2014 DATES TO

REMEMBER: Term 2: 22 April—27 June Term 3: 14 July-19 Sept Term 4: 7 Oct—5 Dec

Dear Parents/ Caregivers, Last Friday we brought Harmony Week to a fitting conclusion with a beautiful and uplifting prayer assembly led by 2W. Focussing on music, we celebrated the contributions of the various groups that make up the school community of St. Mark’s. Special thanks to Mrs Miles and Mr Johnstone who made significant contributions to ensure that our children were greatly involved and affirmed. The distinctive nature of St. Mark’s as a multi-cultural school is one that we can all be very proud of as it affords us with the opportunity to recognize, support and lift everyone in our community. I think we have also discovered some amazing talent too! Winter Appeal Our annual Winter Appeal for St. Vincent de Paul is off to a good start. Please send along donations with your child to the class teachers. It is our way of supporting those less fortunate than ourselves and, like so many of the virtues to which we aspire, the virtue of generosity is taught. Spirit of St. Mark’s Awards We have a very special whole school assembly on the last Friday of term. At this assembly, one child from each year level will be presented with the “Spirit of St. Mark’s” award. Teachers are currently making decisions on who the recipients will be and I know it will not be an easy decision. Our school is full of outstanding young people, living the virtues beautifully every day. This is one way that we acclaim those who are great role models for their peers. Do come along if you can. Personal Development This week our older students are involved with a number of sessions and presenters in workshops and activity groups designed to support and give depth to their growth as young people of faith and possibilities. My thanks to Mrs Lysaght and the teachers who have put together a wonderful

programme. We wish them the best as the week progresses. School Fees School fees went out last week. As usual, your prompt attention to them is appreciated. Please contact the office if you did not receive them. Prep Enrolments Have you a child born between 1/7/2009 and 30/6/2010? If you have not yet enrolled your child, please come and pick up an application form from the office as soon as you can. Places are filling! End of Term Matters The term finishes on Friday, 27th June at 3.00 pm. You should receive and have arranged your important parent/teacher meeting that will take place at the start of next term. Please ensure that you have received the form from your child. Please keep school reports safe—lots of people have been coming in to have them copied. The reports are important and are needed for secondary school interviews and the like. Please assist your child to find any library books etc. that need to be returned to school. A good number of our older students will take part in a Gala Sports Day soon. Please support and encourage them if they are involved. This week is the last week for Home-work Club this term. Lap-a-thon To get fit, to enjoy being active and to raise funds to support the school, the P and F sponsored lap-a-thon happens on Friday 15th August. Details will come at the start of next term.

Please support our Winter Appeal 17 June 2014 Week 9 Term 2

For Patience: PG: Eathen Clayton PW: Joseph Tovia PB: Serena Le 1G: Trinity Ngo 1W: Chung Nguyen 1B: Alivia Le 2G: Jaydon Chu 2W: Hoang Le 2B: Laretta Leiataua 3G: Johnathan Ngo 3W: Lilly Tran 4G: Benjamin Trinh 4W: Kruz Tapuota 5G: Finnan Cobb 5W: Tina Nguyen 5/6B: Jennifer Hoang 5/6B: Jasmine Guinto 6G: Cathy Ngo 6W: Kaleb Thom 7G: Aaron Iulio

Student Awards

Date Claimers ...

RE NEWS

• St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal ON NOW and runs until the end of term.

• Year 6 & 7 Retreat Days 17—19 June.

• 1B will led us in our assembly prayer on Friday 20 June.

• “Onesie” Day for Winter Appeal on Tuesday 24 June.

• 1B and 3Ws buddy class mass will be on Thursday 26 June.

• Assembly Prayer in the last week of Term 2 will be led by 1W on Friday 27 June.

• Holidays start 3pm Friday 27 June. Term 3 starts Monday 14 July.

Mrs Nikki Lysaght

Assistant Principal Religious Education

What is Excellence?

Excellence is doing your best. It is giving your best to any task you do or any

relationship you have. Excellence is a desire for perfection. It is the key to

success. You don’t try to be better than anyone else. You are trying to be the

best that you can be.

You are practising excellence when you …

• Give your best to whatever you do.

• Give your best to relationships.

• Remember to plan and practice.

• Develop your own gifts.

Virtue of the Week: Excellence Markus says when you try your best you build

RESILIENCE!!

This week our Year 6

and 7 students will

participate in a 3 day

retreat focused on

providing them with

the skills and

knowledge they need

as they continue to

grow and face new

challenges. The

students will be

invited to explore

their relationship with Jesus, especially as they start to

experience changes in their world, particularly as

they leave the safety of St Mark’s that they’ve known

for the past 6 or 7 years. Tuesday and will be

facilitated by the National Evangelisation Team (NET

Ministries) and will be focus on the importance of

God in their lives and how relying on God can help

in times of difficulty. On Wednesday Real Talk and

NET Ministries will be talking to the children about the

importance of making good choices and the role

God can play in those decisions. Thursday will run by

St Mark’s staff as they explore some of the physical

changes the students will experience as they

continue to journey through puberty. This is the third

year we have run a similar experience for the

students and I know that they have found it helpful.

Please come and see me if you have any questions.

Winter Appeal This year our Year 5, 6 and 7 leaders are again

running our Winter Appeal for 3 weeks in June

starting. During this time YOU can help by donating

money and goods which will go directly to families in

our area. St Vincent de Paul have specifically asked

for certain items for their Family Packs.

These items include:

Tin corn beef, Deodorant, Pasta shells,

band aids, Pasta sauce, soap,

coffee, razors, tea,

shampoo, baked beans, toilet rolls,

spaghetti, tin potatoes, noodles,

sugar, soup, cereal,

long life milk, toothpaste, jam,

laundry powder, nappies all sizes, scotch fingers.

Donations are be handed in to your class. There are

prizes to be won including homework passes for

individual students and a pizza party for the class

that brings in the most amount of donations. We will

deliver the items on Friday 27 June.

Thank you in advance for your kind donations!

Year 6&7 Retreat

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!

Cybersafety - Tips for parents!

Cyberbullying is the use of technology to bully a single person or a group of people. Bullying is repeated behaviour with the intent to harm others. Behaviour may include:

+ Abusive texts and emails

+ Posting unkind or threatening messages, videos or images on social media websites

+ Imitating or excluding others online

+ Inappropriate image tagging

For many teenagers (and even children in upper primary school), their online life is an important part of their

social identity. Many young people fear that parents might take away their devices and refuse access to

the internet and so do not report cyberbullying to their parents. Teenagers are also often concerned that

parents’ actions will make cyberbullying issues worse, so it is important to remain calm and supportive.

(http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/ Parents’ guide on this site)

Positive Parenting for Healthy Living is an adaptation of the successful

Triple P- Positive Parenting Program

offering practical ideas and support

for parents of children with type 1

diabetes. This innovative group

program is designed to help parents

manage their child's illness, assist

children in coping with their illness and

emotions, and prevent and manage

difficult behaviour. It teaches a variety

of skills such as maintaining good

illness control, reducing child and

family stress, and communicating with

other caregivers. In addition, it equips

parents with the skills to prevent and

cope with their child's anxiety, and

use effective discipline strategies for

preventing and managing difficult

behaviour.

Over the next few months, parents of

children with type 1 diabetes are able

to access Positive Parenting for

Healthy Living Triple P as part of this

University of Queensland research

project. Parents wishing to participate

will be able to attend the program

free of charge, and will be asked to

complete 2 sets of assessment

measures (questionnaire and family

observation) over a 6 month period,

as part of the study.

TUCKSHOP

The special combo meal for this week is a meat pie, a drink and a paddle pop

for only $5!

There are also Frog in Ponds and Muffins

available for $2 each

St Mark’s Tuckshop is open on Monday, Thursday and Friday each week.

If you can help at any time, please contact the tuckshop

Please support our tuckshop. Thank you….Anna Sinitsky

All past students, staff and parents are invited to attend

85th Anniversary celebrations at

Brigidine College Indooroopilly

Sunday 27 July 2014 ...Celebration Mass at 2pm in Holy

Family Parish Church Cnr Ward St and Central Avenue,

Indooroopilly followed by Afternoon Tea around the Holy Lawn at Brigidine College from 3 – 5pm

Optional tour - Discover all of the latest developments

as you enjoy a student guided tour of

the College campus.

RSVP by Monday 14 July 2014 (for catering purposes) on

(07) 3870 7225 or 85anniversary@brigidine.qld.edu.au It is

anticipated that Mass and High Tea will become an

annual event during Brigidine Week as the College

moves towards its centenary in 2029.

Australia Zoo—Year 1

Look a Zebra We went on a shuttle

to Africa. It was so

exciting!

We saw crocodiles at the show.

We got to

feed the

kangaroos.

They were

cute!

We had

lots of

fun!

Last week the Year One went to Australia Zoo.

Welcome to St Mark’sWelcome to St Mark’sWelcome to St Mark’sWelcome to St Mark’s

Good Luck to Mr Adrian Biddulph on his nomination in the Brisbane Catholic Education Excellence in Teaching Award.

You do an outstanding job inspiring our children everyday.

Important Dates

Friday 15th August—Lap-a-thon

Major Fundraising Event

Friday 5th Sept—Family BBQ

Afternoon Sausage Sizzle—Celebrating Families & Fathers

Sunday 15th Sept—Family Photos

Anthony Nguyen & his baby brother Benjamin

Russell Sean Par & his baby brother Rainen Chase Par born on 29th May 2014 7:05 am 3.06Kg

at Mater Mothers Hospital.

P&F Meeting update

Discussed processes to build upon the success of the last disco; allocating a break-out area like the car park with lights on and all other areas around the school will be out of bounds. Setting a designated place and time for collection after the disco. • One of our dad’s is passionate about working with the school to develop a program that will

help our children and ourselves value and learn how to maintain our precious bushland.

• Major Fundraising Event—St Mark’s Lap-a-thon on Friday 15th August. • P&F donated $5000 to the school to assist with various projects. These actions affect our

children.

Congratulations

Kaliyah Connors,

for making Inala District U12 Girls

Rugby League Team

GOOD LUCK

State of Origin

game on this

Wednesday.

“The Inspired Home” 2nd Aug 9.30am to 3.30pm $50.00 - St Josephs Corinda If you enjoy “The Block” then you will LOVE this!

In the morning lots of input on interior design, then in the second session it’s your

turn. All proceeds go towards the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd