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

Today we celebrated the amazing work and contribution our support staff make to our school community. We could not survive without you - Steph Flynn, Allison Walsh, Esme Byrnes, Kelly Levi, Bec Perry, Sharon Friend, Lauren Murphy, Scarlet Day, Sam Manning, Peter Hales and Josh Dalton. 

NAPLAN online has definitely had IT issues this year however our children have taken the connectivity issues in their stride. The problems we encountered were not isolated, they occurred across ACT and NSW. The Year 3 and 5 children will sit the Numeracy test on Friday morning, provided the issues are resolved. 

To keep families informed of our direction and goals for this year please refer to the attached Annual Improvement Plan. We have four focus areas this year  - Catholic Identity, Pedagogy, Curriculum and Purposeful Data. 

Annual_Improvement_Plan_2019.pdf

God bless

Carmel Maguire 

Grandparents’ Day- Save the Date!

A warm welcome is extended to all our Grandparents and Special Friends to visit our school on Friday June 7, from 9:00am-11:30am. Guaranteed to provide hours of hugs, smiles and cuddles for all!

Invitations and timetable of activities will come home next week.

Sacramental of First Eucharist

Please keep all the students and their families enrolled in the program in your prayers as they journey through this special time. If you have not attended a commitment mass yet –a reminder that you do need to do so- and hand the commitment card to Fr Loi or Fr Johny.

The students enrolled also need to attend the Sacrament of Reconciliation again before making their first Holy Communion. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at St Monica's Church every Saturday from 4.30pm - 5.30pm and at St Michael's Church every Sunday from 4.30pm - 5.15pm.

May- the month of Mary- a little information taken from the Passionists (religious order) Website: http://www.cptryon.org/compassion/mary/mother.html

Her name was Mary, a form of the name Miriam, the famous sister of Moses. The name was common among Jewish women in those days. A well-known tradition says she was born in Jerusalem, the daughter of Joachim and Ann. Other early sources say Mary was born in Nazareth.  Wherever she was born, Mary's life most likely unfolded in the staunch Jewish settlement of Nazareth in the hills of Galilee, not far from the important caravan routes linking Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Mary was a woman of rural Galilee. She lived as they did, in a small family house of stone and mud-brick. She worked like any young girl, grinding wheat and barley into flour, preparing dishes of beans, vegetables, eggs, fruits, nuts, and occasional chunks of mutton. Wool had to be made into clothing. The bread had to be baked. A few chickens and a donkey had to be fed. And in the village, small as it was, there were always little children to care for. Almost daily she carried a large jar of water from the town well for washing and cooking (the well still supplies modern Nazareth today and is called "Mary's Well"). Early on, the Jews found that cleanliness prevented disease, so frequent washing -- an important chore of women -- became part of their religious practice. The well also was a favourite spot where women talked and traded bits of everyday news.

Parent-Teacher Interviews will take place from Monday 20 May - Friday 24 May.

The interviews are earlier this year to enable the teachers to discuss your child's progress and identify the areas for growth prior to the reports going home. 

Bookings are available online via School Interviews. Instructions for making your appointments are attached to this message. Access to School Interviews is also available on our school website, under Links - Parents. Should you be unable to make an appointment next week, please contact your child's teacher. 

The booking code for these interviews is c2vma

This week the students in Years 3 and 5 have been participating in NAPLAN. Unfortunately the NAPLAN online platform across ACT and NSW experienced technical difficulties on Tuesday and Wednesday. As a consequence one class, 5MF, were unable to commence the test; students in other classes experienced delayed start times and connectivity interruptions. 

The teachers were able to support the students through these technical difficulties. We are so proud of all of the students at St Monica's for their patience, respect and resilience during the tests. 

This morning 5MF completed their Conventions of Language test with minimal disruptions. We plan to complete the Numeracy test for all Year 3 and 5 classes tomorrow morning should the online platform be running smoothly. 

We will have all of next week to complete test due to absentees or technicial difficulties. 

Last week the Home Learning Review Committee met to analyse the student data that has been collected and create the parent and staff surveys. A summary of the student data is included at the beginning of the survey. We would ask that you also consider the articles presented in the newsletter last term before completing the survey. 

The survey has been designed to collect perceptual data of Home Learning in Kindergarten, Year 1 and 2, Year 3 and 4 and Year 5 and 6. Families with multiple children are encouraged to complete the survey more than once. 

The survey will be open for two weeks. We encourage all of the families in our community to have a say in the future of Home Learning.

HOME LEARNING REVIEW - PARENT SURVEY

This year St Monica’s Primary School is partnering up with Global School Partners. Global School Partners is an organisation that helps to alleviate poverty through education and health support. They believe that every child has a right to education, and they want to increase awareness and understanding of different cultures.

St Monica’s has been fortunate enough to partner a primary school called Joe Maths. Joe Maths gets its unusual name from the Principal of the school. His name is Joe and he is a maths teacher thus the school name Joe Maths. Joe Maths Primary school is located in Kisii County in Kenya and opened in 2010. They are a Catholic school and have 190 students. The fundraising money that St Monica’s raises this year will all go to benefit Joe Maths Primary School.

Catholic Education will keep you informed about the policies that affect our 765,000 students and their families. We will let you know about our campaign to highlight the needs of Catholic schools and how the parties respond with their election promises.

Catholic schools are a vital part of Australia’s education landscape; from humble beginnings almost 200 years ago, Catholic schools have grown to become the nation’s largest provider of education outside government.

Today, Australia’s 1750 Catholic schools educate one in five students and employ more than 96,000 people, making Catholic education a key partner in the delivery of quality schooling with the government and independent sectors.

2019_NCEC_Facts_on_School_Funding_1_.pdf

2019_NCEC_FAQs.pdf

2019_NCEC_Election_Party_Responses.pdf

Term 2 School Fees were invoiced last week. Statements have been emailed to nominated accounts or sent home with children.

Full payment of school fees is due by Friday 7 June. 

If you have a Direct Debit arrangement in place 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.

ACT Swimming

Congratulations to our 3 students who represented St Monica's at the ACT Swimming Carnival last week, they came away with some fantastic results.

Annabelle F- 18th 10 years 50m Freestyle and 14th 10 and under 50m Butterfly

Claire H- 12th 11 years 50m Backstroke

Harry P- 16th 12 years 50m Butterfly and 22nd 10-12 years 100m backstroke

Belconnen Cross Country

A reminder that notes for the Belconnen Cross Country Carnival were sent out last week to students who qualified. Please return these notes by the end of next week. Please contact me if you require any assistance or are unsure if your child qualified. 

ACT Touch Football Carnival Years 3 and 4

Expression of interest notes for the Northside Touch Football Gala Day for Years 3 and 4 students were given out this week and is also up on our school app. Please return notes by the end of Week 5.

St Monica’s 2019 Athletics Carnival Results

The following children will receive ribbons on Friday. 

Happy Birthday to the following students -

Bella P, Ben B, Sebby D, Billy S

Canteen Roster  - Term 2, Week 4

Monday - June Manning

Tuesday - Evelyn David-Hoole

Wednesday - Rachele Pentes, Alyson Barnes

Thursday - June Manning

Friday - Wendy Regan, Wilma Hird, Jenny Fulivai

Samantha Manning - Canteen Manager - 62584687

Butter Chicken and Rice

Has your child tried the freshly made Butter Chicken and Rice available from the Canteen on a Monday? There are many children who say this is their favourite item on our menu.

School Support Staff Day

Today we celebrated School Support Staff Day.  Here at St Monica’s we are really blessed to have such awesome Support Staff who care for our kids, assist our kid’s learning, feed our kids, support the school executive and care for our school environment.  The hard work and dedication of these staff members make a massive difference to our school community.  Please take time to show your appreciation for their devotion to our school.

 Community Council Meeting

The Community Council met last night.  The Council discussed a number of issues including a master plan for the school with the potential to try and extend some of our outdoor space and landscaping options.  The Council were also excited to see student engagement in the revision of our home learning policy and the plans for parents to be surveyed to include their input. 

 If you have any ideas or concerns please email them through to our Secretary Fiona Steinberg at Council.StMonicas@cg.catholic.edu.au

Thank you to Michelle Bowman for all your hard work in ensuring the Mother's Day Stall was a wonderful success. Thank you to Anoushka Goodger, Wendy Regan and Simone Hogan for volunteering your time to assist helping on the stall. The children were very excited with their purchases and there was a wonderful assortment of goodies to pick from.

Mother's Day Raffle

The lucky winner of our Mother's Day Raffle was James Mc (5F). Congratulations James!!

On Friday 17 May (Week 3) we are encouraging all families to participate in Walk to School Day. This event is in its 20th year and encourages families to consider the health, environmental and personal benefits of walking to school instead of catching a bus or travelling by car. Please see the flyer attached which contains more information. It would be great to see as many families as possible participating and you may even consider walking or riding bikes to school together. 

Walk_to_School_Day_17_May.pdf

Transport Canberra 

We understand you may have some concerns regarding the new bus services. You are invited to drop into 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.

Woolworths Earn & Learn is back for 2019.  Please collect your Earn & Learn Stickers and send them into the 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.

The Threatened Species Children's Art Competition is now on. Entries can be submitted online between June 3 and August 2.  

art_comp_15052019135615.pdf

Rhee Taekwon-Do - Martial Arts Lessons

Rhee Tae Kwon-Do is an effective affordable martial art for all ages. 

You improve personal confidence, fitness, discipline, self-control, co-ordination and respect.

Classes held at St Monica’s Primary School, Moynihan Street, Evatt on  Monday and Wednesday nights

Monday - 6:30 – 7:30pm, Wednesday - 6:30 – 7:30pm

For more information contact Lee on 0412 406 359 visit: http://rheeact.com.au/classes/evatt