Week 5, Term 1, 2022

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

We continue to be very mindful of the many people still significantly impacted by the rain event and flooding and we continue to hold them in our thoughts and prayers. This applies to the wider community as well as to some of our own families who have been flood affected. We are also mindful of the people of northern New South Wales who are now also experiencing severe floods.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY - Tuesday 8 March

In 2022 the International Women’s Day campaign #Breakthebias is a call-to-action for driving gender balance across the world.  This is not exclusively a women’s issue; everyone has a part to play - all the time, everywhere. On Friday of this week, our Year 6 school captains will accompany me as we attend the International Women’s Breakfast hosted by St Saviour’s College.

Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.

We can break the bias in our communities.

We can break the bias in our workplaces.

We can break the bias in our schools, colleges and universities.

Together, we can all break the bias - on International Women's Day (IWD) and beyond.

School Update:

Current Building Project: Unfortunately, we still wait to move into our new classrooms for another week.  We are awaiting joinery completion and certification of the classrooms. It is hoped that we have moved in before the Easter break.

The school administration is coming along nicely and the hope is that we will all be settled into this area also before the Easter break.   Thanks to our staff and students who have been amazingly patient throughout this extended building project due to COVID and weather issues. We can’t wait to have a staffroom once again and be learning in our new classrooms!

Future Building Project: I am currently working with the architect on the next stage of our master plan which involves planning of the new library/resource facilities, another four new general learning areas and play facilities.  As a school we will submit an application for a Block Grant from the State which is due at the end of March this year.  This next stage will support our ongoing enrolment growth and sustain three classes per year level.

School Tours: Throughout yesterday, the Leadership Team took many new families for 2023 on tours of our school facilities and offerings.  We look forward to our OPEN Morning Information Session for 2023 interested families on Thursday March 24^th at 9a.m. in the Mercy Centre. 

Covid 19 Update: We continue to encourage children to practise ‘good hygiene’ as we do away with mask wearing.  We currently have two staff and seven students with the virus and another 8 students in isolation. Thank you to everyone for continuing to keep our school children and staff safe as best we can during these times.

What is the legacy for each child who attends SSPS?

Over the weekend, I had a friend ask me what do you want the legacy for each child to be who attends St Saviour’s Primary School? My answer at the time was general and  upon reflection, a little disappointing. Here’s what my answer in response to that question should have been:

I want students to remember, above all, staff were compassionate and that they truly cared not only about their learning but, more importantly, about them as individuals.

I want the SSPS children to remember how much each staff member - or at least one staff member - really loved being their teacher and that this teacher or teachers (I hope) thought it was one of the most important jobs in the world.

I want the children to remember that many staff had a sense of humour and that they learnt that staff were human and were able to laugh at themselves when they made mistakes. After all, mistakes are an important part of how we all learn and grow, so it’s alright to make mistakes.

I want students to remember that the school thought education was important and that learning should never end.

I want each child to remember that their peers would drop everything to lend a hand and that we all took pride in our school environment.

I want the children to remember how they could collaborate with staff and how sharing ideas and support of one another strengthened our community.

Lastly, I want the children to remember the SSPS community as a caring community where every person helped to make the school a safe and inviting place to be.

Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the founding father of Scouting was famous for saying, “Leave this place better than when you found it.”  Baden-Powell said these words in 1941, but I feel as if he missed a few important things. In the context of our school, I think each child should try and achieve this:

Leave this place better than when you found it. Leave this place as a better person than when you were first here.

Take nothing but photographs, memories, friends and who you have become. Leave nothing behind but footprints, your legacy and traditions for those to follow.

And know that although you will journey to many new places and meet many new faces, this place and these faces will always be part of what makes you, you.

Thanks for reading everyone.

Have an enjoyable weekend.

Madonna Sleba

Principal

Our Student Protection contacts for 2022 are:

Madonna Sleba

Sam Hannant

Christina Peak

Lisa Kynoch

Dear Parents and Carers,

Project Compassion Prayer for 2022,

Loving God , we thank you for the gift of our lives

and for the life of every person, both near to us and far away.

We thank you for the wonder of all your creation.

Through fasting, almsgiving and prayer may this Lent draw us deeper

into the warmth and light of God's love.

May we see the world more clearly,

Especially those who are often overlooked.

May we come closer to your heart, which you showed through the cross of Jesus.

May we be full of hope for all future generations.

We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.

For all Future Generations

Project Compassion boxes are 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.

Ash Wednesday Liturgies at SSPS last week:

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM 2022: 

Parents and students met with Fr Michael and the Sacramental Team at St Patrick's Cathedral yesterday to have a chat about what the students had been learning about with regards to Reconciliation. Fr Michael explained what the ceremony consisted of and parents were asked to nominate whether they would be attending the Friday or Saturday ceremony.

At this stage we are planning on the program returning to normal after the Easter break, when we prepare for Confirmation and then Communion.

A letter with the dates for next term will be handed out next week.

Congratulations Estelle and family: Earlier this term (the really wet Friday), the 4O class gathered with the Harlen family and Fr Michael to celebrate Estelle's baptism. This was a truly lovely ceremony, even though the venue and the Godfather's attendance were impacted by the torrential downpour. Thank you to Rachel and Marc for choosing to share this special occasion with us.

Enjoy the rest of your week,

Judy

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 

Swimming Carnival (Years 3-6 only) – Wednesday 30 March (due to COVID restrictions parents are unable to attend)

Further information and a permission form have been sent via the Parent Portal.  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.   All students need to wear closed sneakers to and from school.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN is used by governments, education authorities and schools to determine whether young Australians are meeting important goals in literacy and numeracy.

All students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are expected to sit the NAPLAN tests, which are held in May each year.

NAPLAN gives a snapshot of how children are performing in reading, writing, spelling, punctuation, grammar, and numeracy. It complements other effective classroom assessment and reporting practices.

As St Saviour's Primary is an online school for NAPLAN, the test window is from 11-21 May.  Students in Years 3&5 will participate in a Practice OMNIBUS Test (various questions) on 22 March and Year 5 students in a Practice Writing Test on 23 March.

For more information, please visit the following link https://nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/naplan-information-brochure-for-parents-and-carers.pdf 

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Parent/Teacher interviews for most classes will take place from 21 March.  Information and bookings are available via the Parent Portal.

It is recommended that all parents attend an interview as they are an important part of the St Saviour's Primary Reporting process.

National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence

St Saviour's Primary is joining the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA) on Friday 18 March 2022.

This year, we help celebrate 12 years of action for Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative, with the theme, Kindness Culture.  Kindness Culture promotes inclusiveness, respect and community belonging. 

The 2022 theme offers an opportunity to learn about kindness, and demonstrating kind behaviour. Kindness plays an important role in bullying prevention.

To help raise awareness about NDA and bullying prevention, all students and staff are welcome to wear something orange on Friday 18 March.  This could be a t shirt, shorts or a hat.  It may even be something as simple as a hair ribbon.

Further information regarding this day can be obtained from the following website https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/preventing-bullying/national-day-of-action-against-bullying-and-violence 

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We have our eLearning, Technology and STEM plan ready to share with our community! 

The purpose of the document is to outline what we do in a digital space here at SSPS. It will be reviewed yearly to ensure we stay up to date with the curriculum and technology. You can access the full plan here. Through collaboration with teachers, we have developed our very own plan for all things STEM and technology! We’d love some parent input and feedback on this document. Please email Nicarla.prentice@twb.catholic.edu.au with any of your thoughts.  

The first half of the document is from the Technology Plan, which outlines what ICT skills are covered in each year level, as well as how to be safe users of Technology. The second picture is from the STEM section of the document. This outlines how Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics have been integrated into other subject areas here at St Saviour’s Primary school.

Have a wonderful week! 

Warm Regards

Nicki Prentice

Student Travel Term 1:

Week 4 & Week 5

Weekly Award Winners

Each year we appreciate the help from parents, and other family members in our school.  By law we are required to keep a volunteer register of the people who help in our schools.  

VOLUNTEERS:-

If you are intending on volunteering at school, over the course of this year, you will need to complete the Volunteer Declaration Form (link below) and read over the Volunteer Code of Conduct Fact Sheet and Student Protection Information for Volunteers (links below)  Once completed, forms can be sent in to the school office via email ssps@twb.catholic.edu.au or handed in to the school office. 

https://www.twb.catholic.edu.au/media/2151/factsheet-volunteercodeofconduct-jan17.pdf

https://www.twb.catholic.edu.au/media/2152/a5-studentprotection-informationforvolunteers-jan17.pdf

https://www.twb.catholic.edu.au/media/2153/form-volunteerdeclaration-jan17.pdf

Thank you for your support. 

SSPS

Central Zone Swimming Carnival 

On Monday the 7th March, five students from St Saviour’s competed in the Darling Downs Swimming Carnival at Gatton 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 Team. All students had great swims with many achieving personal bests on the day. Taylor Wann qualified for the Darling Downs Team and will compete in Brisbane in two weeks time (pictures attached).

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

School Sport 

Congratulations to Evie Phillips and Sophia Hooper who made the Central Zone Team for Touch Football. Both girls will play to try and qualify for the Darling Downs Team. Scarlett Bishop also had her trials for Basketball and made the Toowoomba Team. She will attend the Darling Downs trials in March. Fantastic effort and we are cheering for you all. 

Fitness Club 

Fitness Club started up on Tuesday the 15th 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 be held every Tuesday and Thursday morning (weather permitting) 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. 

Zone and Darling Downs Trials 

Information regarding 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 (Term One) 

• Fitness Club (7:15am – 8:00am) - Tuesday and Thursday from 15th February 2022 till 24th March 2022 (SSPS Oval) 
• P - 6 Swimming Lessons – Tuesday 15th, Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th of March and Monday 28th and Tuesday 29th of March (Glennie Aquatic Centre) 
• SSPS Swimming Carnival (Year 3 – Year 6) 9am – 12pm - 30th March 2022 (Glennie Aquatics Centre) 
• SSPS Prep – Year 6 Cross Country - 1st April 2022 (Primary School Oval) 

Cheers 

Brendan Luck 

HPE Teacher 

Our winning entry for the Queensland School Libraries Week art competition was created by Ruby-Lola Boxsell from Year 4C. 

Ruby showed how reading and using the library can be at the heart of our learning.

Congratulations Ruby! 

Other outstanding images from Year 3 – 6 students will be shared on the AccessIT homepage, found here;  

au.accessit.online/STS02#!dashboard 

 Library Learning for Year 3 – 6 Students this Term 

• Students have revised their search skills in our library database and have started to create a list of books they might borrow next term 
•  Students have been logging in to our online story and information resources via the AccessIT dashboard. These resources are available from home so ask your student to show you Storybox Library, ClickView and Britannica School. 
• Year 3, 4 and 5 students are developing skills to locate and select information from ClickView videos 
• Year 6 students are developing location and evaluation skills when using information online

New Items for Covering 

Our Library Officer Mrs Mary Milton has been busy entering records for new home and class reading material. If you could assist with the covering of these readers, please see us! 

Overdue Loans 

Invoices for unreturned loans from Term 4 2021 will be issued shortly.   

Please enjoy a story from Storybox library with your children this week; 

www.storyboxlibrary.com.au Username: ssps Password: stories 

Happy viewing! 

Anne Anderson 

Teacher Librarian 

Join other local families to learn more about autism and ways to strengthen the home-school partnership. 

2 Day Parent/Carer Workshop 

South Toowoomba 

Wed 30th and Thurs 31st March 2022 

9:30-2:30 

Free 

Positive Partnerships | Registrations 

Learn about: 

Diversity of autism 

• examines parent’s knowledge of autism and how autism directly impacts their child at home and school 
• investigates a range of practical strategies to use at home and school to improve learning outcomes. 

Understanding Behaviour 

• examines the function/purpose of behaviours 
• recognises that understanding behaviour is the key to supporting children on the autism spectrum 

• explores tools and strategies for Positive Behaviour Support. 

Working Together 

• examines ways for parents' to strengthen partnerships between home, school and community 
• increases awareness of support and services for families and how they can be accessed 
• explores ways parents can advocate more effectively for their child’s needs 

• helps parents develop a plan for moving forward. 

Understanding Sensory Processing 

• Explores sensory processing and the unique differences individuals on the autism spectrum may have with processing information from their senses. 
• Shares some strategies that can assist people to cope with sensory input and meet their sensory needs. 

 __________________________________________________________________________________ 

Webinars for parents and carers 

Join one of our free webinars for parents and carers. 

These live webinars give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe online experiences.  

Webinars for parents and carers | eSafety Commissioner 

Parent resources | eSafety Commissioner 

Hello from the Music Room! 

SSPS students have been working hard in Music this term. Prep are learning to sing nursery rhymes and keep a steady beat whilst singing. Year One and Year Two have been working on singing simple tunes like Rain Rain Go Away and Blue Bells and learning about melodic contour and how to create their own. The music staff and its note names were introduced to Year Three. Year Four have also been looking at the staff and note names to start playing the ukulele in Term Two. The traditional Israeli hand clapping game, A Qua Qua, has been a hit with the Year Fives and Sixes.  

Thank you!

Madeline Whip

Music Teacher 

SKOOL DAYZ – School Uniform Suppliers

As you might be aware, I have been experiencing some low or no availability on some uniform items. Please be aware that stock has already been re-ordered. However, as are many retailers, I am at the mercy of the suppliers who have been affected by regional, national and international events. I have gone out of my way to see that winter uniform items will start arriving next week. I cannot give timelines for other items as I have been advised by suppliers that it will arrive when it arrives. While I appreciate that this isn’t ideal, it is the reality many are dealing with. Please know that I am doing the best I can to continue to follow up with stock orders on a regular basis.

If you wish to contact Skool Dayz there are a number of avenues of communication you can choose from – email, phone, SMS or Facebook. If you cannot reach us via one option, I would encourage you to try another and I assure you we will get back to you as soon as possible. At this stage the uniform shop can only be open on Monday (2.30pm – 4pm) and Friday (2.30pm – 4pm). However, as we have always stated, please get in contact if these times don’t suit and we can make alternate arrangements. We thank you for your patience during these uncertain times.

Dan Eagleson

What is Make March Purple for epilepsy?

Each March the world turns purple in support of the 65 million people living with epilepsy. In 2022 Epilepsy Queensland is joining the movement happening in over 130 countries around the world to make March purple for epilepsy!

Make March Purple is an Australia wide campaign supported by epilepsy organisations across the country and the national peak body – Epilepsy Australia

World Purple Day, held on March 26 is an international day of awareness for people impacted by epilepsy.  This March, St Saviour's Primary will be hosting a PURPLE DAY to raise funds and awareness for epilepsy.  This day is being held on Thursday March 31.  This will be a free dress day - come dressed in purple and bring a gold coin donation.  This year, our very own Mrs King and Archer Klemm from Year 6 feature in the marketing campaign for "Make March Purple". 

We invite you to click on the following link to view the images of Archer and Mrs King and our school St Saviour's Primary.

https://myimpact.epilepsyqueensland.com.au/make-march-purple