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Dear Parents, Carers and Friends,
Welcome back to Term 2. I hope you have all enjoyed a wonderful break enjoying the gorgeous warm weather we were lucky to experience. It was lovely to welcome the children back to school last week seeing their smiling faces and looking smart in their winter uniforms.
Just a few beginning of the term reminders.
Students are not to be at school before 8:30am.
School times
The school supervision times are as follows:
8:30am - Morning supervision begins.
3:30pm – Students should be collected before 3:30pm each day.
Students should not be at school outside these times.
If you need care outside of these times, please book into TeamKids before or after school care.
Attending school improves students’ academic success, social development and future opportunities.
Aim for 100% attendance
School starts at 8:55am and concludes at 3:00pm
It is really important for all children to be at school by 8:55am as vital learning commences straight away. Supervision commences from 8:30am so please try your best to have your child at school before the bell.
Every minute at school is valuable learning time!
We encourage all students to attend school every day from 8:55am to 3:00pm. On occasion, your child/ren may need to be absent from school. Justified reasons for student absences may include:
- being sick or having an infectious disease
- having an unavoidable medical appointment
- being required to attend a recognised religious holiday
- exceptional or urgent family circumstances e.g. attending a funeral.
All absences from school must be explained.
- If your child is away for a day or so, please enter the reason for the absence directly into Compass.
- If your child is going to be away for an extended period (but less than 25 days) please provide a written explanation to the school in advance of the absence.
- Planned absences of greater than 25 days, approval needs to be obtained from the school. Please contact the Front Office to obtain the ‘Application for Extended Leave from School NSW’ or visit the Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn website to see the Attendance Policy and download the required form.
LATE ARRIVAL or EARLY COLLECTION
If your child arrives to school after 9:00am they should be signed in at the front office Compass portal by the adult delivering them to school. Parents collecting students early must proceed directly to the Front Office and sign their child out. The printer will issue a slip which can be handed to the classroom teacher upon collection. For safety reasons, students will not be released from the class to parents/carers without a sign-out slip.
ANZAC Day 2025
We had many students and families participate in the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council, RSL and Legacy Queanbeyan ANZAC Day march on Friday 25th April. This is a special opportunity to commemorate the sacrifices of the ANZACs as well as service men and women who have and continue to serve Australia since. I thank all those involved in this community event that provided us with a valuable opportunity to pause, show respect and be grateful. As a school community we also paused on Wednesday last week to partake in our own ANZAC Day prayer services. One at Macquoid Street and one at Lowe Street. I am so proud of how reverently and respectfully your beautiful children participated in these services.
On Friday many of our students travelled to Braidwood to represent St Gregory’s in the Northern Region Cross Country Carnival. I congratulate them all on their efforts and for representing the school so beautifully. Congratulations too to all our students who have successfully made it through to the next stage to represent the Northern Region at the Archdiocesan carnival next Friday 16th May at Stromlo.Thankyou to Mrs Spackman and Mr Howard for accompanying and supporting the students to the carnival.
Enrolments Open
It is that time of the year when we are taking enrolments for the next school year and we already have strong enrolment numbers which is wonderful. If you have a child who is to start school next year please remember to put in an electronic application by the end of next week if you haven’t already done so. Also, if you know anyone thinking of enrolling, please let them know that we are open for enrolments. It relative quick and easy just follow the ‘Thinking of enrolling?’ link on our school website or use this link. It is also time for all our Year 6 families to be enrolling their children for next Year 7 next year.
Mother's Day Stall
Thankyou to Di Smith and all of her helpers for all their amazing work on gathering, wrapping and putting together the Mother's Day Stall that will be operating this Thursday.
Fr Tony’s Ordination
On Friday evening I was blessed to be able to attend the Episcopal Ordination of the most Reverend Anthony Gerard Percy to Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Sydney. The Episcopal Ordination took place at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney and it was such a moving and joyful celebration. Although we do miss Bishop Tony, we keep him in our prayers and wish him well in his new role.
We also look forward to welcoming our new parish priest Fr George Ogah in July this year.
As you would all be aware with the passing of Pope Francis during the holidays, the conclave will commence on May 7 in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City. During this special time in the life of our church, in this Jubilee Year themed ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, we give thanks for the blessing that Pope Francis was for our church through his compassionate leadership and we also pray for the church and the conclave.
Heavenly Father,
You entrusted the care of Your Church on earth to Pope Francis,
and now You have called him to Yourself.
We entrust his soul to Your boundless mercy.
For his lifelong service, we thank You.
For his care for the poor and marginalized, we thank You.
For his witness to simplicity, we thank You.
In Your mercy, cleanse him of all sin.
Purify him and draw him into the light of Your presence.
Grant him the vision of Your Eternal Essence,
into which we all long to be drawn.
Father Most Holy,
Our God and King,
Protect Your Church in this time of transition.
Guide the Cardinals in their sacred duty.
Grant them Wisdom and Courage,
Hope and Charity,
and the Faith they need to discern Your Holy Will.
Creator of all that was, is, and is to come—
You alone know the heart of the one You have chosen
as the next successor to Saint Peter.
Reveal Your will to the College of Cardinals.
Open their hearts to Your inspirations.
Open our hearts to receive, with faith and obedience,
the one whom You will raise up to sit on the Chair of Saint Peter.
May he be a man of deepest compassion,
a man of profound faith and hope,
a man whose charity shines forth,
permeating the darkness of this world with the light of Christ.
You are God Most High,
the God of the living and the dead,
the Great I AM,
the Alpha and the Omega,
Eternal Being and Source of all that is.
May Your holy will be done,
now and forever. Amen. Alleluia.
Source: mycatholic.life
Have a blessed week.
Catholic Education Canberra-Goulburn (CECG) has communicated to schools regarding reporting to parents/guardians. CECG has advised schools that general comments will not be required on Semester 1, 2025 reports, but to prioritise Parent/Teacher Conferences for every family. These meetings provide an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress, their strengths, challenges and future areas of focus. A Semester Report will be sent home as in previous Semesters, providing A-E grading, work habits and attendance information.
CECG has advised schools that Semester 2, 2025 reports will have a general comment for all children as in previous years. This general comment will provide a summative comment for the year, areas of achievement and areas to focus on for the following year. A-E grading, work habits and attendance information will remain as normal.
The Federal Government's School Student Broadband Initiative provides a free NBN service to eligible families with school age children. If you think this is something you would like to access, please utilise the following link.
We hope that you all have an enjoyable break and did lots of reading!
We have a few updates to the Library for this term:
NEW TIMETABLE:
Macquoid St:
Mon: 3R, 5G, 6G, 4W
Tue: 3G, 3B, 6R, 4B
Wed: 2G, 2W, 2B, 4R
Thu: 5B, 3W, 2R, 5R, 6B, 4G
Lowe St:
Mon: 1B, KS, 1S
Tue: 1W, KG, 1G
Wed: 1R, KB, KR, KW
PREMIER'S READING CHALLENGE
Thank you to all of the parents that have been busy updating their child's reading records on the NSW PRC website.
We now have 160 students registered for the challenge and 41 have already finished.
Please remember that it is NOT a competition and there is still plenty of time to register and complete it. The end date has now been extended slightly and now does not close until 26 September (Week 10, term 3). ALL students that complete the challenge will receive a certificate towards the end of term 4.
We would like to acknowledge the students from each year who completed the challenge during the holiday break:
K - Kenndy F, Oscar H, Gabriel D
1 - Grace D, Lyanna D, Harvey G, Yashraj S, Karolina M
2 - Cooper B, Anshika S, Reggie F, Harvey M
3 - Rosalie M, David N, Samuel W, Eleanor Y, Molly F
4 - Hayden C, Bryson H, Mitchell H
5 - Edith F
6 - Maisie C, Ridhima K
If you have any questions, you can contact me at: natalina.ireland@cg.catholic.edu.au
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Lamont Book Fair
Weeks 9 & 10 - final dates will be confirmed closer to the time
In previous year our Book Fair has been organised through Scholastic, which also provides the Book Club. However, this year we are trialling a new company - Lamont. They already supply some of the books in our Library and we hope that this year's Book Fair will be equally as popular as previous years.
National Simultaneous Storytime
Wed 21 May at 12:00pm
Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, bookshops and many other places around the country. Now in its 25th successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6.
This year's story is called, 'The Truck Cat' by Deborah Fenkel.
Get into Rugby Walla & Get into Rugby Tri Time proudly funded by ACT Government and sponsored by Soward Management!
We are excited to announce two new programs for 4 – 7 years of age, that will be played across a 14-week period on Friday evening at 4 x Hubs across the Canberra region commencing on Friday 2nd May.
Get into Rugby – Walla
- Ages 4 to 5 years of age
Get into Rugby – Try Time
- Ages 6 to 7 years of age
These two programs, focus on creating a fun & enjoyable learning environment along with the opportunity to develop the core skills needed for participants to transfer into U8 modified games and continue their rugby journey.
Block#1 - Friday 2nd May to 20th June (8 x consecutive weeks)
Block#2 - Friday 25th July to 29th August (6 x consecutive weeks)
Each of the sessions will be delivered by accredited coaches with support from the ACT Brumbies Development Officers. The program also encourages and welcomes any new or old volunteers to the game.
- North Hub - UC Campus Oval#4
- Central Hub (Girls Only Hub) - UC Campus Oval#4
- East Hub - Campese Oval
- South Hub - Curtin Oval
Cost - $220.00 (Includes Training Shirt, Shorts, Dinner (sausage and juice box) after each session).
Player Registration Link: https://auth.rugbyxplorer.com.au/login?clientId=admin&codeChallenge=&redirectPath=/
Note – Both Walla and Tri Time are played at each of the 4 Hubs. Girl participants can attend any hub they wish, but there is a girl’s only hub available if they prefer.
If you require further assistance or questions, please contact Cory Larsen (Rugby Development Manager) at Cory.Larsen@brumbies.rugby
