Week 3, Term 1 2022

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As we approach the end of our third week back at school, there is a strong feeling that normality is very much returning to school life. Classes are progressing well both indoors and outside for all our learners. Over this week, members of the school leadership have been visiting classrooms and engaging with our learners.  One theme that consistently arises in these conversations is students' appreciation for the quality of teachers they are fortunate to have to look after them. Research completed by ACER and educational experts including John Hattie indicates that the single most significant influence on student educational performance is the teacher. Dr Tim Hawkes, Headmaster of King’s School in Sydney and a prolific educational author writes - that it matters little if the school is government run or private, free or expensive, co-educational or single sex. A great teacher can make these things irrelevant. A great teacher connects with their students and travels with them. It is unlikely that students will always have the perfect teachers for their learning style. Still, we place great importance on recruiting quality teachers who we believe can genuinely make a positive difference for their students.

The first weeks of a new school year at St Saviour’s Primary School are traditionally very busy at drop off and pick up times. I have written previously about the need to be careful when driving near the school. With 430 primary students and 230 secondary students arriving and leaving the school each day, road safety is critical for students and parents/caregivers. I thank the many parents and caregivers who continue to exercise caution, follow the road rules and remain patient, particularly at pick-up in the afternoon. However, there are a few practices that we must avoid in the name of safety and courtesy:

• Do not double park while waiting to pick up your child/children
• Do not park on the footpath at the pedestrian crossing on Lawrence St.
• Do not call out for your child/children to cross Lawrence or Perth St without using the pedestrian crossing
• Do not park across our neighbours’ driveways
• If it is raining, students using Lawrence St to be picked up will wait under the shelter of the boarding school.  Staff will endeavour to identify family cars and send students to parents if safe to do so.
• Boarding school carpark is not to be used by Primary school Parents
• The service road off Neil St is for staff entry and exit only.

There are some alternative practices that I recommend you consider:

• Arrive to collect your child/children after 3.15pm
• Park away from Lawrence or Perth St to avoid congestion and walk to these areas to collect your child/children.
• Talk to friends and neighbours about carpooling options to decrease traffic congestion around the school
• Encourage your child to use public transport

Please consider what you can do to manage our ongoing traffic issues, particularly at afternoon pick-up time. We are a large school in an inner-city location, and we need to work together to address our traffic challenges. I thank you in anticipation of your ongoing support.

I look forward to the term continuing to progress without interruption and minimal student and staff absence due to the pandemic. We currently have 5 students with COVID and in isolation. Signs have been quite positive thus far, but the next few weeks will be important indicators of the extent of the pandemic at the school. I wish everyone in the St Saviour’s Family good health and great happiness.

Many blessings and thanks for reading.

Madonna Sleba

Dear Parents and Carers,

As I write this article, things are starting to unfold further, with tension building between Russia, Ukraine and the rest of the world.....

A Prayer for Peace: 

Loving God,

you are the source of all things good.

We pray for peace in the midst of violence and tragedy in this world.

May decision makers have the patience to be understanding, the strength to be forgiving and the grace to admit when they are wrong.

We pray to the Lord.

ASH WEDNESDAY and LENT: (Wednesday next week)

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, when we remember the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Lent is the 40 days, not including Sundays from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter. Christians around the world recognise these six weeks as time of reflection, penitence and spiritual preparation before Easter.

Fr Michael will be joining each year level throughout the day for an Ash Wednesday Liturgy. While ashes will not be distributed individually, they will be a part of the prayer service.

PROJECT COMPASSION 2022! 

                       

Caritas Australia is the international aid and development organisation of the Catholic Church in Australia and is part of one of the largest aid and development networks in the world –Caritas Internationalis –working in over 200 countries and territories.
Each year, Project Compassion runs during the six weeks of the Church season of Lent. People across Australia (including students at SSPS) are invited to help raise funds AND stand in solidarity with the millions of people across the world with whom CARITAS works. Everyone is  asked to join with them in their aim of building a more just and fairer world: a world in balance, at peace and free of poverty.

Project Compassion, which we at SSPS focus on throughout LENT each year, is an opportunity for students to learn about life in different countries through the personal stories of people who have participated in Caritas Australia-supported programs. The notions of our interconnectedness as one human family are embedded throughout the content and suggested learning tasks. The Project Compassion units of work endeavor to offer compelling and interactive content that can be unpacked with high impact teaching strategies, higher order thinking and collaborative learning tasks aimed at capturing students’ intellect, compassion and their will to act for social justice.

Launch of Project Compassion this Sunday. This Sunday at the 9am Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral, several of our staff and school leaders will be joining with Bishop Robert and others from the Diocese to launch Project Compassion for 2022. 

Project Compassion boxes will be in every classroom for the duration of LENT and we are encouraging all families, if they can, to support Caritas Australia this Lenten season and help support vulnerable people around the world, now and For All Future Generations. With your support, Caritas Australia has been able to support vulnerable communities around the world to tackle poverty, food security, education, water and sanitation and disaster risk reduction to build a better future for all.

Together with our parish community,  we at SSPS, can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow For All Future Generations.

You can donate through Project Compassion donation boxes, envelopes available from your Parish, or by visiting lent.caritas.org.au.

Thank you for your generosity.

Sacramental Program: Along with several students from other schools, 18 of our students in Years 4 and 5, with their parents, are participating in the 2022 St Patrick's Parish Sacramental Program. Over the coming weeks, we will be preparing for Reconciliation, with most of this happening at home.

We are asking those who can, to gather on Wednesday March 9 at 3:30 at the Cathedral to "walk through" what the actual Reconciliation Ceremony looks like and to discuss what the students have learnt through their preparation. Parents will be asked to nominate which date (March 18/19) is their preference for Reconciliation.

Each Tuesday, at 12:45 I have been and will continue to have a quick catch up with the students, just to see how they are going and to answer any questions.

All the best for the rest of the week,

Judy

Welcome to the third week of learning and teaching for all at St Saviour's Primary!

The purpose of my article today is to explore Cybersafety, particularly for parents of students in the upper years as they move to having their own Surface Go Device and potentially their own mobile phone or iPad.

At school, students are frequently using several programs to help them to communicate and collaborate for learning purposes.  These may include Microsoft Teams, Microsoft OneNote, Reading Eggs and Mathletics.  These programs are paid for by parents through school fees and are accessed by students in a generally safe environment.  That is, the school has security that protects the students whilst they are online and teachers are aware to monitor for inappopriate use.  All of our teachers also spend a lot of time in the early part of the year, going over the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Appropriate Use of Technology Guidelines and teaching them about being safe online.  I also know that the majority of our parents are aware of which sites their children are accessing and have a good relationship with their child around technology use.

However, we do encounter times when inappropriate conversations (usually on social media sites) can have a negative impact on social situations and learning at school.  Nearly all of these conversations happen outside of school hours when it is impossible for the teachers to monitor them.  Some of these social media platforms include Snapchat, TikTok, Messenger and chat rooms within games that are being played.

A reminder to parents that the eSafety Commissioner Website (https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents ) has helpful information for parents around how to safely help your children navigate their digital world and avoid harmful experiences.  Your support and guidance can help give your children the confidence to make sound decisions online.  Three key strategies that are a starting point include:

• Being engaged, open and supportive – get involved and share time online as part of family life, keep lines of communication open, reassure your child that you will not cut off internet access if they report feeling uncomfortable online. If you notice a change in behaviour or mood, talk to your child about it and encourage them to come to you for advice.
• Set some rules – Get your child’s input, consider creating a family tech agreement, have clear consequences for breaking rules, model appropriate online behaviour as a parent.
• Use technology and get information – get to know the devices that your children are using and set them up for privacy and online safety and choose apps and games appropriately based on age and maturity levels (most of the social media sites listed above require users to be 13!)

Swimming Lessons

Due to a variety of reasons the swimming lesson dates this term have been adjusted slightly. This also means that the carnival date for Years 3-6 has changed. Please see adjusted dates below: 

Lessons - Week 6 – 15, 16, 17 March & Week 8 – 28, 29 March 

Carnival – Wednesday 30 March (unsure if parents can attend yet)

Further information and a permission form will be sent closer to the date.  For your information, children will need togs, goggles, towel, swimming bag and thongs/sandals to wear to the pool.  They can wear sport uniform on swimming days and swimming caps are provided by Glennie.  

Regards

Sam Hannant

APA 

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Do we celebrate mistakes with our children?

Perhaps it might not align with how we experienced learning back when we were at school, but I wonder what would happen if teachers, students and parents started to see mistakes and challenges as a way to improve how our students learn?  

As Sam Hannant mentioned in his newsletter article last week - when we surveyed our year 4-6 students, only 12.5% of them wanted to be challenged in their learning. This highlighted the need for us to educate our students on the importance of the struggle in learning. We also believe we need to provide more opportunities for our students to fail, feel challenged and make mistakes. We need to ensure this happens in a supportive learning environment, and that we have the right level of challenge – not too easy, not too hard.

The Learning Pit

The first image is an example of ‘The Learning Pit’, which is used to explain to children that the process of learning should be a challenge. We talk about getting down and dirty in the mud, and that it is ok – it’s what learning should look like! Many of our classrooms have their own versions of learning pits that they use in their lessons.

Types of Mistakes

Another great resource is the website below that details four types of mistakes. Not all mistakes were created equal! Some lead to much greater learning than others. Teaching children about these types of mistakes and which ones are the best kind will help them more aware learners.

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/42874/why-understanding-these-four-types-of-mistakes-can-help-us-learn

Perhaps, instead of asking your child how their day was, give some of these questions a go:

• What challenged you in your learning today?
• What was something you couldn’t quite do yet at school today?
• What did you learn from a mistake you made?

 Have a wonderful day!

Warm Regards

Nicki Prentice

Health (P-2) Term One

This year I am very excited to be teaching Health in Prep to Year Two. Prep students will be learning about how their body parts work to help them move, what happens as they grow and how to look after their body by living a healthy and active lifestyle. Year One will be focusing on changes when they grow, what has changed since they were a baby, looking at difference and their identity, and how to live an active and healthy life. The learning focus for Year Two is a more in-depth insight into healthy eating, steps to increase physical activity at home and in the playground at school. Students will also look at keeping a healthy and safe classroom and how we can include others. I will be teaching health lessons to Prep to Year Two in Semester One and Health lessons to Year Three to Year Six in Semester Two.

PE (P-2) Term One

Students in Prep to Year Two are completing a modified game unit where they will learn how to throw, catch, and bounce balls and then use these skills to participate in modified games. Students will also be engaged in station activities where six stations are set up and they rotate between them throughout the lesson. These activities involve passing, catching, kicking, dribbling with feet, hands and hockey sticks, shooting hoops, scooter boards, skipping, goal shooting, ups and downs with tennis racquets, hopping, jumping, skipping, side stepping, animal crawling and balancing.

PE (3-6) Term One

Students in Year Three to Year Six will be engaged in a touch football unit. Students will learn to pass and catch a touch football, play the ball, defend, perform a dump and split, perform a wrap, three-person ruck and draw and pass. Students will then put these skills in to game-based situations playing in teams against members of their class.

Central Zone Swimming Carnival

On Wednesday the 16^th of February, five students from St Saviour’s competed in the Central Zone Swimming Carnival at Glennie Aquatic Centre. These students are to be commended for the way they represented their school in swimming and behaviour on the day. They competed against other schools to try and qualify for the Darling Downs carnival which will be held in Gatton on the 2^nd of March. All five students made it through to the next level and will be competing, representing the Central Zone Team in Gatton. These students are listed below (picture below).

Students competing at the Darling Downs Trials.

• Mia Casagrande
• Lucy Hardy
• Sophia Hooper
• Cooper Dunlop
• Taylor Wann

Swimming Star

Taylor Wann competed at the 2022 Queensland Sprint Championships over the weekend for swimming. He swam in three heats achieving personal bests in all three coming first in one and third in the other two. Congratulations Taylor on your mammoth effort (picture below).

Fitness Club

Fitness Club started up on Tuesday the 15^th of February with around 30 students attending. Fitness Club is a fun way for your child to work on their fitness with their peers in preparation for the SSPS Cross Country in the last week of Term One. These sessions are offered to students in Year Three to Year Six. Fitness Club will run every Tuesday and Thursday morning from 7:15am - 8am running till Thursday 24th of March 2022. If you would like your child to join Fitness Club, please grant permission via Parent Portal. Your child is welcome to attend all sessions, once a week or whatever suits your family schedule. These sessions are completely free and will be run by Mrs McHugh, Mrs Wagner, Mr Hannant and myself. If you have any questions, please email me at brendan.luck@twb.catholic.edu.au.

Club Connect

League Stars started this week with around 50 students participating. Feedback from the students is that they are having a lot of fun and learning lots of new skills. Rugby League Queensland has been organised through Club Connect which is a Queensland Government grant to try and get more students playing club sport (pictures attached).

Afterschool hockey sessions commenced this week with around 20 students attending. Hockey Queensland has been organised through Sporting Schools which is another grant offered by the Queensland Government to give students a go at new sports offered within the community (pictures attached).

Zone and Darling Downs Trials

All Zone and Darling Downs trials will be placed on Parent Portal. Please check Parent Portal regularly or set up notifications on your phone if you wish for your child to be eligible to trial for Zone and Darling Downs sporting teams as you will be required to obtain paperwork from myself. I am unable to nominate students after the closing date so please make sure you do keep an eye on Parent Portal. Any questions, please contact me at brendan.luck@twb.catholic.edu.au.

Upcoming Events

• Fitness Club (7:15am – 8:00am) - Tuesday and Thursday from 15^th February 2022 till 24^th March 2022 (SSPS Oval)
• Darling Downs Swimming Carnival – 2^nd March 2022 (Gatton Aquatics Centre)
• P - 6 Swimming Lessons – 15th – 17th March and 28th, 29th March 2022 (Glennie Aquatic Centre)
• SSPS Swimming Carnival (Year 3 – Year 6) 9am – 12pm - 30^th March 2022 (Glennie Aquatics Centre)
• SSPS Prep – Year 6 Cross Country - 1^st April 2022 (Primary School Oval)

Cheers

Brendan Luck

HPE Teacher

School Bags:

School Bags are now in stock and are available for sale for $70.00 at the office.  Library Bags are also on sale for $10.00  

Absentees and Late Arrivals:

Just a reminder to contact the school before 9.00am if you child is absent from school.  Messages can be left on the school answering machine before 8.00am or you can submit your child's absence via the Parent Portal.  Any child who arrives after 8.30am must come to the office to sign in and receive a late slip.  

Medical Certificates:

Children who are absent from school for an extended period of time, due to medical reasons, (excluding Covid-19) do require a medical certificate from a doctor for the duration of the time they are away.  

Parent Portal:

Please remember to always check for notifications from the school on the Parent Portal. All class communication notes, notices and permission notes are sent home via the Portal.  The Newsletter link is also sent via the Portal each fortnight.  

School Tours:

St Saviour's Primary will be conducting school tours on Wednesday 9 March. If you know of a family who may be interested in attending one of the tours please encourage them to come along. 

There are three times available:  7.30am, 9.00am, 5.15pm. 

Please register on the link below for attendance. 

https://forms.office.com/r/GNEH2CLPxR

Prep 2023: 

Prep 2023 OPEN MORNING is being held on Thursday 24th March.  Please click on link below to register your attendance.  Interviews for Prep 2023 are taking place early April, so if you have not yet submitted your application please do so.  Places are filling fast for Prep 2023.

https://forms.office.com/r/Uu9Vce3uNy

Congratulations to our Weekly Award Winners from Week 2 and Week 3.

Dear St Saviour’s Community

I hope the year has begun well for you even amongst all the changes.

While the building renovations are finishing and I do not have a room to meet children individually, I am visiting classrooms.

During my visits we are talking about the School Counsellor role and doing a Wellbeing activity.

The initial activity focuses on being mindful about our bodies, noticing the sensations, being aware of our heartbeat and breathing.  This is the first step for children to understand and name their emotions which then supports them in managing these emotions.

As Dr Daniel Siegel says, “Name it to tame it”. Dan Siegel: Name it to Tame it - Bing video

REMINDER Please check your junk mail if you are expecting emails from me. It appears that this is where they are heading once they leave my computer.

Evidence – Did you know?

1. Fathering involvement in educational activities with their children is associated with improved educational outcomes for all students.
2. Children at all ages with fathers interested and involved in their learning have a clear academic advantage.
3. Children do not stop needing their fathers because they get older, or because lives get busy.
4. You don’t have to be strong academically yourself to have an impact on your child’s education. Evidence shows you just have to be supportive and positive about learning.

Top tips

1. Read with your child from an early age and encourage a positive attitude to learning from reading – both books and online.
2. Promote a positive mindset in your children to help them see the benefits and enjoyment that can be found in learning and improvement.
3. Don’t put too much pressure on them. Encourage them to be as good as they can be and help them plan how to improve.
4. Be willing to help with homework, even if that just means asking them questions.
5. Let them be independent learners and be there to support, if they want to do the home learning themselves.
6. Encourage them to see mistakes as an important part of the learning process, and help them to see how to use their mistakes to learn.
7. If homework is causing stress or arguments, put it aside and take a break. Try again later and if there are still problems, contact the teacher to discuss solutions.

Your support of learning impacts your child’s results at school - The Fathering Project

Survey - Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing

Australia’s National Children’s Commissioner is inviting children and their families to complete a survey about how living through the past two years of COVID-19 has affected children's mental health and wellbeing.

Insights and experiences will help to inform the support services that children and their families need as we continue to deal with the impacts of the pandemic. The surveys are listed below:

Survey for children aged 9-17 years

Survey for parents or carers

Both surveys will take 10 minutes, are completely confidential, and children will need parental consent to complete them. The surveys will close March 20, 2022.

Christina Peak

School Counsellor 

St Saviour's College Community invites you to their Annual International Women's Day Breakfast to be held next Friday 11 March at The Callaghan Centre.

Please RSVP to this event if you would like to attend.  Details on invitation below.