St Monica’s Primary School - Evatt eNewsletter

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

Friday 5 April	No Assembly
Sunday 7 April	Catholic Schools Soccer Carnival
Monday 8 April	No School Prayer
Tuesday 9 April	Cross Country Carnival

What an amazing result for all the time and effort making our 2019 Fete such a fabulous success; we raised over $40 000. Please take a moment to read the fete report enclosed in this week's newsletter. This year the funds will be directed to the development of our outdoor classroom concept.

We are on track to commence the solar installation on Monday. This is a huge undertaking however the school will make considerable savings in the coming years on our electricity bill. In 2018 our electricity costs exceeded $45 000, yes a huge expense for the school.

It's almost enrolment time, please spread the word.

In order to maintain the high quality in the presentation of our students it is essential they wear the correct uniform to school daily. It is disappointing when children present with the attitude that the uniform doesn't matter. I have noticed that a number of hats look very very untidy and torn. Yes, its Autumn and Canberra is cooling down and leaves are starting to fall - but please do not become complacent when it comes to implementing and enforcing our school's SunSmart Protection Policy. Sun protection is still required in Canberra schools until the end of May.

Parking still proves to be an issue around the school. The children's safety should be our priority at all times. Please park in designated areas and be patient when leaving the car park. You will get where you need to go so much quicker.

It is a legal requirement that children arriving after the bell should be signed in. Do not drop and run in a hope your child will find their way to the classroom. Please ensure you are also up to date with absentee notes. All absentee notes are archived.

With Easter approaching it is timely to remind parents that the children are not permitted to share chocolate eggs at school with their friends. This is in line with our policy of no sharing of lollies or lolly bags for birthdays.

Don't forget daylight savings ends this weekend, especially our soccer players involved in the Catholic Soccer Carnival. Have fun!

God bless

Carmel Maguire

Lord, open our eyes,
that we may see you in our brothers and sisters.

Lord, open our ears,
that we may hear the cries of the hungry,
the cold, the frightened, the oppressed.

Lord, open our hearts,
that we may love each other as you love us.

Renew in us your spirit.

Lord, free us and make us one.

Amen

St Teresa of Calcutta

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER LITURGIES AT ST MONICA’S SCHOOL

St Monica’s will commemorate the events of Holy Week and Easter during Week 10 of Term 1.

Date	Time	Location	Event
Monday 8 April	9:10	St Monica’s Church	Palm Sunday (Kinder will wave Palms)
Wednesday 10 April	All Day	St Monica’s School Grounds	Holy Thursday – Stations of the Cross
Thursday 11 April	All Day	St Monica’s School Grounds	Holy Thursday – Stations of the Cross
Friday 12 April	10:30	St Monica’s Church	Easter Sunday (3L Leading )

Classes will pray the Stations of the Cross at a time selected by their teachers.

Easter is rapidly approaching in a rush of foil, chocolate and baby chicks. In the midst of this excitement lie the solemn and sacred events of Holy Week. As the students enter this sacred time next week, you might like to take the opportunity to recall some of your memories of Easters past or maybe grandparents’ tales. It is through sharing of our collective memories that our Catholic faith continues and remains strong. One memory that my mother often shares with my brother and I follows….Mum grew up during the early years of WW11, in country NSW. Rations were in operation and whilst there was plenty of food- some items were unavailable- petrol, tinned goods. On Holy Thursday Mum would go with Ma (her grandmother) to the little church to prepare the altars for Mass that evening. There was always brass polishing, flower arranging and fresh altar linens to put out. It was a special time for Mum and her grandmother. It was a ritual associated with Easter- and always concluded with sandwiches made from tinned spaghetti as a treat! Talk, share create memories.

SACRAMENT OF EUCHARIST

Thank you to all those who have returned their enrolment information. Qkr! Is now up and available for payment- apologies for the delay.

Please note that the Commitment Masses are Saturday 4 May and Sunday 5 May at both St Monica’s and St Michael’s churches. You are free to attend whichever Mass suits your family needs. I have already had families contact me who know in advance that they are unable to attend on this weekend. Please contact me to make alternative arrangements. It is an expectation that you and your child attend one of these Masses to support your child in this journey and demonstrate your commitment to the preparation for the Sacrament.

Sacrament of Eucharist Calendar

Event	Date	Time	Venue	Attending
Information Evening	Thursday 2 May	6:00pm	St Michael’s Church	Parents of candidates
Commitment Masses	Saturday 4 May	6:00pm	St Monica’s Church	Candidates & family
	Sunday 5 May	8:00am	St Michael’s Church
	Sunday 5 May	10:00am	St Monica’s Church
	Sunday 5 May	5:30pm	St Michael’s Church
Parent & Child Night	Thursday 6 June	6:00pm	St Monica’s School	Candidates & parents
Retreat Day	Thursday 13 June	9:30 – 2:30	St Michael’s School Hall	Candidates & teachers
Sacrament of First Communion	Saturday 22 June	6:00pm	St Monica’s Church	Candidates & family
	Sunday 23 June	8:00am	St Michael’s Church
	Sunday 23 June	10:00am	St Monica’s Church
	Sunday 23 June	5:30pm	St Michael’s Church

FETE NEWS

The annual St Monica’s Primary School fete was held on Saturday 23 March 2019. The Fete Team extends their gratitude to the many parents, staff, school and wider communities for their generous support of this year’s fete. It is always rewarding to see the school community come together and enjoy the ‘buzz’ that the fete brings to the school and to see the hard work of so many – that which is seen and that which happens in the background, pay off. The most rewarding part is being able to see our children enjoy the day and witness their pride for their school.

We had so much lovely feedback. A sample from the fete Facebook page is provided here:

“It’s such a wonderful community I am proud to be a part of. So much work goes into the fete and so many people give their time in so many ways. It’s the best volunteer community I have been a part of. Well done everyone!”

“…We are a very fortunate community to have enthusiastic, tireless and generous staff and families who make so many things possible for our kids!! So blessed to be apart of this village”.

“A massive thank you to the Fete Committee Team. Your tireless work to make the Fete happen is amazing!! Our children are so lucky”.

FETE INCOME

While there are still a few little bits of money coming in, all expenses and disbursements have been now been paid.

The fete team is absolutely thrilled to announce that for the first time in the school’s fete history we have made over $40,000 for the school with the final net profit to date being $40,138.86!!! Our annual return was in part boosted by the very kind donation to our White Elephant stall of some valuable deceased estate items. Thank you to Brett Welsh’s sister for identifying their worth and arranging for The Auction Barn in Fyshwick to auction them via their live auction site. The Auction Barn waived their usual commission which would have otherwise been approximately $904.00. The items reached just over $3,800 for the school.

Thank you to all involved.

Next year's fete will be held on Saturday 28 March 2020 from 10:00am - 2:00pm with a multicultural theme.

2019_SPONSORS.pdf

2019_SPONSORS _pdf 968.50 KB

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).

I cannot stress the importance for parents to review the new bus timetable and locate where you child will be dropped off and picked up each day. I have been advised that the school bus stop, next to the hall, will no longer be operational. Children will now be dropped off at the designated neighbour bus stops on Copland Drive and Moynihan Street.

Concerns I have raised include

No formal road crossing on Deffell Street or footpath to get the children to the bus shelter on Moynihan Street. Deffell street and the hall carpark are very busy.
The bus shelters will provide little protection for the children on a wet day. Not avaiable on both sides of the street.
Distance between the bus stops and school is a concern.
There will be a need for additional staff to provide afternoon supervision.
Time of pick ups looks to be closer to 3:30.
Children will need to know the direction they are travelling.

I encourage families to look at the detailed documentation and provide feedback to Transport Canberra at https://www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au/app/forms/transport_feedback

Details of the bus routes serving St Monica's

st_monicas_Term_2_Bus_routes.pdf

Also refer to the website

New School Bus Routes From Term 2

St Monica’s Cross Country Carnival

St Monica's Cross Country Carnival is on Tuesday 9 April at Stromlo Running Park. Information and Program for the day along with Permission Notes have been sent home with children. All Permission Notes need to be returned to school by Monday.

Save the date to come along and join in the fun!

Earth Hour is one hour where people around the world turn off electronics to help sustain our planet and use less electricity. This means no lights, iPads, phones, tv’s, interactive whiteboards, air conditioners or heaters.

In our school from 10:00am to 11:00am on 28 March 2019 we turned all electronics off and did work in our books. Here is a photo of one of the classrooms during Earth Hour in our school. It was already an overcast day so some people found it very dark indeed!

By Dion W (6E) and Joe O (6E)

Yesterday the whole school was treated to a Taiko Drumming workshop. Kiyomi Sensei demonstrated and taught the children how to play the taiko drums in the very traditional Japanese style. Amazingly, every child in the school was able to have the chance to try their drumming skills. While the techniques were traditional the drums most children used were not! Kiyomi Sensei has made a huge collection of drums using large plastic garbage bins and the noise [sorry ‘music’] they made was very impressive. The children had to listen and follow instructions very carefully and they should be proud of their final team sounds. Don’t be surprised if you hear a bit of drumming around the place this week as the children try out their skills on some inventive instruments. The cost of this incursion was covered by the Curriculum Levy.

We are pleased to announce that the Home Learning Review Committee is now made up of 3 parents and 4 staff members. The committee is tasked with reviewing our home learning policy with our community. The students are currently being surveyed to gather perceptual data of their opinion of home learning, the frequency they complete home learning and the level of support they receive from parents or siblings. This data will be analysed by the committee and used to inform parent and staff surveys that will be sent out in Term 2.

Our article this week comes from educational consultant Tom Sherrington who analysed the research of John Hattie in relation to homework. Hattie's meta-analysis shows minimal effect on student outcomes when first reading his data. However, when you take the time to delve deeper one can draw different conclusions about the relevance of homework.

Homework What does the Hattie research actually say. . .

Homework What does the Hattie research actually say. . . 171.31 KB

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.

We are looking for people interested in joining our gardening team. Several of our current members will be finishing up at the end of the year. Please leave your name at the office if interested.

If anyone has any issues/ideas they would like to discuss please email Fiona Steinberg - Council.StMonicas@cg.catholic.edu.au

NAPLAN Practice Test

Last week our Year 5 and 3 students were able to complete the NAPLAN Practice Test in class. The test was an opportunity for them to be familiarised with accessing the test, the question styles and testing environment they will experience.

NAPLAN APP and Headphones (repeat notice)

There were a number of the students who did not have the NAPLAN app loaded on to their iPad and did not have their headphones in their school bag. Please ensure you check your child's device to ensure they have the NAPLAN app and that your child has their headphones for use at school.

NAPLAN Parent Checklist

Read the NAPLAN letter from Carmel Maguire

Letter to parents from principal

Letter to parents from principal 120.13 KB
Read the parent information brochure

NAPLAN Parent Information Brochure

NAPLAN Parent Information Brochure 507.43 KB
Ensure the NAP Locked down browser app is installed on your child's BYOD device. N.B. Students without their own device will be issued one by the school.
Visit the NAPLAN Demonstration Site to familiarise your child with the online platform.
Contact Luke Donnelly if you are considering withdrawing your child from one or all of the tests.

This weekend St Monica's Primary has 6 teams participating in the Catholic Schools’ Soccer Carnival. The carnival will be taking place at Calwell playing fields. Team draw, venue map and information has been issued to participating students. We wish all families an enjoyable day. Thank you to Mira Lustica for the coordination of the teams.

	Value Award Compassion	Class Award Reader of the Term
KGH	Mason Mc	Layla H
KRC	Phoebe D	Lucas C
1B	Pasquale A	Taylor H
1E	Maggie P	Charlie C
2D	Jemima B	Bol K
2R	Caelan A	Massimo S
2RD	Alexandra T	Joshua S
3L	Amelia H	Sophie C
3M	Jack G	Logan F
3/4C	Luca C	Xavier M
4H	Jesse F	Mia M
4M	Isabella P	Ashton Mc
5F	Riley Mc	Angelino S
5MF	Amber M	Josephine H
5W	Isobel C	Raphael S
6E	Isabella S	Emma B
6M	Lachlan M	Matthew Mc
St Monica’s Stars – Arabella A (2RD) - 1st star
Pride Badges –

Last Thursday St Monica's had 18 students participate in the Belconnen regional swimming carnival at the AIS. Supported by our wonderful parents and Mr Fletcher, our students achieved some fantastic results and some also achieving personal bests. Congratulations to Harry P, Laura R, Zak D, Drew G, Paige H, Archie E, Fletcher B, Annabelle F, Isabella P, Ben B, Claire H, Sophia M, Annalene L, Tulli H, Lachlan M, Annie R, Alexandra O and Ava P for your sportsmanship and special congratulations to Harry, Claire and Annabelle who have successfully progressed to the ACT Championships to be held on Monday 6 May at the AIS.