Dear St Monica’s families and friends,

Catholic Church tradition dedicates each month of the year to a certain devotion. The month of October is dedicated to the holy Rosary, and it includes the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (celebrated on October 7).

The best way to celebrate the month is, of course, to pray the Rosary. The Rosary draws its mysteries from the New Testament and is centered on the great events of the Incarnation and Redemption with each decade referring to an event in the life of Jesus and Mary. The Mysteries of the Rosary give us “thumbnails” of the life of Christ and his Mother.

The Joyful Mysteries are taken mostly from St Luke’s Gospel in the New  Testament. They involve the joyful events of Jesus’ childhood.

• The Luminous Mysteries bring a deeper understanding to the public life of Jesus. They fill in the blanks between the childhood of Jesus and His suffering and death on the cross.
• The Sorrowful Mysteries remind us of how much Jesus loves us. They recall how He suffered and died just for us.
• The Glorious Mysteries tell us what happened after Jesus died-His Resurrection, the descent of the Holy Spirit and the love Jesus had for his Mother.

Open Forum Council Meeting – You’re invited to our annual Open Forum Council Meeting, next Tuesday 24 October at 6.30pm. It will be held in the library and our guest speaker for the evening is Sarah Rose, Parent Engagement Officer from Catholic Education. Some of the agenda items included for discussion:

• 2024 after school pickup locations.
• 2023 Tell Them from Me survey results.
• 2023 NAPLAN results.

At this time, we are not calling for nominations as there are no vacancies on our school council. However, our elected parent representatives coordinate a number of important initiatives across the school and they need your help to form Sub-Committees.

Peace and Blessings to all families,

A reminder that if your child is late or you are collecting them early it is essential you do so through the front office. All Students must be signed in and out via the Compass Kiosk at the front desk. 

There is no need to submit a note through Compass for early pick up as you need to sign your child out through the Compass Kiosk.

Please ensure that any unexplained absences from school are explained and submit an absentee note through Compass for your child.

Religious Education at St Monica’s

In line with Catholic Education’s Catalyst initiative all areas of learning are being taught using Science of Learning principles. These include (but are not limited to) an understanding of Cognitive Load Theory – essentially how much your brain can absorb and hold at once. Specifically, your working memory. Our working memory is very limited and only able to hold 4-7 new pieces of information. In contrast our long-term memory can hold an unknown and potentially unlimited amount of information. As teachers our goal therefore is to support students to put as much information into their long-term memory to support more effective learning and use of knowledge.

In the classroom this looks like several things:

• presenting all new information in clear, concise and small chunks;
• removing extra distractions like unnecessary information, pictures and colours so that students can focus on the important information being taught;
• standardised signals to assist students to know when they listen, read or respond in some way. This includes use of bold text or italics to focus attention on key information;
• limiting the amount of new information presented at one time, especially in slides format;
• regular repetition of information so it becomes embedded in long-term memory, and
• use of regular routines and processes in the classroom.

Our Religious Education classes are moving towards delivering learning using Explicit, Direction Instruction pedagogy and a deep understanding of Cognitive Load Theory.

Religious Life of St Monica’s

Wednesday Parish Mass

Yesterday Year 3 attended Mass with the parish and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Sebastian - 3B – Father was wearing red because it was a special day. It was the feast of St Luke.

Kane - 3B – It was St Luke’s Feast Day. Luke wrote a Gospel.

Elijah - 3B – We know that St Luke was a doctor.

Nuhamin - 3B – Father Mick prayed for those in the war.

Elizabeth - 3M – There was a special blessing during Mass.

Ronan 3M - I liked the readings.

Lilly - 3W – Other people, not from our school, were there. They are from our parish.

Geeza - 3W – It was different to our Masses because the grown ups read.

Next week Year 2 are invited to join the parish at Mass on Wednesday morning at 9.30am. Families and friends are welcome to join them in celebrating Mass.

Whole School Prayer

Thank you to Year 2 for your beautiful prayer celebration last Friday. What a great way to reflect on the good work being done in our world by missionaries and how we can be missionary people. It was fabulous to see so many people wearing silly socks in support of Socktober. We have raised $353.80 which will go to support the good work being done in Timor-Leste by Catholic Mission. Thank you for your generosity to all the families who have donated.

Our Whole School Prayer Time tomorrow will be led by Year 1 as they explore our focus value for Term Four – Growth. All families and friends in our community are warmly invited to join us in prayer tomorrow morning at 9.10am in St Monica's Church.

Week 4 Whole School Prayer Time will be led by Mr Green and 3 White. The focus of that prayer will be the feasts of All Saints and All Souls days; very important days in our Catholic Church calendar.

2024 Parish Sacramental Program

For students who are baptised and in Years 4-6 in 2024.

Information Session

An information session for the 2024 Sacramental Program will be held early in Term 1, 2024 (date and venue to be advised).

Sacraments during 2024

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

Sacrament of First Communion - will be celebrated in Term 2, 2024.

Sacrament of Confirmation - will be celebrated in Term 3, 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

End of year exams are approaching, maybe your young guy is prepping for Highschool, College or Uni.  Any of these changes can be significant stressors … and we are here to help!

If your young guy is having a hard time, is anxious, uncertain or fearful of his future and could really use someone to talk to, get in touch! Our wait times are relatively low so we're ready to help when your young guy needs it. We provide a welcoming and supportive environment for young guys to share their concerns and worries and we provide tips and strategies to get them through those tough times that many of them are facing right now. 

Menslink Counselling sessions are completely confidential and are available to any young guy aged 10-25.  There are no fees or charges, and no limits to the number of sessions. You don't need a mental health plan and we are available during school terms and school holidays.

Do you think your young guy would really benefit from a counselling session? If so, have a chat with them and head to www.menslink.org.au, hit the 'Get Help' button, fill in the form and we'll get back to you, generally the same or next business day. 

If you need more info on how to have that chat with them, just email info@menslink.org.au or call 6287 2226 and we will send you some information. 

Menslink has provided free counselling to young guys throughout the Canberra region for 20+ years.