Week 2/3, Term 1, 2024

Weeks 4 and 5 - What's On

• Tuesday, 13 February - Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)
• Wednesday, 14 February - Ash Wednesday Litrugy, 9am, Undercover Area
• Thursday, 15 February - Prayer Renewal Team meeting, 3.15pm, Staff room
• Saturday, 17 February - Board Formation, 8.45am - 1.00pm, Staff room
• Thursday, 22 February - Indigenous Education Advisory Group meeting, 5.15pm, Staff room
• Friday, 23 February - School Disco, "Beach Theme"
• Saturday, 24 February - Clean Up Australia Day event, 9am, Front Beach

Principal News

By the end of next week, Suzette Windridge and I will have both participated in TCE-led training in Enhancing our Catholic School Identity (ECSI). The training examines the data related to the beliefs and practices within our own school, and provides us with strategies to develop the Catholic identity of our school further, in dialogue with the many faith backgrounds of our community. Developing an experience of Faith and Mission, which enriches students' lives and futures is one of the six key strategic directions for Townsville Catholic Education, and all Principals and APREs from the diocese will be taking part in this training during February. In the near future, you will receive an email with a link inviting you to participate in the parent surveys as part of our four-yearly cycle of participating in the ECSI project. Suzette has been busy organising an exciting raffle prize as an incentive for parents to participate in the surveys. I encourage you all to particiapte, as the data relating to our parent community is extremely important in helping us make decisions for the future direction of our school community.

The students and staff at St Mary's have had a very productive start to the year and are already stuck into their learning. Thank you to the parents and students who attended our Welcome Back breakfast on Tuesday! It was lovely to gather socially and share food while getting to know each other, especially with the backdrop of the Front Beach at high tide. We look forward to getting to know even more families at future events! The Parent Information session and first P&F meeting for the year were also well attended and set the tone for a productive year to come.

For anyone who isn't aware, NAPLAN is fast approaching and will be held between March 13 and March 25. More information about this year's NAPLAN is provided below by Mrs Land.

Finally, our School Board has reached the end of its tenure and we are seeking expressions of interest from parents, parish members and staff to be part of our School Board for the next three years. If you are interested in joining the Board, please come along to the Board Formation on Saturday, 17 February, in the school staff room. I also ask those interested to send me an email, outlining your interest and why you would like to join. The outgoing School Board will consider applications and the new Board will be notified in time for the AGM in March.

God bless,

Alicia Ninnes

Religious Life of the School

The blessing ceremony for our School Captains was certainly special, the students were very proud and looked more than ready to step up and be the new leaders of our school.  Well done as well to all of the students who have nominated themselves to be part of the Mini Vinnies team this year in Grades 5 and 6, there are over 30 students ready to learn about Social Justice and make a difference in the community.

God bless,

Suzette Windridge

Assistant Principal - Religious Education

Well done Maddy for sharing your special prayer with us. Maddy wrote this prayer and told me that she often prays at home. 

ECSI survey

Hello all, this term St Mary’s undergoes a very important survey regarding the Religious life and identity of our school. As we all know, the world is rapidly changing and so are global Religious beliefs and trends. Townsville Catholic Education has each school within the diocese complete the ECSI (enhancing catholic school identity) survey routinely in order to help the school better understand and plan for the needs of their students, parents and staff in the area of Religious Education and formation. 

“ECSI utilises a variety of online survey instruments to assess attitudes among students, teachers, staff, families and other constituencies towards the foundations of Catholic school identity. These instruments are aligned with theoretical structures developed at the Catholic University of Leuven and undergo continuous measures of scientific validation.”(Enhancing Catholic School Identity).

The results of these surveys will inform us as to the Religious identities, attitudes and pedagogies that make up our whole school community, giving us clear direction as a school in which way to proceed, as we move towards a modern Catholic faith that enriches lives and contributes to a better world. 

We really need ALL parents from Prep to Year 6, as well as all St Mary’s staff and the students in years 5 and 6, to complete these surveys in order to gain an accurate picture. Please take the time to complete your survey when you receive the link as it is so important to the future direction of our school. Let Alicia or myself know if you have any concerns or questions regarding the survey or if you do not receive the link before the end of March. Parents who complete the survey will go into the draw to win a family sailing trip to Whitehaven. 

Shrove Tuesday and Lent

We begin Lent with pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, 13th February. Shrove Tuesday is a Christian celebration that falls on the Tuesday before Lent begins. Lent is a period of 6 weeks, where we give up our luxuries and remember when Jesus went into the desert for 40 days to fast and pray. Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake day, is the last chance to eat all the yummy foods like butter, sugar, fat and eggs before the period of Lent begins. What better way to do so than with pancakes! Please let your teacher know if your child has any allergies and requires a special pancake mix for this occasion and we will try our best to cater for everyone. We will hold an Ash Wednesday liturgy on Wednesday the 14th of February at 9am in the church, led by Year 4, and we invite the whole community to attend and mark the beginning of Lent and the Easter season. 

Lent also sees the first Social Justice venture this year at St Mary’s, the beginning of Project Compassion. Project Compassion helps raise funds for communities all over the world experiencing devastation and hardship, in a range of essential areas. The theme for this year is, ‘For all Future Generations’. Please send a small donation in with your child. We challenge the students and community to really get involved and reach out to these struggling children and families. What a wonderful way to mark the beginning of the Lenten season! To share videos of these communities and the stories behind project compassion with your child, visit: https://vimeo.com/showcase/10792309 

Learning and Teaching

NAPLAN- Tailored Testing

Key features of a tailored test

• Your child will be doing NAPLAN. NAPLAN is an online test. One of the main features of NAPLAN is that it is a tailored (or adaptive) test.
• This means that students receive questions better suited to their abilities, so they can demonstrate what they know and can do.
• Tailored tests provide more precise results. Trials of the tailored test design show students are more engaged with tests that adapt to their test performance.
• Students should not be concerned if they think that the questions are more difficult than expected or they have previously experienced – this may simply mean that they are taking a more challenging but more appropriate pathway. Harder questions receive a greater weighting so there is no disadvantage in scoring.
• This tailored testing approach means that a wider range of student abilities can be tested (compared with the paper approach, where all students answer exactly the same questions).
• This video explains how tailored testing works. Further information about tailored testing is on the NAP website.

Test Window

NAPLAN tests need to be taken in a specific order.

The NAPLAN test window is 9 days, from Wednesday 13 March 2024 to Monday 25 March 2024. Please see below the test window for our school. 

If you have any further questions please contact me to discuss further.

Kind Regards,

Krystal Land

Acting Assistant Principal Pedagogy and Learning

Our School Leader for 2024

Term 1 - Student Council

The Resilience Project

Week 1 Awards - Show Respect

Week 2 Awards - Mercy & Outreach

Classes for 2024

Guidance Counsellor News

In this edition of SchoolTV - SCHOOL TRANSITIONS
Whether it is starting school for the first time, moving up to a higher grade or embarking on a journey through secondary school, there is no doubt that any school transition is a very exciting time for children and parents. It means your children are growing up!

However, transitioning is an ongoing process. It can continue long after students have entered their new environment and may encounter difficulties at a number of different stages. These stressors may appear as anxiety and frustration and result in negative or disruptive behaviours. Such behaviours can become problematic making the transitioning process even more difficult for children and parents.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn practical strategies to assist your child during the transition process and reduce stress and anxiety levels.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school guidance counsellor, Kerrie-ann Wilson, for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the School Transitions edition of SchoolTV
https://smbtsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/school-transitions

Sport News

Well done to all students that went to the sports trials held this week and congratulations to those who were selected. 

Hockey Coaching Clinics

Welcome Back Breakfast

Clean up Australia Day

P&F Disco

Our first school disco will be held on Friday, 23 February.

P&F News

The recent P&F Annual General Meeting was very well attended. Thank you to all of the parents who joined us and welcome to our new executive for 2024.

• President - Angela Gonzalez
• Vice-President - Christine Chambers
• Secretary - Sarah Romano
• Treasurer - Lindy Anderson

The P&F also developed a new constitution, which will be available for perusal by our community for the next four weeks. A copy is linked here, and a hard copy is also available in the school office. Any questions or comments may be directed to a member of the P&F executive or Mrs Alicia Ninnes

Mary's Munchkins Playgroup

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.

The government has announced changes in the way that Child Care Subsidy is worked out. The income limit for CCS will be increasing to $530,000, meaning that the cost of OSHC will reduce for the majority of families. The changes came into effect on 10 July.

Currently the service costs $17.50 for Before-School Care, and $22 for After-School Care, before CCS reductions are applied. Food (breakfast and afternoon tea) is provided at no extra cost. Please see below for more information about the upcoming reduction in fees.

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

School Dental Service

Tuckshop Menu 2024

To order tuckershop, head to the flexischools app - as per link below