Dear St Monica’s families and friends,

National Reconciliation Week – 27 May to 3 June – is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. The theme for this year is, Be a Voice for Generations. It encourages all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways in our everyday lives – where we live, work and socialise.  At this Friday’s Star Awards Assembly, we will acknowledge Reconciliation Week with a special prayer focus followed by a range of activities led by Indigenous Inclusion Officer from Catholic Education – Katrina Cambridge.

Kindergarten Enrolments - This week we have begun the interviews for the newest students to our school community, the Kindergarten class of 2024. It brings me great joy meeting these little people and to find out their strengths, interests and excitement about starting school. Can you believe that next year’s Kinders will be the class of 2030!!

Tell Them From Me Survey - Parents, teachers and students in Years 4 - 6 are invited to provide feedback on their experience of St Monica's Primary School using an online survey. The survey is an important part of our whole school evaluation and planning process. You have been invited to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey. We value the role of parents and carers within our school community, and we would appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership, to further improve student learning and wellbeing at St Monica’s Primary School.
 
The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. You are able to access the parent survey on your computer or a mobile device using the link that was sent to all families via Compass earlier this week. If you are unable to access the link please email me and I will send it to you.

Visit by the Director of Catholic Education Ross Fox - Next Wednesday Ross Fox, Director of Catholic Education Canberra & Goulburn, will be coming to visit St Monica’s. He will visit classrooms, meet with the leadership team and discuss our School’s Annual Improvement Plan and Catalyst journey.

Peace and blessings to all families,

Happy Birthday to the following students  celebrating a Birthday this week -

Marissa den-H, Gracie H, Ante P, Tobie A, Ana L, Sian S, Sophie A, Lucas C, Mitchell R

Our Monty celebrated his first birthday yesterday with all the students singing Happy Birthday. He enjoyed birthday cake with his brothers and sisters. He has grown since his arrival at St Monica's last year as the love for him continues to grow.  Thank you Monty for all the joy and love that you have brought to St Monicas community. 

Sacrament of First Eucharist

This will be celebrated across the four Sunday Parish Masses:

5.00pm - 17 June at St Monica’s Church – Evatt;

8.00am - 18 June at St Michael’s Church – Kaleen;

10.00am – 18 June at St Monica’s Church – Evatt; and

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

Retreat Day will be held on Thursday 8 June 2023.

Parent/Child Formation Evening – Thursday 8 June 2023 at 6pm via MS Teams.

The link is: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_Njc1NTE1ZmItNWQ2Mi00MWUzLWIzZGYtNGE1MDRmMTBkYzhj%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%229ba8c2d6-be27-4583-a686-5c6f5c4a9e97%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22bb949535-9d39-4203-b664-93d90c050e23%22%7d

Families will also require the completed home booklets for discussion at the child/parent formation evening.

The link to the child/parent formation evening is also on the parish website at:
www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth

Home booklets

Home booklets should then be returned to the school (with the last page ‘Parents’ Discernment of Readiness’ completed) following the evening and no later than Wednesday 14 June – the booklets will be signed and stamped with the ‘parish stamp’ and returned to the candidates at their First Eucharist celebration.

Stoles for First Eucharist

 Purchased stoles have been delivered to the schools.  If you purchased a stole and you have not yet received it, please send an email at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au.

 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 at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth

Reports and Interviews  

Our Semester 1 reports will be available for families on Friday of Week 9 (23June).  As a system our reports have continued to change. This Semester, the usual grading will happen for each of the learning areas, however there will again be no comments. This is in line with the majority of Primary and Secondary schools in our Archdiocese.    

In order to keep you well informed we will hold Parent Teacher Interviews in Week 8. This will enable parents to have a conversation about how the student is progressing in their learning and to have a real time conversation about growth and development.  

The Parent Teacher Interviews will go live and will be available to you on COMPASS in Week 7.  It will remain open from Monday 5 June until Friday 9June.  Please ensure that you access COMPASS to lock in a meeting time with your child’s teacher.    

Last week our senior choir (Years  3-6) attended the Big Sing at Mother Teresa School in Harrison. The event included several Catholic schools from the Canberra region and was a way to celebrate and experience the joy of singing, especially in such a large group. In preparation for the event the choir learned a number of songs and then added to their repertoire on the day with a few more. Upon returning to

school the choir was bursting with elation from such a wonderful experience. 

Junior Choir

Due to the enthusiasm of our younger students, Mrs Pearson has created a junior choir for students in Years 1 and 2.

Athletics

What a wonderful day we had last Friday! The weather started off a bit wet but we had clear blue skies and minimal wind which made for perfect conditions. All students participated in each event with enthusiasm and great skill, all students should be very proud! Many thanks to the Year 3 and 4 teachers who prepared the carnival with me. Special thanks to the many parents who volunteered and helped the carnival run so smoothly. Also a very special thank you to Merici College for their hospitality and generosity in letting us use their oval for the day. Results are being collated this week and will be shared with the community in the coming week. 

Belconnen Cross Country

Congratulations to the 45 students who represented St Monica's last week at the Belconnen Cross Country Carnival. We had some excellent results, with the following students placed in the top 20:

• Milla F  - 10^th 10 years girls
• Lily H -  16^th 12 years girls
• Blake R -  8^th 8 years boys
• Sonny S -  16^th 9 years boys
• Ater A -  3^rd 11 years boys
• Charlie D -  13^th 12 years boys

Milla, Blake and Ater will now represent Belconnen at the ACT Cross Country Championships in Week 8, well done! Special thanks to Mrs Dawe and Mrs Thomas who went along and supported our students. 

Our school carnival ribbons will be presented on Monday morning assembly at 8.50am in the Courtyard.

Congratulations to Cooper D (6 White)  and Charlie D (6 White) who have both made the  AFL ACT Under 12s school boys teams. The carnival starts on 5 August for the week. Well done boys. A great achievement!

What a fantastic day of football at the Sullivan Shield  cup. St Monica's had two teams participating on the day consisting of a Year 3/4 team and a Year 5/6 team. 

The Year 5/6 team were undefeated and displayed an unbreakable defence. The Year 3/4 team also came away with a win and showed amazing stamina as all players were on the field for the entire day. The most wonderful thing to see was that each player was having fun and giving it their all. A huge thank you to our team coaches Mick O'Connor and Simon Carey for mentoring our teams. It was so lovely to see parents come along to help out and support our teams also. 

As I write this, I am full of pride! The way that our students represented our school both on and off the field is to be commended. 

TeamKids have another amazing Winter Holiday program planned!

Come along and experience the TeamKids difference:

• Learn new skills and make new friends
• Qualified and REMARKABLE Educators
• Digital detox with our no screens policy
• Delicious and nutritious morning and afternoon snacks
• CCS-approved care

Head to teamkids.com.au to secure your spot!