St Benedict's Primary School - Narrabundah eNewsletter

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week I returned from 3 weeks of leave and it has been wonderful to be back! On Monday morning we were all entertained by a fantastic Ukulele Club performance on assembly. Thinking that I might find it difficult to transition back into school, the students played/sang a Dolly Parton favourite ‘Working Nine to Five’. Their rendition of the song was fabulous and it made my day.

I greatly appreciated the work and commitment from Mrs Julie Douglas, who was Acting Principal in my absence. In her handover, Mrs Douglas expressed ‘I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at St Benedict’s. You really have a special school here and I am sure it is largely due to all the hard work. The staff are truly exceptional.’ I have always believed that we have an amazing school (students, families and staff) here at St Benedict’s but it was lovely to hear this reiterated in Mrs Douglas’ comments.

I also want to thank Mrs Karen Haines (AP) and Ms Natalie Zarb (REC) for the wonderful support and assistance they gave to Mrs Douglas in her time here.

Kindergarten Orientation 2025

This week we held the first of our 3 orientation mornings for the incoming 2025 Kindergarten class. It was a morning full of excitement and a few nerves! Next year we have 24 Kinder families that will be new to our school. We extend a warm welcome to these families and look forward to working in partnership with them over their child’s educational journey.

Boorowa Touch and Netball Gala Day

In Week 2, we had a large contingent of students who ventured to Boorowa to participate in the Touch Football and Netball Gala Day. It was a great day filled with a lot of excitement, fun and sport. I congratulate those students that tried a new sport for the first time - the day is aimed at participation and fun, rather than competition. Thank you to Mrs Laura Webb for all her organisation for the day and to Miss Madisson Doyle, Mrs Kerry-Anne Kwong, Miss Bridie McArthur and Miss Freya MacRae for their support of our students on this day.

Colour Run

Last Friday we held our Colour Run after it being postponed due to poor weather. From all accounts, it was a huge success with a lot of colour, fun and laughter. Thank you to all those parents and carers that volunteered their time and assistance to help out on the day.

Our final numbers are in! We raised an impressive total of approximately $9 800. Thank you to everyone that participated in the fundraising. This money will be used to purchase new sporting equipment and some IT resources. We hope to be using this new equipment before the end of the term.

Our Colour Run prizes are as follows:

Highest fundraiser – Baxter G (Baxter will be ‘Principal for the Day’)

First class to return sponsorship forms: Kindergarten (an icy pole reward)

Highest class fundraiser: Kindergarten (They will celebrate with a lunch party. Information about this will be sent home in the near future).

Thank you for your continued support and participation in our school community. We look forward to the second half of the term continuing to be filled with learning, celebration, and togetherness.

Yours in partnership,

Alana Quirk

Principal's Reminders

Class Allocations for 2025

Any requests received after Friday 22 November 2024 will not be considered

In the next few weeks, we will be finalising our staffing and class arrangements for 2025. Below is a copy of the ‘Class Allocation Policy’ which aims to ensure there is a fair and just process in allocating students to classes for the upcoming school year.

We believe teachers are in the best position to decide a child’s placement because they know all the children in their classes and have a view of the ‘big picture’. However, parents are invited to inform Mrs Quirk of anything that you feel needs to be considered, for your own child’s well-being or development. This information is to be only focused on your child and does not include requests to be with particular friends.

When forming the class lists the following factors are taken into consideration:

gender
learning needs
social/emotional needs
work habits
friendships
behaviour
health considerations
religion (to assist in achieving balance between classes, especially in Sacramental years) and
common names

Ideally, we aim for a balance across all areas in classes. Where practical, parental requests based on educational concerns may be considered. At St Benedict’s, we follow these principles and guidelines when considering placement of students each year:

Every care will be taken to ensure that each child is placed in the best situation to enhance learning and social development
Parents who wish to raise concerns regarding the class placement of their child should put the concern in writing and email it to our Principal (alana.quirk@cg.catholic.edu.au) by Friday of Week 6 (Friday 22 November). Parents cannot assume that requests from previous years will be taken into account. A new request will need to be made every year.
Parent concerns will be considered during the process. It must be clearly understood, however, that the final decision regarding student class placement lies with the school.
Significant time and effort on the behalf of the teaching staff is committed to class formations. Classes are initially drafted by current stage level teachers. These lists are then considered by the wider teaching staff group and then further reviewed by the Executive Team.
Children will be informed of their class placement for the following school year in December, on the day of our ‘Meet and Greet your 2025 teacher’ session. The opportunity will then be provided for students to spend some time with their new class teacher. New students to the school for the following year are invited to attend.
Throughout this process, after appropriate consultation, the Principal reserves the right to make final professional decisions regarding the placement of children.

Colour Run Sponsorship Forms

We still have some Colour Run sponsorship forms that have not been returned. Due to school legal and auditing requirements, we need to have all sponsorship forms accounted for (even if no sponsorship was received). If you still have a sponsorship form at home, please return it to school this week. If forms are still outstanding, our Front Office Manager will then email out a Statutory Declaration to families for signing. This form states that no monies were collected on behalf of the school. If you receive one of these forms, please sign it and return it to the Front Office by the end of next week. Thank you for your assistance with this matter.

From the Assistant Principal

Sunsmart

As the weather warms up, it is timely to remind ourselves about how we can manage hotter days both at school and at home.

At school:

all classrooms make use of the breeze by opening windows and doors, using fans and air-conditioning when needed
we vary our normal teaching environment by the use of our shady and cool outdoor facilities
teachers encourage students to drink water and allow access to drink bottles and bubblers at all times
we limit outdoor activities and events during the hottest parts of the day
the Library is open twice per week at lunch times to allow students to remain indoors

Parents can help by:

sending your child to school with a full water bottle
using a freezer brick in lunch in your child's lunch box to help food stay fresh
ensuring your child's school hat is in their bag each day
assisting your child to apply sunscreen before they head off to school

You can find more information about our SunSmart Policy on our school website.

Spotlight on Religious Education

Year 5 Journey with Jesus Retreat

Last week, our Year 5 students participated in the CSYMI (Catholic Schools Youth Ministry International) Journey with Jesus retreat. The 'Journey with Jesus' retreat allowed students to engage in meaningful formation focusing on a special 'Jesus backpack' that we are invited to carry with us as we journey through life. This backpack is filled with things that we can use on our journey to find our way through challenges as well as to spirituality nurture ourselves and our relationships - God's love (water bottle), Salvation (torch), Reconciliation and Forgiveness (First Aid Kit). Students finished the day writing a reflection letter. We are very excited to see the fruits of this retreat next year, as our Year 5 students become our school leaders and prepare to lead formation for our younger students.

Catholic Mission School Socktober Event

Friday 15th November

On Friday Week 5 students will be asked to wear a pair of silly socks to school for a gold coin donation to raise money for the 2024 Catholic Mission focus. This year the focus is children in Mongolia, especially the 'Caring Centre'. The Caring Centre provides vulnerable children with a loving and safe environment where they can access education and ongoing support. Children who present at this centre are most often orphaned or abandoned or are victims of family violence. Your generous donations can make an incredible difference in raising critical funds for this centre. To find out more about Mongolia and the Caring Centre please visit https://www.socktober.org.au/mongolia

In the lead up to our school fundraiser students will engage in a range of prayer experiences that will encourage them to think about their role and responsibility to bear witness to mission.

St Vincent de Paul Christmas Food Hampers

Each year our St Benedict's school community donates non-perishable food to our parish Vinnies Conference. This food is then made into Christmas hampers and distributed to people in our local community who are experiencing hardship. We encourage parents to talk with their children about the joy of giving without the expectation of receiving something in return. Each class will have a particular set of food items to donate. Families are welcome to donate as many food items as they wish. Your child may also like to make a Christmas card to put inside the Christmas hampers (eg Dear Family, May your Christmas be filled with joy, hope and love).

Kindergarten Tinned fruit, UHT custard and tinned ham

Year 1/2 Blue Pancake mix, jelly, cupcake/muffin mix, cake mix

Year 1/2 Gold Sweet biscuits, crackers and dried fruit

Year 3/4 Blue Cordial, long life milk and soft drink

Year 3/4 Gold Christmas pudding, shortbread and gingerbread

Year 5/6 Blue Chips. popcorn and Christmas themed serviettes/paper plates

Year 5/6 Gold Chocolate, lollies and zooper doopers

Please send all non-perishable food donations and handmade Christmas cards to your child's classroom over the next three weeks.

Dates to Remember

Out and About at St Benny's

Footsteps Dance Program

Numeracy Enrichment

Congratulations to the following Year 5/6 Numeracy enrichment students, for their recent completion of the Australasian Mathematical Problem Solving Olympiads Junior Maths Games.

Jayden L, Lucy W, Antoni T, Alexander H, Thisagari R, Zachary H, Laura K, Georgia H, Nicholas C, Collette N, Eli A, Beau F, Charlie W, Summer R, Gabriella G and Summah M.

Each of these students are to be commended for their commitment and improved problem solving strategies, as the demands of each paper became increasingly challenging during the year. They should be, as I am, very proud of their perseverance and hard work in completing these four Maths challenges. Each student will be presented with their Certificate of Achievement at this Friday's assembly.

A special mention goes to these students who are this year's recipients of 'APSMO Maths Games: Maths Star' awards, which they will also receive at assembly this Friday.

Jayden L: for consistently outstanding achievement

Lucy W: enthusiastic application and consistent achievement

Alexander H: improved application and results

Thisagari: consistent application and excellent results (Year 5)

Beau F: enthusiastic application and contributions during APSMO preparation sessions.

Mrs Anne White

Numeracy Enrichment Teacher

COLOUR RUN