Term 3, Week 9 - 9th September, 2021

From the Principal

Dear families,

It is Week 9 of Term 3 and what a huge term it has been! Let us take a moment to reflect on what we have experienced, learnt, and achieved at St Maria Goretti this term.

• We released our new school song “Let Your Light Shine”
• We won the Small Schools Choir section at the Goondiwindi Eisteddfod! 
• We celebrated NAIDOC Day, Catholic Education Week, St Maria Goretti's and Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day, Book Week and Father’s Day
• We were visited by the NRL Development Squad and the Beach to Bush surf lifesavers
• We raised awareness through R U OK? Day, National Child Protection Week and Pyjama Day
• We invited the community into our school at our Pathway to Prep days and continued to build strong partnerships with the Kindergarten through Mrs Robinson’s kindy reading and other events
• We established a new extracurricular club ‘Run4Fun’ with some dedicated runners
• We enjoyed delicious lunch specials from the tuckshop
• Our year 3-6 students participated in a virtual writing festival
• Our staff continued to learn and grow in their practice through various professional development opportunities 
• Our students continued working learning and improving through our whole school literacy and numeracy programs INSPIRE Mathematics, the Reading Improvement Strategy and the Phonics to Spelling approach
• …and so much more!

2021 NAPLAN Results

In the past week, general whole school NAPLAN data has been released to schools and it is incredibly pleasing to see how our students performed in their cohorts. Year 3 and Year 5 students will receive their individual reports next week during parent-teacher interviews. As a school our results across the year levels, in literacy and numeracy, are similar to previous years.

This year, students completed NAPLAN online. NAPLAN online is a tailored test that adapted to student responses, presenting students with questions that may be more or less difficult – resulting in better assessment and more precise results.

The data collected from NAPLAN 2021 provides St Maria Goretti with important baseline information to better understand the strengths and opportunities for growth of our students and to evaluate school programs to ensure they are best meeting our students’ needs.

As a school:

• Our overall average result in Reading across the whole school has improved.
• Our overall results in Year 3 Spelling have improved.
• In Reading, all our Year 3 students are above the national minimum standard. 
• Our Reading average in Year 3 is three bands above the national minimum standard - a band 5.

How to read the results?

In Year 3:

In Year 3 the minimum standard is a band 2, therefore if students are working in bands 3 or above, they are above the minimum standard. They do not report above a band 6 in Year 3.

In Year 5:

In Year 5 the minimum standard is a band 4, therefore students working in bands 5 and above are working above the national minimum standard. They only report up to a band 8 in Year 5.

Please see graph.

When interpreting your child’s results, please keep in mind that children change and develop rapidly, and a single test cannot possibly assess all their abilities. A variety of factors can affect how well your child does on any test, including their motivation, attention, mood, physical wellbeing, and opportunities for learning. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to speak to your child’s teacher.

I would like to congratulate the hard work of our students, their teachers and all the staff at St Maria Goretti on this year’s NAPLAN results. The consistency of a whole-school implementation of the Reading Improvement Strategy (RIS), one of our teaching and learning priorities, has supported the positive growth in our Reading results and the improvement in Spelling results has been greatly supported by the whole-school implementation of the Phonics 2 Spelling approach. 

Math Chat (Source: Math Matters Facebook page)

2021 RADII Results - School Improvement Survey

This term our parents, staff and students were invited to complete a School Improvement Survey. This survey was sent to parent emails and consisted of questions in the following domains: Mission & Identity, Teaching & Learning, Leadership for School Renewal, Strategic Resourcing and Stewardship and Overall Satisfaction. Survey results demonstrate that our senior students (Year 5 & 6) are extremely happy at the school, thriving in a safe, engaging and stimulating learning environment. They are results of which we are very proud of.

These survey results were shared and discussed at our Parent Partnership Forum (PPF) on Wednesday afternoon. 

Some of the results from the surveys are as follows -

Student Survey

• 83% of our Year 5 and Year 6 students completed the survey

Lower factors (under 80%) - Technology use in the classroom, Opportunities to take part in community service programs

Parent Survey

• 33% of our parents either fully or partially completed the survey

Lower factors (under 80%) - The range of extracurricular programs offered to the students, Accuracy of the teachers' assessment of learning

Staff Survey

• 60% of our staff completed the survey

Lower factors (under 80%) - Opportunities to engage in professional development aligned to my interests and needs

• 100% of our staff surveyed reported that they like being at school and they are satisfied with the educational progress of students.
• 89% of our parents surveyed reported that their child likes being at St Maria Goretti and 78% reported that they are satisfied with the educational progress of their child.
• 100% of the Year 5 & 6 students surveyed reported that this is a good school, they are satisfied with their learning and the school and they like being at the school.
  
• There have been many areas of growth since the previous RADII survey in 2019, especially in the domains of Teaching & Learning and Leadership for School Renewal. 

Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

Thank you for participating in the 2021 survey to help direct our future planning. The next RADII survey will be conducted in 2023 and I strongly encourage you to take the opportunity to have your say. Your opinions are valued and help to move our school forward.

10 years of service!

Congratulations to our fantastic Admin & Finance Officer, Mandy Mead, on 10 years of service at St Maria Goretti. We are very proud to have Mandy on our team and offer congratulations on this milestone. Mandy, we appreciate your energy, your kindness, and all the work you do, but most of all, we just appreciate you!

School Photos

A reminder that our school photos are next Thursday. Students are to wear their full summer formal uniform, including their black school shoes and navy socks. Year 6 leaders are to bring their leaders shirt to put on for the leaders’ photo. Please return your order forms to the school as soon as possible.

As this is the last newsletter for the term, I wish all our families and friends a happy and safe school holidays.

Yours in education,

Casey Robinson

Principal

“Have we not all taken up the cross and shall we shrink from carrying it?” (MacKillop, 1876)

School Hours

Children are expected to be at school by 8:40am, when the first bell is rung, but not before 8:20am.

Parents are informed that the school cannot accept the responsibilty of providing supervision for children before 8:20am.

School hours are 8:40am to 3:05pm.

LUNCH BREAKS:

Morning Break:     10:40am - 11:00am

Lunch Break:     1:00pm - 1:40pm 

Important Dates

16^th September                 School Photos

17^th September                 Pathway to Prep Fun Day       

17^th September                 Last Day of Term 3

4th October                        Public Holiday

5^th October                         Term 4 begins

6^th October                         Year 3 – 6 Cricket Cup Goondiwindi

7^th October                         LIFE Education visit

7^th October                         Executive Director TCSO Dr Pat Coughlan visiting

8^th October                         Pathway to Prep Transition Day

11^th October                       School Swimming begins

13^th October                       Prep Vision Screening

13^th October                       Parent Partnership Forum Meeting

15^th October                       Pathway to Prep Transition Day

22^nd October                      Pathway to Prep Transition Day

25^th October                       Mission Week begins

25^th October                       Socktober Liturgy

29^th October                       World Teachers Day

5^th November                    Pathway to Prep Transition Day

5^th November                    Year 6 End of Year Trip

8^th – 12^th November       Leadership Forum

16^th – 19^th November     School Camp

24^th November                 Graduation Mass and Awards night

26^th November                 Small School Swimming Carnival Goondiwindi

30^th November                 School Play

1^st December                     Last Day of Term 4

Life and Learning in the Library

Our 2021 Book Fair is underway with an amazing $700 worth of sales! Thank you all so much for your support. We will be adding new books to the student collection with the commission from your purchases.

Book Fair Hours:

Friday 10th September; 8.00am - 9.00am

Tuesday 14th September; 8.00am - 9.00am and 1.30pm - 3.30pm

Students have had an opportunity to browse the fair and to make a wish list during library time today. If you would like to make any purchases for Christmas we can keep the secret for you.

Students will be borrowing for the holiday period next week. Please remind them to return all current or overdue loans and bring their bags so they can stock up for their holiday reading.

Happy holiday reading to you all!

Anne Anderson

Teacher Librarian

Socktober

This year our school is partnering with Catholic Mission by participating in Socktober. We invite our students to connect with young people experiencing challenges in the developing world through education and the world game of soccer.

This year, our collective fundraising efforts will support vulnerable children in Thailand through a kindergarten run by the Good Shepherd Sisters in Bangkok. The kindergarten provides a caring learning environment for the children and allows their parents, often single mothers, to work and support the family.

As a school, we have the opportunity to contribute in a special way, but only if all of our stars jump onboard. I’d like to invite you to take a moment to visit our fundraising page -

The good news is you don’t have to come up with all the funds. The fundraising works by sharing the page with family and friends and asking them to sponsor the effort.

Whatever we raise will support the basic needs of vulnerable children around the world, such as food, clean water, healthcare, and education.

$35 can help towards the cost of school supplies for a child for one year.

$102 can help towards the meals and snacks for one child at the kindergarten for a year.

$300 can help purchase milk for all the children at the kindergarten for two weeks.

$1500 could purchase one school uniform each for all 59 girls at the kindergarten for one year.

In Term 4, we’ll have a chance to come together at our school’s Socktober Event, where the children will be able to kick goals for kids in need around the world.

We will keep you updated in school newsletters and emails throughout Term 3 and Term 4 as we continue to build momentum towards our Socktober Event on the 25^th of October.

Thank you for your support and for helping your child/ren ‘sock it to poverty!’

LIFE Education visit - 7th October 2021

Who are Life Education Queensland?
Life Education Queensland is at the forefront of child health and wellbeing. We are the state’s largest health promotion charity, providing age appropriate health and safety education to students from prep to high school. 

What will my child learn?
Come along to our FREE Parent Information Session, which will be held on 7th October, 2021 at 8:15am. It’s a great session for you to get to know your Life Education educator, ask any questions you may have about the program, and learn why it is important for your child to attend. See below for details for your child's module.

Find out more at:

Students of the Week

Sight Word Certificates

School Photos

Please return school photo envelopes this week. See the office if you require another orde envelope.

Parent Partnership Forum

Pathway to Prep

Our Lady of the Southern Cross Parish - Mass Times

Saturday 11th September - 5:30pm - Mass

Sunday 19th September - 9am - Lay Lead Liturgy

Sunday 26th September - 9am - Mass

                                                         Sunday 3rd October - 9am - Lay Lead Liturgy