Dear Parents 

As we are in the second week of the Catholic School enrolment period I encourage families with a sibling ready to start school in 2021 to enrol now. Enrolment applications can be submitted online, please share this information with neighbours and friends. The official enrolment period concludes on 22 May. This year, due to social distancing restrictions, I will be conducting virtual tours, via Zoom, to share all the wonderful qualities St Monica's has to offer with new families. Spread the word!

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the teachers and staff for their amazing efforts over the last few weeks supporting families as we implemented our Remote Learning Program. While it has had its challenges for everyone, it has also been a very rewarding time connecting with the children and their families.

It is now time to transition back to school. While not everyone may be able to return, due to medical or personal reasons, we are looking forward to getting back into a good routine. To ensure the safety of everyone the following plan has been put into place for next week. Where a child will not be returning in Week 5 please email me directly - carmel.maguire@cg.catholic.edu.au.   

Transition and Return to Face to Face Teaching 

Week 4 - Commencing Monday 18 May

To support the wellbeing, social reconnection and establish routines the following plan has been developed.

• Children who attended during Weeks 1 to 3, full time or part time to continue.
• All Kinder and Year 1 children to attend each day – Monday to Friday.
• Siblings of Kinder and Year 1 children to attend each day – Monday to Friday.
• All other Year 3 and 5 students attend on Tuesday and Wednesday.
• All other Year 2, 4 and 6 students attend on Thursday & Friday.
• Children are to bring in their school books, remote learning packs and iPads if they are on loan from the school.
• A combined face to face and remote learning program will occur during this week depending on class numbers.

Week 5 - Commencing Monday 25 May

• All students to return to face to face learning.
• Those who need to remain home for health and personal reasons will continue to be supported with a modified home learning program.

Changed Drop Off and Pick Up Arrangements 

Children to be dropped off in the hall car park or at the top of the ramp to the basketball courts between 8.25am and 8.50am. A teacher will be available to supervise the children crossing the staff car park crossing near the office. Please display extra car etiquette during this difficult time as your child’s safety must come first.

Afternoon Arrangements

Pick Up – Front of School

Commencing at 3.00pm prior to the 3.10pm bell.

• Families with K, 1, 2 and siblings to drive through the staff carpark, enter from Moynihan Street.
• Display your family name in the passenger window.
• Suggestion: Place baby or toddler seat on the righthand side so children can access the car from the left-hand side.

3.10pm Bell and dismissal for Years 3 – 6 and all other children from K – 2 not being picked up from the front of the school.

3.15pm Drive through pick up for families with children in Years 3 – 6.

Chomley Carpark - A teacher will walk the children across to the carpark. Adults are asked to remain in their car.

Copland College Carpark – this carpark will not be supervised.

Walkers and Bike Riders – Children will be dismissed as usual. Parents can wait at the boundary of the school to collect their child/ren; please remember social distancing while you wait.

Bus Travellers - Moynihan and Copland Bus Stops will be supervised.

SMOOSH – will be collected at the Kinder play equipment and supervised across the crossing near the office.

Uniform

Thank you to our new uniform team for their efforts over the last few weeks. All children need to move into their winter uniform, now the weather is turning cold. Uniforms can be ordered via Qkr; orders placed by Thursday evening will be filled and ready to be picked up after 11am from the Front Office on a Friday. Orders are generally sent home with the children on a Friday unless other arrangements are made. Please do not hesitate to contact the team, via email, should you have an issue or query. stmonsuniform@gmail.com 

Canteen

The canteen will remain closed for the time being. I will be in contact with Wendy  Regan, our Canteen Manager, in the coming week to discuss how best we can provide this service to families considering the current restrictions. 

Multipurpose Wipes, Hand Towels and Tissues

To maintain a clean and healthy environment for the children and staff we have increased the level of cleaning around the school including the wiping down of desks, doors, ledges etc. As we continue to provide hand sanitiser and packs of anti-bacterial wipes to the classrooms, it would be great if the children could also bring in their own pack of anti-bacterial wipes to sit on their desk. A roll of paper towel and tissues, per family, would also be appreciated.   

Appreciation Day - Education Support Personnel Day - Friday 15 May at St Monica's 

We just couldn't survive without you all! 

The Office Team - Steph Flynn and  Allison Walsh

Classrooms Support Assistants - Esme Byrnes, Kelly Levi, Bec Perry, Lauren Murphy, Sharon Friend, Unnati Shah & Josh Dalton 

Grounds - Pete Hales

SMOOSH Team - Molly Uelese, Scarlet Day, Qin Bao, Hugo Dean and Co

Canteen Manager - Wendy Regan

Thank you so much for all you do for the children and community of St Monica's, you are all amazing individuals.  

Special Prayers

Please keep the Hogan family - Cameron (4R) and Maddie (6M) in your prayers as their great grandfather passed away. 

Mother's Day Gift Packs

Sincere thanks to Michelle Bowman and Wendy Regan for their work in organising our Mother's Day packs and the drive-through last week. The packs we did not sell were donated to Karinya House for the mums in residence. Thanks to Jack R (4M) and Scarlett B (5SM) for their help with the delivery. 

 

Continue to stay safe and healthy. 

Principal  

Praying the Holy Rosary – During May

Did you know?

The Rosary is the traditional devotion in honour of Mary, the Mother of God. It combines vocal and mental prayer. The prayer has 15 decades which are divided into 3 parts of 5 decades, each recalling Jesus’ Life, Passion and Resurrection. When we pray the Holy Rosary, we usually hold a set of Rosary beads.

The word rosary means ‘a garland or wreath of roses.’ Each prayer said in the Rosary is a spiritual rose offered to our Blessed Mother Mary.

In the 13^th century, Jesus’ Mother Mary appeared to St Dominic, the founder of the Order of Friars Preachers. She comforted him and gave him the prayer of Rosary.

The first five mysteries are called the Joyful Mysteries because they brought joy into our hearts as we journey with Mary as the Mother of the Child Jesus.

The second five mysteries are called the Sorrowful Mysteries because they tell the suffering that Jesus underwent for us during His Passion.

The last five mysteries are the Glorious Mysteries because they represent Jesus’ triumph over death and Mary the mother of Jesus, crowned in Heaven.

What are the prayers of the Rosary?

There are 7 prayers said during the devotion – they are:

• The Sign of the Cross
• Apostles Creed
• The Our Father
• The Hail Mary
• The Glory Be
• Fatima Decade Prayer
• The Hail Holy Queen

Here is a diagram that you can use to help your family pray the Rosary together. You could use the Olive Wood heart in your family prayer bags to announce the mystery. 

We hope your first conversation for protective behaviours at home was a great success and that many of your children have learnt the 5 My Body Safety Rules.

This week the learning intention is for students to understand that their body belongs to them. It will also be the first time you might like to discuss the allocated books for your child's class. The children will have the books read to them next term.

You can preview the books by clicking on their image below. The video is a review from Cath Hakanson, a consultant for material on protective behaviours, who provides practical advice for parents and teachers using the books.

Kinder	Years 1 - 4	Years 5 and 6

The overview of the program below includes links to resources to support you and the conversation you might like to have with your child.

A limerick is a funny poem written with a particular structure. It has five lines.

Lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme with each other (they all end with the same sound). Lines 3 and 4 also rhyme, this time with a different sound.

A syllable is one of the sounds or beats in a word. For example, the word 'choc-o-late' has three syllables. In a limerick, lines 1, 2, and 5 should have 7 to 10 syllables. Lines 3 and 4 should have 5 to 7 syllables.

Here is an example:

There once was a word with an L,

That not many people could spell.

So they checked it, you see,

In a dictionary,

Which told them the meaning as well.

Can your child write their own limerick? They can use this activity sheet to help them, taking inspiration from

Roald Dahl’s Matilda: http://ow.ly/nQCq50zsIMP

Math at Home

When it comes to math, there are many different strategies that we use to solve problems. Below are two posters on some multiplication strategies to assist you in helping your child/children. 

Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic have provided a virtual catalogue so that students can continue to have acces to some great reads. Check out the catalogue at https://www.scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/. Books can be ordered through Loop by clicking on the shopping cart. Orders close on Monday 18 May.  Books will be delivered to the school and I will contact parents to organise pick up of orders.

SORA eBooks and Audio Books

It is great to see students have been accessing the eBooks and audio books through SORA.  If you have not accessed SORA visit https://help.overdrive.com/en-us/2220.htm for an introduction.

Collaborative Parenting Leads The Way

The close quarter living that we’re currently experiencing during the coronavirus pandemic tests the patience and communications skills of the most experienced of parents. Living together for long periods leads to heightened tensions and increases the likelihood of sibling conflict. The constancy of family members living together tests your people management skills, revealing any flaws or limitations that exist.

Collaborative family leadership

Life in the coronavirus-induced family cocoon suits parents that use a more inclusive, collaborative parenting style. This is a style that gives kids a voice, commensurate with their developmental stage, in how the family conducts itself.

Collaborative parents also work by the notion that the rules that govern family life also apply to them. For instance, limits applied to kids’ digital device use also apply to parents. This style of leadership encourages respectful behaviour at every opportunity. Children are treated in respectful ways and in turn, parents expect children to treat them and each other with respect. When kids fail or forget to practise respectful treatment of others they are (respectfully) brought into line and reminded of their responsibility to others.

To read this full article and to find out more about Collaborative Family Methods visit https://www.parentingideas.com.au/blog/collaborative-parenting-leads-the-way-during-coronavirus-pandemic/

Happy Birthday to the following students

Max S, Sam J, Bella P, Ben B

School Support Staff Day

This Friday our school is celebrating School Support Staff Day. Our Support Staff are involved in teaching in our classrooms, running  our Canteen, running of Front Office and Sick Bay and Finances. Also keeping  our building and grounds looking schmuck. The Community Council is putting on morning tea for our beautiful Support Staff and we encourage you to let our Support Staff know how much you appreciate them.

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

Daramalan College

Due to the Covid19 restrictions we were unable to conduct our Open Evening or Try Dara Days for prospective parents and students for Year 7 2021.

Now as some restrictions have been eased, we are in a position to offer a limited number of small group tours.

The tours will be limited to a maximum of 3 people from the one family and 10 people in total in a group. In fairness to students who have missed out on the Try Days and Open Evening we are only making the tours available to prospective students for Year 7, 2021.

Tours for other year groups, 8-12 2021, may be undertaken later in the year. For students in Year 7 2022 and beyond we hope that normal enrolment services, tours and Try Dara days will return to normal from 2021.

For current parents we ask that you do not take advantage of these tours at this time unless you are genuinely unsure of your student attending in 2021.  There may be an opportunity for siblings of current students to view the school later in the year.

Tour dates and times available are listed below

Monday May 18 - 11am or 2pm

Tuesday May 12 & 19 - 11am or 4pm

Wednesday May 13 & 20 - 11am, 2pm or 4pm

Thursday May 14 & 21 - 11am or 2pm

Friday May 15 - 11am

Bookings are essential and can be made by emailing enrolments@daramalan.act.edu.au by phone on 6245 6348.

Toby Mc (3CD), Aiden Mc (3LK) and Josh Mc (5SM) were very busy during the holidays with their "City" creations which look amazing. Well done boys!

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.