Dear St Monica’s families and friends,

We are now halfway through Term Two, the days are getting shorter and the darkness is lasting for longer. Winter is coming!! Isn’t it funny how during the long hot days in summer we wish for it to be cooler, then the cooler season arrives and we can’t wait for it to be warm again!

As we enter the colder months, it is inevitable more staff and students will be afflicted with coughs, colds and other ailments. If your child is unwell, please keep them at home where they will be snug and warm and have a better chance at recovering quickly.

It is important for our community that we limit the spread of illness and infections. By staying home when we are sick we protect the vulnerable members of our community, we reduce outbreaks and most importantly resting and recuperating allows your body to recover more effectively and shorten the duration of your illness.

Please encourage your child/ren to practise good hygiene  - cover your mouth / nose with a tissue or elbow when you cough or sneeze, dispose of tissues in the bin, wash hands frequently with soap and water or hand sanitiser.

Kindergarten 2025 interviews - Interviewing our incoming Kindergarten students and their families is one of my favourite times of the school year. We have several children ready for big school next year and it is great to welcome them officially to the St Monica’s community.

I thank our parent community for spreading the good news about St Monica’s and the opportunities we provide our students. The official enrolment period closes tomorrow but we can accept enrolments for all grade levels, including Kindergarten for next year, at any time. If you know of someone who wishes to enrol but think they’ve missed the deadline, please reassure them there is still time and to contact the school.

Rostrum Finals - Yesterday, alongside Mrs Lloyd and Ms Moir, I had the privilege of adjudicating the Rostrum final for our school. I was so impressed with the caliber of speakers this year, who wowed us with the topics ‘Bad Advice’, ‘A new Olympic Sport’, ‘So Exhausting’, ‘Think Big’ and ‘Let it Snow’.

Our school winner was Kushi, who convinced her audience to “Think Big” just like the Wright Brothers, Alexander Graham Bell and Alan Turing who changed the world! Congratulations Kushi, who now goes on to the Quarter Finals of Rostrum in a few weeks. We also congratulate Zander and Phoebe who were our Runner-ups!

School Uniform & Jewellery - Thank you for sending your children into school wearing the correct uniform each day. We have noticed however, a number of additional accessories being worn at school. Wristbands, bracelets, beads, rings, coloured scrunchies and headbands and dangly earrings are not part of the St Monica’s uniform and are to be saved for the weekend. A small pair of stud or sleeper earrings, fine chain with a crucifix and a watch may be worn at school. Smart watches, that are able to receive text messages or make phone calls, must come to the Front Office with phones for safe keeping.

Warmest wishes,

2024 Parish Sacramental Program – for students who are baptised and in Years 4-6 in 2024.

Sacrament of First Communion

Sacrament of First Communion will be celebrated during the four Parish weekend Masses on 15 and 16 June 2024.

Commitment Masses – Sacrament of First Communion – LAST WEEKEND
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 Saturday 18 May and Sunday 19 May.

There will be no additional commitment masses beyond this date.

Trybooking – will open on Monday 20 May to book the Mass service for your child to celebrate the Sacrament (ie St Michael’s Church Kaleen on Sunday 16 June at 8am or 5.30pm OR St Monica’s Church Evatt on Saturday 15 June at 5pm or Sunday 16 June at 10am).

As these Masses will be regular Sunday Masses (includes parishoners) we will try to limit 20 candidates at each of the 4 Masses.

The TRYBOOKING links will be listed on the parish website at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth

Sacrament of Confirmation – will be celebrated on 17, 18, and 19 September. Registrations will open on 24 June 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

On Thursday 9 May we had our Cross Country Carnival. The children were very excited to be gathered in their house groups and cheering for one another as they raced. It was wonderful to see everyone participating with lots of energy and enthusiasm. Congratulations to the top 5 place getters who will go on to participate in the Belconnen Cross Country. A very big thank you to all the parent volunteers who assisted on the day and families who came along to watch and cheer.

2024 Cross Country House Points - Mirri - 148, Buru - 161, Mugga - 170, Walga - 186.

National Simultaneous Storytime 

St Monica’s will be joining over 2 million children in nearly 60,000 locations across Australia and New Zealand at 12pm next Wednesday 22 May  for the reading of Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker, for The ALIA initiative National Simultaneous Storytime. We are inviting all students to wear a splash of blue on the day to celebrate this special story and event.  

Book Club 

Families have received a copy of Book Club catalogue for Issue 3. 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 for this issue is Monday 20 May.  There will not be another Book Club issue for Term 2 as we are holding a Lamont Book Fair in Weeks 9 and 10. 

Story_Dogs.pdf

Story_Dogs _pdf 3.63 MB

Congratulations to Nikolas H (6 Blue) on his wonderful achievements in Tennis and Basketball. 

Nikolas won all 4 games in the ACT Primary School Sports Tennis Tournament taking him to the grandfinal which he won 6-1. 

On the same day Nikolas received the fantastic news that ACT Basketball have selected him to represent their U12 Boys program at the National Junior Classics in Melbourne over the June long weekend.

2024 ACT Primary Schools Chess Championship – Belconnen Zone 

On Tuesday 11 students from our school were among the 66 students who attended the 2024 ACT Primary Schools Chess Championship – Belconnen Zone at Macgregor Primary School. Team 1 of Iyin, Kobe, Cooper and Emanuel came 3rd with a score of 18.5 from a possible 28.  They will progress to the ACT Primary Schools Chess Championship at Trinity School in late Term 3. All the students competing in the chess tournament showed their chess skills, focus, resilience and good sportsmanship and should  be very proud of their efforts.

MERICI COLLEGE ENROLLING NOW CAMPAIGN

A wonderful opportunity for prospective families to see the College in action, meet our students and attend the Principal’s Address, Year 7 and 11 Information Evenings and lots more.

We are enrolling now for 2025 and beyond!

Please visit www.merici.college for all dates and information for our Open Day, Be a Merici Girl Days and Talk and Tours. Register online now!

Open Day, Principal’s Address and Year 7 2025 Information Night: Wednesday 8 May, Be a Merici Girl Days: 3, 6, 13 May, Talk and Tours: 11 May

Helping Kids to Identify and Express Their Feelings

Sometimes our children have big feelings, and it is difficult to know how to respond as parents. Big feelings are often expressed as behaviour that can be best described as challenging. As a parent you have an important role to play in developing your child’s emotional skills and helping them to learn healthy ways to express their feelings. We know that children who learn to cope with and express their feelings are more likely to have good mental health and wellbeing, be more resilient and able to cope with change and setbacks, display less behavioural problems and be more confident and have a positive sense of self. So, the earlier we can build a child’s ability to identify their feelings and implement healthy coping strategies the better.

Here are some great tips from the Kids Helpline that can help your child to learn about expressing their feelings:

• Tune into cues - Sometimes feelings can be hard to identify. Tune into your child’s feelings by looking at their body language, listening to what they’re saying and observing their behaviour. Figuring out what they feel and why means you can help them identify, express and manage those feelings better.
• Behind every behaviour is a feeling - Try to understand the meaning and feeling behind your child’s behaviour. You can help your child find other ways to express that feeling once you know what is driving the behaviour.
• Name the feeling - Help your child name their feelings by giving them a label. Naming feelings is the first step in helping kids learn to identify them. It allows your child to develop an emotional vocabulary so they can talk about their feelings.
• Identify feelings in others – Provide lots of opportunities to identify feelings in others. You might ask your child to reflect on what someone else may be feeling. Cartoons or picture books are a great way to discuss feelings and helps kids learn how to recognise other people’s feelings through facial expressions.
• Be a role model - Kids learn about feelings and how to express them appropriately by watching others. Show your child how you’re feeling about different situations and how you deal with those feelings.
• Encourage with praise - Praise your child when they talk about their feelings or express them in an appropriate way. Not only does it show that feelings are normal and it’s ok to talk about them, it reinforces the behaviour so they are likely to repeat it.
• Listen to your child’s feelings - Stay present and resist the urge to make your child’s bad feelings go away. Support your child to identify and express their feelings so they are heard. When feelings are minimised or dismissed, they will often be expressed in unhealthy ways.

For more information please visit Kids Helpline website for additional resources.

https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/helping-kids-identify-and-express-feelings

Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have concerns about your child’s ability to express their emotions or need support to develop healthy coping strategies.

Ryoko Koyasu - Student and Family Counsellor