Term 3 Week 7 27th August, 2020

Phone 07 4652 1109

OUR SCHOOL STUDENT

PROTECTION CONTACTS:

• Miss Casey Sly • Mrs Naomi Smith • Ms Jasmine Neyland

Dear families,

Welcome to a wonderful Week 7! I am very glad to welcome our new family to the St Maria Goretti community. Welcome to Josh and Tamie and their daughter Isabelle, who has joined us in Year 2. We hope you enjoy your time with us at our fantastic school.

In Week 5, the Principals of Toowoomba Catholic Schools came together for the Term 3 Leadership Forum in Quilpie. Throughout the week, the Executive Leadership Team of TCSO shares upcoming initiatives and information and receives feedback from Principals. The forum also provides staff with formal and informal opportunities to share ideas with col-leagues.

One of the topics of discussion was that of Parent Engagement. While this concept has been given prominence for several years, there is a difference between involvement & engagement. Involvement often relates to actions undertaken by par-ents and families, often on school grounds and generally at the invitation of the school, such as volunteering in the class-room, attending parent-teacher conferences, fundraising for the school, and participating in PPF meetings. Like parent involvement, parent engagement seeks interactions with parents that build connections, a sense of community and famili-arity with the school but with a focus on student learning. Due to the current climate, 2020 has prevented our community from coming together regularly, however we continue to provide opportunities where possibly to ensure we have a con-nection with our community through events such as our Mary MacKillop Day, whole school liturgies, Rhythm Rhyme & Storytime and sharing what we are learning and doing on our Facebook page, newsletter and school website.

The value of parent engagement is in supporting children’s learning. As a school, we continually seek innovative ways to build authentic relationships with our community. We need to intentionally focus on supporting the interactions between parents and children that benefit learning outcomes. The child, teacher, and parent need to all be active and aligned part-ners in their child’s learning journey.

What’s been happening around the school?

Reading Testing

Throughout the past two weeks, teachers and students have been working hard on completing reading testing to deter-mine their reading levels and growth from Term 1 this year. WOW! I am incredibly proud of the results that all our stu-dents achieved. At St Maria Goretti, we have effectively implemented the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Reading Improve-ment Strategy and through our regular PLC data meetings, and the daily modelled or shared, guided and independent reading happening in both classrooms every day, our students continue to thrive. I want to shout out to our teachers and support staff for all their efforts in ensuring our students get the best possible outcomes in reading.

Continued on page 2...

Important Dates:

2nd September—PPF Meeting 3rd September—Father’s Day Liturgy 4th September—Pupil Free Day (CTJ Day) 10th September—Book Character Parade 12th September—SMG Colour Run 17th September—School photos and last day of term 3 18th September—Pupil Free Day 5th October—Term 4 begins 12th October—LIFE Education visit

Principal’s Report continued

St Maria Goretti’s Sustainable Practices

Sustainability in education is an important part of the curriculum and is incorporated into many key learning areas. This year, our school has been focusing on how to make our practices more sustainable. We have the following practices in place:

- A recycling program - A vegetable garden - Solar panels - A compost program: Our ‘Compost Crew’ consists of the Year 3/4 HaSS students. Their aim is to minimise food

waste within the school. Students and staff are encouraged to place food scraps into separate containers for use in our composting bin.

Sustainability education, enables educators and children to promote a sense of responsibility, show respect for the natural environment, be active participants and bring about enquiry and social change.

Upcoming dates & events

Parent Information Session

On Wednesday the 2nd of September at 11:30am, representatives from St Mary’s Parish School Goondiwindi will be running a parent information session on the transition to Year 7 into St Mary’s and what their middle and secondary school has to offer. We invite all parents from the Year 3-6 classroom to attend.

Father’s Day Liturgy

Please join us in the 3-6 classroom at 2:30pm for a whole school Liturgy to acknowledge and celebrate the special dads, grandfathers, uncles and other important men in our lives.

Book Character Parade

We will be holding our Book Character Parade on Thursday the 10th of September in Week 9. The theme is Curious Crea-tures, Wild Minds and we encourage everyone to embrace the Book Week spirit. Book Week allows kids – and parents alike – to slip into the magic of books, imagination, and the creative process of bringing fictional characters to life. If you need some inspiration or costume ideas, please speak to your child’s classroom teacher or our Library assistant, Zalae.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Our Parent Teacher Interviews will be held in Week 10 of this Term. You will receive a form from your child’s classroom teacher next week to book your day and time. Parent-teacher interviews are a integral opportunity to check in with your child’s teachers about their academic progress.

Parent Partnership Forum Meeting

The next PPF meeting will be on Wednesday the 2nd of September at 3:30pm in the school library. Our PPF meetings consist of parents, care-givers, staff and community-minded people who want to help our school. Attending our PPF meetings is a good way to stay in touch with what is happening in the school and everyone is invited.

Lastly, a reminder that next Friday (the 4th of September) is a Pupil Free Day. Our staff will be participating in assessment moderation with St Joseph’s school in Millmerran.

I wish you all a happy weekend.

Yours in education,

Casey Sly

Principal

Loving God, help me to recognise the many people who create the goodness that surrounds my life. Give me a sense of gratitude for what they have done and when I have the opportunity let me express my thanks. I ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear me….and thank you for all the good you are doing in my life.

Sr Kym Harris osb

Students of the Week

28th August Worker: Alycia Williams

Home Cooking: Jovelyn Enreras, Jade Johnson

4th September

NO TUCKSHOP DUE TO PUPIL FREE DAY

Parent Partnership Forum

Chairperson: Mike Price

Secretary: Jade Johnson

Next meeting:

Please note the next meeting has been changed to Wednesday 2nd September.

Please see Mike or Jade if you would like anything added to the agenda.

Birthdays

Library News

Our Book Week Celebration

Dress–up Parade Thursday 10th September

Following the 2020 theme, students are asked to plan a costume that connects to one word in the theme Curious Creatures Wild Minds and tell us what connection they

have made.

Will you be a creature?

Are you a curious explorer, scientist, artist.....?

Where have you gone using your wild imagination/mind?

Collaborate and Create Challenge - Let your curiosity run wild...

Students will be asked to reflect on and share what has sparked their curiosity during their learning and living this term. With teacher guidance, students will collaborate on a plan to showcase their reflections with the final product to be constructed in an hour challenge on Thursday 10th. The library will display the students’ work for everyone to enjoy.

Students in Year 3 – 6 have been practicing their information search and evaluation skills

as they solve curious fact or wild fiction challenges.

Library News

Thank you Mrs Smith for our thought provoking library displays

Special thanks to Miss Turner for creating the letters for our display

and to Mrs Turner for donating the paper!

Stay curious!

Anne Anderson

Teacher Librarian

St Maria Goretti School

CONTACT OUR SCHOOL email I inglewood@twb.catholic.edu.au

phone I 07 4652 1109 address I Elizabeth St, Inglewood Q 4401

www.inglewood.catholic.edu.au

Where Christian values are an everyday

Notices