Term 4, Week 8 - 23rd November, 2023
From the Principal
Dear families,
I am looking forward to celebrating our students on Monday evening at Awards Night. Awards Night is an annual showcase that celebrates a year of hard work in Academic, Community, Cultural and Sporting arenas. A large proportion of the evening is dedicated to Academic Awards, that are given to students across the school for their dedication to learning. Our senior instrumental students will be performing at the opening of Awards Night, and our whole school choir will close Awards Night with a song in German. Students are to meet at the Catholic Church next Monday the 27th at 5:15pm for a prompt 5:30pm start. Our Parent Engagement Network are generously providing a meal under the school for everyone after the awards are presented. Please bring your own beverages.
I have mixed emotions of pride, and sadness as we are saying farewell to our Year 6 leaders - Angus, Collette, Riley and Daniel. Our leadership initiative is an integral part of our student welfare program. At St Maria Goretti, all Year 6 students are inducted as school leaders at the Leadership Commissioning Mass in Term 1. Our School Leaders have many responsibilities which enable them to develop leadership and communication skills that they carry through to their future life. The leaders conduct all assemblies, represent the school at community functions, attend leadership development days, assist at fundraising events, and much more. Please join us at 9:30am next Wednesday the 29th at the Catholic Church for the Year 6 Graduation Mass. This will be followed by the cutting of the graduation cake under the school.
MacKillop Way Awards Term 4
Congratulations to Mason Cutler, Samantha Story and Daniel Mead for receiving the MacKillop Way award for Term 4. The focus for the term was “Work with constancy and courage.” (Mary MacKillop, 1876)
P/1 Mason Cutler | Since starting at St Maria Goretti, Mason has made the most of all learning opportunities. He always gives every task his best effort and constantly asks for clarification on any topics he is unsure of. He has developed courage this semester to share his knowledge and attempt any unknown concepts without the fear of failure. Mason always puts his best effort into all tasks he completes. |
2/3/4 Samantha Story | Although Sam has only been at SMG for one term she consistently follows the 5 C's. She is always an enthusiastic learner and puts in all her effort 100% of the time. She uses her class time well and is always organised and ready to learn and she follows the instructions promptly the first time. |
5/6 Daniel Mead | Daniel has worked extremely hard this term to ignore distractions and persevere with challenging tasks. When entering the classroom after working with Mrs Twidale of a Monday morning, he joins in with whatever task the class has started and does this with a smile on his face. He also provides work that is of a high standard and is always organised with the materials required for learning. |
Mason (Year 1) and Samantha (Year 3)
Daniel (Year 6)
School Grounds
I would like to extend an enormous thank you to Mike and Mandy Price for their many years of volunteer work at our school, in particular tending to the maintenance of our school grounds. The school grounds have been beautifully cared for over many years by the Price family and the amount of time they have put into the grounds work is to be highly commended.
Moving forward, Melissa and Ted Callaghan will be taking on the position of 'Groundspeople' at St Maria Goretti.
Playground Build
Our playground build is beginning on Monday the 4th of December and will be approximately a 2 week project. I am very excited to see the playground in its completion. Thank you to our Parent Engagement Network for the contribution they made to this project.
Playground 'before'... (stay tuned for the after!)
Upcoming Dates
24th November - Small Schools swimming carnival in Goondiwindi
27th November - Awards Night (please arrive at 5:15pm), and Year 6 transition day at I.S.S
28th November - Christmas Dress Up Day, and Christmas Liturgy (2:30pm)
29th November - Year 6 Graduation Mass (9:30am), and last day of school!
23rd January 2024 - 1st day of Term 1! Welcome back!
Our staff will return to work on Wednesday the 17th of January. School begins for students on Tuesday the 23rd of January. I wish everyone a happy and safe Christmas holiday. I am looking forward to catching up with you in the new year.
Yours in education,
Casey Robinson
Principal
Highlights from the Library in 2023
STATISTICS FROM THE LIBRARY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - AccessIT
- 4,335 items were circulated from the library
- $10, 152.39 worth of school resources were added to AccessIT
- 198 new items were added to our student book collections
LIFE and LEARNING in the LIBRARY
- Weekly borrowing sessions for free choice reading material
- Regular sharing of fabulous stories as read-alouds with follow up discussion
- Independent searching of AccessIT to locate and select titles for free choice reading
- Student book talks and reviews which demonstrated book knowledge and informed future readers
- Student use of online resources, Clickview and Britannica to gather information.
- Celebrations of Australian libraries and literature during:
- Queensland Schools Library Week
- National Simultaneous Story-time
- Book Week, when we looked closely at the short-listed books and the theme “Read Grow Inspire”
- Engaging displays created by Mrs Smith to promote new books, special calendar events and Australian authors
LIBRARY MANAGEMENT/IMPROVEMENTS
- Another very successful Book Fair
- Student collection was refreshed and reorganised during the annual stock-take
- New digital screen
- New student tables and stools
We have much to celebrate and to be grateful for across this year of life and learning in the library.
Special thanks to the PEN for your continued financial support of the library service, the power of access to quality books cannot be denied.
HOLIDAY READING
Students received at least one new book and one withdrawn fiction book last week to keep. We hope they will enjoy reading them with you over the long holiday ahead. Please keep up your reading for fun at home as this is an effective way to improve your student's reading ability.
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
OVERDUE LOANS
Students with overdue loans have been given a list today. Please ensure these items are returned as soon as possible via the red returns trolley outside the library, thank you.
Week 6 and 7
Fun in the Library During Lunchtime
Christmas blessings from the library staff!
Enjoy this special time of the year and happy holiday to everyone!
Students of the Week - Term 4, Week 8
Drama awards!
Drama awards!
Jordan Callaghan (Year 2)
Riley Mead (Year 6)
Sight Word Certificates
Mathletics Certificate
Connor McPherson (Year 5)
Happy Birthday!
Parent Engagement Network
Our next PEN meeting will be in the new year on
Wednesday the 28th of February in the school library.
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.
________________________
Strategic Plan 2023-2026
Notices
Details about the swimming carnival, including the full program, have been sent to all parents in Sentral.
Our Lady of the Southern Cross Parish - Mass Times
Sunday 26th November - 9am Mass
Sunday 3rd December - 9am Liturgy
Saturday 9th December - 5:30pm Mass
Sunday 17th December - 9am Liturgy