Term 1 Week 5

From the Principal

Dear families and friends of St Anthony’s,

Although we are now in Week 4, it is hard to believe that it’s still February (just). Our year has started smoothly and students have settled into their routines really quickly including the beginning of Daily PE with our Grade 6 Leaders this week. I am particularly proud of how settled everything is across the school and the feeling of calm that is evident as I walk around the classes. 

Swimming Carnival

Thank you to Mr Nick Stacey for a great carnival! The weather was perfect and so were the students! Thank you to all those that volunteered to help on the day because we would not be able to provide this experience without your help. As the NIJSSA Carnival is next week, please watch out for that information today via Compass. 

GTS - Greet, Treat & Speak

This week we are focussed on the way that we speak to others as part of our PBS focus - GTS. This involves using people’s names when speaking to them; always using our manners and speaking respectfully. As I said in the last newsletter, our students are terrific at this already so we are able to take the next step in strengthening those conversations. I would encourage you to talk to your children at home about this and give them opportunities to practise. This could include: ordering their own meal when eating out, asking for help from adults when they are shopping or conversations with Grandparents, Uncles or Aunties.

Awards Assembly

AS I stated in the last newsletter we will be holding Awards Assemblies twice a term. Unfortunately, this week has snuck up on us too quickly so we have decided to postpone this term’s Assemblies until Week 6 and Week 10. They will be Friday 15th March at 2.20pm and Thursday 11 April at 2.20pm. Teachers will contact you via email early that week if your child will be receiving an award.

Kinder 2025

Enrolments for Kindergarten 2025 are now open. The expression of interest form is available on our website under the enrolments tab for anyone that isn’t already a part of our school community. Siblings and others that are attending Early Learning or Set Up are welcome to fill out the form but either Miss White or I will speak to you personally about the process.

Of course, feel free to contact the office if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Jason Perry

Principal

From the Deputy Principal

Getting to Know Your Child Meetings

Thank you to all the parents who came along to our Getting to Know Your Child meetings, a couple of weeks ago. We had approximately 77% of households book in for a meeting. 

These meetings are important and were an opportunity for you to pass on any relevant information about your child to their teacher - that will help us this year. If you were unable to attend, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher to make time to catch up.

While the relationships your child forms with peers are important, you may be surprised that the most significant relationship, in terms of your child’s school success and development, is the one you form with his or her teacher. Your relationship with your child’s teacher can be an important factor in how well he or she gets along at school and at home. For many children, the most significant adults in their lives on a day-to-day basis are immediate family members and caregivers (primarily parents), and their teacher. These are the adults with whom they spend the most time, who make most of the decisions regarding how they spend their time and who provide guidance and direction, through their actions and their words, on most aspects of their lives.

NAPLAN

In two weeks our Year 3 and 5 students will sit the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests which include four components: Writing, Numeracy, Conventions of Language and Reading.

Please note that if your student is absent on the day of a test, catch up sessions will be administered. Where a student’s circumstances meet the criteria for adjustments to access the tests, their test conditions may be adjusted. The adjustments made will reflect the kind of support and assistance provided for assessment in the classroom. Eligible students will have already been provided with information about their adjustments. A parent information brochure and questions answered on NAPLAN and what it means for your child can be found here.

Instrumental Music Program

All Year 3 - 6 students are invited to participate in the 2024 Instrumental Music Program (Band or Strings) operated by St Patrick’s College. This program is in its 22nd year and is still going strongly and has always been well supported by St Anthony’s Catholic School. Ths a wonderful opportunity for students to enjoy learning a musical instrument and rehearsing and performing with their peers.

Research has shown that there are many social and educational benefits to learning a musical instrument, such as developing concentration skills, critical thinking and problem solving. Sounds can also be used as a means to express emotion and build confidence. Here is an interesting article that explores the research in music education and brain development.

Please note there are additional fees for this program. Further information and details on how to enrol are on the flyer further down this newsletter. Enrolments close on Monday 11 March, 2024.

Grade 2 News

We have had a very busy, but amazing start to Grade 2. We are settling into a great learning routine and we are trying very hard to be the best we can be. 

Super Sentences

During Literacy students have been focused on writing interesting sentences. We use an app that allows us to tap the button and a wheel spins to reveal a sentence starter. Grade 2 are enjoying writing sentences and are improving their writing skills.

Reading Stamina

Gr 2 have been challenging themselves to increase their reading stamina. After lunch, students come into the room, pack their bags, get their ‘good fit’  books and settle in a spot in the classroom. We started with 2 minutes of sustained reading in Week 1 and now at the end of week 2 we are reading without interruption for just over 10 minutes. Amazing effort Grade 2!

Highlight of the Year (so far…)

Every afternoon we reflect on the highlight of our day and share the great things we have done together. When asked what their highlight of the year so far was, here are some of the student’s responses…

• Learning about big numbers and how to make them and write them in Maths. It is fun! 

• All of the learning we have done and spinning the wheel in Writing to come up with sentence starters. 

• Playing Maths games with my friends and Mrs Jones.

• Spending time with the teacher.

• Playing Tug of War in Maths.

• Building our reading stamina. We like coming in and reading.

Grade 5/6 Camp 2024

This year, our Grade 5/6 students travelled to Camp Clayton in Turner's Beach, Northern Tasmania. 
First, we had the Giant Swing. It was so exciting to pull people up and watch them go down. The look on people's faces was really funny. Then seeing them get chucked around like a rag doll was hilarious. Then we did the rock climbing wall. Everyone was so excited about it. They all wanted to make it to the top. 
Next, we did the Obstacle Course. We had to go through challenges while holding hands! For some reason we all found it really amusing on the seesaw, trying to get it to balance. We also loved the exhilaration of running side to side and making go up and down really fast. 
We walked to the Zipline and we all had a turn and it was so fun to spin around and see people do funny things. We found some frogs, and released them back into the wild. We also chipped away at rocks while we waited our turn.
Next, we went to the beach and then some people played cricket or played in the water and on the sand. We all had a great time at the beach. After that, we went back to our cabins and got ready for dinner. Then we had 2 minutes to get ready for our movie. We loved laying in our sleeping bags together in one big room while we watched the movie. Then we hopped off to bed for the last night. 
The last day of camp, we packed up all of our things and went off to the Ulverstone Waterslide. It was so much fun and really cold!
Thank you to all of the staff who came along on camp. We had an amazing time!
By Baylin and Ivy

Beginning of Year Mass

On Tuesday 20th February St Anthony’s celebrated the Beginning of Year Mass. A big thank you to Father Martin and the Grade 5/6 students for leading us in the beautiful celebration and to those family and friends who attended. At the end of the Mass our student leaders received their badges. 

Swimming Carnival Report

ANTHONY HOUSE RETAINS SWIMMING SHIELD

An exciting day’s swimming on a wonderful summer’s day resulted in Anthony House retaining the House swimming shield and claiming a third win in four years. Despite some races having low numbers with several students unwell or away the racing was still competitive all day with everybody striving to produce their best, but nobody could top Anthony House who won the day by over 100 points.

No records were broken on the day, but dominant displays by Thomas Henry, Ivy Furfaro and Louis Routley saw these students take out all their respective events.

Our novelty swimmers had a great amount of fun in the small pool games – we had trouble getting them out of the pool, whilst the highlight of the day for many was the chance to test out the waterslide at the end of the day

Many thanks to the Riverside Pool team and to all the parents who put their hands up to help on the day. The school is unable to put on events like this without the support of the school community, so everybody involved – students, volunteers and teachers all deserve a big pat on the back for what was a great day.