Dear Parents, Carers and Friends,

This past fortnight has flown, and we have now headed into November. The year seems to be passing by in fast forward. We have celebrated Grandparents Day, welcoming many grandparents and special friends to our school to see the children working in their classes. It was a wonderful vibe, and I thank everyone for coming along for the children. This was closely followed by silly sock day. This was a fun day for the students and they raised over $1000 for the Catholic missions through kindly donating a gold coin. Thanks for also supporting this really worthwhile and fun event.  

  

Friday Week 2 many children and families travelled to Boorowa to participate in the annual Netball and Touch Football carnival. It was a beautiful spring day for the students to enjoy participation in sport. We have also had many students from Kinder to Year 6 either participated in or about to participate in a fun Canberra Raiders League Tag day. Both of these events emphasise participation in sport for fun to encourage all children to have a go and it was wonderful to see so many of our students enjoy joining in these fun days. On Wednesday this week we have eight of our girls participating in a much more competitive Basketball NSW Tournament. I wish them all the best for the carnival, play hard, play fair and have fun.

This weekend we held our first Art Show, and I thank all the families who came along, making it such a successful school event which raised over $3000. The Art Show was the dream of Mrs. Anna Van Aaken and along with the Community Council, school staff and parent helpers many hours went into the preparation, running of the day and packing up. I thank all involved in any way for their hard work and dedication. 

This past fortnight has seen some work happening at our Lowe Street campus with the new playground area starting to take shape. It should be soon finished! We were also blessed to have Sue and Lesley from Bunnings Majura and some parents help develop a sensory garden which is fabulous. Thanks to everyone involved in making these fabulous enhancements happen.

On Wednesday we farewell our Year 5 students for three days as they head off to Jindabyne for camp. I will be joining them along with their class teachers and Mr Arton. I’m sure they will enjoy the many challenges and fun that lies ahead of them. Keep your eyes out for Facebook updates.

Next week we will hold our Kinder Orientation on Wednesday and our first Year 1 transition to Macquoid Street. The Year 1 children will be dropped off at Macquoid Street on the morning but collected from Lowe Street at the end of the day. With the Queanbeyan Show approaching parking on this day at Lowe Street will be short in supply so it could be good for the Kinder parents to try to drop off a littler earlier (any time from 8:30) to avoid too much traffic congestion. Thanks for your support with this really important event in our school calendar. 

In our Catholic faith, November is traditionally a month when we remember and pray for those in our community who have died. It commences with All Saints Day on the 1^st. By praying to the saints, we are not worshipping them as we only worship God. Rather we are praying for them to pray to God for us. Just like we might ask a friend to pray for us when we are in need of prayers. Asking others for prayers is common in our Catholic faith. This is followed by All Souls Day on November 2^nd. On this day we remember our dearly departed and pray for them. 

‘There is a mysterious solidarity in Christ between those who have already passed to the other life and we pilgrims in this one. Our deceased loved ones continue to take care of us from Heaven. They pray for us, and we pray for them’ (Pope Francis).

Lord, continue to be a light for us, giving us direction

and courage in this difficult time.

May we live our lives treasuring the memories of those precious ones

we have known and loved.

We trust Lord that you are treasuring them with us.

Help us, Lord, to bring light and hope to others.

Amen

Have a blessed week.

Tiffany Reedy