FROM THE PRINCIPAL No. 34 25th October, 2012

Dear Parents and Caregivers On Monday, our teachers gathered with three other local Catholic schools, Our Lady of the Angels at Wavell Heights, All Saints at Albany Creek and St Joseph’s School at Bracken Ridge for the Consistency of Teacher Judgement Day. The day was all about professional development, where the teachers from all the schools shared their samples of work around their focus in history and discussed the assessment task and level of attainment against the criteria set. There were opportunities to listen to instruction on inquiry in Mathematics and to attend a number of workshops on aspects of teaching and student learning across a number of subjects. I was most impressed with the sharing of good practice from all of the presenters and the discussion and conversations that occurred throughout the day. The opportunity to see and hear what is occurring in other schools and for many of our teachers to share their own practice and knowledge in science and history to their colleagues made the day extremely valuable for everyone. Thank you to Melissa Spiteri for all of her time and effort in coordinating the day with the other schools The school fee account for the fourth term will be sent home tomorrow. The commitment that each family makes to the payment of school fees is important in allowing us to provide the necessary functions and resources for the school. Thank you for your ongoing commitment and if there is anything you wish to discuss concerning payment, please speak with Deslee Till, our financial secretary, or myself at your earliest convenience. Tomorrow is World Teachers’ Day and an occasion when we can recognise and thank those special people who have had such an influence on us. It is easy to recall those teachers who had the most influence and usually it is the way they made you feel as a student and how they encouraged you as a learner that made them someone you remember. I hope that you can find a moment to thank your child’s teacher for their commitment and dedication. Twilight Markets: The first fundraising event for the Year Seven Canberra trip for 2013 is the Twilight Markets to be held on Friday 23rd November commencing at 6:30pm until 9:30pm. If you are interested in participating this year or know of someone who might be interested, please contact Madonna Mortleman via email at Madonna.1@hotmail.com.au Mark the date on your calendar as it is a wonderful occasion to commence shopping for those Christmas gifts. Tickets for the event will be advertised at the commencement of November. Tomorrow is the final day for parents to share information concerning their educational needs for consideration by the school in class placement for 2013.

TERM 4 DATES

OCTOBER 26 Yr 2 Water Week Skype Yr 4M Class Mass 29 Yr 5 Prayer Assembly 30 Yr 5 Bunyaville Excursion

NOVEMBER 1 All Saints Feast Day Instrumental Music Info Evening 2 All Souls Feast Day Yr 4F Class Mass Prep - Tiddlywinks 4 Working Bee 5 Yr 4F Prayer Assembly 7 P & F AGM 8 Q of A Feast Day 9 Yr 4C Class Mass Q of A Cultural Night 12 Prep Orientation Evening Yr 4F Prayer Assembly 13 Prep Orientation Morning 16 Yr 3F Class Mass Yr 2 to Yr 3 Parent Transition Meeting 19 Y4 4C Prayer Assembly 23 Yr 3M Class Mass Q of A Twilight Markets 26 Yr 3 C Prayer Assembly 27 Yr 2 Night School 29 Thank you morning tea for Support a Reader Prep Celebration of Learning Evening 30 Yr 3C Class Mass

DECEMBER 3 Final Liturgy and thank you morning tea for Volunteers Yr 3 Prayer Assembly 4 Yr 7 Graduation 5 Reports and 2013 Class lists are sent home 7 School concludes for 2012 at 12:00om

JANUARY 30 First day of school for 2013

The commitment is made to considering the information provided in light of the teachers’ knowledge of each child. No promises are made and it is not the time to select a teacher for next year. If you still wish to write to me, please do so via email to pstafford@bne.catholic.edu.au I would also appreciate if you could please let me know in writing or via email should your child not be returning to Q of A next year as soon as possible. Active School Travel: The Active School Travel Committee is conducting a follow up parent survey to investigate if there has been any change in travel behaviour over the year. A survey form was sent home earlier in the week and it would be appreciated if the forms could be returned by tomorrow. The class with the most returns receives a tuckshop voucher to the value of $50.00. Congratulations: Congratulations to Conor Fitzgerald who has been selected in the Under 12 representative cricket team to play in the Ian Healy Cup carnival in January. Conor has been showing great form with the bat scoring 73 not out last Saturday as well as bowling and fielding at a high level. Well done Conor. Yours sincerely

Peter Stower

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

On Thursday 8th November, the whole school community from Prep to year 7 will be gathering in the church at 9.30 am to give thanks to God and celebrate our Feast Day – Mary, Queen of Apostles – in this special 50th Jubilee Year. A Jubilee Year was a very special year in Old Testament times – it occurred every fifty years – all debts were cancelled, slaves were freed and land was left to lay fallow ( untilled and unused ) for the whole year. It was a year of celebration and jubilation. A special musical instrument called a Shofar was used to proclaim this year. The Shofar was made from a sheep’s or cow’s horn. It is very much a symbol of our Jubilee year in 2012 at Queen of Apostles. Our Liturgy of the Word on November 8th fittingly culminates our year of celebration. Its religious focus is deliberate; buddy classes will spend a session before church on that day learning more about Mary as Queen of the Apostles, what the Shofar is and what a Jubilee year is in religious terms. I have attached a link to a YOU Tube of a Shofar being blown at the Western or Wailing Wall in Jerusalem ( the most holy site in Jerusalem for Jews and all that is left of the Temple originally constructed by King David ) I visited it in 1987 when I was studying in Israel for a short while and can attest to how special and moving this place is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKQrBURDtQE&feature=related Practical aspects of this day will be included in next week’s newsletter informing you of arrangements for Chuter St children going to the Thuruna St, sausage sizzle lunch etc. All the best, Michael

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FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL ADMINISTRATION

ACTIVE SCHOOL TRAVEL Thank you for remembering to begin our walk to school at 8:05am from the corner of Remick St and Detling St only, at the Early Years Campus. This has streamlined the walk to school on Fridays. Year 3-7 will continue to walk to school from Keong Park leaving at 8:05am. We look forward to a boost in our numbers again this term. Please continue to support this worthwhile action. THINKING SKILLS and BELONGING RULES This week we continued with our Think Smart, Work Smart belonging rules. Using Red Hat thinking we focused on the feelings associated with making good choices about Thinking Smart and Working Smart. Our focus question was – How do you feel when you try something new and succeed? Next week, we shall move to our Act Safe, Be Safe rules. Our focus is being safe in the classroom and the playground. The Black Hat helps us ask the question – “What are the dangers if you are not acting safely in the classroom or playground?” BOOKLISTS FOR 2013 Please remember booklists need to be completed and payment forwarded either online or to the school office by tomorrow FRIDAY 26th October in order for deliveries to be completed by December this year. If you did not receive a booklist please ask at the office for a replacement copy. CONSISTENCY OF TEACHER JUDGEMENT DAY This Monday 22nd October, our teaching staff joined with teachers from All Saints (Albany Creek), Our Lady of the Angels (Wavell Heights) and St Joseph’s (Bracken Ridge) to participate in professional conversation and moderation in History. The teachers were extremely proud of the quality of our student’s work and in many cases our work samples were selected as a representation of quality ‘at standard’ and ‘above standard’ work. This reflects the quality of learning both from our teachers and our students, in a new Australian Curriculum area such as History. Congratulations also to the 16 teachers across P-7 that facilitated workshops on the day in the areas of Science and History. Their professionalism and quality skills, as presenters, were evident. We received positive feedback on the value of the sessions and thank the teachers for taking up the challenge of the daunting task of leading the learning of their peers. SCHOOL REPORTING Over the next few weeks, I would like to share some information about the nature of assessment and reporting in this time of curriculum change. Below is an extract from “Reporting Student Achievement and Progress in Prep to Year 10” published this year by the Queensland Studies Authority. This is an advisory body assisting Queensland schools with the implementation of the Australian Curriculum. “A school report is a summary statement that records the achievements of an individual or a group of students at a point in time. Teachers make a judgment based on their shared professional knowledge about how evidence in student work matches the achievement standards. Schools and teachers make decisions about how they plan and deliver challenging and engaging programs of learning that match the learning needs of their students so the students can demonstrate achievement of the learning expectations — that is, the curriculum content and achievement standards within the Australian Curriculum and Queensland Syllabi. Student achievement will be reported against the achievement standard for the Year level they are taught.” You may wish to know more about the continuing changes within Assessment and Reporting for our state and therefore, our school. Please join me at 6:15pm on Tuesday 6th November (prior to the P&F AGM) for a further opportunity to learn and discuss this topic.

Enjoy the rest of the week, Melissa Spiteri

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STUDENT BIRTHDAYS Queen of Apostles would like to wish the following children a very Happy

Birthday: Ella D’Hage, Liam Dillon, Ryan Watson, Carl Martin, Emma

FitzGerald, Parish Hanna, Jaymee Statham, Olivia Searle, James Reid,

Lachlan Shields and Georgia Tripp. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

TUCKSHOP HELPERS Wednesday, 31st October

Michelle Sheldrick, Jodie Woollard, Tracey Parsons, Rosemarie Pollock and Vera Lord.

Friday, 2 November Natalie Barnes, Therese Nally, Kerry Healy, Christa Falzon, Lauren Cosgrove

and Justine Dickson

QACORS We congratulate this week’s QACOR recipients: Bethany Hayward, Byron

Sherlock, George Keys, Callie Gardiner, Novalee Woodward, Hayden

Barnes, Ella Falzon, Amy Mercurio, Sam Cadman, Shonty Pettiford-

Dank, Chiara Pezzetta, Orla Lynch, Theo Simpson, Hannah Tunney, Ava Wright, Jessica

Readdy, Elsa Jacob, Eden Jones, Brayden Armstrong, Sam Martin, Lucien Hoogen,

Lucius Conroy, Ella Abbott and Joseph Perfetto. CONGRATULATIONS!

CULTURAL EVENING

We would like to invite the school community to attend our annual Cultural Night on:

Friday 9th November at 7pm

The evening will be filled with wonderful musical and acting performances from our talented students. The band and string ensemble will be performing on the night along with our school choir. Students from Year 6 and 7 will be performing short Japanese plays for us also. The students have been working very hard in preparation for this event and we encourage you to attend to enjoy the talents of our students. Students involved in the evening will need to wear their formal uniform and assemble in the library at 6.30pm. The cultural night will be held in the school hall at Thuruna St. We look forward to seeing you all there.

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LIBRARY NEWS

Book Fair has arrived and is open for viewing this evening until 6.00pm. Please come in and see all the wonderful items we have for sale. This is a good chance to do some pre Christmas shopping for your children or other relatives and friends. There are items suited for toddlers right through to early high school. Book Fair Sales will start at 8.15 am on Friday 26th October and continue through until 4.00pm. The Book Fair will continue with these hours Monday 29th - Wednesday 31st October. Purchases can be made using cash, cheque or credit card. Book Fair has also given me the opportunity to reward children who participated in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. A draw was held during assembly at Thuruna St by year level for all students who took up the reading challenge. Congratulations to winners: - Maya Bringas 3F, Anna De Bellis 4C, Sarah Pyman 5M, Emily Buckland 6F and Isabella Bordignon 7M. Each of these children are able to select a book from the Fair. Last term we ran a competition in the library at Thuruna St in partnership with Book Week and the Olympics. Each week the children scored points for borrowing and having no overdue books. Our winning class with an average of 82% successful borrowing for the term was 7M. In second place with 79.8% was 6F and third was 4M with 79.6%. Well done to all classes for a wonderful effort borrowing and doing your best to avoid having overdue books. Friday 26th is World Teacher’s Day. On both campuses we have displays celebrating this event. During library borrowing, children on both campuses have been writing down what it is about their classroom teacher that inspires them. They have also written their thanks to the specialist and administration teachers at Q of A. Please come in and read all the lovely statements the children have taken the time to write. Margaret Poncini and Elaine Varley Teacher Librarian Library School Officer

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YEAR 2012 YEAR 7 CANBERRA VISIT

During the first week of term 4 our year 7 students embarked upon their educational tour of Canberra. While on this tour they participated in a variety of educational programmes focused on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy. Some of the wonderful places that were visited included Parliament House, Old Parliament House, the War Memorial, The Royal Australian Mint, Australian Institute of Sport, Questacon and numerous other exciting sites.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit their National Capital as part of their civics and citizenship education. To assist the parents in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government has contributed funding of $60- per eligible student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) programme toward the travel expenses incurred.

We would like to thank the Australian Government for their support of this program. We know that the

excursion was a great success and a rich and rewarding experience for all students.

PASTORAL CARE OUTINGS

Celebrate the end of Prep 2012 Tiddlywinks Disco/Play night

(Friday 2 November) Please return all forms and monies to the office by this Friday (26 October, 2012) so we can confirm our booking. We look forward to seeing you all again for another great night.

COMMUNITY NEWS

SAVER PLUS - The Smith Family is currently recruiting for the Saver Plus program to assist families in the Brisbane area to save for their own or their children’s education. Every one dollar saved by participants is matched with one dollar, up to $500, to buy books, a computer, uniforms, school camp etc... Participants are also involved in free financial education workshops. If you are over 18, have a family Health Care or Pensioner Concession Card, some regular income from paid employment and children enrolled in school or studying yourself, please contact Andrew Green on (07) 3115 6228 or Andrew.Green@thesmithfamily.com.au

REAL TALK: Love and life - yes there's a Parent Talk AND a Teen Talk!

Mt Maria College, Mitchelton Campus, Monday, 29 October 2012 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM

REGISTER NOW: 3550 3400 to register online, type the following into your search engine:

http://realtalkmtmariacollege.eventbrite.com.au/

!!!! CALLING PARENTS AND TEENS !!!!

On arrival, welcome drinks with a light BBQ dinner available

For more information contact Mt Maria or come to the Thuruna Street Office for a flyer.

brought to the Mt Maria College Community by the Parents & Friends Association

We look forward to welcoming you to this very special event....