St Anne's Catholic Primary School Sarina eNewsletter

From The Principal

Easter is almost with us. I find myself asking where has the term gone? For me it has been so long and yet so short! There is still much to do, but time waits for no one.

First term always see the celebration of Easter. I really enjoy the liturgies of this season of the Church. They bring home to me the frailty of human life and the joys and suffering that are part and parcel of this existence.

But celebrating Easter without children (for me anyway!) would be a sad time. Their joys, their happiness, their understandings never fail to teach me something. No matter how small or big, children are buckets of wisdom. When posed with the following questions their answers startled me!

What is Easter about?

New Life!
Jesus dying on the cross!
Easter eggs!
Having fun with my family!

Why do you like Easter?

Easter Eggs!
The Easter Bunny!
Chocolate!
Jesus rose from the dead!
Celebrating!

How do you know Jesus is with you?

He loves us!
He is in us!
Because he died on the cross for us to have another life!

On a higher level, through the Gospels we see Jesus respond to a number of difficult people. Especially in the story of his Passion and Death, we see him treat people with respect, even when they are plotting to kill him, even when they are attacking him and spreading lies. This doesn’t mean he ‘just takes it’ – he is not a wimp. He never puts himself down and is not afraid of straight-talking. While treating people with respect, he is in control of himself and he serves with love, even when rejected. At heart, he can do this because he knows he is loved by God his Father – that is the ground on which he walks. We, too, can draw our strength from that love. Over these holidays, when things get a little challenging, take a few moments and acknowledge to yourself that God loves you and ask for wisdom and grace in that situation.

I would like to thank each of you personally for being part of our first term. St Anne's Catholic Primary School is a wonderful place and is only like this because of the people who are this place - the staff, the parents, the students, and the parish. Wishing you a Happy and Safe Easter in advance!

Mr J Ballinger-Oches

Principal

Principal's Messages

Wishing You a Safe, Happy and Holy Easter | This week is the last week of Term 1 for 2023. I wish each one of you a safe, happy and Holy Easter break with family and friends. Term 2 commences Monday the 17th of April. I look forward to seeing you all then, refreshed after the break and with students eager to learn.

Enrolments For 2024 Now Being Taken

ENROLMENTS FOR 2024 | 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 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019, please complete an online enrolment form available from the school website: https://www.sasrok.catholic.edu.au/

Interviews will commence in Term Two.

Student Protection News

Across The Curriculum

Reading Volunteers Needed! From 8.20am-9.00am

One of our major curriculum goals in our School Improvement Plan for 2023 is to enhance the learning growth of our students in reading. One of the ways we can improve student progress in this space is to increase reading volume, and this is where we need your help!

We would like to set up a morning reading routine, where, on a rotational basis, students would come down to the library to listen to a story read by a grown up, and to read their home reading book, and then go back to class. Ideally, every morning would be wonderful, but I can work out the days once I know how many people are available to help.

To assist in this initiative, you would need to have completed the short online Volunteers Induction form, through the link Mr Oches sent out earlier in the year.

If you are available during this time, please let me know what days you are able to assist us. Grandparents are more than welcome, too!

A Really Beautiful Moment- Can You Help With A New Breakfast Club Idea?

Recently, Mr Oches and I had a meeting with Matilda Walsh, who recently presented us with the most thoughtful idea, an idea that truly reflects the works of our Catholic Social Teachings.

Matilda has noticed that many students in the morning are either eating something from their lunchbox before school, or commenting that they haven't had time to have breakfast because the mornings are a rush. Matilda has come up with a plan, and recently presented this plan to Mr Oches in a well written, and extremely persuasive letter!

We would like to support Matilda in getting a free breakfast club up and running. Initially, we are seeking donations of cereal, UHT milk, paper cups and spoons. Our thinking at this stage, is that we will run Breakfast Club each Monday, beginning in Term 2, from 8am-8.20am, on the grid where I am on morning duty.

Any donations of the above items will be greatly appreciated. These can be given to the front office ladies at any time.

We will keep an eye on of our Breakfast Club as Term 2 progresses, and have in mind that we can extend the number of days if needed. It truly warms our hearts when students are making connections to what they are learning at home and in our classrooms to how they can help in their broader community.

Thank you to those who have been able to contribute some of the above items already. We really do appreciate your kindness.

Our NAPLAN testing window has now closed! I am truly impressed with the positive attitude of our students while they were completing these assessments. Well done, Year 3 and Year 5 students. You can be very proud of your efforts!

The Good News

From the Assistant Principal: Religious Education

Erika Milne

Harmony Week Liturgy

Year 4 led our Harmony week liturgy last Friday. Thank you to Mrs Gill, Mrs Cox and Mrs Cameron for preparing the students so well. The students led the school beautifully and reverently with their singing and signing. Thank you to the families who joined us. I hope you enjoyed a cuppa and morning tea with our families and year 4 students.

Save the Date:

Term 2 Week 1 - 10.10am Monday Easter Liturgy led by the staff.

Term 2 Week 2 - 12 pm Monday ANZAC Day Liturgy led by Year 3.

ANZAC Day March - 25th April 9.35 am. Meet in the Field of Dreams, Railway Square car park—more information to come in Week 1 newsletter.

Regional Indigenous Education Liaison Officer: Karlie Tatchell

Hello everyone, I thought this may be helpful information. My primary role is to support our Indigenous students academically, culturally, and pastorally. I do this by spending time with students in class, outside of class doing projects or planning activities. I can sit with them and do group work, reading, writing, maths, HASS etc. I also provide support to them through promoting our Culture during significant Cultural dates and activities. I can also assist staff with lesson plans and units of work by referring them to appropriate resources to embed Indigenous perspectives into the curriculum. I also really enjoy coming into classes to share my knowledge and experience. For example:

Yr. 5 Plant Adaptions- making shoes.

Refraction – explaining light and fishing.

Seasons - how Torres Strait Islander people use the phases of the moon to plant/harvest.

The Dark Emu - The Dreaming- Astronomy.

Binding Agents - experiments with Ochre etc.

Cool Burnings- Caring for Country Excursions.

Making food wraps with bee’s wax.

Just a small snapshot of what I have done across my schools.

I also support our families and liaise with our Indigenous community to look at services that can come into our schools and engage in Education.

If you are wanting to talk to me about any of the above, please email me. Often, I am just with the students or looking at ways I can support them. For example, spent some time with a student this morning and I printed out some images and background information on Dreaming and Creation Stories for her with a follow up of websites and protocols we follow. Next week I will check in and spend some time unpacking what she likes and how we can weave this into some project work for her own portfolio. I will find out if there are any art displays or exhibitions she may want to access online or in person.

My background is in Mental Health (former RN with grad Dip in Mental Health) and approx. 15 years working in Juvenile Justice, Child Protection so a lot of case management and intervention. However, the greatest gift I bring to the table is my Culture and how we connect and support each other.

Hope this helps 😊

Karlie

Peer Mediators

Peer Mediators at St Anne’s

Peer mediation is a voluntary process in which a student, trained as a neutral third party, helps other students in conflict get clear about their concerns, better understand one another, and come to a mutual agreement about how they want to handle their issues.

It is important that peer mediation sits within the implementation of school policies and programs which support a safe and supportive school environment.

Peer mediation offers a dispute resolution process by which students are actively involved in resolving their own disputes. It is a strategy which our school finds to be very effective. Peer mediation teaches students the skills and then encourages them to resolve their own conflicts in a supervised setting. It also gives students a forum for resolving conflicts that might never come to the attention of adults.

The program is an early intervention strategy which, if implemented effectively, can offer an effective and suitable method for helping to reduce anti-social behaviour such as violence, bullying and vandalism.

Peer mediation is important for students because they are the priority. It improves their communication and cooperation skills, and it lessens tensions and removes adversarial atmosphere at school.

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 1 Fees | Payment of School fees for Term one are now overdue. If you have not paid in full, and do not have a payment plan in place, please contact our Finance Officer to discuss.

P&F News

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Tuckshop Volunteers

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

Students Of The Week

Congratulations To Our Students Of The Week | Isla M, Evie M, Jaxson C, Aaliyah K, Aylah B, Benson P, Zac Z, Jasper H, Bailey W, Andrea P, Katelyn B, Summer W, Memphis-Belle D, Liam B, Wyatt H, Ellani K, Matilda W, Eddie R, Khai T, Molly M

Birds Of A Feather

General Information

Birthdays
31/03	Scarlett J	06/04	Savannah B
08/04	Brooklyn K	08/04	Summer W
11/04	Mia S	14/04	Felicity E

Notes Home to Parents Since Last Newsletter
Date	To	Topic	Author
21/03	All Parents	T1 W9 Newsletter	Admin
24/03	All Students	ICT Code of conduct	Mrs H
27/03	All Parents	P&F Major Raffle	P&F
27/03	Year 3 O	Headlice	Admin
27/03	Year 2 H	Headlice	Admin