Achieve - all that you can

Jesus said therefore

‘What is the Kingdom of God like?  And to what shall I compare it?  It is like the mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches’.    

Luke 13: 18-20

St Monica - A Model of Perseverance

Family - Responsibility, Perseverance & Inclusion

Dear Parents

We have had a wonderful start to the term. The children have returned very settled and eager to learn. We had a little excitement today due to the burst water main in Higgins. While we still had water it was very discoloured and not good for drinking. We provided the children with bottled water to get them through the day. As a precaution the children should bring a bottle of drinking water to school tomorrow. 

This term we are exploring the use of the green space between St Monica's and Miles Franklin at lunch times on Thursdays and Fridays. The grounds would extend our play space for those children playing soccer and football. We plan to start our trial next week with the Year 3 and 4 children. 

With our pergola complete we are going to return to our morning gathering in the courtyard, one day a week. Our assembly will generally be on a Wednesday morning, except when there is a Wednesday School Mass. Our morning meeting will provided the opportunity for school events to be shared and reminders given. 

The new ACT bus arrangements has been a challenging. We have had to add additional staff to cover the afternoon bus duties and relocate where the the NSW Transborder - Platypus bus picks up the children. We now have to use the Action bus shelter on Moynihan street, that involves crossing Deffel Street in front of the church. 

This week we welcome Miriam Hilton to the staff. Miriam will we working in 5F on Thursdays and Fridays. Kirsty Godschalx is currently on Long Service Leave, Helen Houghton is working in KGH for the first two week of the term. Unfortunately, Amanda Winne has not been well, she will be back next week.  

Please remember to register for our new SZapp for alerts, school calendar and the ability to contact the school. 

Looking forward to a wonderful term.

God bless

Carmel Maguire 

When you think of the word “responsibility”, what comes to mind? Getting your school assignments done on time? Helping your family with the daily chores? Watching out for your little brother or sister?

Responsibility definitely means all those things, but it means something more too.  Responsibility is also about looking inside yourself and doing all you can to be the best person possible. And trying to see what you can do to help others.  In short, when you practice responsibility, you’re on your way to making your life the very best it can be!

Be inspired……

The time is always right to do what is right” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Though I am not always responsible for what happens to me, I am responsible for how I handle what happens to me.” – Zig Ziglar

Sacrament of Eucharist

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish

The Parent Evening will be held tonight at 6:00pm in St Michael’s Church, Tyrrell St, Kaleen. There will be spare enrolment forms available if you have misplaced yours. Commitment Masses will be held this weekend at the following times:

Saturday 4 May 6:00pm St Monica’s Church Evatt

Sunday 5 May 8:00am St Michael’s Kaleen

Sunday 5 May 10:00am St Monica’s Evatt

Sunday 5 May 5:30pm St Michael’s Kaleen

Looking forward to seeing you there tonight!

 ANZAC DAY

On Monday we commemorated ANZAC Day with a special school prayer. 6M lead us in a reverent manner and reminded us about the sacrifice made by all those who have served in our armed forces, those from the First World War through to those on current deployment. We give thanks for their sacrifice and that of their families, so that we can live in peace. Mr Evans recounted some of the memories, Mr Fleming- (Great Grandfather of Haylie, Logan, Alec) shared with Yrs 5 and 6 last term. Mr Fleming North Africa and was a ‘Rat of Tobruk’.

Lest We Forget.

This term the Home Learning Review for the staff and parents will take place in our school. There is now a display of student results to the review in the main corridor outside 1E. Over the next few weeks we will be publishing some of the student results for your information.

Next week our Home Learning Review Committee will be meeting to go over the results from our students and create a parent and staff survey to be completed in the coming weeks.

Here is what our Year 3-6 students feel about completing Home Learning:

Our Year 3 and 5 students will be completing NAPLAN in Week 3 of this term. Below is a table outlining the dates, times and tests that will be completed with time given to each student.

This year St Monica's is entering a team into the annual ACT Robocup for the first time. Sean B (Year 6), Harry B (Year 5) and Elijah L (Year 4) have been selected to participate and have extensive knowledge and experience in robotics.

Teams from around the ACT can enter their robot in any of the three categories including the dance challenge, soccer game or surviver resuce. 

Our team is currently preparing for the surviver rescue challenge which requires their robot to make its way through a line maze avoiding obstacles such as ramps and barriers. The aim is to get your robot to reach the chemical spill which is a green zone and move the surviver away from danger. This challenge takes a lot of skill in building and programming Mindstorms robots. 

We wish the team all the best in their preperation and will report on their progress before the competition in September. Finalists from the ACT competition go to Nationals in Sydney. We wish them all the best.​

 

Transport Canberra launched their new bus network on Monday this week. There have been a number of changes to the buses servicing our school.

Ms Maguire has been supporting the children by accompanying them to the new bus stops and waiting with them until the bus arrives to reduce any anxiety and help them feel comfortable with the changes. We thank any parents who have chosen to ride the bus with the children during this first week to provide additional support.

We understand you may have some concerns regarding the new bus services. You are invited to drop in to the school office to sign a petition addressed to the Assembly requesting them to call on the ACT Government to reconsider the recent changes, in terms of dedicated school services.

If you would like to contact Transport Canberra directly, they always welcome feedback on public transport services. You can provide feedback via the Transport Canberra website, under www.transport.act.gov.au/contact-us/feedback. This feedback will be considered as part of the development of future changes to services and timetables.

Book Fair

We will be holding a Scholastics Book Fair next week.  Students have received a Brochure inviting them to the Book Fair and showing the great titles that students will be able to purchase while supporting the school. 

The Book Fair will be in the Library and will be open from 8.30am to 9am Tuesday to Friday and from 3.10pm to 4pm Monday to Friday.

Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge

This year St Monica’s is participating in the Chief Minister’s Challenge.  The challenge involves students reading 30 books before 21September.  Information about the challenge can be found at this link The Chief Minister's Reading Challenge. The Students have received their Individual Student Reading Record.  When the students finish a book, it must be initialled by their parents or teacher.

Book Covering

If you are looking for a way to assist the school by volunteering we have new books for the library arriving throughout the year that need to be covered. If you are able to assist by covering books please contact me. If you are unable to come in during school hours to cover books a box of books can be sent home.

Veronica Melville - Teacher Librarian

ACT Sport Trials

Students aged or turning 11 or 12 (10 year olds welcome for AFL and Girls Football) this year are invited to register and attend the following ACT primary sport trials in the coming weeks:

• ​Girls Football (Soccer): 8 and 15 May 4-5pm Dickson Playing Fields
• ​Boys Football (Soccer): 5 May 9-11am, 8 May 6-7:30pm, 12 May 9-11am, 15 May 6-730pm and 19 May 9-11am Wanniassa 1 and 2 playing fields.
• ​AFL (Boys and Girls): 16and 23 May 4:15-5:45 Football Park Phillip
• Rugby League (Boys and Girls): Surnames A-M 9 and 16 May 4-5pm North Curing Playing Fields and Surnames N-Z 10 and 17 May 4-5pm North Curtin Playing Fields​​

Please refer to the information sent home with interested students and notes on Skoolbag. Please contact Ryan Matchett if you require any further information or assistance.

ACT Swimming Championships

Best wishes to Annabelle F (4H), Claire H (5MF) and Harry P (6E) who are competing at the Primary ACT swimming championships on Monday at the AIS. 

Athletics Carnival

Our school athletics carnival is being held next Thursday 9 May at Charnwood Oval. Permission notes were sent out last term and need to be returned by Friday 3rd May. If any parents are able to help please fill in the slip on the bottom of the permission note or contact Ryan Matchett or Susan Carswell. Updated information about the running of the day will be sent out early next week.

Over the school holidays Dita S (6M) competed in The National Muay Thai Championships in Queensland. She won gold in her fight and has now qualified to represent Australia in The Worlds Muay Thai Championships in Turkey in September this year. This is a wonderful achievement. Well done Dita!!

Term 2 school fees will be invoiced next week. We still have a number of families who have not yet finalised their fees for Term 1. Please make every effort to bring your fees up to date as soon as possible.

Thank you to those families who have paid Term 1.

If you have a Direct Debit arrangement in place, please ignore this reminder, no additional payment is required. However, please ensure you have sufficient funds in your account for the debits to take place successfully. In the event one of your debits is refused, you are required to make a separate payment to cover the missed payment.

As always, please contact the School Finance Officer should you need to discuss your school fees account.

Woolworths Earn & Learn is back for 2019.  Please collect your Earn & Learn Stickers and send in to Front Office. There are many exciting prizes available this year for our school to earn ranging from musical instruments to maths equipment, and from sporting gear to science kits.  This year there is also a Bin located at Woolworths Belconnen Store for St Monica's School.

 If anyone has any issues/ideas they would like to discuss please email Fiona Steinberg - Council.StMonicas@cg.catholic.edu.au 

The Mother's Day Stall will be held next Friday 10 May from 9am onwards in the morning. The prices for gifts will range from $2-$10. This is a wonderful opportunity for all children to purchase a gift for their Mum, Nanna, Aunt or special someone in their life. Children will able to purchase a gift each.

Mother's Day Raffle

We are holding a Mother's Day raffle here at school.  There is a beautiful hamper gift basket being raffled.  Tickets are $1 and can be purchased from Front Office from tomorrow onwards. Raffle will be drawn next Friday afternoon.

Happy Birthday to the following students -

Paige H, Ava P, Eliana D, Josephine H, Caydence L, Scarlett B, Angelo F, Austin C, Emma S, Jade W, Beau R, Sophia M, Karlin O, Logan F, Alicia Mc

Canteen Roster  - Term 2, Week 2

Monday - Vacancy

Tuesday - June Manning

Wednesday - Rachele Pentes, Alyson Barnes

Thursday - Athletics Carnival

Friday - Jenny Fulivai, Wilma Hird, June Manning, Wendy Regan

Samantha Manning - Canteen Manager - 62584687