Week 3 Term 1

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's Update

Welcome to Term 1 2022!  Although a very strange start to the year the students have come back very settled and ready to learn. We welcome our new Prep students and know that they will have a wonderful experience at St Colman’s.

We also welcome our new families. Later in the term when Covid restrictions have eased we will have a Welcoming Afternoon BBQ where we can truly make you feel part of our special little community.  

Over the holidays some of the classrooms have had a bit of a freshen up. Year 5/6 unfortunately is still waiting for half of its new noticeboard but when completed the room will have some fantastic new furniture and be a  great place for learning. 

Sadly over the holidays Mrs Mary Saunders our long standing secretary decided to retire. We thank Mary for all her years of work and commitment to St Colman’s over the years. Later in the term we will have an opportunity to thank Mary for all that she has done for the St Colamn's community. Mrs Shalon Gibson will be working full time in the office for the first term. 

Coronavirus update 

Parents are reminded of the following details for the next four weeks:

• We will be limiting the number of visitors coming onto our school site by:
• Asking parents to refrain from coming onto the school site with the exception of parents with students in Prep or Year 1 or students experiencing vulnerability.  
• We ask parents not to enter classrooms where possible and to avoid congregating in groups.

If at any time you need to come into the school, please ensure you are wearing a mask, enter via the Office and sign in.  Should you need to contact a teacher, please do so via email in the first instance so that they can arrange a time to call you. 

During this time we will be suspending whole school gatherings such as assemblies, liturgies and Masses.  As a school we will work towards how we can celebrate our students' achievements over this time.

Please ensure that if your child is unwell in any way that they remain at home.  If a student presents as unwell during the day, parents/carers will be called and asked to collect them.

School Uniform 

Many of our students are now wearing the new school shirt and looking extremely smart. The shirt is available in short sleeve ($25) and long sleeve ($30). Families can buy the uniform through the QuickClik website. If you are encountering any problems using this please come to the front office and we will be able to assist. 

Please ensure that your child is in the correct uniform for the term. Please note that girls are now allowed to wear shorts which must be the royal blue colour.

GIRL’S DAY UNIFORM

Shirt – School polo shirt short or long sleeve

Skort or shorts  – Royal blue 

Footwear – Black leather school shoes/white socks – short sock above the ankle, no anklets, no logos.  Black leather joggers with no coloured logos, stitching or markings are acceptable.

GIRL’S SPORTS UNIFORM (Thursday)

Shirt – School Polo Shirt short or long sleeve

Shorts or skorts  – Royal Blue 

Footwear – Sport shoes /plain white socks above the ankle (no anklets or logos).

BOY’S DAY UNIFORM 

Shirt – School Polo Shirt short or long sleeve

Shorts – Royal blue 

Footwear – Black leather school shoes/white socks – short sock above the ankle, no anklets, no logos.  Black leather joggers with no coloured logos, stitching or markings are acceptable.

BOY’S SPORTS UNIFORM (Thursday)

Shirt – School Polo Shirt short or long sleeve

Shorts – Royal blue 

Footwear – Sport shoes /plain white socks above the ankle (no anklets or logos).

Learning and Teaching

A new year has brought about a few changes that will help your child become a more confident learner at St Colman’s. The teachers and Support Officers have been working hard to implement these changes and over the term you may notice a few different things.

Smart Spelling 

St Colman's has begun to implement the SMART Spelling program from Year 1 - Year 6. The first week of school all teachers completed professional development on how to introduce and maintain the program in their classrooms. 

SMART Spelling incorporates both the systematic teaching of spelling each week and also personal words.  The program teaches in patterns as much as possible, so teachers choose a range of words (from simple to complex) from a suggested list. Students are then guided to choose from that list, to meet different needs.  Teachers use their strong professional knowledge to give meaningful feedback to students about their spelling in writing, teaching at the point of need. 

In the next few weeks the Spelling Grid will be introduced into Homework for Year 1 - 6. 

Work on Writing (WOW)

As part of the Townsville Catholic Education Offices 2022 initiative to focus on writing to improve Naplan results across the diocese a new writing program is being implemented. St Colman’s has implemented the Work on Writing (WOW) session 4 times a week for fifteen minutes. Each class will have a stimulus picture on the whiteboard where they will discuss the skills of brainstorming, punctuation, openeners and sentence structure. The students will then have 10 minutes to write and use these skills. Every support officer, teacher and myself will be in the classroom assisting the students and giving instant feedback. 

Bell Times

Due to the WOW program we have implemented some changes with our bell times to accomodate this.

Parent Class Information Zoom 

Next Tuesday 15th February each teacher will hold a Zoom to explain how each grade level will be structured, expectations and learning goals. Parents are strongly encouraged to join the Zoom for 15 minutes.

Timetable for Tuesday 15th February :

5.00pm - Year 5/6 Mrs Courtney Anderson 

5.20pm - Yr 3/4 Mrs Kalah Totorica and Mrs Sharon Kiehne

5.40pm - Yr 1/2 Mrs Kim Watkins

6.00pm - Prep Siobhan Walsh 

Zoom invitations will be sent out this Friday through Compass. 

Religious Education News

Introducing our new Parish Priest

My dear friends, 

Love and Greetings.  

Gratitude is the best attitude. On behalf of each of the parishioners of  the Burdekin I would like to express our deep sense of gratitude to Fr.  Sibichan Kaippanplackal for everything he has been able to accomplish in the parish in his last six years of ministry. As he is moving on  with his ministries in the parishes of Bowen we wish him all success.  Let us continue to be ever grateful to him for sharing his time and energy with us in the parish. Thanks a lot Fr. Sibichan. 

For those of you who were unable to watch the introduction video on  last weekend, my name is Manoj Mathew. You can call me Manoj,  which is my first name. I come from Kerala, a southern state of India.  My mother tongue is Malayalam. I am a Redemptorist. I was ordained in 2001. I have been in Australia only for a year now. Well,  we will have more opportunities to meet and to listen to each other’s  stories. .

I am excited to be living in this beautiful part of Queensland. I am  thrilled to be working in this very important parish in Townsville diocese. Each of you and your beloved ancestors have set a strong foun dation for community living and faith formation here. Let us continue  with the good work. May our life lead many more lives to Christ. I am  here to serve you. Therefore, please feel free to contact me.  

Please keep Fr. Daniel and me in your prayers. Together we can make a big difference in the Burdekin. 

Cheers, 

Fr. Manoj Mathew, C.Ss.R.

School Masses

During the present Covid restrictions no school massess will be able to be held. A soon as we are able to hold the masses these will be added 

Class News

Welcome to new Prep students. They have settled in extremely well and are already learning the school routine. 

My New Gallery

Tuckshop news

Don't forget to return your Tuckshop Helpers Term 1 note by this Friday 11th February 2022. 

Tuckshop Menu 2022 please click on the link below

Birthdays

Guidance Counsellor

Guidance Counsellor Introduction

This year St Colman’s has a (kinda) new Guidance Counsellor. I worked as the St Colman’s Guidance Counsellor form 2015 to 2020, but had a break from primary school last year. I am based at BCHS, and I will be visiting St Colman’s once a week. 

Every school in the Townsville Catholic Education diocese is supported by a Guidance Counsellor as a part of the Student Support Services (SSS). Guidance Counsellors seek to support students in achieving appropriate educational outcomes, and this is accomplished by assisting students and staff in the removal of as many barriers as possible (academic, social, emotional, personal or behavioural barriers). Supporting students may involve meetings with teachers and/or parents, individual counselling, academic and behavioural assessments, or facilitating group programs.

Referrals to the Guidance Counsellor are made by the student’s teacher or Inclusive Practices Teacher (Mrs Watkins) and require parent consent. Once a referral has been received, parents are then contacted to explain the consent process and the support the Guidance Counsellor may be able to offer. I am looking forward to working within this school community again!

Felicity Griggs

fgriggs@bchs.catholic.edu.au

Sport Update

Water Awareness Swimming Program 

The Water Awareness Program will commence at Home Hill Public Swimming Pool on the following four weeks in Term 1 2022:

Thursday 17th February 2022

Thursday 24th February 2022

Thursday 3rd March 2022

Thursday 10th March 2022

Please ensure that your child has a swim shirt, underwear, towel and googles if required. 

Burdekin School Sport 10 - 12 Years 

The following sports will have trials to represent the Burdekin District. More infromation will be forwarded :

Touch Football - 22nd or 24th February

Basketball - 23rd Feburary or 2nd March 

Scholastic Book Club

Book Club provides families with an affordable and convenient way to bring the best in children’s literature into their homes. Each issue contains curated, age-appropriate titles that have been carefully selected and levelled by a dedicated team of professional booklovers.

Book Club orders are due : Thursday 17th February 2022

Upcoming events

Community News