St Anthony's School Term 3 Week 8 2023

Principal's Report

Welcome to our Week 8 newsletter…..I don’t know if anyone else feels like me and actually finds it hard to believe that we are nearly at the end of Term 3 and in Spring already!!

I would like to offer a massive thank-you to our school community for supporting your students in dressing-up as a book character yesterday.  I know the vibe around costumes and who was wearing what was palpable in the lead up!  Many thanks also to Emma and Naomi in the library who ensure our library is an interactive and exciting learning space.  I know these ladies go above and beyond to respond to the reading interests of our students and to accommodate the requests of students and staff.

This will be the last newsletter piece from me for the term as I am taking a week of long service leave in Week 10.  I’d love to be able to tell you, I’m visiting some exotic location but in reality I will be busy being a mum with a Year 12 daughter’s formal and everything that comes with the last official week of her schooling and a son travelling away for sport.  The school will be in very capable hands with Mrs Hauser deputising in my absence.

Persistent Learners

Each and every day here at St Anthony’s, in alignment with our St Anthony’s Way, we are modelling and speaking a language of persistence and resilience.  We know that not only school, but life poses obstacles and challenges and it’s important that we develop these skills as young as possible. We refer regularly to the importance of having a growth or positive mindset.  The expression ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ is meant to remind us that achieving results takes time and effort. However, we often forget this and blame a lack of ‘ability’ when we can’t solve a mathematical problem, draw a geometric shape or paint a scenic picture. In the classroom, attributing success or failure to ability over the value of hard work and perseverance is possibly not fair, and can have negative implications for the motivation and performance of our students.

 Children’s understanding of effort and ability changes dramatically with age. Students in younger year levels will tell me that smart students work hard, but some of our older students will say that smart students do not work hard and they will suggest that working hard is an indication of not being ‘smart enough’. As our students get older and progress through school, they may attribute performance to an innate ability that is fixed, and therefore beyond an individual’s control. 

 Carol Dweck (2000) advocates turning the focus from a ‘fixed mindset’ to one of potential and infinite growth, in which achievement is connected to effort and persistence. This can be both encouraging and empowering for our learners. Dweck also found that directly challenging a student’s ‘fixed mindset’, in which they ascribe their mistakes to a lack of ability, can encourage them to become more persistent and improve achievement. 

 Persistence is one of our St Anthony’s touchstones and is a very important key to successful learning. Encouraging our kids to persist is about helping them to see hard work as a natural part of learning and failure – not as a lack of ability, but as a sign that there is yet more to be learned and, hopefully in the process instilling a belief in the students of St Anthony’s that they can achieve anything.

There is no doubt that students can obtain good results and achieve their personal best without having well developed social skills. With today’s emphasis on cooperative learning, however, there is little question that students are more likely to be successful if they can not only help support each other when learning, but also resolve conflict when working together. 

These are lifelong skills that we believe are important to teach our students here at school and to certainly reiterate at home also.  We know this generation and upcoming generations of our youth are entering a complex and unchartered world where we want them to strive and achieve and make the most of every opportunity.

Communication

As it is in any organization, please keep in mind that problems arise from time to time.  As educators of children, we have the interests of the child at heart. We understand the concerns of parents and we ask that parents in return understand that the roles of the teacher continue to become more demanding and complex.   

The education of our students is a partnership. When an issue arises, please contact the person concerned directly at the earliest opportunity and in the least formal way, i.e. a quick chat before or after school, courteous email or phone call at a reasonable time of day. 

An important point to remember is to keep an open mind about what you hear.  We love and cherish our children; however, it is wise to remember that they can sometimes embellish the story and only tell one side. Checking ‘stories’ with your child’s teacher in a courteous manner will resolve any such problems, as they are the ones that will know different perspectives, other details and facts, and can give a clear explanation of all sides of the story.  Rest assured that the safety and well being of our students in our care is our highest priority. 

We will do our best to hear your concerns and deal with them in the most appropriate manner. Often investigating the details of an incident takes time when done thoroughly.

As you can appreciate, all members of our leadership team are busy and can be pulled in all directions on any given day as well as being timetabled to help in classrooms.  We cannot guarantee our immediate availability.  This does not mean your concern is not important but always book a mutually suitable time through the front office.  We endeavour to be as accommodating as possible.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Just a reminder that our parent teacher interviews are scheduled for the whole school next Tuesday, 5^th September from 1.00pm.  Bookings were available through the Sentral Portal and we ask that parents check these confirmed times and arrive prior to the interview time. 

These interviews will be conducted in the sports hall and chairs for waiting will be set up outside the hall.  These interviews provide a valuable opportunity to check in with regard to your child’s academic and social growth this term.

Congratulations Vann!

Vann Jones recently competed in the 10 – 12 years Softball State Titles where his team came second overall.  How exciting Vann…..we are very proud of you!

We are very excited about our annual Dads and Kids Night tonight and hope all of our St Anthony’s dads and male role models have a fantastic day on Sunday.

Thank-you also to our hardworking PPF for once again coordinating the Father’s Day gift stall today.  It is always a highlight to see the excitement of the students choosing a special gift with love!

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

Parish Family Mass

This coming Sunday, the 3^rd of September we celebrate Parish Family Mass at 8.30am. Prep Blue and 3 Gold are the classes who will be helping this time, but all families are welcome to attend.  After mass the faith community holds a morning tea in the Parish Centre that everyone is invited to share.

Socktober

As we head ever closer to October and Mission month, we support Catholic Mission Australia in their annual ‘Socktober’ campaign.  This campaign is a way for children to become aware, advocate and support other children who are less fortunate than themselves.  Broadening children’s perspectives by encouraging them to look outside of themselves and their community and recognize inequality is an important Catholic social teaching.  Our St Anthony’s Way pathway of ‘love of others’ encourages us to ‘be fair’.  Our Socktober challenge, is a way for students to not only become aware, but to act in both solidarity with other children, for the benefit of other children.  Next term during Mission Week Mini Vinnies will be running a ‘Socktober Penalty Shoot Out’.  Penalty shoot out practice is going crazy at school after the recent Matilda’s success!  Children can bring 20c to take a penalty shot with the sock ball that we have made from donated pre-loved socks and bubble wrap.  This type of ball is one that is used in vulnerable communities throughout the world.  Just like kids in Australia, they love to play, but they must make do with any objects they can to have a ‘ball’ to do so. 

The money raised this year will go towards supporting children in Timor-Leste who live in the Don Bosco Children’s Home run by the Sisters of Salesian.  One of Australia's closest neighbours, Timor-Leste is a small island republic just under 700kms from Darwin, which shares its western border with Indonesia. The country secured its independence from Indonesia in 2001, after an oppressive and violent occupation. Today, the scars still linger as the people grapple with the effects of poverty, low quality healthcare and infrastructure, corruption and inequality. It is why the presence of missionaries like the Salesian Sisters, especially in regional parts of the country, is so important. 

On the last Thursday of term the 14^th  of September we will have a Crazy Sock Day to kick start our plans for Socktober.  Children can bring a gold coin donation.

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers day to all the Dads for this Sunday.  The Prep students led a beautiful prayer assembly today, acknowledging the special role fathers and father figures play in children’s lives ( and well into their adulthood!) In the day to day dealings of busy households it is hard to always see the direct impact you are having on your children as the everyday is filled with the practicalities of life.  Often it is only with time, hindsight, and reflection that we can see how crucial we are to a growing child’s sense of self worth and belief.  The unconditional love a parent figure can offer to a child is a true gift.

Prep White & Prep Blue

Welcome to week 8! Firstly, we would like to say a big thank you for helping your child with their costumes on Wednesday. All the children looked amazing, these special days would not be possible without you and the support you have shown.  

This last fortnight we have been examining stories and discussing our opinions on what makes stories enjoyable. For some of us it is if we like the characters, for others it is that we like when stories are funny or when they rhyme. In math's we have been investigating 2D shapes in everyday objects, we had a shape hunt around our classroom and school and created some shape robots. Linking to our Hass unit we have also begun examining position and location of objects, creating maps that include features like trees and buildings. 

Next Thursday we will be having an Early Years morning for children in Prep -Year 2. Next year’s preps are also invited to attend our fun filled morning. We will also be competing in "St Anthony’s has Talent" on Thursday which should be a lovely afternoon. 

Yr 1 Blue

Over the past week we have been working on a maths investigation. This has involved problem solving a task to investigate measuring the length of a stick insect.  We have been busy looking at how to measure length, what materials are best for measuring and comparing our results. 

We investigated what was the best tool to measure a big book, using the same tool to measure things around the classroom like our desks as well as  our feet, which we ordered and compared. After this, we made stick insects to measure and the find a house they could live in that would be the right size.

This has been fun, but a lot of learning and thinking involved.

If you have not yet booked in an interview, I have a few time slots still available, please book in as soon as possible.  I look forward to the opportunity to discuss your child's learning with you.

Emma

Year 1 White

Welcome to another newsletter. We’re in Week 8 now. Not long till the holidays and a break for everyone. Don’t forget that Friday is a Pupil Free Day. Library books are returned Thursday, ready for borrowing on a Friday.

Lately in the classroom we have been doing a Maths Investigation on length using informal measuring tools to measure the length of a stick insect. To begin with we made our own stick insects. This was an interesting experience with the students manipulating the pipe cleaners, twisting and joining them together to create legs and a body. From here we had an in depth discussion about what resources or tools would be best to measure the length of our stick insect. We explored a variety of these resources and tools, having to give reasons as to which one would be the best to measure and length of our insect. And then we measured it. After measuring the stick insect, we then had further problems to solve about how much food it would it over a week, having been given how much it would eat in a day. Lots of discussions and working out to solve the problems.

In Handwriting, we have been practicing our letter formation. We are given a prompt from a story at the start for the start, we then discuss how the sentence, or sentences will end. We make sure that we add in some nouns, verbs and adjectives to develop our sentence making skills further. This week our story that the prompts are based on is “The Gingerbread Man”. We have also done some sentence writing based on the story “The Very Hungry Caterpillar. To assist with our sentence making, we often watch the story to give us some ideas.

Till next time.

Year 1 White Miss Jacque Houghton

Yr 2 White

I cannot believe I am writing the newsletter article for week 8 of term 3. I have no idea where the year has gone, but it has been amazing watching everyone learn and grow this year. The last few weeks have been very busy in year two, with lots of different activities happening.

Well done to Year 2 White on their book week costumes. It was lovely to see everyone dressed in their favourite characters – Harry Potter seemed to have been a clear favourite 😊

Please remember that swimming is coming up in week 10, so make sure that all the items required are organised and labelled prior to this.

Wishing all the Fathers and special people in our lives a wonderful weekend. I hope it is filled with love and laughter.

Yr 2/3 Blue

Hello from 2/3 blue!

What an exciting week it has been!  Book Week is hard to beat!  Not only a chance to dress up but also a performance to attend and Father’s Day presents to make!!

No wonder we are starting to get tired and are looking forward to holidays! A few weeks ago, we were really excited to welcome Mackenzie to our class, and we are all really happy that she is settling in so well and that we have such a lovely new friend!  While it is an exciting thing to have new people arrive, this week we are experiencing the other end of the scale as well - and we are all a little sad that Luca will be leaving us this week.  Luca has been at St Anthony’s since Prep so we will miss him! Thank you, Luca, for being a wonderful contributor in 2/3 Blue and being a great friend.  We will miss you and wish the very best to you and your family in your new home and your new school! 

Thank you to parents who have booked Parent Teacher Interviews - I look forward to touching base with you soon! 

As you know, swimming block is in week 10 - so don’t forget to check if the swimmers still fit - it looks to me as if there have been a number of children recently experiencing a growth spurt!  Our swimming is in the first session of the day - so children can come dressed in their swimmers if you wish but PLEASE ensure that they have clean underwear to change into!

Have a wonderful week!

Yr 3 Gold

It's been a very busy few weeks in 3 Gold! In English and HASS we are starting to write our information reports about Indonesia. In Maths we have continued working on multiplication, data and number patterns. In Religion we are putting the finishing touches on our dioramas and will present these next week. I have been quite impressed by the effort that has been put into these.

Just a reminder that our swimming block will be held in Week 10. Your child will need appropriate swimwear, slip on shoes to wear to and from the pool and a towel. Please name all belongings, especially socks and underwear.

Yr 4/5 White

Yr 4/5 Blue

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to create your own online game? Have you ever considered how people turn creative ideas into games?

This week in 4/5 Blue we have started a new Digital Technologies unit, looking at the world of online gaming, coding, and branching! Students have been working hard to design a maze game this week in preparation for their upcoming assessment task. In this task, students will develop their very own maze game for family and friends through the coding platform Scratch. Students are mapping out their maze on paper, adding an ‘enemy’ character, game character, and items to collect. Students are beginning to apply their coding and branching knowledge to develop a code sequence that will bring their maze to life online!

Until next time!

Miss Jacinta Rixon and Mrs Terri-An Nolan

Here is a glimpse into the planning and designing of our online games:

4/5 Gold

This term we’ve been completing a ‘Number of the Day’ at the start of every maths lesson. At first, many students were shaky in their understanding of the concepts covered. However, with determination and plenty of repetition, they have begun to see that they can develop their mathematical brains. We also practise the 4 operations every day (well, we’ve only begun working on division this week!) so that these skills can become automatic and well entrenched.  

It has been an absolute pleasure to watch everyone in the class grow in confidence as they eagerly approach these daily challenges – and the careful use of accurate mathematical language as they explain their reasoning is incredible!  

We have moved on to assessment in English, with students being asked to write a persuasive text convincing others as to why they would make the best class prime minister. This links into our HASS unit on Australia’s democratic system of government.  

Yr 6 Blue

It has been an exciting fortnight here in Year 6, especially with the fantastic celebrations for Book Week!

Book Week Delight: We were thrilled to see the creativity and enthusiasm that our students brought to Book Week. The school was abuzz with vibrant characters, imaginative costumes, and a strong spirit of participation. Our students truly embraced the magic of reading and storytelling. It was a joy to witness their excitement and dedication to this annual celebration of literature.

Fostering a Love for Reading: As we reflect on Book Week, let's also remember that nurturing a love for reading goes beyond just one event. Even in Year 6, the importance of reading to our children cannot be underestimated. Reading together not only encourages positive reading experiences but also helps build fluency, comprehension, and a lifelong passion for learning. So, let's keep those storytimes going, because every page turned is an adventure waiting to be shared.

Thank You, Mrs. Peters: We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Mrs. Peters, who has been a valuable part of our Year 6 journey this term. Her dedication, guidance, and support have made a significant impact on our learning experiences. As Mrs. Peters moves forward to complete her studies, we wish her all the best in her future endeavours. Thank you for being an exceptional teacher and mentor!

Happy Father's Day: As we approach Father's Day this Sunday, we'd like to take a moment to acknowledge all the dads and father figures in our lives. Your love, guidance, and presence are truly cherished. We hope you have a wonderful day filled with joy and special moments.

Once again, thank you for your continuous support and involvement in our Year 6 journey. Let's keep fostering a love for reading, celebrating achievements, and embracing the learning experiences that lie ahead.

Until Next Time,

Mrs Kingsford & Year 6

Library News

St Anthony's Uniform Shop

The uniform shop is located at St Anthony's, near the school office. 

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 12:30pm

Wednesday 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Friday 11:30am - 3:30pm

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