St Anthony's School - Term 1 Week 6 2021

Principal's News.....

Welcome to our Week 6 newsletter!

From all accounts, everyone was impressed with our new newsletter format!

Recognise, React, Report!

All members of the school community are entitled to a safe, secure and caring environment. At St Anthony’s, everyone has the right to feel respected and valued and every member of the school community has a responsibility to ensure that this happens. We have a behaviour management policy, a bullying policy, a clear statement of our values, behaviour expectations and a curriculum that is explicit and implicit in this area. We also promote the students’ sense of concern and responsibility by providing positive role models and building self-esteem. These are among the myriad of ways we seek to ensure that we are providing a safe, caring and respectful environment. However, despite everything that we have in place there can still be occasions when bullying occurs. So how do we deal with bullying in the Primary Years and how can you, as parents, help at home?

The students should understand that Bullying is a repeated and unjustifiable behaviour. It is intended to cause fear, distress and/or harm to another. The students understand that there are 5 main types of bullying:

Physical - Unwanted touching that intends to harm (e.g. punching, pushing, throwing stones etc.)

Verbal/Written - Using language to intimidate or cause hurt (e.g. putdowns, notes, forms of cyber   bullying such as texts, emails etc.)

Exclusion- Behaviour that deliberately leaves someone out in order to hurt their feelings.

Extortion/Blackmail - Using stand-over tactics to control someone else’s behaviour (e.g. unless you give me your lunch I won’t be your friend.)

Gesture or Non-verbal - Using body language or other non-verbal methods to offend or hurt (e.g.  threatening or obscene gestures or removing/hiding and/or damaging others’ belongings.)

How are the students taught to deal with bullying?

 Students know that if they are being bullied they can:

• Ignore the person who is bullying
• Walk away
• Try to stand up for themselves in a positive and assertive way
• Report it to an adult always (e.g. teacher or parent)

Students should know that if they see someone being bullied they can:

•  Tell the person bullying to stop
•  Be a friend to the person being bullied
• Report it to an adult

The Daniel Morcombe Curriculum is taught across our school also as part of our health curriculum and students are explicitly taught to

Recognise – keep your eyes and ears open to your surroundings

React – if you see something you know is wrong, do something about it

Report – tell a staff member or a parent

Students know that ‘dobbing’ is when a person tries to get attention or to get someone into trouble. ‘Reporting’ is when someone (yourself or another person) is being hurt and you/they need help. It is also important to note that we separate the child from the behaviour so we refer to ‘bully behaviour’ rather than a ‘bully’. How do we, as teachers, deal with bullying at school?

Bullying situations are often complicated and finding facts to define a clear account of the incident/s takes time and patience to resolve the situation properly. The age/stage of the children involved and the type/frequency of the incident will determine how each situation is handled and what consequences are meted out. Essentially the steps that we follow, as teachers, are:

• Arrange a meeting with all concerned (individually then collectively).
• Explain the rules. “We’re here to solve a problem, no blaming, no excuses, no interrupting.”

Everyone listens. Each person in turn tells what has happened, just the facts. When each finishes, he/she listens to the others while they tell their story. The teacher repeats what has been said and then each person tells how they felt.

We try to reflect, repair and reconnect to resolve conflict. Each person states what they need if the problem causing the conflict is to be solved. The teacher helps both sides to work out strategies and to reach agreement. Appropriate consequences will be followed up. As each case is different these will vary. Consequences may range anywhere from detention to suspension (internal or otherwise). If the incident is serious, parents of all parties will be contacted. How as parents can you help if your child is being bullied?

Encourage talking. It may be difficult but be patient. Try not to overreact. Listen calmly and try to workout the facts. Be aware that you will not have access to all the facts. Give assurances that the situation will be changed.

Tell your child that bullying is wrong and remind them that they have the right to feel safe and happy. Reassure your child that it is not happening because there is something wrong with him/her.

• Report the matter to the School.
• Tell your child that physical or verbal retaliation on their part is not the answer.
• Always try to work through the school, but talk with your child about what you are doing and why.

Get help from a counsellor for your child if needed.

If it is a school matter please do not deal directly with other children or their parents but work through and with the School.

How as parents can you help if your child is bullying others? Make it clear that bullying because of revenge, for annoyance or fun is unacceptable.

Help your child to understand the difference between assertive and aggressive behaviour.

Make it clear that hurting or distressing another person who is unable to defend him/herself is a form of weakness and proves nothing.

Explore the need for development of self-confidence and success in another area to counter poor self esteem. Talk with the teacher.

(Child Health Promotion Research Unit (2004). Friendly Schools and Families. Perth: Edith Cowan University)

On occasion, I hear from parents who say that RTC (Responsible Thinking Classroom) does not work for their child. We realise that a child receiving an RTC does not always result in miraculous behaviour changes. (If it did, I could probably retire early!!) But there has to be a consequence for inappropriate or unsafe behaviour. During RTC time (first break play), the teacher on duty (Mrs Pfingst or Mrs Hauser) work through a Restorative Practices process to reflect on the behaviour, reflect on who has been affected, what would you do differently next time and is there any support you need in order to do this.  Most commonly, students will actually verbalise ‘No one can help me. I am in charge of my own behaviour’ or ‘I can do it myself’.

It is quite rare, that we have a child receiving more than 3 RTC’s in a term.  98 % of students in our school have never received an RTC and we make a point of recognizing these students as well as teaching them that you are not always extrinsically awarded for good behavior.  When you do good, you feel good.

In each of our classrooms, teachers use a Behaviour Ladder. The middle of the ladder is ‘Ready to Learn’ and everyone in the class has a peg and begins each day with on this space.  Then a child’s peg will either go up or down depending on his/her choices.  It is always possible if the peg is down, to then move up and vice versa.  The ladder provides a visual reminder of behaviour choices.  At St Anthony’s, we use a warning system and the majority of students will repond to a reminder that if a certain behaviour choice continues it will result in the peg moving. So when a child is referred to RTC, we know that this has been a repeated behaviour that despite warning has continued and it is important that students realise that something such as continual talking does have an impact on the learning in the classroom.

Our Behaviour Support Plan can also be located on our website.

Parental Visits and Student Absences

Following the usual drop off process, any and all visitors to school during school hours must attend the office first to sign in, this includes parents. During lesson times we aim to keep disruption to students and teachers to a minimum. If your child is required to attend an appointment etc., the office ladies will telephone the classroom to notify the teacher and the child will come to the office. If children leave the school grounds during the school day they must be signed in and out via the ‘Student Register’ in the office.

If your child is absent from school, please telephone the office or notify the class teacher.  With no notification from parents, the absence is recorded as ‘unexplained’ in the roll. All unexplained absences MUST be followed up by the school and reported to the relevant authorities.  This is now a legislative directive.  If you have not notified the office, or your child’s teacher of an absence, you will be contacted by the school.

Parent Teacher Interviews

A reminder to all parents that Parent Teacher interviews will occur during Week 9 (22 – 26 March).  All parents will receive correspondence over the coming weeks regarding how to book an interview. I would encourage all parents to take advantage of this opportunity to discuss your child's learning with the classroom teacher. The partnership between school and home is a key factor in any child's learning and these interviews are invaluable towards ensuring each student is able to access the curriculum.  Each interview will be 15 mins and can occur via phone call or face to face.

World Hearing Day and Hearing Awareness Week

World Hearing Day was yesterday. The theme this year is "Don't let hearing loss limit you". World Hearing Day coincides with Hearing Awareness Week in Australia (1 - 7 March).

• Good hearing & communication are important at all stages of life & essential to learning.
• Hearing loss (and related ear diseases) can be prevented through actions such as: protection against loud sounds; good hearing health/ear care practices.
• Regular hearing checks
• Hearing Australia recommends testing your hearing as soon as possible if you are worried you might be losing your hearing. The earlier hearing loss is picked up, the earlier something can be done about it.

 Year 6 Fundraising

Our Year 6 school trip in October is to Tangalooma Island.

To subsidise the cost of the trip for each family, the Year 6’s will be conducting some fundraising over the coming months.

Currently, the students are coordinating an Easter raffle.  Tickets are $1.00 and a book of 10 tickets has been sent home with each family.  There is also ‘Guess How Many Easter Eggs’ in the jar for 50c a guess during first breaks.

These raffles will be drawn on the last day of term, Thursday 1^st April.

We are also having a whole school colour run on Friday, 30^th April and sponsorship details will be sent home in the very near future.

On behalf of the Year 6 students, thank you for your support!

Just a reminder that our PPF AGM is on Tuesday, 16^th March at 6.30pm in the staffroom.

Please come along…..all welcome!

Until next newsletter, God Bless!

Louise

louise.pfingst@twb.catholic.edu.au

APRE News.....

Thank you to 4SC who lead our Prayer Assembly today as we continued to reflect upon the season of lent as we prepare for Easter.  Saint Oscar Romero is the inspiration for Project Compassion 2021, so in his words let’s “Aspire not to have more, but to be more.”  Being ‘more’ could include being more kind, loving, involved, green, generous, thoughtful, active, prayerful, compassionate, forgiving, just, peaceful, creative, mindful, caring, a good listener, in solidarity, an advocate, friendly, patient.  Please continue to contribute whatever you can to the Project Compassion money boxes over this Lenten period.

We continue to keep in our prayers, the students and their families who are part of the Sacramental program making their first Reconciliation next week.  A practice session will be held at 5.00pm on Saturday 6th March OR 9.30am on Sunday 7th March this weekend. First Reconciliation will take place at 5.15pm on Tuesday 9th March OR 3.30pm on Wednesday March 10th. Please ensure you have let Sr Maria know which day you will be attending before Friday March 5th.

This Sunday is the second Parish Family mass of the year.  4/5RS and 1RW are coordinating the Mass and all students and families are invited to attend.  All students are invited to be a part of the choir and students from the classes assigned may take on some of the other roles within the mass.  Everyone is welcome!

This week an excited group of Year 5 and 6 leaders met to discuss our school’s Minnie Vinnies group.  This group is designed to discuss and raise awareness of social justice issues and organize ways to help others in need within our own school community and beyond. The students have some great plans to put their faith into action! Watch this space to hear their plans and see how you can be a part of supporting this group, and their initiatives.

Collection Notice for parents/guardians2021 Student Residential Address and Other Information

The Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment (the department) would like toadvise you that a request has been made for your child’s school to provide residential address and otherinformation as required under the Australian Education Regulation 2013 (Cth).

Please read the attached flyer.

Prep KJ & SJ

The Prep children had a fabulous time on ‘Farm Day’ last Tuesday.  In the morning, we had a visit from “Old McDonald’s Travelling Farm” which meant cute little piglets, chickens, ducks, lambs, goats and a gorgeous alpaca named Pluto.  The children got to brush and feed the animals and watch the piglets fight for their bowl of milk…..lots of squeals!!!  During the morning session, we had library with Farmer Watkins and Farmer Roche reading us a farm animal big book.  After a delicious sausage sizzle (thank you Mrs Hill in the tuck shop), our school grounds man, Mr. Richard, came dressed as a farmer and read us all a story.  From there we painted amazing pictures of the animals we had seen that morning and also had time to play in the classroom Farmer’s Market, the farmhouse and with the toy farm animals.  Yummy pikelets with butter or strawberry jam were a hit for afternoon tea.   

Later in the week, the students wrote what their favourite farm animal was as well as what they enjoyed most during Farm Day.  As beginning writers, we are encouraging the students to ‘have a go’ at writing.  Many of them are attempting to write and copy text which is great.  We ask that you also encourage writing and using a pencil at home.  The students must write their own name on their work, so this is a great place to start.  If you have time either before or after school, get your child some scrap paper and a pencil and have them practice writing their name.  Don’t forget, capital for the first letter with the remainder in lower case.  We have been enjoying listening to our Sound Box show and shares.  Thank you, parents, for helping your child put items in the box. 

kylie.jones@twb.catholic.edu.au

samantha.jaeger@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 1 HS

 This week in Literacy we have been concentrating on writing a retell. A retell is ‘telling the story in our own words’ with a beginning middle and end. I have been very excited about the engagement of the children in this activity. Some children have been using the editing guide with great skill. We continue to work on our whole number 1-100 and have been practicing our counting to 100 using Jack Hartman exercise videos.

Happy Birthday to Azariah. We wish him a wonderful day.

holly.sheehan@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 1 RW

The students in Year One really enjoyed making their own musical instrument as part of their science and design technology unit. We used recyclable materials from around the classrooms and at home to explore how their instrument created sound. We have also started our history unit on past and present. We have been looking at our families this week and will move onto the topics of transport, communication, technology, and schools. I have also been really impressed with the student's reading and writing over the last couple of weeks and look forward to seeing this continue to improve. Just a reminder that library is on Tuesdays and homework can be brought in on either Monday or Friday. 

rebecca.white@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 2 OT

Welcome to Week 6 in 2OT. Our students have been making great progress in all areas of their learning. Our guided reading groups have started with Mrs Foster. During this time, our students are developing their reading, writing, and spelling skills. In Math, we are continuing to investigate number sequences that increase and decrease by 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s. We are also learning the skills to group, partition, and rearrange numbers up to 1000 in hundreds, tens and ones.

Reminder: Library borrowing is on Thursdays. I would love to send every student home with home readers, however if they do not have their bag, they do not borrow. Thank you for checking in, until next time...Mr Tattam 🙂

ory.tattam@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 2/3 VN

A very busy few weeks on 2/3 VN with lots of learning.  The students are working so well as a group and it is great to see them helping, encouraging and working so well with each other.

Thank you to everyone who sent in recycled boxes for our Maths investigation.  Students had to plan, build and reflect on a vehicle they could make to show their knowledge about 2 D and 3D shapes.  After planning and drawing their ideas, which were mostly drawn as 2D pictures, students then had to choose relevant box shapes to fulfil their design using  3 D boxes to create the vehicle of their choice.  The construction was very hands on and fun, but the learning and conversations around students choices and which shapes worked best and why was great reflection at the end of the process.  During this reflection the Maths vocabulary the students used was great evidence of their learning and understanding of the properties of the shapes.

Science has also involved some hands on learning which will continue for the next few Fridays.  The observation of Baby Chickens! 

The addition of Sunshine, Honey and Muffin was very exciting but has provided an important part of our science study in learning about living and non-living things.  We have learnt about the needs of living things, about how they grow and change and will soon be looking at lifecycles of animals and plants.  The baby chicks will be observed each week to note changes in their growth and appearance as they grow and provide a hands on and practical science for the next few weeks. Thank you also for the great things coming in for our discovery table.  It is providing interesting conversation and sharing of knowledge.  

vicki.nauschutz@twb.catholic.edu.au

emma.daniells@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 3 RM

rebecca.more@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 4 SC

sharon.cox@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 4/5 RS

Week 6 already!

Mrs Hair and her family have been in our daily prayers with the very sad passing of her mother-in-law.

We are learning about the Decalogue and continuing to study the journeys of St Paul to develop our concept of “What does it mean to share community?” 

How’s your FLUENCY?  It has come up many times in many areas and the importance of automaticity and automatic recall for success in Reading, Spelling, Number addition and subtraction facts and multiplication tables.

We shared resources, ‘Stories from the Rock’, ‘ Connection to Country’, ‘We are One - We are Many’, ‘The Importance of Totems’ and the ‘My Place’ story of ‘Barangaroo’, and then made a poster and newspaper report about the life and culture of the Indigenous people before 1788.

Our ‘You Can Do It’ focus in Health has been ‘hard yakka’, where we put on our metaphorical overalls, hard hat and boots and work with maximum effort and keep going with tasks we don’t really enjoy. Thank you to the adults who completed the parent questionnaire to share your experience and emphasise to the students the importance of a strong work ethic and hard yakka (an Indigenous word).

The Friday Speaking Roster is the students’ time to shine and present to their peers.  It is so heartwarming to see certain students push through their fear for a formal speaking situation. For others, it is second nature!! 

Swimming continues for PE on Wednesdays. Books need to be returned for borrowing from the Library on Thursdays. 

We hope to see our families in our Church this Sunday, 7^th March for our Family Sunday Mass at 8:30am.

Every kind wish,

Robyn.

robin.smith@twb.catholic.edu.au

barbara.hair@twb.catholic.edu.au

Yr 5/6 TN

Our classroom has been buzzing with excitement around our current science units. The Year 6 students currently have bread in different locations under different conditions to grow their own mould. I have to say, some of it is rather gross. They also have planted some beautiful flowers outside our classroom, however, these too are an experiment and will be trying to grow in different conditions. Meanwhile the Year 5 students have been drawing and labelling different animals to demonstrate their physical and behavioural adaptations.

During English this week we are focusing on creating thoughtful and purposeful paragraphs. This is to support the writing of our informative texts. During Maths we have been looking at all things Division.

I continue to be very impressed with the level of homework by everyone and am very proud of the independence that I am seeing from all students.

Finally, you may have noticed that my email address has been changed. Please update your contacts to Terri-An.Nolan@twb.catholic.edu.au

Until next time, stay safe.

Mrs Terri-An Nolan  

YR 6 LW

Week 6!  It’s hard to believe that we’re halfway through the term already, with so much we’d like to still accomplish before the Easter break. Our focus in English is still on writing information reports – specifically a report on an Asian animal. Next week we’ll begin researching so that we can use that information to construct our reports in Weeks 8 and 9.  

Maths has moved from exploring prime and composite numbers to learning about decimal numbers - addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, as well as shortcuts to use when multiplying or dividing by 10 and 100. From there we will undertake an investigation using decimal numbers and the four operations. 

Exciting news is that there will be a Year 6 sleepout in Week 10 – the night of Wednesday, the 31st March. Specific details will be shared closer to the date.  

Please  remember that my door is always open, and I'm more than happy to discuss your child's progress.   

Have an AWESOME week! 

Mrs Winters  

leigh.winters@twb.catholic.edu.au

Meet our Staff....

Louise Pfingst

Hi There! My name is Louise Pfingst and I am the principal of this most amazing school.  This is my fourth year at St Anthony's. Prior to coming to St Anthony's, I was the principal at St Mary's  School Charleville where I had also been a deputy principal and classroom teacher for many years.

I have an amazing husband Tom and 3 awesome children - 2 daughters and a son.  My eldest daughter , Isabella is at university in Brisbane in her second year, studying speech pathology, my next daughter Bronte is in Year 10 and my son Michael in Year 8. I feel like I also have a fourth child - Daisy my 4 year old Toy Poodle who is super cute and very spoilt!

I grew up in a little town close to Toowoomba, called Pittsworth and did my secondary school here in Toowoomba at St Ursula's College and Dowland's College, so moving back to Toowoomba felt just like coming home!

In my spare time (what is that??), I am often travelling with my children to various sporting events.  I love also just being at home, in my garden, hanging out with my family or watching Netflix!

Holly Roche

Being part of St Anthony’s staff is a wonderful life opportunity. Hello, my name is Holly Roche, you will find me in the library. I began my working life in a science laboratory, stopping to have three children. When my children went to school, I started volunteering, helping where I could, the library always seemed to need books covered and through this I gained a love of contact. I have been fortunate enough to belong here for ten years now. My greatest joy comes through a tale told from an imagined experience; I believe everybody has a story to tell. Illustrated in words or pictures they are the precious moments and memories. Helping find the right story for each person is one of the many benefits of life in the library.

Sandy Sullivan

Hi, I'm Sandy Sullivan, a School Officer at St. Anthony's School. This is my 12th year at St. Anthony's which is like my second home. I find my position very rewarding, as working with the students and seeing progression in their learning, is very exciting for me when the students realize....... they can do it!. To see the students come in as little preppies, then progress to almost young adults by the time they finish Year 6, are memories that stay with me.

Jan Boyce

Hi I’m Jan Boyce I am married to Peter and have 3 grown children and a grandson. They are the light of our lives. In my spare time I love to go for walks and spend time in my garden.

I have been a Teacher Aide at St Anthony’s for 21 years.  I love working with the children and have great joy and satisfaction when that lightbulb moment occurs. I have loved being a part of the St Anthony’s Community and hope to be here for many years to come.

Kim Hess

Hi, my name is Kim Hess and I have been working at St Anthony’s for 11 yrs. My family has very fond memories of our little school as all 3 of our children attended from Preschool/Prep. I currently work in the school administration, workplace health and safety and sometimes with learning support. We are really blessed to be able to work in such a great environment. I especially enjoy seeing the progress the students make from when they first come as Preppies to when they leave as confident Yr 6s. I have seen many families come through St Anthony’s and the one thing that never changes is the community spirit that we have here.

Mary Neilan

Hi!  My name is Mary Neilan and this is my 8th year working as a School Officer at St. Anthony’s. I love my job!

St. Anthony’s is very special to me because ……… I am a past student, I was married in our beautiful St. Anthony’s Church in 2002. We have 1 daughter who last year completed Year 6 here at St. Anthony’s. All of my siblings attended St. Anthony’s and my parents are still members of the St. Anthony’s Parish.

I am the second youngest in a large family of 9 children and I have 20 nieces and nephews. Most school holidays you will find me at the beach! (it is my special place). In my spare time I like to keep fit by going to the gym or swimming laps at the pool. My beautiful family and fun friends are the most precious gifts in my life.

I hope to see you around the school soon!

Belinda Hill

Hi, I’m Mrs Hill (Belinda) and have been at St Anthony’s Snack Shack for 6 years! It’s exciting watching our little tuck shop grow each year, when we think we have reached our limit, we knock out another goal.  My husband works away so it’s usually Amber, Tom and myself hanging about.  We enjoy doing anything family related, movies, bowling and heading to the coast. 

Angela Brackstone

Hi! I am Angela Brackstone, also known as Mrs Ang.  This year will be my 6^th year as Teacher Aide working with Preppies at St Anthony’s.  I thoroughly love coming to work every day.  It brings me so much pleasure being able to assist your children through the first year of their schooling career.  Watching every child achieve and getting to know all their different personalities brings me so much joy.  My husband and two daughters (aged 11 and 13) love spending our weekends and holidays boating, camping, Four Wheel Driving and exploring this amazing country we live in.  We have travelled to some of the most remote places within Australia, with our latest trip traveling across the Simpson Desert.  I am looking forward to seeing what this year has install for us, hoping it will be a year of success and happiness for all our St Anthony’s community and families.

Katie Rub

Hi, I am Mrs Katie and I am the school officer in Prep SJ. 

My husband, Joel, is an electrician and we have 3 daughters - Hunter 13yrs, Mackenzie 11yrs and Bailey 8yrs. 

In our spare time we like to go camping, cheer on the Brisbane Broncos and spend as much time as we can with our families and friends. 

We have been a part of the St Anthony's community since 2013 and have loved every minute of it. We are sure that 2021 won’t be any different. 

Elizabeth Patterson

My name is Elizabeth Patterson and I have been at St Anthony’s since August 2001…20 years!!! I work in the Administration Office 5 days a week. My major role is to keep the school finances under control but my work day consists of MANY other things, which means I am never bored.

I was born in a little central Queensland town called Muttaburra, coincidentally, the same year as the Muttaburrasaurus was discovered. (Is that saying something?) We moved when I was 2 and I grew up on a sheep station in western Queensland about 120km from a town called Cunnamulla and along with my 3 siblings, we were educated by the then Queensland Primary Correspondence School, which is now the School of Distance Education, until the end of Year 6. We also had a half hour lesson every day on School of the Air which, back then, was in its very early years. In Year 7 I was sent to Boarding School, to St Hilda’s at the Gold Coast. It was pretty tough for a kid who had never set foot in a formal classroom, but I did survive.

I have 3 children, Kate 35, Matthew 33 and Rachel 28 who are the loves of my life and Matthew and his partner Emma have  now blessed me with a beautiful and cute granddaughter, Madeline, who is almost 7 mths old.

My down time is spent bushwalking, gardening, reading and birdwatching. I have been on some amazing adventures in this wonderful country and overseas. I also love going for walks with my dogs.

My favourite thing every day at work, is getting to see your beautiful children, when they come to the office!

Katie Hauser

Working at St Anthony’s is like coming home. This is my second year at St Anthony’s Primary school as the Assistant Principal Religious Education and Middle Leader, however I spent my primary school years as a student at St Anthony’s!  I began my teaching career in 1998, which feels like a long time ago now!  Most of my classroom teaching experience occurred in the lower years, having graduated with a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education.  I have taught in many schools, from country settings to urban schools across the state.  I returned to Toowoomba with my husband and young family in the early 2000s and began working at St Thomas More’s. Early years education and teaching children to read was a passion of mine which led me to taking on the role of Education Officer for the Reading Improvement Strategy with the Toowoomba Catholic School’s Office in 2018. During this time, I was privileged to be able to support teachers in their teaching of reading, and visit all the schools in the Diocese! I look forward to another year of ‘Loving God In Others’ at St Anthony’s.

Rebecca More

My name is Rebecca More. This is my 11th year at St Anthony’s. I studied a Bachelor of Education in Bundaberg and have been teaching since 2001, with some time off to raise my three children (aged 23, 19 and 15). I also have three beautiful granddaughters. I have completed a Certificate IV in Christian Ministry and Theology and I am currently studying a Masters of Educational Leadership. I started teaching on Palm Island and spent several years in Mitchell and Charleville, before moving to Toowoomba. I love to bake when I have spare time. My favourite thing about being a teacher is seeing the “lightbulb” moments when children make connections with something they have been working on.

Anne-Maree Spalding

After five years of teaching 'out west' in Mitchell (3 years) and Dalby (2 years) I married Rod and moved to Toowoomba 25 years ago. I became part of St Anthony's Parish and taught Year One in 1994 and 1995. I took a break from teaching and became the mother of four wonderful children who all attended this great school - James (25), Michael (23), Katherine (21) and Genevieve (19). In 2003 I returned to the teaching staff at St Anthony's as a Music and Drama Teacher.  Since then I've been involved with countless choirs, school musicals and Nativity plays, school and parish masses, and have helped organise P&F Events - Theatre Restaurants, Fetes, Variety and Trivia Nights.  In both 2007 and 2012 I united the schools of Toowoomba and the Diocese to put together two charity Christmas CDs 'Reach for the Stars' and 'Beyond the Stars' combining children's choirs with the voices of country artists such as Gina Jeffreys, Brendon Walmsley and James Blundell. These raised around $70,000 for drought relief.  I love my job and feel very lucky to have been able to be a part of such a wonderful community. 

Ann Foster

Hello everyone,

I am Ann Foster, the Learning Support Teacher. I have worked in this area for approximately twenty years.

My interests are many and varied. I love travelling and have been to some interesting places where the local cultures have mesmerised me. I suppose Belize would be the most magical of places that I have visited. It is a poor country but full of extraordinary people and lots of ruins.

Additionally, I have a fascination with how students learn and have studied for many years to increase my knowledge base. But, like everything, there is always a lot more to take in especially in the learning support area.

I am a renovator!!! I love renovating units and homes. My sons complete the hard work and I try to help by cleaning the working areas at the end of the day. I love the journey of seeing the plans and dreams come to fruition.

My friends and family are the joy of my life. I go out for tea at least once per week to visit new restaurants and enjoy the food and company. My friends are the most precious people in the world.

My family is the most important aspect of my life. I have six siblings, two brothers and four sisters. We are all very closely connected and I always know that they will be there for me. Luckily, they all live in Queensland, so I see them regularly.

My immediate family is quite small. I am widowed and have two adorable sons, Jason and Damian. Jason is the “elder” of the family and Damian the younger son. Jason has a beautiful partner, Dela. They have two children, both girls; Payton and Keeley. Payton is at QLD University and Keely is commencing Year Eleven. Damian is partnered by delightful Sarah. They have no children but have the most adorable dog, Frankie. They all bring great joy into my life.

I hope that we all get to know each other better and enjoy a fruitful year.

Take care,

ANN

Kylie Jones

HI, my name is Kylie Jones and I feel very fortunate to be teaching Prep again this year at St Anthony’s.  Born in Portland, Victoria, we moved to Toowoomba as a family when I was in primary school.  I attended high school and university here before meeting and marrying a Toowoomba boy...and past St Anthony’s student!  We have three children, two daughters, 23 and 18 and a son, 17.  I first began teaching at Concordia Primary for 10 years before taking time off to be home with the children. 

In 2015, I was keen to get back into the classroom and was offered the Prep position here.  Although often challenging, I love teaching this age group...  watching and being a part of the amazing growth that occurs from the start of the school year to the end.  When I’m not at school, I’m usually driving my teenagers to their sporting activities, but also enjoy being in the garden and catching up with friends.

Leona Doherty

Hello, my name is Leona Doherty. It is 18 years this year since graduating from the USQ with a Bachelor of Education. I have had the privilege to spend seven wonderful years teaching at St Anthony’s in various roles. Through out my career I have been lucky to have had three children with my husband, Dominic. Amelia is 13, Xavier 11 and Patrick 9. My weekends are very busy watching the children play their various sports. I’m looking forward to a wonderful year of learning and teaching in 2021.

Jan Watkins

Hi, my name is Jan Watkins and I am the Teacher Librarian

I grew up in the UK and emigrated to Australia with my husband, when we had both completed out teacher training. We have 2 children, Ben and Bridget, who are now both married and live in and around Toowoomba.

I have been a part of the diocese for an amazing 40 years. Working in a number of our Catholic schools – Stanthorpe, Warwick, Inglewood, Millmerran and Goondiwindi and across all year levels

I began my work as a Teacher Librarian in 2000, when I worked in 6 of our schools’ libraries. Life has slowed down a little now, with just 2 libraries to look after – St Anthony’s and Sacred Heart

What I love about my job ‘being able to share my love of books and reading with every student in the school’

Learning Support

Hi All,

This week the Leadership Team has been asked to present a small autobiography to introduce ourselves to the parent population.

I was born in Western Queensland in Charleville and am one of seven siblings. I went to boarding school in Brisbane and later completed my teaching studies at QLD University. My first position was in Charleville with Education Queensland. Later I was transferred to Brisbane and worked in the Redlands where I taught sailing on a Friday afternoon. The students sailed in sabots and I supported them from a motorboat!!!

 I am the mother of two boys, who are now men, but I still consider them boys, even though one is forty-one and the other is forty-five. They are wonderful men, and I am proud to be their mother.

I have worked as a Learning Support teacher with the children who have additional needs for the last twenty years. My role is broad, but the simple explanation given is the crux of what I do. Part of my role is to provide Learning Support Information. This week, I am discussing the revised, delivery model of the Speech Pathologist’s role at St Anthony’s.

The Speech Pathologist’s Role in the School

Stephanie Keogh is the CEO Speech Pathologist who visits St Anthony’s. We are very blessed to have Stephanie on our team. She is passionate about her work and loves the children whom she supports. Stephanie is operating within a new model of Speech/Language delivery directed by the Toowoomba Catholic Education Office. This model is one where the Learning Support Teachers meet with the Classroom Teachers and the Speech Pathologist to initiate strategies to improve speech and language skills within the classroom. Previously, the students who required additional support in this area were taken from the classroom and accessed an individual program with a School Officer.

The new model comprises three tiers of support. Tier One is capacity building for classroom teachers. At this level, the Speech Pathologist provides in-services and, additionally, general classroom strategies are provided on the intranet.

The second tier is an individually, focused approach. At this level, permission must be received from the student’s parent to access support through the Student Support Committee. The Committee members this term are the Principal, Deputy Principal, Learning Support Teacher, a Classroom Teacher and the Teacher presenting the information. Following the meeting the Speech Therapist meets with the Classroom Teacher and the Learning Support Teacher to plan strategies for either the whole class or small groups within the classroom.

The Third Tier is one on one support or support being offered in a small group. This action would follow a Speech/Language assessment and the program would be delivered by a School Officer.

I hope that this information provides adequate detail. If further information is required, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the Learning Support Teachers.

Have a great week,

ANN Foster

ann.foster@twb.catholic.edu.au

leona.doherty@twb.catholic.edu.au

Congratulations to Kate Schouten Yr 6 on her selection in the DD Swim Team for the 100m Breaststroke, 100m Backstroke & 50m Breaststroke

Yammer Group

During Yammer group we have been creating our own Kookaburras using only natural things we have found around the school. We have been looking at the colours and textures of the different barks and how we can use them to create the different parts of the kookaburra. We can’t wait to share with you what we get up to next.

Children's Choir

Book Club

Issue 2 has been handed out.

We are accepting online orders only and they are due by the 19th of  March.

Book Club Home | Scholastic Australia

Auction of Promises

St Anthony’s Parish will hold an “Auction of Promises” on Saturday, 13th March, to raise funds for Caritas during the Lenten season. A number of generous donations of goods or services have been made by members of the Parish and with wider community, and these will be auctioned on the night, with all proceeds going towards Caritas Australia. The event will be held in the Parish Community Centre from 7:00pm (after evening mass). Tea and coffee will be available, but attendees should bring their own food and cold drinks. As space in the Community Centre is limited, please RSVP to the Parish office or by email to admin@stanthonysparish.com.au by Thursday 11th March. It will also be possible to link in to the event online – details will be published in upcoming newsletters.

PCYC St Anthony’s Outside School Hours Care

PCYC Queensland Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) offers a range of fun, recreational programs to keep young people engaged.

Our services focus on the social, physical and emotional development of the young people in our care.

Ph # 0417399835 or email:stanthonyssac@pcyc.org.au