Dear St Monica’s families and friends,

The end of this term has arrived very quickly and what a terrific term it has been!

I congratulate every student for their commitment to our overarching goal of Respect this term. I am in awe of the dedicated team of professionals I am blessed to work with and I thank each and every staff member for going above and beyond this term. I think I can safely say that students, teachers and parents are ready for the Easter Break.

It has been wonderful to welcome families to an array of events and celebrations, none more important than our School Fete. The funds raised from our fete will go a long way towards supporting our school to upgrade resources, equipment and facilities. I cannot express my thanks and be more grateful to the incredible fete committee for pulling this event together in such a short amount of time. Huge shout out to all our sponsors, stall holders and volunteers, who are also major contributors to the fete's success and to each and every parent, student, staff member or parishioner. Thank you for spreading the word and bringing along your extended family members, friends, work colleagues, teammates from sporting groups and  neighbours. How lucky are we all to be part of such a vibrant and dedicated school community. My heart is full and over-flowing.

Holy Week

One of the most anticipated times on the Church’s calendar is the resurrection of Jesus. In the lead up to this day we are reminded of the suffering and sacrifice Jesus made for each of us when he shared the Last Supper with his friends, prayed in the garden on his own to finally walking the road to Calvary where he was crucified and died. Today our Year 6 students led us through this sorrowful time, as they portrayed the Stations of the Cross. Whilst Good Friday is the saddest day on the Church’s calendar, it is important to remember that after the darkness there is light and each day is a brand new start for us all.

Pupil Free Day Monday 24 April

St Monica’s Open Days – Tuesday May 16 and Thursday May 18

I am pleased to announce the dates for the St Monica's School Open Days. Word of mouth is always the best advertisement for prospective families looking to enrol their child into a school. Please share the good news about our school and invite people to come for a visit in May. The flyer below will be used to market our school in the coming weeks. A letterbox drop and advertising campaign is currently being organised in preparation for the Catholic Schools Enrolment period.

Uniforms - All children to return to school in Term 2 in their full Winter Uniform.

The Uniform Shop will be open in the school holidays on Thursday 20 April from 2pm - 4pm. This is a great opportunity for parents to purchase the new season uniforms with changeover from summer uniform to winter uniform. Pre-order on Qkr! and pick up on the day!

Enjoy this special time with your families and friends. If you are travelling please return to us safely, for those having a 'Staycation' enjoy hanging out in your pyjamas until lunchtime!! Relish and relax in the cool yet sunny Autumn weather that Canberra is blessed with. 

Peace and Easter blessings to all families,

Happy Birthday to the following students  celebrating a Birthday this week and throughout the holidays -

Guneet T, Imani N, Zarah L, Thomas S, Abby P, Charlie G, Dominic G, Olivia M, Henry C, Bella O

If you have a child that has been baptised and is in Years 4- 6 in 2023 this may be a Sacramental year for your family.

Sacrament of First Eucharist - will be celebrated across the four Parish Sunday Masses:

5pm - 17 June at St Monica’s Church – Evatt

8am - 18 June at St Michael’s Church – Kaleen

10am – 18 June at St Monica’s Church – Evatt and

5.30pm – 18 June at St Michael’s Church – Kaleen.

Registrations open on Monday 3 April 2023 and will close by Friday 28 April 2023.

Registration for the Sacrament must be made via the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Qkr! App (NOT the school app).
If you are registering more than 1 child you will need to fully complete and pay for each separate registration.

No late registrations will be accepted after the closing date.

Commitment Masses

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 one of the dates listed below to make their commitment for the Sacrament.
Saturday 29 April and Sunday 30 April
Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 May
There will be no additional commitment masses beyond these dates.

Purchasing a Stole for First Eucharist

Purchasing a stole is optional and is not compulsory (you can borrow one on the day). If you wish to purchase a stole please make a payment of $20 through the Qkr! with the registration and the stole will be delivered to the schools and the School of Religion (SOR).

Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated on 5, 6 and 7 September 2023.

Sacrament of Reconciliation will be celebrated in Term 1, 2024.

For further Information – 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

Fete Thanks

Thanks again to all Volunteers who helped to make the Fete the success it was.

All of your names went in to the draw for the Volunteer's raffle.

The following volunteers were the lucky winners - Alyce Miletic, Chris Regan and Nathan O'Brien.

Congratulations and thanks once again.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS

On Friday 12 May we are holding our MOTHERS DAY STALL. We are looking for some lovely volunteers who can give a few hours of their time from 8:45am onwards on the day to help with the stall. In preparation we also need volunteers to assist in wrapping on Monday 8 May and Wednesday 10 May. Every bit of help is greatly appreciated.

If you can help at all, please contact Sarah Clark at stmonica.stalls@gmail.com

Belconnen Zone Swimming Carnival

On Monday 27 March 12 students (Adeline B, Charlie C, Luci G, Taylor H, Nikolas H, Lily H, Paddy K, Ella K, Zarah L, Jett S, Maxwell S and Aya T) travelled to the AIS for the Belconnen Zone swimming carnival. These students represented the St Monica's community so beautifully. They supported each other, they treated their competitors with respect, they listened and spoke with manners and gave their absolute best in the pool. In swimming, all you can ask for is a personal best time. Well these students were smashing the times swum at our school swimming carnival by significant margins. Congratulations to all of the swimmers for their efforts. Of particular note was Zarah L who received a 3^rd placing in the the girls 100m breaststroke.

ACT Rep Opportunities 

Over the last few weeks there have been several sports putting out information for representing the ACT at Primary School level. Please sign up to the School Sport ACT website- https://schoolsportact.org.au/ or follow them on Facebook to get up to date information. I will continue to share these on our school Facebook page and on Compass. There are trials being held soon for Tennis, Touch Football, League, Golf and Hockey.  

Term 2 Gala Days and School Carnivals 

Dates for your diary -  We have the following gala days (3-6) and school carnivals days (K-6) coming up this term: 

• Union (Matt Giteau Cup) -  Tuesday 16 May (Southwell Park) 

• Netball Finals Day -  Thursday 11 May (Lyneham) 

• League (Sullivan Shield) -  Tuesday 30 May (Southwell Park) 

• Oz Tag -  Boys - 31May, Girls - 1 June (Southwell Park) 

• Cross Country - Thursday 4 May (on school and surrounding grounds) 

• Athletics - Friday 26 May (Merici College) 

Permission notes and further information has either been put out on Compass already or will be very early next term. As always, we will be looking for parents to volunteer to help on these days. Please consider a day you may be able to help (even if its for a few hours). We also appreciate that these days are all close together so any help is greatly accepted. 

We will advise if any more gala days will be going ahead based on student interest, our school calendar and availability from school sporting organisations. Please contact me if you have any queries or concerns.  

Managing Screen Time 

As we approach the holiday break it is important to continue managing your child's screen time. These 6 tips can help you trim your children's screen time when not in school: 

1. Be accountable. 

Set expectations with your kids, and set goals to be intentional about reducing screen time. 

2. Be realistic. 

If your kids are spending a lot of leisure time on screens, including watching TV, start by setting smaller, more attainable goals. Instead of jumping right to the recommended one to two hours or less per day, start by cutting their current screen time in half. 

3. Be engaged. 

After school or work, spend time each day talking face to face with kids and give them your full attention. 

4. Put hand-held devices away. 

During screen-free hours, put devices away or at a charging station in a common area so they're not attracting your kids' attention. 

5. Create phone-free zones in the home. 

Making family meal areas a phone-free zone is an easy way to start. 

6. Go outside. 

Putting down the phone and taking a walk or playing outdoors increases your endorphins and provides that feeling of happiness in your brain, boosting your mood and improving your physical health. 

Happy Easter Everyone

The holidays are a great opportunity to relax with a book. The students have borrowed extra books for the holidays. If they need more books they can log into Sora and enjoy a audiobook or eBook.

If you don't have the App 

1. Download the App.
2. For the school type in  "ACEN Member Collection"
3. Login using your CECG login and select Canberra Goulburn for the diocese

You may also like to watch a story on Story Box and do one of their suggested activities.

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Thank you to all our loyal customers. It has been a fabulous term in the Canteen. It is an absolute joy for me to see all the happy faces on Fridays when over half of our students are enjoying a Canteen lunch.

I could not do this job without the time, effort and support of my loyal team of volunteers. Thank you so much to Katherine O’Sullivan, Esme Rolleston, Tracy D’Ambrosio, Shannon Nott, Samantha Cox, Tim Porter, Sarah Clark, Jane Rabbets, Fiona Steinberg, Katrina Ciampa, Udayani Iiyanage, Sam Gonzalez, Katarina Pilatic, Angalea Turnbull, Kathy O’Rourke, Megan Rhind , Evelyn David-Hoole and my wonderful husband Chris Regan. I warmly welcome our newest volunteer Hayley Thomas, who is amazing. I also thank Udayani, Jess, Emma, Lisa, Esme, Chris, Jack R and Alex A for their assistance in the drinks stall run from the Canteen on Fete day. I am also very grateful to our Year 6 leaders for the amazing job they do each week supporting the canteen with tasks such as buttering bread, delivering lunches, recycling drink containers and assisting with jobs for special events. Their energy and enthusiasm is wonderful. A big shout out to the wonderful Mel from our fete team - thanks for your wonderful assistance last Friday.

Please note the Birthday Pack has been updated. It is now simply Zooper Doopers to share with the special Birthday child’s class. There will no longer be a drink and meal as part of the deal. The price has been reduced to reflect this change.

Next term we will hit the ground running with a sausage sizzle lunch available for Cross Country day.  This will be up on Qkr! late in Week 1 of Term 2 so that I can make orders for our hungry runners. I would love to meet any new volunteers who might like to join the canteen crew on Cross Country day.  Happy Easter and have a relaxing holiday.