Term 1, Week 2 - 1st February, 2024
From the Principal
Dear families,
Welcome back and thank you for reading the first newsletter of 2024.
I have had the pleasure of visiting classrooms regularly over the past week and a half, and it is evident that St Maria Goretti is a place of high quality learning. As detailed in our Strategic Plan - St Maria Goretti is committed to being a place where educators use their expert knowledge of the curriculum to effectively teach expert learners based on their personal needs (2023-2026).
On assembly in Week 1 I spoke about the importance of pride. Not only striving to make our peers, family, and teachers proud - but most importantly, striving to make ourselves proud. As we settle in to a new school year I am confident that our students will continue making those around them proud, and most importantly, finding pride within themselves.
We welcome our new students to the school - Huxley, Heathe, Gracie, Willow, Nate, Carter, Frankie and Alyrah. Our Preppies are already demonstrating excellent learning behaviours within the classroom. We also welcome Miss Rush, who will be working as a Teacher Aide over the next few weeks.
Meet the Teachers
We will be running our annual Meet the Teacher event next Wednesday. Please see the information, below.
Safer Internet Day
On Tuesday the 6th of February, our school will be supporting Safer Internet Day. A global initiative, coordinated in Australia by the eSafety Commissioner, that brings together community, families,
schools and organisations from more than 160 countries to help create safer online spaces.
To celebrate Safer Internet Day 2024 our school will:
• participate in eSafety's Virtual Classrooms (Two virtual classrooms are available: one for Years 3-4 and another for Years 5-6)
• promote eSafety Parent and Carer webinars to our school community each term.
The link below will take you to information about free webinars for parents and carers -
Webinars for parents and carers | eSafety Commissioner
Our school is committed to raising online safety awareness and helping students build positive online relationships. Learn more at www.eSafety.gov.au/sid #ConnectReflectProtect #SID2024
Upcoming Dates
2nd February - MAC Zone swimming trials
7th February - Meet the Teacher event (3:30pm)
8th February - Year 6 Badge Ceremony on Assembly
9th February - Toowoomba Catholic Schools swimming carnival
13th February - Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)
14th February - Ash Wednesday liturgy
I would like to wish Jazmen, Addy, Rachael, and Chiquita the best of luck at the Mac Zone swimming trials tomorrow.
Yours in education,
Casey Robinson
Principal
Students of the Week - Week 1 & 2
Library News
Welcome to 2024 in the library!
We have started our class browse and borrow sessions so please check your student’s book choices and share them at home. Thanks also for reminding students to bring their library loans and bags each Thursday.
Most Important Library Link
School families can find resources from home via our Library Database – AccessIT
St Maria Goretti School - Inglewood (accessit.online)
Britannica School, ClickView, Storybox Library and Wheelers e-platform are available via the ONLIINE RESOURCE dashboard in AccessIT. Use the blue single sign on button to find these resources and their log in details.
Some Important Library Dates
Wednesday 7th February is World Read-aloud Day
World Read Aloud Day — LitWorld®
“Reading aloud at home and at school is one of the best ways to help children develop literacy skills. According to research by the University of Melbourne, daily reading aloud to children puts them almost a year ahead of children who do not receive daily read-alouds, regardless of income, education level or cultural background. Reading aloud is an incredibly accessible and powerful way to help listeners of all ages build essential literacy skills.”
We will be celebrating this day with classroom read -alouds for the sheer joy of sharing a story!
Monday 12th - Friday 16th is Queensland School Libraries Week
We will be marking this week with reflections around the importance of story and what we can learn from characters we meet in stories. Students can enter artwork for judging, details will be available from the library and online at Qld School Library Week — Queensland School Library Association (qsla.org.au)
Prep – Year 1 Lessons
Students are learning to listen to and say what they enjoy about a story. We share some fun moments as we explore the book together and tell a classmate what we thought about it. Students will create an illustration of their favourite character from the shared books in Week 4 as part of our School Libraries Week celebrations.
Year 2 - 6 Lessons
Students are getting to know the books created by Tania Cox and Gregg Dreise. They will be preparing to give a book recommendation of a library book they have read to their classmates. Each lesson also includes some practice with locating and using digital information.
Week 1 in the Library
Happy Reading Everyone!
Anne Anderson
Teacher Librarian
NAPLAN 2024 Schedule
Students in Year 3 and Year 5 will be sitting NAPLAN between 13 and 25 March 2024.
NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so.
NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance; however, students and parents may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.
This is the second year NAPLAN will be held in March, having previously taken place in May. This change was made so school systems would have access to results earlier in the school year, so they can be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year.
Why NAPLAN is conducted online...
• All schools transitioned to NAPLAN online in 2022, as the online format improves NAPLAN.
• NAPLAN online provides a better assessment and more precise results.
• One of the main benefits of NAPLAN online is that it uses tailored (or adaptive) testing. This means that students receive questions better suited to their abilities, so they can show what they know and can do.
• Online testing also allows us to provide a wide range of accessibility options to support students with disability to access NAPLAN.
• Feedback from students is that they find the online test more engaging.
Happy Birthday!
New Tuckshop Menu
Parent Engagement Network
Our next PEN meeting will be on
Wednesday the 28th of February in the school library at 3:30pm.
Please contact Casey or Melissa 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.
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Strategic Plan 2023-2026
Notices
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