Dear Parents and Carers,

Catholic Education Commission

The Catholic Education Commission (CEC) was established to support and advise the Archbishop in his responsibilities for Catholic schools in the Archdiocese. The CEC advises and makes recommendation to the Archbishop but does not make decisions. Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting the CEC at our school. The CEC were given a tour by our school captains, followed by their attendance at the Mary MacKillop Feast Day Mass and a morning tea after that. They were very impressed with the cleanliness of our school and the behaviour of our students in class and at Mass.

Welcome

A warm welcome to our new students and their families that have joined us recently. Knox in Yr 1, Rosie in Yr 3 and Simran in Yr 3. 

Enrolments

We are fielding a high number of enquiries across most year groups at present. If you have a child that is starting with us next year and you are yet to fill in the enrolment form, please action this one as soon as possible. Additionally, if you know that your child is leaving at the end of the year, please let the school know as well. Students often tell their friends in class, but we need to know for official purposes.

NAPLAN

I am very impressed with our NAPLAN results this year. It is a credit to the hard work of the students and staff at St Anne's. Our Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students' combined scaled score is above the NSW State, ACT State and National averages in every test domain. More specific highlights:

Year 9 achieved above the NSW, ACT and National averages in every domain. In most domains, they were well above these averages. 

Year 7 achieved above NSW, ACT and National averages in Numeracy and Grammar and Punctuation. They were above the National average in Reading.

Year 5 achieved above NSW, ACT and National averages in every domain except Numeracy. Although, they were above the National average in Numeracy.

Year 3 achieved above NSW, ACT and National averages in Grammar and Punctuation, Numeracy and Spelling. They were above the National average in Writing.

Community Survey Results

We had 63 respondents in our Tell Them From Me parent survey last term. Thank you for your feedback. A snapshot of some of the feedback:

• "I love how welcoming everyone is. Communication is great. My children understand what is expected of them and when work needs to be handed in."
• "Really Like- the focus on learning in the classroom. Poor behaviour is not permitted by teachers. The teachers give so much of their time to organise fun events for the kids."
• "We really like St Anne's, has a very inclusive, welcoming community. Staff seem very professional and competent in their roles, (this includes admin staff, support staff and teachers) and overall seem all very well respected from parents and kids. We value the level of discipline, boundaries and respect that students are expected to show for teachers and other students. This was a very important aspect when selecting a school for us. There seems to be a great culture at the school at present."

Building works

Builders have set up the site fencing and started the demolition work in preparation for the new access toilet. A singular access toilet and shower room will be installed next to the science lab. This week I had a site meeting with the Catholic Education Facilities Manager and an Architect. We discussed the need for a new toilet block and additional classrooms to support our growth in numbers. The architect will work with us to develop a school master plan. I will be calling on some feedback from Staff, Students and Parents/Carers. This feedback will assist us in shaping the future building works of the school. The priority will be the new toilets in this process.  

Take care,

Grant Haigh

Principal

We recently celebrated the Feast Day Mass of St Mary of the Cross Mackillop. At the conclusion of the Mass, Sister Mary O’Dea was presented with flowers by Mr Haigh.

On Friday 18 August 2023, St Anne's is participating in the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA). Students are asked to wear Orange on this day. The NDA is Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative for schools, connecting schools and communities to implement workable solutions to prevent bullying. Planning for a safe and supportive school community requires a whole-school community approach. Whole-school responses to bullying prevention builds positive and supportive school environments by incorporating strategies for intervention at all levels, inclusive of students, teachers, parents and carers.

Three key characteristics outlined in the national definition of bullying distinguish bullying behaviours from other negative behaviours which are not bullying. The key characteristics of bullying include:

1. power imbalance
2. deliberate intent to cause harm, and
3. ongoing and repeated behaviour.

While the following behaviours are not bullying, they may still be serious and require intervention at home and at school:

• arguments and disagreements (where there is no power imbalance)
• single acts of social rejection or unkind behaviour, or
• isolated incidents of aggression, intimidation or violence.

It is important for our whole-school community, including our staff, parents, carers and students to have a clear understanding of the definition of bullying to be able to correctly identify and respond to incidents of bullying. The full national definition can be found on the Bullying. No Way! website.

Helpful websites:

Kids Helpline

eSafety Commissioner

Bullying No Way

Week 4

Year 8 - Jasmin Cassidy - Great focus in English, Archer Gaynor -  Working hard in Georgraphy,  Carus Gray - for always working hard in HSIE, Darcy Murphy - Always working well & participating in PDHPE, Lachlan Smith - Always working well & participating in PDHPE

Year 9 - Lilli Block - Consistent effort in Science, Alice Fogarty  - Consistent effort in Science, Jett Nguyen  - Consistent effort in Science, Lillian Oliver  - Consistent application in all Georgraphy tasks, Rommy Wilesmith - Consistent effort in Science.

Year 10 - Kayde Carney  - A great explanation of climate change in Georgraphy, Guinevere Drumore  - A very detailed explanation of climate change in Geography, Tom Mattner  - For making a great start in English and for effort and applcation in Maths, Kamryn Wood - For effort and application in Maths.

Year 11 - Jashua Daly  - A well detailed essay in English

Week 5

Year 7 - Liam Edis  - Great retention of the "Hero's Journey", Amber Haigh  - Excellent spelling in spelling mastery, Darcy Reardon  - Detailed answers in Geography, Indy Wilesmith  - Great retention of the "Hero's Journey" and great recall in daily reviews.

Year 8 - Bradley Daly - for excellent application and growth in Maths, Lily Gibbs - For showing great growth in Maths, Leonard Lancaster  - For showing excellent application to Maths tasks, Grace Smith - For showing great growth in Maths, Bethany Wiencke  - for showing great growth in Maths.

Year 10 - Rachael Thompson - Great contributions to discussions in English.

Year 11 - Evie Gidley - for an outstanding visual essay in English

Week 3

Kinder: Isla Pike, Rupert Coleman, Charlotte Williams

Year 1: Harriett Talbot, Alby Swanston, Josie Bush

Year 2: Winfred Puertos, Phillipa Gibbs, Bodhi Reardon

Year 3: Ella McCrone, Hayden Pham, Stella Krause

Year 4: Peyton Combe, Jack Crawford, Evie Cooper, Annabelle Gray

Year 5: Grace McCrone, Barney Taylor, Mailee Reid

Year 6: Brodie Gray, Livvy Blackwell, Judd Oliver

Week 4

Kinder: Olivia Purcell, Ruby Mitchell, Kendra Willara Arachchige

Year 1: Connor Jones, Bree Puertos, Knox Wooden

Year 2: Skyla Morton, William Bush, Ruby Crawford

Year 3: Matthew O'Connor, Olive Coddington, Ned Hale

Year 4: Joey Guymer, Madison McCormack, Clancy Gibbs

Year 5: Paige Reardon, Angus Oliver, Georgie O'Connor

Year 6: Liam Oliver, Ava Derrick

Year 11 Hospitality students have started their unit on Prepare and Serve Espresso Coffee. Initial studies have included coffee varieties, where and how coffee is grown and how it is processed. They have been learning the ins and outs of our great coffee machine and grinder and all the equipment to go with it.  Practical skills are being developed in grinding coffee and the requirements of pulling the perfect espresso shot. They have practiced making ristretto, espresso, and long black and will move into steaming and texturising milk next.

Boorowa touch/Netball Knockout, October  20^th , Term 4. Could parents of Year 2-6 students please give consent and pay on Compass urgently. 

NSW Cricket visit next Wednesday 23^rd August Kinder to year 6 students. There will be three NSW Blues players being Jack Nisbett, Will Salzmann and Liam Doddrell. The three recently represented Australia at the 2021 under 19s world cup and on the back of this earnt themselves professional contracts with the NSW Blues

Trent Barrett Shield is next Thursday 24^th August. Students in teams are reminded to wear their sports uniform to school and bring footy boots. All playing gear will be provided. Girls should bring  their own tag shorts too. 

Library lessons

K-6 Library lessons have been filled with reading and viewing several new books from the 2023 CBCA Shortlist in preparation for Book Week. Classes have been busy creating a piece of artwork related to some of the short listed books. This year the theme for Book Week is "READ, GROW, INSPIRE". Book Week takes place from Saturday 19^th August to Friday 25^th August 2023. 

Book Week Parade

Students are encouraged to dress as a character from their favourite book and participate in the St Anne's Book Week Parade to be held on Wednesday, 23^rd August at 9:15am. Family and Friends are invited to view the Book Week Parade which will be held on the playground. Students who chose not to dress up are to wear their school uniform to school that day. If your child has PE on Wednesday, please remember to pack suitable footwear.

Scholastic Book Fair Update

Your support of our annual Book Fair helped raise $1222 for our Library in the form of reward points. These reward points will be used to purchase new books for our students to enjoy. Thank you

Scholastic Book Club

Issue #6 of Scholastic Book Club has been distributed this week. Orders are due by Wednesday 6^th September, 2023.

 

Students in Years 10 & 11 travelled to Canberra recently for the annual Careers Xpo. The Students were exposed to lots of different career information and study pathways with over 150 local and national exhibitors, including universities, colleges, VET and career placement organisations, providing a wide range of information sources.

Thank you to the Temora Shire Council for providing this great opportunity for our students.