DATES TO REMEMBER:

Christmas Concert: 27/11

Yr 7 Graduation 4/12

Term 4: 8 October to 6 December Dear Parents/ Care Givers,

This week all classes begin a series of lessons that will stretch out over the next few weeks on student protection matters. Being safe and feeling safe are absolutely vital for all children at all times. It is cer-tainly our number one priority here at St. Mark’s. Indeed, student success depends upon it. Whether issues arise at home, or school, or the wider community, all chil-dren need to know and be assured that help is available. As mentioned, children have access to a number of trusted contacts in the school. Apart from their teacher, children can also contact Mrs Lysaght, Mrs Patrick, Mrs Daley or myself and know that we will act to secure their safety. Talk to your child about what they are learning or simply contact your child’s teacher should you prefer. P and F Meeting The P and F meets this Wednesday even-ing at 5.30 pm. Business pertinent for this term will occupy a deal of our time—school events and celebrations. Mr Brian Weston, president of the P and F from Our Lady of Fatima School, Acacia Ridge, will be one of our guests. I hope to see a good roll up at the meeting. Mark Times The teachers and classes will again pro-duce Mark Times for this year, recording some of the happenings of the year. My thanks to Mrs Winterflood and a group of teachers who will co-ordinate its produc-tion, the children for their input, and the P and F for covering the costs. This ensures that all students will receive their (your) copy in the last week of the school year. I know you will enjoy it again! CTJ Day Next Monday is a student free day with teachers involved in meetings in various schools throughout the district and be-yond. There will be a number of visiting teachers coming to St. Mark’s that day. Please make suitable arrangements for your child/ ren.

Disco By popular demand, and with great teacher support, the P and F will hold a disco on Friday evening, 25th October, in Mercy Hall, from 6.30 to 8.30 pm. These are always a great favourite amongst our children and I’m sure this will be no different. Parents are, of course, very welcome, and indeed en-couraged, to attend. Please mark it on your calendar. RE Curriculum With great fanfare, the new Religious Education curriculum was launched by the archbishop, Mark Coleridge, last Friday. A number of our teachers in-volved in its implementation, and me, went along and joined the celebrations. Religious Education will be taught with all the rigor that applies to all other key learning areas. We look forward to the continued success of the important and inspirational teaching of RE which is at the heart of all that we do in a Catholic school. Month of the Rosary Each day, throughout this month, chimes ring out at midday, calling us to prayer. Classes are learning about and praying the rosary. I would encourage you to lead the prayer life in your family along these lines at this time. Clubs Breakfast Club operates each Monday and Thursday morning. Homework Club operates on a Tuesday afternoon. These are for the benefit of families and individual students, wonderfully support-ed by the teachers. Tuck Shop Thanks for your on-going patronage and general support of the tuckshop. I am very hopeful that, with this continu-ing, its wonderful service can go on. A new price list and menu is now in effect.

Child Protection lesson start this week.

15 October 2013 Week 2 Term 4

For Gentleness

PG: Gavin Tran

PW: Sophie Leighton

PB: Livron Kolio

1G: Peter Williamson-

Field

1W: Loni Leman

1B: Cruze Connors &

John Ceballos

2G: Catherine Huynh

2W: Gabriella Rangel

3G: William Nguyen

3W: Devon Nguyen

4/5B: Alex Ho

4G: David Ngo

4W: Emma Lu

5G: Jessica Dang &

Luis Ventura

5W: Jemma Watkins

6G: Kenboy Tran

Nguyen

7G: Natalie Nguyen

7W: Andy Nguyen

Student of

the Week

RE NEWS

Mrs Nikki Lysaght:

Assistant Principal Religious Education

Date Claimers ...

What is Caring?

Caring is giving love and attention to people and things that matter to you. You

can show you care about someone by saying and doing things that help them.

Caring about something means giving it your very best. It is a sign of love,

respect and concern. Caring about yourself means that you treat yourself with

the respect and concern that you deserve as a child of God.

You are practising Caring when you …

Love others and yourself.

Let people know that what they say is important to you by looking at them

and listening closely.

Treat your body with respect.

Protect and nurture anything placed in your care, particularly pets.

Virtue of the Week: Caring

We have a VERY BUSY term ahead:

This Thursday, 17 October, Year 5 will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

This week 2G will lead us for our Assembly Prayer on Friday, 18 October.

International Teachers Day will be celebrated on Assembly on Friday 25 Oct.

Child Safety Information This week we will begin our annual

focus on Child Safety here at St

Mark’s. Once again we are using a

program provided by the

Queensland Government which runs

the students through a series of four

lessons which talk about safety

issues. At St Mark’s we use these

lessons to explain that we are all

special, unique individuals created

by God and we have the right to be

safe at all times. The students will

talk about the “early warning signs”

that their body gives out that tells

them they might be in danger. For

example, butterflies in the tummy,

sweaty palms, an uneasy feeling or

the hairs on the back on the neck

stand up. Many children think that

being safe refers to practical

matters like crossing the road,

wearing a bike helmet—many don’t

realise that being safe also means

being emotionally safe too. The

children discuss the importance that

their body belongs to them—and

that nobody can touch them or

make them touch somebody else.

Because God has created each of

us special—and we are all

important– we have a right to

protect ourselves from people who

may want to hurt us. The children

will also be given some very

practical, proactive strategies to

use against someone who may

potentially be dangerous to them.

They also take time to specifically

name adults that they can trust to

talk to if they ever don’t feel safe.

These lessons will be conducted by

their teacher, Mrs Patrick and

myself.

These are very

important life

lessons for our

students. Pease

take the time to

talk to your

children about

these lessons.

Please talk to myself or your child’s

teacher if you have any questions.

Caring = RELATIONSHIPS!!

LATE STUDENTS

If students are late they must report to

the school office, to let Mr Montgomery

or Mrs Ioannides know the reason why

they are late for school. Thank you!

St Mark’s 100 Club November 7th, 2013 to November 1st, 2014

Purchase a number for only $5 a week.

Payment to be in advance: $260 for the year or $65 per quarter.

Prizes:…..Weekly draws of $75 gift card. 3 draws of 1 x $500, 1 x $100, 1 x $50

The big prize draw on Saturday, 1 November 2014: 1 x $5000, 1 x $500, 1 x $200

If you would like to participate in this club and help raise funds for St

Mark’s Parish, please complete an application form and forward with

payment to the parish office. Application forms are available from

the school and parish office and as a download from the web page:

www.stmarksinala.com. A fun way to raise funds for the parish and

the odds of winning a prize are better than Lotto! Closing Date for

Applications: early October.

NAPLAN RESULTS:NAPLAN RESULTS:

This week, parents of children in Years 3, 5 and 7 will receive NAPLAN results from tests that were conducted

earlier this year. These results have merit but need to be understood as a “snapshot” of achievement, at a

particular point in time, that gives an indication of how students are performing.

We are pleased with overall results in a number of key areas. There is much to celebrate about the learning

that has taken place for many students. For others, areas of concern are highlighted that can give a focus

for further effort and application.

Teachers will soon be writing Semester Two reports for all students in all classes. This is a more comprehensive

assessment of achievements made through the year. I encourage all parents to take on board what teach-

ers are saying and act on the advice given.

For all students, the overwhelming contributors to a students’ chances of success lie with keen and caring

parents (50%)and teachers (30%).

Should you like or need any clarification, do not hesitate to contact the school.

SPECIAL SHOWBAGS FOR SALE! The St Mark’s Show bags are now for

sale at the bargain price of $10. You

could keep all the items for yourself

or you could split up the items to

share with the family. This is a won-

derful purchase for anyone - in par-ticular, YEAR 7’s. What a great

memory of your primary school as

you head off to your separate high

schools and a lovely graduation gift,

parents, for your year 7 child. Purchase NOW from the office.

Deanery Mission Event Facilitated by The Catholic Guy Team

St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Cnr Oxley Rd & Martindale St, Corinda.

Morning sessions at 10.00am ~ Repeated each evening at 7.30pm

Wednesday 16th October Thursday 17th October

Friday 19th October Monday 21st October Tuesday 22nd October

Each session will be approx 1.5 hours in length. Come to one session or come to the whole week!

Bruce Downes and The Catholic Guy Team are

evangelists who proclaim Christ crucified and risen.

They regularly facilitate parish missions and retreats;

have a TV show, books, DVDs & other media

releases. Brisbane West has engaged The Catholic

Guy team for a week long Mission Event.

St Columban’s College

cordially invite past students from either their

Albion or Caboolture campus to the annual

Soaring Eagles Reunion

Friday 18 October 6-9pm

$25 per head

The Irish Club, 125 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane.

RSVP events@stc.qld.edu.au ph 5495 3111

BRISBANE CATHOLIC EDUCATION:BRISBANE CATHOLIC EDUCATION: Personal Development SurveyPersonal Development Survey

Sexuality education is an essential aspect of any Christian Education and supports parents in their primary role as their children’s first and foremost educators. Through such education, parents and schools help students explore our Christian vocation to love which leads to a responsible and fulfilled Christian life. Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) has embarked on a two-year project seeking to strengthen its capacity to deliver quality evidence-based sexuality education within the Catholic Christian perspective. As part of this project BCE would like to gain an understanding of the sexuality education currently occurring in Brisbane Catholic Schools and Colleges. To this end, a random selection of families from many schools and colleges is being invited to complete a survey to help BCE better understand the views, needs and wants of parents across the archdiocese. Your Participation: Randomly selected families will be contacted and invited, by an external contractor engaged by BCE, to participate in the surveys. The contractor will contact these parents via email on the 18 October 2013. If you are contacted you will not be asked to provide any personal information but rather about your views on what should be taught in sexuality education, how it should be taught, and how well it is currently being taught. Although some families will be selected at random, BCE would like to extend an invitation to participate in the survey to any or all families wishing to be involved. If you would like to be a part of this important project and would like to complete a Parent Survey, please contact the contractor detailed below before 18 October 2013. Thank you for your support.

Laura Graham Survey Contractor

Email: laura.graham.surveys@gmail.com

P&F News

NEXT P&F MEETING IS ON THIS WED 16TH OCT 5.30PM Brian (President) and Daniel (Vice President) from Our Lady of Fatima P&F will be joining us at

our Wednesday night P&F Meeting. They were interested in seeing how other multicultural

school communities meet. EVERYONE WELCOME!

$5.50 can make a difference?

Thank you to Mrs Mayers and Mrs Satchell for their great suggestion of

donating care packs to the local homeless.

Thank you to Mrs Watkins for providing samples of affordable care packs.

As Mrs Watkins said, “for the cost of a McDonalds Happy Meal you can make

a difference and the homeless people would be a step closer to feeling like

they are not forgotten”.

Let me know what you think of this idea as we need more families behind it. Pack 2 $5.50

Pack 1 $5.35

My Amazing Teacher... Mr Fergusson is a teacher who has a passion for teaching. He is fun, approachable, and a very

encouraging person. He likes to share interesting stories and funny jokes, which 7G

enjoyed very much. I am grateful to have him as my teacher this year.

Zac Gavarra.

Thank you to Tran Nguyen, (year 6) for the Beautiful words she wrote about

Mrs Cook and Mrs Gorman last week.

Congratulations to

David & Laura Matheson

on the birth of

their beautiful

daughter, Marissa.

Jayden & Quinn are very

blessed to have an amazing

grandmother who picks

them up from school

everyday and she is always

smiling!

World Teachers Day Morning Tea on Friday 25th October To celebrate our wonderful teachers and staff ,we are inviting parents and families to bring along a

plate (biscuits or cake or spring rolls etc) to share with our teachers for morning tea.

Marissa and her proud brother,

Daniel (Prep B). Grand Parents Day on Sunday 27th October

ST MARKS CHRISTMAS DINNER ON FRIDAY 15TH NOVEMBER Private Function Room at Richlands Tavern

$35.00 for buffet dinner, dessert and unlimited soft drinks.

EVERYONE WELCOME!

PARENT FORUM 31ST OCTOBER 5.30pm—7.30pm Review of Queensland senior assessment and school reporting and Over-all Position

(OP) tertiary entrance processes, presented by Prof. Gabrielle Matters Brigidine College Indooroopilly RSVP 25 October 2013 email. info@pandf.org.au

Upcoming Disco 6:30pm Friday, 25th October.