St Mary's School, Warwick eNewsletter

Principal's Message

As we continue throughout our year, I wanted to touch base with our parents in relation to our flexible learning environments, also referred to as contemporary learning environments. This innovative approach to teaching and learning is designed to empower our students, enhance their educational experience, and prepare them for the ever-evolving world around them.

Flexible learning environments provide students with the opportunity to customise their educational journey while still maintaining a structured framework. It is crucial to note that flexibility does not equate to chaos or an absence of expectations. On the contrary, our flexible learning environments are carefully structured, setting clear expectations for our students, as evidenced in signage within our classrooms.

One of the key advantages of a flexible learning environment is that it recognises and celebrates the unique learning styles, interests, and strengths of each individual student. Gone are the days when every student was expected to conform to a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach to education. Instead, we now embrace the diversity of our student body and create an environment that caters to their individual needs.

By allowing students to have a say in their learning journey, we foster a sense of ownership and responsibility. Students are actively engaged in setting goals, making decisions, and taking charge of their education. This autonomy not only empowers them but also instils a deep sense of motivation and self-drive to succeed.

Our flexible learning environment encourages collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills. Students have the ability to work individually (caves), in small groups (waterholes), or participate in whole-class activities (campfires), depending on what best suits their learning style or the nature of the task at hand. This adaptability not only accommodates diverse learning preferences but also prepares students for the collaborative work environments they are likely to encounter in their future careers.

In our recent Year 4-6 student survey we asked questions in relation to student learning, the classroom structures and environment. We can see from the results that most of our students understand the theory behind our 3 learning spaces; campfire, waterhole and caves. It is overwhelmingly clear that over half of our students in Year 4-6 prefer collaborative group learning, i.e. waterholes, which is an essential component for future work environments.

Furthermore, in a flexible learning environment, students have the opportunity to explore their passions and pursue personalised projects. By following their interests, students become active participants in their education, fostering a deeper connection and engagement with the subject matter. This approach nurtures creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills, which are invaluable in today's rapidly changing world.

Importantly, while flexibility is a central tenet of our learning environment, it is balanced with clear expectations. Students are still accountable for meeting the learning objectives, academic standards set by our curriculum and their individual learning goals. We provide the necessary structure to guide their progress and ensure they develop the essential knowledge and skills required for their future success.

At St Mary’s we are confident that our flexible learning environment continues to strengthen and cultivate independent thinkers, lifelong learners, and well-rounded individuals. By granting students the freedom to take charge of their education within a structured framework, we empower them to become active contributors to their own success. One way that this occurs at St Mary’s is through the choice of furniture given to match each students’ learning needs. It is clear from the survey results that the majority of students are regularly using different furniture to support their learning. Results from Question 30 also show what students are choosing to access for different learning tasks.

Part of our cultural change in relation to our learning environment has been in educating students on why our classrooms work the way they do and how furniture can support their overall learning. Results clearly indicate that the majority of students understand why we have these options, and some examples are included below for your perusal.

Furthermore, we asked students did they like the options of furniture that we have and overwhelming again, the Year 4-6 students confirmed they do. We also wanted to dig a little deeper and ask the why and some examples of responses are listed below.

Keeping in mind that we knew that there was a possibility that not every student sees a benefit from flexible furniture, therefore, we included a response for their voice to be heard as well through the following question - Please explain your reasoning for not liking flexible furniture options.

One of the questions that has been asked by parents is “does it look the same throughout the school?” and the answer is no. We have a developmental approach that we take throughout our school in relation to our flexible or contemporary learning environments to ensure access and success for all students. Just like in any environment, not all students respond the same way to the tools provided; however, it is our responsibility to ensure that each student has their needs met in whatever capacity for success and growth in their learning journey. Outlined below is our approach within our learning stages:

At St Mary’s we purposefully made the decision to move away from a traditional classroom learning environment to a more contemporary, flexible environment that caters for all learners and their needs to recognise and respond to the changing world and workplaces, which require a workforce that can be creative and collaborative.

At St Mary’s we have gone from this thinking:

To a flexible, contemporary learning environment:

Thank you for your ongoing support and trust in our commitment to providing the best education for our students.

Enjoy your mid-year break with your families!

God Bless!

Emma Timmins
Principal

Religious Life of the School

Celebrating First Nations Culture

Our students and staff have celebrated First Nations culture this week with rotations of dance, art and storytelling, followed a liturgy led by Year 2. Special thanks to Mr Ken for bringing the day together for our students so we could celebrate First Nations culture.

NAIDOC Celebrations

You are our Father, you live in heaven,

We talk to you. Father you are good.

You are our Father, you live in heaven,

We talk to you. Father you are good.

We believe your word, Father,

We are your children, give us bread today.

We believe your word, Father,

We are your children, give us bread today.

We have done wrong, we are sorry,

Teach us, Father, all about your Word.

We have done wrong, we are sorry,

Teach us, Father, all about your Word.

Others have done wrong to us,

And we are sorry for them, Father, today.

Others have done wrong to us,

And we are sorry for them, Father, today.

Stop us from doing wrong, Father,

Save us all from the evil one.

Stop us from doing wrong, Father,

Save us all from the Evil One.

You are our Father, you live in heaven,

We talk to you, Father, you are good.

You are our Father, you live in heaven,

We talk to you, Father, you are good.

Mini Vinnies Winter Appeal

Our Mini Vinnies group are currently collecting items for the St Vincent de Paul annual Winter Appeal. We are asking for donations of items that can be used to help provide warmth to those who are in need in our community.

Some suggested items are:

Old blankets/rugs
Beanies, scarves, gloves
Canned food such as soup, baked beans
Milo/hot chocolate powder
Cup of soup/noodles
Hot water bottles/heat packs
Hand warmer packets

Please send your items to your child’s classroom. We have extended our collection time to enable more families to support this very worthy cause.

We thank you in advance for your generosity.

Disco Fun

Disco Fever was alive at St Mary's this week with our end of term fun, Special thanks to the staff who put this on for our students for some end of term fun. I am not sure who had the most fun the students or the staff.

If your child had fun at our school disco your family may like to attend the St Mary's Youth Mission disco raising money for their trip to India. This is a family event and children would need their parents to attend.

Term 3 Date Claimers

10th July - Pupil Free Day

11th July - First day of school for students for Term 3

12th July - Wear your State of Origin colours to school for the final game. Mrs Young is looking forward to seeing a sea of blue!!!

15th July - Parish Disco

18th-20th July - School Renewal Improvement Plan

21st July - Assembly led by Year 5 @ 2:15pm

24th July - Catholic Education Week Liturgy led by Year 6 @ 2:15pm

26th July - Art Extravaganza @ 6pm

27th July - First Nations Committee Meeting at Kindy

28th July - Pupil Free Day

1st August - Southern Downs Athletics

4th August - Assembly led by Year 3 @ 2:15pm

11th August - Years 4&5 Parish Mass @ 9am

14th-16th August - Book Fair

15th August - Feast of the Assumption Mass @ 12:30pm; Market Day Fun @ 2pm

18th August - Year 2 Assembly @ 2:15pm

21st and 22nd August - Parent-Student-Teacher Interviews

23rd August - Book Week dress up

24th August - First Nations Committee Meeting at Assumption College

25th August - Year 6 Parish Mass @ 9am

9th September - Family Mass - St Mary's Church @ 6pm

30th August - Year 1 Liturgy @ 9am

31st August - Father's Day Liturgy - led by Prep @ 10am

31st August - Year 6 Transition Program at Assumption College @ 12-3pm

1st September - Pupil Free Day

6th September - Year 2 Liturgy @ 11:40am

7th September - School Ball

8th September - Year 3 Parish Mass @ 9am

8th September - Warwick Ball Games

13th September - Prep Liturgy @ 9am

14th September - First Nations Committee Meeting at St Mary's

15th September - Year 1 Doyle Assembly @ 2:15pm

God blessings for a wonderful holiday,

Sharon Young, Assistant Principal: Religious Education

Sharon Young
Assistant Principal: Religious Education

Curriculum

Semester 1 Report Cards

This week we published report cards out to families, which shows you a summary of your child's learning through Semester 1. In the last newsletter, we discussed the importance of understanding what the Academic and Effort grades mean in your child/ren's report cards.

Once you have read your child's report card, we encourage you to ask them questions about their learning, both throughout the semester and across the entire year. It is during times of reflection that we often 'connect the puzzle pieces together' - that is, that students understand and consolidate how their prior learning has grown and shaped their current self, which in turn develops their growth mindset towards future learning. The image below shares some example questions you could ask your child to support this process!

The report cards also identify your child's current reading level, which is determined through the diagnostic reading assessments 'PM Benchmarks' and 'PROBE Reading Comprehension'. The infographic below explains these assessments a little further, including when we use them and what skills they are specifically measuring. PM Benchmarks are assessed once a term and PROBEs once a semester.

At SMW we use the data gathered from each round of reading assessment to assist in informing the upcoming term and semester of learning. Teachers use this evidence to determine specific areas for improvement and next steps for their class and at the individual level. Students are provided with multiple opportunities and contexts in which to develop their reading abilities further, including our Guided, Modelled and Shared Reading program, reading comprehension through subject learning, homework and more.

Take a look at the infographic below to learn more about how you can support your child in reading at home, as well as understanding where they are at in relation to TCS targets for their year level. Remember, these targets are for the end of the school year, so it is perfectly normal for your child to not be at this level by the end of Semester 1. However, you are more than welcome to discuss any questions or concerns with your child's teacher at the upcoming Parent-Teacher-Student interviews next term.

Wishing everyone in our school community a safe and happy holiday break. Looking forward to seeing you all back in Semester 2!

Jess Harper
Middle Leader: Curriculum

Positive School Culture

At St Mary’s we continually strive to build a positive school culture through the following:

We have been working with students throughout the year on how to build positive relationships with each other and with other members of the school community. This can be done many different ways, such as knowing each student’s name, using greetings each day, recognition of success; additionally through the Reboot approach we have recently included another dimension of learning for our students, in relation to the concepts of Power over, Power under and Power with. Dynamics of relationships can be very confusing and tricky for students to navigate but extremely important for them to know that they have the power within their actions. When supporting students with social issues or challenges we will be asking the following question:

The reason behind asking this question is that some students don’t realise that they have actually given their power away through their actions. We want students to stay grounded and have control to not accept what is happening to them or for students who are witnessing this happening to assist by having the courage to speak up and address the negative behaviours. Here are some visuals on what we will be teaching our students about power, in relation to Power Over, Power Under and Power With.

Examples of Pros and Cons for Power Over and Power With

Keep an eye out in upcoming newsletters for more information or have discussions with your child/ren about Power and consider asking some prompting questions on the car ride home or around the dinner table:

1. Is your classroom a Power With class? How do you know this?

2. How do you show Power With when you are on the playground?

3. Did you have any moments today when you had a power struggle and feeling Power Over? How did you take your power back?

4. Can you recall a time when you have used Power Over? What did you do?

Administration

Winter Lunches

Now that Winter has arrived, we have a number of students who are eating more at lunch and running out of food for Snack Break in the afternoon. Please ensure you pack enough food for your child for the day and for little ones let them know what to keep for Snack.

Jumpers & Jazz School Display

St Mary’s will once again be participating in the school display for Jumpers and Jazz 2023. We are calling all school family, friends and community members who are keen and able to work their ‘yarn magic’ and offer their knitting and crocheting skills to create items for our display. If you can support us, could you please contact the school office to leave your name and contact details as soon as possible. We will be in touch with you to discuss the finer details of our ideas and requirements. Also, if anyone has spare wool, they no longer have a use for we could put it to good use for our project. Many thanks!

St Mary's Admin Staff would like to wish you all a very happy, safe and relaxing holiday! It's been a pleasure to support and assist you all. We love our St Mary's families and we look forward to seeing you all again in Term 3.

Library News

Date Claimer: Scholastic Book Fair

Mark your diaries now for our annual Scholastic Book Fair, which is coming soon in term 3. The Fair will be launched on Monday 14 August and will be open before and after school until Wednesday 16 August. As always, we appreciate the support of our St Mary’s families in ensuring that this year’s Fair is another great success. All sales earn us valuable reward dollars, which are used to purchase new books and resources for our school library. This year’s theme is Hats Off to Reading. We would warmly welcome the help of any parent or carer volunteers who might be able to assist with themed decorating and / or helping to sell books between 14 to 16 August. Please contact emma.al-eidani@twb.catholic.edu.au if you are able to assist.

Book Week 2023

Term 3 is an exciting one for readers! This year’s CBCA Book Week, will be held from 21 to 25 August. The theme this year is Read, Grow, Inspire. As in previous years, students will have the opportunity to come in fancy dress on Wednesday 23 August and celebrate all things books! In order to promote our love of reading, each class has been invited to choose a book, with students having the option to come dressed as any character from that book. Class teachers will be in contact with the details of their chosen book. For those who may have already arranged a costume, students can still promote their own book by bringing along a copy to show everyone on dress up day.

5/6 Readers’ Challenge

We are looking forward to taking three teams of keen readers to the Readers’ Challenge which will be held at Warwick State High School on Thursday 27 July 2023. If your child is participating in the Challenge, please encourage them to read the book that they have brought home over the holidays and to start reviewing our practice comprehension questions. We look forward to meeting with the teams in term 3 and preparing for what will no doubt be an exciting challenge amongst schools. More information about the Challenge will be sent home to parents and carers of those students who have signed up to participate.

Holiday Reading

Holidays are a great time for reading and your child adding to their Premier's Reading Challenge reading list.

non_state_school_reader_record_form.pdf

Don’t forget that our students have access to a vast collection or e-books and audio books on ePlatform by Wheelers: https://toowoombaresourcecentre.wheelers.co/

Access is via the link above or click through from our school’s library catalogue at https://au.accessit.online/STM27 using your child’s St Mary’s login credentials.

Alternatively, discover something new with our educational multimedia streaming platform ClickView: https://www.clickview.net/au Login with your child’s St Mary’s login credentials.

Catch up on the latest episodes from Behind the News or explore one of their trending educational series. ClickView even offers age-appropriate TV series, documentaries and films for family holiday fun.

Sport

St Mary's Athletics Carnival

A wonderful day of competition and sportsmanship was had for our Athletics Carnival. Special thanks to Mrs Wright for our student preparation, the staff and parents who helped with the carnival, Mrs Collman for her recording of all events and Assumption College students who helped in many ways on the day.

9 yr old boy winner:	Riley Byrne	Runner Up:	Declan Ryan
9 yr old girl winner:	Miller Spiller	Runner Up:	Abby Latham
10 yr old boy winner:	Xavier Fox	Runner Up:	Michael Duncan
10 yr old girl winner:	Samantha Groves	Runner Up:	Harper Byrne
11 yr old boy winner:	Joshua Ryan	Runner Up:	Patrick Kajewski
11 yr old girl winner:	Maeve Moore	Runner Up:	Georgia Blake
12 yr old boy winner:	Charlie McKelvey	Runner Up:	William Cantwell
12 yr old girl winner:	Maha Tahir	Runner Up:	Payton Ganly

Record Broken: Maeve Moore in 12 year old girls 1500m

Record Tied: Samantha Groves in 10 year old girls High Jump

Robin Miller Shield/Medallion (11 yr old with highest points): Maeve Moore

Robin Miller 6 yr old Champion (fastest time boy/girl): Oliver Rogers

Relay Trophy: Winner - Tie with Potter Blue and Rooney Red 3rd - Kelly Gold

Field Events Trophy: Winner - Potter Blue 2nd - Kelly Gold 3rd - Rooney Red

Overall Aggregate Trophy: Winner - Potter Blue 2nd - Rooney Red 3rd - Kelly Gold

2023 Athletics Trophies

Thankyou to all our Volunteers who helped out with Tuckshop during Term 2, we have really appreciated your assistance and hope to see you again next term.

Parent Network

Thank you to the parents who were able to attend our Reboot parent network forums recently. If you were unable to attend but are interested in learning more please contact the school office. More information can also be found at Parenting – Rebooting Now – Success in Learning & Life

Save the Date - St Mary's School Trivia Night

Our Trivia Night will be held on Saturday, 26th August.

There will be a working party meeting on Wednesday, 12th July at 6pm in the School Board Room. All are encouraged to attend to help set up a great Trivia Night for our school. Many hands make light work!