St Finbarr’s Student Protection Contacts

Genny McNair ~ Prue Bodkin

St Finbarr’s Parish School

Jabiru Street, P.O. Box 34 Quilpie, QLD, 4480

Phone: (07) 46561412—Fax: (07) 4656 1306

Email: Quilpie@twb.catholic.edu.au

Newsletter Checklist

Tuckshop Enve-

lope

Data Collection

Information

Book Fair Notice

Important dates

24th May Simulta-

neous Story time P

-2 Kindy 11.00 am

26th May District

cross Country

12th June Dino-

saur Time machine

20th June Jim

Midgley Visit

23rd June Last Day

Term 2

10th July First Day

Term 3

Volume: 7

Issue: 8

Date: 17th May 17

Dean Timms Furniture Viewing

On Tuesday afternoon, the 3-6 class went down to the Cultural Society to have a look at some of the woodworking pieces that people have been working on over the last week in the woodwork-ing and furniture restoration workshop.

Dean spoke to the students about what he does, explained what they had been doing during the week and spoke of different types of timber and some of the different techniques used to create and restore pieces.

Dear Parents and Friends

It feels like the term has just begun and now we are almost into the second half.

Thank you to all parents who have attended the Parent teacher interviews. We really do encourage all parents to

attend if possible as this is the best way to discuss your child’s work and progress with the classroom teachers

and to share any concerns or successes. The report cards will be sent out in the final week of term but these are

really a summary of the Semester.

The annual Mother’s Day High Tea was held last Friday and once again was well received by everyone who

attended. As so many of our Mothers work full time, some were unable to attend and that again is one of the

sacrifices we make as parents. It was great to see not only our current mothers and grandmothers but also moth-

ers from past years attend. This year the senior ladies were also invited and totally enjoyed the afternoon out.

Thank you to the Sr Marg for preparing the liturgy and all of the staff who helped with the preparations. Again

we offer a ‘magnanimous’ thank you to Jennie for overseeing the event and preparing all of the food in the lead

up to the afternoon.

Next week Mrs Moran will be in Toowoomba attending the RREAP training. All teachers in Catholic schools are

required to be accredited to teach RE. To achieve this, they must complete a certificate in Theology. The TCSO

has arranged for a program which will cover 2 units (equivalent to 1 Master’s Degree unit) over 3 days next week.

Many teachers across the Diocese have taken up this offer to get started on their course. The remainder of the

course will then be completed by Distance Education. We wish Melissa all the best next week as I can imagine

that a lot of work will be covered in the 3 days.

Whether by good fortune or Sr Marg’s prayers to Mary Mackillop, Miss Samantha Jaeger will be joining our staff

next week as the Year 3-6 Classroom Teacher. Sam is a graduate teacher from the USQ and comes with excellent

references from her practicum experiences at Mary Mackillop and Sacred Heart schools in Toowoomba. She has

connections with a number of teachers who have had great experiences working in the Western schools and is

keen to have this experience. We warmly welcome Sam to our school community.

Ellen Knight has just completed her Practicum experience in the P-2 Classroom. This was Ellen’s first prac and

she totally enjoyed the experience of working with Mrs Moran and the students. Ellen enjoys working in small

country schools. Thank you Ellen for the work you have done over these weeks and to Melissa for being her

coach and mentor.

Michelle Donohue was providing fruit for snack attack each Monday last term as part of the Councils Healthy

Eating program. It was suggested by parents and member of the P&F last term that it might be a good idea to

continue this each Monday as part of the Tuckshop program. In addition to morning tea and lunch we are asking

if parents who are running tuckshop could please provide a fruit platter for each of the 2 classes. Each child only

needs a small quantity eg half an apple or banana to get them through until morning tea. This will be extra cost

so we have increased the tuckshop charge slightly. Can I please remind parents that they can use the money

raised for tuckshop to purchase these extra items. More details have been included in this Newsletter. Please

contact myself or Prue if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you to all parents who have given up their

time to prepare and serve at tuckshop. All of the children and staff really appreciate your efforts.

Warm regards

Genny

‘The secret of getting ahead is getting started’. Mark Twain

Liam & Lace—District Cross Country Qualifiers

Congratulations to Liam and Lace who qualified for the District

Cross Country Trials held in Charleville on 26th May. We wish

them the best of luck!

Mobile Breast Screening Service

There will be a Breast Cancer screening mobile service head-

ing 6to Quilpie Hospital from 5th June—7th June 2017.

Before and after hours appointments available

Appointment can be made via 13 20 50

Thanks to Ellen

Thank you for being a part of our school for the last

two weeks. We have enjoyed having you here and

wish you the best of luck in your future studies.

Outstanding School Fee Reminder

A friendly reminder that school fees went out in the last News-

letter. If you have paid your account, please disregard this mes-

sage. If not, we would appreciate if you could attend to your ac-

count as soon as possible. Our bank details are:

National Australia Bank

BSB: 084 829 Account No: 508867529

Please use a surname as a reference so we make sure your deposit

is receipted correctly. Thank you.

Simultaneous story time 2017

Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian

author and illustrator is read simultaneously in libraries, schools,

pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many

other places around the country. The aim

of this is to promote reading & literacy

and the value of books

This year on 24 May the P-2 class will be

walking to the Kindy to join them while

we read this years book “The Cow

Tripped Over The Moon”.

Quilpie Museum Visit

As part of their history unit,

the P-2 class took a trip to the

Quilpie museum to see how

things have changed locally

over the years.

Some of the comments were:

Clay—I liked seeing the old

fashioned trucks in the pic-

tures and the Bulls Gully

bushfire picture.

Billy—I learned that they

used to use a big box that you

plug cords into and then flip a

lever and wear earmuffs before you could speak on the phone.

Charlie—I learned that things can fall from the sky.

Lachlan—I learned that when the floods were on they couldn’t use

their trucks and so they

used the railway line.

Chelsea—I liked the pic-

ture of the horse with the

spider web all over its

head.

Ava—I enjoyed seeing the

piano that can play by

itself.

Charles—I learned that all

roads used to be made

from dirt and that first aid

was done differently.

Jonah—I liked seeing all

the pictures of the old

football teams in Quilpie.

P-2 News

Welcome to week five!

In English the year 1 and 2’s have been examining the fea-

tures, structures and language devices used to create sim-

ple recounts. In particular, the students have been se-

quencing events using time connective words, past tense

verbs and personal pronouns within their writing. The

prep’s have been retelling past events and stories through

sequencing events in order with using time connective

words through the use of pictures.

The Prep’s have now finished their Golden sight words and

are now learning the red sight words…how exciting! They

have been working extremely hard with learning to identify

and use the red sight word ‘as’ and write and sound the

letter ‘g’. This week the Prep’s have started writing sen-

tences and words in handwriting lines. I love how the

Prep’s are reading their home readers each night for home-

work…well done!

This week in Mathematics for year 1 and 2 we are exploring

the connection between addition and subtraction through

inverse operations and demonstrating sharing by dividing a

quantity into equal groups. The Prep’s this week are partic-

ipating in learning activities to identify and represent the

number 12. The Prep’s are also combining two groups to

count and model addition with concrete materials.

This term our History unit explores how family life, travel,

technology and school has changed over time. On Tuesday

afternoon, we all walked to the Museum to look at the

artefacts on display that compares the past to the present

of Quilpie. The students loved viewing the pictures and

seeing how Quilpie has changed over time!

The last two weeks, we were very lucky to have a prac stu-

dent, Ellen Knight join our P-2 classroom. The P-2 students

loved having Ellen in our classroom. Ellen finished her prac

with us on Monday and we wish her all the best for the

future.

Have a great week! Mrs Moran

Students of the Week

Congratulations to our Students of the Week for weeks 3 &

4 of Term 2. In week 3, these students were Lace from the

3-6 class for her consistency and hard work and Chelsea

from the P-2 class for listening and following directions. In week 4, they

were Millie from the 3-6 class for demonstrating leadership qualities and

Ava from the P-2 class for always giving 100%. Well done!

Mothers Day High Tea.

This years Mothers Day was another success

with over 60 ladies attending. This years

theme was “Mothers of the World”. The

afternoon began with the children walking

into Jeff’s shed each carrying a different flag

to represent the Mothers of that country.

The school leaders read out the name of

each country.

Sister Margaret blessed the flowers and then

the students walked through the guests giv-

ing the blessed flowers to each guest. The

children sang two songs during the Prayer

Assembly, one very heart warming and one

very funny to finish off the assembly.

Our guests were then invited to make their

way to the tea tables and help themselves to

a wonderful treat of scones, pikelets, mini

lemon meringues, chocolate slice, fairy cakes

and much more. We raffled over a dozen

mystery gifts to the visitors.

As the afternoon tea went on, each child

invited his/her mother up to the classroom

where they were treated to a massage from

the children and given a lovely gift made in

class.

Thank you to everyone for attending and

special thanks to Miss Jen for all her hard

work in organising and catering for this won-

derful and important event.

Meet our new 3-6 Teacher!

Hello to the school community of St. Finbarr’s, I am Sa-mantha Jaeger and I am looking forward to starting my first teaching position within your school.

I am from Toowoomba, which is where I grew up, went to school and studied my teaching degree. I am from a family of six and have three sisters with whom I am very close.

My education has been within the Catholic community in Toowoomba. My sec-ondary education was at Saint Ursula's College.

I enjoy spending time with family and friends and am looking forward to being a part of he school and wider community within Quilpie.

I have been involved in sports for a long time and currently play hockey and en-joy spending time with teammates. I also enjoy cooking and I regularly cook for my family and friends.

I have a passion for education and helping children as they progress through their learning journeys.

I look forward to coming to St. Finbarr’s school and getting involved with the children and community in and out of the classroom.

Samantha

Directors Visit

Last Wednesday 10th May, we welcomed Pat Coughlin ( Director of Toowoomba Catho-

lic Schools Office) to our school for a special assembly. Given we had just celebrated the

Centenary of Quilpie, the school leaders gave a brief history of the school from its foun-

dation in the 1950’s to present day. Mr Coughlin then spoke to the students giving par-

ticular mention to the importance of the students within a school. We then took Mr

Coughlin over to the library to show him our photographic display from the Centenary.

Parish News

This year Bishop Bill Morris will be in Quilpie on Sunday 13 August to confer the

Sacrament of Confirmation.

Enrolments are now being taken for those wishing to receive this Sacrament.

Children/Adults need to be baptised in the Catholic faith, or into a Church whose

Baptism is regarded as a valid Baptism by the Church. (eg. Anglican, Lutheran,

Uniting).

Sacramental Programs are a partnership between Parents and Parish. The classes

are conducted out of school hours and Parent/Parents are strongly urged to par-

ticipate in the sessions.

Those who are in the Confirmation Program will make their First Communion on

Sunday 27 August.

The Sacramental Program encompasses both Sacraments. The program will begin

on Tuesday 6 June and continue after the holidays.

Please contact me at school or on 0488 589 916 if you wish to enrol your child/

children. Sr. Margaret.

Quilpie and District Carnival Dates Athletics – Friday, 28th July Swimming – Friday, 17th November