Term 4, Week 6 - 9th November, 2023
From the Principal
Dear families,
Week 6 is coming to an end and that means there is only just over 2 weeks to go until we are on Christmas holidays! Despite the end of year excitement, teaching and learning are our ongoing priorities at St Maria Goretti. This past week students have been completing reading testing with their teachers, and they are currently working diligently on end of term assessment tasks.
Strategic Plan 2023-2026
I am very excited to share with you our published Strategic Plan for the 2023-2026 period. Following our quadrennial school review that took place in late 2022, our team identified key priority areas from the report to prioritise over the following four years. These priority areas came from findings identified through staff, parent and student voice, as well as other data sources.
Strategic planning is essential to maintaining the provision of long term, high quality educational
experiences for all students. The collaborative process of defining the future vision for a school and prioritising actions and resources to achieve this vision, challenges the school community to think deeply about its aspirations and expectations for students and builds a collective responsibility for the school’s ongoing success.
This four-year strategic plan is reviewed every year and updated to maintain currency and alignment with the TCS Strategic Plan and emerging school priorities. The review and update of the four-year strategic plan involves consultation with the community, reflection on data sets and reviewing of the way in which the school renewal and improvement cycle is being implemented.
I thank you for your contribution to the creation of our Strategic Plan and I look forward to what St Maria Goretti will achieve in the coming years.
School Camp
I want to express my sincerest gratitude to our fantastic staff - Miss Barnes, Miss Spencer and Mrs Mead for accompanying the school on camp last week. Thanks also goes to our parent helpers - Renee, Ann-Maree, Michelle and Amelia. Thank you for giving up your time to spend time with our students as they enjoyed their school camp on the Gold Coast. We are very lucky to experience a whole school camp (P-6) every year. This camp comes at no cost to our families and is a way for our students to build confidence, independence, resilience and friendships. There have been many wonderful moments from school camp shared on our Facebook page.
Important - Social Media
Please pay attention to what our young people and vulnerable persons are watching and accessing online. Be aware that social media algorithms mean that once they start watching, reacting and commenting to posts pertaining to violence, the system will feed them more and more of these violent posts.
There are unexpected consequences for our youth who may be:
- watching images and video of a sensitive/violent nature
- taking social media posts at face value about current world conflicts
- “taking sides” without knowledge nor understanding of the often complex history behind said conflicts, and
- bringing this same rhetoric and significant threats to school
Please contact support services or police if you become aware of someone that needs help or may be vulnerable to this susceptibility. (Catherine English, Senior Constable 22769, Cross Cultural Liaison Officer, Darling Downs District)
Semester 2 Report Cards
Report cards for Semester 2 will be released on the Sentral Parent Portal in the last week of term. Please contact the school office if you would prefer a paper copy of your child's report card.
Playground build
Our new playground build has been locked in! Building will commence on Monday the 4th of December.
Upcoming Dates
13th November - Audiology testing
14th November - Casey's summative review
15th November - PEN meeting at the Inglewood Bowls Club
20th November - Pathway 2 Prep Transition Day (8:30-1:00pm)
21st November - Drama performances
24th November - Small Schools swimming carnival in Goondiwindi
Yours in education,
Casey Robinson
Principal
A Prayer for Palestine & Israel
Let us pray for the many people whose lives have been torn apart by conflict in Gaza and Israel.
We remember especially those who have died, those who are grieving, the injured and those now without food, shelter or medical supplies.
We pray also for those who have the power to bring peace. May they be touched by a spirit of compassion and kindness.
Lord hear us.
Library News
Browse and Borrow Sessions
Students enjoyed their last borrowing session for the year today. Please support your student/s to return all their loans next week. The last operating day for the library will be Thursday 23rd November (Week 8).
We will be sending some older fiction books, which have been withdrawn from the library, home for students to keep. We hope they will enjoy reading them over the summer holiday.
Students can access the following school subscriptions for stories and information over the break. Access is via the online resource dashboard in AccessIT https://au.accessit.online/STM33/#!dashboard
*E-Platform - E-books and audio books can be borrowed from the Diocese of Toowoomba Resource Centre Wheelers platform using student’s school login details
*Story Box Library – Great Australian stories read aloud while the text displays on the screen
https://storyboxlibrary.com.au
Log in with;
Username – smg
Password - stories
*Storyline Online
https://www.storylineonline.net/
Professional actors read the books, includes close-ups of the book pages and displayed text
*Kidlit TV
A tv show about story makers that includes “Read Out Loud” story time and children’s literature podcasts for kids
Read great information and get answers to those curious questions at:
Britannica School - https://school.eb.com.au/
Login with – mariagoretti, inglewood
ClickView - https://online.clickview.com.au/
Login with – school email (ingusername@twb.catholic.edu.au)
ABC Education - https://www.abc.net.au/education#!/home
Library Learning
*Year 2-4 are learning to search for book details and facts in the library database AccessIT and in Britannica, our online encyclopaedia.
*Year 5-6 are learning to select the most valuable websites for their research question. Evaluating information found online is a critical skill and one that must be practised. Please remind your students to use these questions when they are searching the web for reliable information:
Can I read and understand this?
Can I trust this source to give accurate, relevant and balanced information?
Do I have enough detail, or do I need to search again with different search terms?
What questions do I still have?
Thanks for all you do to support your student’s development as readers and information seekers!
Anne Anderson
Teacher Librarian
School Dental Van - forms due Friday 17th November
Students of the Week - Term 4, Week 5
Sight Word Certificates
Happy Birthday!
Parent Engagement Network
Our next PEN meeting is the 15th of NOVEMBER, 3:30pm at the Inglewood Bowls Club (our Christmas party).
Please contact Casey, Melissa or Corinne to add an item to the agenda.
All parents are very welcome to attend the PEN meeting as a rewarding way to get involved with the school community and keep up to date with school events, policies and projects.
________________________
Notices
Our Lady of the Southern Cross Parish - Mass Times
Saturday 11th November - 5:30pm Mass
Sunday 19th November - 9am Liturgy
Sunday 26th November - 9am Mass
Sunday 3rd December - 9am Liturgy
Saturday 9th December - 5:30pm Mass
Sunday 17th December - 9am Liturgy