Week 8, Term 2

From the Principal

Dear Families,

I have reproduced below the letter sent out earlier this week from Jacqui Francis, Executive Director of Townsville Catholic Education regarding the principal position.  

"At the conclusion of the recent recruitment process for the position of Principal, St Mary's Catholic School, Bowen, I am pleased to announce that Mrs Alicia Ninnes has been appointed as Acting Principal for Semester Two of 2022. 
Alicia is an experienced educator and successful senior leader. 
Alicia has a strong alignment with Gospel Values and leads in a collaborative and highly effective manner. She believes passionately that Catholic Education should challenge students to be the best that they can be and has demonstrated an ability to lead staff and community effectively to accomplish a shared vision. 
Alicia has very strong interpersonal skills, organisational leadership, and values a strong and engaged community. Her leadership will complement the way St Mary's Catholic School embodies Catholicism and promotes a friendly, learning community that encourages the growth of students through Catholic values. 
Recruitment for the permanent Principal position for St Mary's Catholic School, Bowen will commence in Term Three 2022."    I wish Alicia all the best for Semester Two and am confident that she will effectively lead the school while the recruitment process for a new principal for St Mary's continues.

A reminder that Townsville Catholic Education has been endeavoring to gain feedback from parents throughout the diocese on how to improve the educational experience provided to our students. All staff and families were sent a survey regarding this. Your responses are very important in this process as we continue to strive to provide the best educational, social, spiritual, and emotional resources and environment for our children.   The surveys were distributed via email a number of weeks ago and close today, Friday 10 June.  Please take this last-minute opportunity to complete the survey if you have not already done so.  I would like to thank you in advance for providing feedback and assisting us to improve our school.

Kind Regards 

Sharyn Bell

Prep 2023 - Do we have your application?

We are currently reviewing prep applications for 2023.  If you have a child eligible for Prep in 2023 please alert the office as soon as possible so we can ensure a position is available for your child in this cohort.  Spaces are limited.  We are conducting interviews next term.   

Religious Life of the School

Last week I was at the APRE cluster meeting in Townsville. APREs from across Townsville Diocese met to participate in professional development discussions around Catholic identity, authentic dialogue and renewing prayer practices.

A new challenge that arose out of the discussions was how to create and maintain our Catholic identity while encouraging an inclusive and hospitable culture in our school. As our school population grows, we are lucky to welcome students and families from a wide range of faith backgrounds. Facilitating dialogue that encourages understanding of other people and what they believe is important for growing a more tolerant and understanding culture. The difficulty for teachers today is to remember that prayer and faith practices that we have used for decades may not have any meaning for some of our students. By remembering to explain the particularity of Catholic faith practices instead of launching straight in with the assumption that everyone knows what we are doing and why we are doing it, we are more able to invite community members to participate or be respectfully present.

Last Friday, we have also participated in Mulkadee, which is an event particular to Townsville Catholic Education schools. Students from Years 4, 5, and 6 joined with students from St Catherine’s to learn a dance that was then filmed at Horseshoe Bay and will be displayed as part of the Mulkadee event in Townsville on July 22.

Alicia Ninnes (Assistant Principal / Religious Education)

2022 Annual School Improvement Plan

One of the areas of focus for our school improvement plan this year is a positive environment.  Teachers have implemented the Positive Behaviour for Learning program and will be using the Zones of Regulation to support students to follow The Mary's Way. This week our Guidance Counsellor, Mrs. Kerrie-Ann Wilson, delivered professional development for our staff on the Zones of Regulation.  The Zones is a systematic approach used to teach children how to regulate their feelings, energy and sensory needs in order to meet the demands of the situation around them and be successful socially.  The Zones of Regulation provides a common language and compassionate framework to support positive mental health. 

By incorporating the Zones of Regulation in the classroom, the teachers are seeking to help your child develop skills in the area of self-regulation. Self-regulation can go by many names, such as self-control, self-management, and impulse control. It is defined as the best state of alertness of both the body and emotions for a specific situation. For example, when your child plays a soccer game, it is beneficial to have a higher state of alertness. However, that same state would not be appropriate in the library.

The Zones of Regulation is based around the use of four colours to help children self-identify how they’re feeling and categorise it based on colour. The curriculum also helps children better understand their emotions, sensory needs and thinking patterns. The children learn different strategies to cope and manage their emotions based on which colour zone they’re in. Additionally, the Zones of Regulation helps children to recognise their own triggers, learn to read facial expressions, develop problem-solving skills, and become more attuned to how their actions affect other people. Next Semester, Kerrie-Ann will be offering parent information sessions on the Zones so you can use them at home!  (Image below from St Michael's Primary School) 

Learning and Teaching

In Yr 2 and 3 this week, students were given a piece of writing to improve by adding or changing the vocabulary in the written text to provide more detail for their readers. For example, the student prompt was I went to school. After the students collaboratively added nouns, verbs, and adjectives they came up with "Today I went to school with a smile on my face and my thinking cap on".  Students also viewed a mystery bag with a range of different items inside. In their group, they chose one item to take away and brainstorm a list of adjectives that could be used to describe the item. The students then independently formed their own sentences about the item using their list of adjectives. Some examples are below:

Item- treasure chest.  The ancient treasure chest had a treasure map for more gold locked inside it.

Item- Dance Studio. Joey the red kangaroo hid in his Mum's pouch when the music played on the stage. 

This week, Miss Wenta and I explored mentor texts with the Year 3 students. Ellie's Dragon was used as the text to engage with as part of the students' literacy learning experiences. During the lesson, Miss Wenta and I co-taught, this allowed the students to have more one-on-one time with a teacher to develop their reading and comprehension skills. The students practiced making predictions and completed a sketch-to-stretch whilst listening to the teacher read so that they could demonstrate their understanding of the events in the text and confidently re-tell it in their own words. After reading the text, the students worked in two groups to identify examples of language used by the author where the audience needed to infer what had happened, and the language used which allowed the audience to literally read what had happened.  Next week, Miss Wenta and I will co-reflect and use the formative data from this learning experience to plan the next learning experience about Ellie's Dragon. 
Krystal Land (Learning and Teaching Adviser)

Writing Gallery

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Director of Learning and Teaching Visit

This week, the Townsville Catholic Education Director of Learning and Teaching, Mr. Peter Stower,  visited St Mary's to see for himself the great work occurring in our classroom.  Mr. Stower has been a great support to our school providing the professional development, funding, and resources required to ensure our teachers and students are delivering and receiving an excellent education. Mr Stower visited every room and questioned the students on the task they were doing, what they were learning through the task, and why did they think this learning was important to them.

Sports News

HIGH JUMP AND DISCUS EVENTS 

During their PE lessons this term, all of our students have been busy preparing for their events in our upcoming Athletics Carnival.  We will be hosting the high jump events at school on Monday 13th June and Wednesday 15th June. We will also be hosting the Discus events during PE lessons on Tuesday 14th June and Thursday 16th June. All parents are welcome to attend. Please note that students should wear their sports uniforms on this day.

Athletics Carnival next Friday

Students will participate in all other events at our Athletics Carnival which will be held at the Bowen Athletics Club (Bowen Sporting Complex, Woodlands Road, Bowen) on Friday 17th June. These events will include shot put, long jump, sprints, 800m, ball games, and relay races. 

Students will be transported to the Sporting Complex from school by bus at 8:45 am. The 5 and 6-year-olds will complete their carnival at approximately midday and will travel back to school by bus. Families are more than welcome to collect their children from the Sporting Complex at the completion of the day which will be at approximately 2:10 pm. Please note that children are grouped by the age that they will be by the end of the year (i.e. not in their year level).  There are eight lanes at the Sporting Complex.  Some races will be timed finals. 

All students can wear their house colours (green for Foley and yellow for MacKillop) or their sports uniforms. Students are allowed to wear runners that are not black. Please see classroom teachers if you do not know which house your child is in. Students should have their school hats and a water bottle with them at all times during these events. They should also bring sunscreen.   All students will need to bring a packed lunch with them for two lunch breaks. Please note that there will not be any refrigeration available, so a cooling block added to their lunch boxes would be a great idea.   

For the Athletics Carnival to run smoothly and efficiently, we always need parental support with “measuring and spotting”. If you are able to provide any form of assistance, please sign the form below or see Mrs Jones or the teachers on the day.  Thank you and we look forward to seeing everyone at our Athletics Carnival to celebrate the children’s successes on this special occasion.  If you have any further questions please see Mrs Jones or your class teacher.

STATE OF ORIGIN FUN 

Students were invited to wear either maroon or blue on Wednesday to show their support for either Queensland or New South Wales in the State of Origin.  Please enjoy the photos of staff and students getting into the spirit. 

Mary's Munchkins

Mary's Munchkins takes place each Monday from 8:40 am - 10:40 am. 

All parents are welcome to come along to enjoy a relaxing morning while their children are entertained with indoor and outdoor activities. 

Munchkins have recently been reading about the Hungry Caterpillar!

Miss Christine.

Pre-Prep Transition Program

The St Mary's Pre-Prep Program is designed to support children's transition from Kindergarten to Prep.  Our Pre-Prep Transition Program offers a wonderful opportunity for the children to develop relationships with the classroom teacher, support staff, and their peers.  Throughout the program, the children will become familiar with the routines of their school day and engage in a variety of hands-on learning experiences to prepare them to successfully enter Prep in 2023. 

The Pre-Prep Program this year will be coordinated by Mrs. Alana Browning, Ms. Lindy Anderson, and Mrs. Tanya Dederer who all have extensive experience working in the Early Years.   The program will operate each Friday, (8:45 am - 2:45 pm) for the duration of Terms 3 and 4, commencing on Friday 14 July and concluding on Friday 25 November 2022 (Week 8 Term 4).   There will be a small fee of $10 per week to cover the cost of resources and consumables. 

Mary's Marvellous Big Day Out

On the last day of each term, we celebrate the time we have spent learning and growing together as a community.  On Friday the 24th of June, we will celebrate Mass together as a whole school before heading off to the Summergarden Theatre to enjoy "Lightyear" the new Disney animated movie. 

 9:00 am Whole School Mass

10:30 am Bus to the Summergarden

12:45 am Bus back to school 

This Week's Award Winners

On Monday, our weekly awards were presented to students following Mary's Way by being Safe, Just, and Fair.  Please join us in congratulating our award winners from this week.

Mary's Way Award Winners:  (Back row) Sophie Boyle, James Finn, Star Reader - Sophie Honnery, Kye Land, Max Bodsworth (Middle row) Elodie Robertson, Colten Ward, Jake Land, Harry Sylvester (Front row) Lazariah Prior, Praise note winner - Ollie, Hunter Dodd.

Praise Note Winner of the Week: Oliver Pilcher

Star Reader: Sophia Honnery 

Birthdays

 Upcoming Birthdays

Jake Land - 14 June

Elishia Peterson - 16 June

Lacey Gattera - 18 June

Ella Wilson - 19 June

Click the below link for a special Happy Birthday Song.

From the Guidance Counsellor

Resilience is one of those skills that all kids need and should have. It refers to their ability to cope and adapt in situations when confronted with challenges such as adversity, trauma, tragedy, or even stress. It is essential to their mental health and wellbeing as part of their journey to adulthood. It is a skill that can be learned from an early age through the support of an adult role model.

However, being resilient does not mean your child won't experience any difficulties, but it will better equip them to manage those situations. Over-protective parenting can be viewed as being unhelpful in the building of resilience. Although this may be a natural instinct, potentially experiencing failure is all part of the process. Encouraging children to take healthy risks will help them trust their capacity to deal with uncomfortable situations and increase their capacity for courage.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will gain an understanding of how to support their child’s brave behaviour to help them adapt and build resilience.

We hope you take the 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 for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Resilience edition of SchoolTV
https://smbtsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/resilience

School Dental Service

Mackay Oral Heath Services is now offering students at St Mary’s free dental treatment. Parents will be required to bring students to these appointments.

             Appointments will be offered at :

Bowen Hosptial Dental Clinic

Corner of Gregory and George Streets

Please see below flyer for addtional information.

Position Vacant - tuckshop

We are looking for an enthusiastic person to work in our St Mary's tuckshop across Semester Two.  The position is 8 hours a week spread across two days.  The days are currently Monday and Wednesday but we are considering changing this to Wednesday and Friday across Semester Two.   Please phone reception if you are interested or send your expression of interest to bwn@tsv.catholic.edu.au.

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

Another Cracker week at OSHC !

Lots of dress ups, Playing with the Polydron sets, Laughs and most importantly FUN. 

Community News