Achieve - all that you can

Jesus said therefore

‘What is the Kingdom of God like?  And to what shall I compare it?  It is like the mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches’.    

Luke 13: 18-20

St Monica - A Model of Patience

School - Patience, Stewardship, Acceptance

Dear Parents

Achieve . . . Like St Monica, an element of our school theme that we have constantly been reminded of throughout the year. This week we have had time to reflect on St Monica as it was her Feast Day in our Church on Tuesday which was celebrated as a school on Wednesday with Mass and buddy activities. Fr. Loi spoke to the children about all that St Monica achieved through her prayer, perseverance, patience and praise. Her constant commitment to her family and prayers to God meant she was able to bring her husband and sons to our Faith. Whilst this may seem like the smallest of seeds, it became the greatest of trees through the person her son Augustine became for our Church. Let's continue to be like St Monica and continue to practise prayer, perseverance, patience and praise!

School Disco

Tomorrow night our hall will be transformed into a space of dancing, laughter and fun with the K-4 Disco. We have over 200 students coming to get their groove on. This year the committee is trialling having Kinder and Year One arrive at 5:30 pm and Years 2-4 at 6:00 pm. In the past the DJ has started at 6:00 pm and the younger students have been so excited as they arrive that they head straight inside and forget to get their food and drink. This year the DJ will still start at 6:00 pm, however, the committee thought that if Kinder and Year One arrive at 5:30 pm they will have time to eat their dinner and then head in for a 6:00 pm start. If you are a family with children in Kinder and Year One and Years 2-4 you are welcome to bring all of your children between 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm. Special thanks to Franca Field and all the team who have worked to put the night on.

Father's Day Stall

On Friday morning our students will head to the Father's Day Stall to purchase some goodies for Dad's day on Sunday. They will visit the stall with their siblings so that they can buy presents from the whole family. Please send some money in with your children tomorrow. Gifts range from $2 - $10 and there will be enough gifts available for each child to make a  purchase. Special thanks to Michelle Bowman and all the mums in our community who have spent hours putting the stall together!

Parent-Teacher Interviews

After the success of our Term 2 interviews, which were seen as a way to continue to track student goals, success and areas for focus, we have decided to hold our Semester Two interviews at the end of Term 3 rather than the end of Term 4. This will provide an authentic opportunity for parents and teachers to come together and review your child/ren's goals, see how they are progressing with their achievements and set targets for the remainder of the year. The interviews will be held in Week 9 and a booking sheet will be sent home next week.

Walkathon

Keep those sponsors coming in. We only have a little over 2 weeks to go before the big day and are halfway to our next goal of $3,000 and a uniform free day. Money can be sent to school or paid via Qkr.

Special Prayers

Please keep the Dykes family - Finn (3/4C), Sebby (6M) and Paddy (ex St Monica's) in your prayers as their grandmother passed away. 

I hope all the Father's are spoilt this Sunday and given an opportunity to be with family in the spring sunshine. Don't forget next week is Week 7 which is Sabbath Week, a time where we mimic the 7th day and rest. Let your boss know that the school principal has requested you have an early mark to rest with your children!

Yours in Christ

Luke Donnelly

Acting Principal

Late last week I had the opportunity to meet with a representative from Catholic Education, and an Architect, to discuss a future vision for St Monica’s. I was told to dream big. In the discussion, the following ideas were put on the table, for consideration, as part of a new Master Plan.

1. Reclaiming the government land, at the front of the school on the corner of Moynihan and Copland Drive, for additional play area or consideration of an Early Learning Centre (ELC) and playgroup.
2. Replacement of the portables with classrooms for the Arts, additional office space for private music tuition or visiting OT, speech therapists etc now many workers access the school to support students on NDIS plans and SMOOSH.
3. Storage area for P&F items and a new space for the Uniform Shop.
4. Establishment of a larger school vegetable garden and waste management facilities.
5. School fence around the boundary line of the school grounds and enclosed bike rakes to improve the security of belongings.
6. Consideration of additional classrooms depending on future development in the area and possible enrolments.
7. Relocating how the traffic flows at the front of the school, should we include an ELC.

Projects we can proceed with, as future plans will not impact on the location or design of the following projects.

1. An outdoor classroom and landscaping to be located on the slope near the Year 3 & 4 playground and round the trees near the spider playground for creative play.
2. A new electronic sign located to the right side of the school entry near the staff parking area. This will replace the brick sign that was destroyed earlier in the year.

Once a concept is developed it will be shared with the community to hear your thoughts. Meeting the cost of future projects will fall to our community unless we are successful in accessing financial support from Government and local grants.

Carmel Maguire

This week the learning intention for the protective behaviours unit is for students to understand that they can tell someone in their safety network when they have a bad or uncomfortable secret.

When we teach the unit next term, K-4 will continue to read their allocated books and complete lessons appropriate to the learning intention. Year 5 and 6 will be reading a new book titled 'Some secrets should never be kept'. The book is a narrative about a boy who experiences an uncomfortable event with the king and experiences his early warning signs. He decides he shouldn't keep the secret and tells his mum which results in him getting the help he needs.

We would encourage you to view the book and decide if you feel your child would benefit from previewing it before it is read in class next term.

Kinder	Years 1 - 4	Years 5 and 6

As always, we encourage you to have these conversations with your children as we prepare to teach the unit to the students in Term 3.

St Monica’s Primary School

Kindergarten - Year 4 (only) 

Friday – 30 August 2019

K-Yr 1  - 5.30pm-7.30pm

Yr 2 – Yr 4 – 6.00pm – 7.30p

 Entry (only) on the night $4.00

 Available for purchase on the night:

Sausage (gf) sizzle - $2.50, Ice Cream Cup - $2.00, Drinks - $1.00,

Chocolate Bars $1.00 - $1.50, Lolly Bags $1.00, Chipss - 50c

Glow Sticks – 1 for $1.00 or 3 for $2.00

Book Week Performance

The children attended Book Week Performances in the Hall this morning. The performances were based on books that dealt with issues students can face and can be challenging to deal with and the performances dealt with these books in a gentle way. Years 4-6 watched the adaptation on the novel “The Peacock Detective”.  The students journeyed with Cassie as she finds the peacocks that have escaped and deals with change for her and her family and helps her friend Jonas deal with a mystery.  Kindergarten watched an adaptation of the story “Room on the Rock” that dealt with the issue of excluding people or being welcoming and sharing.  

Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge

There are only 2 weeks left for students to complete the challenge of reading 30 books.  So it’s time to read and record all the books read since the end of March. When the students have finished the challenge, they can return their record sheets to the library.

The Australian Reading Hour

On Thursday 19 September we will be participating in the Australian Reading Hour from 8am to 9am.  This is a wonderful way for parents and children to start the day by sharing a story in the chill out space in the library.

Term 3 School Fees Due:  Friday 30 August

Fees invoices were posted last week - usually, they are emailed however we experienced technical difficulties. Full payment of fees is due within four weeks each term, except for families on Direct Debit payment arrangements.

A reminder to families that

Enrolment of children at a Catholic diocesan school in the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn carries with it the undertaking by parents/guardians to accept the obligation to pay all school fees. It is, however, a matter of Catholic Education Commission policy that inability (not unwillingness) to pay school fees should never exclude any child from a Catholic school.

Please contact the School Finance Officer, or Principal should you be experiencing genuine hardship and will not be able to pay your fees in full by the due date.

Boorowa

Nominations for Boorowa have now closed. Thank you to parents and community members who have volunteered to assist with teams. A note was sent home earlier this week with team lists and information. We still require a few more volunteers, please contact me if you can help.

Catholic Schools Netball

We have registered 5 teams for the Catholic Schools Netball Carnival. Thank you to parents and community members who have volunteered to assist. Please pay your child's registration fee as soon as possible.

ACT Athletics

Congratulations to the following students who have qualified for the ACT Athletics Carnival to be held on Tuesday 10 September at the AIS. Fletcher B, Emma B, William C, Annabelle F, Ryan K, Nicholas P, Katie R, Adrian S, Dita S, Brock S and Olivia S. Permission notes are due back at school by Thursday 5 September. 

 ACT Hockey

Congratulations to Olivia S (6E) who this week returned from Bendigo after representing ACT at the Primary Under 12's National Hockey Championships. Olivia helped the ACT to a 5th place finish, well done!

Canteen Roster - Term 3, Week 7

Monday - Vacancy

Tuesday - Evelyn David-Hoole

Wednesday - Vacancy

Thursday - June Manning

Friday - Tracy D'Ambrosio, Katrina Ciampa, Samantha Cox, Wendy Regan, 

Samantha Manning - Canteen Manager - 6258 4687

Happy Birthday to the following students - 

Pax S, Pasquale A, Corey B, Mitchell C, Lily H, Patrick S, Alexandra T, Felix R, Lachlan T

If you have any ideas or concerns please email them through to our Secretary Fiona Steinberg at Council.StMonicas@cg.catholic.edu.au  

The school holiday clinics are being held 9-11 October at the Hawker Football Centre. The clinics are for new and existing players aged 4-11 years. We believe the best way to learn football is by playing football and our curriculum is designed to cater to all skill levels. Our qualified coaches are there to guide players through fun and football relevant activities and games, which are stimulating and challenging for all involved.

What To Bring

Players are advised to bring a hat, full drink bottle, football boots, shin pads, healthy lunch and snacks to fuel them throughout the day and to wear weather appropriate clothing. Football boots are not compulsory and players are welcome to wear joggers. Shin pads are compulsory for safety.

Please be aware that players attending the clinics may have allergies (e.g. nut) and we ask that you consider this when packing your child’s food. We also have a no sharing food policy.

Additional Information

Basic first aid and sunscreen will be available to participants throughout the clinic, as well as a drink station/taps for players to fill up their drink bottles. Mandatory breaks are scheduled throughout the day for players to eat, re-apply sunscreen and stay hydrated. Participants who require medication will also need to provide the clinic director with an action plan and show that required medication has been packed each day/where it is kept in the bag. Alternatively, you can leave it with the clinic director each morning when you sign in.

The program runs from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm each day. Parents/Guardians MUST sign their child/children in and out each day. If someone other than a parent is doing the pickup and drop off please notify the clinic director in writing.

Program Fees

$175 per 9-hour clinic for all participants.
Family Discount of 10% is available when registering more than one sibling per clinic.
Daily rates available upon request.

All participants will receive a Canberra United Participation Pack and Aldi Miniroos Certificate as well as an exclusive Canberra United Kids Club Membership which gives your child access to all Canberra United home games and a chance to high five the players in the tunnel after their warm-up.

Wet weather policy

Please note that in the case of field closures Capital Football are not notified until 8:45 am at the earliest. If grounds are closed staff will notify registered participants ASAP and will do their best to find an alternate venue. Clinics go ahead in the rain unless there is excessive rain predicted, thunder, lightning, hail or grounds become unsafe.