St Monica’s Primary School - Evatt eNewsletter

Wednesday 21 July	Kindergarten Health Checks
Thursday 22 July	Confirmation Parent Evening - 6pm - St Monica's Church
Friday 23 July	School Prayer - Social Justice Team - 2.30pm
Wednesday 28 July	Year 1 Excursion - Calthorpes House 6.30pm Open Council Meeting and Fee Tuition
Thursday 29 July	Year 6 Vinnies "Sleep Out" at school 5.30pm - 8.30pm
Friday 30 July	St Monica's Winter Onesie Day
Friday 30 July	Star Awards - presented in Courtyard/Library - 2.30pm

Dear Parents

In Loving Memory

On Monday we gathered as a school community to remember and pray for our beautiful Savannah Leane. Savannah is remembered by her friends and the staff at St Monica's as a bright bubbly young girl who loved rainbows, unicorns and made everyone she met feel welcome and loved. Please continue to keep in your prayers Savannah’s parents Michael, Louisa, her younger sisters Larissa and Isabella and the extended Leane family during this very sad time.

Thank you to the St Monica's Community for the incredible support you have offered to the staff during this very sad time; the staff have felt very much supported as we guide the community to come to terms with the loss of Savannah. We will look for ways to support the family over the coming weeks. For now, the Year 2 families are currently preparing a special gift for the family.

Staff News

Next week we will farewell Mrs Monika Richards on Tuesday as she will begin her maternity leave. From Week 4 we welcome back Mrs Jane Carr who will be teaching 2R each Monday. Mrs Emma Russell is adding Tuesdays to her schedule each week so will be now teaching from Tuesdays to Fridays. The class will become 2R for the remainder of the year.

Rostrum Quater Final

Best of luck to Holly F(6H) who will represent St Monica's tonight at the Rostrum Quater Finals being held at Mt Rogers Primay School. I know Holly will be a wonderful representative for our school.

School Check-in

Parents and visitors are now asked to check-in via our CBR Check-in app and our Compass Kiosk, both located in the school foyer. While I know it is inconvenient having to do both we need to keep our community safe and maintain our visitor register.

Just in case - readiness for remote learning

To ensure we can change over to remote learning, if needed, I encourage parents to email if your child will require the use of a school device to access MS Teams and our online programs. We are currently checking that all passwords are working to make the transition a smooth one, should it be required. Fingers crossed we don't have to go with remote learning. Whatever happens, we will be ready to assist families.

Continue to stay COVID safe and may God's blessing be with everyone.

Carmel Maguire

Principal

St Monica's Community Council's invitation to discuss CE Tuition Fees

Special Meeting - Wednesday 28 July at 7.00pm.

Community Council Open meeting commencing at 6.30pm

Fees_letter2.pdf

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Open Council Meeting & School Tuition Fees

The St Monica's Community Council would like to invite you to a public meeting to discuss school tuition fees on Wednesday 28 July in the school library commencing at 6.30pm.

If you have any ideas or concerns please email them through to our Secretary Noel Chan at council.stmonicas@cg.catholic.edu.au

Vinnies Winter Appeal

Thank you to all of our families who have bought in winter warming clothes for our Vinnies Winter Appeal! The Year 6 Social Justice Team are still collecting donations of new beanies, jumpers, gloves, socks, jackets, scarves – all sizes! Next week will be the last week we will be collecting donations.

To say thank you to our wonderful community, we will be having a ‘Winter Warmer Onesie’ day next Friday, 30 July. So, get your winter warmer onesie’s ready! or just warm casual clothes!

Sacrament of Confirmation for eligible Year 6 Students

This will be celebrated on
- 7 September in St Michael’s Church at 6.00pm
- 8 September in St Monica’s Church at 6.00pm
- 9 September in St Monica’s Church at 6.00pm

Registrations - are now open
Registrations must be made via Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish Qkr! App (NOT the school app).
Registrations will close by 9 August and no further registrations will be accepted after the closing date.

Parent/Child Information Night – will be held at 6.00pm this Thursday 22 July in St Monica’s Church. This meeting will be a face-to-face meeting instead of zoom and will be no longer than 1 hour.

Commitment Masses – will commence this weekend and on the weekends of
- 24 and 25 July
- 31 July and 1 August
- 7 and 8 August

Candidates and parents must attend one of the weekend Masses at either St Monica’s Church (5.00pm Saturday or 10.00am Sunday) or St Michael’s Church (8.00am or 5.30pm Sunday) to make their commitment for the Sacrament.
There will be no additional commitment Masses beyond these dates.

Purchasing a Stole
Purchasing a stole is optional and is not compulsory. If you wish to purchase a stole please make a payment of $20 through the Qkr! App and send an email to sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au and arrangements will be made for delivery/pickup.

Further Information – please contact the Sacramental Program Coordinator at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au or check the parish website for updates at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth

Saint of the Week

Name: St Teresa of Calcutta

Lived: 1910-1997

Country: Albania, India

Patron Saint of: World Youth Day, Missionaries of Charity, and co-patron of the Archdiocese of Calcutta

Feast Day: September 5th

Bio: St Teresa, affectionately known as ‘Mother Teresa’ was born on August 26, 1910 in Skopje and was the youngest child in her family. Her birth name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Her Father died when she was eight, leaving her family struggling to find money for essential, everyday living needs. Her faith was strong, and she was supported in faith by the Jesuit parish of the Sacred Heart as a youth member.

In 1928, at the age of 18, Agnes moved out of home to take up a missionary life and joined the institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto, in Ireland. It is here that she received her name Sister Mary Teresa after St Therese of Lisieux. In 1929, she left Ireland on her first missionary trip and arrived in Calcutta India.

In 1937, Sister Mary Teresa made her final vows and was known as Mother Teresa from this moment on. She continued teaching at St Mary’s school for girls and became the Principal. During this time, she was noted for her charity, unselfishness, courage, hard work and excellent organisation.

On September 10, 1946 during a train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received a “call within a call”. Jesus revealed his pain at the neglect of the poor and asked her to establish religious orders, Missionaries of Charity, dedicated to the service of the poorest of the poor. On the 17 August 1948, Mother Teresa dressed for the first time in the white and blue sari and left to be among them.

Because of her humble service to the poorest among the poor, she came to speak with leaders of nations, converse with popes, and receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Her great love for Jesus made her dedicate much time to prayer, in spite of her very active life.

Quote: ‘I alone can not change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.’

Calling all children! As of the 30 July, the Parish we will be starting an altar server’s club at St Monica’s Church. The club will be held after school, every second Friday at 3:30pm.

The club will be a great opportunity for our current altar servers to have fun, play some games, get to know each other and help teach other people how to altar serve. It will also be a great opportunity to welcome new altar servers to our parish so they can learn how to do it and have lots of fun. The only requirement to become an altar server is that you have made your First Communion and are willing to come to Mass when rostered on.

If you have any questions, comments, ideas or would like to sign up please contact Katie at katiebrasnett@yahoo.com.

altar_server_flyer_03_002_.pdf

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Remote_Learning_2021_Preparation_Letter_to_Families _pdf 160.80 KB

We hope your first conversation for protective behaviours at home was a great success and that many of your children have learnt the 5 My Body Safety Rules.

This week the learning intention is for students to understand that their body belongs to them. It will also be the first time you might like to discuss the allocated books for your child's class. The children will have the books read to them next term.

You can preview the books by clicking on their image below. The video is a review from Cath Hakanson, a consultant for material on protective behaviours, who provides practical advice for parents and teachers using the books.

Kinder	Years 1 - 4	Years 5 and 6

The overview of the program below includes links to resources to support you and the conversation you might like to have with your child.

St_Monica_s_Protective_Behaviour_Parent_Overview.pdf

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Because we hang out with our own bodies and minds all the time, we tend to take them for granted and forget how amazing they are. And while humans are complex and capable of all sorts of incredible things, looking after ourselves boils down to some simple principles. Eating a healthy, balanced diet; getting enough sleep; being physically active; being social – taking care of these basics helps us be as physically and, in turn, as mentally healthy as we can be.

You can help your children and young people establish healthy habits that they’ll hopefully carry throughout their lives. The best thing you can do is to set an example and make living healthily a positive, enjoyable choice, rather than something to be endured.

Physical Activities and Hobbies

Encourage kids to keep active. They might join a sports team, ride their bike, walk the dog, go for a run, or play in the backyard. The main thing is getting out and having fun.
How much activity children or young people are willing to do will depend on their interest in being active. Starting small and building up might be what they need.
Fit physical activity into everyday activities – like walking to school or the shops instead of driving.

Healthy Eating

Include a variety of healthy foods such as plenty of vegetables, fruit and cereals (like bread, rice and pasta), some lean protein (meat, chicken, fish, or tofu) dairy products (milk, yoghurt, cheese) and lots of water. It’s a good idea to avoid fatty foods and foods with lots of sugar in them.
Get children and young people involved in cooking family meals and making their own lunches. There are countless kid-friendly recipes online – give them a go!

Social Activities and Healthy Relationships

Help your children and young people create and maintain a sense of belonging to the family, their friends, culture and their community.
Encourage them to hang out with friends or suggest social activities that might be of interest, such as sports, after-school clubs, playing in a band, listening to music or going to the movies.
Strong connections with their cultural heritage, family and community have big mental health benefits for children and young people, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.

Information from Beyond Blue Healthy Families. Click here for more.

SCHOOL READERS

Over the school break Mrs Currie and I did a clean up and clean out of our guided reading sets and home readers. This had not been done for quite a few years and was a much bigger job than we originally anticipated.

We were able to relocate some of our guided readers into the home trolleys and we are now in the process of ordering some new guided reading sets.

Do you love contacting books?

Please let me know if you do because we would love your help once our new readers arrive later in the term

melinda.brown@cg.catholic.edu.au

Book Club

Issue 5 of Scholastic Book Club for 2021 has been sent home with children. Orders need to be place by Monday 2 August. The books can only be ordered through the Loop at www.scholastic.com.au/LOOP. The orders will be delivered to classes on arrival. This is a fantastic way to grow your child’s love of reading.

Library Volunteers

This year has seen several of our regular volunteers in the library unavailable. If you would like to help in the library for an hour or two with returning and shelving books or preparing and covering new books, or you could cover books at home please contact me by visiting the library or emai - veronica.melville@cg/catholic.edu.au

Library Bags

I have several library bags that students in Kindergarten to Year 2 use if they have forgotten their library bag. Unfortunately, these bags have not been returned to the library. If your child has a library bag that belongs to the library can you please return it.

Oz Tag Gala Days

Please see attached the permission note for the Oz Tag Gala Days in Week 5. Permission notes are due back by Friday 30 July (Week 3). Unfortunately, due to the Confirmation Retreat Day happening on the 12 August, Year 6 girls who will be completing the sacrament will not be able to attend the Gala Day. We have plenty of boys coaches across Year 3-6 but will require a few more volunteers to coach girls teams across 3-6, otherwise we will be unable to submit the teams.

Oz_Tag_Permission_Note.pdf

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Belconnen Athletics

We have 53 students who have qualified for the Belconnen Carnival. Permission notes, schedule of events and rules and regulations were sent home with students last week. If your child is unable to participate, please let me know asap so that I can offer the spot to another student. Notes are due back to me by 6 August.

Belconnen Athletics Assistance

As mentioned last term, St Monica's are responsible for convening the upcoming Belconnen Athletics regional carnival. I will be undertaking the lead in this role with the support of staff. However, we require as many parent helpers as possible to make the day successful. We have Athletics ACT filling many of the technical roles but if you are able to offer assistance with field events, marshalling and general admin duties could you please get in touch with me via email- ryan.matchett@cg.catholic.edu.au. The carnival is on Friday 20 August (Week 6).

Coerver Coaching ACT Performance Academy 2021/22 Trials

Coerver Coaching ACT is proud to announce the

trials for the upcoming Coerver Coaching ACT Performance Academy 2021/22 and we would love to see you there!

The Coerver® Coaching Performance Academy is a football school for dedicated individuals seeking additional professional training to improve technical ability and become more advanced players. Our mission is to provide comprehensive football education for young players looking to develop the skills necessary to elevate their game to the next level.

The Performance Academy helps players acquire the skills necessary for becoming confident, creative football players. The Coerver® Coaching method is based on our globally recognised Pyramid of Player Development.

Coerver® Coaching ACT will be conducting its Performance Academy 2021/22 trials on Sunday, 29 August 2021 at the University of Canberra, Allawoona Street, Bruce ACT.

To trial is free, and open to male and female participants born 2003-2015. For more information and to register, please visit; https://coerveract.com.au/performance-academy-programs

To see our ‘Champions Start Here’ video, where players demonstrate the skills they learn at Coerver Coaching, please click the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNSADmHe46g

Did you know that music can be made from every day objects? This semester, students at St Monica’s will be exploring percussion using traditional instruments as well as every day objects. If you have any sturdy 15L or 20L buckets, like the one pictured below, Mrs Pearson would love to incorporate these in her music lessons. Students from Kindergarten - Year 6 will begin learning how to make amazing music with the buckets in anticipation of our very exciting incursion from Kaboom Percussion later in term 3.

Fee Statements for Term 3 have been sent home with children and also posted out. Fees for Term 3 are due by Monday 16 August, if not paying by instalments or direct debit.

Thank you so much to last week's wonderful volunteers - Katherine O'Sullivan, Sarah Clark, Sam Cox, Tracy D'Ambrosio, Jane Rabbets and Evelyn David-Hoole.

Tomorrow I notice that we are a bit light on volunteers. I would appreciate some help, even if you only have half an hour. Our busiest times are 11-11:30am and 1-1:30pm.

If you would like to join in the canteen fun, please click on the following web link (or copy it into your web browser if clicking doesn't work) to go to the signup sheet:

volunteersignup.org/WRPWC

To sign up, just follow the instructions on the page. It only takes a few seconds to do.

Thank you for volunteering!