T3 W7 Newsletter 2023

From The Principal

One of the strongest images of God in our Christian faith is that of ‘Comforter’.  In the person of Jesus, God has come into our midst to be with us and to console our broken hearts.  When people turn to God in prayer, they often do so because they are in distress.  Yet God doesn’t seem to take away our pain and difficulties so we can rightly ask: how does God comfort us.

Firstly, just what is this ‘comfort’?  Well, it is not being relaxed and comfortable, snoozing in an easy chair, no pain, no problems.  The word comes from two Latin words for ‘with’ and ‘strength’.  So when God wants to comfort us, it isn’t to take challenges away but to strengthen us through our pain and suffering to grow as human beings.  Much as we don’t like it, these are an integral part of maturing and learning to love. 

God’s comfort is directed to helping us face the challenges of life.  At times, these just happen to us: we lose our job, get cancer, are bashed up.  These things we often don’t deserve.  But more often than not our distress comes from our own personal liabilities, in traditional terms our human tendency to sin.  When we hear the word ‘sin’ today, we tend to absolve ourselves saying “Hey, I’m not really a sinner, I’m a good person.  I haven’t killed anyone”, yet we all have personal habits and weaknesses that undermine our lives, damage our relationships and cause unhappiness to ourselves and to others and these we need to face.  In order to receive the comfort of God, we need to first be honest about the reality of our need.

Loving Father, you sent your son Jesus, to come amongst us and speak to our hearts.  We know our pain and struggle.  May your Holy Spirit guide us through the maze of our problems so that we may share your comfort with our family and friends.  We ask this in Jesus’ name, confident that you will hear us.  Sr Kym Harris osb

Principal's Messages

PREP ENROLMENTS  |  Enrolments for Prep are currently being taken for the 2024 school year. If you have a child due to commence Prep next year born between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019, please complete an online enrolment form, available on our school website -
https://www.sasrok.catholic.edu.au/

It is important that this is done promptly so that the number of available positions for new families can be determined.

If you know of anybody seeking enrolment in Prep for 2024, please encourage them to head to our website for further information.  If you have any queries or concerns regarding this process, please contact the office.

ALL ENROLMENTS MUST BE COMPLETED ONLINE:  Once enrolment applications have been received and processed by our Administration staff, you will be notified of an interview time during Term 3. 

Sarina Show School's Sugar Cane Prize

St Anne's was lucky enough to take out first prize at the Sarina Show in the School's Cane competition! A very big thank you to Andrea & Dion Borg for entering on our behalf. We had the pleasure of being presented our prize on Friday's assembly by the Borg family. 

Mackay Eisteddfod

Years 3-5 will be participating in this year's Eisteddfod.  Parents will need to organise transportation to and from the venue for their child.  Any child who is unable to attend will stay at school to complete work.  Parents, please remind your child to practice their Eisteddfod poems as part of their homework.

Eisteddfod Dates:

Sessions start at 8.30 sharp.  Anyone arriving late will be locked out.  Please get in early to purchase tickets as they've been known to sell out.

Tuesday 10 October - Year 5

Wednesday 11 October - Year 4

Thursday 12 October - Years 3 and 6

COVID Requirements

Student Protection News

Across The Curriculum

The Good News

From the Assistant Principal: Religious Education

Erika Milne

Confirmation and First Holy Communion

On Sunday, Bishop Michael presided at St. Michael's Church along with Fr. Matthias and Bishop Les for a very special celebration. Ben, Chris, Lahni, Khloe, Addison, Riley, Carter and Bella were confirmed and received their first Holy Communion on Sunday. Congratulations to these students. 

Andrew Chinn Concert

Thank you to Religious Musician Andrew Chinn who visited St. Anne's to perform a live concert. 20 students in Years 3-6 joined Andrew in his choir and had a rehearsal with him in the middle session. In the afternoon the school gathered and each year level performed their song in front of the audience. I was very impressed with the student's participation in singing and joining in the actions. 

Finance News

Concession Card Discounts  |  If you have an existing concession card discount,  please be aware that discounts are not automatically applied to new enrolments.  Discounts are applied to each student upon individual application and there is a form that is required to be completed each time.

If you have an existing concession card registered at St Anne’s and have more than one student, please contact Sandra Adams to confirm that discounts have been applied to each student. 

Term 3 Fees  |  Term 3 school fees are now overdue. If you have not been able to pay in full by the due date and do not already have a payment plan in place, please contact our Finance Officer to discuss options. 

Sports News

Sporting News Term 3

After a very successful end of Term 2 with our school Track and Field Carnival, we had 31 10–12-year-old students represent St Anne's at the Sarina District Track and Field Trials in week 2. 

All students are to be extremely proud of the way they conducted themselves at this carnival and the results they achieved. 

Congratulations to Bella R, Hudson V, Tahlia F, Corey F, Eddie R and Carter R on making selection for the Mackay District Track and Field trials. 

These students stepped far out of their comfort zones and pushed their own athletic limits, we are so proud of you all!

Congratulations to Corey F on qualifying for the Mackay District Team to compete at Capricornia level on Monday 21^st August in Discus!

PE in Term 3

Our Term started with a 5 week AFL unit for Years 1-6. We had Nick from Auskick Mackay visit us in week 3 to run PE lessons. Nick engaged so well with our students and even though Rugby League is so engrained in our students, they all learned new skills and had a fun lesson!

Auskick has been running successfully on our school oval Tuesday after school since week 2. We thank Auskick Mackay for making this available to our students. 

The second half of Term 3, Years 1-4 are learning the game T-Ball (Baseball) while Years 5&6 are enjoying learning Sofcrosse (Lacrosse). Our Prep classes continue to have a lot of fun in the hall refining their fundamental movement skills such as balance, coordination, throwing under and over arm, striking and dribbling. Prep participates in a range of these skills in a rotation format, allowing all children to move for the hour lesson using a range of skills. If time allows, at the end of each lesson, a whole class game such as dodgeball is enjoyed by all students. 

Skip Club is still on every Tuesday morning 8am in the school hall! 

Remember our Colour Run is fast approaching, 15^th September, keep practicing your distance pace running at home, beach or park. 

Fun Run

Sarina Erudite Initiative - new intake now open

Sarina State High School are pleased to once again be running the Sarina Erudite Initiative in 2023/2024 for your current year 5 cohort after a record-breaking number of applications last year.

For those who are not aware, The Sarina Erudite Initiative (SEI) is an enrichment program aiming to expose primary school students to the secondary curriculum and extend students above and beyond the primary curriculum, thus allowing them to develop further interests and skills and enrich their lives.

Sarina Erudite Initiate Programs will be linked to the areas of Humanities, STEM, Digital Technologies and Health and Physical Education, with a strong link to both literacy and numeracy. The SEI Programs will also align to ACARA General Capabilities and Achievement Standards. 

Interested students are required to apply for the program and there are a limited number of places available.  Students must submit their latest report card (semester 1), their attendance details for both 2022 and 2023, a short response to a posed question and have both parent/carer and Principal endorsement.

Students are then ranked using a criteria and successful students notified of their acceptance into Sarina Erudite Initiative.

Students will attend 4 sessions over 4 fortnights from 8.45 am with the expectation they are collected by parents by 11.30 am and return to their primary school.  Please see the dates below:

• Week 2 - Wednesday 11^th October, 2023
• Week 4 - Wednesday 25^th October, 2023
• Week 6 - Wednesday 8^th November, 2023
• Week 8 - Wednesday 22^nd November, 2023

For those students who are interested, we will deliver application forms to your school in the coming days and these can also be located on our School Website.

If you have any questions regarding this program, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Samantha Nicholls

Sarina State High School

Students Of The Week

Congratulations To Our Students Of The Week  |  Sonny T, Taytum C, Lachlan M, Phoebe W, Chet R, Mackenzie S, Ben T, Hayden m, Ben G,amelia P, Achilles D, Toby T, Mathew W, Darcie K, Jed P, Khloe S, Ellani K, Savannah b, Stevie M, Clare B, Lucas N, Piper W

Year 4 Recycling

Waste Free Wednesday

Tuckshop Volunteers

The St Anne's Tuckshop is closed until a new convenor is appointed. 

General Information

Schoolzine App For Reading Newsletters

Community News