Filter Content
- Weekly Happenings
- Principal's Message
- RE News - Haley Stonham
- Parish Sacramental News - First Eucharist
- New School Parent Portal - Will launch Early in Term 2
- You Can Do It - Emma Russell
- What Matters Writing Competition - Melinda Brown
- NAPLAN News
- Mathematics - Ryan Matchett
- Sport News - Ryan Matchett
- Star Awards for Week 8
- Happy Birthday
- Community Council News - Evelyn David-Hoole
- SMOOSH Care
- School Fees
- Enrolment Time
- Holiday Happenings
- COVID-19 Updates
| Thursday 25 March |
Cross Country Carnival |
| Friday 26 March |
School Prayer - 9.15am - Palm Sunday Star Awards - 2.30pm |
| Monday 29 March |
Holy Thursday and Good Friday Prayer Celebration Year 4 and 6 |
| Wednesday 31 March |
Year 6 - Try Dara for a Day - 10am - 2pm |
| Thursday 1 April |
Holy Thursday Resurrection - AM Pride Badges - 2.30pm Term One Ends |
Dear Parents
All children are to wear their sports uniform tomorrow and are permitted to wear a t-shirt, socks or ribbons the colour of their sporting house. This year we are holding the carnival around the school commencing just after 9.00am with Year 1 and Kinder.
A reminder that if not well children and parents should not participate in the day. Parents are required to register their attendance via our CBR Check In app code found on the marshalling table located on the oval. Please remember adults must continue to social distance 1.5m when gathering and are only permitted to stay long enough to watch their child run unless volunteering on the day. We need to ensure our numbers never exceed 500 for this event.
Staffing News
How will we survive? Allison Walsh is leaving. After eleven fabulous years at St Monica's Allison has decided to spread her wings and has accepted a position at the Catholic Education Office in our payroll area. This had been an area of interest for Allison and an opportunity she couldn't pass up exploring. Allison takes up her new position at the commencement of Term 2, however, I do have a little negotiating time to fill her role as we only have one week left of this term. Allison's position has been advertised today on the CE website. Allison will return so we can formally farewell and thank her early next term.
Photo Shoot - Tuesday 30 March
Next Tuesday morning the CE has arranged for a special photo shoot to occur around our school. The children will be reminded to look smart in their uniforms - sport or the summer uniform worn on the day. The photos, capturing candid moments around the school and in the classrooms, will be used on our promotional material both media and print. We will be mindful of those children who do not have photo clearance.
Baby News
Congratulations to Liz and Jeremy Foster on the arrival of their beautiful boy, Frederick Foster born mid-March weighing 3.3kg. All doing really well and Liz is enjoying her days at home being a mum!
Staff Professional Learning & Pupil Free Days
This year, as part of the CE Catalyst program, St Monica's staff is focusing on Maths and working with consultants from COGLearn to review and refine our teaching practices through coaching around High Impact Teaching Practices. To assist in the developing of the Catalyst program the CE Catholic schools have been granted two additional pupil free days. These days will occur on the first day of Term 2 and Term 3. Term Two will commence on Tuesday 20 April
Special Lunch Day
Thank you to Wendy Regan, our Canteen Manager, and her amazing crew of mums for the coordination of a great fun lunch. It was a big hit with the children and staff!
Easter Raffle
Tickets are now on sale from the office or children can bring in their money to purchase tickets. Money is collected each day in the classrooms by the teachers and Year 6 students will be writing out the tickets. Parents can purchase via Qrk under the school payment tab.
Kinder Families Afternoon Tea and Playdate Tomorrow
The Kindergarten teachers invite all Kindergarten children and their families to an afternoon tea outside their classrooms on Thursday 25 March between 3:15 – 4:30pm. A light snack will be provided for the children and their families. Hope you can make it to get to know other Kinder families. We look forward to sharing this special afternoon with you.
Continue to stay safe and healthy and may God's blessings be with everyone.
Carmel Maguire
Principal
HOLY WEEK
As we enter Holy Week, we continue to reflect on the lives of people vulnerable to extreme poverty and injustice and how we can respond through supporting Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion appeal.
Let us take time to remember the life and teachings of Saint Oscar Romero. His many lessons include: live a simple life, commit to bringing peace to the world, speak the truth and of course aspire not to have more, but to be more. Some words from what has become known as the Oscar Romero prayer; “We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realising that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.”
Thank you for supporting Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion Campaign. Your generosity will work for the freedom of those living in poverty, challenge unjust structures, and empower people to work for a sustainable way of life.
St Monica’s Fundraising Tally so far…
Last Friday, the Social Justice Team collected the donations from each class, and we raised $132.85 In total we have raised $666.00!!
The class that has raised the most this week is…. 6M!
This is the last week that we will be collecting donations. We will be announcing the class that has raised the most this Lent for Project Compassion on Friday.
We wanted to say THANK YOU! to all our families who have donated. We are truly a compassionate Catholic School community who follows Jesus’ example and helps those in great need. Thank you for helping us to reach our goal of $600. We would love to reach $700 this Friday!
The Social Justice Team and Haley Stonham (REC)
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 at St Monica’s Church 6.00pm on a Saturday and 10.00am on a Sunday or St Michael’s Church at 8.00am and 5.30pm on a Sunday 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
Getting ready for a change with our new parent communication app to occur soon. We are not live yet! We are looking at launching early in Term 2.
Please read the attached two documents and download the Compass School Manager App to access the Compass Parent Portal soon to be released.
To ensure you will receive school information, via the Compass Parent Portal, you must provide the school with your correct email and contact numbers. This will not be an opt-in system as we currently have with the SZine app. Please continue to use our SZine app until I formally advise we have changed over.
You Can Do It! In Kindergarten
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! Early Childhood Program (Ages 3 -6 years), the children in Kindergarten have been learning about positive attitudes and social-emotional skills that develop their resilience, confidence, persistence, organisation, and ability to get along with others.
The children have been exploring relationships through play and group experiences in class. They have also been learning social and emotional skills using puppet characters.
FOR INTERESTED YEAR 5 & 6 STUDENTSWhat Matters? is a 'catalyst for young thinkers and young writers to develop a perspective, a point of view, on where we're heading as a society'.
Inspired by Gough Whitlam's commitment to involving young people in the shaping of Australia's future, the competition is currently open to school students in years 5 to 12 from Australia. Responding to the simple question 'what matters?', entrants are free to express their views on any matter they care about.
Follow the link to find out more details
https://www.whitlam.org/what-matters
Send me an email if your child is interested in this competition as I will be able to guide them through the writing process - melinda.brown@cg.catholic.edu.au
We will be holding our practice test for NAPLAN this Friday. We would ask that all parents of Year 5 students ensure their child has the NAP Lockdown Browser App installed on their iPad.
Year 3 and 5 students in ACT schools will participate in NAPLAN Online testing in May 2021. Our school will be conducting the tests between 17 - 21 May.
As a parent, you can become familiar with NAPLAN Online tests by visiting the public demonstration site, http://bit.ly/naplanonline. The purpose of the site is to familiarise students with the type of items they will see on NAPLAN Online and related functionalities. This level of familiarisation is worthwhile to help students understand and be comfortable with the format of the test.
NAPLAN Parent Checklist
- Read the NAPLAN letter from Carmel Maguire
- Read the parent information brochure
- Ensure the NAP Lockdown 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.
Maths Problems
Please find below this weeks Maths questions, please email your answers to ryan.matchett@cg.catholic.edu.au. Well done to Alessandro S (1R), Emanuel S (3CF) and Lachlan F (3CF) who submitted correct answers to last weeks problems.
Kinder - Year 2
How many different ways can you make the number 19? Can you add and subtract numbers? Give me as many combinations as you can.
Year 3 - 6
Hamish and Clare were playing around with 2-digit numbers.
Hamish did this calculation: 64 - 46 = 18. He then added 18 to its reverse, 81, and got 99.
Clare thought that was strange because she had taken 93, reversed it to get 39 and then took 39 from 93. This gave her 54. Then she added 54 to its reverse, 45. She got 99 too.
Claire wondered if you always get 99 this way. What do you think?
Mathematical Learning @ St Monica's
Over the last few years in consultation with Leonie Anstey, we have implemented the Make, Say, Write, Do model in teaching Maths. This model is effective because it allows teachers to ensure students are able to understand what they are doing as well as express it in different ways. Teachers also place emphasis on using manipulatives and hands on activities for students to be successful at completing tasks. Below is a summary of the model and what we are committed to across K-6.
We believe evidence of learning in numeracy encompasses the following areas
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MAKING connections with numeracy ideas
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SAYING the numeracy
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WRITING the numeracy
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DOING the numeracy
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Belconnen Swimming
Last week we had 14 students represent our school at the Belconnen Region Swimming Carnival at Stromlo Leisure Centre. Mr Fletcher and Mrs Austin reported how impressed they were with our sportsmanship, effort in races and cheering each other on, so well done!
Summary of Results -
- Fletcher B- 1st 200m IM, 2nd 50m Butterfly and Back
- Annabelle F- 1st 50m Free, 50m Butterly and 100m Back, 2nd 100m Free and 50m Back and top 10 in her other 2 events
- Jack G- Top 10 in 50m Free and Back
- Joel M- 3rd 50m Breastroke
- Arina M- Top 3 in all of her seven events
On a very exciting note we have 4 swimmers progressing to the ACT Championships to be held on 28 April at the AIS. Well done to Joel M (5EM), Arina M (6J), Fletcher B (6J) and Annabelle F (6H). Also, due to the amazing efforts of all 14 swimmers, we were the joint champions of the Belconnen Region Carnival with Kaleen Primary. Well done everyone!
| Class | Student | Focus |
| KB | Oliver C | Our Surroundings |
| KB | Alison C | Myself |
| KCH | Declan C | Myself |
| KCH | Eden T | Others |
| 1BH | Brooke D | Others |
| 1BH | Blake R | Myself |
| 1R | Audrey M | Myself |
| 1R | Charlotte T | Others |
| 2E | Nellie R | Our Surroundings |
| 2E | Imogen S | Myself |
| 2RR | Sophie C | Myself |
| 2RR | Stacey L | Myself |
| 3CF | Kushi R | Others |
| 3CF | Jesse S | Myself |
| 3LG | Nicholas K | Others |
| 3LG | Lachlan P | Our Surroundings |
| 4M | Ater A | Others |
| 4M | Cooper D | Others |
| 4M | Lily H | Our Surroundings |
| 4M | Axel R | Myself |
| 4R | Jake W | Others |
| 4R | Emma O | Myself |
| 4SG | Aiden Mc | Others |
| 4SG | Emma N | Myself |
| 5EM | Grace B | Others |
| 5EM | Mitchell B | Our Surroundings |
| 5EM | Marquez P | Myself |
| 5MM | Marley B | Myself |
| 5MM | Nathan M | Our Surroundings |
| 5MM | Grace R | Others |
| 6J | Bailey G | Myself |
| 6J | Zane Mc | Myself |
| 6J | Emily R | Our Surroundings |
| 6H | Isaac P | Myself |
| 6M | Charlotte F | Others |
| 6M | Ainsleigh M | Myself |
Happy Birthday to the following students celebrating a Birthday this week
Holly F, Alissa H, Isreal O, Aleer A, Liam Mc, Nicholas P, Ryan W
If you have any ideas or concerns please email them through to our Secretary Noel Chan at council.stmonicas@cg.catholic.edu.au
Our April VAC program will run from 6th April to 16th April, and plus 19th April 2021 which will be a Pupil Free Day.
The cost of our holiday program is $75 per day for early bird enrolment before 26th March 2021, excluding an extra charge for the daily special program, incursion day and excursion days. This is inclusive of morning tea and afternoon tea.
Note: For any families who do not have an enrolment with SMOOSH you will need to go to the https://stmonicas.act.edu.au/smoosh and click register to be able to enrol in for the Pupil free day.
Once enrolment is received we will then be able to enrol you in for Monday 19/4/2021.
Any concerns or enquires please do not hesitate to contact the centre on the below details
Phone: 02 62581014
Mobile: 0467 655 418
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.
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.
