St Colman's School - Home Hill eNewsletter

Acknowledgement of Country

We would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land the Birri-Gubba Juru people and pay our respects to the elders past, present and future for they hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes of Indigenous Australia.

Principal & Teaching and Learning Update

Dear parents and friends,

Another two weeks has flown ! As you can see by our Term Calendar the rest of the term is extremely busy. Please keep up to date with events through Compass, Facebook and notes sent home. Please try to be patient with staff and others as we continue to work through the term - often people are very stressed and tired at this time..

Class teachers will be announced in Week 9. On Monday 28th November students will meet their new teacher and class and have a fun session together. This session will enable students to feel less anxious about starting a new school year with a new teacher.

NAPLAN 2022

Amazing results for our NAPLAN 2022 Year 3 and Year 5 students. St Colman's School was showcased at the recent principals meeting as the most improved school in the diocese. Our results were amazing. Reading and writing has shown huge growth which has been the major focus for staff this year. Our school average and state average were very similar. Well done to our Year 5/6 and Year 3/4 students. Congratulations to all our teachers with their work.

NAPLAN 2023 The dates for NAPLAN 2023 are March 15 to 27. The final 5 days are available for catch - up tests. The writing MUST be administered on Day 1.

Bus Transport

St Colman's students are reminded that they are wearing their school uniform whilst on buses to and from school and are therefore expected to behave in the correct way. Bad language and walking around the bus whilst it is moving is not accepted.

Writing Project

Next year we will be joining the Writing Project which is a Townsville Catholic Education Office initiative. The project is a long term, sustainable improvement in Writing P-6 through consistent, research based, data driven pedagogy.

This will be achieved through:

School wide Writing Framework focusing on teaching the skills of Writing
Common language
Assessment tool aligned with the Australian Curriculum for each Year Level
Responsive teaching according to data gathered

The staff are very excited to be implementing this project next year.

Council video

Council is currently working on the program for this year’s Community Christmas Carols to be held on Sunday 11 December at the Home Hill State High School Oval.

As part of this year’s event council would like to film a variety of local primary school student groups recording a short community Christmas Message to be played on the big screen as part of the event. The recording will only be 10-20 seconds of St Colman’s School which will be made into a montage of all the schools.

Council will be visiting St Colman's School on Tuesday 8th November. Please ensure you give permission for your child to be/not be part of this event through Compass

Connecting Prep Days 2022

Everyone welcome …Come to big school in Term 4 2022 …..Make new friends and get ready for school in 2023

These are sessions for the children to meet their class friends and teacher

Monday 7th November 9am – 3.00pm (Please pack Afternoon tea, fruit, lunch, drink and a hat)

Monday 14th November 9am – 3.00pm (Please pack Afternoon tea, fruit, lunch, drink and a hat)

Monday 21st November 9am – 3.00pm (Please pack Afternoon tea, fruit, lunch, drink and a hat)

Harvest time ! Congratulations to our Year 1/2 class who have been learning about growing things. They had a beautiful snack of fresh corn today.

First Aid Training

Thank you to all the staff at St Colman's staff that undertook First Aid, CPR, asthma and anaphylaxis training.

Religious Education News

This week we have celebrated two very special days in the Catholic church calendar. All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

All Saints’ Day

The Feast of All Saints, or All Saints’ Day, commemorates all those who have died and are now in Heaven. The day before All Saints’ Day is Halloween. Is there a connection between these two celebrations? Actually, there is but the religious origins of Halloween have largely been forgotten. Halloween is derived from Hallows’ Eve or Hallowmas, which means The Eve of All Saints. We are all called to be saints. Saints were ordinary people who failed and kept on trying. They remained faithful to God and others.

The lives of the saints are nothing but the gospel put into practice. – Saint Francis de Sales

Saints are sinners who kept going. – Robert Louis Stevenson

All Soul's Day

The Feast of All Souls, or All Souls’ Day, is a day set apart for honoring all who have died. All Souls’ Day is a day to remember the souls of all who have died. It should also be a special day to remember loved ones who are no longer with us.

If your child does something great in a sport or cultural activity please share it with the school so we can celebrate the success of your child in the community.

Next week at our school mass we will celebrate the theme - Called to be Saints. Everyone is welcome to join us on Wednesday 9th November at 9.30am. Morning tea will be served afterwards.

There are also Class Liturgies and Lunches occuring - invites will go home this week. They can also be found on Facebook or Compass.

St Colman's School Mini Vinnies

Our Mini Vinnies group has once again taken up the challenge to help families in crisi and collect for the St Vincent De Paul Christmas Hamper. Families are welcome to drop off items of non-perishable food to the front office. We thank you for your generosity.

Suggested items to donate:

Christmas food and treats eg. Christmas puddings, chips, chocolates, biscuits

Non-perishable food items with greater than 6 month expiry dates
Christmas decorations/bon bons/supplies
Vouchers eg. Coles, butcher etc
Toys and gift items

Accepting all donations at the School office until Tuesday, 29th November in week 9.

All donations will be made to help local families this Christmas and will be distributed to the Home Hill Chapter of St Vincent de Paul.

Sports News

Congratulations to Zachary Yr 6

Zachary competed at the North Australian Championships (Port Douglas to Burleigh heads) and North Australian pool rescue champs.
Zachary gave 110% all 3 days and came away with 1x silver and 2x bronze. Well done.

Let's Celebrate

If your child does something great in a sport or cultural activity please share it with the school so we can celebrate the success of your child in the community.

Thank You

A huge thank you to all the parents who have helped over the past weeks with the Swimming Program. It has been wonderful to see so many of our students become more confident in the water and improve in their stroke style. Through giving up your time this has been made possible - thank you so much.