Week 2, Term 3 2024
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back for Term 3. Seeing everyone enthusiastic and ready for a busy and productive term was great. Although the weather was cold and dreary during much of the break, it is always great for us all to take a break from school, recharge our batteries, and spend extra time at home with our families. I hope you all got to enjoy some extra family time.
A special welcome to three students who have joined our community this term. We welcome Grayson (Year 1), Georgia (Year 4) and Hunter (Year 5) and their families to St Benedict’s.
Teachers have spent much of their holidays preparing and planning teaching programmes for this term and all participated in a very valuable planning day on the Pupil Free Day that we commenced our term with. This was a great opportunity for staff to collaborate further on teaching and learning programmes and conduct a deep dive into our school data to help ensure we are addressing our student and school needs in the best way possible. Staff also continued their professional learning in High Impact Teaching Practice.
Director Visit
Last Friday our Catholic Education Director, Mr Ross Fox, visited our school. Whilst here, Mr Fox was taken on a tour of classrooms by a couple of Year 6 Leaders, Lucy and Jayden. He spent time talking with some students and seeing the great teaching practice and learning happening across our classrooms. I then met with Mr Fox to discuss our school, priorities and key improvement strategies before he chatted with staff over lunch.
NAPLAN Results
All Year 3 and 5 parents and carers should have received their child’s individual NAPLAN results last week.
NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) provides valuable insights into our students' achievements in key areas such as reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar, and punctuation), and numeracy. It is one of many tools we use to understand and support the learning journey of our students.
As you review your child's results, please remember that NAPLAN is just one aspect of their educational experience. It offers a snapshot of their performance at a particular point in time. Each child is unique, with their strengths, interests, and areas for growth. At St Benedict’s Primary School, we believe in nurturing the whole child, fostering their academic, social, emotional, and spiritual development.
Should you have any questions or wish to discuss your child's progress in more detail, our teachers are always available to support you. We encourage you to reach out and schedule a meeting with them.
Catholic Education Governance
Earlier this year, Archbishop Christopher announced changes to the governance arrangements for Catholic Education within the Archdiocese from 2025. This will result in a change to the proprietor of each Catholic School in the ACT but will not otherwise materially impact school operations. If you would like further information about this change, or you would like to provide feedback about the change in proprietor, please contact governance@cg.catholic.edu.au.
School Satisfaction Surveys (Tell Them from Me)
As part of our focus on school improvement, St Benedict’s Primary School will participate in an online survey for staff, parents, and students—Tell Them From Me® (TTFM®). You will receive a link to complete this survey during the survey time of August 5th – August 23rd. I encourage all families to complete the survey as your feedback directly feeds into future school planning for key improvement priorities. It also assists us to clearly identify our successes and what you value about our St Benedict’s school community. Without a large parent response, the data will be an accurate reflection of our family’s opinions about our school.
The Years 4-6 student survey will provide valuable feedback on what our students think about school life, how engaged they are with school, and how teachers interact with them. Schools in Australia and worldwide have used the Tell Them From Me survey to help them improve.
During the next few weeks, students in Years 4-6 will be given the opportunity and time to participate in this survey during regular school hours. Students will be given a random username and password to access and complete the survey online. Students’ names cannot be linked to their responses, which allows it to be completely anonymous. Results will show all student scores combined– it is not possible to single out individual students in the results.
The survey also allows students to give their thoughts and feedback in open-ended question responses. If you do not want your child to take part in the survey, please let your teacher know by Friday 9 August.
NAIDOC Mass
Last Friday Mrs De Salis and Mrs Haines accompanied a group of children and some families to the Catholic Education NAIDOC Mass, held at St Christopher’s Cathedral. NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of First Nations peoples. Thank you to the family members that accompanied their child/ren. It was so special to have some family involvement in this very special mass. Our students represented our school brilliantly!
Principal's Lunch - 50 Bee Tokens
Next Tuesday I am excited to celebrate a group of students who have received 50 Bee Tokens over Semester 1. Students receive Bee Tokens for going 'above and beyond' in demonstrating our 5 Ways of Being. By the end of the week, an email will be sent to parents of these students with details of this lunch celebration.
Yours in partnership,
Alana Quirk
Principal's Reminders
Grandparents and Grandfriends Day
This Friday we celebrate the role of grandparents and older people in our lives. We would love to have grandparents, families and friends help us celebrate the importance of these people in our lives by attending all or some of the events we have planned.
At 10am we will hold a whole school mass in the church. Just a reminder that if you have a photo of grandparents and grandfriends with your child/ren and would like this included in the reflection slideshow presentation, please email this to Kerryanne.kwong@cg.catholic.edu.au by tomorrow morning (Thursday 1st August) by 9:00am.
We would love our visitors to join us for morning tea at 11:00am in the library. School families are asked to contribute a plate to the morning tea for our visitors. All contributions can be left at the front office on Friday morning.
After recess (11:30am – 12:00pm) visitors are invited to visit classrooms and spend a little time in with the children.
We look forward to welcoming you!
From the Assistant Principal
ICAS
ICAS assessments begin next week. We have had a pleasing number of enrolments from our students in Years 2 - 6. The session dates and times below have been scheduled, although there is some flexibility if we need to reschedule for any unforseen circumstances.
ICAS Assessments | ||
Wednesday 7 August | 10:30am | Writing |
Wednesday 7 August | 11:30am | Digital Techologies |
Wednesday 14 August | 11:30am | English |
Thursday 22 August | 10:30am | Science |
Thursday 22 August | 11:30am | Spelling |
Thursday 29 August | 11:30am | Maths |
World of Maths Hands On Maths Workshops Thursday 15 August
As part of this Term’s work, we have invited World of Maths (a travelling, interactive Maths Workshop) to visit our school.
World of Maths offers an ideal opportunity for students to see how maths is applied to everyday life situations and explore Maths in a hands-on environment. Students are encouraged to communicate their Maths ideas and answers with other students in small teams, working together.
Students will gain insight into problem solving, working in teams, and explore various mathematic strands which are part of their curriculum this term.
It is a highly engaging session which will show that Maths is everywhere and is important and of course that Maths can be fun!
Session Times
World of Maths Thursday 15 August | |
9:10 - 10:10 | Year 5/6 |
Reset time for facilitators | |
11:00 | RECESS |
11:30 - 12:30 | Year 1/2 |
12:30 - 1:30 | Kindergarten |
1:30 | LUNCH |
2:10 - 3:10 | Year 3/4 |
Reset time before evening session | |
5:30 - 6:30 | Parent and Child Session |
Parents and Carers are very welcome to attend during the day and share the sessions with your child/ren. If you are unable to attend during the day, please try to come to the evening session with your child/ren, so you can join in the fun together. It promises to be a great day and evening of learning and celebrating Maths.
School Photos
A reminder that school photos are being taken next week - Wednesday 7 August. Students are to wear full Winter Uniform. Please ensure your child is at school on time, to avoid missing their class and individual photo time. Students remember to bring your best smiles!
Dates to Remember
Out and About at St Benny's
Book Week
The theme for Book Week this year is 'Reading is Magic' and to launch the theme everyone listened to the story of 'Aladdin and his magical lamp' as told by Scheherazade.
Book Week is the most exciting week in the library and it will be celebrated on Wednesday 21st August with students dressing up as their favourite book character and participating in a variety of book related activities. More information to follow!
Term 2 Ways of Being Awards
Congratulations to the following students who received the Term 2 Ways of Being - Be Welcoming award;
Claire B, Thirigsaya R, Noah D, Olivia L, Shivansh K, Isabella E, Jackson K, Verona N, Eli M, Aly S, Mia C, Beau F, Eli A and Isabella M.
Numeracy Enrichment
Today our Year 5/6 Numeracy Enrichment students participated in their third 'Maths Games Junior' contest, facilitated by the Australasian Problem-Solving Mathematical Olympiads (APSMO) organisation. Today's problem-solving challenges focused on the strategies of 'solving a simpler related problem' and 'eliminating all but one possibility'.
Students have been working hard practicing these strategies in their enrichment sessions late last term. We wished them well as they undertook this third challenge paper.
'Maths Games Junior Contest 4' the final paper, will be held on Wednesday 4th September.
Mrs Anne White - Numeracy Enrichment/Classroom Teacher
Benny's News
Book Club are orders due Monday 12th August.
Counsellor's Corner
Happy Birthday
Merit Awards
Team Kids
Community News
