Bookweek Parade - Free Coffee!

On Monday morning at 8:50 am we will hold our annual Bookweek Parade. Children, and parents, are invited to dress as their favourite character from a book. We are also pleased to say that TeamKids have rescheduled our Feast Day Coffee Van to come on the day. The coffee van will be set up in the carpark serving free coffee to the adults in our community. Our Bookweek celebrations continue on Tuesday evening with Snuggle up and Read in the Library. 

Think U Know Workshop and Recordings

Thank you to the 17 families who joined us at school or online for the Think U Know Cyber Safety workshop last Wednesday. The session was an eye-opening reminder of the risk that exist for children online but reiterated the importance of open communication in the household and ensuring children are able to come to their parents without judgment if something goes wrong. Whilst we weren't able to record the session, the team at Think U Know have provided recordings of a similar presentation for parents who weren't able to attend to view:

Part 1: https://www.facebook.com/100064506469435/videos/1064612083939632

Part 2: https://www.facebook.com/100064506469435/videos/1676696952485110

Part 3: https://www.facebook.com/100064506469435/videos/260307758654388

School Fees

Fees for Term 3 have now been finalised in Compass and are due on 25/8/23. This is the first time fees have been scheduled through Compass. We would like to remind families that our preference is for fees to be paid via BPAY so that we avoid the considerable administrative cost incurred through Compass.

There has also been a change to the collection of building funds which is a voluntary payment. From this year, the building fund will be an opt-in payment. As a result of this, all building funds paid this year have been credited back to your account so that you can make the decision to opt in. 

Masterplan

After 18 months of consultation and collaboration with our Parish and Community Council, we are pleased to publish the School's Masterplan. The masterplan is an aspirational plan acknowledging population growth in Canberra and the region and articulates how the school would accommodate an increase in enrolments should we transition to a two-stream school. The plan includes an onsite Early Learning Centre (ELC) to provide Catholic preschool education and would be staged to create new buildings as the school grew. The plan also includes a new admin block which would align the front of the school to the top carpark and the new Church proposed by the Parish. 

Luke Donnelly
Principal

Feast of the Assumption Mass

Yesterday, we celebrated the special feast day of Mary the Mother of Jesus, the Feast of the Assumption. Mr Donnelly spoke to us at the beginning of Mass to remind us that this feast is a celebration of God’s great and special love for Mary who was so faithful to the will of God that upon her death, she received the fullness of God’s life in heaven.

Welcome back Miss McQuirk and Mrs Elliot

We welcome back Miss McQuirk and Mrs Elliot from their World Youth Day pilgrimage to Lisbon in Portugal. As a staff we look forward to hearing about their unique experience of faith during this pilgrimage.

Sacrament of Confirmation

Enrolment for those students interested in preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation will take place on the 10th of September at our 9.30 am Parish Mass. This Sacrament is for those in Year 6. The Sacrament will be celebrated on Sunday 29 October at the 9.30 Mass.

Centred in Faith Gatherings

3/4 White will run our next Centred in Faith Gathering on Friday 25th of August. They will talk about the Helmet of Salvation (Ephesians 6:17). If a Christian is wearing their ‘Helmet of Salvation’ they are confident that God is on their side. 

Parish Mass

5/6 Green and Year One will attend the Parish Mass on Friday 18th of August. Families of children in these classes are most welcome to attend.

Yours in Christ,

Samantha Mance

Religious Education Coordinator

Book Week - Ready or not here comes Book Week!

Parade 

We encourage parents to dress up on Monday 21st August as a book character and join in our parade. The children will begin their parade at 9 am. 

Snuggle up and read

Join us in the library on Tuesday between 5:30pm and 7:00 pm. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Bring your own books to read together or borrow one of ours. Wear your pyjamas, bring a blanket, and snuggle up and read together. RSVP by clicking the link below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf4uC3SbOYafktLYMPn4UdxnANSA-dvavJ-pAGipSmBQuUFQA/viewform?embedded=true

Book Swap

There is still time to donate to the book swap. This will be held on Wednesday. 

Author visit

We welcome Nicole Godwin on Thursday. She will read and explore her books and tell us about her author craft. Every class will meet her and grow in wisdom from her advice. 

Looking forward to book week where we will Read Grow and Inspire. 

Nicole Mikkonen

Years 5/6 Green

5/6 Green have been looking at data, frequency tables and graphs.

Today we conducted surveys, collated results, and created graphs

about what they would

 like to see in an upper primary playground. Flying foxes and slides seem to be a clear favourite!

The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) open day is this Saturday 19th August from 9am -4pm. It is a great family day and open to everyone from the community.

We also have introduced our Defence Mascot bears and they have had their first adventure this week. At this stage they are going home on weekends to our Defence families but later in the year we will be sending home our deployment bears to the rest of the school community so they can understand a little more about Defence life.