Dear St Monica’s families and friends,

Have you noticed your children sometimes come home from school tired and grumpy?  Alternatively, they may come home displaying excess energy that has built up through the day? It is important to be mindful of transition times for children so that they can find their own ways of re-energising when they come home from school or some other busy activity.

Some children need “time out” from paying attention to others and their environment. They may use this time in different ways; some will spend time alone, perhaps in a fantasy world, while some will drop the guard they have employed through the day, feeling safe in their home by themselves.

Physical activity can help children to disperse excess energy that may have built up from frustrations during the day. Unstructured play like playing with the dog or kicking a ball around will help them unwind, drop their defensive states and engage with their imagination.

A number of children may need to be nourished by loved ones, with hugs and outward signs of emotional connectedness. Then they let their guard down. Some children like to chat about their day with someone older as this helps them to “debrief” and “recharge their batteries”. Be mindful of your child’s energy levels and look for ways to expand or calm their current energy state if needed.  There are many breathing exercises that help restore a calm response in our bodies.                 Source: Maggie Dent (2009) in “Saving our Children from our Chaotic World”

Parent Workshops - Over the past two days a number of St Monica’s parents attended a workshop run by our CatholicCare Counsellor Ryoko, the workshop focused on how we as parents can assist our children to regulate their emotional intelligence. I thank Ryoko for her expertise and preparation for these workshops, we will be offering more as the year progresses.

Mothers’ Day – A very Happy Mothers’ Day to all mothers and very special women in our lives. I hope you are treated like queens and princesses! The Mothers’ Day Stall will be open for those special purchases from 11.45am on Friday. Items range from $2 - $10 and there is plenty for everyone.

School Council News - It is with mixed feelings I announce John Alston-Campbell’s resignation from the St Monica’s School Council. John has served on the council for the past 6 years and his advocacy for clarity around the Catholic Schools’ Funding Model has been a key part of his role. On behalf of the council, thank you John for your generous commitment and service to our school community.

Working Bee - this Saturday from 8.30am – 1.00pm. We are hoping to spruce the school up in readiness for our Open Days and tours! Families have been very generous already with donations and offerings of access to wholesale priced plants, delivery of soft-fall and sand for the play equipment, trucks and trailers for green waste and the installation of a tap & watering system to re-ignite the vegetable garden. If you cannot attend this weekend, please don’t worry.  I fully understand that families have existing commitments on the weekend. Some families have even offered to come down for an hour or two after school to do some planting, digging and weeding! Morning Tea, Cold Drinks and a BBQ lunch will be provided.

Catholic Schools Week - this week is Catholic Schools Week. It coincides and therefore a good opportunity to support the current enrolment campaign by highlighting the distinct and charismatic features of our school. We have much to be proud of, our Catholicity at St Monica’s is strong. As a school we are looking deeper into what the St Monica’s Way means for the various stakeholders in our community. What do the footsteps of Respect, Resilience, Engagement and Growth mean for our students, the teachers, support staff, leadership team, parents and Parish.

Enrolments to Catholic Schools are now open! Our school will have its Open Day on Thursday May 12, for visits and school tours. A tour morning will also be offered on Tuesday 17 May. We are currently putting together information packs for prospective families and I am seeking assistance from current families to do some letterbox drops and some advertising around the community eg local cafes, childcare centres & workplaces etc. Each family will be bringing home 3 flyers for distribution into the wider community. If you know of someone who is interested in coming finding out more about our amazing school please invite them to our Open Days and encourage them to like and follow us on our Social Media pages too.

WELCOME - to the St Monica’s School Community

• Mr Brendan Drake – Chaplain / School-Welfare Officer
• Ms Sophie Mills – Classroom Support Assistant.
• Mrs Maria Nangle – Classroom Support Assistant.

CONGRATULATIONS….

Miss Kayla Larkins, classroom teacher in 2L, conferred her Bachelor of Education from ACU in the holidays! We are so incredibly proud of you and your achievements Kayla!

Happy Birthday to the following students  celebrating a Birthday this week

William H, Joshua R, Beau R, Karlin O, Declan C, Logan F, Sienna R, Marley B, Caleb C

Parish Sacramental Program 2022

If you have a child in Years 3, 4, or 6 in 2022 this is a Sacramental year.

Sacrament of First Eucharist - will be celebrated on the weekend of 18 and 19 June 2022 (Corpus Christi Sunday) across the four Parish Sunday Masses.

5pm - 18 June at St Monica’s Church – Evatt

8am - 19 June at St Michael’s Church – Kaleen

10am – 19 June at St Monica’s Church – Evatt 

5.30pm – 19 June at St Michael’s Church – Kaleen

Trybooking for the Sacrament of First Eucharist

The trybooking for the Sacrament opens on 16 May 2022 and the links will be available on the Parish website at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth

Registration for the Sacrament of First Eucharist is now closed and no late registrations can be accepted.

Commitment Mass – LAST WEEKEND
Students and parents must attend one of the weekend Masses at either St Monica’s Church (5pm Saturday or 10am Sunday) or St Michael’s Church (8am or 5.30pm Sunday) on Saturday 7 or Sunday 8 May to make their commitment for the Sacrament.
There will be no additional commitment masses beyond these dates.

Confirmation will be celebrated in Term 3, 2022 – Registrations will open on 27 June 2022.

Reconciliation will be celebrated in Term 4, 2022 – Registrations will open on 19 September 2022.

For further Information regarding the Sacramental Program – 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

2022 NAPLAN Timetable 

Dear Parents and Carers

Please find the St Monica’s Primary School 2022 NAPLAN timetable below. If your child is unavailable to sit any of the test sessions during the planned times there is a scheduled ‘catch-up’ session available on Friday 13 May for Numeracy, Reading and Conventions of Language but not for Writing.  

Please ensure that students have charged iPads and working headphones available at all testing sessions, with the current NAP Locked browser app installed.  

Week 3 Tuesday 10/5 Wednesday 11/5 Thursday 12/5 Friday 13/5. Sessions will begin at 9:30am. 

 If you need any assistance or have any questions regarding the assessment please contact Mrs Lloyd.

Cross Country

A reminder that our carnival is this Friday beginning at 9am. Parents are more than welcome to come along and watch. Students are encouraged to wear their house colours:

Buru- Red

Walga- Gold/Yellow

Mirri- Blue

Mugga- Green

Gala Days

Thank you so much to all of the families who returned the expression of interest notes for sports gala days in 2022. Based on this we are pleased to be offering the following sports for students:

• Soccer for students in Years 3 to 6. Dates and format TBA (Most likely late Term 3)
• Oz Tag for students in Years 3 to 6. Dates TBA (usually around mid-August)
• Netball for students in Years 3 to 6. 3/4 Carnival 20 June (Monday Week 9 Term 2), 5/6 Carnival 28 June (Tuesday Week 10 Term 2)
• Rugby League for students in Years 5 and 6 only. Carnival 7 June (Tuesday Week 7 Term 2)
• Rugby Union for students in Years 5 and 6 only. Carnival 24 May (Tuesday Week 5 Term 2)
• Boorowa- Term 4. Participation to be decided at a later date. 

Many thanks to the parents who have indicated that they can coach teams. I will be in touch soon to confirm with you what teams we require you for. However, we will require more parents to volunteer, otherwise, we may not be able to enter teams. We need:

• 2 or 3 Soccer coaches (across all grades)
• 2 Netball coaches (across all grades)
• 1 Oz Tag coach (Year 3 and 4)

Permission notes will come out for these days in due course with further information and payment information. Please note as like in previous years, all students will be required to be transported to venues by parents or carers. We will provide the appropriate amount of staff to help with supervision and support on these days. Please contact Ryan Matchett ryan.matchett@cg.catholic.edu.au or Maggie Lloyd maggie.lloyd@cg.catholic.edu.au

ACT School Sport Opportunities

The following SSACT State Teams trials are open for registration on the School Sport ACT website. It is important to register online prior to the first trial (closes on the date of the second trial), for many sports they commence next week;

12&U Boys Australian Football

12&U Girls Australian Football - brand new team for 2022

15&U Boys Australian Football

15&U Girls Australian Football

https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/australian-football/

18&U Baseball – first trial this Friday

https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/baseball/

18&U Girls Football

https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/football-soccer/

16&U Girls Hockey

16&U Boys Hockey

https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/hockey/

15&U Netball

https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/netball/

12&U Rugby League

https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/rugby-league/

12&U Girls Basketball (18&U Girls and Boys info to come shortly)

12&U Boys Basketball

https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/basketball/

12&U Boys Touch Football (15&U Boys info to come shortly)

12&U Girls Tough Football

15&U Girls Touch Football

https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/touch-football/

All qualifiers at the 12&U and 13&O ACT Swimming Champs this week who are wanting to express interest in selection for specific events are encouraged to register also.

https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/swimming/

Note - The teams travelling interstate are open to applications for the SSACT Scholarship Fund.

Please contact Mr Matchett for more information or assistance. 

Visit the Library

With the easing of restrictions, parents and carers are now allowed into the library. I am thus very excited to welcome parents and carers and their children into the library on Friday mornings. Each Friday between 8.30am and 8.50am parents and carers will be able to bring their children to the library to borrow books or to simply read a book together. This is a great way to foster your child’s love of reading and their reading skills. Children will only be able to come to the library at this time if they are accompanied by an adult. The library will be open this Friday so pop in for a treat and go in the draw for a lucky door prize.

Volunteer in the Library

I have greatly missed having parent volunteers in the library but with the lifting of restrictions volunteers are now able to work in the library. 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 please contact me by visiting the library or by email. I will still be sending home books for covering for those parents who are unable to come in during school hours but would like to help with covering.

Canteen had a cracking start to Term 2. Thank you to our loyal volunteers; Angalea Turnbull, Samantha Cox, Katherine O’Sullivan, Esme Rolleston, Tim Porter and Katrina Ciampa for your wonderful service.

It will be another busy week with much excitement on Friday with the Mother’s Day stall and Cross Country. We will have some special treats such as chips and various lollies for this day. Thank you to our wonderful year 6 group for their help in getting the lolly bags together.  All items will be available on Qkr! for Friday.  There may be some items available for cash sales on Friday at lunch playtime, but I suggest you order on Qkr! to avoid missing out.

 If you have made an order in Qkr! but your child is actually away that day, please feel free to send me an email at Wendy.Regan@cg.catholic.edu.au by 10am.  I do my utmost to keep the prices down by avoiding wastage.  If your child is sick or injured throughout the day, please let Mrs Flynn know and we will either bring your child’s order to the office so they can enjoy it at home, or else we will save it for the following week.

 I would love to have help this week, so if you have your WWVP card and a willing heart, please join us for some fun this week.  Please sign in the volunteer sign-up sheet so that I know my numbers for Friday’s busy day.  Thank you.

 volunteersignup.org/F9Y8K

Fiona Kilby, mother of Ana in Year 3 is trekking the Larapinta Trail to raise money for the Australian Melanoma Research Foundation - AMRF.
As someone who has been affected by melanoma, Fiona knows and appreciates the importance of the work done by the Australian Melanoma Research Foundation.

As a passionate trail runner, lover of the outdoors, and a proud Ambassador for the AMRF, she is excited to be taking on the Larapinta Challenge in 2022 to help raise funds to support research to improve patient outcomes. If you are able to support Fiona and others affected by Melanoma please visit https://amrf-larapinta-2021.raisely.com/fiona-kilby

MERICI COLLEGE ENROLLING NOW CAMPAIGN

A wonderful opportunity for prospective families to see the College in action, meet our students and attend the Principal’s Address, Year 7 and 11 Information Evenings and lots more.

We are enrolling now for 2023 and beyond!

Please visit www.merici.college for all dates and information for our Open Day, Be a Merici Girl Days and Talk and Tours. Register online now!

Open Day, Principal’s Address and Year 7 2022 Information Night: Tuesday 3 May

Be a Merici Girl Days: 29 April, 2 and 9 May

Talk and Tours: 30 March, 7 May, 20 August, 22 October