St Anthony's School Term 2 Week 10 2023
Principal's Report
Once again it is hard to believe we have come to the end of term and are half way through another school year. How have you fared over the last few weeks? How are those resilience levels going?
From my perspective, there have been a number of end-of-term tears, a few a bit reluctant to come to school and the odd playground disagreement, which always tends to blow up into something bigger than it is when brains and bodies are tired. The reality is that these things are all part of school life for kids. Working out that the sky won’t fall in if things don’t go your way at times is a valuable lesson to learn, and one that stands us in good stead right throughout our lives.
We have had a great term. Let’s enjoy the upcoming break and look forward to renewing the positive relationships that exist across our school community in Term 3. Thank you for everyone’s contribution over the past couple of months.
We look forward to seeing all those bright and happy faces on Tuesday, 11th July!
STAFF UPDATES
This week we have welcomed our new school counsellor, Christopher Byrne. Christopher comes highly recommended and is keen to commence in this position. Chris will be working across 5 schools and will spend 3 days out of every fortnight here at St Anthony’s.
Here is Chris’ bio………
It’s great to come onboard as the new school counsellor. I grew up on a farm outside Pallamallawa (near Moree) and originally went to university in Armidale studying psychology, maths, electronics and IT. Since then, I obtained my teaching qualifications and have worked as a maths/science teacher at high school, a teacher aide at primary school, and a tutor at university.
I have only lived in Toowoomba for the last three years after moving across from the Gold Coast to enrol in a Master of Clinical Psychology program. As part of my training, I had the pleasure of being a school counsellor at St Mary’s College Toowoomba for a semester, and I am excited to once again be working as part of the Catholic Education team. I am a life-long learner, avid science-fiction and fantasy reader, and am looking forward to getting to meet everyone over the coming days and weeks.
We are also very excited to appoint Hayley Wright to the position of School Officer – Uniform Retail. Hayley also runs our tuckshop.
Hayley has had a mammoth job of unpacking and sorting approximately 50 boxes of uniform stock. The shop is looking AMAZING and is open for business on the following days and times:
Monday – 8.30 – 12.30
Wednesday – 2.00 – 4.00
Friday – 11.30 – 3.30
All items are well stocked with a range of sizes and the feedback regarding this service now being offered on our premises has been very positive.
I have noticed a number of students this week wearing incorrect shoes and non-school jumpers. Assuming, there will be plans over the holidays to ensure the uniform is worn correctly by all students after the holidays.
Thank-you School Officers!
Last week, we celebrated School Officer and Services Staff Day. This special day is set aside to recognize and honour the invaluable work and contribution of school officers and services staff to the progress and culture of our school communities. We are truly blessed by the quality of our school officers and services staff. They are vital to our school community. Whether they are working in the front office, working in classrooms, cleaning, mowing or providing administrative support, they are all valued and important to our school. The nature of their roles has changed significantly in recent years and now requires highly specialized skills and capabilities.
Our school officers and services staff go above and beyond their duties. They arrive to set up tents for sport’s carnivals, pack up after school, set up for community breakfasts, attend school camps, go shopping before and after school and over the weekend to purchase school requirements. They are some of the most patient people I know!
Thanks for a great term!!
Until next term…….God Bless!
Louise
The newsletter will be an e newsletter emailed to parents on a Thursday every fortnight. Community and parent notices can still be included in the newsletter by emailing the item to the school stanthonys@twb.catholic.edu.au.
Middle Leader/APRE
St Anthony’s Day
Last Tuesday the 13th of June the school community and Parish celebrated St Anthony’s feast day. Even though St Anthony of Padua lived long ago in Portugal in 1195 the stories of his life and accomplishments continue to inspire to this day. St Anthony showed courage in facing life’s ups and downs. St Anthony saw a need and acted to fill it. St Anthony displayed compassion and love for people and easily forgave them.
Congratulations to the following students who received St Anthony’s Day awards acknowledging that they try hard to live their life following in Jesus’ footsteps and inspired by St Anthony; Brandon C, Oliver T, Isabella B, Niara-Cate M, Shelby P, Emily N, Willow C, Charlotte S, Liam S, Timothy N, and Bailey R.
St Anthony was also renowned for his public speaking and ability to engage his audience when preaching the messages of the scriptures. Students were invited to participate in the St Anthony’s Day Speech Competition on Tuesday to celebrate.
Eleven brave students presented their persuasive speeches to the whole school convincing us of the importance of the ‘St Anthony’s Way’. We were thankful to have three guest judges, Sr Maria, Mrs Foster and Mrs Mary to judge and award Lauren first place, Amarni second and commend all the other students on their efforts.
Confirmation
On Wednesday this week Elouise, Jaxson, Archie, Campbell, Penny, Noah and Elbrix officially joined the Catholic community of faith as they celebrated their Confirmation. This Sunday they will make their first Holy Communion at the 8.30 Sunday mass. We congratulate these students and their families on their thoughtful preparation and continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers.
St Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal
Thank you for all the donations to the Winter Appeal and the Winter Shelter program. As Julie Inskip reminded us of when she visited a couple of weeks ago, what may seem like a small thing to us can have a massive impact on someone who is struggling to make ends meet.
Every year in the first week of July NAIDOC week is celebrated. During this week we celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. This year’s theme is ‘For our Elders’.
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders are a fundamental part of our communities. Our Elders are our wisdom keepers. They have witnessed the many changes, so dramatically incurred in their lifetime. They are the vital bridge between the modern world and Aboriginal culture. They are the leaders of our communities. There is no time more urgent to sit down and listen to our Elders than now.”
National NAIDOC Committee
As we are on holidays in the first week of July, the school chose to celebrate NAIDOC week this week. Students have participated in several activities including story telling time, Indigenous games, and the Yammer group hosted an ‘Elders Lunch’. There were many First Nation visitors to our school across the week who assisted in sessions and shared their warmth and wisdom. Staff also shared in some professional learning from the Toowoomba Catholic Schools First Nations Education Officer, James Russell.
Report Cards
Yesterday all student report cards were uploaded to the student portal. Below is a quick cheat sheet on how to find your child’s report on the Sentral app.
The term reports reveal how students are progressing against the Achievement Standard for that year level and learning area. A C level grade denotes that the student has demonstrated they are meeting the expectations of the curriculum for that year level. Equally as important to the Grade level achievement is the effort mark. Not all students may receive an A standard comparative to the achievement standard, however ALL students have an opportunity to give their best! The touchstones of the St Anthony’s Way ‘love of learning’ pathway; be engaged, be curious, be persistent, be proud and be a communicator, guide students’ efforts. The report card provides a great opportunity as a conversation starter with students around their learning journey.
The first six months of the year have appeared to go extremely quickly, however when I look back at all that has been achieved, I am amazed at the way our community works together on our ‘love of learning’ and ‘love of others’ pathways. Wishing you a relaxing and refreshing winter holiday! Term 3 resumes on Tuesday the 11th of July.
Across this week over 40 children from our school have participated in the Inaugural Toowoomba Catholic Schools Arts Festival. Students from all of our 32 schools across the Diocese took part in some way in the festival. Students have participated in verse speaking workshops and choirs, improvisation groups, vocal choir and music ensembles which have culminated in performances at the Empire Theatre.
A special Sacred Choral Choir performed at St Patrick’s Cathedral with over 240 students this morning which was such an experience to both be a part of, and to listen to. As a school, we also created a display for the Visual Arts Show held in the Micah Centre which was diligently prepared and set up by Mrs Terri-An Nolan and Miss Jacinta Rixon.
We are so appreciative of our Arts teacher, Mrs Anne-Maree Spalding who not only prepared our students to participate and perform, but organised the whole festival in her other role as Education Officer for the Arts in the schools office. The students were wonderful role models of the St Anthony’s Way across the week and performed with grace, style and bravery.
St Anthony's Uniform Shop
The St Anthony's Uniform Shop will be open on the school holidays:-
Friday 30 June 9am - 11am
Monday 10 July (pupil free day) 12pm - 3pm
The uniform shop is now located at St Anthony's, near the school office.
Prep White & Prep Blue
Welcome to week 10!
We are halfway through our first year of school!! We have had a fantastic term learning about Australian animals and identifying the needs of living things. This fortnight in Math we have been experimenting with measurement, including length, and mass/volume.
With the cooler weather setting in please remember to label your children's clothing (jumpers, jackets, trackpants, and hats) so that it can be returned to them should they take them off.
Report cards were emailed out on Wednesday. In prep the achievement ratings of A, B, C, or D are used. Please be assured that achieving a ‘C’ on the report card is considered a sound level of achievement. In other words, ‘C’ should be acknowledged as achieving at the level expected of an average child at this stage of schooling.
We have been on the count down to 100 days all year and we are very excited to announce that next term on Tuesday the 18th of July we will be celebrating 100 days of school. To celebrate this special day, we are asking our Preppies to come to school dressed as 100-year-olds.
Siobhan Rush and Katelyn Morgenstern
Yr 1 Blue and White
Last week we celebrated our term two rewards. Most of our children show good behaviour every day and most of our students enjoyed an hour of free time. A small group achieved GOLD. These students show above expected behaviour everyday. They had a great time with their special reward. Well done to those students and we hope to see this group grow next term with students giving their extra everyday.
Have a happy and safe holidays and we look forward to seeing you back on Tuesday 11th July.
Emma and Jacque
Yr 2 White
What a busy term we have had! I have really enjoyed my first semester at St Anthony’s with my amazing Year 2 White class. We have had so much fun learning new things and expanding our knowledge. I look forward to another fun filled term!
I hope everyone can enjoy some relaxation over the holidays and I am excited to see all those smiling faces back on day one next term. Take care, Nicole.
Nicole Collis
Year 2 Teacher
Yr 2/3 Blue
Hello from 2/3 Blue for the last time this Semester!
As the children prepare for a well-earned break, they are finishing off assessment tasks and final activities for each unit. I’m happy to say that they have put in an amazing effort this term and achieved a lot of personal goals in learning, and I am really proud of them.
While learning is not always easy for everyone, the class as a whole has shown persistence and has been engaged in the learning tasks this term. I hope that everyone has a restful and enjoyable break and that all of the illnesses, sniffles and sneezes stay away!
I’m looking forward to an exciting and very busy Term 3!
See you then! God Bless!
Kathy
Yr 3 Gold
We've reached the end of another term. Over the holidays, there are a few areas that we feel would be great to continue focusing on.
In Maths these include telling time using analogue clocks, reading and writing numbers up to 10000, ordering numbers and rounding numbers to the nearest 10.
In English, reading every day is beneficial. Have your child tell you what they have read about. When your child makes an error, rather than correcting straight away, ask them "Does this make sense?". Encourage your child to look at the beginning and ending sound of the word, then provide the word. Have a fantastic holiday!
Kind Regards
Rebecca More
Yr 4/5 White
Yr 4/5 Blue
Can you believe that we are halfway through the year? I know I can’t! Everyone has been working very hard right to the end of this term and I continue to be amazed and very proud at the efforts that are put into everything that we do.
I encourage everyone to keep reading over the holidays, spend quality time with loved ones and come back feeling refreshed and ready to go again next term.
Until next term!
Mrs Terri-An Nolan
4/5 Gold
What an amazing term this has been! I would like to congratulate everyone in 4/5 Gold on their growth and effort over the past 10 weeks. We have had a really busy and productive term and are all ready for a break.
Since we are halfway through the year, it seems a good time to reflect on our performance and set goals for the next semester. Thank you for the wonderful surprise birthday on Monday – I felt very loved!
Wishing everyone a safe and restful holiday.
Leigh Winters
Yr 6 Blue
We have made it through another term and are officially halfway through Year 6!
Well done to the students for their persistence throughout the last couple of weeks where the going was tough. Congratulations to Bailey R, our recipient of the St Anthony’s Day award and congratulations to Puondak and Lauren for participating in the St Anthony’s Day Speech Competition. I’m very proud of each of you!
I hope all families have a wonderful holiday period where you can rest, recuperate, and spend time together as a family. I look forward to seeing all Year 6 Students back ready to go in Term 3.
Happy Holidays!
Mrs Kingsford & Year 6.
HPE
G'day St A's
Congratulations to all the students who participated in the athletics carnival! Your dedication, sportsmanship, and team spirit made me immensely proud. Students who have been selected to represent St Anthony's at the Catholic Athletics Carnival will be notified in the upcoming days.
In term 3, selected students in years 5 and 6 will participate in Interschool Sport. We have elected to play soccer for both boys and girls - these students will be notified on their participation in week 1 term 3.
I hope you all enjoy your winter break! Stay warm, stay safe.
Kind Regards
Mr Ory Tattam
Yamma Group
This week as a school community we have celebrated NAIDOC Week with a particular focus on this years Theme: For Our Elders.
The whole school has shared in prayer assemblies, classroom activities and a morning where we came together as a school to share in rotation activities. The students engaged in outdoor games, painting and crafts. A special thank you to Nathan Gaulton from Goolburri who came and ran some of the outdoor games. He has told me that running around the oval with our students has been a highlight of his year so far.
On Wednesday the Yamma Group shared in a special Elders Lunch. The Elders group from Goolburri, along with some other Elders from our community joined the students. It was so lovely to see our students engage in conversation with the elders about what it was like when they went to school and the types of activities they got up to with their friends. Everyone decorated a cupcake with different coloured icing as a dot art activity and shared in a light lunch and of course the beautiful cupcakes.
Of course, the formal NAIDOC Week is during the second week of the school holidays. I encourage you all to keep an eye out for events and happenings around Toowoomba during the holidays and heading along and sharing in some of the activities our wider community will be hosting during this time.
Until next term!
Mrs Terri-An Nolan
Terri-An.Nolan@twb.catholic.edu.au
Parenting Support and Information
Parentline
Parenting can be tough. But you don’t have to do it alone. When things
become challenging, it’s important to know that you can always talk to
someone about what’s going on.
If you’re a parent, carer or family member living in Queensland or the Northern
Territory, you can call Parentline from 8am – 10pm seven days a week, for the
cost of a local phone call.
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
