2024 Term 2, Week 2 Newsletter

Principals Report - Mrs Janine Butlin

“Talent is a gift. Character is choice”.

These were the opening words spoken by our Mayor Geoff McDonald at last Thursday’s Morning tea for primary school captains and leaders. The Mayoral Morning Tea is an annual reception held for primary and secondary students across the Toowoomba Region in recognition of their roles as future leaders in the community. School leaders from 53 primary schools in the area were present at the morning tea. School leaders from Holy Name, Back Plains and Gabbinbar shared their thoughts on what makes a ‘good leader’. Annie Petersen, Georgia Boyes and I attended as representatives of St Stephen’s School.

Geoff McDonald shared the dispositions he strives to develop in his role as the Mayor of Toowoomba. Geoff’s values are remembered by the acronym GREAT. To be ‘Grateful, Respectful, have an Energetic Attitude and be Trustworthy’. School leaders were encouraged to think about what they valued as a leader and what they thought was important to develop as a leader in their school community.

As a community, we don’t have to look far for inspiration. Our school motto is, “Strive for Success, Celebrate our Spirit”. The question is – ‘How do we strive for success?’ Over the past 16 months, we have been developing our learning dispositions as a school. We have included student, staff and parent voices as we strive to articulate what qualities we need to develop to assist us in achieving our school vision.

To know Jesus, to inspire learning, to respect each other.

We grow together at St Stephen’s School through qualities of JOY, SERVICE, LOVE, COURAGE, RESPECT AND CURIOSITY. As a school community, we have looked to Mary Mackillop to inspire us in our quest to become ‘Learners with Heart”. Mary was truly an inspirational leader. A strong woman who 150 years ago travelled to Rome to receive the revised Constitutions of the Institute (Sisters of Saint Joseph) in Rome on 21 April 1874. At that time, Fr Woods stressed the importance of Mary going to Rome to ensure that the Rule was approved without delay. As Fr Woods said, Mary was the best person for the job.

Mary Mackillop is a wonderful role model of Joy, Service Love, Courage, Respect and Curiosity. With Mary as our inspiration, I’m sure we can achieve great things.

God Bless,

Janine

“Love one another bear with one another and let love guide you all your life”.

Mary Mackillop

APRE Report - Mrs Fiona Drew

Welcome back to school! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and a great holiday break! 

We began our term with a Resurrection liturgy to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Easter is the most significant day in the Christian calendar, and it is an important season that should remind us of the teachings of Christ and how we can apply them in our lives. As Catholics, we are called to live out our faith every day, not just during Holy Week.

Term Two MacKillop Quote

The term 2 quote from St Mary of the Cross MacKillop is ‘Have an Attitude of Gratitude’. Our MacKillop Club look forward to sharing this with our classes this term.

ANZAC DAY Liturgy & March

Thank you to Year 4 for leading the school for the ANZAC Day liturgy. Thanks also to the Pittsworth Cadets for helping make our liturgy so meaningful.

Students are welcome to march with St Stephen’s on ANZAC Day on Thursday 25^th April. Students are to wear their formal uniform and bring their hats and water bottles. We will be meeting at Lindenberg’s corner at 10:15 am, to be ready for a 10:30 am start.

Celebrations

All parents are welcome to attend our celebrations. They will be held in MacKillop Hall from 2.15 pm. For each Celebration, there is a theme for Student of the Week, and students from each class, who have been following this theme are selected to receive a ribbon to acknowledge their wonderful behaviour and learning!

The following classes will lead Celebrations for Term Two

Year 5 – Wednesday 1^st May

Year 2 – Wednesday 15^th March

Year 6 – Wednesday 29^th March

Sacramental Program – Confirmation and Communion

Emails have been sent out to families of students who completed their Sacrament of Reconciliation last year. Preparation lessons will begin this term and the Sacrament of Confirmation and Communion will be held early next term. Sacrament of Reconciliation lessons will be held in Term Four.

Date Claimers –

Mother’s Day Liturgy – Friday 10^th May 9 am MacKillop Hall

Family Mass – Sunday 19^th May 8.30 am – St Stephen’s Church

End of Semester Mass – Friday 21^st June 9:00 am St Stephen’s Church

Middle Leader Report - Mrs Danni Conway

UFLI Update – Prep-Year 2

Our P-2 classes implemented the UFLI Foundations program at the beginning of Term 1.  This is an explicit and systematic phonics program that introduces students to the foundational reading skills necessary for proficient reading. It follows a carefully developed scope and sequence designed to ensure that students systematically acquire each skill needed and learn to apply each skill with automaticity and confidence.

P-2 teachers have been pleased with the progress students are making with such a routine and structured approach. Students across all classes now know the routine and are developing their skills in an engaging way. Knowing the routine assists students with their learning and assists them with gaining self-assurance as they are exposed to new concepts frequently.

Students are given many opportunities to put their skills into action through listening, reading and/or writing. They enjoy being able to play with words by manipulating letter tiles and completing word chains. Teachers have been delighted to see their learners grow in confidence when encoding and decoding words and watch as they transfer their learnt skills from explicit UFLI lessons in not only reading and writing but across all learning areas. Students have enjoyed working in Literacy Skill groups where they focus on their sound in more depth and consolidate their learning through a range of activities.

Mrs Robinson was thrilled to hear one of her Prep/1 students comment that ‘UFLI was their favourite part of the day!’

We anticipate more advancements and successes with UFLI in Prep through Year 2 classes in the coming terms.

Daily Review

All classes from Prep-Year 6 have implemented the process of Daily Reviews in Literacy where we begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning. This can strengthen previous learning and lead to a fluent recall.

Teachers have been using short, sharp Daily Reviews to revise spelling, vocabulary, and grammatical concepts and also to complete some sentence work. Students have enjoyed using mini whiteboards and having opportunities for quick and regular practice of concepts to assist with their working memory. Our brains can only hold so much - if we do not review previous learning, then we will have to make a special effort to recall old material while learning new material which makes it difficult to learn what is new! We all know that the best way to become an expert is through practice – thousands of hours of practice. The more practice, the better the performance!

PEN Forum – Date Claimer

All St Stephen’s parents are invited to attend our PEN forum on Thursday 23^rd May. This will be presented by our school guidance counsellor, Jayne Farquharson. The topic will be our ‘You Can Do It’ program which is a social-emotional learning framework used by all classes from Prep-Year 6. This framework addresses the aspects of the psychological functioning of young people that lead to poor learning, behaviour, and social and emotional outcomes.

In classrooms, teachers deliver lessons based on the 5 main principles of You Can Do It! These are; confidence, persistence, organisation, getting along and resilience. This program provides detailed lessons that have been developed appropriate for each year level to build skills in each of these areas.

Learning Support- Mrs Kristy Cameron

AUDIOLOGY VISIT TO OUR SCHOOL

St Stephen’s Primary School has engaged the services of an Audiologist, Ms Dendra Cole, who will visit our school on the 31^st of July 2024. This opportunity allows students to have a full hearing test at a reasonable cost and will provide vital information about the hearing health of your child.

Prep children have recently had their hearing screened at school using the hearing screening App, Sound Scouts. These screeners have helped to inform us of some issues, and these children have received paperwork to take home.  Additionally, class teachers have made some recommendations and similarly, paperwork has been sent home with these students. Please return this paperwork to the office by Friday 31^st of May, at the latest.

If you haven’t received the paperwork, however, and you are concerned about your child’s hearing, please contact the school ASAP to take advantage of this testing. We have limited spots available.  The hearing tests will take place here at St Stephen’s School. Parents do not have to attend these tests, but you are welcome to attend if you wish.

All children across our school are invited to participate in this program. Should you choose to consent to this, please be aware there is a cost of $99 for the Audiology test. This cost is quite reduced from the expected price of such a test.

If an audiology test is something you are interested in finding out more about, please do not hesitate to email Kristy.Cameron@twb.catholic.edu.au or contact her at school.

If you have received the paperwork, please return consent forms and money to the office by Friday 31^st of May, at the latest.

The hearing health of your child is vital in their access to educational, social, and emotional development. Even a mild hearing loss can mean that your child may be missing 25% of the speech that occurs in the classroom. Hearing loss (whether permanent or fluctuating) can also be linked to fatigue, disengagement in school and difficult friendship experiences.

Kind regards,

Kristy Cameron

Learning Support Teacher

Premier's Reading Challenge - Mrs Kristy Cameron

We are running the Premiers’ Reading Challenge again this year. This is an excellent initiative from the Queensland Government to encourage reading in schools.  This is open to all students in our school and students will be bringing home the reader record form soon. 

Requirements:  Students are to read 15-20 books (depending on age) between now and August 23rd. Books can include both fiction (chapter books, manga, graphic novels, comics) and non-fiction.  Students can read books from the library, from their home collection or from the Town Library.   

Participating students will receive a signed certificate from the Premier of Queensland upon completion of the Premiers' Reading Challenge in September. 

Happy Reading, Kristy Cameron  

Sport News - Mrs Jodie Ferguson

Inner Downs Trials

There will be Inner Downs Trials held throughout the year. If you were born in 2014, 2013 or 2012 and are interested in attending any of the trials, please fill in the Representative Sports Nomination Form 2024 which was emailed out to all eligible students. You can either return this form or email Mrs Ferguson at jodie.ferguson@twb.catholic.edu.au. When the nominations become available closer to the trial Mrs Ferguson will send home the necessary paperwork. The Medical/Permission Consent form needs to be filled in and returned to the schools for principal-approved absence. Then it is the responsibility of the child to take this paperwork and pay any fee required for trials prior to the due date. NO PAYMENT = NO TRIAL and NO FORM = NO TRIAL. Please keep your eye out in the school calendar newsletter for nominations, trial dates and further information.

Inner Downs/Bunya Rugby League Team

Congratulations to Ryan Suell who has gained selection into the Inner Downs/Bunya Rugby League Under 11 Team to trial for the Darling Downs Team in Dalby on the 29^th of April. Best Wishes Ryan. Congratulations on your achievements so far.

Inner Downs Cross Country trials – 3^rd May

Congratulations to our St. Stephen’s Cross country team who competed at Gore Highway earlier this term. You all ran wonderfully. Notes have been sent home to successful runners who have gained selection to trial for the Inner Downs Cross Country team at Highfields on Friday the 3^rd of May. Best wishes to our St. Stephen’s Cross Country stars.

St. Stephen’s Athletics Carnivals & events

Please note the new change for 2024 - On Wednesday 5^th June from 2-3 pm Bridgman Oval the 800m events will be held for students born in 2012 – 2015. Students will walk to the oval for this event, then they will return to school ready for pick up at 3.10 pm.

Thursday 6^th June – Senior Carnival 9 am Bridgman Oval. All Sprints will be held in the morning for students aged 2019-2012. After the sprints, the Junior school students (2017 – 2019) will return to school.

Friday 7^th June – Junior Carnival. Weale Street Oval/ St. Stephen’s. 9-11:20 am for students born 2017 –2019.

More information will be sent out closer to the date.

Gore Highway Athletics – Wednesday 12^th June Bridgman Oval. Students will be nominated for this carnival from the results of the St Stephen’s Athletics Carnival.

1500m time trial for Inner Downs – Monday 17^th June. 3:15 pm at Bridgman Oval. Students will be notified if they are nominated for this event.

Student Sporting Achievements 

Please feel free to send through any photos of students and their sporting achievements if you wish for them to be included in the school newsletter, attention to Mrs Ferguson. Jodie.ferguson@twb.catholic.edu.au 

Excursion to Darling Downs Zoo - Yr 2,3,4

On Monday 22^nd April, the year 2, 3 and 4 classes travelled to Clifton for a fun-filled excursion at the Darling Downs Zoo! This was a great way to finish our Science and HASS units from Term One. We were very lucky the rain cleared for us and though it was a bit muddy, that didn’t stop us from walking, what felt like, lots of kilometres around the zoo!

We started our day with morning tea and then our first session was an encounter with one of the two baby crocodilians! Then we followed the zoo keepers around for seven animal talks at each of their enclosures! We learnt about the Siamangs and Binturongs, Sumatran tigers and leopards, giraffes and cheetahs, meerkats, pygmy hippos, African lions and baboons! The students listened so well to the zoo keepers and had lots of great questions. Some of the animals were happy to talk to us and show off whilst others were content to lay in their enclosure!

We then stopped for a well-deserved lunch break at the picnic tables. After lunch, we split into smaller groups where we had a chance to check out some more animals or go back to the animals we had seen for a closer look!

Our last talk for the day was the python encounter where all students had the chance to see a python up close and feel its smooth skin! We had one more final walk around the zoo, and then it was time to get back on the bus. The bus ride was definitely a lot quieter on the way home! We had such a fun time! Thanks very much to the teachers who came with us!

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Year 1 News - Miss Sophie Shelton

Hello from Year 1!

Welcome back to Term 2! I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter and a well-deserved break!  We have had lots of fun the past week in Year 1 and have all settled in nicely! We have welcomed a new friend in Year 1, and the class have loved showing her around, and giving her a helping hand when needed.

Below is a snapshot of what we will get up to this term!

In English, we will continue to focus on lots of reading and writing and are concentrating on becoming more independent and confident in both areas! We are doing so well and are beginning to write recounts about their weekends with little prompting. In maths, we have been learning to recognise and create patterns! We really enjoy doing this.

In Religion, we will focus on identifying words, actions and symbols used in the Sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist to communicate God's presence and action. We will make comparisons between these, and reflect and make connections to our own personal experiences.

We are looking forward to our camping day where we will enjoy lots of activities and games, which we will then use to create a recount of our experience. We are also busy preparing for the Mother’s Day Liturgy, and can not wait to share it with you. 

Sophie Shelton

Piano Lessons with Mrs Ruth Shepherd

If you are interested in your child learning piano from a fully qualified teacher with 30 years of experience, contact Mrs Ruth Shepherd on 0427 910 303 for more information. 

It is essential that students have a piano/keyboard at home on which to do their practice.  Music is fun!

PEN (Parent Engagement Network) News

Outside Hours School Care

For more information contact Tyler,

PITcare@tckc.qld.edu.au or Phone 0427 891 411

Sentral Parent Portal

Reminder to all parents to access the Parent Portal.

The Parent Portal is used for absentees, newsletters, parent teacher interview bookings, report cards, NAPLAN results, calendar of events, notices and letters to parents.

If you are having difficulty with the Parent Portal please contact the School Office for assistance. The Parent Portal is the communication method used for the day to day running of the school.

Flexischools - Online Ordering System

Flexischools is an online ordering system that the school uses for the ordering of Tuckshop, Event Catering and Special  Fundraising Food Days.

Tuckshop is open one day a week. Special Canteen days are also held sometimes throughtout the year. This is makes it easier for families and school staff.

Queensland Public Health Notices

Please see the below flyers provided by the Queensland Public Health and Scientific Services.

The Darling Downs has seen an increase in respiratory infections including but not limited to Influenza, covid-19, RSV virus and Whooping cough.

If your child is unwell, please keep them home until they are well enough to return. Even if the illness is not contagious, please keep them at home until they are well.

Community News