WEEK 5, TERM 3 2019

Dear Families and Caregivers,

Welcome to the midway point of Term 3.  This week I am attending the Leadership Forum in St George.  Today on the banks of the Balonne River we gathered in reflection.  The day centred on the Gospel reading, John 4, an encounter at the well between Jesus and a woman.

Engaging in conversation and dialogue, and sharing insights with colleagues helped deepen our understanding and response to the busyness of our lives.  We all need to remember to take the time to stop and appreciate the many encounters we have each day.   I am so grateful for my everyday encounter with the children, staff and families at our school each morning whilst on duty.  Saying, "Goodmorning", to the students before the start of the day always renews me with energy for the day.  To then check in with them at the end of their day whilst waiting for them to be collected by parents in Lawrence St, and seeing the joy lightup on their faces to see their parents is wonderful.  

I trust that you take time in your life to reflect on the encounters that you have in your day throughout the week. 

Parents reading aloud for children – don’t give it up!

As it is Book Week next week, this is a timely reminder for us all on the wonder and power of reading, both for ourselves and for our children. Research has shown that parents frequently get involved in reading to their children when they are young, but as they grow and progress through primary school and are more able to read themselves, many parents stop reading aloud to their children. But there is evidence to show that there are still many things older children gain from being read to by adults.

Being read to can improve and develop a child’s vocabulary, phonological awareness, comprehension and imagination skills and understanding of literature and writing. It can also help to develop curiosity, motivation and language skills and promotes and encourages lifelong readers. When adults read to children, they can also choose stories which are at a higher level to what a child could comfortably read themselves and get them hooked in to wonderful books that will continue to interest them in later years. One of the best benefits from reading aloud to children is that it can support bonding and strengthen the relationship between a parent and child. Snuggling up to their mother, father or grandparent and listening to an interesting or exciting story, may be one of the fondest memories children hold of their childhood and family.

If you’re feeling time-poor, why not consider downloading some audiobooks and listening to them together while on car trips? This can be a fun shared experience, plus a great way of keeping the kids happy (and quiet!) during long journeys.

What are you reading together?

Have a look at this article about the benefits of reading aloud for all:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/reading-aloud-has-huge-benefits-to-children-but-many-parents-stop-too-early-20151123-gl5v85.html

Book Week Dress-up Parade

Our parade will be held in the Mercy Centre at 8.30am on Tuesday 20th August, all adults are welcome to be in the audience. There are no particular requirements for student costumes, just have some fun and remember to be sun smart and safe. 

I look forward to seeing the many super readers for our dress up morning next Tuesday 20th August. 

Have a great week. 

Madonna

Dear Parents and Carers,

August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption, a day to focus on Mary, the Mother of Jesus. While sometimes, we might tend to think of Mary as meek and mild, this does not match with the stories we have of Mary in the New Testament which include the Annunciation, Nativity, flight into Egypt, losing Jesus in the Temple, the wedding feast at Cana and being at the foot of the Cross.

These stories show a strong, noble woman who put her free will at the disposal of God’s will. The Assumption celebrates that God remained utterly faithful to Mary through death, as she was utterly faithful to him in life.

May we, this Assumption Day take the time to reflect on Mary as the Year 5 students have been doing this term as part of their RE Unit.

Hannah says," Mary was assumed into Heaven because she was special to God: she said "Yes" to carrying Jesus and gave birth to him. That's why we celebrate Mary on the 15th of August.

Thanks to Mrs Wagner and 5W for speaking to Yrs 1-6 students this morning about the significance of Mary and the Feast of the Assumption.

Happy Birthday to Miss Doljanin (4D) and Fr Hal Ranger who shared morning tea celebrations with us this week. Two very special people with a lot of wisdom between them. 

SCHOOL/ PARISH MASS: This Sunday is our Term 3 combined School/ Parish Mass to which everyone of course is welcome to attend. It would be wonderful to see lots of families and staff in attendance. I do know that weekends are often very busy with various commitments and appreciate the time that parents give to ensuring their little ones get to places. So thank you for all you do!

ARE YOU OK DAY FUNDRAISER: The College has invited our Yr 4-6 students to attend their fundraising event next Thursday during morning tea time. There will be food and novelties available for purchase with funds raised going to an organisation supporting mental health. We invite our students to bring along a few dollars to spend if possible (and they remember).

WATER WISE: This week we have had to speak to our students about being careful and not wasting water. This is something we will be continuing to promote for obvious reasons and will let you know of specific promotions and activities in the coming weeks, with a free dress/ fundraising day being discussed.

Thank you for all you do to support our school! Enjoy the rest of the week.

Judy

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Parent/Teacher interviews take place in Terms 1 and 3 at St Saviour's Primary School.  This is an opportunity for parents to meet with teachers to discuss student learning and recieve feedback on how they are performing.

This term interviews will take place during Week 9, with the main portion of interviews being on Monday September 9.  There will also be some other days where before and after school appointments can be made.  Bookings will take place through Schoolzine.  Please keep an eye on your Schoolzine messages for an exact date.

Year 3 Parent Information Evening for Surface Go Devices

An information evening will take place on Wednesday 11 September from 5.30pm in the school library for parents who will have children in Year 4 in 2020. 

Please refer to the letter that was sent via schoolzine on 27 June for further information.  This letter is also attached below.

ACARA Parent Update for July

Please see the below like for the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) parent newsletter for July.  

Some interesting articles in this newsletter cover topics such as what you can do with your child's NAPLAN data (which will be sent home in early September) and updated health guidelines for children.

All students at St Saviour's Primary will be participating in a dance program this term run by a company called Dance Fever.  For this term only sport uniform is optional for all students to wear on a Wednesday due to the physical nature of the dancing.

This program will culminate in a performance for parents on Friday September 13 after school.  Times will be confirmed in the near future.

Thanks very much to the St Saviour's Primary P&F for funding the program for the students.

Interschool Sport - Term 3

Interschool Sport has commenced for the Year 5 and 6 students.  Parents are most welcome to attend and the draw will be sent home every week via the newsletter and also Schoolzine.  

Draw for Week 5 - 16/8/19

Netball:

Senior A V Mary MacKillop Court 6 1.45pm

Senior B1 V OLOL 2 Court 8 1pm

Senior B2V East SS 2 Court 5 1pm

Junior A V Mater Dei Court 16 1pm

Junior B V East SS 1 Court 17 1.45pm

Soccer:

Junior A Boys V St Mary’s at St Mary’s 1pm

Senior A Boys V St Mary’s at St Mary’s 1.45pm

Senior B Boys V East SS at Middle Ridge Park 1 at 1.00pm

Junior A Girls V East SS/Sacred Heart at Middle Ridge Park 3 1pm

Junior B Girls V Newtown SS at Middle Ridge Park 2 at 1.00pm

Senior B Girls V Newtown SS at Middle Ridge Park 2 at 1.45pm

A reminder that students who are playing soccer will need to have shin pads or they will be unable to participate.  There will also be a cost for the bus, which will be added to the school fees for this term.

Further information is in the Caremonkey permission form.

Reading is my Secret Power 

On Wednesday 21st students can seek out our secret readers during lunch-time by working on the clues which will be provided at morning – tea. 

Students have had the chance to explore the short-listed titles on display in the library and take part in short activities based on the books or theme. The dress-up basket, inspired by the Early Childhood short-listed title The Dress-up Box has been a popular addition to our lunch-time activities.

Thank you for your effort with our Book Week costume parade. The children enjoy this event and I do appreciate your contribution.

Anne Anderson  

Teacher Librarian 

Thank you

Anne Anderson 

Term 3 School Fees: 

Term 3 school fees are due tomorrow Friday 16th August.

Thank you to those families who have finalised their school fees for Term 3.  Just a reminder that this is the final account for the year.  Those families who are direct debiting will continue to do so until your completion date.  If you are experiencing difficulty finalising your school fee account please contact the office to arrange a time to speak with Madonna.  

Lost Property:

Please ensure you check Lost Property.  There is a considerable amount of items in lost property including lunch boxes and water bottles.  Please ensure all school items are clearly named.  Thank you.

Skool Dayz Uniform Shop:

Uniform Shop will be open on Friday from 2.30pm - 4.00pm in the Parent Community Room.  Please contact Dan Eagleson direct on 0481 318 398 during business hours for all enquiries.

Fun Run Prizes:

Prizes from the Colour Run have been delivered this week.  Thank you to Danielle Hart from our P&F who helped organise the order and delivery of these prizes.  The P&F Colour Run was a wonderful success and we thank our wonderful school community who supported the event.

Prep 2020:

Applications for Prep 2020 are filling fast!  Do you know of a family that is interested in Prep next year, but has not filled in an application? Please encourage them to contact the office so we can arrange for an enroment package to be sent home.   For any of our current school families who have not yet filled in an application for Prep 2020 please do so this week as final round interviews are now taking place.

Reflections......5JL 

Salem Nursing Home.

CAMILLE AND JOLIE

Salem was an amazing place to visit. While we were there, we were able to meet the nicest people. First Camille and I met a lovely woman named Betty. She was the first person here and when she saw Camille and I she was talking to someone at the time, but when she noticed us she smiled and waved. Then invited us over to talk. I told her my story and then we said we would come back with a gift for her (it was a bookmark).  When we came back she had a big smile on her face. I gave her the bookmark and then she hugged us both.  She kissed me on the cheek and Camille on the hand.

ARABELLA AND LEILANI

Tuesday 13^th of August was such an enjoyable day. We met a beautiful woman who was named Betty. She talked about her surgery that she was having in her mouth. We read some stories out to her and she loved them. Then we met a man named Bill but he didn’t talk that much because he was very old but he loved hearing us speak.

ALICIA AND NIV

What a memorable day Tuesday 13^th August was at Salem. It was so memorable because the nurse who was helping us told us before we came back to school that we had made one of the residents named Viv smile. He hadn’t smiled for six weeks because of a stroke. Another thing that made the trip amazing was that we got to make bookmarks.  We  coloured them in and gave one to each of the residents we met. It made them so happy, especially Betty.

DOMINIC, LILLIAN, LEON AND WILL

Our trip to Salem was memorable and we will never forget it. Our favourite memory from that day was when Leon handed Viv a part of the book we are writing and his face was like WOW. It made us feel really proud and we just felt like we were on top of the world. We really enjoyed our time there and we will never forget it.  Our trip to Salem was the most memorable trip we have ever had. At first, it was a little bit confronting but we got used to the new people who were in high care. At first we read them our stories about sport and they enjoyed it.

LACHLAN AND FLYNN 

Flynn and I even made 5 people smile who have not smiled in months by singing them a silly song called “Peaches”. They clapped and laughed as we sang  and it brought a lot of joy to their  lives. It made us warm inside and we felt extremely proud. We gave them a book mark which they appreciated very much. Now you truly see why it was memorable.

MORGAN

I am so glad we went to Salem on Tuesday. It was really fun and we made everyone smile.  We made bookmarks with the residents and read them stories that we wrote. Before we left, we sang “Count On Me” by Bruno Mars. We all remembered it because we sang it in Grade 3.  We had so much fun at Salem. I hope we can go back again soon.

RHEANNA AND BENJI

Salem was very fun and exciting when we visited on Tuesday. We coloured in bookmarks, we read stories to the old people and we made them smile. So the carers looking after the old people were very happy.

KALAI AND GRACE T

Our visit to Salem this week changed the lives of many people.

Kalai and I talked to a lady called Jeanne and read her our story about 2 naughty twins who were fighting. She said that it reminded her of some of her childhood memories with her sister.  We also talked to to a lady called Betty. She laughed at our story and winked at us and gave us some funny comments. We felt really good about our visit; some people hadn’t smiled in weeks and we changed their lives. We met a man named Viv who had recently had a stroke, the nurse said that she hadn’t seen him smile since he had it. We can’t wait to go back next time and to see them again.

NATALIE AND HOLLY

Our visit to Salem was a very memorable day because the nurse who worked there had told the class that Viv had had a stroke six weeks ago. Since he had the stroke he hadn’t smiled or laughed. There was another lady named Betty was very shy when we got there. After a while she was talking to everybody in the class. At the end when we were about to leave our class sang a song called “ Count on me” by Bruno Mars. We love seeing all of the people at Salem.

SIENNA AND CHRISTIAN

I am so glad we went to Salem because it was amazing. There was one man named Viv. The nurse told us that he had a stroke about 6 weeks ago and he hadn’t smiled since then. We told him a story and gave him a bookmark with a special message.Then he had a big smile on his face.

LIZZIE

It was an outstanding day when we visited Salem.  I read a narrative to a lovely lady named Marian.  She smiled and laughed.  Not only did Marian smile, it was everyone.  There was a funny part that I read to Marian then she leaned over and laughed with such a cackle.  We had a lovely morning visiting the residents of Salem.

OVERDUE ACCOUNTS:

Parents who have been issued Tuckshop accounts - please can you finalise this ASAP.  We do have a lot of parents who have outstanding Tuckshop accounts and we do need these finalised.  Thank you.

ROSTER: