Dear St Monica’s families and friends,

For busy working parents and families, finding silence and stillness in the everyday can be tricky.

The clock is ticking, the traffic is heavy, your mind flits from one thing to another, lists to be ticked off, the kids are nagging and dinner needs to be decided. Everything is in constant motion, how can I possibly find a minute of quiet to myself?

What if I was to say to you, it can be done even in the busiest of settings? When you’re waiting at the traffic lights, in a line or any other time that you stop? Whilst not quite the same as ultimate silence and stillness. It is in stillness that you can find refuge, even if it is only for a short period of time.

What do you do, when you have moments when the house is quiet and there is nothing left to do. Moments when you find yourself sitting in relative peace. Most of the time when these moments come, we tend to fill them and start ‘doing’ things again but why not relish the stillness? Why not open yourself to that stillness fully? Take a pause from the momentum of your life and luxuriate in that time to just to be.

Our Archbishop, Christophe Prowse, is passionate about having his followers find silence and stillness in the everyday. Christian Meditation is one easy to way to focus on simplicity, silence and stillness. Meditation is what leads from the mind to the heart and it can be practised by anyone, wherever they are on life’s journey.

Class Structures for 2024 – I am pleased to announce that Catholic Education has confirmed we will have 17 classes for the 2024 school year. The structure of these classes is as follows:

Kinder: 2 classes

Year 1: 2 classes

Year 2: 3 classes

Year 3: 2 classes

Year 4: 3 classes

Year 5: 2 classes

Year 6: 3 classes

Class Placement Considerations for 2024 –Teachers are beginning to consider class groupings for next year. Please trust that we know your children well and have a very good understanding of their academic, social and emotional needs. We endeavour to balance classes in a variety of ways and any parent requests, regarding placement of children for 2024, must be sent to me, in writing, by 5.00pm on Monday 21 November. It is important to note, requests from previous years will not be carried over or considered for 2024.

BYOD- On Monday night there will be a presentation for families with children in Years 4-6 in 2024, with a focus on our BYOD program here at St Monica’s. This information session will provide parents and families with an understanding of how the BYOD program works and considerations when purchasing a Chrome Book. Our school’s commitment to digital learning has not changed and we value the importance of being connected with our community and developing students that can interact with respect as informed citizens on a global scale. 

Peace and Blessings to all,

Week 6 Events 

Week 6- Book Cow Book Fair (all week)  

Week 6- Monday 13 November - BYOD Parent Information Session  

Week 6- Tuesday 14 November -  Kinder Orientation  

Week 6- Friday 17 November - School Trivia Night  

Week 7 Events 

Week 7- Thursday 23 November -  Year 6 Special Performance  

Week 7- Saturday and Sunday 25 and 26 -  November Family Portraits  

Week 8 Events 

Week 8- Tuesday 28 November - Community Council Meeting 

Week 9 Events 

Week 9- Thursday 7 December -  Community Carols  

Week 9- Friday 8 December -  Year 6 Graduation and Special Lunch 

Week 9- Friday 8 December -  School Reports available on COMPASS  

Week 10 Events 

Week 10- Monday 11 December - Passing of the Light Candle Ceremony  

Week 10- Tuesday December 12- Year 6 Big Day Out  

Week 10- Wednesday 13 December - Christmas Clothes Day and Teacher Meet and Greet  

Religious Education at St Monica’s

In Religious Education Year 2 students are learning about many of Jesus’ teachings and actions and how these should be demonstrated in our Church community today. They are exploring many stories about Jesus including the feeding of 5000, calming the storm and Jesus as a boy in the temple. These stories all highlight important but different aspects of Jesus’ ministry whilst he was with us.

Religious Life of St Monica’s

Wednesday Parish Mass

Yesterday Year 5 attended Mass with the parish and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was mentioned as a definite highlight of their day when reflecting at home time on the day.

Next week Kindergarten 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

Congratulations to Mr Green and 3 White for their prayerful leadership of our whole school prayer last Friday. Their focus on the feasts of All Saints and All Souls days reminded us how important these days are in our Catholic Church calendar.

Tomorrow’s Whole School Prayer will be led by Year 4. This prayer time we will have a final focus on our year long theme, Walking Together – You’re Invited. All families and friends are warmly invited to join the whole school in prayer tomorrow at 9.10am in St Monica’s Church.

Our final Whole School Prayer Time will be led by Kindergarten in Week 8. This prayer time we will celebrate the first week of Advent. All families and friends are warmly invited to join the whole school in prayer on Friday 1 December (can you believe you just read December…?!!) at 9.10am in St Monica’s Church.

Journey with Jesus

Today Year 5 are involved in a special time of prayer, reflection and fun activities exploring their relationship with Jesus. Journey with Jesus is led by our own Youth Minister, Mr Mass, the Year 6 Youth Ministry Team and a visiting Youth Ministry team. Next week read all about their exciting day.

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 at 6pm on Thursday 8 February 2024 in St Michael’s Church, Kaleen.

If your child is baptised and will be in years 4-6 in 2024 please put this date in your diary.

Sacraments to be celebrated in 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

Next week we will be holding a Book Cow Book Fair. The Book Cow is a local bookstore in Kingston and has a great range of books including November new releases. All sales at the book fair support the purchase of new books for the library collection.  We have extended opening hours from 8.00am - 9.00am and 3.15pm - 5.00pm each day, Monday 13 November to Friday 17 November. The Book Cow also has an online portal where you can pay and we will be notified and will deliver the books to your child.  We look forward to seeing you in the library getting some great Christmas presents or holiday reads. 

To add to the excitement of the Book Fair we have local authors Cate Whittle and Jacinta Froud visiting the BooK Fair on Tuesday 13 November from 3.15pm - 4.00pm. David Conely, another local author,  will be visiting Year 3 and Year  4 on Thursday 15 November and his books will be available at the Book Fair. 

Readers Cup 

On Friday 27 October we hosted the CBCA ACT Readers Cup. 29 teams from across 13 Canberra schools had spent the last six weeks reading 5 novels and had to answer 10 quiz questions on each book. We had 3 teams participating. They have had a great time over the last few weeks reading the books and quizzing one another about the books. They demonstrated fantastic teamwork in the lead up to the quiz and at the quiz and can be very proud of their achievements. Well done April, Kobe, Lachlan D, Cooper D, Grace E, Esther, Emma, Ivan, Lachlan P, Kushi, Jesse and Sian.