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- Principal's Message
- Happy Birthday
- RE News - Meaghan Younger
- Parish Sacramental News for 2023
- Library News - Veronica Melville
- Year 1 Old Fashioned Day
- Gardening News - Sustainability Team
- Disco News
- Think U Know
- Team Kids - Child Care Subsidy Information
- Singing Lessons at St Monica's
- Junior Brumbies
- Crowajingalong Scout Group
Dear St Monica’s families and friends,
Welcome to Term 3! Can you believe that we are halfway through the school year? For our students, the end of the school year seems like a long way off. As adults, do you find that time tends to speed up and before we know it the end of the year will be here? There is a bit of science behind all of this…
"So, why does time go so fast as you age? Put in the simplest terms, one of the most prevalent explanations is that our perception of time is inherently linked to how much time we have already lived – ie the older you get the more memories and experiences you have to draw on. Using this rationale, to a five-year-old child, a single year feels incredibly long as it represents just 20 per cent of their entire life thus far and they have nothing else to compare it to other than the relatively short amount of time they’ve already been on Earth for" To read more, click on the link
There is a lot to look forward to this term, including but not limited to: St Monica’s Feast Day, theatre performances, Walk-a-thon, Disco, Book Week, Confirmation and much more! Please keep an eye out for Compass alerts and save the date notices. If you are having difficulty accessing Compass, please give Steph a call and she will assist you to re-set your account.
This term our key focus is around the Footstep of Engagement. We are looking for learners who are:
- eager to participate,
- active in their learning,
- willing to stretch and challenge themselves,
- motivated and inspired to do better.
Year 2 will help us to learn more about the rich history and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, throughout Whole School Prayer time tomorrow morning, in acknowledgement of NAIDOC Week. Mrs Pearson and I will accompany several of our students to the ACT Archdiocesan NAIDOC Mass at St Christopher’s Cathedral tomorrow morning.
A huge warm welcome to Mr Jacob Burridge, who will be teaching Japanese at St Monica’s for the remainder of this year.
We also welcome the following families to St Monica’s and wish them a long and happy association with our school community - Ballard, Richards and Oravala-Carrasco.
Peace and blessings to all families,
Jack R, Ashreet K, Danny I, Grace M, Milenna P, Iyin A
Religious Curriculum of St Monica’s
Year 5 are focusing on prayer this term. In doing so they will understand that personal and communal prayer are important for nurturing a relationship with God. They will explore the Jewish origins of many prayer practices for Christians and how these two faiths share historical and faith elements. Year 5 will explore the key elements of Eucharist celebrations and identify some ways people hold the Sabbath sacred. Students will also investigate the Psalms as source of prayer and experience meditation and mantras as prayer opportunities. As a family you might like to discuss how and why we pray and even try some different prayer experiences. Have you considered praying Grace together before evening meals? Or praying the Rosary as a family? Perhaps give Christian meditation a go. I’d love to hear from families about their prayer experiences.
Religious Life of St Monica’s
NAIDOC prayer time
Year 2 are excitedly preparing to lead the whole school in prayer tomorrow, the first Friday of Term 3. Their Prayer Time will focus on celebrating NAIDOC Week. All families are warmly invited to join us in this special prayer time in our St Monica’s Church at 9.10am.
Confirmation
Our Parent Formation evening for the parents of those children preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in our parish is on this evening, Thursday 20 July, at 6.00pm. This essential element of the preparation program will be held in our St Monica’s Church. A reminder that registrations close tomorrow (parish Qkr! App) and commitment Masses are this coming weekend.
Whole School Prayer – Week 2
Next Friday, 28 July, Year 6 will lead the whole school in prayer centred on our term’s focus value, engagement. All families are warmly invited to join us in St Monica’s Church from 9.10am next Friday morning.
Winter Woolies
St Monica’s families are invited to send in donations for our Winter Woolies campaign. We are looking for good quality jumpers, jackets, beanies, gloves, socks and blankets to donate to the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal. Items may be used but in good condition with the exception of socks – only new socks please for hygiene reasons. Donations can be sent in over the next 3 weeks with our final appeal day being Friday 11 August when students are invited to wear free clothes, particularly snuggly warm winter woollies! Donation baskets will be in the Office foyer as well as student classrooms. Thank you in anticipation of your generosity.
St Monica’s Feast – Save the Date
St Monica’s Feast Day is Sunday 27 August so we will celebrate her feast on Monday 28 August in Week 7. All families are invited to join the whole school at Mass in St Monica’s Church at 9.30am.
Sacrament of Confirmation
Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated on:
Tuesday 5 September 2023 at 6.00pm in St Michael’s Church, Kaleen;
Wednesday 6 September 2023 at 6.00pm in St Monica’s Church, Evatt; and
Thursday 7 September 2023at 6.00pm in St Monica’s Church, Evatt.
Parent Formation Evening – 6.00pm - 7.00pm tonight in St Monica’s Church, Evatt.
Important - please talk to your child and decide on the ‘Saint’s Name’ and their ‘Sponsor’, as these are requirements on the registration form.
The sponsor should be an adult baptised catholic and not a parent. The role of the sponsor should be someone who has an influence in the child’s life and can fill in the gaps where the parent is unable to.
Registrations are open and will close by this Friday 21 July 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 – Sacrament of Confirmation
Students and parents must attend one of the weekend Masses at either St Monica’s Church (5.00pm Saturday or 10.00am Sunday) or St Michael’s Church (8.00am or 5.30pm Sunday) on one of the dates listed below to make their commitment for the Sacrament.
Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 July
Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 August
There will be no additional commitment masses beyond these dates.
Sacrament of Reconciliation
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
Scholastic Book Club
This week your family will have received a copy of the Book Club Catalogue for Issue 5. Orders from the catalogue help develop your child/children’s love of reading, build their personal library and assist with the purchase of books for the library. The closing date to order for this issue is Monday 7 August. This issue has a free book giveaway.
Book Character Parade
On Thursday 24 August we will be dressed up as book characters. The theme of the CBCA Book Week this year is “Read, Grow, Inspire”. It would be great to see students link their character/ costume to the theme. Students may think about a character that has inspired them. This is also a wonderful opportunity for students to be creative and make a costume, a time to think about what could be recycled, upcycled or repurposed to the costume.
On Monday 26June, Year 1 had an Old-Fashioned Day to celebrate all the wonderful learning they did with the unit Old Worlds, New Worlds and Future Worlds. The children came dressed as students from the olden days in shorts, braces, caps and shawls. We had an amazing day writing with chalk, bush dancing, eating scones, playing with hoops, elastics and skipping ropes, not to mention playing cops and robbers. There was no iPad or interactive white board in sight! Many thanks to our wonderful parents who helped their child get dressed for the occasion. - Susan, Melinda and Emma - Year 1 Teachers
Our Sustainability team spent Wednesday afternoon weeding our garden beds so that we are ready for spring planting. They did a fantastic job, led by Verdelle from Bunnings. We are still looking for volunteers to help with our garden, particularly as spring approaches. If you are able to help in any way we'd love to hear from you. No amount of time is too small! Please email Kathy Moir (katherine.moir@cg.catholic.edu.au) or Kayla Larkins (kayla.larkins@cg.catholic.edu.au).
I am an established tertiary trained and long time singer, singing teacher, performer and theatre maker! I would like to offer singing lessons as an option for our students here at St Monica's. I am also a parent at the school.
Voice Lessons for Years 4-6
Half hour sessions where we learn to sing, breathe, read and sing music at sight, and cover the basics of music theory and learn to perform! We will start to work on technique and developing vocal tone - $40.00 per lesson.
Vocal Basics for Years 1-3
For our younger students I would like to offer small group classes (2-4 students) at a reduced rate of fees - $23.00 per lesson.
In these classes we will learn to breathe, sing together, learn some basic sight reading and scales, work towards a group performance and most of all have fun!
To make a booking or for any more information please email me - alpprideaux@gmail.com
Many thanks - Alira Prideaux
