Term 2 Week 2 2024
Principal's Message
‘We do whatever it takes to lead the way in Love, Learning, Faith, School Spirit, Sport & Community’
Dear families and friends,
We thank mother's for their all-encompassing love, for their commitment, care and kindness. We thank them for their wisdom, for helping us grow and flourish. We thank them for their strength, for their sacrifices, and for being there in times of need. And we thank them for their encouragement, for being our cheer leaders and celebrating our achievements. Lord, help Mothers know how much they are loved and appreciated. Amen.
Leading the way in Community
ANZAC Day: Thank you for the huge turnout for our ANZAC Day March, over 50 students at the Dawn Service and most of the school marching. This community instills respect and gratitude into our kids to ensure they understand and appreciate the sacrifices that have gone before us to provide the freedoms we take for granted today. There was a great group at Tabulam, too. I appreciated the warm welcome I received and the commitment our families west of the range have, in particular, around ANZAC Day. Well done everyone!
Beef Week: I like to add some new things every now and then to Beef Week to keep it innovative and interesting for our community. From previous ‘Walk of Flames’ and ‘Local Legends Lane’, to the introduction of the Betty Schuhmacker Bull Riding competition in the last couple of years. This year I’ve added the Fr Slack Cattle Stampede for Year 6 students to compete each year, an obstacle course through our Playing 4 Sheepstaion playground.
Our Leaders of Community will once again help with the Breakfast with the Butchers and some Year 6 girls will assist with setting up the Rural High Tea.
Beef Week Parade: Our SMP Kids are invited to parade with us on Saturday 25th May. They will meet us at Graham Parade (where we met for ANZAC day) at 1:00pm for a 1:45pm start. Students can dress up in their Beef Week outfit. Our Junk Drummers will be performing some funky Retro Hits too.
Charlie Cox Beef Week Cup: Thank you to the staff who freely give up their many breaks to select and train these teams in the lead-up to this great event. They go above and beyond most schools so I really appreciate this commitment they have towards our kids and our school. Unfortunately, not every child is able to attend this year as we had wished. We will attempt to provide more events in the future.
Mothers' Day: Today at school we celebrated Mothers' Day. I would like to wish all our SMP mothers, carers and staff, all the best and thank you all for what you give your families and how you contribute to our school. Mothers and fathers have the most important jobs in the world, and if we can all get this right, then our world and our communities are far richer. So thank you very much to our SMP mums, the kids you have raised and nurtured are a real credit to you. I would like to honour all our women on staff too, in particular, those who are mums. The love, care and dedication they give our SMP kids is so much appreciated, and is a big reason why our school is flourishing and our kids are succeeding. Our school and staff are family-orientated and our women on staff, like Mary the mother of Jesus, are loving and faithful to the development of their own and our SMP kids and community. This is so much appreciated!
Proverbs 31:25-27 "Strength and honor are her clothing; she is confident about the future. Her mouth is full of wisdom; kindly teaching is on her tongue. She is vigilant over the activities of her family; she doesn’t eat the food of laziness."
Take care
John O’Brien
Assistant Principal's News - Mission
Catholic Social Teachings
At SMP, we want to be a truly authentic Catholic community that lives and breathes what we believe. We have a big focus to foster this for our students and staff in 2024.
One way we can strive to achieve this is through nurturing a community that has a strong endearment to Catholic Social Teaching principles. These principles have been inspired by the writings of the Pope and other Catholic leaders about social issues.
One area we focus a lot of our energy into is having a Preferential Option for the Poor and Marginalised in our decision making, interactions with others, opportunities for our students. This can be very difficult to achieve at times but we know how much of a difference we can make in others’ lives by placing our energy in this direction.
Some of the initiatives and school decision making that demonstrates our unwavering commitment to this Catholic Social Teaching are:
- Year 6 Acts of Mercy - helping at the Soup Kitchen, cleaning the graves at the cemetery etc.
- Our House Volunteer cooking - staff and Year 6 students cook a meal 3 to 4 times a year for those undergoing cancer treatment at the Our House facility in Lismore.
- Mini Vinnies - Year 6 social justice group that helps to raise money for our local St Vincent de Paul Society and learn more about the social issues in our local community.
- School Fee Relief - we support families who are doing it financially tough.
- Family Connect Service - this service supports families by connecting them with a wide range of services such as; Accessing NDIS, linking to housing support, help with accessing welfare supports, accessing counselling services etc.
- Socktober - we raise money for the Catholic charity, Caritas, who work with the most vulnerable people around the world.
- Breakfast Club - we offer a free breakfast to our students every day of the week and our staff volunteer their time to run this.
Beef Week - Emergency Contacts Update Reminder
Just a reminder that we are not allowed to let students go home from school with anyone other than a parent or someone listed as an 'Emergency Contact' at school. Please contact the school office to update this.
3:16 Youth Group - Term 2 Dates
One again this term, we will be running an after school youth group at the church for our Years 2-6 students that focuses on bringing kids together for fun, food and understanding about God in their lives. The program is called “Three SixTeen” and will be coordinated by various SMP staff members. The idea of the session is for students to have lots of fun and participate in enjoyable activities.
ThreeSixTeen will be held 2 times in Term 2 after school from 3:30-5:00pm (see dates below). Our teachers will collect the students after the home time bell and have some afternoon tea for the students until 3:30pm. We will then all walk to the Relihan Centre. Parents would be required to pick their child up from the Relihan Centre at 5pm.
To register, log onto the Compass App and see the 'Optional Event'.
- Term 2 Dates - Friday 17th May & Friday 28th June (3:30-5pm)
Friday Church Visits Roster
All parents and family members are welcome to join us for our prayer services we hold in the church throughout the term.
- 17/5 - Years 1, 2, 3 & 4 (1pm)
- 7/6 - Kinder, Years 5 & 6 (1pm)
- 21/6 - Years 1, 2, 3 & 4 (1pm)
- 28/6 - Kinder, Years 5 & 6 (1pm)
Family Mass
For the diary - this term our 'Family Mass' will be on on Saturday 22nd June.
Parent Survey
We would like to invite you to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey. As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide is ananymous and will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at SMP.
CLICK HERE for the Survey.
We are now taking orders again for school jackets. The cost of the jackets are $65 and all orders must be placed by FRIDAY 17th MAY (orders close). You can also check out the school app for further info.
Unfortunately, these jackets cannot be purchased through Lowes as they could not provide this style for our students. All other uniform can still be purchased through Lowes - this hasn’t changed.
Important Information
Price: $65 - paid before FRIDAY 17th MAY.
Ordering: Click this link to open up the ordering form.
Sizing: Use the sizing guide on the Compass app message.
Child Protection & Concerns and Complaints Handling Policies
Please be advised that a copy of the Child Protection Policy and Concerns and Complaints Handling Policies are available on our school website. Go to the homepage, 'About Us' and then 'Policies.
Assistant Principal's News Teaching & Learning
Success Criteria Reports
We have sent our initial Term 2 Success Criteria reports home via the compass app. If you did not receive this please email me at felicity.wilde@lism.catholic.edu.au and I will have it sent out to you.
Premiers Reading Challenge
Congratulations to those students in 3-6 who have taken on the Premiers Reading Challenge this year. An updated booklist is available here to support you in logging the books read. If you have any questions, please encourage your child to come and see me, or feel free to email me at felicity.wilde@lism.catholic.edu.au
Social Media Use
Whether we like it or not, social media is a big part of our lives and if it is not already, it will become a big part of your child's life in the future. We regularly face issues at school relating to students' social media use at home and it is a really tricky topic to deal with well. Most social media apps that our children are using are age-restricted, above the age of any child at our school. The majority of social media apps age restrictions begin at 13 and there are strong reasons for this.
There are definitely positives to social media. It can help children to feel connected, it can allow them to interact with a wider variety of individuals and it can be used to offer support if a child is feeling down or anxious. Unfortunately, there are many downsides to social media and these are the reasons we recommend that all parents follow the age restrictions on these apps, to best support their child's mental health and development. Social media can be used for cyberbullying, can impact a child's privacy; can expose them to harmful, inappropriate content and has been shown to have a negative impact on children's mental health and self-worth.
If you allow your child to access Social Media apps, it is important that you take an active role in the use of these. We, as parents, need to teach our children to always be nice online, and that nothing they post is ever truly private, even if they think it disappears instantly. There have been many occasions that I have had to face a very shocked and embarrased student with screenshots of their social media posts that have been sent to me by others. We need to teach our kids not to share anything on social media that they wouldn't want their teachers or family to see.
I have attached some information on how parents can support their children's use of Social Media however, please always keep in mind that Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat all have age limits that prohibit use by primary school children.
Thank you
Felicity Wilde
AP Teaching & Learning
Stage 3 Instructional Leader
Mathematics
This year in Kindergarten through to Year 6 we are teaching Mathematics following the Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) model using resources from Ochre Education. Ochre Education’s mission is to drive equity in Australian education. Their vision is that all teachers have access to high-quality curriculum resources, through an online library, to maximise teacher expertise so that they can provide all students with the educational opportunities they want and deserve.
A usual Mathematics lesson looks like:
Daily Review - Students answer short sharp questions, on concepts previously taught, using whiteboards and coral responses.
I Do - The classroom teacher explicitly teaches, step by step, the skills on the specific strand being taught. This is strictly teacher lead.
We Do - Both the teacher and student practice the skills taught in the I Do phase of the lesson.
Check For Understanding - The teacher will then pose a question for students to show if they have mastered the skill that is being focused on. If they have reached mastery, students will then complete an independent task to practice their new skill. If students have not indicated they understand the new skill, the classroom teacher will reteach the concept again for those students.
You Do - Students complete an independent task to practice their new skill.
During each of the Mathematical units taught, there are opportunities for the children to apply their new skills through open ended Rich Tasks. These happen every 3-4 lessons and allow the children to use their skills in new and different ways. During this lesson, those students that still need some extra support to reach mastery, will be given a reteach of a skill or concept.
Throughout the lesson, there are a number of symbols and cues the students are following. The pictures below will show you what is presented to your children on any given day, during a Mathematics lesson. Ask them about some of them and what they look like in the classroom!
Kristie Irvine
Stage 3 Instructional Leader
Sport News
The NSWPSSA State Swimming Championships were held in Sydney on Thursday and Friday 11th and 12th April. Tommy came away with the following incredible results: 1st in breaststroke, 3rd 200 IM, 4th in the 50 freestyle. Thomas was the only 12 year-old boy to make all his individual finals. Tommy will now head to Nationals, which will be held at the Gold Coast in July. We will all be cheering him on when he hits the national stage. Congratulations, Thomas!
The Winter Sports Polding tryouts were held in Tamworth on Friday 3rd May. Congratulations to Thomas McCormack, Rocco Jenkins and Chase Roberts who attended the day. You all played so well.
Congratulations to Thomas for making it into the Polding Rugby League team that will compete in the NSW PSSA Championships later in the year.
Zone Cross Country Highlights:
On Tuesday, 6th May, 50 SMP students splashed into action at the Richmond Zone Cross Country at Hepburn Park, Goonellabah. Despite the rain, it was all smiles as they raced through the mud against schools from Lennox Head, Ballina, Lismore, Kyogle, Coraki, Alstonville and Woodburn.
Congratulations to the following students who came in the top 8 and will be competing in the Diocesan carnival in Grafton: Wallace Gray, Larah Kenny, Emmett Patton, Harper Williams, Marcos Barber, Olive Chelman, Isabel Flynn, Chelsea Rose, Finnan Martin, Myf Gray, Thomas McCormack, and Lucia Formaggin.
A special congratulations to our 8-year-olds who placed, as this is as far as they can go.
If you could please wash and return your SMP running singlets to Mrs Hammond by Monday, that would be fantastic.
Beef Week Cup
Our Charlie Cox Beef Week Cup is scheduled for Thursday, 23rd May in Week 4, at Colley Park. Congratulations to the students who participated in the trials over the past two weeks. Final team selections have now been announced. Students who have made it onto the Soccer, Netball or Rugby League teams have been notified at school and parents will receive a compass notification with attached consent information. A big thank you goes out to all the parents who generously volunteered their time to coach teams on the day. Your support is greatly appreciated. Teams will now start training for the upcoming event.
Nikki Hammond
Sports Co-ordinator
Leader of Love and Community
This term we have our annual Beef Week celebrations! Throughout Week 4, students will be immersed in many different activities both at school and in our community celebrating all things CASINO.
We would love to see as many people come along to our Beef Week Friday celebrations on Friday 24th May wearing your best '80s or '90s get up! We will have a free shared BBQ lunch, as well as our Leaders of Faith selling Zooper Doopers for $1 to raise money for the Casino Community Soup Kitchen to further support their invaluable work they do in our community.
Hannah de Silva
Leader of Love and Community
School Fees
Please be advised that for families paying termly, Term 1 Tuition Fees were due on 12 April 2024.
Term 2 Tuition Fees have been processed and are available in the Compass portal. Statements include individual BPay details which is the preferred method of payment. Payment can also be made via the School Office with Eftpos or cash.
Birthdays
Happy birthday t0 
Izac Stacker Kayden Parker Sophie Roberts Colten Race Dustin Gill Mia Clarke Leyton Mathias Dylan Morton Zanthie Bate Pippa Cowan Oliver McSweeney Kayden Newby Kyle Newby Rohan Mudduluru Austin Roberts Anna Auckram Charlotte Metcalfe Joshua Keen Emilia Melindo Henry Flynn Nicholas Ewart Hunter Ryan Florence Cameron Audrey Cameron Samantha Bernal Henry Serone Indiana Shephard Jenna McMillan Cooper Westbury Bryson McElwaine Cody Morgan Raylan Botfield Charlotte Russo Marcos Barber Damian Keating James Murray Indigo McClelland Leo Campbell Alissa Benn Ashton Leadley Isabel Henderson Lilly Hoare Darcie Reddell Abigail Drummond Oliver Christensen Kobie Moore Finnan Martin Oscar Piccoli Harvey Llewellyn Lucas Myers Gus Morgan Rachael Johnston Annabelle Dean Makaylah Morgan Jack Crimmins and Rowdy Townsend who have recently celebrated their birthday, and to Ariel Bell who celebrates tomorrow.