2024 Term 2, Week 8 Newsletter

Principals Report - Mrs Janine Butlin

“The more grateful I am the more beauty I see”.

It’s week 8 and we have a jam-packed week as we head towards the Semester break. Congratulations to the school choir after many, many before school practices and lunchtime practices, they were rewarded on Tuesday with a wonderful day at the Empire Theatre. “Sing Out”, is a great opportunity for young choristers to sharpen their skills and take part in a massed choir. Many thanks must go to Suellen Dennis and Ruth Shepherd who gave selflessly of their time to prepare the children.

The Senior Athletics Carnival was held today and our Junior carnival will be held tomorrow at school as well as at the Weale St Oval. For weeks, Miss Norman, Mrs Ferguson, and Mrs Drew have been preparing the children and putting together a wonderful program of events. Many thanks go to these dedicated workers who go the extra mile to ensure events run smoothly.

At the end of this term, we have our inaugural drama festival. Thanks to Mrs Anita McVeigh for offering this amazing opportunity for our students. The students are certainly excited and have been working hard to learn their pieces for Wednesday 19^th June. I personally can’t wait to see and hear their performances.

Finally, we have our Early Year’s Expo happening on Wednesday morning the 19^{th of} June. Come along to see what happens in Prep at St Stephen’s, there will be a series of rotations on Wednesday morning so prospective prep students can be introduced to the wonderful world of schooling at St Stephen’s.

In the busyness of the end-of-term activities, it is important to stop and thank the teachers, school officers, admin officers, cleaners, gardeners, lollypop people, and tuckshop workers who go above and beyond to make our school a better place. Thanks, TEAM St Stephen’s you make me proud every day and give me a reason to get out of bed on a cold winter’s day to come along and dance in the sunshine at school.

God Bless,

Janine

“Gratitude is the memory of the heart”.

APRE Report - Mrs Fiona Drew

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The dates for National Reconciliation Week remain the same each year; 27^th May – 3^rd June. The theme for 2024 is a reminder to all of us that no matter what, the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will – and must – continue.                        

Source: https://www.reconciliation.org.au/

St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal

MacKillop Club is running our annual Winter Appeal this term. Students are invited to wear their winter pyjamas to school and donate a non-perishable item of food on Friday 14th June.  

Hot chocolate and popcorn will be for sale on Friday at the second lunch as well. Students can purchase a cup of hot chocolate for $1 or a bag of popcorn for $2. Students are encouraged to bring their own non-breakable mug as well. We appreciate your generosity for those less fortunate than us.

Family Mass

Thank you to those families who joined us for Family Mass recently. The term three Family Mass will be held on Sunday 21^st July at 8:30 am.  

End of Term Mass – Friday 21^st June

Parents and friends are welcome to join the school community for our End of Term Mass on Friday 21^st June at 9 am in St Stephen’s church led by our Year 3 students. We have much to be thankful for in the wonderful term we have shared together.

Sacramental Program 2023

The sacramental program for students completing their Confirmation and Holy Communion has started. A letter will be sent out in Term 3 for students in Year 4 who wish to begin their Sacramental journey, starting with Reconciliation. Please note, that students must be baptized in the Christian faith to be able to complete this. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to speak with me.

Middle Leader Report - Mrs Danni Conway

Report Cards

Report cards reflecting your child’s achievement and efforts for Semester One will be sent home to parents electronically via the Parent Portal on Wednesday 19^th of June 2024.

Please be advised that if/when your family leaves St Stephen’s, parents will no longer have access to the Parent Portal. Therefore, it is recommended that parents print their child’s report cards and store them in a safe place. These will be requested by secondary schools when enrolling your child.

Report Card Marks

As we approach the end of the school semester, we would like to provide further clarity regarding the grading system used on your child’s report card. On the second page of your child’s report card, you will find an explanation of each of the A-E grade levels, however, we wanted to communicate an expanded explanation suitable for parents. Our goal is to offer a comprehensive understanding of your child’s progress and achievements.

The report card marks are based on the following scale:

• A: Well above the expected standard for year level – Your child has demonstrated exceptional understanding and mastery of the curriculum, consistently exceeding the expected level of performance.
• B: Above the expected standard for year level – Your child has shown a strong understanding and proficiency, performing above the expected level.
• C: At standard for year level – Your child is meeting the expectations for their year level, demonstrating competent understanding and skills.
• D: Below expected standard for year level – Your child is performing below the expected level and may need additional support to reach the expected standard.
• E: Well below the expected standard for year level – Your child is significantly below the expected level and requires considerable support to progress.

These marks reflect your child’s current standard against the Australian Curriculum’s expected achievement standard for their year level. They are designed to highlight both strengths and areas where further development is needed. We encourage you to celebrate your child’s successes and support their growth in areas that require improvement.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership in your child’s education.

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 are born 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. It is then 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. 

St. Stephen’s SENIOR Athletics Carnival   

Thank you to all the wonderful helpers who contributed to making the Senior Carnival a success today. Congratulations to Ryan, the winning house for this year's athletics carnival. A special mention to Carter Laine for breaking the 10yrs Boys High Jump at a new record of 1.20m .  Charlotte Arthur was awarded the Encouragement Award this year for her efforts over the day. She displayed great sportsmanship, and encouragement to her peers and gave the day 100% effort with a smile on her face.

The following students, after their outstanding performances, were named Age Champions.  

St. Stephen’s JUNIOR Athletics Carnival – Friday 7^th June

Parents are welcome to attend. This carnival involves all students born 2019-2017 (5yrs-7yrs). We aim to start the rotations by 9.10am and conclude the morning by 11.10am. A timetable has been emailed and added to the parent portal. The students will participate in a rotation of field events in their age groups at either St.Stephen’s (near the sports hall) or on the Weale Street oval.

Gore Highway Athletics – Wednesday 12^th June

Students will be nominated for this carnival from the results of today’s school carnival. Successful students will receive a notification letter by Friday the 7^th June. This letter will specify the events in which your child has been nominated. A medical consent form will accompany this letter. If you would like your child to attend, please return this form ASAP. If you would NOT like your child to attend the carnival, please notify Mrs Ferguson Jodie.ferguson@twb.catholic.edu.au by Monday the 12^th June to allow another student the opportunity.  If your child is selected to run in the 1500m, this event will be held on Monday the 17^th June, 3.15pm, at Bridgman Oval. Mrs Ferguson and Mrs Drew will be walking these students to this event. If your child is participating, please collect them from Bridgman Oval by 3.45pm.

Catholic School's Athletics - Friday 12^th July (Term 3, Week 1) 

An email will be sent out before the end of this term to inform the students who will be representing our school at the Catholic Schools Athletics Carnival in Toowoomba, on 12^th July. It’s a wonderful opportunity for students to experience a carnival atmosphere and interact with other students from other Catholic schools around the diocese. Team St. Stephen’s will be traveling via bus together. We will be holding a fundraising event next term to help cover some of the costs.

Catholic School’s Netball and Touch Football – Thursday 25^th July

All Year 5 and 6 Students will be attending this event. They will travel by bus to and from the carnivals. More information will be sent to parents closer to the date.

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

Choir News - Mrs Suellen Dennis

On Tuesday, St Stephen’s choir performed at Sing Out. While it was a long day, we had a wonderful experience at the Empire Theatre, rehearsing and performing. This exciting event only happens every two years and our choir performed admirably. The final performance saw about 500 voices singing together on the Empire Theatre stage, certainly a sight to behold. Congratulations to all our choir members for their commitment throughout this semester in preparation for Sing Out. Thank you also to Mrs Ruth Shepherd for accompanying us. Her input and assistance have been invaluable.

Prep News - Miss Lucy Norman

We are having a wonderful time in Prep! This term has been busy with learning lots of letters and sounds. Students have been doing a great job putting their learning into practice as we are beginning to write words and sentences. In maths, we have been learning more numbers and about different times of the day. In religion we have been learning about what it was like to live in Jesus’ time, we have explored the Good Samaritan story and have reflected on how we can be like the Good Samaritan. We have also looked at how Jesus healed people.  

We had a fantastic day at the state school for Under 8’s Day, please watch the video to see some photos of what we got up too and what our favourite parts were!

Prep / Yr1 News - Mrs Brittany Robinson

Hello from Prep One, 

It’s been such a busy and exciting term and there is no sign of it slowing down just yet!

We started the term working on recounts and completed our recount unit with a fun-filled camping day which the students wrote about. The students participated in tent-making, roasting marshmallows, a scavenger hunt, and many other fun activities. We then got to have a sausage sizzle for lunch. We are currently working on rhyme and poetry. The students will soon create a book based on rhyme. I am looking forward to reading these!

The Preps and Year Ones have also continued building on their letters and sound knowledge by participating in daily UFLI lessons and guided reading sessions.

We have been working hard in maths focusing on numbers, measurement, and addition and subtraction. The Year Ones are also working on their skip counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.

We also visited the church to learn about Baptism and visited the State School for Under 8s day. We had a great time participating in play-based learning activities. 

The fun didn’t stop there. We also got to design a house for our pet rocks during Design with Mrs Craft, practiced our poetry with Mrs McVeigh in Drama, and enjoyed music lessons with Mrs Dennis. We are so lucky to have these specialist teachers at St Stephen’s!

Enjoy the rest of your term,

Mrs Robinson

Year 1 News - Miss Sophie Shelton

Hello from Year 1!

We are nearly at the end of a busy term! We have had lots of fun this term in Year 1 and have all settled in nicely but are definitely looking forward to the holidays!

Below is a snapshot of what we have been up to this term!

In English we have focused on lots of reading and writing and are becoming more independent and confident in both areas! We had an amazing camping day where we engaged in lots of fun activities.  We all wrote amazing recounts that told us all of the exciting things that we got up to! We have also been learning about rhyme and have been creating our very own ‘There Was an Old Lady’ stories. In maths we have been learning how to add and subtract to and beyond 20! We really enjoy doing this and challenging ourselves with tricky sums. 

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

We also had so much fun at our Under 8s Day where we got to engage in lots of fun activities, as well as play with some of our friends from other schools! Thank you for a great term!

Sophie Shelton

Year 2 News - Mrs Jacqueline MacGlashan

This term, we began with a flying start! We had the opportunity to visit Darling Downs Zoo and see a variety of animals in their habitats. In the classroom, we concluded our English unit around the text Deep: Dive into Hidden Worlds with students investigating the topic of Space. They then presented their information by creating a multimodal presentation.

We prepared a Wednesday afternoon Celebration. In Science, we have begun exploring aspects of Space including how the Earth orbits and rotates in the sky above us. Additionally, we started a new English unit of work based around the text Amira’s Suitcase and are preparing to write our own narrative stories, including elements from a familiar fairytale. In Maths, we have begun learning about multiplication through repeated addition, arrays, and equal groups.

As the holidays are quickly approaching, I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable time with your children 😊

Year 3 News - Mrs Anna Vaessen

Greetings from the Year 3 classroom. This term has come and gone so quickly but we are still very busy. The students have been working hard in Drama and a few have been selected as finalists for the Drama Festival in Week 10. The class has also had a blast making Pinball machines in Technology with Mrs Craft. This week the students will compete in the Athletics carnival. Some of the students (the 9-year-olds) will be competing in the senior sporting events for the first time.

In class, we have been working hard on learning about technology and can now create PowerPoint slides and the students continue to use Microsoft Teams to access resources and information from links. It will be a busy last few weeks, but we will continue to “build our brain” all the way up to the holidays.

Below are pictures of our “Brainiacs” working with big numbers in Maths and studying different types of rocks in Science.

Year 4 News - Mrs Fiona Drew

It is hard to believe that we are nearly halfway through Year Four! We have had a busy term with lots of learning and fun! We have been learning about the reefs in Australia, in particular the Great Barrier Reef. Our last few weeks will see the students working in groups to research a particular issue for the Great Barrier Reef, including pollution, water quality, climate change, coastal development and threatened species. We look forward to finishing these projects and we will be entering them in the Hermitage Schools Plant Science Competition, which is a competition held each year by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Year Four students will also create an art piece to enter the competition as well. We have a very busy few weeks ahead of us, so we hope the students are ready to keep working all the way until the last day!

Year 5 News - Mr Benjamin Minnikin

This term has been action-packed for our Year 5 students! In English, they've tackled the intriguing debate on whether Ned Kelly was a hero or villain by crafting persuasive texts. Math lessons have been equally challenging and rewarding, as students mastered difficult multiplication and division problems before moving on to the complexities of perimeter and area.

In HASS, we have delved into the world of natural disasters, exploring ways to mitigate their impacts at home. Science classes have journeyed through the states of matter, where students discovered the fascinating properties of solids, liquids, and gases.

Religion lessons have focused on the actions of the Holy Spirit and the sacrament of Confirmation, deepening students' understanding of their faith. Health classes have emphasised the importance of fostering positive relationships through the You Can Do It program, equipping students with essential social skills.

A highlight has been the Kids in Space Design Thinking Challenge. Here, our innovative students have been busy designing solutions to real-world problems using space technologies. It's been an incredible term of growth and learning for everyone in Year 5!

Year 6 News - Mrs Danni Conway

What a term it has been in Year 6 and hard to believe we are almost at the half-way point for the year!

On Friday 24^th of May, students from Years 4,5 and 6 went to the Pittsworth State High School to watch the Grease Musical. We all absolutely loved watching the performance and we are grateful to the high school for allowing us to come and watch the result of all of their hard work.

Students have been busy working collaboratively on their Kids in Space projects. The task involved the groups coming up with solutions either to help astronauts in space or use space technologies to help with a problem on Earth. I have been so impressed with the creativity and enthusiasm displayed by students. It was hard to decide which group would attend the Queensland Showcase at St Mary’s this Friday, so we had a class vote! This was very close with only 1 vote deciding the winning group. Congratulations to Tuff, Riley and Archer. Keep your eyes peeled for information regarding our own St Stephen’s showcase which will be at the beginning of Term 3. Students in Years 5 and 6 will create a booth to display their own designs and research behind their ideas which parents and the school community will be invited to come and see.

Just a reminder that homework is distributed every Friday and is due back the following Thursday. St Stephen’s homework policy states that students in Year 6 should be completing up to 35 minutes of homework for a maximum of 4 days per week. This includes Reading, Spelling, Maths and Grammar. Completing homework in Year 6 is crucial as it helps students develop essential study habits and time management skills needed for the increased academic demands of high school.

Wishing you all the best for the remainder of the term and upcoming holidays.

God bless,

Mrs Danni Conway

Music News - Mrs Suellen Dennis

 This term, children have continued developing their music skills. Children used untuned percussion instruments, including a variety of drums to create rhythms and accompany music. At the beginning of Term 3, Queensland Opera will be visiting St Stephen’s for a performance of Hansel and Gretel. During the last few music lessons of the term, as a prelude to this performance, all children will learn about opera.

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

The Parent Engagement Network would like to thank the following businesses that donated items to the Mother's Day raffle.

Betta Home Living Pittsworth  

Pittsworth Newsagency

The Bottlebrush Cafe 

Lilly Pilly Style

Cains Pharmacy 

IGA Pittsworth 

Woolworths Pittsworth 

Yandilla Rose 

Beauty and the Beard 

Price Busters

Pittsworth Post Office 

Beccalicious 

Lisa Cavenagh Acupuncture 

The Keeley Family

Millmerran Power Station 

REKT Contracting

Westmuir Collections

Penny McKinlay Nursery 

Paper & Pebblestones

Pittsworth Hotel Motel

The Sauverain Family

Kellie Craft Photography

ELK Beauty

The Venter Family

Families who wish to remain anonymous also a big thank you !

Outside Hours School Care News

Good Afternoon, families, and community, 

For more information contact Lily,

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, Whooping cough and Mycoplasma Pneuomia. 

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