Siena Catholic Primary School

Siena Soul Food

Stella Maris Primary School 

Our Year 6 Students headed off to camp at Noosa North Shore last week, full of excitement and accompanied by a team of staff supporters, including our principal, Mr Mark Ballam, who reflected on the value of school camp:

“In an ever-changing world, it is more important than ever that we provide a wholistic education which considers the emotional, social, creative and spiritual development of a child, just as much as the intellectual. School Camps provide a wonderful opportunity for us to support children in building interpersonal and intrapersonal skills such as independence, resilience, leadership, communication and respect for others.  Other benefits include peer bonding, responsibility, screen-free time, new experiences, increased self-confidence and bonds between staff and students that transfer back to school.  This year, by participating in a range of outdoor experiences including canoeing, raft building, archery, boulder climbing and mountain biking, along with team building exercises and games, we got to see our students shine.  What a privilege!”

Siena Catholic College  

The arrival of cooler weather reminds us that we are now well into Term 2. After all of the events of the first few weeks of term, students have used this week to refocus on their studies.

On Tuesday, a group of students from Years 10, 11 and 12 competed in the Ethics Olympiad, where they showed off their skills in communication, critical thinking, and respectful discourse, while reflecting on contemporary ethical issues. Tuesday also saw the Year 11s donating and selling cupcakes to raise money for a worthy cause. One of our teachers is travelling to the Northern Territory later this year and, as part of this trip, she will visit the Missionaries of Charity Sisters. The sale of cupcakes is just one of the many initiatives that she has planned to ensure that a generous contribution can be made on behalf of the College to the essential work that the Sisters do in remote Australian communities. Our Year 8 students were out-and-about, at the end of the week – this time in Maleny. Their full-day Geography field trip to Mary Cairncross Park allowed them to explore the region’s geology and to engage with its Aboriginal history.