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,

Staffing 

Commencing next Tuesday 11 June, Ryan Matchettt will be accessing leave for the last four weeks of the term. His leave will be a combination of paternity leave and long service leave to enjoy the arrival of baby Matchett into the world.  During the four weeks, Monika Richards will take 4MR from Monday to Wednesday and Denise Duck on the Thursdays and Fridays. Brendan Hague will provide Technology release to the Year 3 and 4 teachers during this time, with Jodie May taking his class for the day. 

Grandparents Day

Tomorrow we welcome the extra special people who support and spoil our children. Hope the children have sent on their invitations to our gathering and morning tea on Friday 7 June. We will welcome close to 200 visitors tomorrow morning. 

Around the School

Please take a moment to read all the happenings that have occured around the school. The children have been engaged in so many wonderful learning expreinces over the last few weeks. Learning is fun.

God bless and stay warm

Carmel Maguire 

Some Final thought on Perseverance

It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.  Albert Einstein

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.  Calvin Coolidge

Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failures along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.     Barack Obama

Last night the Home Learning Review Committee met to go over the result of our survey of parents and staff and align it with the student feedback. Our conversation has helped inform the Home Learning Parent Workshop taking place on Monday 17 June from 6-7pm.

We look forward to engaging with the community to go over the results of the data and make informed decisions about the implementation of Home Learning from Semester 2.

Reading is such an essential skill for children. It assists them in expanding their vocabulary, broadening their general knowledge and gaining a better world understanding. Parents and carers are key figures in their child’s life and what better way to build your relationship with your children than developing a love for reading. We believe reading in the home occurs in 2 ways:

1. Reading to Learn - children reading 'good fit books' to improve the strategies and skills learnt in class.
2. Developing a lifelong love of literature - reading, being read to or reading together.

In terms of developing a lifelong love of literature, we recommend reading each afternoon or evening. Some ways to assist in building this love of reading with your child is to:

• Make books part of your family life. Have books around so that you and your children are ready to read whenever there’s a chance. Allow them to pick their own books, encouraging their own interests.
• Match their interests. Help them to find the right book. This means that it doesn’t matter if it’s fiction, poetry, comic books or non-fiction. All reading is good – Don’t discount non-fiction, comics, graphic novels, magazines and leaflets. Reading is reading, and it is all good.
• Ask questions. Keep your child interested in the story, ask questions such as, ‘What do you think will happen next?’ or ‘Where did we get to last night? Can you remember what had happened already?’
• Read again and again. Encourage your child to re-read favourite books and poems. Re-reading helps to build up fluency and confidence.
• Select books with rhyme and repetition. Books and poems, which include rhyme and repetition, are great for encouraging your child or children to join in and remember the words.  ​

Over the last few weeks the students from Years 3-6 have been working on their Rostrum speeches and presented them to their classes. The representatives from each class then presented their speeches to the school on Monday.

Class Finalists

Sarah D-H,  Holly F, Lorenzo S, Mikey H,  Bella P, Antonia H, Drew G, Sienna D, Emilia H, Remy D, Skyla L, Claire H, Ella K, Ava P, Charlize S, Olivia S, Jaidah T, Sienna H and  Fletcher A.

A big congratulations to Fletcher Al (6M) who will be representing St Monica’s at the quarter finals at Miles Franklin in a few weeks. Congratulations to all the students who participated. You all did a wonderful job!

This year the students in Years 4 to 6 have been invited to participate in a pilot program designed by Centenary Professor Tom Lowrie from the University of Canberra. This program focusses on the use of spatial reasoning and visual imagery to solve mathematics problems.

In year 4 the students have been focussing on spatial visualisation. Some of the concepts they will look at are:

• symmetry in the environment
• symmetrical patterns, pictures and shapes
• two-dimensional shapes that result in combining and splitting common shapes

In year 5 the students have been focusing on mental rotation. Some of the concepts they will look at are:

• translations, reflections and rotations of two-dimensional shapes.
• line and rotational symmetries
• prisms and solids formed from combinations of prisms
• 2D objects and the properties of the resulting image compared with the original

In year 6 the students have been focusing on spatial orientation. Some of the concepts they will look at are:

• routes using landmarks and directional language
• simple prisms and pyramids
• recognising and using patterns and relationships

Here are some photos of the year 6 students building and drawing 3D objects from different perspectives (top, left, right, back and front).

Last week students from Years 3-6 were visited by Healthy Harold as part of their health programs.

The year 3/4 students participated in the Mind your Medicine Program. ‘Mind Your Medicine’ helps children to explore medicines, how they can help and affect the body and why some people need them, as well as how the social and emotional aspects of health can positively or negatively affect health and wellbeing.

The Year 5 and 6 students participated in the Relate, Respect, Connect Program. This program aims to empower children and young people to make safe and healthier choices through education and equips students with knowledge, skills and strategies to help them develop safe and respectful relationships - face to face and online.

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Last week the students of Years 5 and 6 took part in the Mulligans Flat 'Little Critters' programme. This gave them a chance to learn about the range of plants and animals that live in our local environment. The students were able to ask and answer questions about what sort of animals used to live in the environment before foreign animals - and what is being done to reintroduce them into Canberra. Students learnt about the range of measures taken to get rid of foxes, feral cats and dogs and other invasive animals that had previously hunted many native species to near extinction. It was a great chance to learn about what is being done in Canberra to help preserve our natural landscape!

Year 2 have been doing a conceptual inquiry unit about water. As part of this unit, The Icon Water Education Department came to visit the students with a 3D working model that displayed the ACT and surrounding regions water supply network. We learnt where our drinking water comes from and how it is treated, as well as where the water goes when it is flushed down the drain. We learnt so much about this precious resource and had lots of fun!

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 in Kenya.

On Tuesday, Simon from Global Schools came and visited the year 5/6 classes. Simon talked in more detail about our partner school Joe Maths and went through a day in the life of one of their students. After the talk with the year 5/6 classes, Simon and the Social Justice leaders discussed ways that St Monica’s will be able to make a difference to Joe Maths Primary School. Our first fundraiser will be held in a few weeks’ time to raise money for new stationery, exercise books and text books.

 

Term 2 School Fees have been invoiced and full payment of school fees is due by tomorrow, 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 Cross Country

Congratulations to Toby Mc, Charlie D, Samantha S, Leila W, Aiden S, Archie S, Lucija P, Emma B, Olivia S and Dita S who have qualified to represent the Belconnen region at the ACT Cross Country carnival next Wednesday. We wish these students the best of luck!

CPS Basketball

Unfortunately we did not receive enough interest from students to enter teams into this event. Thank you to those who put their name forward. We will look at other basketball opportunities in the future.

Sport Clinics Term 3

Next term students from K-6 will be participating in free touch football clinics in weeks 1-3. Students in years 3-6 will also have Oz Tag clinics in weeks 6-8.

3/4 Touch Football Gala Day

We have had a great amount of interest in this gala day in term 3. We will be entering two 3/4 mixed, one Year 4 boys and one Year 4 girls teams. Permission notes have been sent home with students who expressed their interest.

 Oz Tag Gala Day

For any students in years 3-6 who are interested in attending the ACT Oz Tag gala day in term 3, please see Mrs Brown for an expression of interest note. You will also find these notes up on our school app.

ACT AFL

A huge congratulations to Riley H (6E) on gaining selection in the ACT AFL team. Riley will compete at the National Championships in Mandurah, WA in August. Well done Riley!

Happy Birthday to the following students -

Lucas C, Mitchell R, Max W, Joshua Mc, Grayson A, Kate S, Sophie A, Vsevolod K, Jeremy R, Akol A

Canteen Roster  - Term 2, Week 7

Monday - Public Holiday

Tuesday - Evelyn David-Hoole

Wednesday - Vacancy

Thursday - June Manning

Friday - Tracy D'Ambrosio, Samantha Cox, Jane Rabbets, Katrina Ciampa, Wendy Regan

Samantha Manning - Canteen Manager - 62584687

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

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.