Dear Families,

It feels like only yesterday I began my time at Our Lady of Lourdes, and now we are approaching the halfway point of the term. The start of the school year has been such a positive one, and I would like to thank all members of our school community for making this happen.

Yesterday, we began the season of Lent in the Catholic Church. As a child growing up in Dalby, Lent was a time of giving up something (usually lollies), no meat on a Friday and taking money to put in the Project Compassion box at school. In our contemporary world, we are still asked to prioritise this time of year. As parents/carers, it is a chance to discuss with children the things they have in their lives, that many in our global world would very much wish for in their everyday. This important time of the year was acknowledged at the Project Compassion Mass Launch on Sunday that was so well represented by some of our school leaders. I would like to acknowledge Rylan Kuehnemann, Angus Dwan, Jonathon Whittaker, Nate Halpin, Mia McKenzie, Peter Fitzpatrick and Abbey Cook for representing our school at this mass.

Our students in Year 5 and 6 have participated in excursions that have enabled them to set themselves up for a positive year of learning, engagement and cooperating with their cohort peers. We also had many students attend the Catholic Swimming Carnival on Friday February 9^th.  These students not only challenged themselves to participate against other schools and swim their best, but they also represented our Lady of Lourdes so well. Well done students!

As we approach Week 5 of the term, some students may begin to show signs of fatigue. This is not uncommon, so I share some tips below for families to support their children:

• Forecast what’s coming in the day ahead. Transitions are often challenging for children, as the unknown can provoke and/or exacerbate anxiety. Talk your child through what is going to happen, from leaving home, parking the car, walking to the classroom, hanging their bag and saying the morning good-bye. It may be helpful to talk to your child about what occurs as part of the afternoon school routine too, as helping your child to forecast and predict what happens after you leave as part of their normal routine will support a successful transition. Using positive language models to the children, a positive mindset.
• Establish and practice a morning good-bye routine. For some children, if good-byes are particularly challenging, rehearsing and roleplaying can be a clever way of helping practice for the real drop off. Practicing at home before arriving at school may really help.
• Encourage children to face their fears. Avoidance of anxiety only makes it worse in the long run. Help them understand that they can be scared AND brave, all at the same time.
• At the end of the school day ask questions that encourage the positive sharing of events.

I would like to thank the families that supported the Parent Information Nights and the staff for sharing valuable information for the year ahead. I would also like to give a special thank you to the P&F for the organisation of a fun and social night at the Welcome BBQ and Disco. The children had a great time dancing with their friends and parents had the opportunity to mix and meet new members of the OLOL community. Thank you to all involved!

During Week 5 (February 19-25) I will be attending the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Leadership Forum. Ms Miranda Murray will deputise for this week. I very much value this time to engage in Diocesan professional learnings and dialogue that in turn, support our school.

Take care,

Bridget

Ms Bridget Trenerry
Principal

Upcoming Events

Prep 2025 Enrolments Now Open!

Enrolments for Prep 2025 are open and we request that any current families who have siblings looking to enter Prep in 2025, please complete and submit your enrolment form as soon as possible (if you have not already done so). This will greatly assist us with our offers to new families looking to join our school family and community.

Enrolment forms can be found under the 'For Parents' tab on our website Our Lady of Lourdes Primary (ololtwb.catholic.edu.au)

If you have any questions or require further information, please email enrolments at enrolments@ololtwb.catholic.edu.au or phone reception on 4591 1200.

Thank you.

Dear Parents,

At Lourdes, feeling valued, supported, and having a sense of belonging helps us to see our own growth and success. Guided by the Catholic faith, we strive to offer a dynamic learning environment that offers students the opportunity to develop both as learners and global citizens. 

We believe it is essential for students to see themselves as learners as this contributes greatly to their success. Research shows that the belief a child has about themselves and their abilities contributes more to their success than their actual capability.  

Like adults, children with higher levels of self-efficacy (the beliefs they hold about their capabilities) are far more likely to learn and continue to learn for life. They have a bank of strategies and dispositions they draw upon when they are challenged. They persist through the learning pit, think about their thinking, plan steps to meet learning goals, know how and when to ask for help, and are able to self-regulate to actively engage as learners.  

Being able to self-regulate in supportive environments helps children deal effectively to stresses and challenges in learning and in life. Using strategies to regulate thoughts, emotions and behaviours assists students to effectively engage with new ways of thinking, knowing, and doing in challenging times as global citizens.  

Behaviours or actions are often triggered from emotions and feelings, yet people with well-developed social and emotional skills find it easier to manage themselves, relate to others, collaborate, develop empathy, set goals, and resolve conflict. 

Self-regulation helps us be more resilient and bounce back from failure. People who are adept at self-regulating tend to be able to: 

• Calm or cheer themselves when feeling upset or down 
• Maintain open communication  
• Persist through difficult times 
• Put forth their best effort 
• Remain flexible and adapt to situations 
• See the good in others 
• Take control of situations when necessary 
• View challenges as opportunities 

Understanding that feelings are clues that do not define a person is helpful for self-regulation. So too is understanding that emotions are messages or stories that have stemmed from our brain. According to psychologist, Lisa Feldman Barrett, our brains are constantly predicting based on past experiences and these predictions become emotions we experience and expressions we perceive from others. Our brain constructs our emotions. People who have a broad vocabulary to recognise and distinguish these emotions, find better ways to cope with them and thus have positive health outcomes including resilience to stress and sickness and better overall wellbeing. When we can name and recognise these emotions, we can act in a way that is helpful for learning and life.  

Being able to teach children how to manage their emotions is a very important pathway to learning. If we can't manage our feelings, it's hard to open up our brains to be able to receive the content that we’re trying to learn. Emotions can either facilitate learning or become a roadblock when unregulated.  

It is human nature to feel a range of emotions and feelings throughout the day but whether frustrated or joyous, managing these emotions in a way that is safe, kind, and productive can help learning and achieve goals. For example, deep breathing when feeling frustrated; exercising when feeling down, and meditating when feeling stressed.

Our teachers use a range of strategies to help children self-regulate including the Learning Pit to help foster positive thinking and a growth mindset, the Smiling Minds app to support mindfulness, and the Zones of Regulation to aid students with strategies to self-regulate. When students can recognise when they are not ready for learning, they can regulate themselves.

Miranda

Miranda Murray
Assistant Principal

We thank all those who were able to celebrate our Beginning of School Mass with us last Friday.

We officially welcomed our new Principal, Ms. Trenerry by presenting her with some sunflowers which we discovered are her favourite flowers.   We also learned a little bit about the foundress of the Ursuline order - St Angela Merici.  Members of The Ursuline Order of Nuns, who were started by St Angela in Italy in the 1600’s, were the first teachers of our school when Our Lady of Lourdes began in 1940. Four nuns led by Sister Hildegard Nolan came from St Ursula’s College to teach the children of Newtown. These Nuns, with the children and their families, began the wonderful community of Our Lady of Lourdes. We deeply appreciate the values of compassion, courage, inclusiveness, and kindness that have been cultivated and upheld at Our Lady of Lourdes, and which we continue to uphold today.

Last Monday the Year 6 students participated in a “Serviam Retreat”.  The Year 6 children did some thinking and group activities about how they can work on following our school motto – Serviam – which means “I will serve.” We were extremely impressed with the children’s willingness to think and share their thoughts about how they can serve others.

Tomorrow, Thursday (15^th February), these beautiful children will be presented with their Leadership Badges and senior shirts at our Year 6 Leadership Assembly starting at 2 pm in the OLOL School hall. These children have been aspiring leaders since Prep and are committed to being the best leaders they can be. Year 6 and their parents are invited to come for afternoon tea in the staffroom after the assembly.

Our School Captain; Rylan and our Sports Captains; Angus, Jonathon, Nate, Mia, Peter and Abbey represented OLOL at the Caritas Lenten Project Compassion Launch at St Patrick’s Cathedral at 9am Mass last Sunday 11^th February. The children collected a Caritas Lantern – a symbol of being a light to light the way of helping others. Our Lantern was used in our prayer space today at our Ash Wednesday Prayer.

Yesterday we celebrated “Shrove Tuesday” with our pancake breakfast. Shrove Tuesday is a tradition which began with people using up all their eggs, butter and milk before the strict restrictions of Lent begins. We thank everyone who came along to buy a pancake. We also thank those who donated Pancake Mix, bamboo forks, serviettes, and paper plates. It was an early start for staff and the Year 6 children did a wonderful job of preparing, serving and cleaning up our Pancake morning.  It was the first job of the Year 6 children’s “Servant Leadership’ quest for 2024. The money raised from yesterday’s pancake breakfast will be donated to the Caritas Project Compassion Appeal.  Each class has a project Compassion box in their classroom for children to put in some money each week which we will send to Caritas for Caritas to keep up their good work of helping others less fortunate than ourselves. 50c each Friday would be a great way to fill the Project Compassion boxes!

The season of Lent started today with our Ash Wednesday Prayer. Lent is a time of reflection, opportunities to make improvements in our lives by preparing to be better people – this is also preparation for the wonderful season of Easter. Lent goes for 6 weeks and the colour in the church changes from green to purple. Each class has a special “Hand /Heart’ with the words “Hearts of Love and Hands of Service” to remind students to share their love with others and remember to use their hands to serve others.

The preparation for the Confirmation and 1^st Eucharist Sacramental programme for children in Year 4 and up - begins with the first parent meeting at 10:30 am on this Sunday 18^th February in the OLOL Church. The Parish co-ordinates the program. If you have any questions or concerns, please email the olol.parish@bigpond.com or call them between 9am – 1pm weekdays on 07 46341453. 

Next week 4T leads the School Assembly at 2 pm.

Dates for your Diary

Friday  15^th March- St Patrick’s Day Green Coloured Clothes day. Wear something sunsafe green and please bring a gold coin for our Caritas Lenten Mission Appeal. 

Thursday 28^th March – Holy Week Assembly 11 am in school hall 

God Bless and have a great week!  

Janice

Janice Moore
Assistant Principal Religious Education (APRE)

Prep

Prep is beginning to buzz along nicely - we now know what a classroom feels like, sounds like and looks look. We have established our work behaviours and understand our routines. It has been great seeing people at school on time ready to start the day.

We know that;

• the more you practise the better you get!
• If you don’t listen you won’t learn!

Homework is progressing nicely - please don’t make it a chore. Always encourage and help your child to complete the letter of the week activity and night time reading to your child is very important. Homework is to be handed in on a Thursday.

We now know two letters s and a. Ambulance officer Andrea, visited us last week to show us her ambulance. We were able to spot a capital A and a lower-case a. We found the lower case a looks different to the way we write it!

Thursday for all Prep classes is library day - your child must return their borrowed books before they can borrow more.

It was lovely seeing so many families at the Welcome Disco on Friday evening. Thank you for your generous donations of jelly crystals, spoons and freddos. This helped to maximise the amount of money we raised which will be used to buy more resources in the Prep area.

Today marks the beginning of Lent. To begin this important occasion in our Church year, we participated in an Ash Wednesday liturgy in the classroom. Today, your child will be bringing home a letter and paper buckets. These buckets are encouraging us to be bucket fillers, which is a person who makes a positive difference in somebody else's day. Once your child completes a good deed at home, please write this on the bucket and send it to school so we can share.

This Friday, please send along your child’s favourite teddy bear as we are having a teddy bear’s picnic to celebrate the letter t.

Next Friday, 23^rd February, to celebrate the letter P, we will be having a popcorn and pyjama day. Students are permitted to wear their pyjamas (sun safe) along with closed in shoes for the day.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Melita, Amy and Becky

Year 1

Week 4 already! It was great to see so many of you at the Welcome BBQ and Disco on Friday night. The Year 1 Chocolate Toss was very popular and raised funds for Year 1 resources – so thank you for your support.

The children have been working hard in Year 1 as they continue to practice the routines and dive deeper into the learning. In English, we have been reading the Story Tom Tom by Rosemary Sullivan. We have made connections with the story, written a character description, and used comprehension strategies to answer questions about the text. In Maths, we have revised the tricky teen numbers, practiced skip counting in tens, and are exploring two-digit numbers. Our Religion unit this term is all about the life of Jesus and his mission.  The children are challenged to consider how they can make a difference by following the teachings of Jesus throughout their daily lives. In HASS, we are looking at family structures and roles within families, and we explore how these have changed and stayed the same over time.

Thank you to our parent helpers who have volunteered to read with children on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings. If any other parents, grandparents, or carers would like to join us, please complete a volunteer form from the office and see your child’s teacher.

Thank you for assisting your child with their homework. Please encourage them to read the decodable sentence a few times each night, working on building their fluency. Remember to also read picture books with your child and share discussions about the story. This will help develop their vocabulary and comprehension skills.

Laura, Jenny and Dennielle  

Year 2

Welcome to Week 4. This week in Maths, we will use our schema of what we already know about place value to understand 3-digit numbers. Students will recognize, partition, and expand 3-digit numbers using mathematical tools.  

Our Religion unit is well underway, and we have been discussing stories of Creation and learning about God's message about the importance of all living things and our responsibility to look after the environment. Through discussions, we have made connections and considered: How can I share the messages of creation in my world?  

In English, we will continue to explore simple sentences over the next couple of weeks and experiment with bumping them up using noun groups, vocabulary, and conjunctions.  We are exploring the long /e/ sound in phonics. There are several graphemes that can represent the long /e/ sound – ask your children which ones they are!

Our HASS unit will have us focusing on exploring the life and charism of Angela Merici and what it reveals about Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School over time. Students will consider whether Angela’s message is still relevant or spiritually significant in our community today. Students will explore the question: "Is Angela’s message alive at OLOL today?" 

Have a wonderful week and thanks for reading!

Sarah, Ange B and Ange G    

Year 3

It is hard to believe that we are into Week 4 of Term 1 in Year 3. We have all been busy working through our different content areas and establishing our routines.

NAPLAN

In Week 8, students in Year 3 will be participating in NAPLAN. This is a nationwide standardised assessment with 4 sub-tests. These are:

• Reading and Comprehension (Laptop)
• Language Conventions and Grammar (Laptop)
• Writing (Paper)
• Mathematics (Laptop)

We are preparing your child with various activities in our everyday learning to complete these assessments. We are lucky to have Mrs Leathart supporting us on this as well during our Technology Skills lessons.

What’s been happening in Year 3…

Maths- Emmi and Declan 3C: In Maths last week, we were revising and learning about place value. We were practicing reading and writing numbers up to 10,000 and learning to expand numbers and put them back together. Using Mab blocks, we made different numbers to show their value and looked at adding and subtracting 10, 100, and 1000. Each day, we do our Fast Facts booklets to help us get faster at our addition, subtraction, and times tables. We have 5 minutes to complete 40 questions and challenge ourselves to beat our times and scores.

English - Sophie and Heidi 3L: In English, we have been learning about the events in a narrative. We use Story Mountain to map the orientation, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. Story Mountain is a mountain that tells us the beginning, middle, and end of a story. Our focus has been on writing an orientation paragraph. In orientation, we describe the setting using our senses (see, smell, feel, hear, taste) and the character’s appearance and personality.

Religion - Oliver and Indi 3C: In Religion, we have been looking at the character Moses. Moses was a special man who led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt. The slaves were lost and were not making good choices. One day, Moses stood on a hill and God spoke the 10 Commandments to him. He wanted Moses to teach these rules to the slaves and help them live a better life. The 10 commandments are commands that God gives, and they are found in the Old Testament in the book of Exodus.

Science - Xander and Joel 3F: This week, in Science, we continued our learning about rocks, minerals, and soil. We read The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth, where the class went into the Earth looking for different types of rocks. There are 3 different types of rocks – sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. These types of rocks have different features. Rocks can change between each type, called The Rock Cycle.

Fun fact! A pumice stone is a rock that is made from cooled lava and is filled with holes from the lava bubbles. The holes in this stone allows it to float on water and it is very light.

HASS - Paxton and Emma 3F: This week, in HaSS, we have continued learning about celebrations. A celebration is an event or special occasion that has balloons, cake, and decorations. We learnt about different celebrations from around the world. In America, they celebrate Independence Day on the 4^th of July and have lots of red, white, and blue decorations.

We have also learnt about commemorations. A commemoration is the act of remembering and expressing respect for a person or event often through a ceremony or ritual. An example of a commemoration is National Sorry Day. National Sorry Day is a day to remember the mistreatment of First Nations Peoples and is commemorated on the 26^th of May in Australia.  

Health – Lakyn and Eliza 3L: In Health, we are learning about being a Global Citizen. A Global Citizen is someone who thinks of others and tries to make the world a better place. A Global Citizen:

• Helps people in need.
• Helps the environment by picking up rubbish.
• Follows rules.
• Is kind and inclusive.
• Ask before they do something.              

Cohort Meeting 3C

Every Friday, the Year 3 classes join together for a cohort meeting. During this time, we are focusing on a different trait of our Lourdes Learner. In Week 3, we learnt about communication and how we can explain our learning to others. We discussed the importance of Learning Intentions and Success Criteria to check our individual learning progress.

We completed some activities where we had to communicate with our partner, use the learning intention and success criteria, and seek clarification when needed.

Important Information

• A reminder that the sports uniform is to be worn on Wednesdays and Fridays
• Library borrowing days are: 3C and 3L – Wednesday, 3F - Friday
• Our specialist lessons (STEM, Drama, and Music) are on Monday mornings.
• Please ensure you have your family name on your sun visor or dashboard when you arrive at “Stop Drop and Go” - it makes it so much easier for the teachers on duty to call for your child/children. 

Have a great week!

Kirsty, Melissa, and Demi

Year 4

The Year 4s are enjoying their learning and getting into the swing of Year 4. Thank you for your attendance at our information night and let us know if you have any more questions.  

This term in Hass we are learning about the lives of  Aboriginal and Islander people prior to 1788. Some of the topics covered include farming, tool technology, and The Dreamtime. In Maths we are learning to round off numbers to the nearest ten and extending to hundreds, thousands and beyond.  We are working hard to become confident with our multiplication and division facts and brushing up on simple addition as well.  

Each Friday we rotate between the three Year 4 teachers for library, art, and technology. It is so lovely to get to know all the Year 4s and for them to get to know us as well.  

This week we enjoyed Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. Lent is upon us and we have made our Lenten promises in preparation for Easter.

Next week’s assembly will be presented by 4T and Week 6 will be 4L.  Assembly commences at 2pm and parents are very welcome.  

Thanks for encouraging homework and library books to be returned on the correct day. We are off to a great start for the year with plenty of enthusiasm for learning. This week we are learning about being a good sport, so feel free to reinforce this at home as well. In P.E. students are exploring the importance of playing fairly so that everyone has a go and learning to show interest in the success of others,  looking outside of ourselves during sports and in the classroom.

Let us know if we can help in any way throughout the year. Email is the best way to contact us.  Enjoy the week-end!  

Suzanne, Aleisha, Jessica and Danielle

Year 5                      

Emu Gully

What a great leadership day our students had at Emu Gully last Friday. Most encouragingly, all students supported each other to ensure everyone engaged in all activities. This required many students to harness their courage, listen to and use the support of their peers, and set a target of success. Overcoming challenges is an inevitable part of life, and not shying away from these takes, not only courage but skills and strategy.  All the students have grown, with many of them identifying that, as a leader, listening to others and having an "it's not all about me” mindset is what they need to be aware of to support others around them.

Important Dates

• Friday 16th February – Friday Sport
• Friday 23rd February – Friday Sport
• Friday 1st March – Friday Sport
• Friday 8th March – Friday Sport
• Friday 15th March – St Patrick’s Day Free Dress
• Mon 18th – 22nd March – Swimming Week
• Wednesday 27th March – Cross Country
• Thursday 28th March – 11am Stations of the Cross and Last Day of Term

Parent Information Evening

Thank you to those parents who were able to attend our parent information evening. A copy of the slides was sent via email last Wednesday 7^th February. If you have any questions, please contact your class teacher.

Curriculum

English – students are continuing to explore the role of figurative language (simile, metaphor, and personification) for use in descriptive writing. We continue to revise grammar in context, developing ideas and sentence structures.

Maths – we are concluding our impact cycle on factors, multiples and rounding for estimation and will be shortly moving into our next impact cycle which focuses on solving multiplication of larger numbers. Students will look at methods such as contracted multiplication, long multiplication, area model and lattice methods. Remember to encourage the practise of times tables!

Science – this week we engaged in our first round of experiments to answer questions around different types of weathering. We discussed the scientific method and revised the process for conducting experiments. The students enjoyed these hands-on activities immensely and we will continue to unpack our results over the coming week.

Religion - This week we explored the Christian ritual of Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day, and unpacked the purpose and meaning behind it. Students have also begun developing their research and comprehension skills to unpack The Beatitudes. Through peer collaboration, students will research and unpack the meaning of a Beatitude and teach their peers, so we can all relate and understand these laws for living.

HASS – students have been learning about the impact floods and bushfires have on people and the environment.  This week we looked at strategies used by Indigenous Australians to manage and sustain environments through cultural burning.

Homework

We have moved into our 3rd week of homework. A reminder that students have the following for homework each week:

• 1 x Reading Eggspress task
• 1 x Maths Online Revision set
• 1 – 2 x Maths Online Tasks
• Spelling Assignment in Teams (via Office365)
• Recommendation of 20 minutes of reading at least five times per week

Thanks for reading,

Jess, Emily, Sarah and Lisa

Year 6

What a busy couple of weeks we’ve had to begin the year!  Our Yr. 6 students have settled in splendidly and are already proving to be responsible, enthusiastic leaders. We’ve completed our first unit of work in Mathematics on square numbers as well as prime and composite numbers.  We’ll be working on integers for the next week. Flexible groupings have been working a treat.  Students have enthusiastically joined in whole cohort Maths lessons each Thursday – there has been much laughter and competitiveness.  A small group of students have also enjoyed some Maths extension activities during this time and have blown us away with their problem-solving abilities.  We have begun reading our first novel “Home to Mother”. You can hear a pin drop during modelled reading lessons with this novel proving to be a real hit!

Our trip to Treetops at Mt Tamborine at the end of week 2 was fantastic – loads of resilience, persistence, and encouragement from all who attended. Zip lines proved to be the most popular way to get around!

Year 6 Leadership Assembly: Thursday 15^th February 2:00 pm in the Hall.  Students will need to wear their formal day uniforms with polished shoes where necessary.

Swimming Success:  Congratulations to our Yr. 6 students who represented our school at the West Zone Carnival on Tuesday 13^th February.

Friday Sport: We will play our first round of Friday Sport this Friday. Students are reminded to have all the required safety gear, hats, and plenty of water each week.

Testing Folders: As a teaching team, we appreciate how important it is that parents and carers are kept well-informed of how students are achieving and progressing. Accordingly, test papers, Friday spelling tests, and the like will be forwarded home. We would appreciate parents initialling the top right-hand corner of pages before they’re returned to school.

Thank you to all the Year 6 students who volunteered their time on Tuesday morning to help with the organisation and running of the Shrove Tuesday pancake stall.

Kylie, Shauna, and Steve

Visual Art

Prep
During Visual Art lessons, Prep students will experience creating pieces of artwork using a variety of techniques. In our first few lessons, we have focused on the technique of collage and printing. Each week the artwork will be guided by the letter of the week. So far, we have completed a “slithery snake”, “ants on an apple print and collage” and this week we will collage a “terrific tiger”.

Year 1
We commenced our classes by drawing a very cute “love bug” for the return to school and for Valentines Day. The students have demonstrated great spatial awareness positioning the bug correctly and drawing it at an appropriate size.  In the next few weeks, our art will reflect the book, “Tom Tom”, a story about an Aboriginal boy and where he lives. Using this book, as inspiration in art, they will create a dot painting of the Aboriginal water symbol to represent Tom Tom’s favourite place, Lemonade Springs.  Followed by a pastel and watercolour painting of Lemonade Springs, comparing the different styles of art.

Year 2
This term the theme for Year 2 art is “Romero Britto”. Born in 1963, Romero Britto is a Brazilian artist, painter, serigrapher and sculptor. He is known for using lots of different mediums within his artwork,  always using very bright colours. Britto’s work is often described as happy and optimistic, and he has said that he wants his art to make people feel good.  We have begun the term with a picture of love hearts to represent “Loving Learning at Lourdes”. Later in the term, we will create a 3D sculpture inspired by Britto’s art. For this, we will require thick pieces of polystyrene. It would be greatly appreciated if you could send in any polystyrene you may have.

Year 5
The Year 5’s are working towards understanding how to use perspective in their artworks. Our first piece is titled, “Falling through space” and uses foreshortening. Foreshortening is the technique of depicting an object or body in a way that creates the illusion of depth and projection in a picture. Foreshortening is a fine art technique that conveys the way objects or subjects appear to recede in space as perceived by the eye.

Year 6
The Year 6’s are working on their reverse acetate portrait. This is a portrait created by tracing a photo onto a plastic sheet and then painting the reverse side. They created the background using mono-printing techniques on a silicone plate.   These portraits took inspiration from the screen-printed portraits by Andy Warhol.

Loretta

Loretta Simmonds

Italian

This semester years 5 and 6 will attend an Italian class once a week. We will continue to revise basic conversational skills and build our bank of Italian words. Our goal is to be able to have a simple conversation with a partner using a question and answer model. As well as studying the language we will explore insights into Italian culture and how their customs may be similar or different to our own. For example, greeting family and friends with a kiss on each cheek, sometimes considered a little too confronting for many Australians.

Loretta

Loretta Simmonds

Upcoming Dates

2023 Swimming Carnival Results   

Overall House - 1^st – Bradman - 455, 2^nd – Fraser – 317 - 3^rd Beetson - 306, 4^th – Goolagong – 228

Living Spirit Awards – Hunter (Grade 6) & Grace (Grade 5)

Individual Age Champions

9 Years Boys – Ty, Jose & Sam

9 Years Girls – Hayley, Beth & Bronte

10 Years Boys – Jake, Ben & Sam

10 Years Girls – Ashlee, Millie & Zoe

11 Years Boys – Hugh, Conor & Hunter

11 Years Girls – Mia, Mikayla & Grace

12 Years Boys – Blake, Thomas & Harry

12 Years Girls – Skye, Olivia & Jorja

Congratulations to Skye for breaking the 12 Girls 100m Backstroke. The new record is 1:17.04.

Thanks again to all who contributed, sponsors, staff, past students and recorders. It is greatly appreciated.

Cross Country Training

The Our Lady of Lourdes Cross Country Carnival will be held on Wednesday 27^th of March at Newtown Park.  In preparation for this event, we will be running a cross country training program, as below:

PLEASE NOTE – STUDENTS ARE TO BE DROPPED OFF AT THE PARK AT 7:30AM.

PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU WALK YOUR CHILDREN TO THE MEETING PLACE AND CHECK THEM IN WITH THE STAFF MEMBER PRESENT.

FOLLOWING TRAINING WE WILL WALK BACK TO SCHOOL AS A GROUP.

IMPORTANT: As part of the risk assessment process for Cross Country Running, all students who run the competitive track must be of sound fitness.  ALL STUDENTS wishing to run the competitive track must also have a SIGNED CONSENT form.  These will be sent home with interested students.

Representative Sport—Toowoomba & Darling Downs Teams

Throughout the course of the year Toowoomba Primary School Sport and Darling Downs School Sport offer trials to eligible students for a variety of team and individual sports.  To be eligible for selection, students need to be born in 2012, 2013, or 2014. Strict nomination requirements apply, and it is at the sole discretion of the school to decide whether to nominate individual students. 

In order to gain interest levels and an idea of previous experience, an electronic representative Sport Nomination Form has been sent out.  This form outlines all relevant information regarding the trials for the whole of 2024.  Please thoroughly read all information. If your child is of a high standard in their chosen sport/s and would like to be considered for nomination, please complete the nomination form.  No student will be nominated for a trial without a completed form.

Here is the LINK to nominate a student. Please submit a new response for each individual child.

Please see below for upcoming trial dates. Please ensure that you confirm these details when the trial notice is released.

Rachel.Wigan@twb.catholic.edu.au

Queensland Schools Library Week!

This week is Queensland School Library Week and we celebrated by asking the children of Lourdes what they loved about the library. Be sure to pop by and see all the great things that our Lourdes Learners LOVE about the Library. We have included a snapshot of their thoughts below. ?

Safer Internet Day

Last week we recognised Safer Internet day at Lourdes. The poster below has some great ideas for families to keep in mind as they navigate the Internet with children.

AccessIt

Our Library has an amazing landing page at Welcome | Accessit Library Web App. Please bookmark this page and use it to help with Homework or assignment work. Students need to sign in to access the information on Britannica. Did you know that students can access Class Pages from home and reinforce Library learning and activities at home.

Borrowing Days Reminder

Please ensure that students return all books each week so that other students and families may enjoy them. If there are any issues – water damage, rips or tears or other problems – please be kind enough to let us know via email, leave a note on the book or pop in and have a chat.

Parent Borrowing Reminder

Did you know that as a parent you can borrow up to 10 additional items (excluding Home Readers) each week? You are most welcome to drop by and check out what we have on offer.

Chess Lessons

Chess lessons are now FULL for Term 1. Questions? Contact: Danielle.Leathart@twb.catholic.edu.au

Senior Fiction

There are still a few students in Year 5 and 6 who have not replied to the Portal note regarding  access to the Senior Fiction collection. Without permission from their parent/guardian students are not permitted to borrow from this collection. Please give permission via the Parent Portal. 

Book Club

Issue One orders have been placed and we expect delivery within the next week. Orders are given to class teachers to hand out to students once they arrive. Questions? Danielle.Leathart@twb.catholic.edu.au

Keep Reading,

Mrs Leathart & Mrs Monte & Mrs Kemp

A photo of one of our beautiful gums, 'Corymbia ficifolia' flowering on the footpath..... Magnificent.

Jo

Jo Broderick
Gardener