Term 2 Newsletter 29th April 2022

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGES

UPHOLDING THE ANZAC IDEAL - CLIFTON CELEBRATES THE ANZAC LEGACY 

Last Monday, we as a nation, celebrated one of the most significant days for our country. This was a special occasion to acknowledge the sacrifice and pay our respect to those who have defended our country and are continuing to do so. I was extremely proud to hear that a high number of staff and students made the effort to commemorate the ANZAC spirit, in marching with our community. Lest we forget.

As I was preparing to write the Principal’s column this week I came across this very interesting and thought-provoking reading. I hope you enjoy…

Enjoying great peace and prosperity, Australians are keen to contemplate the ANZAC legacy. So there has been a vast resurgence of interest in dawn services and the number of Australians spending Anzac Day at Gallipoli grew from 200 (in 1988) to 20,000 (in 2005). Further, in 1995 a tradition commenced as Essendon and Collingwood clashed at the first AFL ANZAC Day game. At those matches, a brief period of silence is kept by the crowd of over 90,000 supporters - as preceded by the Last Post and followed by the Rouse. A flag ceremony is held, war veterans are recognised. Similar to the AFL, the rugby league community as also embraced the tradition (in 2002) with the Sydney Roosters and St George Illawarra Dragons participating in a sporting match. The ANZAC Day Medal is awarded after the match to the player who best exemplifies the ANZAC spirit: skill, courage, self-sacrifice, teamwork and fair play. Though it has led to negative responses in the media, both games are consistent with the view of the original ANZACs who in 1916 held a sports event on the first ANZAC Day.

Finally, we may describe how heroes such as John Simpson Kirkpatrick (1892-1915) reflect Jesus Christ. Simpson and his donkey saved perhaps hundreds of Anzacs at Gallipoli. Giving no thought to his own safety, Simpson lasted for only 24 days. His life and action illustrate the ideal described by Jesus:

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13 KJV), and "I am among you as one who serves" (Luke 22:27).

Killed at the age of 22, he was regarded by a colleague as "like Christ".

http://www.fava.org.au/content/fol-pdf-doc/691

LEARNING QUALITIES - WHAT WILL STUDENTS NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL

Throughout this year, we will begin a school wide focus on assisting our students to identify what learner qualities are needed to be a successful learner. To assist our students and the school, we will begin to identify a range of specific qualities or dispositions (sometimes called 'habits of mind' or 'dispositions to learning', refer to the way in which learners engage in and relate to the learning process. Learning dispositions affect how students approach learning and therefore the outcomes of their learning) that relate to our context here at Clifton. Collaboration and on-going feedback from all of our members will assist with the creation and establishment of these learner qualities.

Our idea is to allow our students to be able to set goals for themselves in and outside of school and we want them to be confident, life-long learners. Once such learner quality is called persistence…

When we know and accept that there will be obstacles and setbacks in life; we can then prepare for them. Learning occurs when we are faced with challenges. One of the ways you can prepare for setbacks and obstacles is to anticipate potential problems and have a range of strategies to help us overcome these.

Students need to have the mindset to think if things do not work out the way they hoped, then review the steps they took and the process they followed. We want them to revaluate by examining what went wrong and where. We need to teach them to be very flexible and experiment to see what techniques and strategies worked best for them so they can get where they need to go.

Whenever I hear of persistence, I remember Michael Jordan, a former American basketball player who led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships and won the Most Valuable Player Award five times. He was cut from his high school basketball team for not being good enough! “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I am so successful.” Mr. Jordan tells us in plain English that the key to his success was persistence.

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up.

Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it” -Michael Jordan

SURVEY ABOUT NAMING OUR SCHOOL PET GIRAFFE

Please stay tunned to your emails for a quick survey that consist of some suitable names for our school pet giraffe. We really appreciate your feedback and support of these new initiative. Thank you.

POLOCROSSE THIS WEEKEND

When visiting the Clifton Polocrosse this weekend, be sure to come say hello to our wonderful parents and staff hosting the food stall. This is one of our major fundraisers for the year so please pop in, purchase some fabulous food and stay for a chat. Thank you to the P&F (a big thank you to Carmel Stace) for their work in preparing for this event.

Thanks for reading,

Cheers,

Mr Red

CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Schools are busy places. The teachers here at our wonderful school, work hard to grow your child’s understanding, knowledge and skills within the classroom. We also work to foster the whole child through sport, music and other interests. This week, it was wonderful to introduce some new areas of interest into the school.

Our new piano teacher, Vivienne Atkinson started lessons this week and it was wonderful to see the enjoyment, engagement and enthusiasm of the students who were learning something new. Learning a musical instrument is a great way for students to connect synapses in the brain and have some fun.

We also started the chess club with many children (and a few staff members) coming along to learn about the game. Mr Tennent was so pleased with the number of children in attendance and their attention.

This week I have been busy organising a leadership day and camp for the 5/6 students later in the year. These events will be wonderful opportunities for students to learn how to work together, problem solve and try new experiences. More information will be sent home over the next few weeks.  

The Year 6 students have selected a design for their senior shirt. Keep an eye out for it over the next few weeks. It is always so exciting for the students to have special events as they progress through their school years.

Lastly, I hope you have all had a chance to read the email about the Mother’s Day Stall and Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea. We would love to celebrate the wonderful women in school community, and we hope to see the mums or carers at school for the Liturgy next Friday. Please remember families, that if mum can’t come along due to work or illness, please feel free to send along a special female family member or family friend instead.

CLASS NEWS

Prep/Year 1 

This week we started our term 2 English unit titled ‘On the Farm’. We viewed, listened to and responded to the YouTube clip ‘Old Macdonald had a Farm – Moo Moo and the Barn house family’. Students used and developed their oral language and interaction skills in small group and paired discussions. They willingly shared their prior knowledge and experiences of living on a farm or visiting farms.

In Religion, we started our unit titled, ‘How Can Sacraments help us understand God? We discussed the word sacrament and began learning about the Sacrament of ‘Baptism’. We discussed the words, the symbols and actions of Baptism. Students in P/1 have been invited to bring in photos, candles etc from their own Baptism or other Baptisms they have been to, to show and share with the class.

In Maths, P/1 have measured the length of objects using informal units (straws, cubes, counters etc) and discovered, to get an accurate measurement, we must align the ends and not have any gaps or overlaps. Students have looked at and compared analogue and digital clocks. They practiced reading and making o’clock times (Prep) and half-past times (Year 1). Students enjoyed incorporating their time skills into several games of ‘What’s the Time Mr Wolf?’. A new, favourite class game for many students.

Year 2/3 

This term we welcome Miss Candale from ACU in Brisbane. Miss Candale has taken over the teaching on mathematics this week. Students have been learning to skip count in 2's, 5's and 10's in a variety of ways. Some students can identify the connection to multiplication when skip counting. 

We are very proud of the class in presenting the ANCAC Day liturgy at short notice. We enjoyed the preparation for the liturgy especially wreath making and baking ANZAC biscuits. It was wonderful to see so many parents attending. The children love to see your faces in the crowd. 

In our English we are looking at persuasive messages on cereal boxes. We plan on walking to the Foodworks next week to consider the placement of cereals on the shelves, the target buyers and view packaging. Keep bringing in your empty cereal boxes. 

                         We wish Mrs D. a very happy birthday. We love birthdays in Year 2/3. 

Happy Birthday Mrs D.

Year 4/5/6 News  

This week, we have been investigating psalms in Religion. The students have been reading various psalms to determine why they were written. Next week, the students will write their own prayers based on the model of the psalms.

We have been so busy in our classroom creating interesting and interesting narratives this week. The students have been working hard to ensure their writing flows from one paragraph to another. They have used editing checklists to make sure their writing has all the necessary components. At the end of this week, we began looking at the purpose of persuasive texts.

Our homework spelling model has changed this term. We have completed a pretest at the beginning of the week to determine our personal spelling word list. These words will be highlighted on their sheet. On a Friday, we will test our words again and see our progress! We will then post our results on Seesaw.

This term in HASS, we will be completing a PowerPoint presentation on explorers. When this has been completed, we will start on the Goegraphy component of HASS. Each year level will research a country from their relevant continent and then, we will have a food festival from food all over the world at the end of the term! More information will be sent home closer to the time.

LIBRARY

Library News                                          

Dear Parents/carers,

I am delighted to invite all St Frannies students to join in the 2022 Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC).

The PRC is not a competition but a way to encourage students to develop a love of reading for life. Students are encouraged to select a range of fiction and non-fiction books suited to their reading ability and record books read during the reading period, between 9 May to 26 August. Enclosed is a reader record form.

To complete the challenge:

• Prep to Year 2 must read or experience at least 20 books
• Years 3 and 4 must read at least 20 books
• Years 5 to 9 must read at least 15 books.

Experiencing books can include shared reading, listening to stories, or reading picture books. The aim for the 2022 challenge is to engage more students to read than ever before! Last year saw more than 168,000 children from around the state participate.

For suggested books or for more information about the PRC, please visit: readingchallenge.education.qld.gov.au or contact Mrs Burgess or your classroom teacher.

Every student who completes the challenge will receive a Certificate of Achievement signed by the Premier. I look forward to seeing as many of our students as possible take part in the 2022 Premier’s Reading Challenge.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Red

SPORT NEWS

Sport   

The days are getting cooler which suggests that the Athletics season has arrived. Training for field and track events have commenced as well as working towards ball game events. Once the ice starts to form on the windscreens, we will no doubt be planning for the Annual Sports Day. Look out for dates towards the end of term.

Allora will host a Sports Day on Friday 27 May. Students attending will be involved in Soccer, Netball and Rugby League. Lessons at school will also prepare students for these events. These days are very enjoyable for the students as it allows them to play against students from another school and possibly allows them to form new friendships. Students will back up in Allora on Friday 10 June in another Sports Day. This will also coincide with our Under 8s Day, also in Allora.

It was great to see Tom Patterson, Eve Skillington and Mick Willett participate at the recent Southern Downs Cross Country event in Warwick. Each gave of their best to complete the grueling course. Congratulations to all.

Bailey Gascoyne and Nate Murdoch represented the school in the recent Darling Downs Rugby League trials in Stanthorpe. The boys played three very hard games and managed to win one. They reported that the boys in the teams were huge and were nearly impossible to tackle. Well done boys. Keep eating those Weet Bix.                                                                         

STUDENT PROTECTION CONTACTS

Feeling Safe- All students have a right to feel safe and be safe.

If you are concerned about any form of abuse that is immediate, you should call 000. A significant risk or harm of a student, whether or not you have formed this belief on reasonable ground, should immediately be raised with one of our Student Protection Contacts.

WARWICK JUNIOR NETBALL 2022 Junior Fixtures        

We invite all new and returning members to join us on Saturday 7 May for our 2022 season.

Free ‘come & try’ days Saturday 7 & 14 May

Parents/Guardians - simply enrol your player on the day by arriving 20 minutes early and completing the contact information at the clubhouse.  Players then participate for the first 2 weeks with no extended commitment or payment of fees required.  After the initial 2 weeks, if you wish to sign-up for the season; register/pay fees prior to week 3 and settle in for a great year of Junior Netball.

Netball is a fantastic team sport for girls and boys ages 5 to 14 to learn and play netball, keep active and have fun with fellow players in a safe and social environment under the guidance of our qualified coaches.

Where:                Barnes Park, Matthews St, Warwick

When:                  Games and training Saturday afternoons (no midweek sessions for fixture players)

Level                                     Age (guide only)                               Times

NET                                        5 – 7 Years                                          12.30 - 1.30pm

SET                                         8 & 9 Years                                         12.30 - 1.45pm

GO                                         10 & 11 Years                                    1.30 - 3.30pm

JUNIOR                                 12 – 14 Years                                     12.30 - 2.30pm

Please Note:  The age brackets are guides only, we encourage players to participate at the level which suits their skill and enjoyment needs.

For more and comprehensive details please:

Visit our Facebook page www.facebook.com/warwicknetball

Email warwicknetball@bigpond.com with queries and/or for a copy of our

 2022 Junior Netball Information brochure

Ring Lou Bunch 0407 734 380

ADMINISTRATION

School Fees:

We do recommend the setting-up of a direct debit facility to pay regular amounts into the school account. This alleviates overdue bills.

SCHOOL Bank Details

BSB: 064786

A/C: 100023789

Reminder: All P&F payments & Uniform payments are paid to a different bank account NOT the school account.

P&F Bank Details

BSB: 084610

A/C: 508684159