Dear Parents

Carmel Maguire

Principal  

What is Harmony Day?

• Harmony Day is held each year on 21 March. It’s a day to celebrate our cultural diversity. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.
• The message of Harmony Day is everyone belongs.
• Since 1999, more than 70,000 events and activities have been held across the country, from the smallest childcare centres to the largest businesses.
• Harmony Day coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Did you know?

• Over the last 70 years more than seven and a half million migrants have made Australia their home.
• Nearly half of Australians were born overseas or have a parent who was.
• People from over 200 countries make up our Australian community and over 300 languages are spoken in our homes.
• Apart from English the most common languages spoken in Australia are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Tagalog/Filipino, Hindi, Spanish and Punjabi.

How is St Monica's acknowledging Harmony Day on Friday 20 February

• The school will gather for prayer at 1.00pm,
• The children are encouraged to wear something orange - socks, t-shirt, hair ribbon
• Classes will come together during the day for a class buddy activity, organised by the teachers. 

Each grade has been given a theme and a basket to be raffled at the fete. The themes of the baskets are below. 

Alternatively, your family might like to donate a pack of some description, for example a cooking pack (mixing bowl, cookbook, wooden spoon) or a chill out pack (dvd, popcorn, m&ms) etc. If you choose to donate a pack option, one donation per family will suffice.

 The themes for the raffle baskets are:

Kindergarten – Better Homes and Gardens (Make a house a home. Ideas include homewares, candles, placemats, tea towels, pot plants, garden ornaments etc.). 

Year 1 – Boredom Buster (think ultimate rainy day fun – puzzles, books, dvds, games, stickers, colouring books, cards etc).

Year 2 – Easter

Year 3 – Celebration (balloons, streamers, cheeseboards, lollies, party bag fillers etc).

Year 4 – Easter 

Year 5 – Stationery & Craft (make writing and drawing fun with gel pens, pencils, notebooks,  post-its etc).

Year 6 – Cookin’ up a Storm (all things kitchen, baking and cooking)

Hello everyone! My name is Monica Culas and I am the new Youth Minister at St Monica’s Primary School. I come from the sunny island - city of Singapore and am in my 2^nd year of doing my Early Childhood and Primary Teaching degree at the University of Canberra.

I have been working with the affiliated parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help since last year and used to be posted at St Francis Xavier College, Florey. I am very excited to be working with everyone at St Monica’s as it is definitely going to be a different experience and model used as compared to the one at the secondary school.

Last week, I met with about 15 students from Year 6 who expressed an interest in joining our school’s Youth Ministry team. We got to know a little bit about each other and discussed what they would like to see for our upcoming ministry here. Some things that were discussed were classroom prayer ministry, playground ministry, and also fun events such as fundraisers in the form of “Watermelon Wednesdays” and other cool ideas. These were just ideas that the students and I discussed. Anyone is welcome to join our Youth Ministry team and we will be meeting up every Wednesday for 15 minutes during lunch, with the venue to be confirmed soon. Definitely drop me a message and/ or call if you have any queries and/ or ideas. I will be at the school every Wednesday and situated in Mr Fletcher’s office.

I look forward to what this year has in store for all of us.

Cheers and peace!

Monica Culas
Youth Minister | Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn
M: 0435 876 303
E: Monica.Culas@cg.org.au

Daily updates are provided by Catholic Education regarding the impact the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) on students, staff, and our school in the future. All schools are in the process of developing, with the Catholic Education Office, a School Coronavirus Operational Plan that will be implemented if required.  The plan will support school communities matters related to managing an outbreak of the Coronavirus should it eventuates in our school community.

What St Monica's is currently implementing -

• We have spoken to our cleaners to ensure extra attention is provided in high-traffic areas such as door handles, benchtops etc.
• Children will be reminded of the importance to use soap. Soap dispensers are located in all toilets with hand sanitisers located in all classrooms, the front office and the hall. 
• If any child is displaying flu-like symptoms, we will be calling parents and asking for children to be collected immediately.
• Staff will continue teaching students about thorough hygiene - washing hands at the start of the day, after recess and after lunch etc with posters located around the school.
• Tables in classrooms will be wiped each day. 
• Staff who are displaying flu-like symptoms will also be asked to stay home.

Good hygiene remains the best protective measure against the spread of any virus.

As the impact of the virus on children and healthy adults can be quite mild, there may be a tendency to continue working and attending school and hence increase the risk of infecting others. This is in contrast to SARS and Swine Flu, where most people were quite unwell if infected.

The advice from ACT Health is that schools should be very strong on sending home staff and students who have the slightest sign of illness. This is not a time for soldiering on with coughs and colds. Please do not send your child to school if they are unwell.

importance to us and we will update and notify the school community should anything change in the future. 

Looking after your mental health during the coronavirus outbreak

Beyond Blue recognises and understands the feelings of anxiety, distress and concern many people may be experiencing in relation to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and offers the following wellbeing advice.

Try to maintain perspective 

While it is reasonable for people to be concerned about the outbreak of coronavirus, try to remember that medical, scientific and public health experts around the world are working hard to contain the virus, treat those affected and develop a vaccine as quickly as possible.

Find a healthy balance in relation to media coverage 

Being exposed to large volumes of negative information can heighten feelings of anxiety. While it’s important to stay informed, you may find it useful to limit your media intake if it is upsetting you or your family.

Conversations with children and young people 

Families and caregivers of children and young people should discuss news of the virus with those in their care in an open and honest way. Try to relate the facts without causing alarm, and in a way that is appropriate for their age and temperament. It is important to listen to any questions they may have, to let them know that they are safe and that it’s normal to feel concerned. If the media or the news is getting too much for them, encourage them to limit their exposure.

Beyond Blue has fact sheets about anxiety and offers other practical advice and resources at beyondblue.org.au.

Term 1 school fees have been emailed and sent home to families.

Generally, statements are not sent to families with a formal Direct Debit Arrangement in place as it causes some confusion as to whether we are asking you to make an additional payment. If you would prefer to receive a statement when fees are invoiced please let the office know.

The school runs on an extremely tight budget, every cent of fees income is expended on students curriculum, resources and school running costs. 

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.

Full payment of school fees is due by Friday 20 March 2020, except for families with a Direct Debit arrangement in place. Please don't hesitate to contact the School Finance Officer, Allison Walsh should you need to discuss your school fees.

Star Awards - Week 6

Congratulation to all involved in the Swimming Carnival, especially our winning teams.

Overall Carnival Winner is Buru and House Spirit Winner is Mirri.

         

Next Wednesday morning Hayley will be visiting St Monica's to speak to the Years 4 to 6 children about her experiences and preparation. This is a great opportunity for our school. 

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

Youth Masses are held on the 3rd Sunday of every month at the 5.30pm time slot at St Michael's, Kaleen. The Youth Mass dinner is done in a potluck style, where all parishioners have a fellowship. However, there will regularly be pizza especially for the children who have expressed a great liking for it. Students from the ages of 8 to 18 are welcome to take part in the liturgy. This has greatly helped our Parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help grow as a community. Our next Youth Mass falls on Sunday 15 March 2020 at 5.30 pm. All young people are invited to partake in this, including playing any instruments in the choir, reading, procession, etc. Feel free to contact me if anyone would like more information.

26th March 2020, Thursday

The Canteen has now been back in operation for a few weeks and things have been going fairly smoothly. Special thanks to the wonderful volunteers who have given their valuable time to get things up and running. Fridays are our hard core days, where we work hard, but laugh hard too. Please feel free to come and try out a Friday and see just how hectic it is getting a fun lunch out to our hungry kiddies. Little ones are welcome. I had a very special little girl helping out yesterday with her Mummy and she ensured that I got all the toasties right!  

We are trying new things out. This week we have mini hommus cups with carrot and celery stick dippers and fruit kebabs for just 30 cents.

The canteen is not open for lunch on the Cross Country day but children will be supplied with some special snack foods and a juice box by our school on that day.

Please find below our flier for our Special Lunch Day on Friday 3 April. Don't forget to get your orders in.

Happy Birthday to the following students - 

Anna V, Lucija P, Cooper D, Dylan J, Eden L, Ostin D

DANCECORE -  Dance classes are held on Wednesdays at lunchtime in the school hall. Forms are available at the Front Office. Contact Cassie 0417 442 750.

CHESS -  Chess classes are held in the library on Mondays at lunchtime. Forms are available by contacting Sydney Academy of Chess (02) 9745 1170.

GUITAR - Guitar lessons with Geromy are on Thursdays. Please contact Front Office for Geromy's contact.

PIANO - Piano lessons with Lis O'Daly. Pease contact Front Office for Lis' contact.

Instruments- Small group intstrumental lessons for Years 2 - 6 available on Tuesdays throughout the day. Enrolment fliers can be collected from the Front Office.

School Choir & Japanese Choir - Children self nominate to attend choir led by St Monica's teaching staff. 

Here at St Monica's we are fortunate to have a great community of students, teachers and families who provide a caring, enthusiastic and positive place for our children to learn, grow and shine. We invite you to get involved in our community!

We understand that families have busy lives at work, at home and with other communities that they are part of. As such, we have a varied number of opportunities for involvement with differing levels of time commitment - we value them all. We also take this opportunity to give a heartfelt thanks to all our current and past volunteers who help make this community function and thrive - THANK YOU!

Please consider this an invitation. If you are looking to connect, improve your sense of wellbeing and your child/ren's happiness, we invite you to consider volunteering and complete the form below. Spending a little time volunteering at St Monica's may be your best-spent time yet!

Please don't hesitate to contact us via email if you have further queries or ideas. Council.StMonicas@cg.catholic.edu.au

We would love to hear from parents/carers, grandparents and older siblings. We encourage existing volunteers to list the activities they are already involved in.

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 2021 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 and Year 7 2021 Information Night: 7 May

Be a Merici Girl Days: 30 April, 4, 5, 12 May

Talk and Tours: 22 February, 4 April,  9 May, 15 August, 24 October

Try_High_School_Flyer_JPC_2020.pdf

Try_High_School_Flyer_JPC_2020 _pdf 366.10 KB

St_Clare_s.pdf

St_Clare_s _pdf 2.91 MB

Daramalan will be holding Pre-Enrolment Orientation day for Year 6 2020 students on Wednesday 8 April. The Year 7 2021 Enrolment Period is from Monday 4 May 2020 until Friday 22 May 2020.

St Francis Xavier College 

Thursday 30 April 2020 is our St Francis Xavier College Expo Day. This is a day when we invite Year 6 students from the Belconnen Catholic Primary Schools to experience high school for a day.

We will provide buses with the hope that you may release your Year 6 students for most of the day. Buses will leave your school between 9.30am - 9.45am and will arrive back at approximately 2.20pm.

While the students are at St Francis Xavier College they will have the opportunity to tour the College and to experience classes in learning areas such as: Music, Drama, Food and Fabric, Art and Ceramics, Industrial Technology, STEM and the Middle School. We will also provide them with morning tea and lunch.

Students will NOT need to bring anything with them.

SFX_Enrolment_Information.pdf

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All parents volunteering at our school must have a current WWVP card.  When your card is due for renewal please ensure you have your updated card copied at the Front Office.