Week 9, Term 4 2020

Dear Parents, Staff and Students,

Last Sunday throughout Australia, people paid tribute to all fathers as we celebrated this very special day known as Father’s Day. Fathers are the greatest source of strength for any child. The innocent eyes of a child perceive father as the all-powerful, most knowledgeable, truly affectionate and the most important person in the family. For this great figure in our life that we know as father - it becomes our utmost duty to pay our humblest tribute on the occasion of Father's Day.

Father’s Day gives us an opportunity to recall and affirm the particular gifts that fathers bring to families. This includes our personal fathers, grandfathers, single parent fathers, uncles and important father figures in our lives. There is no ‘right’ way of showing appreciation of one’s father. The important thing is to do it. When expressing thanks to your dad it is a good idea to connect with something specific - a special quality or a specific incident in the past that typifies your father’s care and commitment. People can give presents, but the most important gift is the gift of appreciation. Every father knows that he is human and doesn’t always do things perfectly. He needs to hear from his children that he ‘must have done something right’ - maybe even magnificently!

I was fortunate enough to be blessed by a wonderful father who had a huge influence on my life. I am forever indebted to him for the many sacrifices he made for our family so that we could be where we are today. Whether it is their sense of humour, ability to see the positive side of difficult situations, patience even when they are tired, or their wise words of encouragement and love.   I hope that all SSPS dads, granddads and uncles enjoyed a wonderful day. We hope your day was special and filled with many blessings.

Check out our Year 1 students giving thanks to all our SSPS dads on our school Facebook.  

2021 Prep students – Transition Morning - Friday 11th September

Tomorrow we will welcome all our 2021 Prep Students for the morning from 8:45a.m. – 10:45a.m.

Parents are welcome to drop their child/children to the gathering space in the Mercy Centre.  We ask you to settle your child, sign them in and leave once settled. We will take care of them whilst they spend the morning in the Prep rooms to help familiarise themselves in the school.

Our teachers and support staff are looking forward to meeting the children and welcoming them to our school.  A variety of activities have been organised to engage our 2021 Prep students and we can’t wait to show them their ‘new’ school. 

Later in Term 4 we will welcome 'new' students in all other Year levels for a transition morning on Wednesday, 2nd December, 2020.  New families will be notified of details next Term. 

MARY’S BIRTHDAY

On 8 September each year the Church celebrates Our Lady’s birthday. We do not usually celebrate the birthdays of the saints. Instead we celebrate the day they died, because that is the day they were born to eternal life. But the birth of Mary is special. We celebrate her birthday because she came into this world full
of grace and because she is the Mother of Jesus and our heavenly mother.

Why not celebrate Mary’s birthday by spending time as a family and saying a
prayer for each other? There are lots of beautiful ‘Mary’ prayers to share
including the Hail Mary and The Rosary.

Late arrival at school is a genuine problem for students.

During the first ten minutes at school much work is done by teachers to orient students to the day ahead. This time sets your child up for a successful day.  Prayers are said, teacher student relationships are strengthed as they check in with each other and important instructions are issued. Important notices, including messages for individual students, regarding music lessons, sporting teams etc are read out. Students who come late to school, miss this precious time and can find themselves in all sorts of trouble for not heeding these instructions.

Some classes spend the first ten minutes of the day drilling number facts, changing reading books or correcting homework. Late arrival at school ruins a student’s day and frustrates teachers. Of course, sometimes things happen and it can't be avoided and teachers have no problem with “one off” occasions. However, repeated
late arrival at school is a serious issue for some students and affects their feelings about the day right from the beginning.

It is a timely reminder that the school day begins at 8.30am. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, we have been making allowances for students to be in various areas around the school under supervision before school to ensure that students are dispersed.  This has been a positive change for students and teachers.  Teachers have commented on the readiness of students to begin their day of learning as they have had the chance to play and move around before school. 

Repeated late arrival at school tells children that school is not important, and meeting deadlines is not necessary. Thank you for your support and cooperation in regards to meeting this important requirement of the school day.
REMINDER: SCHOOL BEGINS AT 8.30am!

SCHOOL UNIFORMS

Students are able to transition back into summer uniforms and it is expected that from beginning of Term 4: Tuesday 6th October all students will return to summer uniform.  

If wearing the dress, white socks are to be worn with black shoes. 

If wearing the shirt and shorts, navy blue socks are to be worn with black shoes. 

Comments and Compliments

We are keen to hear from you, what has worked well and what we could/can do differently.

Have you seen something that could make our school better?  Have you seen something that is happening around the school or in the classroom that you wish to compliment?

I invite you to email through your comments and compliments to ssps@twb.catholic.edu.au

Thanks everyone for reading. 

Madonna 

Sacramental Program

Bishop McGuckin has given us a date for the celebration of Confirmation for our students participating in the St Patrick’s Cathedral Parish Sacramental Program - Friday, 13^th November.  There will be two times when Confirmation will be celebrated, 5.30pm and 7.00pm.  The limit will be 24 at each time with a maximum of four people (Candidate plus three others).  Families will need to contact the Parish office on 4637 1500 to nominate their preference, together with the name, address and phone number for the sponsor.  Hopefully, your child has been working through the sessions in his/her preparation booklet and a reminder, too, about decorating his/her sash if he/she would like. As discussed at the celebration of First Eucharist, your child may choose to use his/her Baptismal name (since this sacrament is confirming the baptismal promises made at his/her Baptism) or a saint’s name whose story resonates with your child. There are many books and websites with stories of saints that your child may like to explore. Please contact either Father Michael or Mrs Paula Wagner if you need further clarification with regards to Confirmation for your child.

Year 5 Camp

Our three Year 5 classes have just returned from their Leadership Camp at Cooby Dam this week. As part of their activities, the students participated in a very special camp liturgy on the second night. The students are to be congratulated for the reverence and respect demonstrated in this time of prayer and reflection where they were asked to think about the acronym ‘TIME’

T – Talents

I – Interests

M – Making a difference

E – Using experience

and how these will help them to take on the leadership role as the leaders of St Saviour’s in 2021.

We discussed how all students have what it takes to be a leader and they are all important in showing our younger students how to be responsible, how to be respectful , how to be safe and how to be a learner. They also reflected on the importance of being there for each other, working together as a cohort to ensure they are showing the best versions of themselves to the world.

Mrs Paula Wagner

Acting APRE

Parent/Teacher Interviews

For those parents who have not yet attended an interview, please see the information below.

Reporting on student progress takes place officially four times a year.  Terms 1 and 3 are parent/teacher interviews and Terms 2 and 4 are report cards.

All parents are encouraged to attend an interview or talk to their child's teacher.  Interviews will be offered over the phone, via Microsoft TEAMS or in person.  Please select your favoured format when booking your interview.

Due to COVID restrictions the following health and safety protocols will be in place:  

1. All parents need to sign in on arrival 
2. All parents need to use hand sanitizer on arrival and exit.
3. All meeting spaces will be wiped down after each interview.
4. Parent and teacher need to respect social distancing (1.5m apart)
5. If you are unwell, please make an alternate time for an interview.
6. Locations for interviews – Need to have a designated entrance, exit and waiting area.  Please see below:

Parent Teacher Interview Locations:

• Prep – Will take place in prep rooms (entries and exits will be clearly identified)
• Year 1 – All interviews in 1L room (Miss Lancuba). Entry via 1L room and exit via 1M.  Waiting area in undercroft outside the classrooms.
• Year 2 – All interviews in 2C (Miss K) room.  Enter via 2C room, exit  through 2F room and down library stairs. Waiting in main upstairs foyer outside Year 2C.
• Year 3 – All interviews in 3H (Mrs Harkins) room.  Enter via 3H room and exit down back stairs. Wait in 3P room.
• Year 4 – All interviews in spare room on top floor next to 5C room. Enter main stairs, exit back stairs Wait in 5C room.
• Year 5  - All interviews in 5W (Mrs Wagner) room.  Enter via 5W room, exit 5K room and wait undercroft
• Year 6 – All Interviews in Library meeting room.  Enter library, wait in library and exit back door

Online cyber bullying training for parents

Our school counsellor, Anne Woodcroft-Brown, has provided the following information for parents around cyberbullying.  Please take the time to have a read.

What would you do if your child was being cyberbullied?

According to research by the eSafety Commissioner, 1 in 5 young people experience cyberbullying and online abuse and 55% seek help from their parents/carers. Parentline has developed a free training program for parents, carers and grandparents available fully online. This training has been designed to be completed on a range of internet ready devices, including smart phones.  We strongly encourage all parents and carers to take some time to engage with this short program that will give you the knowledge and skills to assist your child should they experience these difficulties.  As always we as a school will support you and child should concerns arise so please do not hesitate in contacting us if we can assist. Visit https://parentline.com.au/cyberbullying today!

Student Free Day - Week 8

Last Friday, the teaching staff at St Saviour's Primary participated in two professional development opportunities with Toowoomba Catholic Schools' Education Officers.  In the morning, Loretta McGill and Eileen Moyle delivered non-crisis intervention training to all teaching staff.  This training is designed to enhance understanding of student behaviour, whilst helping to maintain care, welfare, safety and security of all parties.

In the afternoon, teachers analysed examples of student writing.  The purpose of this was to identify the positive impact teaching stategies are having on the quality of student writing and also to identify concepts and skills that students need to be taught with relation to writing.  Have you heard your child talk about any of the below sentence types?  If not, you could ask them which one their class is focusing on.

1. Simple Sentence

2. Very Short Sentence

3. Power Sentence

4. Red, White and Blue

5. Adverb Start

6. Preposition Start

7. The -ing start

8. The -ed start

9. The semi-colan

10. The em-dash

11. The w-start

12. Explore the subject

Term 4 Basketball Competition

In Term 4, there is normally a Friday night basketball competition that St Saviour's is part of.  Unfortunately that is not taking place this year.  

A possible replacement for this competition is the Toowoomba Basketball Assoc Inc Summer Competition. This is effectively a club competition, however school teams are invited to participate.  The competition will run for the entirety of Term 4 on Tuesday nights and there will be a cost involved to the parents (approx $60 for 9 games). 

Mrs Conway has signalled that she is interested in coaching a team in this competition if there is enough interest.  If your child is interested in playing, can you please email an expression of interest to monica.conway@twb.catholic.edu.au as soon as possible?  This will allow Mrs Conway to make a decision on the viability of entering a team. If your child is interested in basketball, I strongly encourage them to express an interest and learn more about the game from an experienced coach.

SWQ Primary All Schools Touch Carnival at Dalby

(Year 5 and 6 Students Only)

Dear Parents

I have been notified that the SWQ Primary All Schools Touch Carnival at Dalby is now on. It was decided last week to run the event. The carnival will be held on Sunday, 1^st of November at the Dalby Touch Football Grounds, Cooper Street, Dalby. Due to COVID-19 restriction parents will be unable to attend at this stage and will need to drop and pick up their child from the carnival. I will also run four training sessions on Tuesdays from 3:15pm to 4:15pm starting from the 6^th of October.

My plan is to run a trial next Tuesday the 15^th of September at St Saviour’s Primary School oval and am looking for expression of interest to see if the trial will go ahead. This competition is very competitive and is for experienced Touch Football players. Your child will need to attend the trial and then be selected by myself to compete at the All Schools Carnival.

If your child is interested in attending the trial, could you please email me by Sunday the 13^th of September and if I have enough interest, I will notify parents by School Zine whether the trial will happen. Please remember that your child will need to be available for trial, training, and carnival dates and that you will need to be able to drop and pick up your child from the carnival.

Please email me at brendan.luck@twb.catholic.edu.au if your child would be interested in attending the trial.

Thank you

Brendan Luck

PE Teacher

Book Week Dress–up Parade will take place next Tuesday 15th  September 

Following the 2020 theme, students are asked to plan a costume that connects to one word in the theme Curious Creatures Wild Minds and tell us what connection they have made. 

Will you be a creature? 

Are you a curious explorer, scientist, artist.....? 

Where have you gone using your wild imagination/mind? 

Working with COVID restrictions, we will not be able to have an audience but we will take photos to share with families in the next newsletter and via Facebook.

Students will also be taking part in a collaborate and create challenge as a whole class and the library will display the students’ work for everyone to enjoy early in Term 4. 

 Special Thanks to our Volunteer Coverers this Term

We are indebted to these wonderful people for their hours of labour this term; Claire Zull, Merryl Nunn and Narelle Jackson. We appreciate your assistance more than words can say, thank you.

A Big Thank You to our Year 6 Rostered Students

We owe a big vote of thanks to our Year 6 library and technology rostered students and the Councillors for their assistance with shelving this term. Thank you for your time and dedication to this task Year 6.

Year 6 Morning Tea Book Chat

Some wonderful insights into the stories read by these students were shared over morning tea this term. Students have elected to continue giving up their morning tea break to talk about what they have read, GO READERS!

Book Fair - Term 4

Thank you parents and caregivers for your Term 3 purchases via the Scholastic Book Club. The points earned each term are used to buy new titles for the student collection and/or teaching resources for use across the school. We will be calling on your generosity again in Term 4 when we hold our annual Book Fair from 4th - 10th November. More details to follow as there will probably be COVID restrictions to consider.

Storylinks 2020 Short Story Competition for Young Writers in Years 4, 5 & 6 Open Now 

Children in Grades 4, 5 and  6 are invited to write a short story of between 1000 and 1500 words – on any subject. 

The winner will receive $100 and have their story published on the StoryLinks website. 

IMPORTANT DATES 

Entries due by 9 OCTOBER 2020 
Shortlist announced 19 OCTOBER 2020 
Winner announced 1 NOVEMBER 

The winner will be announced at 3 pm on Sunday 1 November during Australia Reads at a free public session online via ZOOM. The best stories entered will be read aloud. 

SEND your entries via email to storylinksau@gmail.com 

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY: 
It must be fiction and all your own work. 
Include your name, address, age, school/home school, email address and phone number. 
The competition is open to all children living in Australia. 
Note: all entries will be checked for plagiarism. 
Enquiries: email storylinksau@gmail.com 

Have fun and start writing now! 

Anne Anderson

Teacher Librarian

Term 3 School Fees:

Term 3 school fees are now overdue.  Please contact the office to discuss any overdue fee matters.

Year 6 Camp:

Accounts have been sent home for Year 6 Camp.  Payments will be due early Term 4.

Pupil Free Day:

The last day of Term for Term 3 is next Thursday 17th September.  Friday 18th is a Pupil Free Day.

Lost Property Stockpile:

Please note our lost property box is overflowing with jumpers, water bottles and lunch boxes. Please check with your child/children if they are missing any of these items and remind them to check the lost property box, which is located outside the main entrance of the school. This will be taken out to Lawrence St in the afternoon for parents to collect any missing items next week.

Well done Preppies!!

The office ladies were lucky to have some visitors last week, to show off their amazing work they have been doing in class.  Congratulations to Oliver, Sarah and Ronan on fantastic work.

Congratulations to our Weekly Award Winners for Week 8 & Week 9

Year 5 Camp

At 8:30am on Monday morning, 58 excited students and 5 enthusiastic teachers left St Saviour’s Primary School for an adventure-packed three day camp at Camp Cooby Dam.

Upon our arrival, which included a safety brief and information about the facilities, the children took part in a goal setting session and ice-breaker warm-up game. After morning tea, (the first of many healthy and tasty meals), we broke into three activity groups for ‘Tarp Turn Over’, ‘Acid River’, ‘Keypunch’ and ‘Pipeline’.

Over the next couple of days, our Year 5 students challenged themselves and each other while participating in rock climbing, crate stacking, bridge building, star gazing, ‘Sardines’, orienteering, damper making and a ‘Cooby Quest’.

Another definite highlight was the activity before our showers at night – the huge water slide and the zipline!!

Our last night on Leadership camp was the perfect opportunity to reflect on our individual strengths and the qualities that each student has inside of them to bring to Year 6 2021 for St Saviour’s. The teachers were extremely proud of the way that the children are taking this role seriously and look forward to being role models for other students within the school.

The Year 5 Leadership camp certainly illustrated how students can work together to solve problems, bring out the best in themselves and each other and show commitment and perseverance to overcome difficulties and hurdles.

Thanks so much to all the teachers for the extra work it takes to organise a camp and for ensuring that this was a memorable and rewarding experience for our Year 5 students…..our leaders for next year!!!

We hope you enjoyed looking at the photos on our school Facebook page and we look forward to sharing heaps more via Schoolzine tomorrow.

Even though our Year 5 students did not stop the whole time they were away, they still managed to write some amazing odes to camp today, highlighting our learning of poetic devices throughout the term.

Paula Wagner 

(Year 5 teacher)

National Child Protection Week 6th - 12th September 2020.

Why listening to children is so important? Making a point of listening to every child you know is one of the most important things you can do. It shows children you really care and respect that they are worth listening to. This helps them feel they are special and respected. Being listened to also helps children to practice putting ideas into words, explore their feelings, and develop self-confidence. When you listen to your child, you benefit by learning more about how your child thinks
and feels, and what they need. 

Students at SSPS

Overdue Accounts:

There are a large number of families who have overdue tuckshop accounts.  All accounts with the Tuckshop need to be finalised by the end of Term 3 which is next Thursday. Payments can be made over the phone via credit card or visa card, please contact the ladies in the office to process payment.

Thank you.

Volunteers:

Thank you to all our Tuckshop volunteers who have helped in the Tuckshop this term.  Without you all we would not be able to provide this service to our children.

Tuckhop last week of term:

The tuckshop will be operating 3 days next week on MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.  If you wish to order Tuckshop on Thursday you will need to order under the Special 1st Break and Special 2nd Break section.  

Tash Biggar & Michelle Standing

Tuckshop Convenors