Dear Parents

On Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 March, the Catholic Education Office sent out an online research survey to approximately 8,500 ACT parents of Catholic Education (ELC, Primary and Secondary). The purpose of the survey is to better understand the value our education system provides to our parents and families and the reasons parents seek a Catholic Education. Insights from this research will allow Catholic Education, Canberra & Goulburn to improve on education offerings, align and strengthen the communication to parents and families, and through this better demonstrate our value to communities. If you have received the survey please take the time to complete and be part of the parent voice on how we can continue to grow and develop our schools. The survey will close in the week of Monday 23 March.

CE Retreat

Last week the Principals and CE Leaders came together for the Annual Leaders Retreat that was held in Bowral. The first day focused on the new CE Learning Agenda, which is currently constructed around five focus areas - Instructional Improvement, Instructional Leadership, K-2 Literacy and Numeracy, Curriculum, and Data. As the Learning Agenda is developed various aspects will be shared with school communities. The following two days were focused on Spirituality with the first day centring on Hope and the second day on Trust. Reflection, lead by Professor Br David Hall, centred on how we develop our schools as 'Beacons of Hope' and as Catholic leaders, the importance of building trust within our school relationships. It was a wonderful three days to also network with colleagues. 

Camp Adventure

Our Year 5 and 6 children and teachers are all having a wonderful time in the mountains and are blessed with perfect weather. The activities offered build team spirit, confidence and determination as many will extend themselves beyond their comfort zone. There will be lots of stories to share on their return. 

Tombola Day

On Monday 23 March we will have Tombola Day. For our new families, Tombola Day is when the children bring in a plastic bottle/jar or goodies for prizes of a number game coordinated by the school staff on Fete day. The bottles/jars can be filled with lollies, pencils, erasers, stationery, licorice, musk sticks, bubble bath, hair ties. The options are endless. It will be a uniform free day on Tombola Day. Children can wear casual clothes but must wear their joggers and hat. For each bottle/jar donated children will receive a ticket into a lucky draw to win their choice on the tombola jars.

Wishing God’s blessing on you and your families.

Carmel Maguire

Principal  

Achieve - all that you can

He 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

6 Ways To Be An Honest Person

Hold on to the real you. Make sure your family, teachers and friends know that you are genuine- always be truthful about who you are.

Own up to mistakes that you make, even if you are afraid you’ll get into trouble.

Never keep silent when it’s important to tell the truth. When you know about a lie and don’t say anything, you’re letting the lie live on. Turn a silent lie into a loud truth by speaking up.

Earn people’s trust by keeping your promises to them and by never cheating or stealing. Take back anything you borrow and never take anything without asking.

Stop and think about what really happened so you can tell it truthfully. Also think about what might happen if you don’t tell the truth.

Tell your parents, teachers, or an adult you trust that you have made a promise to always tell the truth.

A friendly reminder to families that full payment of Term 1 school fees is due.

If you have a Direct Debit arrangement in place, please ignore this reminder, no additional payment is required.

As always, please contact the School Finance Officer should you need to discuss your school fees account.

WHAT IS LENT?

The season of Lent is a Catholic liturgical season consisting of forty days of fasting, prayer, and penitence beginning at Ash Wednesday and concluding at sundown on Holy Thursday. The official liturgical colour for the season of Lent is violet/purple. The observance of Lent is related to the celebration of Easter. In the first three centuries of the Christian era, most Christians prepared for Easter by fasting and praying for three days. In some places this was extended to the entire week before Easter (now known as “Holy Week”). The word Lent derives from the Middle English word lenten, meaning springtime – the time of lengthening days. 

Given the many challenges facing today’s families, now is the perfect time and home is the perfect place to experience Lent. After all, home is where we rush and rest, where we hope and worry, where we love and forgive. It is home where we most often experience day-to-day salvation. Lenten experiences can take place in nearly every room of the house.

The following is a link to a calendar of ideas for Lent that are easy to accomplish and relate to our daily lives. For example, fast from taking second helpings at one meal.

https://www.loyolapress.com/~/media/Images/Loyola%20Press/ocf-articles/Lent/lent-assets/LentenFamCalendar.ashx?la=en

Harmony Day at St Monica's

 Next Thursday, 21 March, St Monica's will be celebrating Harmony Day. This is a day to celebrate our cultural diversity, inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. As a school we will be exploring the theme 'everybody belongs' in recognition of the rich multicultural landscape we live in. Students are permitted to wear a piece of orange clothing, e.g a hair ribbon, shirt, socks etc as part of this celebration.

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 

It is now 2 weeks until our Fete Day on Saturday 23 March.

The Country Fair theme went so well in 2018 and made for a fabulous atmosphere so we are doing it all again in 2019. We are also offering the chance to ‘sponsor a hay bale’ again this year.  You can do this using Qkr. This year, the bales will be donated back to farmers in the Canberra and surrounding areas in need.

Class Baskets

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.

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 and Craft – gel pens, pencils, notebooks, post-it-notes, stickers, embellishments, textas.

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

Raffle Tickets and Value Tickets

Raffle ticket books are now due back to school. Thank you to families who have sent their books back. You are able to pay for your raffle tickets via Qkr. Please also remember to send your value ticket order forms back to school. Value tickets will be sent home with children once they are processed.

We are always looking for new sponsors so if you or someone you know is able to donate either items for our chocolate wheel or cash amounts to cover the costs of our entertainment, attractions or food stalls we ask you to please contact the fete team at: stmfete@gmail.com.

Volunteers

We are also looking for volunteers to help on our various stalls on the day (all volunteers require a Working with Vulnerable People card so be sure to apply for yours soon if you don’t yet have one).

White Elephant Drop-offs

Last drop off for White Elephant will be this weekend between 2pm and 4pm on Saturday and Sunday. If you are able to assist with sorting of items on either one of these days please just show up to the hall.

Books

Please send your pre-loved books to school with your children for our bookstall. The class who collectively donates the most books each week will win a weekly prize. 

Class Winner for last week was 3L who have brought in 496 books.

We extend a big thank you in advance to our school families and community who always give so much to bring our fete together. We know we ask a lot of our school families, but as this is our biggest annual event and raises more money for the school than any other annual fundraiser, it is well worth the effort everyone puts in to making the day a success.

Next Wednesday, 20 March, is Tombola Day. For our new families Tombola Day is when the children bring in a bottle or jar (plastic only) or jar of goodies for prizes of a number game coordinated by the school staff on Fete day. The bottles/jars can be filled with lollies, pencils, erasers, stationery, licorice, musk sticks, bubble bath, hair ties. The options are endless. It will be a uniform free day on Tombola Day. Children can wear casual clothes but must wear their joggers and hat. For each bottle/jar donated children will receive a ticket into a lucky draw to win their choice on the tombola jars.

Conversations on Goals sessions (between teachers, students & parents) have opened. 

Sessions will run over a three week period due to other events such a Year 5/6 Camp. All teachers have different schedules. Session appointments are available now using our online 'School Interviews' program. The booking code and Instructions are attached via the link below or make your booking via our school website - under Links - Parents.

Please contact the school office should you require assistance with your booking.

All parents/carers are expected to meet with their child's teacher during the term to discuss goals and progress

2019_March_Parent_Letter.pdf

Happy Birthday to the following students - 

Bowen D, Cooper D, Dylan J, Eden L, Ostin D.

Community Council encourage people to volunteer at our school Fete.  It is a great way for new families to meet the rest of our school community.  If you are able to assist on the day please email our fete team - stmfete@gmail.com or leave your name and contact at the Front Office.

Canteen Roster  - Term 1, Week 7

Monday - June Manning

Tuesday - Evelyn David-Hoole

Wednesday - Jess Whaler

Thursday - June Manning

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

Samantha Manning - Canteen Manager - 62584687

If you are interested in taking on the role of School Banking Coordinator please contact the Front Office. Robyn, our current coordinator, is finishing up due to work commitments. Robyn will be available to hand over the role to you. The school banking  takes between 1-2 hours to complete each week.

Last Thursday a team of 14 boys and girls from St Monica’s competed in the Belconnen District Australian Football Primary School Cup.

Reluctantly missing out on a day’s lessons, the students from Years 5 and 6 met at Holt oval on a beautiful Canberra Autumn day. Managed by Gemma Hansen, coached by Paul Raadts, and cheered on by a group of proud parents, the team played footy from 9 in the morning ‘til 2 in the afternoon.

Congratulations to Arrabelle S (5W), Isabella M (5W) Annabelle Field (4H), Bella Pope (4M), Abigail N (1E) and Chloe W (1E) who competed at a Calisthenics’s competition last weekend. The girls performed duos in their age groups and all walked away with medals & trophies.  Well done girls!!!

Year 2 and Year 3 St Monica’s boys  U7  teams Sharkies v Tagasaurs played each other in the Kaleen Oztag grand final with the Year 2 team Tagasaurs winning  4-1. The boys displayed a wonderful display of skill and agility and played a fair and fast game.

A message from Geromy, our guitar teacher

How the sessions work

• I pick up students from class at a time best suited to their teacher - currently held on a Friday.
• Lessons will be 30 minutes in length
• I do makeup lessons when given 24hrs notice (or a fair reason for absence)
• Lessons are $30, (you can either pay for the term or weekly, and preferably in cash) 
• I'll send out an invoice which needs to be paid by Week 6.
• I have a spare guitar at school that students can use, but children should feel free to bring in their own instrument.
• If students could bring in a plastic sleeve folder for music sheets that would be great!

I want to make sure lessons are as engaging as possible, so if your son/daughter listens to any particular types of music or has any music idols please tell me! 

If I've missed anything or you have any more questions please email - geromy_houghton@hotmail.com

Late last year our school was selected to benefit from the Active Streets for Schools program over the next four years. Active Streets is an infrastructure program – supported by educational resources – to make it safer and easier to walk or ride to school.

More children walking or riding to school has numerous benefits, including increased health and wellbeing, less congestion and safer school communities. Some of the elements delivered through the program include:

• Infrastructure improvements around schools, for example new or improved footpaths, crossings, better signage or traffic calming measures (e.g. speed humps)
• Educational resources (including a map for each school)
• Wayfinding pavement stencils
• Promotion of part way drop off and collection points
• Communication materials

A key aspect of the program is engagement with school communities to tailor the program to suit our needs. In the coming weeks the school community will be invited to provide feedback about the school’s map and invited to participate in a survey, which will allow you to highlight potential infrastructure improvements around the school to support walking or riding to school. We encourage the school community to embrace this opportunity and engage in the program.  

More information is available on the Transport Canberra website.

Canberra’s entire public transport network has undergone a major overhaul which means extensive changes and improvements to the way students travel to school using dedicated public transport services in 2019. Transport Canberra will release detailed school and general bus timetables and route information in early 2019 before the new bus network starts in 2019.

The school services planned as part of the New Bus Network have been designed based on a new School Bus Services Policy(PDF 318KB).

The majority of students in Canberra travel to school by car. This means that many students are missing out on the health benefits of active travel and the opportunity to become proficient in public transport use. It also means many schools are congested with traffic around bell times. These new school services will ensure all students will be at their school destination prior to bell times.

The new public transport network includes 222 dedicated school bus services every school day. This is a similar number to today’s network, and 78 more dedicated school services than were included in the consultation network released in June. These services are simpler and easier for students, with most services running both morning and afternoon and using the same route number.

In the new network, the way Transport Canberra runs school buses will change. School bus services will generally be shorter to reduce the time it takes students to get to school, and they will provide more opportunities for students to connect to local and Rapid services. Additionally, local and Rapid services have been designed to provide good access to as many schools as possible across our city, so that more students at more schools can get to school by public transport.

Refer to the website

New School Bus Routes From Term 2

https://www.transport.act.gov.au/getting-around/new-network/schools

With the change of weather it is time to check your child's hair regularly to break the breeding cycle.