St Monica’s Primary School - Evatt eNewsletter

Dear Parents

Welcome back to Term 4. It has been wonderful visiting classrooms, engaging with the children and seeing how very settled everyone has returned to their learning. What I do miss is the opportunity to connect with parents around the school informal; hopefully, the restrictions will continue to improve. Unfortunately, parents and visitors are still not permitted in the school unless authorised.

Existing drop off and pick up arrangements are still in place. Do not forget the special drop off zone on the basketball courts for morning drop off. The children can come down the ramp and cross the crossing near the front foyer. We will continue to operate our afternoon drive-thru for families wishing to use this service. Remember we will commence with Kinder and their siblings at 3.05pm with all other children being dismissed at 3.10pm. Afternoon supervision continues until to 3.30pm. Please ensure your child knows where they will be picked up.

Plans for end of year events, including the Year 6 farewell, are currently being finalised now that the latest COVID-19 restrictions have been released. As we are still restricted by numbers for inside events we are looking at three Year 6 end of year daytime liturgies to accommodate the children and their parents. We will circulate the date early next week.

Book Week Fun

On Tuesday 20 October, St Monica's will hold a simplified (and COVID-19 safe) Book Week Dress Up Day. This year, your child might like to dress up as a specific book character, or they might like to dress up to represent the CBCA Book Week theme for 2020: Curious Creatures, Wild Minds. We are encouraging the children to wear a costume or just one item that best represents a favourite character from a book. Sometimes the simplest costumes are the best! If your child would like to dress up on the day, we ask that they wear closed-toe shoes, remember their school hat, and ensure that they wear something that covers their shoulders.

The CBCA shortlist is here: https://www.cbca.org.au/shortlist-2020 You might just see a cover that sparks an idea.

Class Groups for 2021

Much care and deliberation occurs when forming our class groups. Teachers are highly professional and have the main responsibility for placing their current students in the most appropriate class for next year. Over the next three weeks, the teachers will be observing friendships to assist with class groupings.

While forming class groups we aim for an equal spread of both positive and challenging characteristics when forming a class group. Every care will be taken to ensure that your child is placed in the best situation to enhance learning and social development.

Class Formation for 2021

Class	K	1	2	3	4	5	6
Number	2	2	2	2	3	2	3
Size	22	26	23	23	23	29	24

Confidential concerns should be brought to my attention in writing, by Friday 23 October, even if you have raised concerns in previous years. Please email directly to carmel.maguire@cg.catholic.edu.au. General concerns should be raised with your child's teacher. As Principal, I will make the final decision on all class placements. Late requests are very difficult to consider once groups are finalised.

Going green on Friday. Go Canberra Raiders!

With our local Canberra footy team making the semi-finals this weekend I am happy for the children to add an item of green to their uniform on Friday - a ribbon, a tee-shirt, football jersey - to provide encouragement.

Canteen is open for service on Friday

Our canteen reopens on Friday. Remember all orders are processed via Qkr and must be registered by 8.45am on a Friday morning. Depending on demand we are looking at opening on a Thursday very soon!

Tennis for Year 5 and 6

This term the Year 5 students will be attending Tennis on Thursdays for the next 8 weeks. Year 6 have three sessions owing from Term 1, due to rain, and will attend on Friday mornings. COVID-19 protocol will be in place with the children required to bring their water bottles. The children are permitted to bring their own racket, but it is not essential. All sessions commence this week.

Medication at School

Just a reminder that any medication to be taken at school must be sent up to the Front Office in a clearly labelled container/zip lock bag.

As it is that time of year where hayfever is prevalent some children are needing to use their ventolin as a one off. Children are required to send their puffers up to the Front Office.

Continue to stay safe and healthy.

Carmel Maguire

Principal

Congratulation to Luke Donnelly, Liz Foster and Ryan Matchett on their very successful performance reviews that occurred at the end of Term 3. All staff in leadership are required to undertake a formal performance review process prior to a contract renewal occurring. The first review occurs just prior to the completion of the first two years of a permanent leadership appointment.

We received exciting news towards the end of the holidays that Miriam Hilton and her husband welcomed a healthy baby boy into the world, a beautiful brother to Theo. Baby Henry and mum are both doing well.

Congratulations to Bob Fletcher on being recognised by the NSW Premier for his outstanding contribution for his role in the emergency response effort to combat the 2019-2020 bushfires – Our local staff hero!

Robyn O’Rourke has formally resigned from her part-time position at St Monica’s. While a difficult decision Robyn has decided to focus on relief work while her three boys are young. We hope to see Robyn back from time to time for a relief visit so we can continue to keep in touch.

Cerryanne Kelly, who is currently on leave has been granted another year's LWOP for 2021, to be at home with her two girls.

Just in case you have not heard the news, Liz Foster is expecting the pitter-patter of little feet in March 2021 so will be taking 12-months maternity leave.

Following a 12-month teacher exchange to Good Shepherd in Amaroo, Katarina Markovic will be returning to St Monica's in 2021. The teacher exchange program opens up opportunities for teachers to experience another school and grow professionally.

Denise Duck has decided to no longer make herself available for relief. She is enjoying time with her grandchildren.

Term 4 is here and with it comes lots of learning, fun and preparing for the end of the year (yes, that also means Christmas!). This is also the fourth term exploring what it means to be growing together as a school community and our overarching focus is PRAISE. Our weekly focus for Weeks 1-3 is ‘Believe in our growth’. This focus brings together two elements; BELIEVE and GROWTH.

5SM discussed what both of these mean and what it would look like if you were showing PRAISE or BELIEVING IN OUR GROWTH. This is what they decided:

PRAISE means:

Giving compliments
Praising God for something special
Looking up to someone – being a role model for others
Thanking someone

Believing in our growth looks like:

Showing positive behaviours towards your learning
Positive self-talk – ‘I can do it!’
Positive thinking – Growth mindset – ‘What do I need to do to grow?’
Having an overall positive attitude to learning and behaviour

Sacrament of Confirmation

Our Year 6 candidates are continuing to prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation and have attended Commitment Masses over that past 3 weeks. Please continue to pray for them and their families during this time.

Sacramental Program – Confirmation Liturgy 2020

The Sacrament of Confirmation is to be celebrated on:
Tuesday 10 November in St Michael’s Church at 6pm
Wednesday 11 November in St Monica’s Church at 6pm
Thursday 12 November in St Monica’s Church – 2 liturgies at 5.30pm and 7.00pm.

All families should have now have booked their date/time for the sacrament through ‘Trybooking’ on the parish website at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth

Purchasing a stole for Confirmation
Purchasing a stole is optional and is not compulsory. If you wish to purchase a stole please make the payment of $20 through the Qkr! App and send an email to sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au Arrangements will then be made for delivery/pickup.
Parish stoles are available for loan on the night.

Parent/Child Formation Night
The parent/child formation night is compulsory and will be held on 29 October 2020 via zoom.

Home Booklets
Families should now be working through the home booklets with their children in readiness for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

The home booklets should be completed following the parent/child formation night on 29 October 2020 and the booklets are to be returned to the school no later than Monday 2 November with the ‘Parent’s Discernment of Readiness’ (the last page of the booklet) completed and signed ready for Fr Loi to also sign. The booklets will then be returned to the candidates on the night of the Sacrament liturgy along with their certificates.

For further information please contact the Sacramental Program coordinator at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au

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Children's Book Council of Australia Book Week

The Children's Book Council of Australia Book Week will run from 17 October to 23 October. We will be holding our traditional character dress up day on Tuesday 20 October. There will not be the traditional parade in the hall due to Covid-19 restrictions. Organising students' costumes can be a fun and creative activity particularly with this year's theme of "Curious Creatures Wild Minds". Students have asked about movie characters but they must also be a book character as we are celebrating books. The students will be engaging in activities about books organised by our Year 6 Library leaders, as well as some smaller activities that celebrate books.

Children's Book Council of Australia ACT Branch Reader's Cup

This year the Children's Book Council of Australia ACT Branch will be running Reader's Cup. On Thursday we have 3 teams competing. The students have been enjoying the five books that they are required to read and have participated in lively discussions about the books. They will then compete with 20 other school teams to answer quiz questions from the books. Due to Covid-19 restrictions the students will participate online here at school between 10am and 1pm. Readers Cup competitions challenge students to read widely, work collaboratively in a team and continue developing a love of reading. Good Luck to Charlize, AJ, Mary, Josephine, Laura, Sam, Darcy, Fletcher, Scarlett, Dylan, Rohan, Paige, Archie and Max.

Redgum Bookfair

We will be holding our book fair in Week 5 of Term 4. Due to Covid-19 restrictions we will not be holding a traditional book fair but a virtual book fair. Students will view the catalogue of books online and write their wishlists and then parents will be able to also go online to view the catalogue and make purchases. Some of the advantages of the virtual book fair are that the book fair will be open 24 hours a day from Monday 9 November to Monday 16 November also giving parents time over the weekend to make purchases. There is a great range and selection of available books with over 1100 products to choose from.

This term St Monica’s will be asking the children in Year 3 to 6 to take part in the Six-Star Wellbeing Survey to review the general well-being of our student community. This is a new survey, we have elected to trial, as it is designed to provide an overall picture of our student population, sub-groups and individual students in six areas of general wellbeing. The six categories that define the Six-Star Student Wellbeing Survey are: mood; resilience; school engagement; communication; relaxation; and positivity.

We know that students with high levels of wellbeing may be more motivated and display greater levels of engagement and academic achievement, compared to students with low wellbeing. Higher wellbeing may also be associated with fewer mental, emotional, and behavioural concerns.

As the Six-Star Student Wellbeing Survey is not a clinical or diagnostic survey Mr Donnelly will be responsible for administering the 10-minute online survey to the students as part of our student voice initiative.

All sub-categories relate to student feelings from the past four weeks:

Mood

The sub-category relates to worry, mood fluctuations and happiness. Assessing mood allows for the identification of students that require further targeted testing from an appropriately qualified professional or a specific clinical survey. Such information also allows for specific staff within schools to play a critical role in preventative mental health programs with students or determine which students may be appropriate for external or internal referral for review or additional/specialist support.

Resilience

Resilience represents successful adaptation in the face of challenges. This sub-category measures an individual’s capacity to value effort, stay determined, and bounce back from challenges. Resilience is both a positive wellbeing construct, as well as an important target for identifying students with concerns. Research indicates that the resilience of students can be developed, and schools can play a critical role in this.

Engagement

School engagement is beneficial for learning as well as personal development. The engagement sub-category provides information about effort, feeling safe at school, and feeling comfortable with peers and teachers. Engagement can also be related to motivation and may be linked with school retention and performance.

Communication

Communication is critical for students to be able to function in a school environment. This sub-category encompasses questions related to listening, speaking with others, and asking for help. Effective communication is often associated with healthy relationships and is also an area that can be developed through programs conducted either with individuals or groups in schools.

Relaxation

This sub-category is an inverse reflection of frustration and anger. The capacity for children and adolescents to be able to relax, both physically and emotionally has been recognised as an important skill. Relaxation has been shown to be able to be developed as a skill with intervention. The sub-category specifically identifies tension, managing frustration and a capacity to relax or calm down.

Positivity

This sub-category reflects confidence, optimism and positivity. It also identifies how well students know their strengths. There is growing evidence that being positive through a range of strategies, is a skill that assists individuals to flourish and high positivity has been linked to health and wellbeing. It is also an area that can impact on the culture of a group or broader school environment.

DATA COLLECTION & CONFIDENTIALITY

Students completing the survey will not be required to provide date of birth, address or contact details. All Six-Star student survey data is stored securely and remotely on a dedicated server within Australia in accordance with Elite Performance Pty Ltd’s (trading as Six-Star Wellbeing) Privacy Policy. Reports do not include individual responses from items linked to any individuals completing the survey and only a summary of responses from survey items is provided in the report.

Any parent who has concerns or does not wish their children to participate in the survey should email carmel.maguire@cg.catholic.edu.au by Friday 23 October.

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Sport and Library Days for Term 4 are as follows:

	Sport	Library
KB, KCH	Tuesday and Friday	Tuesday
Year 1	Tuesday and Friday	Tuesday
Year 2	Tuesday and Friday	Thursday
Year 3	Tuesday and Thursday	Wednesday
Year 4	Tuesday and Thursday	Friday
Year 5	Tuesday and Friday	5E and 5W - Monday, 5SM - Wednesday
Year 6	Monday and Friday	6FH - Friday, 6H - Tuesday, 6M - Wednesday

In celebration of this year’s NAIDOC Week theme “Always Was, Always Will Be,” young artists aged 6-16 years old are invited Australia wide to create an original artwork that shares their culture, ceremony and spiritual connection to country. The entry that best reflects the theme will receive a $500 Bundarra voucher and have their design printed as a limited edition Bundarra collection. Follow the link below for more information and how to enter. https://paint4.bundarra.org/

Reminder all families:

Catholic Education COVID-19 Website - Click to open web updates

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Parents and carers are welcome to contact the school to make an appointment with our School Counsellor if you have any questions and/or concerns about your child’s emotional wellbeing. Please contact your child's teacher or Carmel Maguire for a referral form for your child. Our counsellor works every Tuesday and for a morning every second Wednesday (odd weeks).

Happy Birthday to the following students celebrating a Birthday this week

Jacob P, Ella S, Amber M, Nicholas M, Cooper B, Rhys M, Chloe W, Isabella A, Saskia H, Hamish C, Jye L

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

This week Mary D-H (6FH) received a Gold Queen Award from Sydney Academy of Chess who provide the chess lessons at St Monica's. This is awarded to students who have received a number of commendations during lessons.

Mango_Fundraiser.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.