FROM THE PRINCIPAL No th July, 2012

Transcription

1 ABSENTEE LINE: FROM THE PRINCIPAL No th July, 2012 Dear Parents and Caregivers Update: Now that I have more than one week under my belt, Q of A routines and practices are more familiar. My first impressions of this school have been confirmed as I continue to be impressed with the dedication and care of the staff and the friendliness of the students. My visits to classrooms and interactions with students in the playground have shown that high standards are expected of the students and these expectations challenge them to be the best they can be. The result, in the main, is an environment in which students are happy and thrive on the success they experience through their achievements. Winter Ills: It is apparent that our school is experiencing more than our fair share of illness at the moment. This is particularly evident in our Chuter St Campus where our confirmed number of cases of Influenza A is growing each day. As communicated via earlier this week, vaccination can still be very effective if given before symptoms appear. Dr Rachael Jabs (mum of Jack Yr 1) has generously offered her services via her clinic to make this as easy as possible for all members of our community, (students, staff and parents). I include her for your attention. I am happy to advise that any person within our school community is able to access influenza vaccination at my practice Rode Medical Clinic, at Rode Shopping Centre, Stafford Heights any afternoon this week for the cost of only $15. They will just need to inform my staff that they are associated with Queen of Apostles and they will be vaccinated on the spot. There will be no cost for the consultation and the nurse will give them a copy of the batch number of vaccination so they can keep a record in their children's immunisation book. Please be at the surgery any time between 2.30 and 5pm as we close at 5pm. Thanks. Regards Rachael Jabs We are very grateful to Rachael for offering this service to our community. As well as safeguarding the health of our children, vaccination will inhibit the spread of this virus. Students have been reminded about appropriate hygiene practices and not sharing germs at school. However, the best place for sick children/ adults is home. Trivia Night: Please support the P&F trivia night this Saturday Evening. Details can be found on page 7 of this newsletter. Disco: Our Yr 3-7 student disco will be held on Friday August 3. This also provides another opportunity for those involved in fundraising for Canberra to volunteer their assistance. In this Issue.. From the Principal From the APA From the APRE QACORS Student Birthdays Tuckshop Helpers Congratulations School Banking Art Union High Tea LOTE Sports Uniforms Parish News Library News P & F Trivia Night Community News TERM DATES JULY 20 4F Class Mass Prep C Dinner 21 P & F Trivia Night 27 4C Class Mass 30 Year 7 NET day 31 NSW English Comp AUGUST 3 3M Class Mass 8 Mary MacKillop Feast Day 10 3F Class Mass 14 Yr 4 Grandparents Day 15 EXHIBITION HOLIDAY Assumption of the Virgin Mary 17 3C Class Mass 20 BOOK WEEK 21 Yr 4 & Prep Buddies 22 Q of A Athletics Carnival 24 7M Class Mass 29 Year 5 Camp 30 Bike Education Program 31 7F Class Mass Year 5 Return SEPTEMBER 3 Photos - Thuruna St 6 Zone 6 Athletics 7 Photos - Chuter St 6M Class Mass 13 Prep Sorry Liturgy 14 6F Class Mass 21 5F Class Mass LAST DAY OF TERM 3

2 Queen of Apostles School Page 2 Working Bee August 12: In preparation for the opening of our new facilities and our upcoming 50 th Jubilee Birthday Party, we will be having a working bee to complete some important work on both campuses. In the spirit of many hands making light work, as much help as possible would be appreciated on the day. Please respond generously with your time to ensure our school is at its best for these important events. Volunteers will be sought in the coming weeks. Enrolments: Thank you to those parents who have taken the time to write to me to let me know that their child will not be returning to Q of A next year. I would ask you to please continue to let me know in writing via to pstafford@bne.catholic.edu.au as soon as your decision has been made over the third term. This early notice will assist with planning for our staffing for Active School Travel: Fridays at Queen of Apostles is our Active Travel Day. Get behind supporting our school to reduce chaos and congestion by choosing to actively travel by walking, cycling, carpooling or public transport to school. All students receive an active school travel stamp in their passport and earn lots of great rewards throughout the year. This Friday 20 th July, we will be holding a park and stride event for parents and children at both campuses. We will gather at 8:05am at the sign at the bottom of Remick Street and walk up to the Early Years campus and gather at Keong Park and walk up to the Thuruna Street Campus. Come along and join us for the walk to school. Have a great week! Peter Surawski Acting Principal FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL ADMINISTRATION WALK TO SCHOOL FRIDAY!! Please meet us at Turner Park (for Thuruna St Campus) and Remick St/Detling St (for Early Years Campus) at 8:05am this Friday to join in the fun of walking to school. It s a great way to warm up during the lovely crisp mornings. Let s hope it s not raining! CURRICULUM UPDATE THINKING SKILLS and BELONGING RULES Critical and creative thinking are fundamental to students developing a habit of effective thinking. Students learn to select from a range of thinking strategies and to adapt and transfer their knowledge to new contexts. De Bono s Thinking Hats are a simple, effective technique that help students learn to separate thinking into six distinct categories. This week s focus was Red Hat thinking. This type of thinking is based on emotion, feeling and intuition. It was wonderful to hear the students stories of having a go and feeling proud. Next week we move to our Act safe, Be safe rule. The type of thinking which helps us examine this rule is Black Hat thinking. This type of thinking relates to caution What are the dangers if you are not acting safely in the classroom or playground? PROFESSINAL EDUCATION TEAM (PET) English The teachers involved in our English PET were recently engaged in a learning team session examining the elements of the Australian Curriculum English. It was a valuable session where professional conversation provided an opportunity to analyse the connections between the elements of the curriculum and the practical application of this for our learners within the classroom. Thank you to the teachers for their high level of professional engagement with, at times, a complex document. CLASS NEWSLETTERS Today you will receive a class newsletter which will outline the focus for curriculum this term. Please take the time to read about the learning experiences planned for this term and any important routine changes or dates coming up. Enjoy the rest of the week, Melissa Spiteri

3 Queen of Apostles School Page 3 FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL RELIGIOUS EDUCATION What does Religious Education look like at Queen of Apostles? Religious Education at our school is a Key Learning Area like all the other subjects that are taught. The children learn about the Catholic faith through formal RE lessons and experience aspects of this Catholic faith through activities and events like class mass with parishioners, class and school prayer and liturgical celebrations such as Liturgies of the Word, Mothers Day liturgies, Creation liturgies etc. The formal RE curriculum is divided up into four areas which we call strands. Throughout the year, all children will learn about aspects from all four strands. The strands are: Scripture this is concerned with making meaning of scripture ( Bible stories ) and understanding these stories and interpreting them. Beliefs - this covers what Christians believe and what the Catholic Church teaches and does. Celebration and Prayer this concerns the 7 Sacraments of the Catholic Church, prayers and religious celebrations and ceremonies. Morality learning and teaching about Christian morality, making good choices, concern for others and action for justice and peace. What is my child learning about in RE this term? The Preps are listening to a lot of stories from the Bible which link to our Queen of Apostles school prayer and the values of Faith, Love and Learning. They are going to learn the prayer that Jesus taught us: The Our Father. They are learning to say sorry and a special Sorry Prayer. In their class prayer times they are learning to pray for people and situations. The Preps are also getting very good at their daily Christian Meditation times. The Year 1 students will be introduced to the scriptures. They will be able to identify and recount a familiar bible story, describe characters from these stories and discuss and illustrate these stories and characters. The Year 2 children are studying a unit in RE called Sacraments in the lives of Believers where the children will compare ideas and experiences of rituals, prayers, words and actions in the sacraments of the Church. The Year 3 students will gather information about different perceptions of God and life to explore Christian beliefs and Church teachings. They will explore questions like: What is God like? Who is God for me? Deep questions! The students in Year 4 are studying a unit of work called Expressions of Prayer and Ritual and will look at prayers such as prayers of sorrow, praise, petition and thanks, traditional prayers, spontaneous prayer and Christian Meditation ( which all classes experience daily ). The unit of RE in Year 5 this term is called Celebration and Prayer and covers material such as gathering information about sacramental celebrations and designing prayers and rituals for various occasions. Year 6 students are studying a unit of work called Scripture: Images, symbols and language which explores scriptural images about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the community of believers. They examine the use of symbol in scripture and suggest ways it conveys understandings of God and life. Students explain how scripture conveys multiple meanings about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the community of believers through metaphoric language used in scriptural contexts. Year 7 are studying a unit of work called Justice in the Local Community by developing and implementing strategies that promote just ways of acting in the local community within a variety of contexts ( for example Caritas, Project Compassion, SVDP all of which we support here at Queen of Apostles ).

4 Queen of Apostles School Page 4 QACORS Congratulations to this week s QACOR recipients: Sarah Drinkwell, Connor Byrne, Joseph Levonis, Curtis Wright-Elizabeth, Tanya Divljak, Gabrielle Cawley, Monykuc Monykuc, Matthew Raineri, James Reid, Claire Tyson, Lily Bottomley, Joseph Iuzzolino, Brooke Hensley, Hannah Tyson, Breanna Scott, Helaena Wright, Emma Breannan, Thomas Baxter, Ellen Ahrens, Mia Mellifont, Eliah Browning, Finlay Wright-Elizabeth, Zara McEwen, Sophie Bedggood, Lily Tran, Xavier Sheldrick, Alice Kelly, Amy Mercurio, Jonathan Camp, Georgia Vogel, Alice Lowther, Ruby Davissen, Emily England, Caitlin Briggs, Lucien Hoogen, Lidia Ciobo and Joseph Perfetto. CONGRATULATIONS!!!! STUDENT BIRTHDAYS Queen of Apostles would like to wish the following children a very Happy Birthday: Harrison Euler, Emma Mountford, Olivia White, Jonathan Camp, Abbey Mitchell, Jeremy Wong, Erin Drinkwell, Rebecca Hayward, Annette Ahrens, Samuel Bradley, Sienna Byrne and Keara Parsons. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! TUCKSHOP HELPERS Wednesday, 25th July Sue Pyman, Julia Pasikowski, Helen Jackson, Susan Skoien, Renee Love and Sonia Brodie. Friday, 27th July Michelle Tornabene, Libby O Sullivan, Annette Impellizzeri, Louise Wells, Rose Mitchell, Marija Wright and Kim Maree Wright. CONGRATULATIONS Queen of Apostles would like to congratulate MADISON SATYASIV who recently competed in the Queensland Junior Squash Championships and represented Brisbane in the Queensland Junior Teams event. SCHOOL BANKING With half the school year gone, we have put together a number of points, which we hope will make the school banking process both easier and safer for everyone. Firstly a reminder that school banking at Queen of Apostles is every Monday, with the exception of a public holiday falling on a Monday the school banking will be done on the Tuesday. As the banking coordinator performs this task on a voluntary basis we would be very grateful if you could keep in mind the following when preparing the children s school banking: It is important to fully complete each deposit book coupon by recording the student s name, account number, branch, deposit amount and student number. If you wish to keep a record of each deposit please complete the butt area in the deposit book, this will be stamped and dated each time a deposit is made. This must be completed for the deposit to be made. Please be aware that the deposit book is a legal document and as such banking coordinators do not have the authority to complete this on behalf of the student or their families. Each week a student makes a deposit, they receive one silver token. Once ten of these tokens are collected they are redeemable for items listed on the reward coupon sheet. These rewards include handballs, book lights, watches and Dollarmite money boxes.

5 Queen of Apostles School Page 5 If you have misplaced or have not received a reward coupon sheet please contact the banking coordinators or include a note in the next banking and we will happily include one with the return of the book. It is important to note that you must include your completed reward coupon with your ten tokens to claim the reward item. Please note reward items are only available while stocks last so please ensure you redeem the tokens every time you collect ten. We would like to sincerely thank all our school banking families, it is good to see the numbers growing and banking on a regular basis. Along with the Commonwealth Bank we look forward to contributing to the ongoing commitment to teaching children good money management skills. Many Thanks, Sonia Brodie; Bec O Shea; Lidia Ranalli - School Banking Coordinators. 50th ANNIVERSARY ART UNION RAFFLE TICKETS Just a reminder if you have sold your raffle tickets please return them to the school as soon as possible, if you would like a second book please ask at either campus office. Please remember to return raffle tickets either sold or unsold to the school office by August 31. HIGH TEA - BOOKINGS Bookings and payments to attend the 10.30am session or 1.00pm session High Tea Parties can now be made at the Thuruna Street Office or contact Cathy on The cost per person per session is $ Places are limited so please book early! HIGH TEA DATE CLAIMERS Your help is requested! If you are able to help on the following dates for the High Tea room at the 50 th Anniversary Event if would be greatly appreciated. A. Washing Crockery, Thursday 13 th September from 1pm to 2.30pm at the Thuruna Street Tuck shop only 5 people required please. B. Setting Up Room for event. Saturday 15 th September, 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm 6 people required. C. Serving Roster Sunday 16 th September, There are 6 blocks of 2 hours each. Commencing 9.30 am and finishing 3.30pm 2 people per block arerequired. Training will be provided ahead of time. D. Cleaning Up Sunday afternoon from 3.30pm to 4.30pm 5 adults required. If you are able to help with any of the above tasks at the given times please take a moment to complete the return slip and send it back to school by Friday 17 th August Preferred Option/s: A B C D Name: Childs Class: Telephone Numbers: address:

6 Queen of Apostles School Page 6 L. O. T. E. (Languages Other Than English) Japanese 日本語 Welcome back to Term 3! We had a very good start learning about 七夕 Tanabata (Star Festival) that is celebrated on 7 th July every year in Japan. This festival originates from an old Chinese folk tale in which the weaver princess and herd boy fall in love with each other. The two lovers forgot to do their work, so the king got very angry and separated them on opposite sides of the milky way. The princess cried so much that the king felt sorry for her and allowed them to see each other once a year on 7 th July. So long as the weather is fine. If it rains, the water in the Milky Way fills up and they can t cross the river. So people in Japan pray for fine weather for those two lovers and also they write their wishes on coloured strips of paper and hang them on bamboo trees. To celebrate this festival the children wrote their wishes and hung them on the bamboo tree branches. It is great to see that some of the children wished they could be better in Japanese! Happy learning Japanese. I wish you all a great term! Shoko Thompson (Japanese Teacher) SPORTS UNIFORM DAYS The students are required to wear their sports uniform this term on the following days: Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Tuesday and Wednesday Tuesday and Wednesday Wednesday and Thursday (If your child attends Tennis on Friday please send their sports shoes to change into for their lesson) Thursday and Friday Wednesday and Friday Thursday and Friday Thursday and Friday (Year 7 shirts may be worn on Friday) PARISH NEWS For all parents of children about the age of 7 years who live in the Our Lady, Queen of Apostles Parish (or regularly worship here): The Parish is starting a programme to help you prepare your child(ren) to celebrate the Sacraments of CONFIRMATION AND EUCHARIST (First Communion) in An Introductory meeting for Parent(s) will be held in the church on Tuesday 14 th August, pm. If you are considering enrolment in this programme, it is essential that you attend this meeting. Please put this date and time in your diary now (14/8/12-7pm). Do not rely on car park gossip for your information this meeting will inform you of what is really happening (and why). At this meeting you will be given appropriate paperwork and informed what your next steps in the process will be. Children s Liturgy of the Word to be celebrated this Sunday, 9am Mass, Prep to Year 4 children welcome.

7 Queen of Apostles School Page 7 LIBRARY NEWS This week I am reading the CBCA short listed book That s not a daffodil by Elizabeth Honey. I reviewed this book last term. The book has appealed to all ages of the student body. Remember that Book Club orders are due back this Friday 20 th July. Library Volunteers Chuter St: Monday 23 rd July Paula Casey; Tuesday 24 th July Jen Davissen Margaret Poncini and Elaine Varley Teacher Librarian Library School Officer COMMUNITY NEWS ASPLEY LITTLE ATHLETICS - Family Fun and Fitness. Join in the fun for the 2012/2013 Season and sign up now! For more information pprkob@oz .com.au or go to or call Paul O Brien on or Paula Tobin on or PADUA YEAR 5 to 7 DISCO - An invitation has been received for our students from years 5 to 7 to attend the upcoming Padua Disco on Thursday, 26th July from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Tickets are available from the Thuruna Street office and $5.00 is payable at the door on the night.