Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School Gladstone eNewsletter

WEEKLY FOCUS - Explaining our Christmas Concert

From the Principal - Our new uniform

Dear Families

Leadership looks different in each person who leads, and I was so proud of our Year 5 students last week as they each presented their individual stories and dreams for their 2024 leadership journey. Each student showed great courage and strength and I know our school will be in very good hands next year with our 2024 School Leaders.

Courage, determination and team spirit were in plentiful supply at Friday’s Swimming Carnival as well and I offer special congratulations to all our students who competed and who encouraged each other so well.

Congratulations to our winning House Team – Marsden, to Murlay who took out the Spirit Award, and to Breslin who fought a great battle for second place. A massive thank you to Mrs Hooley and all her helpers who made the day such a great success.

“When students can feel a sense of belonging, they feel as though they can make a difference in their world.”

—Adrienne Henck

A sense of belonging is an important part of our school culture and our school uniform helps build that unity and connection.

Our sport shirt has been under review recently to find a shirt that is more practical to use while helping build a greater connection to our school.

NEW SPORTS SHIRT

We are pleased to announce a new sports shirt for 2024 that we hope will be ready to purchase early in the new year. Our Board and Parents & Friends have approved this new style and our 2024 Prep Cohort got a sneak look last week.

Whilst we don’t have an exact copy of the shirt at present, we have an example in the office that will give some idea of the fabric and style.

NEW SPORTS / FORMAL SHORTS

Many of you will also have begun to purchase the new sports shorts that have started to become available in the Uniform Shop this year. These new shorts have a different fabric and a COLOURED school logo.

These shorts replace the current sports shorts that have a white logo.

These shorts will also replace our formal navy shorts that the boys currently wear.

Our royal blue skorts will remain for our girls to wear but all girls will also have the option to wear the navy shorts with the coloured school logo if they prefer.

Prep to Year 2 girls only will also have the option to wear the pull up skorts if they prefer – These are not to be worn in Years 3 to 6.

Please note that the current sports shorts with a white logo will not be permitted to be worn with the striped polo.

Please do not feel that you have to rush out and buy these new uniform items. We will have a transition period of two years to allow everyone to use up their current supplies.

We will have a few samples in the office for you to look at over the next couple of weeks and we will notify you when the new sports shirts are ready to be ordered.

I look forward to seeing you all at the Christmas Concert this Friday. Please make sure you read the instructions in this newsletter very carefully as things look a little different this year.

Have a wonderful week everyone!
God bless you.

Jennett Mullane
Principal
jennett_omullane@rok.catholic.edu.au

No Tuckshop Next Week

URGENT - Position Vacant - OSHC Coordinator

Please help us find a new OSHC Coordinator.

Our Outside Hours School team provide such an important service to our families and we would appreciate your help in helping us find a new Coordinator to join this awesome group.

From Our APRE

Our Free Dress Day last week was a huge success with the St Vincent De Paul Christmas appeal being the winner on the day.

The generosity of our families never ceases to amaze me – thank you to everyone who donated something on the day. This week is our last week to collect for this appeal and next week the Vinnies volunteers will collect all the donations so they can sort and distribute to people in need.

It is that time of the year again when we begin the ‘end’. This week our Year 6 students present their last ever Primary School assembly. They then prepare for their Primary School Graduation.

Each year we present a number of awards at our final Mass. This is a chance to recognise students who have stood out in our school community.

The award recipients are carefully chosen and it is never an easy task. The following criteria helps us with our selection process.

“LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE” AWARD

This Trophy was commissioned by the Marist Sisters in 1990 to be presented to the student in their final year of Primary School who had let his or her light shine most consistently throughout the year.

At Star of the Sea School, letting your light shine is an activity which is demonstrated in the true spirit of love and loyalty to the school community.

The recipient of this Award will have demonstrated qualities such as…..

being positively active within the school
using one’s gifts and talents in a productive way
showing enterprise
demonstrating true Christian qualities, and
constantly striving to live our school’s motto.

PRINCIPAL’S AWARD FOR CONSISTENT EFFORT

This annual award is presented to a student who has consistently demonstrated the following qualities…

showing a responsible, helpful and caring attitude towards themselves, fellow students and staff
always putting 100% of their effort into school work and activities
showing a true Christian spirit
and always letting their light shine.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

This award goes to a student in Year Six who has worked hard and consistently shown excellent results in all areas of the curriculum. One student from each Year Six class will receive this award.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

This award is presented to a student in each Year Six class who has demonstrated not only an improvement in effort and results in the academic areas but also growth in confidence and character.

MARIST SISTER’S BURSARY AWARD

This award was established in memory of the valuable educational work undertaken in Gladstone by the Marist Sisters from 1971 to 1999.

This deserving student has demonstrated a sense of relationship, openness, community spirit, leadership, prayer, worship, social justice, participation, reconciliation and parish.

MERCY SISTER’S BURSARY AWARD

The Mercy Sisters established Catholic Education for Primary Students at Star of the Sea School on 12 July 1900 continuing until early December 1971. To celebrate this lifelong commitment, this bursary is presented to a conscientious, hardworking, committed student who shows an encompassing attitude toward faith and school work while reaching out to members of the school community.

CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

This award was commissioned by Mrs Norma Tanna to be presented to a student who has demonstrated a level of commitment across the areas of the Arts. The student will have participated in school and community based Arts or Cultural activities. These may include:

Music
Drama
Dance
Visual Arts
Media

AWARD FOR SPORTING EXCELLENCE

The recipient of this award has excelled in school sport and shown an active dedication to their chosen fields, achievement at a high level, commitment to their sporting endeavors as well as their academic pursuits.

I pray for strength and determination for everyone as we head into the final stages of the year.

You’ve got this,

Kellie Richardson

Assistant Principal: Religious Education

Kellie_richardson@rok.catholic.edu.au

Liturgies and Assemblies

WEEK 8

Year 6 invite you to their FINAL assembly presentation on Thursday 23^rd November at 8.35am in the Covered Courts Area.

Everyone is invited to attend our annual Christmas Concert on Friday 24^th November.

WEEK 9

Everyone is invited to attend our Year 6 Graduation Liturgy on Monday night @ 6pm in the Star of the Sea Church.

Everyone is invited to attend our End of Year Mass on Friday 1^st December in the Star of the Sea Church at 9am.

Please be aware that this time has been changed since the Term Planner was distributed.

FROM THE PARISH

Nativity Play
School-aged children are invited to join rehearsals for the nativity play to held during Star of the Sea Church’s Christmas Eve 6pm Mass. Rehearsals will be after 8am Masses at Star of the Sea Church on Sundays 3rd, 10th & 17th December. Please email Hayley at adfaithsos@rok.catholic.net.au to register or ask questions.

Advent Reconciliation Liturgy
Families are invited to attend the Second Rite of Reconciliation with liturgy to be held at Star of the Sea Church on Wednesday 20th December at 5.30pm. Repairing our relationship with God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a wonderful way to prepare for Christmas. If you have any questions, please call the Star of the Sea Parish Office on 4972 1025.

Women of Worth event
Star of the Sea Parish women’s group invite women to dinner at Railway Hotel in Calliope following 6pm Mass at St Patrick’s Church Calliope on Saturday 25th November. Please RSVP to Laura on 0408 359 959 by 22nd November and bring along your ideas for our 2024 calendar.

In Our Prayers

Let us pray...

• We pray for peace in our world: In particular, we pray that leaders will lead with wisdom and love in a world facing conflict and distrust.

• We pray for all in our world and in our community who suffer in any way because of illness, disaster, war or injustice: May they always know they are not alone.

• We pray for all those who have died: May God grant them the peace and joy and hope of the resurrection.

From the APC

The Semester two reports for students will be uploaded to Parent Lounge next week. I will email you all to let you know as soon as they are ready for you to read. This report is provided to inform parents of their child’s progress at school and is based on the results of formal testing, assignments, set tasks, work samples, class activities and daily observations. The report card is one of several ways in which parents can monitor the progress of their child throughout the year.
While making comparisons between individual students’ achievements is not generally encouraged, we are required by Government Policy to provide Overall Achievement ratings for each Learning Area studied. These overall ratings indicate the child’s academic achievement based on standard expectations in that Learning Area for that year level. Upon request, the school will provide parents with written information that clearly shows achievement in the subjects studied in comparison to that of other children in the child’s year level at the school. This information will show the relative numbers of students in each of the achievement levels. Due to privacy concerns, this data will be provided upon request only when the peer group contains more than 15 students.
A three-point scale Effort and Attitude focusing on diligence, behaviour and engagement will be given to each child for each subject studied. There will also be a set of behaviours for Social and Personal Learning displayed as a table to present to parent’s progress in these areas.
Please take the time next week to celebrate the areas of growth that your child will have achieved in at least some aspect of their development this year.

Have a great week.

Anthony King

Assistant to the Principal - Curriculum

anthony_king@rok.catholic.edu.au

2023 Christmas Concert - Friday 24th November @6pm

Our Star of the Sea Christmas Concert is an important event in our school calendar. It is a major event that involves a significant number of attendees, so we ask that you make yourself familiar with the following set up and procedures to ensure the safety and enjoyment of everyone present.

We start at 6pm so try to be there by 5:45pm. We are unsure of our finishing time. It usually takes a couple of hours and you can collect your child after the whole school finale.

SEATING ARRANGEMENTS

Students are to sit in their class groups with their teacher in the main car park. Parents, siblings and other family members are asked to stay on the grassed area please.

The front section of the viewing area is for blanket/mat seating only. You are welcome to bring chairs to sit on also, but these must be placed further back behind the blanket area.

Please do not set up before the end of the school day.

PAPARAZZI ARRANGEMENTS

During the Nativity Play / Singing of the carols, no family members are permitted to come forward to take photos, apart from Year 6. There will be combined classes and the increased numbers mean the paparazzi option cannot be safely accommodated. (Year 6 will be singing alone). The event will be live streamed onto a large screen that will improve your viewing experience.

During the class dances, we suggest one person from each family may come forward to film/take photos. Even with only one person from each family, that will be a group of more than 50 and we cannot accommodate much more.

Entry to the performance area is via the ramp please. We are trialing a one way system this year. Please follow the arrows →. The stairs are only to be used to return back to your place. For safety reasons, no-one is permitted to stand on the stairs or pathways please.

TOILETS

Students will be provided their own toilets for the night near their seating. All other adults and children are to use the shed toilets at the back of the grassed viewing area.

OUT OF BOUND AREAS

For safety reasons, the new playground area is out of bounds as is the area to the side and back of the shed/ courts area and our Courts and Terrace – please supervise your children/ teens carefully.

ALCOHOL AND FOOD

A bar providing both alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks for purchase will be operating for your convenience and a sausage sizzle will be provided as well. Both cash and EFTPOS will be available. To assist us in complying with Responsible Service of Alcohol legislation, please note that BYO alcohol is not permitted. All alcohol must be consumed within the grassed viewing area and cannot be brought down to the performance area.

Please help us ensure enough food for the night by completing this form: https://forms.gle/ivFNYiBBP2zYGdda9

No need to include your Prep to Year 6 students as they have already been counted.

Please make sure you familiarise yourself with the information and picture below:

Blue Crosses - Seats can be used in this area behind the red line

Yellow Crosses - Blankets / Mats only

Green Arrow - Move down the ramp

Black Arrow - Only use stairs to travel up.

Parent/toddler/teen toilets in the shed

Bar / Sausage Sizzle in the shed

Christmas_Concert_2023.pdf

Main Car Park closed Thursday & Friday.

To allow for rehearsals for our Christmas Concert, the main car park will be closed to traffic Thursday and Friday this week.

End of Year Mass and arrangements for the final day of school.

9am - Whole School End of Year Mass

Our End of Year Mass will take place on Friday 1st December at 9am in the Star of the Sea Catholic Church.

At this mass we will present our Star of the Sea Awards, farewell our departing students and families, hand over leadership roles to our 2024 leaders and thank the Lord for our blessings this year.

12:30pm Final assembly and farewell

We will have a final assembly in the Covered Courts area where we will especially farewell our Year 6 students. Parents may take children home after this. All children left at school will be supervised in the library.

Children will not be permitted to walk or ride home until 2:55pm unless they are accompanied by a supervising adult.

PLEASE NOTE:

There will be NO TUCKSHOP in the last week of school.

2024 School Leaders

We are so proud of our Year 5 students and the way they showcased their leadership potential last week.
Special congratulations to our Captains for 2024:

School Captains – Armani & Logan
Murlay Captains – Mackenzie & Cooper
Breslin Captains – Summer & Tobin
Marsden Captains – Ellie & Hudson
Cultural Captains – Eloise (Band) & Ariel (Choir)

Friday’s swimming carnival was a great day full of excited students. There were lots of nervous swimmers before the 100m race, but after a small warm up, many of the nerves disappeared and some great racing took place. Throughout the day, it was wonderful to see so many students leaving their comfort zone to challenge themselves in races and being proud of their own efforts. It was also fantastic at the finish line to see so many students cheering each other on and celebrating others’ achievements. A huge thank you must go to all of our parent volunteers, all of the teachers and staff who helped with the organising and running of the day and of course to all of the students who showed great sportsmanship and behaviour throughout the day, as well as the staff at the Gladstone Aquatic Centre for their help in hosting the event. Well done to the Parents on winning the Student/Parent/Teacher relay, rather convincingly. Congratulations to Marsden on winning the 2023 Swimming Carnival and Murlay for winning House Spirit.

The National Office for Child Safety has provided a series of resources on how to start sensitive conversations with children and young people as part of its ‘One Talk at a Time’ campaign.
The national initiative is part of the Australian Government’s recently launched child protection and safety campaign and encourages adults in the lives of children to talk with them about feeling safe and where to seek support and help.
The campaign aims to prevent child sexual abuse by encouraging adults to learn about the issue and have preventative conversations with children, young people and other adults.
The initiative is a key measure under the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030 and fulfils a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Find out how to have these conversations and access resources and guides for parents and carers at www.childsafety.gov.au

Band and Bell Music Recitals

Our Band and our Bell Ensemble recently took time to showcase their talent and hard work to their parents, friends and family members. They are a great example of what can be achieved with commitment and hard work. A specal thank you to Miss Richards, Mrs Mallet and Mrs Tankard for their expert and caring support for our instrumental students.

Podsquad App for families

Podsquad is a free, play-centric wellbeing program that supports children and families as they build better health and lifestyle habits together. We are happy to promote this app as a useful resource for your family this holidays.

HWQld_PodSquad_A2_A3_Poster_LowRes.pdf

Departing Families

At this stage of the year, work and personal circumstances sometimes mean that we have families moving from Star of the Sea. If you have not already done so, please send us an email or a note to let us know.

This allows us to make accurate preparations for 2024. It also allows other families on our wait lists for certain year levels to be considered for a place with us next year.

We hope that you can join us for our End of Year Mass so that we can pray a special blessing for you and your family.

Lost Property

Please make sure you check the lost property that has collected on the table outside the OSHC Room (near the student toilets).

All unclaimed items will be removed in the last week and donated to the school second hand uniform shop or the St Vincent de Paul Shop.

Please Update Your Media Details

Dear Parents

We are asking your assistance in updating media consent for your child/ren. Our system has been updated with more options that give us clarity with the myriad different ways your child's details can possibly be used.

If you completed a paper copy of the enrolment form, you will definitely need to update these media consent details please. Parents who completed an online application are also asked to check their child's current media permissions to ensure it is correct.

This is a very quick task completed through Parent Lounge and below are some instructions to guide you with this task. You will need to complete this task for each child you have at Star of the Sea please.

We appreciate your help in ensuring we have the correct information for your child/ren.

Media_Consent_UD_Areas_How_To_Guide_docx.docx