Term 2, Week 4, 2025

Dear Parents,

At St Saviour's Primary School, our Catholic Identity is at the heart of everything we do. We strive to create a nurturing environment where students grow academically, socially, and spiritually, guided by the teachings of Jesus and the Mercy Values that shape our community.

The Mercy Values—compassion, service, and excellence —are the foundation of our daily interactions. They remind us to act with kindness, stand up for what is right, welcome others with open hearts, and serve those in need. By embedding these values in our learning and relationships, we create a culture that fosters understanding, empathy, and a sense of belonging for all.

This term, we will continue to emphasise positive behaviour expectations to ensure that every student feels safe and supported. Through our school-wide approach, we encourage students to:

• Show respect to themselves, others, and the environment.

• Demonstrate responsibility by making thoughtful choices and being accountable for their actions.

• Be safe at all times throughout the school day.

Next week, we will begin to talk to students about the expectations before school.  As you are aware, students should not be at school by themselves prior to 8am.  A teacher commences supervision at 8.10am.  In this 10 minute period students are expected to sit down and wait to play. 

We invite families to reinforce these principles at home, helping students connect their faith and values to their everyday experiences. Together, as a community, we grow in faith, knowledge, and love.

Let us continue to live out the Mercy Values and strengthen our Catholic Identity through actions that reflect the teachings of Christ. Thank you for being a part of this journey!

Sam Hannant

Principal

….experiencing FAITH in the Mercy Tradition

Dear families

We are witnessing a historic moment in the Catholic Church! On May 8, 2025, Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the 267th pope, taking the name Pope Leo XIV. He is the first American-born pope, hailing from Chicago, USA, and has spent years serving as a missionary in Peru.

Pope Leo XIV has already made a strong impression, emphasizing peace, unity, and truth in his first address. He has also embraced modern communication, sharing his message on social media to connect with people worldwide.

His election has sparked celebrations, especially in his hometown, where Chicagoans are honouring him in creative ways—including a special Pope Leo-themed sandwich at a local restaurant!

As we reflect on this moment, let us join in prayer for Pope Leo XIV:

Heavenly Father,

we thank You for guiding the Church and blessing us with Pope Leo XIV.

Grant him wisdom, strength, and compassion as he leads Your people.

May he be a beacon of truth, a shepherd of peace, and a servant of love.

Fill him with Your Holy Spirit so that he may inspire the faithful and bring hope to the world.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

May we continue to support Pope Leo XIV through our prayers as he embarks on his sacred mission.

Our first visit this term to Brodribb Nursing home happened this week. Year 6 students, Isabelle, Indiana, Olivia and Sophie represented our school by attending Mass, speaking with the residents and of course keeping Sasha (Fr Michael’s dog) company. It’s always a beautiful morning well spent with fellow believers, sharing in the celebration of the Eucharist. Thank you to Fr Michael for always being so welcoming and relatable. We look forward to visiting the residents of Brodribb again next month.

This week we welcome Local First Nations Artist Kim Walmsley. Kim has begun preparing the yarning circle space and continued to work through the week with our students joining her to add their designs from last term’s workshop, to the totem poles. We look forward to seeing the finished space – thank you to Kim and her team for making it all come together.

Colour Run prizes have been delivered! Over $17 000 raised for Momentum Mental Health and the students received their prizes this week. Thank you for your support.

Our Year 5 classes celebrated Mass on Thursday this week to join St Saviour’s College to celebrate Catherine McAuley day. It’s always our pleasure to accept their kind invitation to be part of the Mass and we look forward to continue to working together towards a strong partnership that embraces our Mercy tradition while fostering the values of service, compassion, excellence.

Bishop Ken will join us for a special prayer assembly 9.15am on Thursday 29 May. Please join us if you’re able to. Bishop Ken will visit classrooms and meet the students throughout the day. We’re so glad he can be with us.  

ALL WELCOME to join us at our Term 2 Family Parish Mass on Sunday 1^st June 9am St Patrick’s Cathedral. We’re thrilled to have Mrs Kelly, our choir and instrumental groups singing and playing their music for us throughout Mass. We hope you can be there to support them and celebrate Mass with Fr Michael.  

Profession Schindler Primary School in PNG book donations - To continue this whole school Service activity to our friends in PNG, we are accepting donations of reading Books for the school – all types of reading books are gratefully accepted; Fiction, Non-Fiction books for all ages from Toddler to young adult. They are in need of quality texts. If you’ve ANY readers at home that are no longer being used, please drop them into the Primary school office at any time. This will be an ongoing need and the donations will be transported to PNG in September. Thank you for your support.

Have a peace filled week. Be sure to do one thing that fills your cup and brings you joy.

Thanks for reading,

Ann-Maree Ward (Assistant Principal – Mission & Identity)

Dear Parents

It has been a busy few weeks at  SSPS.  It was wonderful to see so many families at the Mother’s Day Movie night, as well as the Prep Mother’s Day liturgy.  Students have represented SSPS outside the community at the Darling Down’s Math team challenge, the upcoming UniSQ Science and Engineering Challenge at Brodribb Nursing Home and at the St Saviour’s College Catherine McAuley mass .  We welcomed to our school a visiting author and have helped artist Kym Walmsley prepare to create our yarning circle design.  Students have been busily preparing for the athletics carnival, learning poetry in drama for the upcoming drama fest and practicing new songs to sing with the whole community when the Bishop visits our school and we lead the singing at Parish Mass on the 2^nd of June.   Our percussionists, guitarists and recorder players have been busily learning and practicing their parts in the music performance. 

All of these experiences are examples of how we strive to create a school environment that encourages young learners to enthusiastically participate in their educational experience.  Currently as a staff we are focussed on building our understandings around student engagement. Although these may be experiences outside of the classroom, they are important for students as they encourage exploration of different aspects of themselves, that can contribute to their sense of belonging, so they feel valued, stimulated and inspired to learn.  Engaging in learning in the classroom is not as simple as students showing up and teachers teaching. If you have concerns that your child is not fully engaged in their learning, for whatever reason, please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher so we can work collaboratively to identify barriers and support students in building the skills they need to fully engage.

We continue to explore the practices and policies that we have that enable student learning and the barriers we need to address to ensure ALL students are striving in faith, learning and life, looking towards a flourishing future.

Wishing you a restful weekend.  These five-day weeks are really kicking in!!

Mrs Katie Hauser

Dear Parents,

It is hard to believe we are nearing the middle of another term.  Students have already been involved in many exciting learning activities as classrooms prepare for report cards to go home at the end of this term. 

Math Challenge 2025

On Tuesday the 6^th of May 10 students from Years 5 and 6 travelled to St Ursulas College to compete in the Primary School’s Math Competition.  This competition is designed to challenge and extend students beyond their everyday classroom learning with a variety of challenging questions and complex multi-step problems.  The two teams competed valiantly and ultimately finished 3^rd  (Year 6 Team) and 11^th (Year 5 Team) which is a testament to their Math knowledge and their communication skills working as a team to achieve fantastic results.  Congratulations to all students who competed and represented St Saviour’s with pride.  Please see social media for photos.  

Under 8’s 2025

Next Friday we look forward to our annual Under 8’s event which celebrates the first eight years of a child's life and encourages learning through play.  The theme for this year is “Unleashing scientific thinking through play” and we look forward to welcoming Renta Jayne who will perform a space show for students as an incursion.  We will also have the team from First 5 forever who will provide hands on activities which students will rotate through. Our Prep to Year 2 students will participate on the day and will also be involved in some extra STEM activities. Please keep an eye on our social media for photos of our wonderful morning. 

Junior and Senior STEM Clubs Term 2 2025

Our Junior and Senior STEM Clubs have kicked off for another term and participation numbers are extremely high.  This morning our Junior STEM Club used the design thinking process to create a boat out of tin foil and sail their boat in tubs of water.  Students were then able to further test their boats by adding weights to see how much the boat could hold – How fun!   Thank you to all our dedicated STEM teachers who go above and beyond for our students.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Bec Thomas

St Saviour’s Primary School Athletics Carnival 2025 

As you might be aware the 2025 athletics carnival will take place on Friday, 20th June 2025. Due to the success of last year’s athletics carnival, we will keep the same format this year. This format is to benefit our students and to give the students the best opportunity to display their athletic ability in a safe and fun environment. Below is an outline of how qualifying and the carnival will run: 

• All students (Year 3-6) will compete in Long Jump at O’Quinn Street (no qualifying at school). As there will be more students competing in Long Jump at O’Quinn Street, we will have two long jump pits and we will only measure jumps that are past a nominated mark. All students will still get three jumps and all students who compete will gain a point for their house. 

• We will have qualifying in PE lessons for Discus, Shotput and High Jump. To align with Catholic and Zone carnivals, only 10-12 Years will compete in discus and shot put and we will only measure throws that are past a nominated mark.  

• The High Jump finals (9-12 Years) will be on Wednesday the 18th of June at St Saviour’s Primary and not at O’Quinn Street Oval – times will be advised. 

• There will be no finals for 60m/80m/100m and 200m races. All heats will be timed, and we will use the top times from all the heats to determine who we will send to Catholic/Zone Athletics Carnival. 

We ask parents to be mindful that all events may not run to schedule, and changes may need to be made on the day of the carnival. We thank you for your understanding with this.  

Field Event Qualifying 

All students in Year Three to Year Six will participate in High Jump. Only 10 to 12 Years will participate in Shotput and Discus. Students will throw and jump to determine the top eight in each age group (boys and girls) who will compete in High Jump at St Saviour’s Primary on Wednesday 18th of June and Shot Put and Discuss at O’Quinn Street Oval on Friday 20th of June.  I will work out 1st, 2nd and 3rd for 8 Year Olds High Jump in Year Three from qualifying and they will be presented with a ribbon at the athletics carnival. Qualifying will happen in PE lessons as the feedback from students is that it is a much more relaxed and fun experience. 

Qualifying has been designed so all students get a chance to participate in each event in a fun environment regardless of ability. The top eight in each event (age group, boy and girl) then compete at the school carnival in a fun, but more competitive level. It is important to note that whilst all students are not doing all events at the athletics carnival, all students have participated in an event during PE sessions which is a part of the athletics carnival and have gained points for their house. Qualifying for High Jump, Discus and Shot Put will start Monday 12th of May and continue throughout Term Two. If your child is away during any of the qualifying sessions, a make-up session will happen during lunch time the following week. These make up sessions will be posted on Parent Portal. 

Athletics Carnival Dates 

• Wednesday 18th June 2025 (High Jump Final) St Saviour’s Primary School Oval 

• Thursday 19th June 2025 (Ball Games – Year 3 to 6) St Saviour’s Primary School Oval 

• Friday 20th June 2024 (SSPS Athletics Carnival) O’Quinn Street Oval 

School Sport 

We are delighted to congratulate Darcy Phillips and George Gainey on their selection for the Darling Downs Rugby League team, as well as Sophie Chandler for earning a place on the Darling Downs Basketball team. These talented students will proudly represent their region at the upcoming state championship, with Darcy and George competing in July and Sophie in June. Additionally, we extend our congratulations to Adelaide Adams, Jemma McHugh, and Ruby Land for their selection to the Toowoomba Touch Football team. These three girls will now participate in the Darling Downs trials as they strive for a position on the regional team. We wish all our students the very best in their respective competitions and look forward to hearing about their experiences. Best of luck! 

Run Star 
Congratulations to Nixon Webster for his remarkable performance at the Queensland All Schools Cross Country Championships, held at Nudgee College in Brisbane on Saturday, May 10th. Nixon delivered an exceptional run, securing first place in the state for his event, a truly impressive accomplishment. Although, at just eight years old, he is ineligible to qualify for the Queensland Team competing at Nationals, Nixon proudly holds the title of Queensland Champion until next year. What an outstanding achievement. We commend Nixon on his dedication and success and look forward to seeing what he accomplishes in the future. 

Zone and Darling Downs Trials 

All information regarding Zone and Darling Downs trials will be posted on Parent Portal. To ensure your child is eligible to trial for these sporting teams, please check the Parent Portal regularly or set up notifications on your phone. You will need to obtain the necessary paperwork from myself. 

Please be aware that I am unable to nominate students after the closing date, so it is crucial to monitor the Parent Portal. If you have any questions, please contact me at brendan.luck@twb.catholic.edu.au. 

Upcoming Events (Term One) 

• Darling Downs Cross Country – Tuesday 20th May 2025 (9am – 2pm) 

• High Jump (Finals) Wednesday 18th June 2025 (8:45am – 2:45pm) (9-12 Years) 

• Ball Games 19th June 2025 (11:15am – 1:30pm) (Year 3 – Year 6) 

• SSPS Athletics Carnival Friday 20th June 2025 (8am – 3pm) (Prep – Year 6)  

Cheers 

Brendan Luck 

HPE Teacher 

brendan.luck@twb.catholic.edu.au 

Step into Stories Celebration

Cristy Burne and Sue Whiting, accomplished authors and all round great people, spent time with our students on Wednesday this week. They shared their writing journey and some valuable encouragement to be storytellers, to be problem solvers and to do hard things because it feels so great when you accomplish the task.

Please ask your students what they took away from the presentations.

National Simultaneous Storytime 

This wonderful story event will be celebrated next Wednesday 21st May at 12 Noon around Australia with the reading of "The Truck Cat" by Deborah Frenkel and Danny Snell.

Students will be enjoying this story on Storybox Hub and the book will be available for borrowing. Read more about this event at ALIA National Simultaneous Storytime - 2025 - ALIA

"Participation in the National Simulatanious Storytime event, helps to: 

• promote the value of reading and literacy  
• promote the value and fun of books
• promote an Australian writer and publisher
• celebrate and promote storytime activities in school libraries, classrooms and communities around the country

In 2024, 2.3 million people participated in National Simultaneous Storytime at 21,000 locations.

Source: alia.org.au [Accessed 14 May 2025] 

 Regional Readers' Cup Competition

Our 6 readers are enjoying the set books and the challenge of completing all 5 before week 8! Thanks for your efforts everyone, keep up the great reading pace.

Happy Reading Everyone

Anne Anderson

Teacher Librarian

Dear Parents & Caregivers

FEES: Please be reminded that all Term 2 fees and levies are due by next Friday, 23rd May 2025. If you do not have a direct debit, direct credit, or an agreed payment plan in place, ensure all fees and levies are settled by this date.

STATEMENTS: Starting next month, statements will be emailed monthly. These statements will detail all transactions on your account for the preceding months. Please review your statement carefully and notify our Finance department of any discrepancies.

DIRECT DEBITS: When reviewing your statement, ensure your direct debit/credit is sufficient to cover your yearly fees and levies. The due date for fees and levies paid via direct debit/credit, unless otherwise arranged and approved, is Friday, 10th October 2025. If you need to increase your direct debit, please contact the Finance department using the details below. Additionally, we encourage you to make your direct debit ongoing (no end date) if you are not already doing so. This will ensure your fee payments continue over the Christmas holiday period and may put your account in credit for the next year. If you would like to amend your direct debit to be ongoing, please get in touch.

If you have any other questions about school fees or your account, please contact the office on          07 4637 1700 or email accounts@sspstwb.catholic.edu.au

Alyce Webster

Finance Officer

accounts@sspstwb.catholic.edu.au

Please be aware that families dropping off or collecting children from school must NOT queue across the school crossing zones in Lawrence, Neil and Perth Streets.

Doing so creates a safety issue for both our students and for Crossing Supervisors.

Please keep the crossings clear if you are waiting in line for school access. Thank you for observing this request.