2024 Week 6 Newsletter - Term 1

WEEKLY FOCUS - An exciting opportunity for you

From the Principal - Behaviour at Star of the Sea

Dear families

I mentioned last week that Collaboration is a focus word for us this year.  Another word that is important to us this year  is Consistency.

Schools are complex systems with so many factors impacting teacher craft and student learning.  Research has shown that one of the biggest contributors to success is when consistent practices and messages occur across the whole school. 

It is for this reason that we have been working very hard for the past couple of years to develop consistent policies and practices that develop personal and social skills in our students.  We have been working with the Berry Street Education Model to explore ways to assist students to develop skills and behaviours that help them be ready to learn and ready to play successfully.

We know that, if we can gain understanding and support of this approach from home, the consistency grows and the benefits increase.

It is for this reason that the Rockhampton Catholic Education Office has organised a Zoom presentation by the Berry Street crew to explain to parents what we are doing to support the growth of positive behaviours in our students and why.  We urge you to add the date for this Zoom Presentation in your Calendar and join us for a very valuable 60 minutes that will be a huge help to you in your role, whilst also explaining what we are doing at school.

You can join from the comfort of your own home but please contact us if you need to access it at school.

The five domains of the Berry Street Education Model correspond with child-development capacities that each student must grow in order to be ‘ready to learn’.  https://www.berrystreet.org.au/  

Body
Increasing students’ capacity for physical and emotional regulation of the stress response, de-escalation and focus.

Relationship
Nurturing on-task learning through relational classroom management strategies.

Stamina
Creating a culture of academic persistence by nurturing resilience, emotional intelligence and a growth mindset.

Engagement
Motivating students with strategies that increase their willingness to learn.

Character
Harnessing a values and character strengths approach for learning and future pathways.

I look forward to seeing you all at the P&F Meeting tonight.

Have a wonderful week everyone!
God bless you.

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

From Our APRE

Welcome to Week 6 - already past the halfway mark of Term One.  

Sunday's Gospel was the well-known story of the Transfiguration.  When Jesus took his closest friends to the top of a high mountain, they experienced something quite extraordinary.  The transfiguration gave them a glimpse of what it meant for Jesus to be the son of God.

It is hardly surprising that Peter said, 'it is wonderful for us to be here.'  The Gospel also tells us that Jesus' friends were frightened, and this is also easy to understand.  They were overwhelmed.

Nevertheless, it's not long before Jesus reminds them that he is destined to die.  His friends must come down from the mountain and walk with Jesus through all the ordinary and arduous days and weeks that lie ahead.

We can all say 'it is wonderful for us to be here' no matter where that happens to be.  Life is full of wonder.  That doesn't mean it is always easy.  We live in the arms of a very deep mystery.  God's love enfolds us.

Throughout Lent, we are called to support Project Compassion, an initiative of Caritas Australia.  This year, Project Compassion celebrates 60years of partnership with some of the most marginal communities in the world.  With your help, we have walked alongside literally millions of people in dozens of countries.

Caritas Australia believes that the world can be transfigured to become more like the kingdom of God of which Jesus spoke.  We can encounter people whom others choose to ignore.  When we do so, we discover that here too are children of God.  We are asked to listen to them. 

Notice someone this week.

God Bless

Kellie Richardson

Assistant Principal: Religious Education

kellie_richardson@rok.catholic.edu.au

In Our Prayers

From the APC

Leading up to last Saturdays Central Queensland Capras vs PNG Hunters trial match, Capras Community team players Trey Brown and Brandon Roberts visited SOS to promote the game and conduct a training session with our 2024 Rugby League Squad. 

Trey Brown is an experienced footballer, recently playing for the Dolphins and currently hooker for the Capras.  His skills, however, are not just on the field.   He is an excellent coach of students, as he began the training session by encouraging our students to acknowledge that coaches of football are just like their teachers in class.  He explained that their football coaches are experts of the game and they offer advice to their players on how to improve.   By improving, it helps the players and the team.  He then continued to explain that teachers are coaches of learning.   They are in your lives to coach your learning.  So there are times you have to listen to your coach to improve your football and in class you have to listen to your teacher to improve your learning.   When you learn you grow!

After this very inspirational speech from Trey, the squad was ready to get into some training.   Brandon shared some of his secrets to perfect the perfect pass and step.   Brandon was one of the highest try scorers for the season but explained to the players that for each try to take place, often many players are involved, doing their best – they must always think like a team.  Towards the end of the session Trey and Brandon put us some high kicks to see who in our squad can catch under pressure.  They all loved this!! 

Have a great week everyone.

Anthony King

Assistant to the Principal - Curriculum 

anthony_king@rok.catholic.edu.au

Parent Presentation - Strategies to support your child - Wednesday 6th March @ 6pm

We cannot stress enough what a valuable session this will be for all parents.  The Berry Street team provide a very engaging presentation that will be full of practical support for you.

Please contact the school if you need any assistance in accessing this session.  If the interest is there, we can host a session at school.

2025 Prep Enrolments

A Guide to Wearing our Uniform Correctly

Our school uniform is an important part of an enrolment at Star of the Sea and we appreciate your efforts to ensure it is worn correctly.  We provide the below guide to assist you in checking your child is dressing as expected.

We ask your assistance in making sure they bring their hat to school every day please.

Please also check that the hat is in good condition with a solid brim as pictured below.

School Pick UP

Parents using the Stop, Drop and Go space for students are asked to please display their family name sign as they come into the area.  This allows students to be ready at the designated area and helps to keep the traffic flowing as smoothly as possible. We also ask that all students enter and leave the car from the fence side, students should not be entering the driver’s side of the car.

If you would like a sign for your car, please email and let us know.  We will provide you with as many signs as needed.  For example, one for Mum’s car, one for Dad’s car and one for Grandma’s car if necessary.

This space is the preferred pick-up area for students, and we ask you not to use the Herbert Street entrance car park as a pickup or drop off space as it is not safe for students to be walking through the carpark without adult supervision.

In the event of wet weather, students will be waiting in the covered area and we ask parents to come down to collect them for pick up please – we do not have enough covered area in the pick up space to shelter all children unfortunately.

Please do not use the 2 designated disabled carparks for your convenience, they are for specific use only.  Parking in the NO PARKING area behind these carparks also makes access difficult.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.  We want to keep everyone safe.

Tips to help your child manage their frustrations.

Parents & Friends Meeting Tonight

We invite all of our Parent Community to our P and F Meeting tonight, Tuesday 27 February at 6:30pm in the staff room (entry via the front office).  

Although the P&F meeting starts at 6:30pm you are welcome to join us a little earlier for a chat and a glass of something if you can.

Cross Country 2024

Cross Country this year will be held on site at Star of the Sea. The course will be a mix of terrain, with some gentle inclines to add to the fun. Cross Country will be held in Week 10 on Tuesday 26^th March.

As always, we will be asking for parent help, so if you will be available to help on the morning, please send Mrs Hooley an email (kim_hooley@rok.catholic.edu.au). With the event being held at school, training and walk throughs of the course will occur in PE, so students will be very familiar with the course.

In preparation for the Cross Country, Mrs Hooley has started a fitness club on Tuesday mornings, which commences at 7:50am in the top shed. Students will need to wear comfortable clothing – that isn’t their uniform, and comfortable running shoes (these can be school shoes if they are suitable).  Please remind students to bring their school uniform to change into following training.  This training will be available from students in Year 3 – 6 and will focus on building running stamina.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Mrs Hooley at the email above.

2024 Caulfield Team

Caulfield is the long standing, successful annual P&F fundraising event for Star of the Sea that the Caulfield Committee takes pride in organising on behalf of our Parents and Friends Association. There are many different ways that you can come on board - big and small, and we’d love your support of this event! 

If you would like to join the organising committee for 2024 or find out how you could help support the event this year, we will be having our first meeting at Kirkwood McDonalds on Sunday, 3 March 2024 at 3pm. 

Notification of council works in Apex Park

IMPORTANT: Please Update Your Media/ Information Sharing Details

Dear Parents

We are asking your assistance in updating media/information sharing 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.  

This is important information that affects our ability to collect data and obtain funding for our students.

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.

Student Absentee Line

If your child is not attending school, you can call us, 24/7, to leave a message to report the absence. The  phone number is 4994 8301.  

This designated phone line gives you the opportunity to call the school at a time that is convenient to you.

As always, absences can be reported using Parent Lounge or by emailing your child’s classroom teacher  and                                                                                                                SOSG_Absentee@rok.catholic.edu.au).

St Joseph's Cathedral Appeal

Community notices

Caulfield 2023 Sponsors