Did you know that the Townsville Eisteddfod has been running since 1948? Holy Spirit enters our Year 4, 5, and 6 choirs every year to compete against other schools in the same categories. Our Year 4 Choir and Year 5 Choir competed yesterday and proudly returned to school with 1st and 2nd place, respectively. This is an outstanding achievement for students; we are very proud of them. Our Year 6 students will compete on Thursday, so stay tuned for their results.  Thank you to Kerry Rhen, who worked with our Choir students, Sue Laing, for co-ordinating and our Pianist, Sarah Ferguson.

This week is Child Protection Week, and this year's theme is “Every Conversation Matters”, emphasising the importance of dialogue in addressing child abuse and neglect. Yesterday, our Year 2-6 classes had a visit from Townsville Catholic Education Student Protection team members. They conducted ‘Safe Talks’ with each year level, reminding them of the 3Rs: Recognise, React, and Report. Our classes will also discuss this critical topic and remind our students who the Safe Persons in our school are. We encourage all our students, even our Preppies, to identify five trusted adults to turn to if they find themselves in need—one person for each finger on their hand.

In Week 9, Season 3 of Interschool Sports, the final season of 2024, begins. Our Year 5 and 6 students will represent our school in AFL, Basketball, and T-ball. This provides another opportunity for our students to represent our school in the community as they compete against other primary schools. We wish them all the best and eagerly anticipate hearing about their performance on the field/court as the games progress throughout Term 4.

Nicole Lennox