Principal News
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
This week we gave thanks and farewelled our beloved Mrs Christine Cosgrove. Mrs Cosgrove notified the school community of her decision to take leave with the intention to retire in the last newsletter. St Saviour’s Primary School students, parents and staff have been truly blessed by the wonderful Mrs Cosgrove. Her expertise and efficiency in running our school administration and finance has been integral to the success of St Saviour’s Primary School. The compassion and care that she has shown every day to the students, staff and families over the past 35 years demonstrates how special she is to all of us.
The students, staff, Parents and Friends and school community gave thanks to Mrs Cosgrove on Monday at Assembly. We spoilt her with a photo album created by each class and staff members, a pandora bracelet, flowers, a whole school photo of the students and staff and a journal of thanks and good wishes for her to treasure.
We will miss you terribly Mrs Cosgrove and we wish you all the best in your next journey in life. Enjoy every moment with your family and especially your grandchildren. You will be forever in the hearts and minds of all of us here at St Saviour’s Primary School.
Mrs Jodie MacLachlan has been working alongside Mrs Cosgrove on Wednesday to Friday for the past few years learning the ropes of our administration and finance. Jodie will begin working full-time from next Monday 3rd September as the school finance officer whilst Mrs Cosgrove is on leave.
Mrs Elizabeth Poulton our Learning Support Teacher has recently advised that she will be retiring at the end of the school year and moving to Brisbane to live. Liz is a valued staff member and has been instrumental in ensuring that St Saviour’s Primary School provides and offers high quality educational support to all students at our school. This position will be advertised within Toowoomba Catholic Schools system and outside agencies. In Term 4, we will farewell and give thanks to Liz for her service.
Congratulations to Mrs Cathy Condon who was awarded recognition of her service to the Diocesan Parents and Friends Association recently. Cathy is a keen advocate and contributor of parent engagement here at St Saviour's Primary School. It's parents like Cathy who are dedicated and committed to encouraging all parents to engage in school community whether it be organising social events, children activities or fundraising for special projects. Thanks Cathy.
What fun and busy times we have had over the past two weeks.
STEM PUNKS classes have inspired and challenged our students to build problem-solving skills; so that when students hit an roadblock, they are confident they can overcome them. Very early on in the task students are often tentative to try things and by the end they are hands-on and deep into it, having fun and learning without even realizing it.
Teachers are providing fresh opportunities with very little guidelines for students so that they can think for themselves to see what works well to solve the problem. My hope for all our learners is that we can develop our students critical STEM skills throughout their education to ensure they are as prepared as possible for challenges they face in future study, work and life.
Teachers and students are on this creative, critical thinking, digital and problem-solving challenge together. They are working collaboratively and sharing their new learnings with each other often. It is tremendous to see our staff working so collectively to support the learning here at St Saviour’s Primary School. This is the beauty of collaborative partnerships – we learn from each other.
WELLBEING WEEK activities was another display of supporting our students and staff wellbeing needs. Students in the younger years joined the older students for an afternoon of fun activities to check in with each other and continue to support the culture of compassion and care for others. Children engaged in art, STEM, reading and play activities and there was lots of laughter to be heard across our school last Thursday during this time. Thanks to our Wellbeing Committee for their creativity once again in making Wellness Week a joy each term.
BOOK WEEK was a huge success with teachers and students embracing the theme: Reading Is My Super Power. What a delight to see the happy faces of the children dressed up for Book Week Parade and the staff as Detectives, searching for the super power of reading. The mystery readers, Fr Michael, Mrs Jarrett, Mrs Poulton, Mrs Horne and I enjoyed reading stories to the children throughout lunch time and we can’t forget the Reading Challenge Competition. Congratulations Xavier readers for winning this competition. Thanks Mrs Anderson, Mrs Milton and Mrs Powers for your energy and creativity in promoting Book Week for our school.
JAPANESE VISITORS
Thanks to Mrs Jayne Greenhalgh for organising our Japanese visitors from Imbari.
Thanks also must be extended to Mrs Carol Kane and the many families who hosted the students during this time. From all accounts it is an enjoyable and worthwhile event for all involved. Certainly, at the Sayonara Partythe visiting students were very happy and comfortable in showcasing their learnings.
Student Protection Survey
During this week parents will receive a letter with information about an upcoming Student Protection Survey. The survey is intended to gather feedback on how well we are implementing our student protection processes. We would like all parents to participate in the online survey, which is confidential and voluntary. Students and staff will also be completing a survey.
The survey is being administered by an independent research organisation, who will collate results and provide us with recommendations for improvement. We will give you more information soon about how and when you can access the survey online.
Student safety is very important to us and we value the input of our school community. Please contact the office if you do not receive a letter by Friday 6th September or if you specifically do not wish your child to participate.
Thanks for reading
Madonna Sleba