Term 4, Week 2 - 12th October, 2023

From the Principal

Dear families,

Welcome back to our last term of the school year! We have many exciting school events ahead of us including School Camp, the Year 6 trip, Awards Night & our Graduation mass. 

Summative Review

On Tuesday 14^th November (Week 7 Term 4), I will be engaging in a Principal summative performance appraisal in line with Toowoomba Catholic School’s (TCS) focus on professional recognition and development, as this is my 4^h year as Principal at St Maria Goretti School.

A Principal’s summative performance appraisal occurs in the final year of their contract and is based on outcomes of their annual performance reviews and school-based data.

The appraisal will be conducted by a Panel consisting of the TCS Senior Education Leader, a peer principal and the TCS Director: Education Services. It will consist of a self-review, a 360-degree survey completed by school staff and parents along with individual or focus group interviews.

Based on the outcomes of these review tools, the Panel will produce a written report outlining their findings and providing feedback to the Principal for continued and future professional learning. These outcomes will also be communicated with the school community.

Interviews/focus groups with staff, PEN representatives and myself will also occur as part of the appraisal. Requested interviewees will be contacted via email over the coming weeks to confirm their availability. If you would like to be part of these focus groups, please email me directly and I will arrange timings with the Panel.  Consideration will be given to hold these interviews via video conference or phone calls, if face to face is not achievable. 

School Camp

We will be having a school camp meeting on the 19th of October after school for all parents & staff who are attending camp. This meeting will be held in the library. It is mandatory for parents to complete Code of Conduct training prior to attending camp, and this will be completed during the meeting. Parents will also receive cabin groups, and other important details. Please contact the school on 4652 1109 if you're unable to make the meeting.

Staffing 2024

I am pleased to share our staffing structure for 2024.

It is very exciting that we welcome back Olivia Osborne, who is returning part time after being on maternity leave. Darcy Barnes and Olivia will be job sharing in the 2/3/4 classroom in 2024.  Darcy will be in the classroom from Monday-Thursday, with Olivia in the classroom on Friday. Olivia will be providing intervention to students, teaching non-contact, and coordinating sporting events.

In our planning, we have ensured that there is consistency and minimal disruptions for all students. I have planned to provide the best possible support for our students across the school - it is very exciting that we are able to maintain a three classroom school, as well as having additional teachers on staff for support.

We are also able to continue learning LOTE in 2024 thanks to Mrs Winter's eagerness to continue learning with our students. The implementation of a German language program has been very rewarding for our students and we are very grateful to have Mrs Winter as part of our school team.

I cannot wait to see what 2024 successes will come to us!

New Playground!

I am very excited to announce that we have booked in our playground build to be completed over the December holidays! I want to express my sincere gratitude to our Parent Engagement Network for supporting this project financially. The new playground will cater for the needs of the older students, as well as provide more options for play for everyone at lunch time. We will be looking into applying for a grant for a shade structure in 2024.

I shared the exciting news with our students this morning on assembly, these were some of their responses - 

"It looks so cool! We are so lucky!" (Celeste)

"I can't wait to run and play on the new playground!" (Will)

"I wish the playground was at my house!" (Harper)

"I am so excited I wish it was already here. Thank you!" (Ellie)

Upcoming Term 4 dates

13th October - Pathway to Prep Transition Day 1 (8:30-11:00am)

18th October - Audiology testing

19th October- Camp meeting for parents (3:15pm in the Library)

20th October - Pathway to Prep Transition Day 2 (8:30-11:00am)

21st October - CENT SALE!

25th October - PEN Meeting (3:30pm in the Library)

26th October - Day for Daniel

27th October - Crazy Sock Day!

27th October - World Teachers' Day!

Yours in education,

Casey Robinson

Principal

A Prayer for Palestine & Israel

God of Comfort,
send your Spirit to encompass all those whose lives
are torn apart by violence and death in Israel and Palestine.
You are the Advocate of the oppressed
and the One whose eye is on the sparrow.
Let arms reach out in healing, rather than aggression.
Let hearts mourn rather than militarize.

Library News

Book Fair Success! 

Thank you for your generous support of our Book Fair. We earned $233 worth of new books for the student collection and $336.50 reward points for future use! 

Our students always enjoy the experience of browsing the book and poster selection and are excited when they can purchase from the Fair.   

Student comments about Book Fair… 

“I love getting new books so I can gain more knowledge”. 

“Book Fair gives me an opportunity to buy books from our school”. 

“I love the posters.” 

“I love buying books so I can read more books at home.” 

 Term 4 Overview 

• Student book talks (Year 2-4) and written book reviews (Year 5-6) will be a focus for the first 4 weeks. Please remind your student/s to have their chosen book with them each Thursday. I will share some of the students’ work in future newsletters. 
• Each week we share a story and an information text and students have independent browse and borrow time. 
• Week 6 will be the last borrowing week with all loans due back in Week 7. 
• Continuing students will be invited to borrow for the summer holiday break during library time in Week 8.  

Life in the Library

Happy Reading 

Anne Anderson 

Teacher Librarian 

Students of the Week - Term 3, Week 10

Students of the Week - Term 4, Week 1

Students of the Week - Term 4, Week 2

Sight Word Certificates

Happy Birthday!

Reading Awards

Tuckshop Award

Parent Engagement Network

Notices

Our Lady of the Southern Cross Parish - Mass Times

Sunday 17th September - 9am Liturgy

Sunday 24th September - 9am Mass

Sunday 1st October - 9am Liturgy

Saturday 7th October - 5:30pm Mass