Newsletter 26th April 2023
ANZAC Day Liturgy
From the Principal
Welcome back to Term 2. It is wonderful to be a part of your school community this term. Last week I met all the children and staff and as the term unfolds, I look forward to meeting more families and community members.
Thank you to the students and community members who marched or came to watch the students march on ANZAC day. I was very proud to see the students represent their school with such pride and respect. Our school liturgy on Monday was equally as moving, providing the children with an opportunity to pay their respects.
Last Friday at assembly, I witnessed students receive Good Samaritan awards and Super Leaner awards and on Wednesday, ‘writer of the week’ awards. I firmly believe that an intentional catholic education, paired with great teaching and learning, places the dignity of each student at the forefront of our work as educators. I am looking forward to supporting that work through the term.
A reminder that our first Enrolment Information Evening for the year will be on Tuesday 9th May at 6pm in the Prep Classroom. This is a fantastic opportunity for parents who are making the important decision of where to send their children to school. We are very excited to welcome new families to the St Monica's Community and share with you our wonderful facilities, learning programs and extra curricular opportunities.
Take care
Bridget Rillie
From the APRE
What a Busy Start!
What a wonderful start to Term 2 we have had at St Monica’s. Thank you to all the students, families and staff that participated in the Easter Liturgy, Early Years Cross Country, Pioneer Village excursion, Anzac Day Liturgy and Anzac Day March.
2023 ICAS Competition
Next week, an information form will be sent home with all studnets in Years 2 – 6 regarding this year’s ICAS competitions. ICAS is designed to target and celebrate students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Digital Technology, Writing and Spelling. To participate, parents need to register their child using the ICAS Assessments Parent Payment System (PPS). Through this system, parents pay for the ICAS competitions, but the tests are held at school. Parents need to register their child and return the accompanying permission slip to school by the end of this term.
Step Into Stories
In Week 4, the students of St Monica’s will be participating in the annual ‘Step Into Stories’ event. Step Into Stories is hosted by the Darling Downs branch of the Queensland School Library Association, and sees a variety of Australian authors visit schools with the aim to expose students to new authors, book titles and genres. It also supports students in their own story writing and illustrating abilities. This year we will be visited by two authors – Gus Gordon and Lucinda Gifford.
Year Level Mass
Our first year level Mass for the term will be held by the Prep and Year 1 students on Thursday of next week (May 4) at 9am in the church. The theme of this Mass is ‘Family’. Parents and friends are very welcome to attend.
Sacramental Program
Sacramental program for 2023 is well underway with 21 students participating. This year, students are preparing for the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist. A reminder to families in Sacramental Program that the next session is Wednesday the 3rd of May at 3:20pm. Please bring along your Confirmation book, stole order form, program costs and a copy of your Baptismal Certificate.
From the Classrooms
Prep
Welcome back to term 2, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.
We are hard at work in literacy, continuing to focus on our knowledge of letters and developing our phonemic awareness skills. I have been most impressed with the persistence and confidence of the students when attempting to share their ideas in writing. Way to go Preppies! This week we have been learning about the ANZAC's and how we as a school, community and a nation commemorate. I would also like to thank those students who marched in the ANZAC Day march. We have a busy fortnight ahead. The students are practising each day for our upcoming Mother's Day assembly.
Looking forward to another full-filled fortnight in Prep
Year 1
We've had a great start to Term 2 in the Year One Classroom. Last week the students wrote a holiday recount to share their holiday experiences with the class. It was great to hear about all the wonderful things everyone did over the holidays. In Maths, we have been collecting and sorting data. This week we will learn how to represent data using tally marks. Please ensure you read over the Term 2 Overview that went home last week.
Year 2
Year Two have been exploring narratives and information reports about places around the world. Through this, we have begun to build an understanding of the similarities and differences we have with other people from around the world.
In Maths, students have been investigating strategies to add and subtract multiples of 10 to/from a 2-digit number. They used tens frames to model their thinking with the class and with a buddy, making connections to our work with place value last term. It was fantastic to see the confidence students displayed when it came to having a go on their own.
A reminder that Year Two are presenting on assembly this Friday.
Year 3
Welcome back! I hope everyone had a relaxing, safe and happy Easter break. The students are settled back into routine and are keen to build on their current knowledge and skills. Our You Can Do It lessons this week will look at the values of a good character, including fair go, respect, caring, honesty, doing the right thing, freedom, being responsible. Shapes and fractions will be the focus during Mathematics lessons. Reading groups and homework will begin this week.
Year 4/5 AQ
Welcome to week 2 of term 2!
We have a very busy term ahead. Last week we went on our first excursion to Pioneer Village and had a wonderful time exploring life in the past. A reminder to year 5 parents to return their camp notes and for all students to return their library and homework books every week.
I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead.
Year 4/5 B
The 4/5B students returned to school for Term 2 with great enthusiasm and they have certainly had a busy start with the Easter Liturgy, Year 4/5 excursion to Highfields Pioneer Village and Anzac Day liturgy and march. At the beginning of last week, I emailed the overview for Term 2 which outlined the focus for each area of the curriculum, along with a number of reminders. Could you please ensure students bring in their Library bag and books each Wednesday and that homework is completed and returned each Thursday. Information regarding the Year 5/6 Western Safari was sent out at the end of Term 1 and if you are yet to return your child's permission slip, could you please do so as soon as possible.
Have an awesome week!
Year 4/5 M
What a great start to Term 2! We had a fabulous time at Highfields Pioneer Village on Friday, and all of the children were so wonderfully behaved. It is always a pleasure to take them on excursions. We will be creating our dioramas on Friday for HASS so would you please send in a box and any other materials that might be helpful. Term 2 is going to be a very fast-paced term filled with many opportunities for learning. I will be away in week three at a REAP professional development course. This is a course for teachers to upgrade their knowledge and skills in religious education. I hope everyone stays healthy for the next couple of weeks!
Have a great week.
Year 6
Over the last week, the Year 6 class have been discussing the importance of developing and displaying self-confidence and self-respect. As part of this, the students identified their favourite parts of themselves, and wrote a paragraph describing why it is their favourite.
We then discussed the idea of being a light protector. This is someone who is there for their friends, who encourages them and helps them be the best that they can even when they don't believe in themselves. We then discussed what it means to be a "flame putter outer" which is someone who dulls others flames to make themselves feel better. The students identified all of the incredible things about themselves that make their own light shine and identified ways that we can be light protectors for our friends and families. It has been wonderful to see the students putting this learning into action and not only building each other up but building themselves up as well.
From the Library
From Music and Lote
During Music lessons, Prep- year 2 students have been adjusting tempo and dynamics while playing untuned percussion instruments. They are preparing to recreate the sounds of a storm in small groups using a variety of instruments.
Year 3, 4, 5 & 6 have enjoyed exploring tempo and dynamics while playing ‘Fish & Chips’ and participating in Verse Speaking.
Indonesian lessons in Prep - year 2 involved sharing what they did in the holidays. Eg Saya pergi ke pantai (I went to the beach) / saya pergi ke rumah teman (I went to my friend’s house).
Year 3 & 4 students are creating an Indonesian counting book for our younger classes. Year 5s & 6s are pretending that we are planning an excursion to Indonesia! They have to consider desired destinations, suitable clothing & money needed.
Mini Monnie's Playgroup
Be Well at St Monica's
Recently at St Monica’s, we have been fortunate to provide opportunities for our students, staff and parents to participate in sessions about food, and how it impacts health, learning, waste and the environment. These sessions were delivered by Victoria Byrnes from The Root Cause, which is an organisation that has seen first-hand that what children eat at school holds a massive key to better childhood health, behaviour, academic results and attendance. We were provided with some quite alarming statistics regarding children’s health and wellbeing, and many of these issues have been linked to poor nutrition.
A survey conducted at the incursion about the content of our students’ lunchboxes, determined that many of our students would benefit from including more fruit and vegetables and less foods and drinks that are high in sugar. The students were quite shocked to learn there is approximately six teaspoons of sugar in a popper. At the Mad Food Science incursion, you may have heard about the delicious green smoothie that the students enjoyed, so we have included the recipe below.
To access more information about The Root Cause, along with helpful resources and recipes, go to https://therootcause.com.au/
Uniforms
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 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 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)
- School track top with embroidered crest (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 hat (Slouch hat style)
- 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 Hat (Slouch hat style)
- 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)
- School Track top with embroidered crest (optional)
The uniform including the special school hat is available locally at Oakey Craft and Saddlery. If you are buying parts of the uniform elsewhere, please check that you are buying the correct style, colour, and material. 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.
NB: The school fleecy pullover must be worn first. The spray jacket may only be worn over the top of the pullover.
From the P&F
A big welcome back to our school community for term 2, we hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter Holidays and an even better start to the term!
The P & F is looking forward to a wonderful term ahead with our ongoing tuckshop and planned fundraisers.
P & F Meetings
P & F meetings are usually held monthly, with the April meeting occurring this Thursday 27th, 7-9pm in the St Monica’s School Library. Please accept this as your warm welcome to join the P & F for the meeting.
Tuckshop
The tuckshop operates every Friday with the help of our wonderful volunteer parents, carers, relatives and community members, if you would like to get involved or help out on Fridays, please get in touch with Meg 0423690197 or email oakpandf@twb.catholic.edu.au. Any time or assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. In the coming weeks, there will be a 5 minute survey sent out through Sentral for parents and carers to have their say on changes to tuckshop’s menu, this will allow the P & F to better their menu for students.
The P & F would like to thank the following volunteers for their time in the tuckshop
- Week 1, 21st April - Olesia Bach & Kylie McCormack
- Week 2, 28th April - Leah Chicken & Meg Bullock
- Week 3, 5th May - Marcie Green & Sam O'Connor
Mother’s Day Stall
Following the success of the Fathers Day Stall last year, the P & F is busy organising a Mothers Day Stall this year to be held on Friday 12th May 2023. Please see summary of stall details below. A letter will be sent home the week of the stall confirming same.
- Students will be taken in their class groups through the stall
- Each student has the opportunity to purchase two products from the stall, there is absolutely NO expectation that your student has to purchase anything from the stall
- Students will have the option to return at lunch time to purchase more items stock pending
- Each items in the stall is priced at $5
- The stall is CASH ONLY, if you would like your student to participate in the Mother’s Day Stall please
- All student purchases will be placed in a bag and put into their class basket for collection at the end of the day with teacher assistance
- All items sold in the stall are sourced from local Oakey Businesses, unfortunately Oakey SHS was unable to assist with supplying stock this year
- If you would like to be a part of the Stall or have any questions please get in touch with Meg 0423690197 or email oakpandf@twb.catholic.edu.au
2023 St Monica’s P&F Race Day
As mentioned in the last newsletter, it is with great excitement that we can announce further details to our school community about the 2023 St Monica’s P&F Race Day. The committee welcomes any sponsorship enquiries at this stage, Meg 0423690197 or email oakpandf@twb.catholic.edu.au
- Race Day Event Saturday 7th October 4-11pm, Clifford Park Race Course Twmba
- General ticket sales will open second week of Term 3
- Tickets sales will be advertised to the St Monica’s Community first
- Limited tickets available
- More info to follow
- Please see the Save the Date Poster below
Clothing Pool
Please send Tricia Brownsey a text on 0408 675 945 and she will be able to let you know if what you require is available. Tricia is also happ to package up orders and leave them in the school office.
Please only text Tricia, as she has work commitments.
Outside School Hours Care
