Issue 1 - 1 February 2023

Newsletter Articles

VISION STATEMENT

PRINCIPAL’S PEN

Greetings Families and Friends,

It has been an absolute pleasure to welcome new and not so new faces back for another school year at St Rita’s. We are thrilled to welcome the new families that join us in 2023, Luca and family, Charlie and family, Bridget and family, Hezekiah and family, Matilda, Loclan, Kurtis and family and Scarlett and family. We welcome you warmly into our extended St Rita’s family.

We also need to mention Georgia and Danny, who are part of existing families, but are starting their school journey with us in Prep this year. Also, an official welcome to Miss Bridie Naughtin. Bridie has moved all the way from Melbourne to teach our Year 5/6 cohort this year. She has fitted in remarkably well and it is great to have another Victorian on the team.

I certainly appreciate all who have returned to our school over the holidays too. It has been great to see the students and teachers again, all set for another big year of learning and exploration at St Rita’s.

Boulders Week

At St Rita's we believe that the key to a successful start to the year lies in the ability for students and educators to build strong and trusting relationships. Which is why the first 7 days of this term have been set aside for the students to spend quality time getting to know their educators and peers, as well as the school-wide positive behaviour framework. We believe that this will be a positive investment into what’s going to be another busy and dynamic educational year.

This week we launched ‘Boulders Week’ with each afternoon a new ‘Learning Boulder’ being explored right across the school. At St Rita’s, we have 6 unique ‘Learning Boulders’. These were chosen by our educators, with their knowledge of how our children at St Rita’s learn best. We strive to include as many of these as possible in all learning tasks. Our Boulders are;

Hands-on
Joy
Relevant
Dynamic
Community
Connection

The Boulders theme, obviously links with our local icon, the Babinda Boulders. Like the Boulders, we believe these ideas about learning are constant and immovable. The more these ideas are linked into our learning, the more success, engagement and interaction with the curriculum, we are likely to have.

It has been great to see the happy faces take part in their first two days of ‘Boulder’ activities. I’m sure there are many smiles to come with what’s in store for the next 4 days.

Family Night

This year we are hosting a family night which is on next Tuesday the 7th of February at 3pm. We will gather for a formal introduction of staff before we share a BBQ and play games in the school yard. I’d encourage every family to make it if they can. It will be a nice opportunity to meet and greet our school community in a relaxed atmosphere. Please RSVP your attendance for catering purposes.

Sporting Schools

This term we will have Cricket as our focus for the Sporting Schools program. Jacob from the Innisfail Cricket Club will come to our school next Tuesday and the 5 following Tuesday’s to teach our students about Cricket and how to play it. Students are welcome to wear their sports uniform on these days.

Little Kids, Big Worries

Next Wednesday the 8th of February, Alana from VPG will visit our school to run a parent workshop on childhood anxiety. This will run from 2pm-3pm in the school library. I’d encourage those that can attend to do so, because last time it ran the feedback I received was it was very worthwhile.

To register your spot, reach out to Alana by phone: 0488 321 605, email: alana@vpginc.com.au.

Uniform

A reminder that the correct uniform needs to be worn each day to school. Shoes and hats are also a must when playing outside. The consequence for not having either of these is sitting out of play, which we hope to enforce on nobody, and we do have some spare but limited shoes and hats if need be. If your child is not in uniform for any reason, please write a note to your child’s teacher or text the office mobile.

Michael Rowe
Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

MTSS – Behaviour Matrix

Welcome back to what I anticipate to be a wonderful year. Next week we will distribute our Behavior matrix along with our Positive behaviour framework book at our BBQ meet and greet. At St Rita’s it is our belief that school-wide expectations encourage consistent communications and establish a common language of expectations for all staff and students across all settings. We believe that agreed upon student expectations promote the school’s Catholic Identity and provide consistency across the staff and school community. Be Respectful, be Responsible and be a Learner are our three values. If you have any further questions about our matrix, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. This week staff are eager to hand out “Gotcha’s” to acknowledge students demonstrating the following behaviour:

Term 1 Focus

• Wear the school uniform correctly at all times, bring a note from a parent if you are unable to do this.
• Use polite language and manners. Greet others politely when spoken to.
• Follow the bell quickly and wait for teacher.

O Week: DATA

During O Week, staff were eager to look at our Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) data. By looking at our Semester 2 report card data, we were able to decipher how we can best support students with their skills in getting along, confidence, persistence, resilience and organisation. With a focus on well-being for 2023, targeted intervention groups with S.M.A.R.T goals will allow our students to engage more meaningfully in their learning, as we eliminate barriers that prevent them from achieving success.

Inquiry – based learning

We were very fortunate to work with “Traces of Learning” to further unpack our Vision statement and how as a staff we are accountable for our students learning experiences. In January 2022, staff at St Rita's Babinda undertook a journey of re aligning our school vision with how we see our learners today. Together staff brainstormed the ways in which students best learn and how we as educators play an important role in facilitating knowledge. In an endeavour to meet the needs of our ever changing learners we decided to embark on a journey which highlights the uniqueness of each student. Through inquiry based learning students become responsible for their curiosity, creating learning experiences that are true to our boulders of community, connection, joy, dynamic, hands-on and relevant.

The Benefits Of Inquiry-Based Learning

• Enhances learning experiences for children.
• Teaches skills needed for all areas of learning.
• Fosters curiosity in students.
• Deepens students' understanding of topics.
• Allows students to take ownership of their learning.
• Increases engagement with the material.
• Creates a love of learning.

During our Professional development we asked ourselves “What have we done so far that is true to our boulders”. Our robust conversations are a testament to our commitment to staying true to our boulders, our trial and error and our ability to teach education that is relevant and meaningful for our learners. As a staff we decided that on our HASS journey so far, the following attributes below are visible:

NAPLAN 2023: Test structure and durations

The NAPLAN 2023 Test will include testing on 4 domains and will commence for grades 3 and 5 on Wednesday 15th of March. More details will be released soon.

Writing – Students are provided with a ‘writing stimulus’ (sometimes called a ‘prompt’ – an idea or topic) and asked to write a response in a particular genre (narrative or persuasive writing).
Reading – Students read a range of informative, imaginative, and persuasive texts and then answer related questions.
Conventions of language – This test assesses spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Numeracy – This test assesses numbers and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,
Sam Benvenuti
Deputy Principal – Leader of Learning and Teaching

Counsellor’s Corner

Dear parents and carers,

Welcome back to School for 2023

‘Growth begins at the end of our comfort zone’.

I hope you have had a welcome holiday break and enjoying the return of the rhythm of school. I am excited to be returning as your School Counsellor this year and will be available Tuesdays for 2023.

Returning to a structured day with time frames, lunches to prepare and tasks to complete can bring challenges and adjustments for all of us. Be kind to yourself and your children as we all adjust to the timetable of school days. Take a breath, find tolerance within, role model patience and kindness to start the year with a positive smile.

With renewed adjustment, big emotions can emerge to test our resilience. This is natural and expected, there are a range of automatic and unconscious reactions that are best supported with acknowledgement and acceptance. When you see those big feelings emerge in your child, take time to connect before correcting, name those feelings, give space and guidance; children will feel heard and reassured. Messages of safety, bravery and reassurance are important right now. True resilience begins when we can learn to embrace those ‘big’ feelings followed by opportunities to tame them. Author Neale Walsch shares ‘Growth begins at the end of your comfort zone’. So, let’s embrace the challenges ahead, no matter how uncomfortable they can seem. Remember support is available from the wonderful staff at St Rita’s, talk to your teacher, support staff or myself if you have ongoing concerns.

Warm regards,
Miss Jo
School Counsellor

DATE CLAIMERS

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

MUNRO THEATRE

Little People Big Worries – St Rita’s Library

PIANO LESSONS AND THEORY OF MUSIC

Expressions of interest and enquiries for piano lessons and Theory of Music on Saturday’s
Please phone:- Bernadette Anthony on 0499 180 022
Or email:- bernanthony19@gmail.com

Back to school lunch box ideas workshop

Strategies for Bedtime Parenting Seminar

Circle of security Workshop

MUSIC LESSONS WITH JENNI