Newsletter Term 3 Week 5 (18.8.23)

Message from the Assistant Principals

Dear parents

Next week is book week beginning with our book character boogie parade. Please ensure you are at school on time as the gate will be closed at 9am as students are boogying down the driveway in genres. Energy is high at school at the moment and we look forward to a fun-filled love of literacy week.

The  School Fun Run is certainly being well taken up by families at school. The students were very excited to ‘slime a teacher’ at assembly this morning. In fact, we have already raised over $12,000 and six teachers were slimed. Keep raising those funds, and another teacher will be slimed for every $2000 raised.

Recently there has been much debate about co-teaching, particularly in light of the The Sydney Morning Herald article of  the 16th July “End of ‘a 40-year-old fad’ as NSW shuts door on open-plan classrooms”. This has raised questions about how we structure classes at St Anthony’s. We need parents to understand how we use our spaces based on research evidence of high yield strategies. Firstly, co-teaching is distinct to open-plan classrooms. Open-plan classrooms were very in fashion in the 1970’s and, as the name suggests, involves students moving freely in a large space with two or more teachers. Co-teaching is much more than just two or more teachers in the same room. Co-teaching in the Diocese of Lismore and at St Anthony’s has been rigorously studied and interrogated by such experts as John Hattie and Lyn Sharratt and is supported by ongoing teacher professional development and Professional Learning Teams (PLTs), involving Team meetings of every teacher of every class in the school every week supported by the School Leadership. 

Co-teaching involves four stages or cycles; (1) co-planning; (2) co-teaching; (3) co-debriefing; and (4) co-reflecting. In the co-teaching model you are no longer left with one teacher and thirty kids with very different needs and abilities. If a child is unwell or an issue in the playground happens, the learning doesn’t stop for the rest of the class. One teacher attends to this while the other teachers can continue teaching and students learning. At our school your child has at least three teachers in the room to go to for help during core learning time. Teachers flexibly adapt to suit the needs of students demonstrating at, above and beyond the curriculum outcomes and collaboratively monitor and track the progress of students, attending to the individualised needs of the cohort.

When implemented effectively, as at St Anthony’s, the advantages of co-teaching are far-reaching, including improved differentiation, richer and better moderated assessment, targeted and continuous professional learning, enhanced wellbeing for students and teachers and high-level collaboration skills- a core skill for the 21st Century. 

We will endeavour to communicate further about co-teaching and what it entails in forthcoming newsletters and on our social media platforms. Thank you for your ongoing support of our approach to teaching and learning at St Anthony’s. We are so proud of the professionalism, dedication and commitment of our staff to effective collaboration and co-teaching to meet the different needs of every learner at our school. Of course, we are also so proud of what our St Anthony’s students are able to achieve at our school.

“The co-teaching cycle is the most powerful way to improve teaching practice. . . . It pushes professionals to make their practices transparent and public in order to become increasingly more skilled, reflective, and thoughtful” 

(Sharratt & Fullan, 2012, p. 118).

Kind regards

Julianne Barlogio                                                                         Gemma Ballantine

Assistant Principal- Learning and Teaching                   Assistant Principal - Mission

Important Dates & School Information

Term 3 2023

Monday, 21st August - Book Parade

Wednesday, 23rd August - Tweed Catholic Schools Year 6 MASS @ St Anthony's

Thursday, 24th August - Book Week speaker and workshop

Child Protection Policy can be found on our School Website under Information/School Policies: St Anthony's Primary School Website or in the following link: https://www.kngplism.catholic.edu.au/policies

SOMETHING TO THINK AND PRAY ABOUT THIS WEEK

Prayer for Life

The first and most important part of life’s prayer is thanksgiving, looking back in particular at the events of the past that have given you comfort.  What in the past period has given you joy, space, strength, courage, rest ...? Take a moment to let that look, that word, that image, that music, that gesture, that idea ... return to your eyes or ears, to taste it in your heart... This consolation, however small and insignificant it may seem, says something about how and where you experienced God. These small details are more important than spectacular events. After all, the latter occur rarely, or never. On the other hand, our lives are full of ‘banal’ occurrences. If you learn to distinguish God’s presence in these events, then you are on a golden path that offers itself daily and continuously.

Excerpted from Living with Ignatius: On the Compass of Joy by Nikolaas Sintobin SJ (p.49)

https://sacredspace.com/

School Fun Run

Book Parade

Read, Grow, Inspire

Monday 21st August

Come dressed as your favourite book character

Confirmation

Next week our Year 3 students will start their 5-week preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Confirmation is where we are given the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit. We are challenged, throughout our life, to use these special gifts, to love and serve God and others and to make our world a better place. The Sacrament is available to Baptised students in Years 3-6. Some families have not enrolled their child via Compass, so this has been reopened until this Wednesday, August 23.

For your calendars, please remember these dates:

Confirmation Family Workshops- Wednesday, August 30, 6pm in the School Hall

Confirmation Commitment Mass- Weekend Masses over September 9 & 10

Sacrament of Confirmation with Bishop Greg Homeming- October 11, 6pm at St Anthony’s Church

Tweed Region Year 6 Gathering

This Wednesday, August 23, all Catholic Schools in the Tweed Region will be gathering at St Anthony’s to celebrate Catholic Education. Our parish schools, St Anthony’s and St Ambrose, Pottsville, will be hosting the event. Visiting schools include St Finbarr’s, Byron Bay, Mount St Pat’s, Murwillumbah, St Joseph’s, South Murwillumbah, St James, Banora Point and St Joseph’s, Tweed Heads. A number of personnel from the Catholic Schools Office will also be attending. We will have Mass at 10am, share lunch and play games, giving the students an opportunity to make connections across the seven schools. Year 6 parents are very welcome to attend the Mass and we’d love any help we could get to set out refreshments and lunch for our visitors. If you are able to assist, please call the school or email Gemma Ballantine gemma.ballantine@lism.catholic.edu.au

Baptism

The Sacrament of Baptism is the first Sacrament of Initiation to the Catholic faith and  welcomes people to the family of God and the Church community. We have had a lot of children receiving the Sacrament of Baptism this year, with 10 participating our school-based preparation program this Term alone. We are finalising the group who will be receiving the Sacrament of Baptism in Term 4. If you would like for your child to be part of this next group and receive the Sacrament of Baptism, and your child has a Catholic, Baptised Parent, please contact Gemma Ballantine gemma.ballantine@lism.catholic.edu.au and we will add your child to the group.

Sport News

Netball Gala Day

On Wednesday 9th August around 90 St Anthony’s students from Years 3-6 participated in the Tweed Schools Cup Netball Gala Day at Arkinstall Park.

St Anthony’s entered 10 teams, 2 in the Mixed Competitive and 8 in the Non-Competitive. 

The 2 Mixed Competitive teams who competed in the Years 5 / 6 rounds had a mix of wins, draws and losses against tough competition. Both teams improved each game and they should be proud of their achievements on the day. There are many Year 5 students looking forward to participating next year!

Many thanks to Mrs Julianne Barlogio for coaching one of the teams and running lunchtime training for both the competitive teams. Also many thanks to Mrs Leia Reid and Mrs Simone Tardent for coaching and running the other Mixed Competitive Team. Your time is greatly appreciated. 

Diocesan Athletics Carnival

The Diocesan Athletics Carnival was held in Coffs Harbour on Tuesday the 15th August. St Anthony’s had 24 students participate and represent the Tweed Zone on the day. Well done to the following students who represented our school and the Zone to the best of their abilities: 

Harrison Morley, Andrew De Beer, Callum Kelly, Eden Usher, Kahlani Gordon, Floyd Morley, Ky O’Grady, Cate Thierjung, Eden Tate, Kaynan Behs, Harper Gallagher, Lola Forrest, Derayne Kelly, Madeleine Preston, Luke Thierjung,Leah Hegedus, Cruz Gordon, Violet Habraska, Addison Halcoop, Jack Keast,Rusty Killick, Alice Little, Eva Richards and Laynie Tate. 

Some of the highlights of the day include:

• Harper Gallagher Runner Up 11 Years Boys Age Champion
• Andy De Beer Junior Boy Multi-Class Champion
• Eden Usher Junior Girl Multi-Class Champion
• Floyd Morley Runner Up Junior Boy Champion
• Senior Boys Relay 2nd place
• Junior Girls Relay 1st place..
• Laynie Tate 1st 13 Years 100m
• Harry Morley 1st 8 Years boys 100m
• Kaynan Behs 1st 11 Years Boys 100m
• Harper Gallagher 1st 11 Years Boys 200m
• Madeleine Preston 3rd Junior Girls Discus

Good luck to the following students who will be progressing to the Polding carnival to represent the Lismore Diocesan in Sydney next Term:

Harrison Morley, Laynie Tate, Cate Thierjung, Eden Tate, Kahlani Gordon, Leah Hegedus, Harper Gallagher, Derayne Kelly, Cruz Gordon, Kaynan Behs, Floyd Morley, Eden Usher, Andy De Beer and Madeleine Preston.

Polding Soccer
Good luck to our amazing soccer stars Billy Handisides and Kalani Favero Andreo who are currently in Nelson Bay representing the Polding team at PSSA soccer. We can’t wait to hear how your team competed and all about your achievements. 

Thankyou to Struddys
Many thanks to Struddys apparel for their generous donation of our Football uniforms that were proudly worn by our Rugby League teams at the recent Gala Day. Also thankyou for the donation of sports equipment that will help when training towards and playing at our sporting Gala Days. 

Tom Weaver and his NRL Debut

Congratulations to Tom Weaver, a former St Anthony’s Years 6 student, who will make his debut for the Gold Coast titans as Halfback against the Panthers on Saturday.

Tom represented St Anthony’s at our Annual Rugby League Gala Day when he was in Year 6. His hard work and dedication since has allowed him to progress and achieve at a high level. Well done Tom! It is wonderful to see former students live out their sporting dreams.

.

MISC ITEMS

Parish Information and News

Parish Priest: Fr Paul McDonald

Finance Manager: Paul Crouch

Parish Secretary: Marty Darragh

Pastoral Assistant: Catherine Holliday

Phone: 0266741368

Email: parkings@bigpond.com

Website: http://stanthonysparishkingslciff.org

WEEKEND MASS TIMES
VIGIL: KINGSCLIFF 5:00pm
SUNDAY:POTTSVILLE 7:30am
KINGSCLIFF 9:00am

WEEKDAY MASS TIMES
TUESDAY: POTTSVILLE 9:15am
WEDNESDAY: KINGSCLIFF 8:00am
THURSDAY: KINGSCLIFF 9:00am
FRIDAY: KINGSCLIFF 8:00am

RECONCILIATION TIMES

SATURDAY: KINGSCLIFF 5:00-5:30pm
SUNDAY: POTTSVILLE 7:00—7:25am

Current Office Hours: Tuesday - Thursday 9am-3pm

PARISH NEWSLETTER LINK: http://stanthonysparishkingscliff.org/news-events/

St Anthony's Parish - Care Group

Many parents may have noticed from the Parish Bulletin, that the Parish has a Care Group which, among other things seeks to provide meals to any parishoners in need.

This could include times of family sickness, new mums struggling to provide for the family in the early days of returning home, and many other circumstances of genuine need.

Please be aware that the Care Group is very willing to help out if any families find themselves in need of this service.

Contact: Parish Office: 0266 741 284 or Maree Moore 0439 174 116