Issue 11 - 8th July 2022

The end of Term 2 has arrived. It has been a busy term filled with active learning, wonderful events and programs. I would like to thank all staff, students, families and members of our community for your contributions to our school community. The commitment, energy and support that goes into providing valuable learning experiences is what continues to make St Peter Chanel Catholic School a place to be incredibly proud of.

This week is NAIDOC Week, a time when we celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is celebrated by all Australians and is a great opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. At St Peter Chanel this week, we celebrated NAIDOC Week in our classrooms.  There are some photos later in the newsletter.  NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. This committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week and its acronym has since become the name of the week itself.

I hope that your children have a great holiday break, and are refreshed and ready for another term of learning. 

Holy Father, God of Love,

You are the Creator of all things.

We thank you for the survival of Indigenous cultures.

We pray for your strength and grace to forgive, accept and love one another, 

as you love us and forgive and accept us in the sacrifice of your Son.

Give us the courage to accept the realities of our history 

so that we may build a better

future for our Nation.

Teach us to respect all cultures.

Teach us to care for our land and waters.

Help us to share justly the resources of this land. 

Help us to bring about spiritual and social change 

to improve the quality of life for all groups in our communities, 

especially the disadvantaged.

May your power and love be the foundations on which we build our families, our communities and our Nation, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(adapted from: Wontulp Bi-Buya Indigenous Theology Working Group 13 March 1997 Brisbane, Qld).

This term we have farewelled Ebony Fraser who has left us to work at Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation in the Early Childhood Program and Victoria Cotton who is also going to CHAC in an Administration role.  We thank them for their service and passionate commitment to our school. They will both be greatly missed. We wish them both all the very best with their future endeavours.

Next term we have a day change for PE lessons. This will be on Thursday, 18th August instead of Wednesday, 17th August as we will have a representative from Little Athletics Tasmania run sessions with classes.

This week at assembly, students received the first Shooting STARRS awards. 

The Shooting STARRS awards are a new award this year, in line with the review of our Positive Behaviour for Learning program (PB4L).

We continue to issue Aiming High awards each fortnight to students who have shown positive behaviour and/or learning in the previous fortnight.

The Shooting STARRS awards are awarded to students twice per term at whole school assemblies for consistent display of our values and expectations throughout the term.  In addition to a certificate, these students will also be given a $5 canteen voucher.

Kinder - Oscar Magee & Rylee Schuuring 

Prep - Tilly Korpershoek & Brock Hardy

Grade 1 - Isla Burke & Reegan Poke 

Grade 2 - Brady Robinson & Kaley Saward

Grade 3 - Myla Jenkins & Chayse Collins

Grade 4 - Jaiden Spinks & Jordana Pay 

Grade 5 - Lucas Facey & Lara Berechree 

Grade 6 - Luke Odgers & Caitlin Grey

Congratulations to the following overall ‘winners’ for stars this Term they were:  

House winner - Marian

Class winner - Grade 4 

Individual student winner - Rory Bishop

Congratulations to last week’s winner Hamda! 

The next Parents and Friends Meeting will be held on 28th July at 3pm, all welcome!

On Wednesday 6^th July, Grade 6 participated in Indigenous cultural activities as a part of the CHAC and Brumby Hill NAIDOC Day community celebrations. Students participated in an acknowledgement of country and smoking ceremony, followed by a variety of cultural activities. Some of these included weaving and making kelp baskets, jewellery making, crushing and using ochre for art, looking at reptiles, clap stick making and tasting ‘bush tucker’. It was an incredibly rewarding day for all involved, learning and celebrating Indigenous histories and cultures. The Year Sixes cannot wait to bring back some of what they learned to the school community. They represented the school excellently and their behaviour and shirts were well commented on by the general public. A big thank you goes to Camilla, Selena, CHAC and Brumby Hill for their organisation of such a wonderful event.

The school office will be closed during the holidays, please feel free to contact us via email spc@catholic.tas.edu.au or via facebook messenger. A reminder for families Term Three commences on Monday, 25th July. Enjoy the break!

Grade 6 – Science 

What direction did the pirate go to get his bread?

Yeast!

In Grade 6, we have been learning about yeast being a micro-organism. We have learned that yeast is a living thing, which means it requires water, food, and oxygen to survive. To start off the unit, we studied (and tasted) three different types of bread: white bread, wraps and gluten free brioche buns. We looked at the different ingredients in each and concluded that yeast was the key factor which made the bread rise. We then did two experiments to try and find out the best living conditions for yeast. We found out that water too hot will kill the yeast and that if it’s too cold, then yeast will not activate. We learned that when yeast is active, it creates carbon dioxide gas, which is why there are sometimes air bubbles in bread. This then led to our favourite experiment: making the bread. We observed the bread making process with a bread machine, watching it mix, knead, and bake the bread within three hours. After the time elapsed, we then got to eat our freshly made bread with a whole heap of butter on it. It was delicious! Although we have had fun doing this part of science, we now move on to studying mould as a micro-organism. Hopefully Miss Bradley doesn’t make us try that!

On the 30th of June Kinder students went on an excursion to Stanley.

The children were very excited as they boarded the bus and they enjoyed looking out the window and spotting calves and lambs as we drove to Godfrey’s beach. 

When we arrived at the beach we marvelled at the weather, we had the most perfect warm winters day!

While at the beach the children enjoyed making sandcastles, splashing in the puddles and exploring the rock pools. The children found a crab hiding in the sand which was very exciting!

The children also participated in a treasure hunt - digging for chocolate coins in the sand. Everyone agreed the chocolate coins tasted delicious!

We finished the morning with a play on the playground and some hot chips for morning tea. We had certainly worked up an appetite after our very busy morning.

Everyone had a wonderful time with some children describing it as, “the best day of their life.”

Thank you to all families who have been able to support our Set up for Success - Learning Treasure Program. Learning Treasure will resume on Monday, 1st August.

Speech Pathology Tasmania warmly invites parents and carers to join Rosie Martin for the Circle Of Security Program. The Term 3 program will take place on Tuesday evenings from August 2 to September 20. The course involves meeting in a small group online via zoom once a week for 8 sessions, at times when children are likely to be asleep.

This enriching program explores the development of connection, relationship and attachment – which are also the foundations for language and social skills development and good mental health for parents and children. The insights gained can benefit all relationships.

The zoom format is convenient for busy families. The video segments and handouts are helpful for visual learners. Numbers are limited to keep the group small.

Hosted by Rosie Martin, the program is rewarding and thought provoking. It helps us better understand ourselves and the children we care for, in a warm, caring and non-judgemental way.

The Foster and Kinship Carers Association of Tasmania will sponsor grandparents raising grandchildren, informal kin, and Foster & Kinship Carers to participate in the program. A group specifically for foster carers will be also running in Term 3 on Wednesdays at 10:30am-12:30pm from Aug 3 to Sept 21.

More details can be found on our website www.spt.com.au, by phoning 62345717 or emailing programs@spt.com.au.