Regional Spelling Bee & Maths Bee Finals

Congratulations to St. Benedict’s representatives who were chosen to participate in the Regional Spelling Bee & Mathematics Bee last week. Oliver B, Rhys T, Phoebe H, Dylan T & Noah J represented our school with pride and performed splendidly on the day. Dylan was placed first in the Stage 2 Spelling Bee Final and has now been chosen to represent the Lakes Region at the Maitland-Newcastle Diocesan Finals being held on Friday, 27th June.

Year One – A Semester Full of Discovery!

What a big and busy semester it has been for our enthusiastic Year One students!

In Science, students have been exploring the fascinating world of materials. They’ve investigated different properties through hands-on experiments like building foil towers, floating boats, and creating the gooey fun of oobleck!

In Religion, we’ve been learning about what it means to belong to God’s family, and exploring the sacraments that are part of the Catholic faith.

In Mathematics, students have been learning to tell the time to the hour and half-hour, as well as exploring measurement, data collection, and combining quantities.

In English, our letter-sound knowledge is growing stronger every day, helping us become more confident readers and writers.

In Health, we’ve created Positive Choice Wheels and learned about different emotions. We’ve also discussed helpful strategies for managing big feelings in positive ways. We have also been refining our gross motor kicking, running and throwing skills.

In Art, we’ve been exploring the use of colour in creative and meaningful ways. We’ve also connected our learning in Religion by drawing our families and designing doves to represent the Holy Spirit and the message of Pentecost.

A huge well done to all our Year One students for their hard work, curiosity, and enthusiasm this semester!

Staff Introductions 

Dear Parents and Carers,

My name is Clare Parker, and I am Aboriginal Education Teacher at St Benedict’s. I work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

I am Primary school Teacher working in the Aboriginal Education Role. I have worked in this position for over 10 years in several Primary Schools.

I will be assisting our First Nation students but also helping our school learn about Aboriginal culture and be involved in dedicated events.

I am a non-Aboriginal woman but have a strong interest in Aboriginal culture and collaborating with community.

I look forward to being part of the St Benedict’s community. If you have any questions, please email me at clare.parker@mn.catholic.edu.au

We welcome Sarah Shankley to our school as Aboriginal Support Worker. Sarah is studying teaching at Newcastle Uni and is a proud Wonnarua Woman. Sarah has been helping deliver our cultural well being and Traditional Indigenous Games lessons. Sarah has also been in the classroom assisting our First Nation students. Sarah plays for the under 19 Newcastle Knights women’s rugby league team. Sarah will work Tuesdays and Thursdays at our school.

We both are excited to be a part of the St Benedict’s family and look forward to meeting all the students.

Thank you, Clare Parker – Aboriginal Education Teacher

REPORTS

Semester One reports will be made available to parents on Friday 27^th June. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any concerns regarding reports. There will be another opportunity for a more formal student/parent/teacher conference in Term 3.

GENERAL WALKING PERMISSION

If you haven’t already done so, please complete the general walking permission on Compass for your child. This will be important when our playground construction begins as there may be times we would like to take the children to the local sporting fields to allow them more room to play…….if the general walking permission is done this will save a lot of time and paperwork and allow us to be more responsive to the needs of the children when playground access becomes restricted.

YEAR 6 FAREWELL AND END OF YEAR ARRANGEMENTS

We have planned to hold our End of Year Mass for the whole school on Tuesday, 9^th December. However we are waiting on confirmation from the parish that this date is available for our priests. So please, pencil the date in and we will confirm as soon as we hear back from Fr Christian.

Year 6 Farewell will be held on Thursday 11^th December with their ceremony in the morning and dinner and disco that night. The children have decided on a HOLLYWOOD theme for their disco – please await further information from the Year 6 teachers regarding the dress code before purchasing costumes.

CAROLS BY DAYLIGHT will be held on Monday 15^th December.