Dear Parents
Keeping You Informed
The events of last Friday have highlighted a couple of things for us as a school. Firstly the importance of accurate email contact for our parents. After I had sent out the email to our families, a number bounced back. If you did not receive an email last Friday detailing the events then could you please send your email details to the office. Send us an email and we can copy your address into our central data bank. Keeping your details up-to-date including phone numbers, address and emergency contact numbers is very important enabling us to be in quick communication with you if required.
Secondly, it is vitally important for parents to inform us early if your child will be absent for the day. We are then aware that your child has a reason for being away from school. We are investigating ways to improve this process from the school end.
We are also working on a Parent Portal which we hope to launch in the next few weeks. This portal will enable parents to find information which you need, e.g. links to the tuckshop, uniform shop ordering form, forms and documents that you may require. There will be a student absence email link, directory of staff and school emails, calendar of events, links to the Parish and Out of School Care and other information still to be decided. We believe that this will improve communication between school and home.
Teaching and Learning
Over the next 3 weeks, I will be attending 2 conferences related to improved pedagogy at CTK. Next week, Mrs Maryanne Riley (Principal at St Joseph’s Corinda) and I will attend a Learning conference in Sydney led by 2 world renown key- note speakers, Brendan Spillane and Tom Barrett.
As you are aware, our school as part of Brisbane Catholic Education, is engaged in Visible Learning. BCE has sponsored a number of schools to visit schools in New Zealand who have engaged in Visible Learning for a number of years. We have been privileged to be selected to be one of these schools. Mrs Jaqueline Bazzo-Maclean and myself will be visiting Auckland schools from August 10 to 14 with Visible Learning teams from 10 other Brisbane schools. We will bring home new ideas and concepts to enhance the quality teaching and learning at Christ the King School.
Recent Work around the school
The preliminary work for the shade sails outside the Year 1 and Learning Support rooms is now complete. The measurements for the sail have been finalised and the sail should be ready in 2 weeks to be installed. The netting between the posts will also be installed at the same time.
Have a great week
Trudy
APRE NEWS
ABORIGINALITY SPIRITUALITY
Yesterday, the staff engaged in an Aboriginal Spirituality afternoon. We listened to an aboriginal elder tell his story and were then presented with aboriginal crosses. The crosses are unique to this area, the Jagera region and will now take pride of place in our classrooms.
The Jagera is a tribe of Australian Aboriginal people which inhabited the region southwest of the city of Brisbane before European settlement of Australia. It is alternately known as Yagara, Yuggera or Jagara.
Jagera country is all of the land within the watershed of the Brisbane River. All the waters that run into the Brisbane River, that country is Jagera country from the mouth of the Brisbane River to the foot of the Dividing Range.
Later this term, the children will partake in NAIDOC activities with the staff from Ngutana- Lui visiting us for the day. They will be involved in art work, storytelling and boomerang throwing to name a few of the activities. By adopting an aboriginal perspective across the curriculum, we can aim to broaden and deepen understanding of Aboriginal cultures and ways of being so that all students and teachers are able to look at the world from an Aboriginal viewpoint and understand the different Aboriginal points of view on a range of issues such as reconciliation, social justice and equality.
STUDENT/PARENT PRAYER
After the success of the first student/parent prayer, we will be running a prayer morning every two weeks on Tuesday mornings. The theme for the next prayer morning is “Our Amazing World.” God asks us to be stewards of this wonderful planet, to look after it and care for it. The prayer will show an amazing slide show of our world and invite us to be respectful stewards of the world around us.
DETAILS
WHAT-: Student/Parent Prayer - Our Amazing World
WHEN-: Tuesday August 4 - 8.15am
WHO-: Parents and students
WHERE-: Library
AROUND CTK
Woolworths Earn and Learn
Yes we are collecting Woolworths Earn and Learn stickers. When you shop at Woolworths please collect Woolworths Earn & Learn Stickers from the checkout operator or through an online order and place them on a Woolworths Earn & Learn Sticker Sheet. There’ll be one Woolworths Earn & Learn Sticker for every $10 spent (excluding liquor, tobacco, and gift cards). Once completed, simply place the Sticker Sheet in the Collection Box, either at your school or at your local Woolworths.
School Banking
Students numbers have been growing in the School Banking Program .
At the end of Term Two,585 deposits have been processed and 23 new saving accounts have been activated.
38SchoolBanking rewards have been issued to studentsand the most deposits in one banking dayhas been46.
The CBA has paid $275.39 in commission to CTK.
Curriculum
University of NSW English and Mathematics Tests
The University of NSW English Test will be held on Weds 29 July and the University of NSW Mathematics Test will be held on Monday 10 August. Tests will take place in the library commencing at 9 am.
Debating
Good luck to Sophie Roach, Lara Kenny and Emma Burton (Christ the King 6.1) and Patricia Consoli, Matthew Hayes and Oliver Cook (Christ the King 6.2) who will be debating at Brisbane Grammar School against Somerville House this Thursday evening. We wish them all the best as they try to convince their audiences That we should not ban bottled water. These students have worked very hard to prepare for this debate. We wish the all the best for their first official debating experience.
The Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum
Throughout Term 3 and Term 4, our school will be implementing the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum with students in all classes from Prep to Year 6. The curriculum is based on principles of best practice in child safety education and centres around three key messages: Recognise, React and Report. Through a series of lessons, students will learn how to recognise, react and report when they are unsafe or find themselves in situations that can have a significant detrimental effect on their physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing.
Information about the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum can be found at www.education.qld.gov.au/child-safety-curriculum.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
LIBRARY NEWS
This week I had the pleasure to announce the winners of the Name our Book Person Competition. There were many entries to sift through and it was difficult to decide on just one, so prizes were given for the runners up too.
3rd Runner up is Jack Curtain for BOOKSTA
2nd Runner up is Ella Jackson for LÈ BRARIAN
1st Runner up is Alice Conway for BUG-A-LUGS THE BOOK MONSTER
but the Winner is:
James Rohl for BOOKIE MONSTER ( a clever play on words).
A reminder that Children’s Book Week will be held at C.T.K. from 31 August to 4 September this year. The theme this year is ‘Books light up our World’. Children are asked to come dressed as their favourite book character on the Friday Book Parade, so start thinking of/planning/making some great costumes for this fun event.
Author Visit
Last year we were visited by the Australian Illustrator Mr David Legge who inspired and delighted the students with his stories and teachings. This year I am very happy to have arranged for the author Mrs Frances Watts to visit our school on Tuesday 8 September. Frances has written many children’s books that David has illustrated. It will be a wonderful link for children’s memories and knowledge to see how these two talented people have worked together over the years.
Gruffalo’s Child
This September school holidays there will be a few performances of Julia Donaldson’s ‘Gruffalo’s Child’ at QPAC For further information:
http://www.qpac.com.au/event/Gruffalos_Child_15.aspx?utm_campaign=Gruffalos_Child_15&utm_source=on_sale&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button_read_more
SPORTS NEWS
WTB District Athletics Trials
The West Taylor Bridge (WTB) District Athletics Trials were held on Tuesday 28 July and continue tomorrow, Thursday July 30 2015, at the UQ Athletics Centre, University of Queensland, St Lucia. On Thursday July 30 a bus will be available to transport the students to and from UQ, and a supervising teacher will be attending. Students are required to be at school by 7:45am Thursday July 30, as the bus will depart at 8:00am sharp.
Our Athletics District Team: Patricia Consoli, Jack Coomber, Angus Crowe, Jack Daykin, Charlie Eastment, Archie Forbes, Xavier Grambower, Lara Kenny, Dean Lagueras, Lilly-Anne Layton, Ellie Manton, Tam Nguyen, Elizabeth Nolan, Kate Plant, Sophie Roach, Millie Sambrook, Oliver Stanley-Jones, Isabelle Thomson, Laura Wettenhall, Thomas wild, Bridget Woodrow, Teak Wynn.
CTK Athletics Carnival
Tuesday August 11 2015 (Graceville Memorial Park)
9am: 800m (Years 4 -6); 400m (Years 2 & 3); 200m (Prep and Year 1)
10:30am: Morning Tea at school
11am – 1pm: Prep and Year 1 Athletics Carnival (Graceville Memorial Park)
11am – 2:50pm High Jump- students 10 years, 11 years and 12 years only (school)
Friday August 14 (Ambiwerra Sporting Fields, Erinsvale Street Corinda)
9 am – 2:30pm Years 2 – 6 Athletics Carnival
Interschool Sport
The next interschool sport for students in Years 5 and 6 will commence next term on Friday 22 August. Sports offered will include softball and cricket. Training will take place each Wednesday during lunchtime.
TEACHING AND LEARNING AT CTK
Our snap shot this week takes us to Year 4 and Year 3.
The end product is a celebration of learning. Displaying the student’s accomplishments is an important part of their learning journey. While it presents well and for the viewer, is easy to follow and admire, the process can be challenging, exciting maybe frustrating but ultimately rewarding.
Work presented in drafts gives an insight into learning stages. Brainstorming ideas highlights what we know, what we want to know, perhaps what we don’t know and it provides opportunities to pose questions and develop a direction to investigate.
When viewing any piece of work it is vital to seek understanding by asking questions of the learner. Sometimes our initial questions identify what the display is about. To fully understand the complexities of an illustration, a poster, a piece of art or maths, it is important to have a conversation about the learning. Having students explain their thinking not only helps them to clarify and understand what they are doing it offers valuable insights into their creative minds.
Thank you to our creative learners in Year 3 and 4 for opening their classrooms for this week’s snap shot.
CTK BOOKCLUB NEWS
Last days for book club
Book club orders close this week, cash and cheque orders close on the Thursday July 30. Onlineordering with credit cards will be available untilSunday August 2.
Scholastic has changed their payment options with the new catalogues. If you wish to pay by cash or cheque, you will still need to fill out a form and return it to the CTK office along with your payment by the July 30. If you are paying by credit card, all of the payments are done online, and there is no need to fill out any forms or return any payment information to the school. Please follow the instructions in the catalogue to make your payment by Sunday August 2.
All of your purchases willcontinue toearn points for our school library, which we use to purchase new books for the library and the classrooms. Thank you to those families who have already placed their orders.
Please see Miss Cunningham or Ms Smithwick in the library if you have any questions.
TUCKSHOP NEWS
The Tuckshop need Volunteers urgentlyto assist in Tuckshop and Baking. If you are able to help please contact Amanda on or phone 0468 389 470.
UNIFORM SHOP NEWS
WE ARE GO!!!!
Finally! Yes the Uniform Shop is on-line and ready to go. Parents can start to order immediately. We are using the same program as the Tuckshop. If parents already have an account there will be no need to open a new account, use your existing username and password. The school ID number is also the same 25302963. Payments can be made by the usual methods (credit card or direct debit). Although there may be some “tweeking” to begin with, hopefully things will run as smoothly as possible. See the User Guideline below.
The Uniform Shop is open every Friday morning from 8.15am until 9.00am. The Uniform Shop is operated by an amazing group of volunteers who give up their time freely to help the rest of us with our uniform needs.
A User Guide for your Online Uniform Shop