Week 5 /6 Term 4

From the Principal

As we near the end of the school year, it is with sadness that I announce that Mr Matt Knight will be leaving us at the end of the term to return to his old position at Southern Cross Catholic College. Mr Knight has been a wonderful addition to our school over the past semester, acting in the roles of APRE, Chaplain and Italian teacher. He will be greatly missed.

It is not all sadness, however, as we also congratulate Mrs Suzette Windridge on her successful appointment as the new Assistant Principal Religious Education, commencing in January 2023. Suzette has been a member of the St Mary's Catholic School staff since 2007 and currently teaches Year 5.  She holds the position of Leading Teacher Christian Meditation and is also on the school's Catholic Identity Advisory Team.  Suzette is a dedicated parishioner of St Mary's Parish, Bowen, a member of the Parish Leadership Committee and also coordinates the Parish Youth Group.  Please join me in congratulating Suzette on her appointment when you see her.

This week, we have sent Miss Alex Wenta, Mrs Suzette Windridge, and Mrs Krystal Land to the Writing Project Expo in Townsville. Alex, Suzette and Krystal have been leading our school's involvement in the Writing Project in 2022, and they were asked to present to staff from other schools at the Expo about the wonderful things happening at St Mary's with writing. We have seen amazing development and outcomes from the students in their writing ability and level of engagement, and these have also been reflected in our NAPLAN results and Pat data. Congratulations Alex, Suzette and Krystal! 

Alicia Ninnes

Stop-Drop-Go

Please remember that there is a "No U-Turn" sign at the exit to the Stop-Drop-Go area.

U-turns are not permitted out of this lane at any time, not just during pick-up and drop-off. The local police have asked the school to remind everyone of this, and people have been booked earlier in the year.

Religious Life of the School

It’s been another busy few weeks at St Marys with our school community participating in a variety of prayer experiences. Last Tuesday we held a special meditation for All Saints and All Souls days. We prayed for all those who are no longer with us on earth. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. Christian Meditation encourages us to be still, silent, and embrace the presence of God. Two major benefits of this prayer form are increased concentration and a deeper appreciation of the world around us. It was fantastic to see the vast majority of students actively engaged in this process. Thank you to Mrs Windridge and Year 5 for leading us in meditation.

During our assembly on Monday, we launched our Mini Vinnies Christmas Appeal. Students are asked to bring in an item to contribute to our Hampers. Each classroom has a blue box where items can be returned to. Thank you to Mr Laurie Cowan, local president of St Vincent De Paul for coming to assembly and speaking to the students about how we can help others, and how our donations support our local community.

Yesterday we had a special prayer service for Remembrance Day. We welcomed guest speaker Mr John Eyles who shared his experience and knowledge. Prior to the service our Years 4-6 students helped create a special wall mural. This was part of a competition run by RSL Queensland, and allowed students to illustrate what Remembrance Day means to them. All the students also wrote a message of peace on a dove. These were then displayed during our liturgy -  Lest we forget.

We celebrated our Term 4 Family Mass a few weeks ago. It was great to see everyone come together as a community and embrace the theme of forgiveness. BIG THANK YOU Father Sibi and  all the students who had roles including reading, singing, and creating artwork. The Youth Group enjoyed a quick games/snacks catch up before Mass, and it was evident they really enjoyed this time together. Over the next month, the youth group members will be busy working on their performance and songs for the Christmas Eve Mass. This is a very special occasion in which we gather as one family to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Please contact Mrs Windridge or Mrs Menzies if you would like your child to be involved. Finally, all are invited to join us in reflecting on our school year as we farewell our Year 6 students - see flyers below.

Have a good week, God bless.

Matthew Knight - Acting APRE

Religious Life Weeks 5 & 6

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Tuckshop - Last Day

Pink Ribbon Day

On Thursday 27th October our staff dressed in pink and hosted a morning tea to raise awareness towards the Cancer Council's Pink Ribbon Campaign. 

We had some amazing raffles and merchandise on offer and delicious treats to share.

We are so proud to annouce $1216.65 was dontated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation from our morning tea.  Thank you to all our staff for the massive combined effort in making the morning a great success. 

My New Gallery

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From the Guidance Counsellor

A SPECIAL REPORT: Parenting Styles

There are so many different opinions offered on how best to parent. New parents will often have firm beliefs about how they wish to balance love and discipline, but this ideal often goes out the window when a toddler throws their first tantrum in the supermarket!

Raising children can bring parents and caregivers great joy despite many learning ‘on the job’ and growing into the role through experience and understanding. Children will always flourish in a warm and loving environment, supported by clear guidance.

In this Special Report, parents and caregivers can gain a greater understanding of the four defined parenting styles by taking part in the quiz. It can guide parents towards deciding which style they wish to adopt and the effects it may have on their children.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report:
https://smbtsv.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-parenting-styles

Award Winners

In Week 5, our weekly awards were presented to students following Mary's Way by showing "M"  Mercy and Outreach.

Mary's Way Award Winners:

Back row: Benjamin Antonio, Mila Smith, Benjamin Pilcher, Ruby Prossor, Andrey Savin-Popa.

Front row: Paulo Ngauamo, Harry Sylvester, Daniel Kahler, Rafferty Pilcher.

Praise Note Winner of the Week:  Laharnah Nelson

Star Reader:  Abigail Wood

Award Winners

In Week 6, our weekly awards were presented to students following Mary's Way by showing "C''  Compassion and Care.

Mary's Way Award Winners:

Back row: Leland Acton, Amahli Cora

Front row: Koha Haare, Ethias Schultz, Benjamin Pugh, Bela Puri

Star Reader:  Hunter Dodd

Paise Note Winner of the Week: Domingo del Solar

Quickwrites

This term all students across P-6 had the opportunity to participate in a 20 minute Quickwrite. They were given the prompt "What would you change about school?" The idea of a Quickwrite is to engage learners in The Writing Process. 
Congratulations to all of our amazing writers from P-6! 
Below are the samples of writing from our Prep and Year 5 winners. We hope you enjoy reading their entries, they make some valid points about what could change at school!

Pre Prep Posties

Over the past 2 weeks our pre Preps have been learning all about Austalia Post. 

They have been busy making their own mailing satchels and sending letters. On Friday they all recevied a special delivery from the postie.  They received a letter in the mail with directions to find the parcel that had been left in a secret location for them to find by using all their knowledge of the school grounds and working together to find the delivery. 

It's safe to say they had great time and are very familiar with the school layout and confident in finding their way around the school in 2023.

My New Gallery

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Swimming Carnival

PLEASE NOTE - All Students must return the permission slip in order to attend the swimming carnival. Notes have been sent home with students and need to be returned to the office or class teacher prior to the event.

Soundfield Systems

I am very pleased to inform you that all classrooms in St Mary’s now have a Soundfield system installed. These each consist of a microphone and loudspeaker which deliver the teacher’s voice at a consistent level across the entire classroom or learning space and support all students to hear what their teachers and peers are saying, regardless of the noise levels in the classroom or where they are sitting. 

Soundfield systems assist all learners including students with hearing loss, auditory and sensory processing difficulties; students with anxiety, attention disorders and ASD; and also EAL/D learners. We have a strong focus on inclusive practices at St Mary’s where every child is able to access the curriculum on the same basis as everyone else. 

Soundfield systems also benefit the teachers in a number of ways, including reducing vocal fatigue and voice problems.

A big thank you to Abbot Point Operations for providing funding to purchase three of these Soundfield systems through their annual Community Support Program.

Thank you also to St Mary’s P & F who have also purchased one for the school.

I have also made a personal donation to the school to buy the seventh Soundfield system, in memory of my Dad, Andrew Emsley, who passed away this year. He was a sound man for television and very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about microphones and speakers. I know that he would have wholeheartedly supported the use of these resources.

We look forward to seeing and hearing about the benefits in all classrooms in the future. 

Catherine Antonio

Inclusive Practice Teacher

P & F News

"Alone, we can do so little; together we can do so much" Helen Keller. 

Those few words bring together the 2022 P&F year that was and allow us to also shine light on what is to come in 2023 for our school community.

Although this year has seen many changes in our school community, all our families have continued to support all the P&F events.  And for this we would like to say a very big 'Thank you', because quite simply, without your support, we couldn't offer these events for our kids.  We have now started to plan and look forward to 2023, when we will welcome new families to the school. Get ready to have a lot of fun, not only for the kids but parents as well! 

Our P&F email account is now active, pandfstmarys@gmail.com, so we hope this will be another way you can reach out to our committee, ask us questions or put your hand up to help at any upcoming events.  This week we were delighted to see another Sound Field System arrive at school and be up and running in the classrooms.  This is of great benefit to students and teachers, so thank you to everyone involved. 

The P&F will be holding our annual Christmas raffle and this year you will have the chance to win one of four Christmas Hams.  Raffle tickets will be out soon and the winner will be announced on the awards evening.  On behalf of the P&F we wish all families, teachers and staff a wonderful holiday season and hope you all enjoy time with loved ones.

Birthdays

Click the below link for a special Happy Birthday Song.

Tuckshop and Lunchboxes

A reminder that Nude Food Fridays continue this term. We are encouraging students to minimize single-use plastic on Fridays to protect our oceans. Use those reusable containers as much as you can! Our Containers 4 Change program is still going so please remember to put your poppers, plastic bottles, and other suitable containers in the blue bins. All money raised through the Pilchers Containers program will be donated to the EcoBarge Volunteer and Turtle Rehabilitation program in the Whitsundays

Mary Mackillop OSHC

OSHC at St Mary’s Catholic School is now operating Monday to Friday from  6.30 am to 8.30 am and 2.45 pm to 6.00 pm.

If you would like more information or to register, please contact Miss Rob on 0428 216 062 OR at bowenoshc@mmcnq.catholic.edu.au

Community

PCYC Workshop

Football Coaching

Swim Club

Creative art workshop

Term 4 Events Calendar