Dear St Monica's families and friends,

As the 2022 school year draws to a close there is much to be thankful for and much to celebrate. In my conversations with existing families, new parents and visitors to the school this year, I feel proud to speak so highly about the successes and achievements of St Monica’s. Not only do we have many student achievements in a variety of different areas across the school, our teachers, our parents and the school as a whole have had many successes too. Congratulations everyone for a very successful 2022 school year!

Goodbye Year 6 - I feel privileged to have watched you grow this year, develop and reflect on your understandings about the world and recognise ways to take action to make a difference. Your leadership this year has been excellent and we look forward to the continuation of our leadership program in 2023. I know the students in Year 5 are very excited about their prospective leadership roles!

Farewell - We farewell the following families from St Monica’s, some of whom have been part of our school for a short time and others who have had children attending the school for over 10 years! We sincerely thank you for your contributions no matter how big or small. St Monica’s is certainly better for having you as part of our school family. At the Passing of the Light ceremony on Monday, we will give these families a special blessing; in appreciation of all they have done for our school community.

Goodbye and good luck to the:

Bailey, Baker, Bogaart, Bolitho, Carriage, Douglas M, Douglas Z, Godschalx, Gurn, Hartigan, Hogan, Hose, Jasprizza, Kelleher, Kolie, Marando, McCabe, McPherson, Paz, Pope, Regan, Shadrivov, Singer, Smith A, Smith P, Staltari, Stiller, Sutherland, Thompson L, Towers, Vaughan and Vincent families.

We also bid farewell to the following staff members, as they embark on new professional journeys! Haley Stonham, Clare Battye, Jacinda Vaughan, Erin O’Leary, Sophie Mills, Nic Thomas. Thank you for everything you have done to enrich the lives of our students each and every day they are at school!

TeamKids – I am thrilled to announce the partnership with TeamKids as our new Before, After and Vacation care provider. TeamKids will commence their service on Monday 30 January, 2023. Next Monday, 12 December at 6pm, TeamKids will be holding an online information session to ensure families of our school have all the necessary information to register and join their service in 2023. This webinar will be recorded so that any families who are unable to attend on the day can view it in their own time.

On Thursday 15 December, from 7.30am - 9.30am, all St Monica's families are welcome to a "FREE COFFEE". The coffee van will be located outside the school hall! This will be an opportunity for you to meet with the Regional Manager of TeamKids, Kaylee Wandel, and have all your questions answered.

Christmas and Summer Holidays - I would like to wish all St Monica’s families a very happy and holy Christmas. May there be wonder, joy and peace for you during the exciting waiting period of Advent right up to the big day! 

This summer, I hope you enjoy family time together, ice-blocks and swimming pools, trips to the coast and other places to visit family and friends but most of all I hope that you are able to find time to rest, relax and recuperate. For those who are travelling I wish you safe journeys to and from your destinations, please come back to us safely in 2023.

I look forward to seeing you all at our Community Christmas Carols tonight.

With love and best wishes, at this very festive time,

Lisa

We wanted to thank all the amazing parent volunteers who gave up their time to make the Year 6 Graduation so incredibly special. Thank you to Sarah O for facilitating a committee of Katherine, Suzi R and Angela as well as Liss, Kat, Noel, Michelle and Leanne. Thank you to all those parents who assisted, be it through donation or time. We wish we were able to send recorded videos via the newsletter so that you could see the students faces light up as they entered the hall.

It is so inspiring to be part of such an amazing community and to regularly see parents, extended family and community members supporting our children here at St Monica’s.

We love how this community support sends a clear message to our children that they do indeed have an extended school family that cares greatly for them.

We offer our sincere appreciation and thanks.

Happy Birthday to the following students  celebrating a Birthday this week 

Ben R, Ethan C, Harley T, Luca S, Ado A, Audrey B, Mia M, Lucas W

Parishioners are invited to Fr Loi's Farewell on Saturday 17 December in the St Monica's School Hall commencing at 7.00pm. A band will be providing music and entertainment. Let's make this a memorable occasion for Fr Loi. Jacko's pizza truck will be on site making and providing pizzas. Parishioners may bring a plate of food to share for appetisers and dessert. Tea and coffe will be served and cordial for the children. 

If you would like to attend please put your name on the list provided in the church foyer or contact Gavan Smith on 0416 258 846.

This year through our St Monica's Stars we will emphasise the ways we live out
Respect, Resilience, Engagement and Growth
through a focus on
Myself - Academic
Others - Social
Our Surroundings - Community
so we come to know Jesus.

Star Awards will be given out at the end of the Year 6 Assembly tomorrow around 1.00pm.

Pride Badges will be given out at our Final Assembly on Tuesday 13 December at 12pm

Semester 2 Reports

Student Reports will be available on Compass from 3.30pm, Friday 9December. Individual comments will not be included in your child's report, this is a directive from Catholic Education. To access your child’s report please click on the Access Reports tab and View Academic Reports. 

 If you require assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

To access your student reports

 Go to your child’s profile and click on the View Academic Reports

We are closing the canteen with a bang this year. We have lots of drinks, ice blocks and snacks available for cash sales tonight at the Carols. Tomorrow we will have some special treats in celebration of our last day and Christmas. The marketplace is still open for Juice Bomb orders.

A big thank you goes out to my wonderful volunteers over the last few weeks - it has been hectic, and they really are the backbone of this operation - Sarah Clark, Katherine O'Sullivan, Rach Pentes, Katarina Pilatic, Tracy D'Ambrosio, Shannon Nott, Katrina Ciampa, Tim Porter, Esme Rolleston and Sam Cox.  We also welcomed Kathy O'Rourke who is sharing her retirement time with us.

The Service and Sustainability leaders shared a party this week, in thanks for their wonderful efforts this year. Together, they have buttered over 250 loaves of bread, saved almost 5000 drink containers from going to land fill (almost $500 back into the canteen funds - helping to keep prices down), cleaned tubs, learned about hygiene and money handling and mostly just shared their energy with the canteen team. I am going to miss this amazing group and wish them all well in their new chapter. Thank you Christian, Nathan, Will, Cameron, Jack, Zachary, Faith, Grace, Maddi, Tahlia, Sophie, Cody and Logan.

Canteen is shut next week for cleaning - thank you all for your custom.

Lastly, thank you for all the cutlery donations, they will be put to good use.

Year 6 Graduation

Year 6 Assembly - Friday 9 December at 12.00pm - School Hall

Passing of the Light Ceremony - Monday 12 December at 9.30am - St Monica's Church

Final Assembly - Tuesday 13 December - 12pm - School Hall

Big Day Out -  Year 6 students - Wednesday 14 December - Hoyts Belconnen and Zone Bowling

If you are interested in purchasing some Pure Flow Hive Honey from Young NSW pop in to the Front Office and chat to Kirra. 1Kg Tub is $15. Plenty available, get ready to honey glaze your ham for Christmas.