Dear Parents

 Year 5 & 6 Camp 

There is much excitement across our Years 5 and 6 classes as they prepare for camp next week. The children will be heading to Cooba for a 3-day outdoor leadership camp that offers lots of fun and team building. Accompanying the group will be the Year 5 and 6 teachers, Luke Donnelly, Jacinda Vaughan and Katarina Markovic. As Katarina will be away I have arranged for Clare McPhillips to take 4M in her absence. 

Chess Opportunity

This Friday 20 keen and interested chess players will take part in a series of lunchtime coaching sessions to develop their skills. We are very fortunate to have the experience of Ian Hosking, an ex parent, to work with the children over the coming weeks. 

As I am currently attending our Annual Principals' Retreat until the end of the week please raise any concerns with either Mr Luke Donnelly or Mrs Haley Stonham in my absence.

Continue to stay safe and healthy and may God's blessings be with everyone. 

Principal  

Sacramental Program 2021 – First Eucharist for Students in Year 4 from 2021

The Sacrament of First Eucharist will be celebrated in Term 2 of 2021 on the following dates:

• Tuesday 8 June at 6.00pm in St Michael’s Church
• Wednesday 9 June at 6.00pm in St Monica’s Church
• Thursday 10 June at 5.30pm and 7.00pm in St Monica’s Church

Please keep the candidates for First Eucharist in your prayers.

Information Night for First Eucharist – Term 2

The parent information night will be held on Thursday 29 April 2021 at 6.00pm via zoom (zoom address to be provided closer to the night).

Commitment Masses

Students and parents must attend one of the commitment Masses listed below to make their commitment for the sacrament. 

Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 May
Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 May
Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 May 2021

There will be no additional commitment masses beyond these dates.

The Sacrament is available in 2021 for the School of Religion.

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

Altar Servers

Congratulations to all our First Communicants who received Jesus recently in our lovely parish Masses.These children are now invited to become more active members of our parish community by serving on the Altar. We already have quite a few children who fulfil this role beautifully each week. Training sessions will be held within the coming weeks as follows - 

St Monica’s Church - contact Gavan Smith on 0416 258 846.  St Michael’s Church - Tuesday 16 March at 3.40pm or telephone Sr Kate on 0421 943 867.

Older Servers who are already trained are welcome to come along and assist.

Long, long before white settlement, this land belonged to the Aboriginal people. Education was their lives: the telling of stories, the singing of songs, celebrating the ebb and flow of the seasons.

The arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 heralded not only the beginning of penal settlement but also the birth of the Catholic Church in Australia.

When Australia was a British colony, the first official Catholic chaplains, Philip Connolly and John Joseph Therry, arrived on the continent in May 1820. Father Therry established a Catholic school in Parramatta and it began operations in January 1821. The school was open to all students regardless of whether they were Catholic or not.

The history of this Archdiocese and its Catholic schools mirrors the story of Catholic Education in Australia. The first Catholic Schools in our Archdiocese were opened in Yass (1847), Queanbeyan (1851), Goulburn (1854), Boorowa (1858) and Braidwood (1859). Throughout this period Catholic schools developed their distinct flavour and character. Classes were extraordinarily large, teachers were mostly religious sisters and brothers, and resources were scant.

Currently, we have 54 Catholic Schools in our Archdiocese and, in our history, have also had 34 schools closed including schools in towns such as Marulan, Gunning, Cobargo and Adaminaby, and schools in Canberra suburbs of Yarralumla, Manuka, Dickson, Lyneham and Braddon.

Australia’s Catholic school landscape has since grown now to more than 1,750 schools, 770,000 students, and nearly 100,000 staff.

Our heritage is rich, our present is encouraging, and we have much to be proud of.

The Year 3 Team 

Mrs Mira Lustica

Mrs Kirsty Godschalx

Mrs Susan Carswell

Mr Bob Fletcher

School Photos

School Photo Day is Monday 22 March 2021. All children are to wear their full Summer school uniform. Photo envelopes have been sent home with children today. Envelopes with money are due back to school by Friday 19 March 2021.

Family Photos

As a fundraising opportunity familes can request a group photo with siblings to be taken on photo day. This is completely separate from individual student photos. The cost is $15 per photo. Please enclose this money in a separate envelope marked Family Photo - with your family name clearly displayed. Alternatively payment may be made using our Qkr! App. If using Qkr please send in a note to confirm your request and method of payment.

You Can Do It! At St Monica’s

The students have been busy participating in a weekly lesson from the You Can Do It! Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum. While an explicit lesson is taught each week, the skills and language are something that teachers and students are using and practising in their daily social interactions and when problems need to be resolved.

Through the YCDI! Primary Program, all the children from Year 1-6 are working on:

• Changing negative attitudes to positive ones
• Learning coping skills when things go wrong
• Reducing social and emotional difficulties
• Developing higher levels of wellbeing

Year 2 have been learning the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. They have been discussing how mistakes are a normal part of life, especially when we try new and challenging things. The children were very interested in hearing that when we keep on trying to learn new things and use different strategies, we can grow our brain!

LITERACY IN KINDERGARTEN

Walking through the Kindergarten classrooms it is clear to see that all the children have settled into school and are engaged in learning during the Literacy Block. The Literacy Block in Kindergarten includes Reading, Writing, Handwriting and Sounds Write activities.

Children read daily with their teacher in a small group. At this time of the year they are learning important skills such as tracking, sounding out and using picture cues to decode words. Our teachers use big books for Read Alouds where they model reading strategies to the children.

Maths Problem

Each week I am going to put a maths problem in the newsletter for students to solve with their family members. K-2 and 3-6 will have separate problems to solve.  All students can try to answer the question and submit a solution. 

To submit an answer, please email directly to me- ryan.matchett@cg.catholic.edu.au.   All entries must be in by 9am Tuesday morning each week. Students who answer the problem correctly will have their names published in the newsletter. 

This week’s problem is below.

K-2

I have 4 coins in my pocket. What is the minimum amount I could have? What is the maximum amount I can have? Can you give me 3 different combinations?

3-6

Evatt has committed to building a park for every 30 homes, a library for every 120 homes and a school for every 350 homes. If the town has 1862 homes, then how many parks, libraries, and schools are in the city? A new neighbourhood is being developed that could have as many as 675 homes. How many more new parks, libraries, and schools would the city need to build? Make sure you show me your working out.

Proposed activities for camp 2021. These are subject to change. 

 Year 5  

• Archery 
• Leap of Faith 
• Slingshot 
• Assault Course (water based) 
• River Day at Dalgety River (water based) 

Year 6  

• Lake Day at Lake Jindabyne (water based) – first day of camp. All children in Year 6 will need to be wearing their swimmers under their clothes on the bus. 
• Big Swing 
• Team Manoeuvres 
• Mt Bikes 
• Low Ropes 
• Survivor (water based) 

A friendly reminder to families that the final instalment payment of $200 for camp is due by Friday 26 February. Payment must be received in full prior to departure for camp. Please contact the office if you are not sure of your balance.

FYI, the first instalment of $140 was due on 4 December 2020, total cost is $340.

My name is Ainsleigh Mason, I’m in 6M. This year I will be doing the World’s Greatest Shave.

Every day 47 Australians are diagnosed with blood cancer. That’s one Aussie every 31 minutes. Sadly, an Australian loses their life to blood cancer every 2 hours. 

On 12 March, I will be shaving my head to raise money to fight this disease. I will also be donating my ponytail to make wigs for people who have lost their hair due to cancer treatments or illness.

If you would to support me you can donate to my fundraising page at: https://secure.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?Referrer=%26Referrer%3dhttps%253a%252f%252fworldsgreatestshave.com%252f&RegistrationID=803059

Or donate to my team with my sister who is also shaving her head at: https://secure.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/registrant/TeamFundraisingPage.aspx?Referrer=%26Referrer%3dhttps%253a%252f%252fworldsgreatestshave.com%252f&TeamID=123177

Thank you for your support.

Last Friday evening was a special moment for a very excited St Monica's family who was chosen to switch on the Canberra lights. Congratulations to Harriett (2E) and her parents, Matt and Amanda Borg, for switching on the colour and magic created by the Enlighten Festival for 2021.

Happy Birthday to the following students  celebrating a Birthday this week 

Kushi R, Cody M

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

Information related to school fees is available in our school app, under Forms & Documents. You can access the 2021 fee schedule, Direct Debit forms, remission application forms and other fee-related information.

Term 1 school fees were due on Friday 26 February, except for families who have a formal Direct Debit arrangement in place.

If you have not yet made your school fees payment, please do so urgently. Please contact our School Finance Officer if you are experiencing difficulty meeting this commitment.

***Attention families with older children at other ACT Catholic Systemic Schools***

Do you have older children attending St Francis Xavier College, John Paul II College, Merici College, St Clare's College or Mary Mackillop College? Or another ACT Catholic primary school? You are entitled to a discount on your school fees here at St Monica's but you must submit the form below please, so I have your correct information.

Family circumstances change therefore you must notify the school at the commencement of every school year. Please do not assume that if you received this discount in previous years that it carries over to the next year. This information is wiped from our database at the end of every year.

If you have not submitted this information, please do so as a matter of urgency. If we haven't received your information we cannot provide a discount for you.

Link to complete & submit form online: 2021 Fees Systemic Sibling Discount Form

Reminder all families: 

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