Newsletter 14 August 2024

From the Principal

As we approach the ¾ mark of the term and the ¾ mark of the year, it is quite noticeable that the effects of quality engagement in learning throughout the year is starting to show amongst the students. This fatigue can show in many ways including children being overtired and more emotional than usual. Therefore, it is timely to remind your children about the importance of maintaining a good healthy routine, particularly in regard to plenty of rest and nutrition. As the children fatigue and become stressed, it can lead to them being less able to handle situations that wouldn’t have been a problem only a few weeks ago, in particular conflict within their friendship groups.

Conflict with peers is unavoidable and is all part of growing up. From the school’s perspective, most disagreements tend to occur at the back end of each school term. Minor, niggling things that others may say or do suddenly become major reasons for arguments and strained friendships. At times like these, teachers and parents play an important role in guiding children through these rough patches.

It is also important not to catastrophize issues into something they are not. An example of this is to avoid labelling minor school or playground incidents as bullying. Bullying should not be confused with teasing, rejection, random or one-off verbal or physical conflict. While teachers will engage various strategies to reduce such incidents and spend time and effort to maintain peace and harmony, children will tease and fight at some stage; however, this bickering should not be confused with bullying. 

Bullying is a word that is wrapped in emotion. For many people bullying is associated with bad childhood memories. Bullying is an insidious behaviour and can take on many forms and guises, such as physical and emotional abuse, intimidation, harassment and exclusion. It is not the domain of just one gender. Girls bully just as much as boys, but they do it in less physical ways. Whilst boys use physical intimidation or verbal abuse to wield power, girls are more likely to use exclusion or sarcasm to assert themselves. 

Bullying is about lack of power, as one person is powerless to stop the teasing or physical abuse. Bullying is the selective, uninvited, repetitive oppression of one person by another person or group. Sometimes, we don’t find out that someone has been bullied until after a long period of time and this proves very difficult to resolve, as recollections of incidents can become unclear if they occurred some months beforehand. This is why it is important to identify and act on any possible signs of potential bullying at the earliest opportunity. For this to occur, teachers, parents and children need to communicate and co-operate as soon as any signs may appear. 

We regularly remind the students, that if they do have any concerns or issues, please come and talk to their teacher (first point of call) or myself so we can deal with the matter accordingly. We also emphasise the importance of showing ongoing respect (through the use of appropriate language, and positive interactions) and care for others in our school, and that being tired, sick and upset aren’t excuses for poor behaviour choices.

Throughout the week and on Friday, the school will come together to reinforce this message and to promote awareness and conversation around The National Week of Action against Bullying and Violence. This day is an opportunity for students, teachers, parents and the whole community to take a stand together against bullying and violence. This annual day provides a focus for schools who want to say Bullying. No way! and to strengthen their everyday messages that bullying and violence at school are not okay at any time.  

With everyone doing their bit, we can start to make a difference.  Weeks like the National Week of Action are a great way to start the conversation, making everyone aware of the situation and take steps to address it together.  Throughout the week, the staff will speak to the students about the key messages of bullying and how to deal with it, as well as recognising the difference between bullying and conflict.

From the APRE

Oakey Community Under 8s Day

This Friday the 16^th of August, students in Prep to Year 2 will be participating in the Oakey Community Under 8’s Day from 9am to 11am on our school oval. Children will engage in a range of fun activities and receive a free sausage sizzle.

Bullying No Way: National Week of Action.

The National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence now has a new name—Bullying No Way: National Week of Action.

This year it occurs from Monday the 12^th of August to Friday the 16^th of August. It is Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative and connects schools and communities to find workable solutions to prevent bullying. The theme for 2024 is 'Everyone belongs'. When we all feel like we belong, bullying struggles to find a place. It's about embracing who we are, respecting everyone's differences and standing up together against unkindness. Belonging means we all have a role in preventing bullying. We're encouraged to speak up and create a safe place where everyone feels supported and respected, and our voices are heard and valued.

Purple is the new hero colour representing Bullying No Way: National week of action. By wearing purple on Friday the 16^th, we show our united commitment to standing together against bullying.

Book Week

Next week we will be celebrating Book Week. This year’s theme is ‘Reading is Magic’. As part of this event, we will be holding the annual Book Week Costume Parade on Friday August 23 at approx. 9:10am after assembly. We look forward to seeing all the students (and teachers) dressed as their favourite book characters.

Father’s Day Assembly

On Wednesday the 28^th of August, the Year 1 class will be leading the school in a special assembly acknowledging the special fathers and father figures in our St Monica’s School community. All fathers and father figures are warmly invited to attend. A reminder to send into the front office photos for the Father’s Day Tribute and order forms and money for the P&F Father’s Day gift bags.

St Monica’s Feast Day Celebration

On Thursday the 29^th of August, we will celebrate the feast day of our school patron, Saint Monica. Students will attend Mass at 9am. All are welcome to attend.

Students will then enjoy cake together at morning tea and a free BBQ picnic on the oval accompanied by old fashioned games.

In the afternoon beginning at 1:30pm, all students will go to the hall for the annual ‘St Monica’s Got Talent Competition’. Best of luck to all students who are competing.

CTJ Day

Friday the 30^th of August is a pupil free day for the annual Consistency of Teacher Judgement (CTJ) Day. On this day each year, teachers from different schools meet with other teachers on the same year level to compare units of work and assessments to ensure that standards of achievement are consistent across schools. This year staff from St Monica’s are meeting with teachers from St Saviour’s Primary School Toowoomba, Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School Toowoomba, and St Francis de Salles Primary School Clifton.  

From the Classrooms

Prep

Our focus this fortnight is all around ‘Self Care’, for the parents and the students.  We have reached the part of the term where most of us are feeling tired and a bit run down.  To invigorate us for the busy fortnight ahead, I have included some self-care activities.  These are for parents and students.  Some can be completed alone or as a family. 

Can you please also look out for a note going home this week about your child’s English assessment.  This term the students will be doing their first oral presentation, I understand this can be daunting for some students.  Practice at home will help to build their confidence when completing this assessment. 

Year 1

 The Genesis stories from the Old Testament have continued to be our focus during our religion lessons. We have discussed Creation stories and the story of 'Noah and the Flood'; all focusing on how God is a creator; people in Old Testament times used stories to explain events. 

During Maths, we have continued to explore place value, concentrating on tens and ones and using hands on resources to represent two-digit numbers, while also reinforcing all concepts covered to date. This week we’ve made our ‘make to ten’ facts with counters and tens frames and then introducing subtraction as takeaway. We have also explored the rule, adding and subtracting zero from a number. 

Sight words, phonics, reading and our English unit 'Down by the Creek' have kept us occupied during our literacy block. The last couple of weeks have seen us look at rhyming words before further exploring the differences between fact and fiction. This week the children wrote some very good informative sentences on fish, concentrating on what they are, where they live, what they look like and any other interesting facts that took their attention. 

Science lessons have been focused on our minibeasts, with the children being placed into groups to read information on a particular one before placing it under specific headings; what they eat, where they live, where they get water from and how they breathe. In the weeks ahead, they shall be building a 3D habitat for their minibeast, which must include all it needs to obtain from its environment to ensure its survival. 

During Health lessons, students have been learning about Rosie Resilience & Cathy Crumble. Being RESiLIENT helps us when bad things happen in our lives.  Please ask your child if they can give some examples of positive self talk to help them become more resilient. 

Do you recycle at home? Do you collect 10c cans and get cash back for container recycling? Do you pack rubbish-free lunches? These questions have been part of our H.A.S.S unit this term - All About Waste. It's wonderful seeing year 1s be concerned about the impact of waste on our environment and the steps we can take to reduce this. 

Lots happening in our room, as you can see. 

Year 2

Hello parents and guardians,

Wow! What an amazing fortnight the Year Two’s have had. They have been doing some amazing learning and they performed an incredible prayer assembly on Mary MacKillop. Can you believe that they learnt that whole play in just over a week?! They are all so proud of themselves and keep asking when they can perform it again!

In English, we are still working on persuasive writing. In this last fortnight we have learnt all about persuasive devices used in advertising. We also got to look at some slogans that companies use, and it was so fun. I can’t believe how many slogans we actually all know!

In Maths, we have been learning about multiplication. We have been focusing on arrays and groups of to help us solve multiplication problems.

In HASS, we are learning about significant people and places. We learnt about some of Australia’s historical events, and they were so interesting. We learnt about Cathy Freeman, the Gold Rush, Phar Lap and more. It was so fun to learn all about these events.

On Thursday of week 8 (29^th of August) the Year 2’s will be presenting their Marimba ensemble performance at the St Monica’s Got Talent. They have been working so hard on this during their music lessons and they sound amazing.

Until next time,

Lauren Grant

Year 3

Students have been busy with consolidating their knowledge and understanding of concepts taught this term. We have been working on our speed and accuracy with operations during Mathematics.

Students are focusing on skills of fluency and parts of speech when reading.

During Science lessons we have been exploring facts about the sun.

During our retreat students explored three of the Benedictine values, Conversatio, Prayer and Stability. They enjoyed many activities that reflected on concepts and activities which demonstrated working together to support each other, with patience and persistence. 

Year 4A

The students have been embracing their inner convict this week and writing letters to the Governor of England, trying to convince him not to send them to New Holland (Australia) aboard one of the ships of the First Fleet. They are doing a wonderful job of incorporating the information they have learnt in both Hass and English into these letters. They will present these letters in an oral presentation later in the term.

Year 4A will present their assembly on Bullying No Way: National Week on Action, this Friday at 2:30pm. Please note the change of time. All students in 4A need to wear something purple for this assembly.

Week 7 is Book Week! I look forward to seeing all the creative costumes in our book parade on Friday 23^rd of August.

God Bless and have a great week.

Mrs Anderson

Year 4M

Welcome to Week 6!

Our convict characters are well on their way to New Holland now! We have started writing our letters from onboard one of the ships of the First Fleet, describing the conditions and any friends we have made along the way. We have read some amazing books to get ideas, and the letters will be completed this week.

We have also been looking into the properties of wool in science and have been breaking up numbers in Maths to help multiply and divide large numbers. To mark the end of the Olympics we all drew the Eiffel Tower as an art activity. Art is a fantastic way to take risks and get out of your comfort zone in a safe environment to see what you are capable of!

Don't forget to wear something purple on Friday for National Day against Bullying.

Book week is next week, and we are looking forward to the parade on Friday!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Year 5B

It’s hard to believe we are up to Week 6 already – the term is certainly flying along.

Good luck to our athletes competing at the Inner Downs carnival tomorrow. I am sure you will be great ambassadors for St Monica’s.

In English, the students have been reading a variety of information texts and identifying fact and opinion.

In Religion, students have been investigating the difference between the Old and New Testaments and looking into the story of Jacob. Notes have been sent home recently about Father’s Day, camp and a visit to St Vincent de Paul.  If you are yet to do so, could you please complete the necessary forms as soon as possible.

Have a wonderful week!

Year 5R

This term, our class is having a blast during their group work activities! Students team up to tackle fun challenges that get them thinking and working together. The activities aren't just about having fun - they also build important skills. Working in groups allow 5R to practice cooperation and improve their problem-solving skills.  We are collaborating on our classroom magazines, working as editorial groups and journalist researchers. By sharing ideas, writing stories, and designing pages, we will create and amazing published work that everyone will love.

Year 6

This term in HASS, the Year 6 students have been learning about Australia's connection to Asia. So far they have explored the regions of the continent and the countries within each of the regions, including applying mapping skills. This week they have begun exploring the demographic data and making comparisons to that of Australia. The students have found this interesting as they analyse and begin to make connections to the data. As we move forward in the unit, the students will be selecting a country of Asia of their choice which they will research and present information about.  

From the Library

From Music & LOTE

It's only two weeks until the highly anticipated St Monica's Got Talent show! Congratulations to all students who were successful in the semi-finals. These students will now compete in the grand finals of SMGT on Thursday 29th August from 1:30pm in our school hall. Remember: the judges are looking for:

• Confidence 
• Audience appeal and
• Polished performance 

There will also be performances from: 

-St Monica's Choir 

-St Monica's Ukulele Club 

- Year 2 Marimba Ensemble 

All welcome. We look forward to seeing you there! 

Mini Monnie's Playgroup

Be Well at St Monica's

In challenging times, help is just a phone call away!  Who can you call 24/7?

Lifeline 131114, Kids Help Line 1800 551800, Beyond Blue 1300 224636

Uniforms

School uniforms are now available at School Locker online theschoollocker.com.au  or Intersport in Ruthven St Toowoomba.

Research has shown that one of the real advantages of an education at a Catholic School is that a special and unique pride is developed. One significant way to foster such pride is the enforcement of strict uniform guidelines.  All children are expected to wear the school uniform as listed below:

School Uniform - Years 1 to 6

Girls – Formal - Monday, Tuesday & Thursday

• St Monica’s School Dress Uniform
• Dress: Pattern, Sutton no 346(B)
• Dress: Fabric, Check 8021
• Collar: Cesarella 1301, Zip: Birch 265 Bottle Green
• St Monica’s School green school bucket hat
• Short white socks – (no ankle socks)
• All black shoes – may be leather or jogger.

Girls – Sports - Wednesday and Friday

• St Monica’s School Sports Shirt Yr.1 to Yr.5
• St Monica’s School Leader Shirt Year 6
• St Monica’s School Navy Blue Skort
• St Monica’s School green school bucket hat
  
• Short white socks
• White sandshoes/joggers

Winter Variation

• As Above
• St Monica’s School Bottle Green Fleecy Pullover with embroidered crest
• Green fleecy track pants with sports uniform only.
• Navy Blue Tights (optional)

Boys – Formal - Monday, Tuesday & Thursday

• St Monica’s School Dress Shirt with tartan collar
• Shirt: Pattern, Simplicity 5581
• Fabric: Bottle Green Poplin 8021
• Shorts: Navy Blue Long Shorts (Ruggers)
• St Monica’s School green school bucket hat
  
• Short navy-blue socks – (no ankle socks)
• All black shoes – May be leather or jogger.

Boys – Sports - Wednesday & Friday

• St Monica’s School Sports Shirt Yr. 1 to Yr. 5
• St Monica’s School Leader Shirt Year 6
• St Monica’s School Navy Blue Shorts (Stubbies)
• St Monica’s School green school bucket hat
  
• Short white socks
• White sandshoes/joggers

Winter Variation

As Above

• St Monica’s school Bottle Green Fleecy pullover with embroidered crest
• Green fleecy track pants with sports uniform only.
• Long navy-blue pants - Ruggers – Formal uniform (optional)
  

It is expected that the correct and clean school uniform will be worn at all times.  A school uniform can help instil in the students a sense of pride and identity. It also signifies unity and equality.

Prep students wear the sports uniform 5 days per week – Monday to Friday

All Students

Hair:      

Collar length hair or longer must be tied back with a green band or green ribbon. Natural hair                            colour is expected. Rat’s tails and tracks are not permitted.

Earrings:

Girls: Sleepers and plain studs are the only acceptable earrings.

Boys: No earrings.

Other:      

Clearly mark all clothing with your child’s name.

From the P&F

Pie Drive

Thank you everyone for your support of the St Monica’s P & F pie drive!  Orders will be available for collection this Thursday 15th August from 2-4pm.  Please make arrangements to collect your order as this is the only collection time available. 

Father’s Day

Father’s Day is fast approaching!  Order forms have been sent home with students to purchase a treat bag for Dad.  Choices include a chocolate bag or a butterscotch popcorn bag for $5.  Orders are due by Thursday 22nd August for distribution on the 29th of August.  Get your forms in so Dad doesn’t miss out!

Clothing Pool

The clothing pool is currently located in the OSHC, if you require anything please contact the school office or see Lauren in OSHC room near the Prep Classroom.

Outside School Hours Care

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