Dear Parents and Carers, 

What a busy but productive few weeks we have had! The year has started for us with an emphasis on settling into classroom routines, with teachers outlining clear expectations related to our positive behaviours of ‘being respectful’, ‘being responsible’, ‘being safe’ and ‘being my best’ (see later in the newsletter for this week’s Positive Behaviour focus). Staff have been working on getting to know the students in their class, including their learning needs and interests. 

Mini-Sport has continued to be incorporated into the morning literacy block to provide a fitness/ brain break for students, which they love! 

Compass App

Thank you to parents for keeping up to date with information from the school via Compass. Please remember this is the school’s main form of communication now and it’s important you have the app and notifications set. You will have noticed the move to using online consent (permission notes) instead of the old paper note system. This will streamline our processes making them more efficient, and also easier for you as parents to have up to date information at your fingertips.

Covid Guideline Update

Yesterday we received an update of our Covid guidelines which has allowed for some restrictions to ease. These include that we will now be able to conduct short assemblies outdoors (students only, no parents) with students being seated in their cohorts (class groups), as well as singing and dancing to return following Covid safe practises.

Please remember that parents may attend the school to: 

- Pick up sick children 

- Attend the front office

- Attend the uniform shop 

- Attend critical meetings with the Principal or staff at the school’s request

RAT Tests

The next lot of RAT Tests will be available for collection from the Office tomorrow (Friday 18th February) from 8:30am-3:30pm. Alternatively if you would like your child to bring their pack home with them, please contact the school office to provide permission to do so.

At this stage we have been advised by Catholic Education to only supply one week of tests (2 tests), as the NSW Health order is until the end of next week. This will most likely be extended but we will wait for notification before providing tests past that date.

School Captains 

Emma Clifton & Cooper Smith

SRC Leaders

Year 6 - Charlotte Turner

Year 5 - Stella Fanning

Year 4 - Saskia McLelland

Year 3 - Jed 

House Captains

 School Captains

Cooper Smith and Emma Clifton 

Dominic House Captains

Aleisha Ryan and Bethany Jewell 

Xavier House Captains

Camilla and India Edwards 

Augustine House Captains

William Best and Madyson Mills

Swimming Champions

After our very successful Swimming Carnival last week we are pleased to congratulate the following Swimming Champions for 2022:

 Senior Boy - Cooper

Senior Girl - Emma C

11yrs Boy - Baxter

11yrs Girl - India

Junior Boy - Charlie 

Junior Girl - Saskia

Winning Team – Xavier

Class Teacher Communications

All class teachers have sent home their term letter. Included in each letter is their email address. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher in the first instance if you have any concerns or simply for an update on your child’s progress. This helps build the parent/teacher relationship. 

Email addresses are:

leslie.king@cg.catholic.edu.au

phoebe.baker@cg.catholic.edu.au

lachlan.martens@cg.catholic.edu.au

danielle.schneider@cg.catholic.edu.au

 Weekly Counsellor

We now have a weekly counsellor onsite provided by Catholic Care. Individual students can access the counsellor by referral from their class teacher and/or parents. The counsellor also plans to do small group work eg friendship, social skills etc as the need arises. What a fantastic service for our school.

Swimming Lessons

The Sporting Schools Grant we have received for Term 1 is being used for weekly swimming lessons that started today and will continue until the end of term (weather permitting). This includes the bus. Some money will be left to purchase swimming equipment such as pool noodles, dive toys, kickboards etc.

 Fees and Remissions

Term 1 School Fees were sent out yesterday. Applications for remission need to be submitted to Mrs Hotham before Week 5 for consideration by the Fee Committee. Applications need to be submitted every year. For more information, please email me - melissa.hotham@cg.catholic.edu.au

P&F Committee Update

The first P&F Meeting for 2022 was held on Tuesday evening via MS Teams. If you were unable to attend, please consider coming along to our next meeting in March - new faces are always welcome! 

The P&F are currently researching options in regards to our Canteen service that will allow for a healthy, lunch order option for our students, while also following Covid safe practises. The P&F hope to have something in place very soon and I will let you know as soon as we do.

Plans are also in the works for a “refresh” to the front of the school. The P&F are looking into some different ideas that will improve the street appeal of our school including updating the gardens and fence and the possibility of a new electronic signboard!

 Finally, I would like to congratulate Ms Schneider and her fiancée Dugald on their upcoming nuptials (Danielle will be taking leave and Ms Kathryn Harvey will be teaching K/1 in her absence).  

May God bless you both on your special day, with a lifetime of shared love and joy!

 Kind Thoughts,

Melissa Hotham

Principal

The Year 5/6 students have been looking at Martin Luther King Jr’s speech, “I have a Dream”, in depth, to understand why he felt compelled to speak those words and to stand up for the injustices they represent. He, like Jesus, was passionate about creating a just world.

We, too, are followers of Jesus. He has set the bar for our behaviour as high as can be. Love your enemies, he insists. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who treat you badly. Don’t hit back. Don’t condemn. Treat others as you would like them to treat you. (This is the Golden Rule). Be merciful, forgiving, compassionate, generous and kind. Do we take him seriously? Jesus himself practised what he preached. He welcomed and forgave the woman who had a bad name in the town (Lk 7:47-49). He healed the ear of one of those arresting him (Lk 22:51). On the cross, he prayed that his executioners might be forgiven (Lk 23:14). He taught us to pray for forgiveness for our sins, and be ready to forgive any wrongs done to us (Lk 11:4). In short, Jesus repaid evil with goodness.

The secret to success in living better this particularly challenging teaching of Jesus is surely prayer, and so let us conclude this reflection by praying: ‘Good and kind God, only with the help of your grace can we love as you love. Give us the strength to overcome anger, intolerance and injustice and act always with love, mercy and justice. We ask this through Jesus, our Leader and our Lord. AMEN.’

Retrieved and adapted from https://www.passionistshobart.org.au/

Peace and blessings,

 Leslie King

Religious Education Coordinator