strong and relevant in this time. We wish her all the best as she begins a new chapter in her life.  She will always be a valued member of our school community and we hope to still see her regularly. 

Socktober

Thank you to all the students who wore their crazy socks last Friday and contributed to Catholic Mission.  These funds will go towards communities in Ethiopia where there is a food crisis occurring.  We were able to make four sockballs to have a shootout with the donated odd socks!  All the children were interested to see how effective a sock ball would be compared to a real soccer ball! Thankfully the balls held up well and not surprisingly, a goal with a sock ball was just as enthusiastically celebrated as kicking a goal with a real soccer ball. This was a fun way to make connections in the human experience, with the students putting themselves in another child’s shoes who do not have access to expensive real balls, like many of us take for granted! 

Day for Daniel Friday 28^th of October

Don’t forget to wear some red! Any coin donations will be collected for the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.  Day for Daniel provides a perfect occasion to highlight child safety and the roles all members of the community can play to protect children from harm.  Students will participate in protective behaviour lessons from the Daniel Morcombe Curriculum that align with the Health and Physical Education Curriculum.

Parish Family Mass

Our last Parish family mass of the year will be on November the 6^th  at 8.30am.  The following classes have been assigned to help on the day; 1ED, 2BH, 2/3VN, 3RM, 4/5PK and 5/6TN, however, all families within the school community are invited to attend.  Morning tea is held after Mass in the Parish Centre which is a lovely way to meet people from the parish and school. 

St Anthony’s Way

‘Be respectful’ is the next touchstone along the St Anthony’s Way pathway of ‘love of others.’  Often students will relate this directly to our behaviour expectations that state clearly; we show respect for ourselves, others and the environment. When learning about being respectful, students are always encouraged to understand how their behaviour affects others and how we can show respect with our words and our actions. Respectful behaviour is expected by everyone within our community and when that doesn’t occur we strive to follow a restorative approach to conflict resolution and behaviour management.  Last newsletter we looked at how to ‘be inclusive’ at St Anthony’s.  Without acknowledging the dignity of all who are members of our community and respecting our differences being inclusive would not be possible. Being inclusive and being respectful go hand in hand at St Anthony’s.

Middle Leader

World Teachers’ Day

This Friday the 28^th of October is World Teachers’ Day.  We will acknowledge this day and celebrate all the wonderful teachers that work tirelessly for the students in their care.  The theme this year is ‘hats off to teachers’. Just like most professions, teachers do not do what they do for accolades or acknowledgement, however, everyone likes to feel valued and appreciated for what they do.   I have never met a teacher who did not genuinely care for the children in their care and want the very best for them. I take my hat off to the teachers in our school who not only meet all the expectations that are required of them as professionals but show up every day with children’s progress and wellbeing foremost in their minds. Every member of our community is valued, students and teachers alike.  The African saying of ‘ubuntu’ comes to mind- there is no me without you.  St Anthony’s would not be the community it is without the wonderful teachers that we have.

Over the last few weeks, we have been conducting standardised testing on our students to gauge where they are at in terms of their reading and mathematical knowledge comparative to their peers.  These tests are a great opportunity to determine where students are excelling and where there might be gaps.  Conducting them at this time of year enables teachers to highlight and plan for revision of concepts that may need further consolidation as well as determine areas for exploration for students that may be high potential learners. As these tests are done annually, we can also determine how a student may have progressed from year to year.  This is just another example of how we strive to ensure all students are seen, considered and planned for at St Anthony’s.  You are very welcome to speak to your child’s teacher about these assessments if you are interested in their progress, achievement and areas for further growth.

Prep SR & TF

Welcome to Week 4!

It is great to see the sun out and finally a nice Spring day.

God bless,

Siobhan and Tracey.

Yr 1 ED & Yr 1 KS

Year  One is busy at the moment consolidating our year of learning and completing assessment.

We have recently completed a maths standardised test and we are very happy with the results.  This Friday we are completing another standardised test, this time in reading.

These provide valuable information to track progress along with our regular class work and daily observations. 

We are also hearing students read one on one again this week within class time so you may hear your student talking  about "going up a level".  

This Friday is "Day for Daniel." Children can wear red. It is a free clothes day so if they wear a red shirt for example, they do not have to wear uniform shorts.  Sensible shoes and school hat are required.  We will revise the Child Safety Curriculum on this day. Please bring a gold coin which will be donated the work of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation. 

Finally, the Christmas fair will be here before we know it.  Year One is running a toy raffle.  We are asking everyone to donate a new toy to add to hampers for the raffles.  Donations will automatically give you 3 tickets in the draw! We have had a couple of donations come in. Thank you for supporting this event which raises funds to put back into our school. 

Kathy and Emma

Yr 2 BH

Grandparents Day was a lot of fun!  We had a very interesting and informative time talking, writing and drawing about what it was like in the ‘Olden days’ (I remember it like it was only yesterday!)  The children and their grandparents compared todays living with that of yesteryear. The children couldn’t believe some of the things that went on!!  We hope you enjoyed the morning as well!

Thank you to those wonderful parents who take the time and effort required to sit with your child to read each day and to complete homework tasks. It reinforces skills taught in the classroom and for just 10 minutes a day, boosts your child’s confidence when they can recall spelling and tables quickly.

The next round of reading ‘running records’ has begun and the children are completing assessment tasks across all subjects every couple of days in the lead up to the writing of report cards.

Mrs Hair

“All will be right with time and a little patience.” -Mary MacKillop 1873

Yr 2/3 VN

Welcome to our Week 4 newsletter.  In Math, we have been working very hard on our 0, 1, 2 and 10 times tables.  A big thank you to the parents who have been working on these skills at home; it is evident in some students’ progress and learning.  Please never underestimate the impact that consolidating learning at home can have on your children’s understanding.  We welcomed our Grandparents last week and it was so lovely to see the special connection between each one of them.  We are currently completing our reading testing and it is great to see so much growth in our reading.  Again, if there was ONE thing I would ask of a parent, is to read to your child/ren.  I know our lives are busy, but the learning and bonding that can come from that time is worth so much more.

Yr 3 RM

It is certainly a very busy time in 3RM at the moment. In HASS we have learnt about the democratic decision-making process and the importance of making rules this way to ensure fairness. In English we are identifying poetic devices while analysing poems. In Maths we have been revising addition with regrouping and creating digital graphs. In Religion we have investigated Jesus' mission to share the messages of God and how this applies to us.

Thank you to everyone who has already sent in lollies for our Christmas Fair stall. It is greatly appreciated.

Yr 4 SC

The last two weeks have been very productive in 4SC. Our poetry portfolios are progressing well with students allowing their creativity to be expressed through language. Many have surprised themselves with how well their poems are received by their peers. Maths continues to challenge us as short division can be confusing, especially when we do not know our times tables. We are currently developing strategies to help with this. In science we learnt about the power of forces by interleaving two books and trying to pull them apart. It was surprisingly difficult! In HASS we have been looking at the journey of the First Fleet and discussing the differing historical perspectives of their arrival in New South Wales. We look forward to another productive fortnight. God Bless. Mrs Cox

Ode to Cake

Oh, cake!

There are so many colours and kinds.

Your flavour crumbles in my mouth,

the icing on top of you is always delicious!

A single bite sends me to the land of joy and sweetness!

I wish I could eat you for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You'll always be my sweet heaven.

You are my destiny.

Oh, cake...how I love you!

by Emily M

Crocodiles

Vicious crocs are not

nice to humans and others

of their kind at all.

Alex R

Service Dogs

Service dogs,

helpful, calming,

Playing, opening, guiding,

A heart-warming member of my family,

Buddy.

Amber L

Yr 4/5 PK

Year 4/5 have had a great fortnight. It was wonderful to see last week's support during Crazy Sock Day! We sure had some crazy socks on.

We have busily been learning poetic devices and we have been putting these devices into practice through our writing of poetry.  We have also been making significant progress in reading.  We have had some shared experiences in small groups where we have been using different comprehension strategies.  We are currently working on creating budgets and calculating change in maths lessons.  I encourage extra practice around this at home and out in the real world – try and involve your child in shopping experiences, particularly where cash is used and change needs to be calculated.

Until next time.

4/5PK.

Yr 5/6 TN

Persuade the Persuadable – Everyone can be persuaded, given the right timing and context! This term in English we have been looking at Persuasive text. This worked in very well with our Grandparents Day last week as the students and grandparents brainstormed the pros and cons of education in their time vs today. The students are now using this information to formulate their argument of when schooling was better. I have to admit, I am very excited about the different creative ways the students have decided to present these arguments.

Last week I sent home an email about our Christmas Fair Stall. Our class has a homemade craft stall and I am very blessed to have a grandmother that has been using this as an excuse all year to potter around and make us some different projects. If you happen to have a talent or something to share, please send me an email.

Until next time,

Terri-An Nolan

Yr 6 LW

We are masters of poetry in 6LW! Enjoy these acrostic poems about our trip to Tangalooma.

The resort was fun                                                       

All day in the sun

Night was as silent as a mouse

Great beaches all over

At the wrecks where we snorkeled

Lovely sights to see

Outside all day

On the sands of the bay

Moreton Island

Awesome things to do!

   - Xavier Cullen

Tropical and sandy

Amazing in beauty

Never do you feel lonely

Gazing at the clear blue sea

Absolutely an amazing experience

Loving and caring staff always there to help

O great mother nature thriving with ease

Octopus lurking near and far

Majestic creatures everywhere you are

Amazing is the word that describes Tangalooma!

      - Novak Jayamanne

Tobogganing

Australia’s third biggest sand island

Nighttime was when we fed the dolphins

Glass-bottomed boat trip

Attending a school camp

Learning about Moreton Island

Observing the fish

Ocean was very cold to swim in

Making sandcastles with friends

Activities that were fun

-Sharna Mason

Tobogganing down colossal sand dunes was delightful

Australia’s third biggest sand island

Nighttime illuminated tour on a glass bottomed boat feeding the fish

Genuine connections formed with my cabin mates

Astonishingly large variety of marine life

Lifeless starfish and jellyfish laying on the shore

Overwhelmed with excitement as we first arrived

Orange and yellow fading sunset every night

Microscopic sea lice biting me in the water

Awakening eco talk about the environment

      - Sophia Kmita

Transparent jellyfish

All around the southern part of the island

Nighttime dolphin feeding

Glass bottomed boat dancing

Around the resort scavenger hunt

Looking at shipwrecks up close

Overnight stay

Octopus hiding from snorkelers

Massive sand dunes

Among hundreds of birds

      - Erin Richardson

Mayoral Medal Awards for 2022

Last night Mrs Pfingst and Mrs Nolan had the honour of attending the Toowoomba Regional Council: Mayoral Medal Awards for 2022. This year’s St Anthony’s nominated student was Sadie Schick.

Sadie has shown remarkable growth throughout this year, actively acknowledging where she requires adult guidance and taking ownership of her own learning. She has developed her resilience as she has learnt to cope with the academic demands of being in Year Six; displaying an increased commitment to her schoolwork and home tasks despite experiencing difficulties. Sadie arrives at school each day with a positive attitude, bright smile and a determination to do her best no matter what the task involves. She has made great strides in actively contributing to class discussions and sharing her knowledge with her peers. Sadie has not only expanded her personal confidence and skills but consistently exhibits the school value of "love of learning". This award recognises Sadie’s commitment to setting and achieving her specific education and social goals and to improving her personal development and social skills. Congratulations Sadie, we are all so proud of you!

As a school we congratulate Sadie on her achievements and this special award.

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