Week 8/9 Newsletter Term 3 2024

Term 3 Week 9 & 10 - What's On

• Saturday 7th September: Tournament of Minds students fly to the Gold Coast for the State Finals 
• Friday 13th September: Final day of term and MMBDO! 9 am Mass in St Mary's Church, followed by Talent Quest at 11:20-1:20. 
• Friday 13th: Pre-Prep, 8:45 am, parents invited. 
• Monday 30th September: return to school.  

Religious Life of the School

Hello everyone, how are you? Isn't it terrific to welcome Summer in time for the school holidays! I hope students, families and staff all experience lots of rest and rejuvenation, and that God blesses you and your loved ones with a joyful, peaceful and safe holiday. 

Thank you to students and staff who attended our Family Mass last weekend, it was a lovely Mass, particularly Matilda's singing of the psalm, just beautiful! Also thank you to staff and students who met in the Church on Saturday to help with cleaning and to meet some of our parishioners.  The youth group had a great time and people reported that 'it just felt good to give something back and help out'. So thank you again.

We will be ending the school term with a whole school Mass once again, this time led by our Year 5 students and Mrs Young. This will be at 9 am on the last day of school in our St Mary's Church. 

Hope you can make it. 

God's blessings, 

Mrs Windridge. 

Cleaning Bee St Mary's

Term 3 Masses and liturgies:

Learning and Teaching

As we continue on our journey with implementing Version 9 of Mathematics, we thought it would be a good opportunity to get some feedback from our students and hear their voice.

The topic for this term's Quick Write was: do you prefer to learn Mathematics with a worksheet or hands-on materials?

Hands-on materials were the clear preference, with many students justifying how hands-on materials improve their learning.

In some very exciting news for our school, we have purchased over 2500 decodable readers for our Early Years classes in order to ensure that our resources align with Version 9 of the English curriculum.

We are looking forward to getting these covered as soon as possible so that we can start using them for home readers as of Term 1 2025.

As part of ensuring that all Townsville Catholic Education (TCE) schools are aligning their pedagogy with Version 9,  TCE have provided schools with a Literacy Position Statement. You will notice a copy of this position statement displayed in the noticeboard at the entrance to our school and in the Prep classroom.

If you have any questions regarding Literacy, I encourage you to discuss those with your classroom teacher or myself.

Kind regards,

Krystal Land

Acting Assistant Principal Pedagogy and Learning

Kind regards,

Krystal Land

Acting Assistant Principal and Pedagogy 

Week 7 Awards - "Mercy & Outreach"

Week 8 Awards - "Compassion & Care"

Birthdays

Happy Chappy Pancake Day

St Mary's Talent Quest

P&F Pictureplate Fundraiser

Don’t miss out on our pictureplate product, a perfect keepsake that’s both sentimental and practical! These timeless items can be cherished for years and are also handy as utensils or trinket dishes.

If you would like to order a product, below is what you need to do:
1.    Click on the link: https://forms.gle/JKV6HVk7vaPFdJU26 which takes you to the order form.
2.    Fill in the order form and press submit.
3.    Make payment by either clicking on this link: https://pay.pictureproducts.com/BOWNTA/97982/ or sending cash to the office.
4.    Once your order form and payment has been received, your artwork will be sent home with your child to be completed. If you have selected for your child to complete the artwork at school, they will complete this early in Week 10.
5.    Return your completed artwork to the office or classroom teacher by next Friday, 13^th September.

If you are not able to complete the form online, need assistance or have any questions, please email sromano@smbtsv.catholic.edu.au or contact the school office.

We would love you to support this P&F fundraising activity if you can!

Safe Travels and Best Wishes to Our TOM Student Teams!

Congratulations to our talented teams, Language Literature Team 2 and Social Science Team 1, on making it to the next level!  Your hard work and dedication have truly paid off, and now you have the exciting opportunity to compete against top teams for State Finals.

As you head to the Gold Coast tomorrow for this thrilling competition, we want to wish you all the best. May your travels be smooth, and may you showcase your skills and knowledge with confidence and enthusiasm.

Go out there and shine—you're already winners in our eyes! 

Safe travels and good luck! 

TCE Festival of Sport

St Mary’s Netball Team and Soccer Team travelled to compete in the Townsville Catholic Education Festival of Sport Carnival. It was great to see so much sportsmanship and teamwork throughout the day. Well done to everyone who competed today! 

My New Gallery

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 32

Next

Student Free Day - Reflective Practice Day for St Mary's Staff

On the Student free day, our staff engaged in Reflective Practice Day!
Teachers focused on V9 Literacy and our school officers explored the Effective Use of School Officers. 
Our shared lunch was a great way to top off a day of learning, we hope everyone had an enjoyable long weekend! 

My New Gallery

Grocery Raffle

Don River Dash - This Weekend

Celebrating Queensland's School Crossing Supervisors for 40 years of service

This year, Queensland’s School Crossing Supervisor Scheme celebrates 40 years of keeping
kids safe as they travel to and from school.
We would like to say a big thank you to our wonderful School Crossing Supervisor/s, Matthew and Avril, for
everything you do for our students and school community! You do a great job keeping our
students and other pedestrians safe as they cross the road in peak drop-off and pick-up times.

Why not say a big thank you the next time you see them on duty! You can also show
your appreciation for School Crossing Supervisors by slowing down, following directions
and being courteous while travelling in our school zone.

Did you know?
• The School Crossing Supervisor Scheme is operated by the Department of
Transport and Main Roads.
• There are more than 2000 school crossing supervisors who operate over 1300
crossings at more than 700 Queensland schools.
• There has not been a single fatality on a supervised crossing since the scheme
started in 1984.

St Mary's Stop, Drop and Go! Let's keep it a safe zone.

Guidance Counsellor News

A SPECIAL REPORT: Dealing with Disappointment

As young people learn to navigate through various aspects of their life, they may face disappointment due to unfulfilled expectations, shattered dreams, or unexpected setbacks. Yet, with the appropriate tools, strategies, and a positive mindset, young people can learn to cope with disappointment and use it as an opportunity for personal growth and success.

Disappointment can be a tricky emotion to deal with at any age. It is a normal part of growing up. However, children sometimes need reminding that they have a choice in how they respond to disappointment and their response will determine the impact it has on their future happiness. Overall, disappointment is a healthy and positive emotion and plays an integral part in a child’s emotional, intellectual and social development.

Helping young people manage their disappointment is important in order to avoid stronger emotions such as anxiety and depression. Although a parent’s first reaction may be to fix the problem, it is better to encourage your child to find the words to express how they feel.

In this Special Report, parents and caregivers are provided with strategies on how to help their child process disappointment and look at the problem objectively. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

Here is the link to your special report:

https://smbtsv.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-dealing-disappointment

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

This week is Child Protection Week

Safety Heroes

The Resilience Project

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 Mrs Sue Lawless on 0428 216 062 OR at bowenoshc@mmcnq.catholic.edu.au

Cooinda Family Centre

School Dental Service

Tuckshop Menu