St Anthony's School Term 4 Week 8 2022

Principal's Report

Well here we are reading, the final newsletter of the 2022 school year!

It has been a journey that started with tentative steps perhaps, but one that has taken us to remarkable heights. We have encountered some trials and tribulations along the way...soldiered on and come out the stronger for them. We have experienced exceptional moments, magical moments and created memories that will be fondly remembered in the years ahead.

Henry Ford wisely said, "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress and working together is success." As we look back over this last year, certainly there was a beginning and thankfully there was also progress and yes - undeniably we have been successful.

Academic success is not possible without you, the parents. We know that children thrive when home and school work together in a close partnership. As parents you teach more to your children through their day to day dealings than we ever could in the short time they are exposed to us. 

I would like to thank the 2022 teaching staff. The teachers provide the learning opportunities  into which our children get submerged.
They are the glue really that holds it all together.
All teachers have been able to provide something outside their classroom delivery that has added to the fabric of this school community.

They are involved in the parish, Breakfast Club, sports organisation and training, school musical, Opti-minds, curriculum development, ICT and providing many cultural opportunities. All areas of the curriculum and beyond are covered.

Our teachers work extremely hard for your children, all 244 of them. These professionals work long hours to plan and implement the best learning opportunities.
They are teachers, mentors, first aiders, coaches, computer whizzes, counsellers, peace negotiators,  advocates, confidants and friends.
Their job is huge ,it is ever changing, it is dynamic and most of the time, thankless.
I would like to thank the team we have here at St Anthony’s for all the work they have provided for all students this year.
We are constantly in a pattern of change and for teachers to remain as sane as they are, (well mostly), is admirable!

I would like to personally thank our Leadership Team of Katie Hauser, Ann Foster and Leona Doherty.  These ladies work far beyond the hours they are paid and their support, friendship and expertise is very much valued by me.
Here at St Anthony’s we are blessed to have the most amazing and dedicated team of school officers who support our school in various ways, from student learning in the classroom, library, tuckshop and our grounds.
The our amazing administration ladies, Elizabeth Patterson and Kim Hess who provide the shop window and all the answers to parents in the office and on the phone in the day to day running of the school. From bandaids, to budgets,  bus travel, banking, booklists and bad headaches….they deal with all of this and more with the utmost professionalism.  Nothing is ever too much trouble. It wasn’t until becoming a principal all those years ago, that I gained a true understanding of the role the administration staff play in the school and their amazing ability to be able to deal with any number of disruptions within the day but still meet deadlines – all with a smile!

Thank you to those who have committed to being part of our St Anthony’s PPF. The positions are all voluntary and these people give selflessly of their time and energy on a regular basis. At these gatherings we are always exploring ways to engage parents in the learning of the children.  We would strongly encourage all parents to consider coming along next year.  Special thanks go to Tracey Page for taking the position of Chairperson and Katie Rub, the position of secretary.  Thanks ladies!

There are families who have been a part of the St Anthony’s family for a long time, leaving as well. They will be heading to the secondary education system or other primary schools. I hope you all look back on your experiences with us and remember your time with us with fondness.

The Year 6s who are heading off to high school,(many of them have been with us from the age of 5). I wish you all the best and look forward to sharing Tuesday morning with you all and your families, reflecting on your time at St Anthony’s.

On behalf of the school community, I wish each and every one of our departing Year 6 students all the very best for your transition into secondary school.

And to the future?
We often talk of preparing children for a future that doesn’t exist.
How do we do that? How do we prepare children for such dynamic, uncertain times?
That is our role in conjunction with all of you to work out!
You see school has changed since we were at school. We don’t need to know a lot of the traditional stuff cos we can simply google it!
Our vision is to be a positive learning community that involves, staff, parents and students, developing quality relationships and developing inquiring minds. We want learners who feel valued and safe to explore opportunities with confidence and be passionate about their learning in readiness for the future challenges.
We will continue to expect high standards for our students academically, culturally and behaviourally.
To everyone who has supported the St Anthony’s School in such a positive way this year I thank you.  People get involved with schools to support their children. They do it to create a better pathway for their children, one better than their own and working together that’s exactly what we do.

I am truly honoured to be the principal of this school.  To me there is no greater calling than to teach young people.
To all the families of St Anthony’s school I wish you an amazing Christmas and a safe and exciting new year.  We look forward to welcoming our 2023 school family on Tuesday 24^th January, 2023!

2023 Staff

Let me introduce our 2023 staff………

Principal – Louise Pfingst

APRE/Middle Leader/Classroom Support – Katie Hauser

Learning Support – Ann Foster (4 days)

Learning Support/EALD – Leona Doherty

Teacher Librarian/Non contact Teacher– Jan Watkins (2days)

The Arts – Anne-Maree Spalding (2 days)

Physical Education/Internal release Teacher – Ory Tattam (4 days)

Prep White – Siobhan Rush and Angela Brackstone

Prep Blue – Tracey Francis and Katie Rub

Year 1 White – Jayne Cameron (7 day fortnight) Emma Slatter (3 day fortnight)

Year 1 Blue – Emma Daniells (4 days) Jo Keleher (1 day)

Year 2 White – Nicole Collis

Year 2/3 Blue – Kathy Spencer

Year 3 Gold – Rebecca More (3 days)  Jess Gillam(2days)

Year 4/5  Blue – Terri-An Nolan (9 days fortnight) Ory Tattam (1 day fortnight)

Year 4/5 White – Joanne Stark

Year 4/5 Gold – Leigh Winters

Year 6 Blue – Peta Kingsford

Library Support School Officer – Naomi Rigby

Classroom Support School Officer – Jan Boyce

Classroom Support School Officer – Mary Neilan

Classroom Support School Officer – TBA

Administration Support School Officer – Elizabeth Patterson

Administration Support School Officer/ OHS/ Learning Support Administration – Kim Hess

Tuckshop Convenor – Hayley Wright

Grounds Keeper – Richard Reading

Cleaner – Kim Wright

TCKC Coordinator – Jess Owens

Sandy Sullivan has commenced in a school officer position at St Joseph’s College for 2023.  Sandy has been a constant at St Anthony’s for 14 years and we wish her all the best for the next 12 months and hope to see her back at St Anthony’s in the future!

We thank and send our very best wishes for the future to Sharon Cox and Barbara Hair. Vicki Nauschutz is taking maternity leave for 2023. We thank these ladies for their dedication to their teaching roles in our school over a number of years.

We welcome to our St Anthony’s family, Joanne Stark and Nicole Collis, who have been appointed through a rigorous recruitment process and both come very highly recommended to us as competent and capable teachers.

We also welcome back Emma Slatter from maternity leave who has been a very familiar face at St Anthony’s before taking maternity leave.  Emma is looking forward to returning to St Anthony’s.

All students will have the opportunity to spend a morning with their 2023 teacher/s on Monday, 28^th November from 8.40 – 10.40.

Our leadership team have been developing our Annual Action Plan for 2023 in line with our current strategic plan and the direction our new school year will take, encompassing our direction and priorities for teaching and learning, school wide resourcing and social and emotional priorities.  We are very excited about the future of St Anthony’s and we look forward to sharing these priorities with our school community in the new year.

Outstanding School Fees

It is most important that your prompt attention to ensure all outstanding school fee invoices are paid by the end of school term. This is an extremely busy time of year and chasing up overdue accounts draws precious time and effort away from other school initiatives and activities. The school too, has many financial commitments to fulfill by the end of the year and over the school holidays. Your support in paying your fees and levies in full will greatly assist the school to continue to provide and upgrade school and classroom resources.

Christmas Concert and Fair

There are no more sleeps!!

I look forward to seeing you all tonight at our Christmas Concert and Fair.  The vibe around school today is electric amongst the students, in anticipation of this event.

Just a reminder that the Christmas Concert and Fair officially commences at 5.30pm and the concert at 6.00pm sharp with our Prep performers first on the stage! Our school stalls will be cash only, so please bring small denominations of cash.

See you there!

Please keep checking the Sentral Portal for updates throughout January.  This is our one stop shop for all school information and should be checked regularly.  The office will open officially on January, 16^th.

Until 2023…….have a happy and holy Christmas and a safe and relaxing holiday break.  See you in the new year!!

Louise

Middle Leader/APRE

St Vincent De Paul Christmas Appeal

Thank you to all the families who have generously donated items for the class hampers.  It is heartwarming to see all the items rolling in, but even more commendable is the joy on children’s faces as they fill the hampers. Let us have one last push this week to gather donations before we collect them to give to St Vincent De Paul on the last day.                                       

Presentation Day

This week we celebrated the feast of the Presentation of Mary.  This day is an important day in our school community as it connects to the Presentation Sisters, the first educators in our school, who served our community from 1955 to the 1990s.  Nano Nagle, the foundress of the sisters chose the name Presentation Sisters, inspired by Mary and her openness to say yes to God.   Nano Nagle, lived in the 18^th Century in Ireland and began her work educating poor children in Cork with a small group of women by her side.  From these humble beginnings, a legacy of Presentation sisters began teaching children all over the world.  Nano Nagle chose to say yes to God by putting others ahead of her own needs and brought the good news of Jesus to the poorest people in Ireland. We all can strive to be Presentation people following the St Anthony’s Way.  Congratulations to the students who received a Spirit of Nano Nagle award, acknowledging how they follow in the footsteps of Jesus and Nano Nagle in how they live their lives.

Farewell

As this is the final newsletter of the year, it is timely to reflect upon all we have achieved this year but also a time to look forward in anticipation of what is to come.   On the last day of school, Friday the 2^nd of December,  we will celebrate as a community and acknowledge the work and commitment of the students and staff of St Anthony’s.  A student from each class will receive an award for ‘Most Consistent’ and ‘Most Improved’.  Year Six students will be acknowledged with sporting, cultural, academic and Christian living awards.  During this liturgy we will also spend time reflecting upon the achievements of all students and how each individual member of our community adds a unique dimension to this wonderful place. Just like a patchwork quilt, the individual square adds to the full effect.  The community would not have been what it was this year without all the different members of the community contributing as they have.

To our Year 6 students, staff and any families leaving the school we wish you all the best for your future.  Having journeyed along the St Anthony’s Way for however long, I pray that the pathway that has been ignited by your time here will continue to shine bright.  May you use your light to be a beacon for your true self and offer it to others along the way.

Merry Christmas

This weekend marks the first Sunday in Advent, a time in the Church's calendar when we pause, reflect and prepare for the gift of God’s love coming to us through the baby Jesus.  As we prepare for Christmas we can get caught up in the business of shopping, decorating, cooking, end of year parties, ticking off to do lists.  The concept of Advent is to prepare ourselves, to get ready to receive the good news that God loves us, just as we are, which is reaffirmed each year as we listen to the story of Jesus birth. 

Wishing you and your family a joyous Christmas and a relaxing, refreshing break to recharge and renew.

Prep SR & TF

The Christmas holidays are nearly here.  The Preppies are definitely all ready for Year One! Next Monday, Preppies will get to go their Year One Classrooms-how exciting! 

Christmas Cards

Its lovely to see the Preppies writing Christmas Cards to their friends.  If your child is bringing Christmas Cards/Candy Canes/presents, we ask that its stored in a bag and placed in our classroom on arrival at the beginning of the school day.  Students can then hand out their Christmas Cards/Presents the last few minutes of each day.   

The Preppies have been practising their lines for the Play and have had  costume rehearsals and are getting very excited to perform. We hope you can all make it to watch the Nativity Play Thursday 1^st December.   

We would like to thank you for your support throughout the year.  Wishing you all a safe and happy holidays with your families. 

 God Bless, Siobhan and Tracey 

Yr 1 ED & Yr 1 KS

We have been keeping busy learning all about procedures. We have had fun using our knowledge to make a number of things including egg carton caterpillers, slime etc. 

Congratulations to Martin from 1ED and Robert from 1KS for being awarded the Nano Nagle award. Well done boys!

Congratulations to Juwan, Charli and Georgia for representing our school in the Readers Cup and winning!  Great reading and well done girls.

As we come to the end of Year One we of course have reflected on how far we have come as learners. We are so very proud of everyone and will miss them as they move onto Year Two. Also to the few classmates moving onto new schools, we wish you well.

Have a happy and safe Christmas and New Year. Kathy and Emma

Yr 2 BH

Thank you for the honour and the privilege of teaching your children this year. Thank you for trusting them to my care and sending them bright-eyed and bushy-tailed every morning for new learning adventures. You have beautiful children; each and every one is precious, creative and clever, curious, kind and full of life! I shall miss them!

I wish you and your whole family peace and joy throughout the Christmas Season and all the very best for the new year ahead. May it be full of joy and wonder, peace and love.

In gratitude, Mrs Hair

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.”    Philippians 1: 3-4

Yr 3 RM

Welcome to our last newsletter for the year. We have seen so much growth across a variety of areas. Every child has experienced success, in one way or another - whether they have learnt to read, overcome shyness, made new friends. Over the last few weeks we have worked hard to complete our assessment items. Now we are revisiting some of the topics that have proven to be a little tricky. If we could recommend one thing that you keep going over the holidays, PLEASE READ!

Yr 2/3 VN

Welcome to our final edition of the newsletter for the year.  What a year it has been too!  For many, this was the year that students not only progressed academically, but behaviourally too.  We have had ups and downs in this area, but overall, I think Mr Tattam and I can honestly say how proud we are of the turn around many students in our class have had controlling their choices and becoming a learner. 

We also congratulate Adut on her Nano Nagle Award.  Adut is very deserving of this.  She is consistently rising to every occasion and is hard working, determined and most of all, kind. 

Mr Tattam and I wish you a safe a happy holiday break and Mr Tattam will see you all next year and I will be around at drop off and pick up (with a new addition added to our family).  Thanks for the great year! 

Ms Nautschutz

Yr 4/5 PK

We have made it to the end… well, almost!  4/5PK have been enjoying preparing for the Christmas Concert and Fair on Thursday.  It really is an exciting time of year.  We have spent the week beginning maths investigations, stepping it up with our reading and we have started taking home items that we won’t be using for the remainder of the term. Our congratulations are to go to Ariana Lugg.  Ariana was our class recipient of the Spirit of Nano Nagle Award on Monday.  This award was well deserved! 

Thank you to all 4/5PK families who have supported our class and school throughout the year.  Without the value you place on your child’s education, we wouldn’t be where we are today.  So, thank you for a fantastic 2022 - I know I couldn’t have asked for a better start to my time here at St Anthony’s.  I look forward to seeing you all again 2023.  Wishing you all a very safe, prosperous, and happy Christmas and New Year.

Take Care & God Bless,

Mrs Kingsford & 4/5PK.

Comments & Reflections from some of the 4/5 Students:

Charlotte: I enjoyed the work I did writing Poetry this term. I created an anthology that I’m proud of.

Sophia: My favourite part of the year was meeting Mrs Kingsford.

Jayda:  This is a great class and I have learnt so much this year.

Tim: I really enjoyed putting my poetry anthology together. 

Flo:  I have learnt lots of different types of poems that I look forward to writing in my own time.

Julius: I have loved how Mrs Kingsford was always there when we needed help.

Layla: I really enjoyed meeting Mrs Kingsford and making new friends.

Josie: I have loved learning new things and having an awesome teacher.

Tiffany: I have enjoyed learning about many different sentence types.

Jaxon: I have enjoyed meeting everyone, making new friends and having help when I needed it.

Kiarah: I have loved PE with Mr Tattam.

Alexis:  I have enjoyed having a wonderful teacher this year.

Kai: I have enjoyed seeing my improvement in our daily timed times tables challenge.

Thais:  I have enjoyed learning about angles in mathematics.

Ethan: I have enjoyed making new friends and improving my knowledge and skills in maths.

Olivia T: This year I have been able to build up courage and confidence to do more things.

Puondak: My favourite part of the year has been being taught by Mrs Kingsford and going on our excursions to Brisbane and Cooby Dam.

Eric: I have enjoyed improving my times tables through our timed daily challenge.

Yr 5/6 TN

It is hard to believe that we are down to single digits for the 2022 school year. I would like to thank you all for your on going support this year. I am a firm believer in the saying, “it takes a village to raise a child” and I am very blessed to have been apart of your village for the past year.

To the 5/6TN Year 6 students, we wish you all the very best as you move to high school. Please never forget the values you have learnt here at St Anthony’s; they will serve you well over the years. Please drop back from time to time and let us know of your amazing adventures that I know you are all going to have.

Finally, I wish everyone a restful and joyous Christmas session. Share it with loved ones and make new memories!

Until next year,

Mrs Terri-An Nolan

Yr 6 LW

As we conclude another year, I find myself looking back and reflecting on how much we have achieved. I am incredibly proud of how everyone in Year 6 has grown this year – both academically and physically! I have seen a surge in confidence, work ethics and maturity.  

As “my” Year 6 students end their time at primary school, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate every one of them for the way that they have been the school leaders this year. As they say farewell to their primary years, I am confident they are ready for the challenges that await them in high school – and I can’t wait to hear the stories of future successes! 

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. — Dr. Seuss. 

Holiday Reading

Just a reminder to encourage you child/ren to keep reading over the holidays

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