Week 6, Term 1 2024 - 27th February 2024

Reflection - Week 6

Leadership at School and Home 

Last Thursday our Year Six students were involved in a Leadership Retreat.  Our aim is to assist each child in this year level to manage their duties amongst their learning, maturing, making mistakes and achieving success. 

The student leadership model St Mary’s embraces is designed to build the skills of public speaking, serving others, demonstrating their talents and taking ownership of their final year of primary school. Children also learn to take responsibility for their choices, develop empathy for others and experience the heart-felt benefits of giving to others.  

Leadership does not begin in Year 6. Teaching the skills necessary to feel confident to speak in public, assist others and have some autonomy over their lives begins much earlier. We are also assisting students through our You Can Do It program, class jobs, Eco-heroes and Mini-Vinnies clubs to develop these skills. Providing leadership opportunities allows children to have some age-appropriate control of their lives and the ability to make things happen.  

Parents play a crucial role in developing these skills and working as a school-home team increases the outcomes for children. 

Here are some ways that you can help your children develop leadership skills:  

1. Model leadership behaviour to children. Children learn from seeing what others do. Tell the child what you are doing and why you are doing it.
2. Teach children how to see things from another's point of view. Good communication is a key component to being an effective leader.  
3. Teach children how to listen carefully and how to respond to others in a calm and respectful way. 
4. Help children build self-confidence. Give children opportunities to do a good job and offer praise when appropriate.  
5. Create problem solving situations and teach children to solve their own problems. Allow children to start making small decisions such as which activity they want to participate in and they learn the concepts of responsibility and consequences of making a decision. 
6. Create leadership situations in the form of household jobs or responsibilities. 
7. Teach children how to work with others in a team situation. (sports, clubs, charities) 
8. Assist children to develop a plan or strategy to address a problem or situation. Show children how to break tasks into workable ways to get the job done. 
9. Encourage children to pursue things that interest them. They may develop a passion for it and feel comfortable and later take on a leadership role. 
10. Look for leadership opportunities for children. Leadership opportunities can be in your child care program or another program at a school, church, community or club. Children can also take a leadership role in a family event. 
11. Encourage communication and action. Leadership involves speaking up or taking action. You can encourage children's leadership abilities by suggesting projects or identifying problems that may be important to them and helping them to come up with suggestions for actions and possible solutions.
    
    Adapted from Better Kid Care Penn State University, PA 16803 © 2016 The Pennsylvania State University 

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From our Principal - Mr Wes Rose

Staff/Student Training

• This Tuesday and Wednesday Mrs Battaia, Mrs Rokic and Mrs van Lint will be in Rockhampton undertaking a Primary Mathematics inservice.
• Today, Ms Pembroke and Mrs Aslette attended a training session focused on working with students with ASD.
• This Wednesday, Mrs Manera, Mrs Rodrigues and Mrs Standish will attend the ASD seminar specifically for teacher assistants.

Chess Competition
On Monday, 20 students from year 2-6 attended the Gardiner Chess tournament held at MCC. They represented St Mary’s with amazing sportsmanship! Congratulations to the St Mary’s Knights team for coming first overall in the Primary A division. We also had a number of medal winning and ribbon winning champions. Special mention to our chess club organiser, Mrs Berardi, for coordinating our students. Checkmate St Mary’s!

Enhancing Catholic Schools (ECSI) Survey
Catholic schools in Australia today often find themselves challenged to articulate their identity and vision in a society where the Christian faith is increasingly marginalized.  To assist our school, we have entered into a partnership with the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.  The goal of this work is to assist our school to better understand how our Catholic identity is expressed in work and practice and to support St Mary’s in our future development.

All parents received an email today with a letter outlining the ESCI process and how they can assist by completing a survey.  As we want as many parents as possible to participate, we have several incentives, including;

• A pie voucher for each family that completes the survey. This voucher can be redeemed by your child for a free pie for lunch on Tuesday 26th March
• A class party for the highest percentage (per capita) of completed surveys.
• A raffle that parents enter once they have completed the survey;
  • 1^st Prize $200 school fee discount
  • 2^nd Prize $100 school fee discount
  • 3^rd Prize $50 gift card

Please note, upon completion of the survey, you will need to print the certificate of completion and hand it in to the office to be eligible for the incentives. 

HOW TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY (must be completed by Friday, 26th April, 2024)

1. Go to www.ecsi.site/au/user/
2. Enter the ECSI Website password: Ghj654
3. Click on "new user" and enter our school’s survey access code cC7uQg so that your input will be linked to our school.
4. The ECSI survey should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
5. Upon completion, print the certificate of successful participation and return to our school office.

For further information, please refer to the letter that was emailed to you.  I thank you for your assistance with this important initiative and ask that you take the time to submit a response.

P&F Meeting 5^th March
Please note that our next P&F meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 5^th March from 6pm in the staffroom.  All parents are most welcome to attend.  At this meeting, we will brainstorm some ways the P&F can financially contribute to the school.  This is always a practical and interesting meeting, so please make it along if you are able.

Quote of the Week

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop News
We continue to advertise for a new tuckshop convenor. In the interim, our tuckshop remains closed.  However, we will hold the following special order days, that all students can participate in;

• Tue 12^th March: Student Pizza Day
• Order via  Quickliq by 11am Monday 11th March
  
• PLEASE NOTE: You must choose the date 12th March in Quickcliq, then select different pizza options in the 'Select Meals' area

• Tue 26^th March: Student Pie Day
• Byrne’s beef mince pie only.
• Order via Quickcliq from week 8. Orders close at 11am 22/3. 
• Please note the change of date from 27/3 to 26/3.
• For parents that complete their ECSI parent survey, when you submit your certificate of completion to the school office you will receive a voucher entitling your child to a free student pie.  Use this voucher when ordering your child’s pie via Quickcliq. 

P & F News - St Mary's Pie Drive

The P&F are excited to kick off this year's fundraising with a PIE DRIVE.

Thanks to Byrnes Pies, we have a great selection of pies and sweets to choose from. Fill the fridge or freezer with quick, easy, and tasty dinner solutions.

Orders will close Monday 8th April
Delivery will take place during the second week in Term 2.

Scan the QR code to order, click on this link or alternatively print out the order form (click on link below) and drop back to the office with money orders by Wednesday 27th March.

Contact Melissa McGuiness - 0439 375 509 for any enquiries. 

Project Compassion - Third Week of Lent

Samoa may be a country surrounded by water, but access to clean drinking water is scarce in some areas, with many families facing extreme hardship as a result.

Leaia lives with her five children, husband, brother and sister-in-law on the island of Upolu in Samoa. Not having access to a reliable source of clean water caused Leaia a lot of worry.

Their home is not connected to a piped water system, so they had to rely solely on rainwater collected in old fridges. When their water ran out, Leaia had to walk with her young children to collect water in buckets and containers from a neighbour down the street.

With the support of Caritas Australia's local partner, Caritas Samoa, a water tank was installed at Leaia's home. She and her family now have a steady supply of clean drinking water at home. Next year, they will also have a toilet built, with the support of Caritas Samoa, which will further improve their health and living conditions.

"We are very thankful and grateful for the water tank. It has helped us so much and made our daily life easier," Leaia said. 

Please donate to Project Compassion.
Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow for all future generations.

You can donate through Project Compassion using donation boxes in student classrooms  and envelopes available from your parish, scanning the QR code, by visiting caritas.org.au/project-compassion or by calling 1800 024 413.

Photo: Laura Womersley/Caritas Australia

Caritas Classroom Tally

Sport News - Volunteers Needed

We still require a few more parent volunteers for the Cross Country/Fun Run on Friday 15th March. If you are able to help please email simone_sibley@rok.catholic.edu.au

Swap It - Week 6

Student of the Week

Week 5, Term 1 Student Award Winners

Community News