Queen of Apostles School

God of the prophets you gifted Mary MacKillop with vision and courage.

In her we see one who was not afraid to speak fearlessly your gospel of love.

We pray for the sensitivity and imagination to read the signs of our times, and to articulate new possibilities for our own day.

Like Mary, may we learn to confront all that is oppressive and unjust, and empower others towards true freedom and integrity.

Spirit of wisdom, be with us as we face new horizons.

Amen

Our Grandparents and Friends Mass and Morning Tea last Friday was a fantastic celebration and very well attended. The students did an amazing job and were very well prepared by our teachers.

It was great to have our special visitors in the classrooms and around the school. I have had some wonderful messages from parents, grandparents, staff and students saying how much they enjoyed the morning.

Thank you to the P&F for organising the cupcakes, they went down a treat!

Well done to everyone involved!

Tuesday 15th August, is the Feast of the Assumption and we will be celebrating as a school by attending the 9am Mass. The Assumption is a Holy Day of Obligation, and it would be great to see a full church on Tuesday morning.

I thank Mrs Anderson for organising this special Mass for our community.

Next week, the children will be engaging in a variety of activities to support their mental, physical and emotional wellness. They will be actively participating in a range of different activities, including wearing sports uniform from Monday to Thursday, PJ Day, buddy activities, mindfulness activities in class, extended play, an incursion and the best part - no homework all week!

Monday: Extended play

Tuesday: Assumption Mass at 9am

Wednesday: Buddy activity

Thursday: Mindfulness class activities

Friday: Kids for Kids PJ Day, Gathering Assembly, Wellness Incursion

Wellness Incursion:

Amy Coombe is a national speaker and author who will be coming on Friday to talk to all students about strategies to help cultivate positive thinking and a learning mindset, resilience and how students can slowly increase it within themselves. She will also touch on confidence and how to grow it, managing negative thoughts and feelings, and how to practice mindfulness.

Next Wednesday afternoon Paul Litherland will be talking to our Year 5 & 6 classes on the topic of Keeping Safe Online. Paul is an ex-police officer and engaging presenter who will give our students tips on ways to keep themselves safe when using certain apps, gaming sites and websites. Next year Paul will speak to our parent community.

I would like to wish our Year 6 and some lucky Year 5 students all best as they compete in soccer, netball and AFL against other schools in our region tomorrow.

The carnival will be held at Morris Buzacott Reserve in Kardinya and parents/family members are most welcome to attend.

I would like to thank Mr Bridgeman for his organisation in preparation for this day. It promises to be a fun day.

Good luck!

We are currently collecting information through the NSI Partnerships (National School Improvement Partnerships) to help us make informed decisions on how we can improve our school. As a school, we believe that the parent perspective can assist us on our improvement journey. The Parent and Caregiver Survey (PaCS) will provide feedback to the school leadership team about a wide range of dimensions important to parents. This information will assist us in considering how we can foster greater involvement of parents, as key stakeholders, in the life of the school.

Confidentiality

To protect your confidentiality, the survey is completely anonymous and individual responses cannot be accessed. We will only be provided with information when responses from four or more people is provided within any given category. All responses will go directly to NSI (Curtin University) and results are aggregated into feedback reports.

How to complete the report

To respond to the Parent and Caregiver Survey, please go to:

www.NSIPartnerships.com.au and enter the code QOASPACS in the start questionnaire field. You will be asked to respond to statements about the school climate and practices that take place in the school. If you have more than one child in the school, you may want to respond more than once as our students often have different experiences at school.

We value parental feedback and look forward to parents taking up the opportunity to see our school through the eyes of parents, staff and children. The survey will be open from Monday 31st July, 2023. We will send out an email on the 31st July to remind parents that the survey is now open. The survey will remain open until Friday 18th August.

Term 3: Tue 18 July – Thurs 21 Sept
Term 4: Mon 9 Oct – Fri 8 Dec (Students) Fri 15 Dec (Staff)

22 September = Pupil Free Day (Catholic Day)

Best Wishes

Mark Ryan

Principal

This Term during Week 6 we will be celebrating The Children’s Book Council of Australia – Book Week. The theme for this year is “Read, grow, inspire”.

On Tuesday, 22 August we will be conducting our annual Book Week Dress-up Day. It would be fabulous to see as many students as possible dressed as a book character. The character can align with the 2023 theme or any children’s book. A parade for the students will be held at 9am in the hall.

On the same day we will have Author/Illustrator Gavin Aung Than in the library conducting workshops with students from Year 1 through to Year 6. We are very excited that he is available to come to our school and we look forward to hearing about his experiences writing and illustrating children’s books.

Year 4, 5 and 6 students have the opportunity to represent Queen of Apostles School in the Interschool Spelling Bee on 30 August at Sacred Heart Thornlie. A note has gone home to parents with information.

‘Spell offs’ will be held in Week 6 to determine the QOA representatives. Good luck to all who choose to participate.

A selection of students from Queen of Apostles participated in ACER’s Global Challenge in May 2023.

Our students achieved excellent results, performing remarkably well in a very high-achieving cohort. Certificates were awarded for High Distinction with Honours, High Distinction, Distinction, Credit and Participation.

The Global Academic Challenge is a competition from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for students in year 4, 6 and 8 across Mathematics and Reading.

The competition provides students with the opportunity to challenge themselves with questions of an international standard, and to see how their results compare to both an international and Australian cohort.

Congratulations to the following students:

Year 3 (participated in the Year 4 competition)

Cornelius - HIGH DISTINCTION (Mathematics)

Shay - CREDIT (Mathematics)

Year 4

James -HIGH DISTINCTION (Mathematics); HIGH DISTINCTION (English)

Louie - DISTINCTION (Mathematics)

Minha - DISTINCTION (Mathematics); CREDIT (English)

Alyenna - DISTINCTION (English)

Year 5 (participated in the Year 6 competition)

Senul - DISTINCTION (Mathematics); HIGH DISTINCTION (English)

Riyoni - CREDIT (Mathematics); HIGH DISTINCTION (English)

Patrick - DISTINCTION (Mathematics)

Felicia - CREDIT (Mathematics)

Martina - CREDIT (English)

Year 6

Dane - CREDIT (Mathematics)

Linusha - CREDIT (Mathematics)

About ACER

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) is globally renowned for its work in assessment and educational research.

ACER’s mission is to create and promote research-based knowledge, products and services that can be used to improve learning across the lifespan. ACER has been involved in the development and administration of large-scale international surveys like PISA and brings this experience in international assessment to the Global Academic Challenge.

Congratulations to Steven Heffernan, the tipper of the week for round 21.

With only three rounds remaining, the top 8 tippers are separated by just 6 points. Even if you're not in contention for the top 3 spots, there's still a chance to win the Tipper of the Week title, along with a $10 Rustico voucher.

Join us on Friday, 1 September from 7:30 am to 8:30 am for a delightful Father's Day Breakfast. Secure your spot by placing your order soon. Check out the details below:

Gear up for an exciting Quiz Night! Book your table now and get ready for a fun-filled evening.

We're in need of volunteers with an Approved Manager and/or Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) certificate to manage the bar during the P&F Queenies Quiz Night. If you're available on 20 October please get in touch with Tracy at QueeniesPnF@gmail.com

Calling on businesses to contribute rewards for the winning teams! Your support will earn recognition throughout the event, including featuring your business logo and name on our event materials, as well as showcasing your business in our school newsletter. To support our Quiz Night please email Tracy at QueeniesPnF@gmail.com.

Thank you to the following businesses who have kindly donated prizes: