Term 3 Week 4 2023

A Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Friends,

This week, we welcomed Mr Kyle Jones from Longreach Toyota (and a past student of OLL), Karen Monaghan and Cody Daley from RESQ, Vickie Heslin from Nutrien Western and Belinda Cuthill from DCQ, who helped our school celebrate National Tree Day. We would like to thank Toyota for their generous donations of hats and gloves. All our mentioned community partners donated plants for the school. The children had a fantastic time planting new trees along our Sandpiper Street fence. I look forward to seeing how they look in a few years’ time. A special thanks also goes to Mrs Megan Sidebottom and her hole digging offsider Mr Ben Chapman for organising this great event.

Our National School Improvement (NSIT) review begins next week. Tim Collins (AD: West), David Paul (Principal – Mackay Region) and Ron Bamford (ACER representative) will be conducting interviews with parents, staff and students, completing walkthroughs of classrooms and compiling reports across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (8^th – 10^th August). I know our school community will make them feel very welcome and we look forward to receiving their findings. NSIT occurs every five years in our Diocesan schools.

At our Board meetings this year, we have reviewed our ‘Mobile Phone and Wearable Technology Policy’. A copy has been included in our newsletter this week for families to read. This has been a school policy since 2021 and we feel it’s a good time to remind our school community about wearable technology as different devices begin to surface around the school. I would like to draw your attention to these three principles from the policy:

• Wearable devices with messaging, internet or Bluetooth capabilities are to be placed in flight mode or have their Wi-Fi capabilities turned off during school hours.
• In order for a student to bring a mobile phone or wearable device with messaging, internet or Bluetooth capabilities to school, parents/carers need to apply to the Principal in writing requesting permission for the child to have the device at school – an application form will be provided upon request.
• Mobile phones must be turned off during school hours and are to be handed to the office before school begins and collected at the end of the day. Each phone will be placed in a zip lock bag with the student’s name on it.
  Devices MUST be turned off to disable any Bluetooth capabilities.

Should you have any concerns please do not hesitate to contact our office. We will begin including E-Safety messages in our newsletter and on our Facebook page to provide education on safe use of devices for parents.

This Thursday, we are looking forward to welcoming the students from Longreach Kindy. Miss Bongioletti and the preppies have lots of fun activities planned for the morning. Inviting our local kindergartens is part of our transition to prep program at Our Lady’s so that students become familiar with our school and routines.

Finally, our voting has started for our house mascots. An email was sent home on Tuesday with steps on how to vote. I encourage all past or present families to have their say and be part of the history at Our Lady’s. Results will be shared at our next School Board meeting. Click this link to vote: https://forms.gle/uUmoM9KBShBmdpSU6  (1 vote per person – multiple votes will be removed)

God bless,

Mr Peter Thurecht

Reflection – Sr Kym Harris OSB

We Remember

This coming Sunday the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration – the moment when Jesus reveals to three of his disciples the glory that was truly his – a glory that would be revealed a little at the Resurrection, fully in the next life.  The Gospel tells the story but in the Second Reading, we realise what effect it had on Peter, one of those lost in wonder.  Writing as an old man, we hear how that fleeting moment, that nebulous insight, guided him for the rest of his life.  This happened because he reflected on it frequently: it fed his mind and soul.

We don’t get to see Jesus in glory on the mountain but we have our own mountaintop experiences: times when we see the bigger picture of life, times of joy when it is wonderful to be alive, times of wonder when our new-born child is put in our times, times when we realise the depth of love another has for us.  You have your memories, as I have mine.  For a true rich life, we need to remember these moments often and remember them well.  It is too easy to recall the negative things of life but it requires some effort to keep remembering the good times and letting them feed our souls.

And this is not just about ourselves.  It is good to remind ourselves regularly of the good moments we have had with our spouse, partner, family, workmate.  Recalling the positive creates an atmosphere of joy and acceptance.  This is especially important when we are angry or upset with them.  Maybe they need to be confronted in a ‘free and frank’ manner, but having the memory of the good things about them, will temper our words and deeds with love.

Loving God, you reveal your glory to me in fleeting moments.  Let my mind and heart feed on these moments of grace so that they may fill me with joy and confidence.  I ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear me.

APRE News

In last Sunday’s Gospel Jesus uses parables to describe the Kingdom of Heaven to His listeners. He uses a series of three analogies:
Matthew 13: 44 - 52

44  Jesus said to his disciples,  "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found;  he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field."

45  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls;  46  when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it."

47  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds.  48  When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore;  then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use.

Father Shaiju spoke to these parables as part of his homily at Mass. He asked us to consider what we value as ‘treasure’ in our lives. Automatically I thought of my children, my family and my friends. Easy! Father Shai went on to ask us if we consider ourselves as ‘God’s treasure’? After all He created us and He loves us! This was more challenging!

We were then asked what we would give to access the greatest treasure of all, the Kingdom of Heaven? Do I keep my eye on the prize and prioritise my relationship with Jesus above the busyness and materialism of my day to day life? Truthfully – not often enough!

I found the following reflection on a website we commonly use with our students – ‘Liturgy Ritual Prayer’. I hope that you find it relatable as I did.

Source of all that is good and holy, help me to make you Lord of my life – more valuable than anything else I might want. Help me to give up whatever gets in the way of putting you first. Amen.

When you play a video game this week, notice what the goal is and compare that to being with God.

https://liturgyritualprayer.com/gospel-project-seventeenth-ordinary-30-july-2023/

God bless,

Ange

House Mascots

Over the last two terms we have shared updates through the newsletter about the progression of our House Mascots for Thomson and Kennedy. Through the School Board, we have now finalised the list of mascot options for our sporting houses. There were some fantastic descriptions about why certain mascots would be a good choice for Thomson or Kennedy. Voting will close on 16th August 2023 so the results can be shared at our next School Board meeting.

Please click the link to cast your vote and be part of history!
https://forms.gle/ZkroezrYQBJMtyqEA

Student Protection

Student Protection is taken very seriously within our school and Diocese. Each year all staff undertake mandatory student protection training at the beginning of the year. This year our School Student Protection Officers are Mr Peter Thurecht and Mrs Angela Arthur. If you have concerns, please do not hesitate to contact one of our officers.

Mobile Phone & Wearable Technology Policy

School Photo Day – Thursday 10th August 2023

To ensure photo day runs smoothly we ask that all students are at school by 8:35am, dressed in the correct uniform. Please refer to the uniform policy.

On photo day, every student will be photographed regardless of whether you are purchasing or not.

Your child will have brought home a personalised order envelope from the photographers.  Please take care to read and follow all the instructions carefully.  This will ensure your order is processed smoothly and efficiently and will help you to avoid any late fees.

You will have the option to order online or with cash in your student’s envelope.  Please take care to follow the instructions carefully.

Additional order envelopes are available from the school office for separated parents, blended families and grandparents. You will need to collect these on or before photo day and give it to the photographer on photo day.  Be sure to write “Mum’s order” or “Dad’s order” on top of your envelope.

To order a sibling or friends photo, please collect Sibling and Friends Order Envelope from the school office on or before photo day, or order it online at least 24 hours in advance.  Please note: Sibling photos are only for siblings who all attend the school.

If your child has been photographed in a special group (ie sports team or leadership team), order envelopes will be available in the weeks following photo day.  Please watch this newsletter for information when they will be available.

As school staff are unable to help with photography enquiries or payments, please direct your questions and comments directly to MSP Photography by phoning 4921 3355.

Thank you for your co-operation and we look forward to a great photo day.

Keep smiling!!!

Scholastic Book Fair 7th - 17th August

Dear Parents and Friends,

It’s about books. It’s about children. It’s about fun.

It’s our Scholastic Book Fair- is being held in the school Library from 7^th -17^th August.

Week 1 (7^th – 11^th August)

Monday-Wednesday

Children view the books on display and fill in their wish lists. Wish lists go home.

Thursday and Friday purchasing begins.

Times: 8am to 4pm

Purchasing can be by cash/eftpos or online via Scholastic. Details are on the reverse side of the wish list. Please note that only 2 or 3 copies of each book are on display and an order will be placed at the end of the fair for more copies.

Week 2 (14^th -17^th August)

Monday – Thursday          Closed Friday for packing up.

Times: 8am to 9am and 3pm to 4pm

Our Book Fair is a yearly event that benefits our school library. Any commission from purchases will provide new and exciting reading material for our students.

There will be small competitions run during the fair for the students.

Come on in and view the affordable variety of books, posters, and stationery.

Reading builds Imagination. Imagination built the World.

See you in the Library

National Tree Planting Day

Catholic School Parents Queensland – P&F

The Great Escape OZ Car Rally

The P&F are looking for volunteers to assist with catering for The Great Escape OZ Car Rally on Thursday 17th August.

The P&F will be providing lunch for the Rally drivers and the students will be able to see the Rally cars as they will be parked on the oval on this day. This is a fantastic opportunity for the P&F to raise some funds.

If you can assist with the catering on this day or with food items prior, we would be very grateful. If you would like to contribute but cannot make a salad/fruit platter or have time for baking a monetary donation to the P&F for the purchase of catering supplies would be very appreciated.

To read more about the rally and the wonderful fundraising efforts of the team to support Cystic Fibrosis please click the following link: https://www.thegreatescapeoz.com.au/

If you can help with catering or assisting on the day, please signup by clicking on thefollowing link: https://signup.zone/gRSydazqYrytgFCHE

Father's Day Celebrations - Thursday 31st August

Prep - Miss Bongioletti

Hello Prep families!

Another wonderful two weeks have passed in Prep and we have been super busy!

Last Friday we said goodbye to Miss Marbelli as she completed her final day of placement here at Our Lady’s! We loved having her in our classroom.

In Literacy we have been busy writing cvc and ccvc words. One of our favourite activities was doing word hunt around the prep area.

Last week we were also lucky enough to have our new Adopt-A-Cop visit our school. The preps really enjoyed talking with the three police officers that visited our class.

Have a fantastic fortnight,

Miss Bongioletti

Year 1 - Miss Walker

In English this term we have been exploring and learning split digraphs with bosey e’s at the end. The students have really enjoyed learning their bosey ‘e’ rap and being word detective around the classroom.

In Religion, we have been learning the Hail Mary Prayer and the beginning of the Rosary Beads. This week we went outside to look at our schools Rosary Beads gardens. The students loved exploring this and being hands-on with the Beads.

Last week was NAIDOC week! Thank you Mrs Sidebottom for creating fun activities for us to do! In class we also learnt about the Rainbow serpent story and created our very own rainbow serpent in the classroom.

Thank you to Miss Tess who was in our class for 3 weeks, helping us to learn and grow! Good luck on the rest of your teaching journey.

Till Next Time –

Miss Walker

Year 2 - Miss Braden

Welcome to week 4!

HaSS - Our technology museum is filling up with some great additions! We would like to thank Mr Johnson for his very generous contributions. We would love for you to take a look and share any items that you would like to contribute.

Science - This fortnight in science we have been learning about the life cycle of living things. In the picture below, you can see the different animals that students have been exploring.

Have a great fortnight!

Miss Libby Braden

Year 3 - Mr Komndi Diggins

It has been a busy 2 weeks in year 3 and the students have been working hard and trying their best across all learning areas. Here are some things happening in year 3:

Science: In our Science lessons the students have been exploring what makes something living and non-living. See some pictures below of the students collecting living and non-living things around our school.

Technology: For Technology this term, the year 3 and 4 classes are combined. So far this term we have been exploring the agricultural process. See in the pictures below, the students investigating how big some common farm animals are.

Religion: Last week was Catholic Education Week and year 3 had the pleasant opportunity to be a part of the Mass at St Brigid’s Church. Along with this, in the classroom the students shared and built their knowledge of the virtues: Faith, Hope and Love.

NAIDOC Week Prayer Assembly: Year 3 had the privilege to present this year’s NAIDOC week prayer assembly. The students worked hard to learn their parts and presented the assembly very well.

Enjoy the gallery below of all the fun and learning in Year 3.

God Bless,

Mr KD

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Year 4 - Miss Godfrey

The last two weeks have been very busy in Year 4 with so much learning and fun events happening. We have had StoryFest, NAIDOC Week activities and Pyjama Day to name a few. Check out the pictures below to see what Year 4 have been up to!

Examining rocks for Science

Year 5 - Miss Canning

This week in Year 5 we have been learning all things poetry! All Year 5 students are learning an individual poem to perform in class and only a few brave students will be performing at Winton. Aa a class we will be performing a poem as well called “The house were children should not be”. It will be a hit!

We have also been focusing on building our vocabulary and understanding of words.

That is all from Year 5 this week.

God Bless,

Miss Canning

Year 6 - Mr Kopacz

English: As Winton Poetry Festival approaches, we’ve begun our unit on Poetry this term, and as such, students have begun to express their create thoughts and ideas when creating limericks.

Here are some below:

Abby:

His name is Mr. Kopacz, Uno Reverse,

And he has a very big curse,

He has been tricking,

He has been sickening,

He always thinks he is first.

Ethan:

Monkey escapes from the cage,

Ran until it found the stage,

Sang heart until it dropped,

Then its’ heart sadly stopped,

Now the world is in a hateful rage.

Emily, Lara and Lilah:

As a shark, Emily did a fart,

The shark ate the fart, it tasted quite tart,

Then came the mole,

Coming out of its hole,

Eating Emily the shark’s heart.

Xander:

I love living in my hometown Longreach

It is as enjoyable as the beach

I live close to my friends

We play around the bends

But I hate living in the heat

I love to run amok at footy,

Even when I play in my hoodie,

I can beat you all,

Even if I slip and fall,

I could still score and do a Billy. (Slater)

Mathematics: Long division and length conversion have been the main focuses this past fortnight, and students have been bust and active in their learning, demonstrating a variety of ways to express their working out and thinking processes.

Science: Students have been actively learning has micro-organisms behave. Our recent experiment was aimed at exploring the effects of combining yeast, water, and sugar. What we found was that yeast will eat the sugar and combine with the water, but also produce gas, which in turn raises the heights of the balloons. We discovered that that more sugar we poured into bottles, the more the yeast ate, which meant that more gas was produced in the bottles with more sugar. Students have also completed the important processes of tabling data, presenting our data into graphs and having a scientific discussion and reflection about our results.

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HaSS: Students played a game to explore what rights we each personally value and debated how we each have rights in the world.

Religion: Mrs. Arthur was the first of many visitors for Year 6 as part of our Faith Unit. Students were very thankful to hear of faith and life experiences from other perspectives and would like to continue to invite other parents and guardians into the classroom.

Mr Kopacz

Year 6 High School Transition

During term 3 on Wednesday of weeks 5, 7 and 9 and again in term 4 on Wednesday of weeks 2 and 6 Mr. Kopacz along with all year 6 students will attend transition afternoons to be held from 1:30pm to 3:00pm at the High School.

The full transition day to be held on Monday 20^th November parents/caregivers will be required to drop their child off at the High School and collect them. Mr. Kopacz will meet students at the High School on this day.

NOTES:

• Students will not be attending week 4 of term 4 as this is when Year 6 are on school camp.
• Full formal school uniform including hat are required to be worn.
• Students will take their school bags.

Tuckshop

Key Dates

St Brigid’s Parish News

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Community Notices

Longreach Regional Council

Department of Transport and Main Roads

Would you like to earn money AND help your local community as a school crossing supervisor? 🙋

We’re looking for school crossing supervisors in your area to help get our kids safely to and from school!
✅ Generous casual pay-rate starting at $33.27 per hour

✅ Morning and afternoon shifts
✅ Long-service leave entitlements
✅ The Queensland Government superannuation scheme.

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, call 0438838740 to speak with your local Road Safety Officer.

To be deemed suitable for the role, some criteria does apply, which include requirements to:
👉 pass a health assessment

👉 hold a current blue card
👉 disclose any serious disciplinary action taken against you in public sector employment.

For more information or to apply, visit tmr.qld.gov.au/SafeSchoolTravel.

A Womxn’s Self-Care and Self-Renewal Retreat in Longreach

https://www.habitsforwellbeing.com/womxns-self-care-and-self-renewal-retreat-longreach/

Centacare

Longreach Scouts

Thomson River Lions Club

Longreach Private Dental