St Maria Goretti School, Inglewood eNewsletter

From the Principal

Dear families,

Welcome back and thank you for reading the first newsletter of 2024.

I have had the pleasure of visiting classrooms regularly over the past week and a half, and it is evident that St Maria Goretti is a place of high quality learning. As detailed in our Strategic Plan - St Maria Goretti is committed to being a place where educators use their expert knowledge of the curriculum to effectively teach expert learners based on their personal needs (2023-2026).

On assembly in Week 1 I spoke about the importance of pride. Not only striving to make our peers, family, and teachers proud - but most importantly, striving to make ourselves proud. As we settle in to a new school year I am confident that our students will continue making those around them proud, and most importantly, finding pride within themselves.

We welcome our new students to the school - Huxley, Heathe, Gracie, Willow, Nate, Carter, Frankie and Alyrah. Our Preppies are already demonstrating excellent learning behaviours within the classroom. We also welcome Miss Rush, who will be working as a Teacher Aide over the next few weeks.

Meet the Teachers

We will be running our annual Meet the Teacher event next Wednesday. Please see the information, below.

Safer Internet Day

On Tuesday the 6th of February, our school will be supporting Safer Internet Day. A global initiative, coordinated in Australia by the eSafety Commissioner, that brings together community, families,
schools and organisations from more than 160 countries to help create safer online spaces.

To celebrate Safer Internet Day 2024 our school will:
• participate in eSafety's Virtual Classrooms (Two virtual classrooms are available: one for Years 3-4 and another for Years 5-6)
• promote eSafety Parent and Carer webinars to our school community each term.

The link below will take you to information about free webinars for parents and carers -

Webinars for parents and carers | eSafety Commissioner

Our school is committed to raising online safety awareness and helping students build positive online relationships. Learn more at www.eSafety.gov.au/sid #ConnectReflectProtect #SID2024

Upcoming Dates

2nd February - MAC Zone swimming trials

7th February - Meet the Teacher event (3:30pm)

8th February - Year 6 Badge Ceremony on Assembly

9th February - Toowoomba Catholic Schools swimming carnival

13th February - Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)

14th February - Ash Wednesday liturgy

I would like to wish Jazmen, Addy, Rachael, and Chiquita the best of luck at the Mac Zone swimming trials tomorrow.

Yours in education,

Casey Robinson

Principal

Students of the Week - Week 1 & 2

Library News

Welcome to 2024 in the library!

We have started our class browse and borrow sessions so please check your student’s book choices and share them at home. Thanks also for reminding students to bring their library loans and bags each Thursday.

Most Important Library Link

School families can find resources from home via our Library Database – AccessIT

St Maria Goretti School - Inglewood (accessit.online)

Britannica School, ClickView, Storybox Library and Wheelers e-platform are available via the ONLIINE RESOURCE dashboard in AccessIT. Use the blue single sign on button to find these resources and their log in details.

Some Important Library Dates

Wednesday 7th February is World Read-aloud Day

World Read Aloud Day — LitWorld®

“Reading aloud at home and at school is one of the best ways to help children develop literacy skills. According to research by the University of Melbourne, daily reading aloud to children puts them almost a year ahead of children who do not receive daily read-alouds, regardless of income, education level or cultural background. Reading aloud is an incredibly accessible and powerful way to help listeners of all ages build essential literacy skills.”

We will be celebrating this day with classroom read -alouds for the sheer joy of sharing a story!

Monday 12th - Friday 16th is Queensland School Libraries Week

We will be marking this week with reflections around the importance of story and what we can learn from characters we meet in stories. Students can enter artwork for judging, details will be available from the library and online at Qld School Library Week — Queensland School Library Association (qsla.org.au)

Prep – Year 1 Lessons

Students are learning to listen to and say what they enjoy about a story. We share some fun moments as we explore the book together and tell a classmate what we thought about it. Students will create an illustration of their favourite character from the shared books in Week 4 as part of our School Libraries Week celebrations.

Year 2 - 6 Lessons

Students are getting to know the books created by Tania Cox and Gregg Dreise. They will be preparing to give a book recommendation of a library book they have read to their classmates. Each lesson also includes some practice with locating and using digital information.

Week 1 in the Library

Happy Reading Everyone!

Anne Anderson

Teacher Librarian

NAPLAN 2024 Schedule

Students in Year 3 and Year 5 will be sitting NAPLAN between 13 and 25 March 2024.

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance; however, students and parents may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.

This is the second year NAPLAN will be held in March, having previously taken place in May. This change was made so school systems would have access to results earlier in the school year, so they can be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year.

Why NAPLAN is conducted online...
• All schools transitioned to NAPLAN online in 2022, as the online format improves NAPLAN.
• NAPLAN online provides a better assessment and more precise results.
• One of the main benefits of NAPLAN online is that it uses tailored (or adaptive) testing. This means that students receive questions better suited to their abilities, so they can show what they know and can do.
• Online testing also allows us to provide a wide range of accessibility options to support students with disability to access NAPLAN.
• Feedback from students is that they find the online test more engaging.

Happy Birthday!

New Tuckshop Menu

Parent Engagement Network

Our next PEN meeting will be on

Wednesday the 28th of February in the school library at 3:30pm.

Please contact Casey or Melissa to add an item to the agenda.

All parents are very welcome to attend the PEN meeting as a rewarding way to get involved with the school community and keep up to date with school events, policies and projects.

________________________

Strategic Plan 2023-2026

Strategic Plan.pdf

Notices

Supporting Children Through Separation Anxiety

A webinar for parents and carers.

Happy 2024. It's that time of year again. (Doesn't it come around quickly!) The start of school has a way of stirring anxiety like few other things. This makes sense. For children and teens, school brings one of the longest separations from their loved people.

Saying 'goodbye' can be tough - not only for our children but for us too. Even the strongest and bravest of hearts can feel the wrenching that can come with separation. I've felt it myself too many times.

Separation anxiety exists for a very good reason. (And it has nothing at all to do with your parenting - don't let anyone tell you otherwise!) We want our children to feel loved and supported, but we also want to build their brave so anxiety doesn't stand in the way of the important, growthful things they need to do.

Separation anxiety can feel brutal, but it also comes with transformative opportunities to strengthen your child and build their brave in ways that will serve them, not just for now but for the rest of their lives. Of course we'd rather our young ones never feel the tailwhip of separation anxiety, but so many young people (and the adults who love them) are going to experience anxiety at separation from a loved one. It's part of being human, but it doesn't have to hurt. As their important adult, you have a profound capacity to support them through separation anxiety and help them feel braver, stronger, and closer to you, even when you're not beside them. In this one-and-a-half-hour webinar, we will explore practical, powerful ways to do this.

This is information I wish every parent could have. I'll be speaking to you from my professional experience, but more importantly, I'll be speaking to you from my parenting heart. Something you might not know about me is that my own experience with my daughter's separation anxiety when she was a little person is what led me to this work. (She's now one of the bravest women I know!)

I know we can get kids through separation anxiety. I know the heartache. I know the feelings of helplessness. And I know we can get them through.

We will explore:

why separation anxiety happens, and the important job it’s there to do;
the thing all loving adults will do (we’ll all do them!) that can inadvertently make their anxiety worse, and what to do instead;
why their anxiety will fuel yours;
what adults can do to soften the impact of separation;
how to respond in the midst of anxiety – strategies for children, parents and carers (including teachers and other important adults);
practical, powerful strategies to support your child through separation anxiety;
the toolbox for young people – how to help all children feel bigger at separation;
how to help your child feel closer to you during separation;
the connection between anxiety and aggression, and how to respond to big behaviour in the moment;
the connection between anxiety, behaviour and learning, and how to work with this;
a road map for supporting your child through anxiety – before, during, and after;
why relationships matter, and how to facilitate relationships between children and their important adults (teachers, other important adults) in ways that will build brave behaviour.

What if I can't make the 'live' online event?
If you can't make the live event, that's no problem at all. The workshop will be recorded and made available to registered participants for thirty days following the 'live' online event.

The Details
When: 8 February, 6:30pm-8pm AEST (Brisbane time) (use the time zone converter here)
Cost: AUD $40.00

To register

PDF Details

Noticeboard

Term 1, Week 2 - 1st February, 2024