Dear St Monica’s families and friends,

We probably all know the story about, “The Little Engine that could” A broken down train requests the help of others and it is the smallest train that offers assistance. The little blue engine isn’t sure if she will be able to help because she isn’t very big and has never been over the mountain before. Positive self-talk kicked in and she kept chugging along saying, “I think I can, I think I can” it was hard and she moved slowly but she kept on going until finally she reached the top of the mountain. The intrinsic reward for the engine was great, she thought she could, she knew she could and she did!

The message in this story is despite being faced with challenges, we can always give things a go. Sometimes we say we can’t or won’t do something because we fear failure. Our footstep of Resilience reminds us: to accept challenges, if we aren’t successful at first to try another way, we learn from our mistakes and that when we finally succeed the feeling is great. What’s something you would do if you were 10% braver?

Staffing News

We wish Mrs Nicole Jenner and her husband Tristan all the best for their pending arrival. We look forward to hearing the exciting news, when their baby arrives in the coming weeks. I wish to thank Nicole for her dedication and care of the 6J students. I am pleased to announce that Mr Steve Green has successfully been appointed to the position of Classroom Teacher in 6J for the remainder of this year. Mr Green has been working at St Monica’s as a casual teacher and is already familiar with students in 6J and across the school.

PUPIL FREE DAYS - Tuesday 31 May and Friday July 1 will be pupil free days. On these days St Monica’s staff will be involved in teacher collaboration, planning and programming and focusing on our wider system Catalyst priorities.  SMOOSH will offer out of school care on both of these days. Enrolment for the 31 May date is now open. Enrolment for SMOOSH on Friday 1 July will be included in the School Holiday Vacation Care enrolment form.

Afternoon Pickup reminders 

Onsite Collection: parents are now able to drop-off and collect their child/ren from the school grounds. Families are more than welcome to stay and have a play on the playground, but children must be supervised by their own parents.

Blacktop Collection: please come to the fence or wait on the grassy area beside the demountable building when collecting your child from the blacktop.

Carline / Drive-thru: please make sure your child is able to put their own seatbelt on, if you are collecting them from carline. When parents need to hop out of their cars to assist their child, the carline backs up onto the street which impacts the flow of traffic.  

Collection from Chomley or Copland College carpark: Students who are being picked up these collection points are reminded to meet the teacher on duty before making their way to the carpark. Students must wait with the teacher on duty until their parents have arrived to collect them.

Uniform Shop - The Uniform Shop is please to let families know that they are fully stocked with blue polo shirts! The polo shirts now have an embroidery emblem, not a printed one. You may notice the shirts are a slightly different colour to the existing design. Given current production times and supplier issues, we need to go with companies who can provide us with the products we need.

Peace and blessings to all families,

Happy Birthday to the following students  celebrating a Birthday this week

Billy S, Lewis H, Lachlan J

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; and

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

‘Trybooking’ for the Sacrament of First Eucharist - Bookings are capped at a maximum of 20 candidates for each celebration.

Please note: When you make the booking, please only book for the candidate for the Sacrament – all families will be allocated a pew in the church (if you have additional guests they can overflow across the aisle).

The ‘trybooking’ opened on 16 May 2022 and the links are available on the Parish website at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth

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

ACT Swimming

Congratulations to Joel M and Nikolas H who represented St Monica's at the ACT Swimming Carnival a few weeks ago. Please see their results below:

• Nikolas- 3^rd  9 Years Boys 50m Freestyle
• Joel- 12 years 50m Freestyle 21st, 100m Freestyle 23^rd and 50m Breaststroke 11th

Belconnen Cross Country

Best wishes to the students who will be representing St Monica's at the Belconnen Cross Country Carnival next Thursday. Students are reminded to be at school by 9am and will travel by bus to Stromlo with Mrs Lloyd and Mr Fletcher.

School Athletics Carnival

A reminder that our school Athletics Carnival is on Monday 23 May (next week!). Special thanks to Liz Foster who is leading the 3-6 teaching team in preparing this carnival. If any parents are able to help on the day please send in the volunteer slip at the bottom of the permission note or contact Liz Foster directly. 

Matt Giteau Cup

Best of luck to our 5/6 team competing in the Matt Giteau Union Gala day on Tuesday next week. Special thanks to Jonno McPhillips and Mick O'Connor who are coaching the team.

Rugby League Gala Day

Permission notes for 5/6 students interested in participating in the Sullivan Shield will be ready this week. Please contact Mrs Lloyd for more information.

Supporting Children with Stress

We all need just the right the right amount of stress to thrive. Stress can be acute, episodic or chronic and we can react to stress differently – physically and emotionally.

Stress can be caused by major life events (separation, death, accident…), unpredictable events (COVID-19), family responsibilities, social pressure (friendship, peer pressure, navigating family relationships…), work or school pressure.

How do I recognise if my child is under or over-stressed?

• Seeming bored, unmotivated
• Seeming withdrawn, indecisive or irritable
• Seeming more emotional than usual including more anxious, fearful, angry, sad or frustrated
• Headaches, appetite changes, stomach aches, nausea and difficulty sleeping

Supporting a Child with Stress

Help your child recognise the signs that they are over or under-stressed

Talk with your child about stress being a natural reaction and share some strategies with them to increase or reduce stress.

Support your child to find time to relax and do things they enjoy

Encourage your child to find a form of exercise they enjoy. Exercise is a great stress-reliever and a challenge when under-stressed

Reassess commitments and look at whether there is any way to cut back

Spend time as a family doing something you all enjoy

Seek support from your GP, the school counsellor or other professional if you are concerned

For more information, please visit the Kids Help Line website or contact your School Counsellor Ryoko if you feel that your child could benefit from any further support.

Coping with family stress (kidshelpline.com.au)

We had a wonderful week in the canteen last week, with lots of volunteers lending a hand.  Thank you to Katherine O'Sullivan, Samantha Cox, Kaye Solari, Tim Porter, Esme Rolleston and Katrina Ciampa, not only for your hard work, but the wonderful vibe and community spirit you bring.  Welcome also to our wonderful new volunteers Jenny Hodgson and Deanna Robertson, so pleased to have you ladies join us.

A reminder that if your child is sick, but you have ordered them a lunch order, please send me an email (by 10am if possible) so that I can put that order on hold until the next week.  If your child is in sick bay and you have to pick up throughout the day, please let the front office know and they will check if lunch for your child can be brought to them.  We are trying to eliminate food waste and keep the canteen prices low and avoid price increases for as long as we can.  Your assistance with this is appreciated.

Speaking of waste reduction, the canteen and it's wonderful year 6 stewardship leaders (Cameron, Zachary, Sophie and Maddie) are saving approximately two garbage bags of waste from going to landfill each week.  The students are working on recycling drink containers and have about 70-80% of our drink consumers participating.  Please encourage your children to recycle their drink containers (and spoons), not only does it keep our prices low, but we are doing our bit to care for our world.  We also send all soft plastics to red recycle bin.  Good job St Monica's children.

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