Week 1 Term 2 Newsletter 2024

Weeks 2 and 3 - What's On

• Monday, 22 April - 5.15pm, Board Formation Meeting
• Tuesday, 23 April - NRL training re-starts for Term 2
• Wednesday, 24 April - ANZAC Day Liturgy, 9am
• Thursday, 25 April - ANZAC Day Public Holiday
• Friday, 26 April - Pupil Free Day
• Monday, 29 April - Arts Council Performance, "We Don't Need Another Hero"
• Thursday, 2 May - 5.15pm, P&F meeting
• Friday, 3 May - Office Professionals' Day

Principal News

Welcome back for Term 2! I hope all of our families had a safe and enjoyable Easter holiday. The children certainly had many stories to tell us when they returned on Monday.

The cut-off for our Enhancing Catholic School Identity surveys is next week. Parents and other members of our school and parish community are encouraged to complete the surveys, which should take a maximum of 40 minutes, and to share a screenshot of the final page with Mrs Suzette Windridge to go in the draw to win a day cruise for a family of four to Whitehaven Beach, valued at $520. If you haven’t completed the surveys yet, please follow the link and the instructions below to complete the surveys this weekend. The Survey Access Code for St Mary’s is AfRp7n.

The Enhancing Catholic School Identity Project (ECSIP), developed by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), has been an important aspect of Townsville Catholic Education’s commitment to its Mission and Purpose as a branch of the Catholic Church, and has formed part of TCE’s response to the religious, cultural, and ideological diversity of those who engage in Catholic Education today.

The information derived from the project and the surveys is integrated into our Five Year School Renewal Plan and is also integrated into our Annual School Improvement Plan. The Townsville Catholic Education Draft Catholic Identity Shape Paper (2021) states: “Catholic Identity is evidenced in a range of ways via Vision and Mission Statements, our beliefs, values, and attitudes, and our systemic nuance, policies, priorities, and practices. Furthermore, Catholic Identity is demonstrated in the manner in which we relate to others, our programs and pedagogy, professional learning opportunities, hospitality for and celebration of liturgy and prayer, community involvement, critical incident responses, personal and spiritual growth, well-being and more. At no time does one size fit all and nor is ECSI a test or a measure of anything. ECSI challenges us to remain grounded and faithful to the Catholic Tradition and to understand and discern over time the influence of Jesus Christ through Scripture and Tradition for us today.”

Many of you will have noticed the extensive work that Mrs Suzette Windridge has been doing in Mission and Outreach over the last two years. Our School Satisfaction Surveys in 2023, combined with our last ECSI report in 2020, have shown that many of our families value our Mercy charism, and Gospel values, even if families are not Catholic. To truly maintain our Catholic Identity within the tradition of the Church, however, we need to support the embedding of these values with reference to Scripture. The focus for Townsville Catholic Education in 2024 is on making a hermeneutical shift within our schools. This means that we are teaching our students, staff and families to read and interpret Scripture critically, engaging with the context in which it was written, the specific genre of a piece of scripture, and also what it can mean for us today. This is an area of study that I am personally passionate about and am excited to support within our school community over the coming year. 

If you have any further questions about the ECSI project, or the surveys, please feel free to contact me or Mrs Windridge.

God bless,

Alicia Ninnes

Religious Life of the School

A very warm welcome back to Term 2, I hope you all had a lovely time with your loved ones over Easter, and yes, we have another busy term ahead! I have included some important dates and information below for your attention:

-Our Murroona Gardens mini vinnies trip was postponed due to illness at the home last term, we hope to visit with them for Mothers’ day

-We will be holding a special Anzac day liturgy on Wednesday 24th at 9am, in our big shed, led by Year 3 students and Mrs Rees

- The Mothers’ day liturgy will be led by our Preppies, at 9 am on May 10th

-Thermomix tickets are selling fast. Please pop into the office to secure your chance to win Mum this wonderful prize!

- The ECSI parent survey will close very soon. It is your last chance to fill it out for a chance to win a cruise. Let Alicia or myself know if you have completed this. 

A reminder that parents can access the parent hub resources as part of our school’s participation in The Resilience Project this year. The hub has excellent ideas and resources to help students build upon their mental health and wellbeing, and are extremely beneficial to both parents and students. Have a look and choose something to practice with your child over the term. https://theresilienceproject.com.au/2023-parent-carer-hub-inspire-martin/ 

As part of St Mary's Laudato Si` action plan, Year 3 have been running a second hand reward shop, which uses donated and used items from family homes. The students were absolutely thrilled to receive a 'new' item or toy to take home for their good behaviour last term, and it was great to see things we no longer 'need' receiving a second use. Thanks Mrs Rees!

Mrs Rees and Miss Harte from Prep and Year 3 will be starting a breakfast club on Tuesday's and Thursday's for hungry students this term, from 8 am onwards at the tuckshop. We are so grateful for their time and energy in this space! If you would like to help out or donate any food items for this, please let Emily and Stephanie know. 

Have a wonderful term everyone. Many blessings, 

Mrs Windridge. 

Learning and Teaching

Welcome back to Term 2, I hope you had a wonderful break and found some time to rest and recharge.

We have some wonderful opportunities for our students coming up this term. On May 17th our students who are 8 and under will travel to St Catherine's to join them in their celebrations for Under 8's Day. This will be a very fun day and one that students remember for many years. More info will come home to parents about this shortly.

This term we will also be participating in The Premier's Reading Challenge. I will be registering our school on April 22nd. The challenge begins on May 7th and it would be great to see more students reading this year. Students will bring home an information letter and a reading log before May 7. Each year we try and increase the amount of students reading. This year we will be sharing on parade and Facebook a tally of each class so that we can keep the momentum going with the reading. 

This week we also found out some exciting news, we have been accepted into a robotics competition at St Anthony's Catholic College in Townsville on July 30th. 15 students from Year 6 will be invited to attend and they will work in small groups to solve challenges with a robot. 

Kind Regards,
Krystal Land
Acting- Assistant Principal Pedagogy and Learning

Week 9 Awards - Term 1 - Safe, Just & Fair

Week 10 Awards - Term 1 - Be My Best

Principal Awards

Birthdays

MacqLit Graduates

Sport News

Guidance Counsellor News

In this edition of SchoolTV - BODY IMAGE

Kids today are more obsessed with their body image than those in past generations. This is
partially influenced by the media and their social connectivity. Encouraging kids to have a healthy
body image in childhood, can lay the foundations for good physical and mental health later in life.
A recent study highlighted that body image is one of the top three concerns for Australian
youth. Over half of girls in high schools have tried to lose weight. One-third of teenage boys
wanted to be thinner and another third wanted to be larger. Children need to understand that their
body shape and size is not a reflection of their health or success. Parents and schools need to
work together to help kids understand that everyone is born with their own ‘body-suit’.
In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn how to encourage their child to have a positive
body image and why it is so important to their mental health. We hope you take time to reflect on
the resources offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback.

Here is the link to the Body Image edition of SchoolTV
https://smbtsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/body-image

If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school Guidance Counsellor

for further information or seek medical or professional help.

The Resilience Project

Family Fun Day

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

Cooinda Family Centre

School Dental Service

Tuckshop Menu